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Toner
Toner is a term that exists in the printing and cosmetics world. This blog describes only about toner in printing field as our company is involved in this area.

Toner is a powder that is used in laser printers and photocopiers to produce text and images on printing papers. The first form of a toner was simply made from a carbon powder. The carbon powder then melted with polymer in order to develop the quality of the print result. The particles of the toner are melted by the fuser of the printer, enabling their binding to the paper. The formulation of a toner is varies from one manufacturer to another and from machine to machine. The specific polymer that is used is also different from one manufacturer to another. It can be a Styrene Acrylate Copolymer or a Polyester Resin.

Toner was traditionally made by mixing the ingredient, a slab, which is broken then created and turned into a good quality powder. The air jet milling controls the particle size range. This process produces toner granules, which has jagged shapes and various sizes when it is seen under a microscope. Some companies use a certain kind of chemical process to grow the particles in toner to get better printout. This chemical process produces more uniform shape and size of the toner particles. This new shape and size makes it possible for a more accurate color resolution and more effective use of the toner.

The early toner particle size was 14-16 micrometer in average. To improve the text and image resolution, toner particle size was reduced to 8-10 micrometers for 600 dots per resolution. Reductions on particle sizes are in development for the resolution of a higher standard printout. This process applies new technology such as Emulsion-Aggregation. Toner manufacturers keep a quality control for the particle size to get better toner powder for their printers.

In the early time of toner machines, the toner powder was poured directly into a reservoir in the printing machine. Toner machines nowadays feed directly from a cartridge. The empty cartridges normally refilled by a third party. Normally, a single toner cartridge can print thousands of pages.

As toner is in a form of powder, it can suspend in the air for some times and can cause health problem, especially for those who have respiratory problem such as bronchitis and asthma. The research on bacteria in 1970s found that the health problem is caused by pyrol, which is a contaminant that is coming from the manufacturing process of black carbon for black toner. Manufacturers try to change the manufacturing process, in order to eliminate pyrol from the finished products.

Toner can be washed from the contacted area by cold water, either on skin or on garments. Warm or hot water will soften the toner. The heat will fuse the toner to the skin or the garments. Toner that has fused to the skin will stay for a long period. It can be removed partially by using hand cleaners. Toner that has fused to garments usually cannot be removed.

The extensive process and maintenance to make toners becomes an expensive option for home printer users. Will it be a choice for you?

by Mary and Ali
 
 
Squid Inkjets Blog
Remanufactured Cartridge
Remanufactured Cartridge

A remanufactured cartridge is an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) cartridge that has been recycled. The original cartridge is used at least once, and then returned via a recycling program. These used cartridges will be cleaned and inspected. The worn parts will be replaced. Then it is refilled, tested and repackaged for distribution. As the damaged parts can be replaced, it means the cartridge can be used endlessly.

This process helps to keep the environment save from pollution because there are parts of a cartridge that can damage our ecology and keeps the cartridge out of landfill. Less energy will be used as cleaning and recycling do not demand much energy. It also helps maintaining our limited resources since fewer natural resources are required compare to make new cartridges.

Remanufactured cartridges are much cheaper than the original ones, saving from 30% up to 50 % off from the OEM price. This constitutes a big threat for big brand manufacturers who earn their profit from selling new cartridges. Big Brand manufacturers have threatened to void the warranty if consumers use remanufactured or compatible cartridges. Antitrust legalities prohibit these manufacturers from voiding the warranty, since there is no proof that the printer can be damaged from using remanufactured or compatible cartridges.

With a good quality control, the consumer will notice no difference between an original cartridge and remanufactured one. Almost all suppliers will guarantee the quality and the quantity of the print result of the remanufactured cartridges. It matches and even exceeds the quality and the quantity of the new ones. The remanufactured cartridges have another benefit of giving more copy per cartridge than OEM ones.

Remanufactured toner and ink cartridges are available for almost any printers that can use a replaceable toner or cartridge. It is an option chosen by over 3 million companies around the world, and they trust their printing daily needs on the quality of these remanufactured.

Is it an option for you?

By Mary and Ali
 
 
Squid Inkjets Blog
Printer
The printer is a device, which is no longer a new issue in this modern era. There are however some people, who still require some information about this machine. Since the printer is an intrinsic component of our business, we will try to provide some details about them.

A printer is a machine that produces output in the form of text or graphic and normally requires paper.

A printer has the following standard components: tray, picker, and ink or toner. The tray is the component where the user places the paper, while picker is the component that feeds the paper through the printer from the tray. Ink or toner is the most important component, as the printer cannot print without it. Ink and toner are not similar. The difference is on the system required by the printer to enable the product to work. Toner requires a heating process, while ink does not require it. Unlike toner, ink needs a cleaning mechanism on the print head.

A printer also has a flexible wire to send signals from the printer processor to the ink or the toner. This tiny wire is flexible but strong. Traditionally, there is a parallel port or a USB on the back side of the printer for a connection to the PC. This type of printer requires a connection with a PC to receive the document source. New printers are designed in a wireless system. This type of printer does not need a connection to a PC. They can interface directly to an electronic media such as memory stick or memory card or digital camera.

Some printers are combined with fax machine and even scanner in one unit. The printer that is combined with a scanner, normally function as a copier as well. Printers are slow devices in general, they are considered as fast when they reach 30 pages per minute, the majority of most printers is less than that. The cost per page print is quite high.

Every printer has a different level of printing quality, speed, cost and noise. As each of them has different technology, some printers are not appropriate for certain media, such as transparency.

There are different kinds of printers: toner-based printers, liquid inkjet printers, solid ink printers, dye-sublimation printers, inkless printer, typewriter-derived printers, teletypewriter-derived printers, daisy wheel printers, dot-matrix printers, line printers, digital minilab, electrolytic printers, microsphere printer, spark printer, and barcode printer. The most common printers nowadays are toner based printers and liquid inkjet printers.

The most common toner based printers are laser printers. They are well known with the high quality printing, good speed, and low cost per page for black and white print. Laser printers are commonly used in office application. Consumer printers do not really like to use these laser printers due to the high initial cost.

Inkjet printers can deliver high quality printing on text and graphic. They are almost silent in operation; the initial cost is lower than laser printers. However, the cost per print is more expensive as the ink needs replacement frequently. These printers are normally sold below the normal price. The manufacturers take the benefit out of the ink cartridge price which they sell at remarkably high rates. Inkjet printers are slower than laser printers in operation. Another disadvantage of inkjet printer is that the print result needs to be dry before it is handled in any way. This is not an issue with laser printers.

SquidInkjets hope with the use of these comparisons, now you may choose the most appropriate printer for your purposes.

by Mary and Ali
 
 
 
 
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