The Science of Printer Ink Cartridges

THE SCIENCE OF PRINTER INK CARTRIDGES TECHNOLOGY COLORS HOW IT WORKS? SMALL PACKAGES BLACK COLORS Now I Know My CMYK... Most computer users are familiar with inkjet printers, as they are very popular for home use and produce relatively high-quality printing at a reasonable cost. C MYK Inkjet cartridges contain reservoirs of ink attached to a series of small nozzles, called the print head. These nozzles shoot out small dots of ink onto the page. Inks for inkjet printers come in four colors, represented by the letters CMYK: Cyan (blue), Magenta, Yellow, and Key (black). They are sold either all contained in one cartridge or in separate cartridges. The Four-Color Process Contact Betwen CMYK printer and cartridge Print head The four colors of ink can be mixed together on the page to produce all of the colors of the rainbow. When you print a document, the computer transmits the CMYK formula for each pixel to the printer, which sends commands to the print heads on the ink cartridges. The ink is fired out of the nozzles onto the paper, forming tiny dots. These dots are combined to create the image. Micro nozzles Heater COLOR Micro nozzle Color dot Bubbles and Crystals Paper TWO MAIN INKJET CARTRIDGE TECHNOLOGIES Heater Piezoelectric COLOR COLOR There are two main cartridge types: In a thermal bubble or bubble jet cartridge, a heater, or resistor, on the print head heats the ink inside the cartridge. When it is heated, a tiny bubble of ink forms, and when it bursts, some of the ink is pushed out onto the paper through a In a piezoelectric cartridge, an electric current is applied to piezo crystals located behind the reservoir. This current makes the crystals vibrate, which pushes ink out of a nozzle. nozzle. Photo