StyleWriter is a line of inkjet serial printers by Apple , targeted mainly towards consumers. They produced print quality that was better than the dot matrix ImageWriters , and were cheaper than the LaserWriters . All but a few models contained Canon print engines, while the last few were re-badged HP Deskjet printers. When Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997, he discontinued most of the company's accessory product lines, including the StyleWriter and LaserWriter.
85-407: The StyleWriter was the first of Apple's line of inkjet serial printers, targeted mainly towards consumers. The feed mechanism was removable, and paper could be fed through manually in a virtually straight line. The codenames for the model were "Franklin", "Mighty Mouse", "Salsa", "Tabasco". The StyleWriter II replaced the original. This model, based on a Canon engine that printed at 360 DPI, had twice
170-456: A double-blind test, reviewers generally preferred the output produced using third-party ink over OEM ink. In general, OEM inks have undergone significant system reliability testing with the cartridge and print-head materials, whereas R&D efforts on third-party ink material compatibility are likely to be significantly less. Some inkjet manufacturers have tried to prevent cartridges being refilled using various schemes including fitting chips to
255-564: A slideshow utility to display a sequence of images. Early digital fax machines such as the Bartlane cable picture transmission system preceded digital cameras and computers by decades. The first picture to be scanned, stored, and recreated in digital pixels was displayed on the Standards Eastern Automatic Computer ( SEAC ) at NIST . The advancement of digital imagery continued in the early 1960s, alongside development of
340-457: A vector consists of both a magnitude, or length, and a direction. Often, both raster and vector elements will be combined in one image; for example, in the case of a billboard with text (vector) and photographs (raster). Example of vector file types are EPS , PDF , and AI . Image viewer software displayed on images. Web browsers can display standard internet images formats including JPEG , GIF and PNG . Some can show SVG format which
425-578: A 2:1 ratio, 9.6% vs 5.1% of all computer peripherals. The concept of inkjet printing originated in the 20th century, and the technology was first extensively developed in the early 1950s. While working at Canon in Japan, Ichiro Endo suggested the idea for a "bubble jet" printer, while around the same time Jon Vaught at Hewlett-Packard (HP) was developing a similar idea. In the late 1970s, inkjet printers that could reproduce digital images generated by computers were developed, mainly by Epson , HP and Canon. In
510-591: A considerable amount of ink, and will drive printing costs higher especially if the printer is unused for long periods. If an inkjet head becomes clogged, third-party ink solvents/head cleaners and replacement heads are available in some cases. The cost of such items may be less expensive compared to a transfer unit for a laser printer, but the laser printer unit has a much longer lifetime between required maintenance. Many inkjet printer models now have permanently installed heads, which cannot be economically replaced if they become irreversibly clogged, resulting in scrapping of
595-425: A continuous inkjet ink (CIJ) in the 1971 patent US3596285A states " The preferred ink is characterized by viscosity and surface tension characteristics such that the liquid will be maintained over span under the force with which it is moving in bridge or stream. Implicit in such requirement is that the pressure applied to the ink in formation of said stream is sufficient to form a jet and to impart enough energy to carry
680-469: A damaged or clogged print head is only a minor problem: the user can simply buy a new cartridge. Hewlett-Packard has traditionally favored the disposable print head, as did Canon in its early models. This type of construction can also be seen as an effort by printer manufacturers to stem third party ink cartridge assembly replacements, as these would-be suppliers do not have the ability to manufacture specialized print heads. An intermediate method does exist:
765-478: A disposable ink tank connected to a disposable head, which is replaced infrequently (perhaps every tenth ink tank or so). Most high-volume Hewlett-Packard inkjet printers use this setup, with the disposable print heads used on lower volume models. A similar approach is used by Kodak , where the printhead intended for permanent use is nevertheless inexpensive and can be replaced by the user. Canon now uses (in most models) replaceable print heads which are designed to last
850-416: A mechanism to reapply moisture to the printhead. Typically there is no separate supply of pure ink-free solvent available to do this job, and so instead the ink itself is used to remoisten the printhead. The printer attempts to fire all nozzles at once, and as the ink sprays out, some of it wicks across the printhead to the dry channels and partially softens the hardened ink. After spraying, a rubber wiper blade
935-452: A more affordable product. It uses the same Canon engine as the BJC-4000 and features a 360-dpi resolution, a dual ink cartridge system (1 Black and 1 Cyan-Magenta-Yellow colors) that can be replaced by an alternative high capacity black ink that allows printing twice as fast when only black & white is needed. Its initial Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price was US$ 525. In mid-1995, it saw
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#17328519903991020-447: A proprietary Adobe product described as "the public, archival format for digital camera raw data". Although this format is not yet universally accepted, support for the product is growing, and increasingly professional archivists and conservationists, working for respectable organizations, variously suggest or recommend DNG for archival purposes. Vector images resulted from mathematical geometry ( vector ). In mathematical terms,
1105-461: A software update to bringing new features, as well as a significant price drop. The Color StyleWriter 2400 is notable for its compatibility with the Apple Pippin console gaming system. The codename for the model was "Aurora". The Color StyleWriter 2200 was a color inkjet printer manufactured and sold by Apple in 1995. The codename for this model was " Calamari ". The 2200, the color successor of
1190-418: A stream into droplets. Optimal drop sizes of 0.004 inches (0.10 mm) require an inkjet nozzle size of about 0.003 inches (0.076 mm). Fluids with surface tension may be water based, wax or oil based and even melted metal alloys. Most drops can be electrically charged. There are two main technologies in use in contemporary inkjet printers: continuous (CIJ) and drop-on-demand (DOD). Continuous inkjet means
1275-408: A variety of industrial applications ranging from signage, textiles, optical media, ceramics and 3-D printing into biomedical applications and conductive circuitry. Leading companies and innovators in hardware include HP, Epson, Canon, Konica Minolta, FujiFilm, EFi, Durst, Brother, Roland, Mimaki, Mutoh and many others worldwide. Many "intelligent" ink cartridges contain a microchip that communicates
1360-663: Is a standard W3C format. In the past, when the Internet was still slow, it was common to provide "preview" images that would load and appear on the website before being replaced by the main image (to give at preliminary impression). Now Internet is fast enough and this preview image is seldom used. Some scientific images can be very large (for instance, the 46 gigapixel size image of the Milky Way , about 194 Gb in size). Such images are difficult to download and are usually browsed online through more complex web interfaces. Some viewers offer
1445-492: Is generally shorter (although UV-resistant inks are available) than those produced with solvent-based inkjets; however, so-called "archival inks" have been produced for use in aqueous-based machines which offer extended life. In addition to smearing, gradual fading of many inks can be a problem over time. Print lifetime is highly dependent on the quality and formulation of the ink. The earliest inkjet printers, intended for home and small office applications, used dye-based inks. Even
1530-403: Is ink drying on the printhead's nozzles, causing the pigments and dyes to dry out and form a solid block of hardened mass that plugs the microscopic ink passageways. Most printers attempt to prevent this drying from occurring by covering the printhead nozzles with a rubber cap when the printer is not in use. Abrupt power losses, or unplugging the printer before it has capped the printhead, can cause
1615-473: Is its use of separate ink cartridges for each of three colors (cyan, magenta, yellow) plus black. In contrast, other Color StyleWriters used a combined color cartridge plus a black cartridge. The codenames for the model were "Fantasia" and "Logo". The Color StyleWriter 2400 is a color inkjet printer manufactured and sold by Apple. It was introduced in late 1994 to supplement the Color StyleWriter Pro as
1700-404: Is now possible to buy inexpensive devices to reliably reset such cartridges to report themselves as full, so that they may be refilled many times. The very narrow inkjet nozzles are prone to clogging. The ink consumed in cleaning them—either during cleaning invoked by the user, or in many cases, performed automatically by the printer on a routine schedule—can account for a significant proportion of
1785-408: Is swept across the printhead to spread the moisture evenly across the printhead, and all jets are again fired to dislodge any ink clumps blocking the channels. Some printers use a supplemental air-suction pump, using the rubber capping station to suck ink through a severely clogged cartridge. The suction pump mechanism is frequently driven by the page feed stepper motor : it is connected to the end of
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#17328519903991870-566: Is very bad for printer ink cartridges. The user should prevent the printer becoming too hot or too chilly as the cartridges can dry up. For lasting printer efficiency, the user should ensure the area has a regular and steady temperature level. Inkjets use solvent-based inks which have much shorter expiration dates compared to laser toner, which has an indefinite shelf life. Inkjet printers tend to clog if not used regularly, whereas laser printers are much more tolerant of intermittent use. Inkjet printers require periodical head cleaning, which consumes
1955-438: Is water-soluble, care must be taken with inkjet-printed documents to avoid even the smallest drop of moisture, which can cause severe "blurring" or "running". In extreme cases, even sweaty fingertips during hot humid weather could cause low-quality inks to smear. Similarly, water-based highlighter markers can blur inkjet-printed documents and discolor the highlighter's tip. The lifetime of inkjet prints produced using aqueous inks
2040-564: The Joint Photographic Experts Group in 1992. JPEG compresses images down to much smaller file sizes, and has become the most widely used image file format on the Internet . In digital imaging, a mosaic is a combination of non-overlapping images, arranged in some tessellation . Gigapixel images are an example of such digital image mosaics. Satellite imagery are often mosaicked to cover Earth regions. Interactive viewing
2125-552: The space program and in medical research. Projects at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory , MIT , Bell Labs and the University of Maryland , among others, used digital images to advance satellite imagery , wirephoto standards conversion, medical imaging , videophone technology, character recognition , and photo enhancement. Rapid advances in digital imaging began with the introduction of MOS integrated circuits in
2210-523: The 'ink' can now also comprise solder paste in PCB assembly , or living cells, for creating biosensors and for tissue engineering . Images produced on inkjet printers are sometimes sold under trade names such as Digigraph , Iris prints , giclée , and Cromalin . Inkjet-printed fine art reproductions are commonly sold under such trade names to imply a higher-quality product and avoid association with everyday printing. Fluid surface tension naturally pulls
2295-455: The 1960s and microprocessors in the early 1970s, alongside progress in related computer memory storage, display technologies , and data compression algorithms. The invention of computerized axial tomography ( CAT scanning ), using x-rays to produce a digital image of a "slice" through a three-dimensional object, was of great importance to medical diagnostics. As well as origination of digital images, digitization of analog images allowed
2380-586: The 2400, the 2500 was compatible with the Apple Pippin console gaming system. Apple offered LocalTalk and EtherTalk networking upgrades in the form of external print server devices. Also offered was a "PhotoGrade" kit, which included a special monobloc (heads and ink in one unit) cartridge with lighter photo-oriented inks and coated paper. The Color StyleWriter 4100, 4500, and 6500 were color inkjet printers manufactured and sold by Apple in 1997. These models were all rebadged Deskjet . The codenames were "Cabo" for
2465-428: The 4100 and "Baja" for the 4500. Inkjet printer Inkjet printing is a type of computer printing that recreates a digital image by propelling droplets of ink onto paper and plastic substrates. Inkjet printers were the most commonly used type of printer in 2008, and range from small inexpensive consumer models to expensive professional machines. By 2019, laser printers outsold inkjet printers by nearly
2550-468: The Officejet Pro 8620 and HP's Pagewide series. The disposable head philosophy uses a print head which is supplied as a part of a replaceable ink cartridge . Every time a cartridge is exhausted, the entire cartridge and print head are replaced with a new one. This adds to the cost of consumables and makes it more difficult to manufacture a high-precision head at a reasonable cost, but also means that
2635-532: The PPD has been used in nearly all CCD sensors and then CMOS sensors. The NMOS active-pixel sensor (APS) was invented by Olympus in Japan during the mid-1980s. This was enabled by advances in MOS semiconductor device fabrication , with MOSFET scaling reaching smaller micron and then sub-micron levels. The NMOS APS was fabricated by Tsutomu Nakamura's team at Olympus in 1985. The CMOS active-pixel sensor (CMOS sensor)
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2720-663: The Pixelmaster color printer with solid ink using Thermojet technology. This technology consists of a tubular single nozzle acoustical wave drop generator invented originally by Steven Zoltan in 1972 with a glass nozzle and improved by the Howtek inkjet engineer in 1984 with a Tefzel molded nozzle to remove unwanted fluid frequencies. The emerging ink jet material deposition market also uses inkjet technologies, typically printheads using piezoelectric crystals, to deposit materials directly on substrates. The technology has been extended and
2805-528: The Portable StyleWriter came only with a Parallel port, but was sold with a cable adapter allowing connection to a Macintosh serial port. The Color StyleWriter Pro was a color inkjet printer manufactured and sold by Apple in 1994. It was based on the Canon BJC-600 series of Bubble Jet printers, with which it shares ink cartridge compatibility. Its distinguishing feature among Color StyleWriter printers
2890-565: The Portable StyleWriter was aimed at mobile professionals, as it could be powered by a battery and only weighed 3.1 lbs. Its dark grey case design matched the PowerBook series at the time of the release. This was the second and last printer Apple made in this color range. The 2200 was smaller and more rounded, matching the PowerBook 1400 and 5300 series. The Color StyleWriter 1500 was an entry-level Canon-engine color inkjet printer manufactured and sold by Apple in 1996. The Color StyleWriter 2500
2975-480: The advantage of practically no warm up time, and often lower cost per page. However, low-cost laser printers can have lower per-page costs, at least for black-and-white printing, and possibly for color. For some inkjet printers, monochrome ink sets are available either from the printer manufacturer or from third-party suppliers. These allow the inkjet printer to compete with the silver-based photographic papers traditionally used in black-and-white photography, and provide
3060-719: The best dye-based inks are not as durable as pigment-based inks, which are now available for many inkjet printers. Many inkjet printers now utilize pigment based inks which are highly water resistant: at least the black ink is often pigment-based. Resin or silicone protected photopaper is widely available at low cost, introducing complete water and mechanical rub resistance for dye and pigment inks. The photopaper itself must be designed for pigment or for dye inks, as pigment particles are too large to be able to penetrate through dye-only photopaper protection layer. The highest-quality inkjet prints are often called " giclée " prints, to distinguish them from less-durable and lower-cost prints. However,
3145-416: The best quality images. These file formats allow the photographer and the processing agent the greatest level of control and accuracy for output. Their use is inhibited by the prevalence of proprietary information ( trade secrets ) for some camera makers, but there have been initiatives such as OpenRAW to influence manufacturers to release these records publicly. An alternative may be Digital Negative (DNG) ,
3230-521: The carrier fluid. Desktop inkjet printers, as used in offices and homes, tend to use aqueous ink based on a mixture of water, glycol and dyes or pigments . These inks are inexpensive to manufacture but difficult to control on the surface of media, often requiring specially coated media. HP inks contain sulfonated polyazo black dye (commonly used for dyeing leather ), nitrates and other compounds. Aqueous inks are mainly used in printers with thermal inkjet heads, as these heads require water to perform
3315-438: The cartridge is empty. The frequent cleaning conducted by some printers can consume quite a bit of ink and has a great impact on cost-per-page determinations. Clogged nozzles can be detected by printing a standard test pattern on the page. Some software workaround methods are known for rerouting printing information from a clogged nozzle to a working nozzle. Ink cartridges have been the traditional method for delivering ink to
3400-685: The cartridges that log how much the cartridge has printed and prevent the operation of a refilled cartridge. The warranty on a printer may not apply if the printer is damaged by the use of non-approved supplies. In the US the Magnuson–Moss Warranty Act is a federal law which states that warrantors cannot require that only brand name parts and supplies be used with their products, as some printer manufacturers imply. However, this would not apply if non-approved items cause damage. Inkjet documents can have poor to excellent archival durability, depending on
3485-538: The chip claims the cartridge is empty, although a researcher who over-rode the system found that in one case he could print up to 38% more good quality pages, even though the chip stated that the cartridge was empty. Third-party ink suppliers sell ink cartridges at significant discounts (at least 10–30% off OEM cartridge prices, sometimes up to 95%, typically averaging around 50%), and also bulk ink and cartridge self-refill kits at even lower prices. Many vendors' "intelligent" ink cartridges have been reverse-engineered . It
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3570-446: The end of the 20th century. The computing power necessary to process digital image capture also allowed computer-generated digital images to achieve a level of refinement close to photorealism . The first semiconductor image sensor was the CCD, developed by Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith at Bell Labs in 1969. While researching MOS technology, they realized that an electric charge
3655-458: The enhancement and restoration of archaeological artifacts and began to be used in fields as diverse as nuclear medicine , astronomy , law enforcement , defence and industry . Advances in microprocessor technology paved the way for the development and marketing of charge-coupled devices (CCDs) for use in a wide range of image capture devices and gradually displaced the use of analog film and tape in photography and videography towards
3740-522: The entire printer. On the other hand, inkjet printer designs which use a disposable printhead usually cost significantly more per page than printers using permanent heads. By contrast, laser printers do not have printheads to clog or replace frequently, and usually can produce many more pages between maintenance intervals. Inkjet printers have traditionally produced better quality output than color laser printers when printing photographic material. Both technologies have improved dramatically over time, although
3825-408: The estimated ink level to the printer; this may cause the printer to display an error message, or incorrectly inform the user that the ink cartridge is empty. In some cases, these messages can be ignored, but some inkjet printers will refuse to print with a cartridge that declares itself empty, to prevent consumers from refilling cartridges. For example, Epson embeds a chip which prevents printing when
3910-459: The exhausted print heads. Compared to earlier consumer-oriented color printers, inkjet printers have a number of advantages. They are quieter in operation than impact dot matrix or daisywheel printers . They can print finer, smoother details through higher resolution. Consumer inkjet printers with photographic print quality are widely available. In comparison to technologies like thermal wax , dye sublimation , and laser printing , inkjets have
3995-436: The flow is pressurized and in a continuous stream. Drop-on-demand means the fluid is expelled from the jet nozzle one drop at a time. This can be done with a mechanical means with a push or some electrical method. A large electrical charge can pull drops out of a nozzle, sound waves can push fluid from a nozzle or a chamber volume expansion can expel a drop. Continuous streaming was investigated first many years ago. Drop-on-demand
4080-526: The frequency of drops. DOD may use a single nozzle or thousands of nozzles. One DOD process uses software that directs the heads to apply between zero and eight droplets of ink per dot, only where needed. Inkjet fluid materials have expanded to include pastes, epoxies, hot-melt inks, biological fluids, etc. DOD is very popular and has an interesting history. Mechanical DOD came first, followed by electrical methods including piezoelectric devices and then thermal or heat expansion methods. The earliest reference to
4165-473: The highest-quality giclée prints favored by artists use what is essentially a high-quality specialized type of inkjet printer. Digital image A digital image is an image composed of picture elements , also known as pixels , each with finite , discrete quantities of numeric representation for its intensity or gray level that is an output from its two-dimensional functions fed as input by its spatial coordinates denoted with x , y on
4250-434: The ink tank. The channel is long and narrow to reduce moisture evaporation through the vent tube, but some evaporation still occurs and eventually the ink cartridge dries up from the inside out. To combat this problem, which is especially acute with professional fast-drying solvent inks, many wide-format printer cartridge designs contain the ink in an airtight, collapsible bag that requires no vent. The bag merely shrinks until
4335-447: The ink used in the machine. Inkjet printing head nozzles can be cleaned using specialized solvents, or by soaking in warm distilled water for short periods of time (for water-soluble inks.) The high cost of OEM ink cartridges and the intentional obstacles to refilling them have been addressed by the growth of third-party ink suppliers. Many printer manufacturers discourage customers from using third-party inks, stating that they can damage
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#17328519903994420-571: The ink-expelling function. While aqueous inks often provide the broadest color gamut and most vivid color, most are not waterproof without specialized coating or lamination after printing. Most dye -based inks, while usually the least expensive, are subject to rapid fading when exposed to light or ozone. Pigment -based aqueous inks are typically more costly but provide much better long-term durability and ultraviolet resistance. Inks marketed as " archival quality " are usually pigment-based. Some professional wide format printers use aqueous inks, but
4505-488: The jet as a continuous liquid mass notwithstanding the defective forces which are or may be applied. Furthermore, the color of the ink and the color of the carrier should be such that good optical contrast is formed there between the following printing. The preferred ink is a " hot-melt ink ". That is to say it will assume a solid phase at the temperature of the carrier and liquid phase at some higher temperature. The range of commercially available ink compositions which could meet
4590-476: The later 1950s, heated wax inks became popular with CIJ technologies. In 1971, Johannes F. Gottwald patent US3596285A, Liquid Metal Recorder used molten metal ink with a magnetic flux field to fabricate formed symbols for signage. This may have been the first 3D metal object printed using magnetic core memory as data to produce each symbol. There are many ways to produce a drop-on-demand (DOD) inkjet. Common methods include thermal DOD and piezoelectric DOD to speed up
4675-509: The latter being a major sub-area of computer graphics . The field of digital image processing is the study of algorithms for their transformation. Most users come into contact with raster images through digital cameras, which use any of several image file formats . Some digital cameras give access to almost all the data captured by the camera, using a raw image format . The Universal Photographic Imaging Guidelines (UPDIG) suggests these formats be used when possible since raw files produce
4760-498: The life of the printer, but can be replaced by the user should they become clogged. Additive manufacturing 3D printheads have very long operating "print times" and failures will occur from internal clogs, orifice damage from bumping obstacles on the print table, calibration failures from overstressed piezoelectric bond life failures and other unexpected causes. Replacement printheads are on spare parts lists for most long use-life 3D printers. The primary cause of inkjet printing problems
4845-402: The life of the printer. The idea is that because the head need not be replaced every time the ink runs out, consumable costs can be made lower and the head itself can be more precise than a cheap disposable one, typically requiring no calibration. On the other hand, if a fixed head is damaged, obtaining a replacement head can become expensive, if removing and replacing the head is even possible. If
4930-413: The majority in professional use today employ a much wider range of inks, most of which require piezo inkjet heads and extensive maintenance. There are two main design philosophies in inkjet head design: fixed-head and disposable head . Each has its own strengths and weaknesses. The fixed-head philosophy provides an inbuilt print head (often referred to as a gaiter-head ) that is designed to last for
5015-508: The memory of its predecessor and double the printing speed. The enclosure was restyled in Apple's "neoclassical" design language of the time. The codename for the model was "Speedracer" The StyleWriter 1200 was the third of Apple's line of inkjet serial printers, released after the StyleWriter II. Based on the same Canon engine, this model had faster printing speed than its predecessor, but used
5100-426: The operator to manually clean the print heads and capping mechanism and to replace the wiper blades and other parts used in the automated cleaning processes. The volume of ink used in these printers often leads to "overspray" and therefore buildup of dried ink in many places that automated processes are not capable of cleaning. The ink consumed in the cleaning process needs to be collected to prevent ink from leaking in
5185-476: The patent US2566443 invented by Rune Elmqvist dated September 4, 1951. In CIJ technology, a high-pressure pump directs liquid ink from a reservoir through a gunbody and a microscopic nozzle (usually .003 inch diameter), creating a continuous stream of ink droplets via the Plateau-Rayleigh instability . A piezoelectric crystal may be used to create an acoustic wave as it vibrates within the gunbody and causes
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#17328519903995270-504: The print heads due to not being the same formulation as the OEM inks, cause leaks, and produce inferior-quality output (e.g., of incorrect color gamut). Consumer Reports has noted that some third-party cartridges may contain less ink than OEM cartridges, and thus yield no cost savings, while Wilhelm Imaging Research claims that with third-party inks the lifetime of prints may be considerably reduced. However, an April 2007 review showed that, in
5355-402: The printer's head cannot be removed, the printer itself will then need to be replaced. Fixed head designs are available in consumer products, but are more likely to be found on industrial high-end printers and large format printers . In the consumer space, fixed-head printers are manufactured primarily by Epson and Canon; however, many more recent Hewlett-Packard models use a fixed head, such as
5440-477: The printer. Some larger professional printers using solvent inks may employ a replaceable plastic receptacle to contain waste ink and solvent, which must be emptied or replaced when full. There is a second type of ink drying that most printers are unable to prevent. For ink to spray from the cartridge, air must enter to displace the removed ink. The air enters via an extremely long, thin labyrinth tube, up to 10 cm (3.9 in) long, wrapping back and forth across
5525-476: The printer. The collection area is called the spittoon , and in Hewlett-Packard printers this is an open plastic tray underneath the cleaning/wiping station. In Epson printers, there is typically a large absorption pad in a pan underneath the paper feed platen. For printers that are several years old, it is common for the dried ink in the spittoon to form a pile that can stack up and touch the printheads, jamming
5610-430: The printhead to be left in an uncapped state. Even when the head is capped, this seal is not perfect, and over a period of several weeks the moisture (or other solvent) can still seep out, causing the ink to dry and harden. Once ink begins to collect and harden, the drop volume can be affected, drop trajectory can change, or the nozzle can completely fail to jet ink. To combat this drying, nearly all inkjet printers include
5695-505: The printhead. Continuous ink system (CISS) inkjet printers connect the printhead either to high-capacity ink tanks or packs, or replenish the built-in cartridges via external tanks connected via tubes, typically a retrofit configuration . Supertank printers –a subset of CISS printers–have high-capacity integrated ink tanks or ink packs, and are manually refilled via ink bottles. When supertank ink systems are paired with disposable printhead technology, replaceable cartridges are used to replace
5780-411: The quality of the inks and paper used. If low-quality paper is used, it can yellow and degrade due to residual acid in the untreated pulp; in the worst case, old prints can literally crumble into small particles when handled. High-quality inkjet prints on acid-free paper can last as long as typewritten or handwritten documents on the same paper. Because the ink used in many low-cost consumer inkjets
5865-421: The receptor material (substrate), or allowed to continue on deflected to a collection gutter for re-use. The more highly charged droplets are deflected to a greater degree. Only a small fraction of the droplets is used to print, the majority being recycled. CIJ is one of the oldest (1951) ink jet technologies in use and is fairly mature. Drop-on-demand was not invented until later. The major advantages of CIJ are
5950-417: The requirement of the invention are not known at the present time. However, satisfactory printing according to the invention has been achieved with a conductive metal alloy as ink. It is extremely hard at room temperature and adheres well to the surface of the carrier. The basic problem with inkjet inks is the conflicting requirements for a coloring agent that will stay on the surface versus rapid bleed through
6035-400: The same ink cartridge. The Portable StyleWriter was a portable inkjet printer manufactured in 1993 and was designed to match the PowerBook 100 Series portable computer. It was powered by a Nickel–cadmium battery or an external AC adapter. It sacrificed ergonomics, printing speed and grayscale for portability. An optional automatic sheet feeder was also available. Unlike most Apple printers,
6120-438: The same range of tones: neutral, "warm" or "cold". When switching between full-color and monochrome ink sets, it is necessary to flush out the old ink from the print head with a cleaning cartridge . Special software or at least a modified device driver are usually required, to deal with the different color mapping . Some types of industrial inkjet printers are now capable of printing at very high speeds, in wide formats, or for
6205-403: The shaft. The pump only engages when the shaft turns backwards, hence the rollers reversing while head cleaning. Due to the built-in head design, the suction pump is also needed to prime the ink channels inside a new printer, and to reprime the channels between ink tank changes. Professional solvent- and UV-curable ink wide-format inkjet printers generally include a "manual clean" mode that allows
6290-670: The smallest individual element in an image, holding quantized values that represent the brightness of a given color at any specific point. Typically, the pixels are stored in computer memory as a raster image or raster map, a two-dimensional array of small integers. These values are often transmitted or stored in a compressed form. Raster images can be created by a variety of input devices and techniques, such as digital cameras , scanners , coordinate-measuring machines, seismographic profiling, airborne radar, and more. They can also be synthesized from arbitrary non-image data, such as mathematical functions or three-dimensional geometric models;
6375-723: The stream of liquid to break into droplets at regular intervals: 64,000 to 165,000 irregular-sized ink droplets per second may be achieved. The ink droplets are subjected to an electrostatic field created by a charging electrode or by a magnetic flux field as they form; the field varies according to the degree of drop deflection desired. This results in a controlled deflection by electrostatic charge on each droplet. Charged droplets may be separated by one or more uncharged "guard droplets" to minimize electrostatic repulsion between neighboring droplets. The droplets pass through another electrostatic or magnetic field and are directed (deflected) by electrostatic deflection plates or flux field to print on
6460-418: The substrate and dry quickly. The ink system requires active solvent regulation to counter solvent evaporation during the time of flight (time between nozzle ejection and gutter recycling), and from the venting process whereby air that is drawn into the gutter along with the unused drops is vented from the reservoir. Viscosity is monitored and a solvent (or solvent blend) is added to counteract solvent loss. In
6545-426: The use of the term is no guarantee of quality, and the inks and paper used must be carefully investigated before an archivist can rely on their long-term durability. To increase the durability of inkjet printer prints, more attention is needed for the inkjet ink cartridge. One way to treat ink cartridges on an inkjet printer is to maintain the temperature of the printer itself. Excessive variation in space temperature
6630-425: The very high velocity (≈20 m/s) of the ink droplets, which allows for a relatively long distance between print head and substrate, and the very high drop ejection frequency, allowing for very high speed printing. Another advantage is freedom from nozzle clogging as the jet is always in use, therefore allowing volatile solvents such as ketones and alcohols to be employed, giving the ink the ability to "bite" into
6715-447: The worldwide consumer market, four manufacturers account for the majority of inkjet printer sales: Canon, HP, Epson and Brother . In 1982, Robert Howard came up with the idea to produce a small color printing system that used piezos to spit drops of ink. He formed the company, R.H. (Robert Howard) Research (named Howtek, Inc. in Feb 1984), and developed the revolutionary technology that led to
6800-437: The x-axis and y-axis, respectively. Depending on whether the image resolution is fixed, it may be of vector or raster type. By itself, the term "digital image" usually refers to raster images or bitmapped images (as opposed to vector images ). Raster images have a finite set of digital values, called picture elements or pixels . The digital image contains a fixed number of rows and columns of pixels. Pixels are
6885-478: Was a performance color inkjet printer manufactured and sold by Apple in 1996. It was based on a Canon -developed Bubble Jet printer, but was repackaged with a new housing, firmware, and Apple's proprietary 8-pin mini-DIN serial port. The printer is similar in appearance and functionality to the StyleWriter 2400, but featured faster printing speeds: 5 PPM black, 0.66 color, vs the 2400's 3 PPM black, 0.3 color. As with
6970-456: Was largely resolved with the invention of the pinned photodiode (PPD). It was invented by Nobukazu Teranishi , Hiromitsu Shiraki and Yasuo Ishihara at NEC in 1980. It was a photodetector structure with low lag, low noise , high quantum efficiency and low dark current . In 1987, the PPD began to be incorporated into most CCD devices, becoming a fixture in consumer electronic video cameras and then digital still cameras . Since then,
7055-517: Was later developed by Eric Fossum 's team at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 1993. By 2007, sales of CMOS sensors had surpassed CCD sensors. An important development in digital image compression technology was the discrete cosine transform (DCT), a lossy compression technique first proposed by Nasir Ahmed in 1972. DCT compression is used in JPEG , which was introduced by
7140-424: Was only discovered in the 1920s. The continuous inkjet (CIJ) method is used commercially for marking and coding of products and packages. In 1867, Lord Kelvin patented the syphon recorder , which recorded telegraph signals as a continuous trace on paper using an ink jet nozzle deflected by a magnetic coil. The first commercial devices (medical strip chart recorders ) were introduced in 1951 by Siemens . using
7225-463: Was the analogy of the magnetic bubble and that it could be stored on a tiny MOS capacitor . As it was fairly straightforward to fabricate a series of MOS capacitors in a row, they connected a suitable voltage to them so that the charge could be stepped along from one to the next. The CCD is a semiconductor circuit that was later used in the first digital video cameras for television broadcasting . Early CCD sensors suffered from shutter lag . This
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