Since their invention in the 1980s, inkjet printers have taken their place on next to thousands of desktop computer. Most people have some basic knowledge of how they work: they drop ink onto a piece of paper. Obviously, there is much, much to more how they work.

 

 
   
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When a computer user hits the Print button, the printer driver software translates the data into signals that the printer can understand. The process is different for every type of printer, and that is why every printer is sold with a unique CD. Then the chip inside the printer signals the print head, which is the core part of the printer. On the print head, there are several nozzles that drop the extremely small ink droplets, whose diameter is between 50 and 60 microns, smaller than that of a human hair.

 

How do such small droplets become an image or words? The print head and thus the nozzles are positioned very precisely by the printer’s stepper motor. In a bigger scale, this concept is similar to hundreds of people standing in one line to form a big “1.” To print out the desired colors, different color inks are mixed in the ink cartridges before they are dropped through the nozzle. Depending on the manufacturer, there are several combinations of ink cartridges. Most printers use two cartridges: black and color.

 

Printers, similar to other electronic devices, have unlimited potential for the future. There are now printers that can execute more tasks other than printing, including faxing, scanning and even editing pictures. Not to mention that there are printers called the 3D Printers that could build 3D objects, which is a very useful function to an engineer, for instance.

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