Glossary of Terms

Glossary of Terms

Inkjet Cartridge-A canister that holds ink which is transferred in the form of charged droplets of ink sprayed onto a piece of paper thru nozzles. These cartridges are used in Inkjet printers.

Toner Cartridge-This is the consumable used in Laser Printers. A laser toner cartridge contains a dry mixture of carbon and can come in four different colors black, cyan, magenta, and Yellow. The dry toner in a toner cartridge is heated up electrostatically by a charged drum and fused onto paper by a process of being rolled on.

Inkjet Printer-Inkjet Printers are the most common printers in the world and are used in households and business all over the world. The images of an inkjet printer are created by charged droplets of ink being sprayed onto a piece of paper thru nozzles.

LaserJet Printer-Laserjet printers are mainly used in business all over the world. The images created from a laserjet printer are from a laser beam passing over an electrostatic charged drum attracting the carbon toner from a toner cartridge to create the image the beam imprinted. The Image is then transferred to a piece of paper by being rolled on.

Drum Unit-A drum unit is the cylinder component of a laser printer in which the toner is attracted to by a negative charge. A laser beam creates an image onto the drum which the toner is attracted to by an electrostatic negative charge then the toner is rolled on to a piece of paper. Once the drum receives a positive charge all images are erased and the drum is ready for a new image.

Fuser Unit-A fuser assembly is a component of a laser print in which the paper passes thru it and the toner is heated or Fused on to the paper. The fuser is heated to around 392 Fahrenheit and is composed of two separate rollers, one roller is usually made of rubber and the other is typically hollow.

Maintenance Kit- A maintenance kit is a preventative kit consisting of several components that need to be replaced on a printer to keep it up and running efficiently. A maintenance kit typically has a fuser unit, transfer unit, and several pick-up rollers, transfer rollers and separation pads in it. Typically a printer will need to replace the maintenance kit every 200-250,000 pages or so. Think of it as an oil change for your printer.

Matte paper – The word Matte is usually use to describe a non-textured surface non reflective surface.

Dye Ink-Dye ink is the most common type of ink used in inkjet printers. Dye ink can be clarified as a colorant that can be fully dissolved and suspended in liquid.

Pigment Ink-Pigment ink is the alternative type in ink used in inkjet printers. Pigmented ink consists of very fine powder that is suspended in a liquid carrier before being transferred on to a piece of paper.

UV Ink-UV ink is a type of ink that has to be cured by UV-light. Since the ink can be cured by a UV-light the ink will be dry as soon as it is cured.

Cyan-Cyan is a color term used in both inkjet and laser printers. Cyan is a greenish Blue which mixes well with other colors to create the desired color intended to be transferred on to the paper.

Magenta-Magenta is a color term used in both inkjet and laser printers. Magenta is a violet or purplish-RED which mixes well with other colors to create the desired color intended to be transferred on to the paper.

Monochrome-Monochrome is a tone of only one color, the term monochrome printer is used to describe a printer or copier that only prints in black and white.

Multifunction-Multifunction refers to a printer or copier that can perform many function besides just printing documents. A multifunction printer typically has the capability to Print, Copy, Scan, and fax. In recent years there have been several printer manufactures that have come out with both monochrome and color multifunction devices.

Wireless-The term wireless refers to printer devices that can be used without being plugged into a computer. Just about every manufacturer is offering a line of wireless devices that enable people to print from multiple PC’s or even smart phones or tablets.

Return Program- Return program cartridge is a term that Lexmark uses to refer to an alternative OEM cartridge that comes with a pre-paid shipping label for the customer to send back the empty toner cartridge. By purchasing the return program cartridge the customer is receiving an upfront discount on the original product because Lexmark is receiving the cartridge back to be recycled and kept out of the remanufacturing channel.

Virgin Core-A virgin core is an industry term used in the remanufacturing channel referring to an original (OEM) toner cartridge that has been used one time. Virgin cores are then used to be remanufactured with new parts and refilled with toner and sold as a remanufactured or compatible toner cartridge. A remanufactured cartridge that is ISO 9000 or ISO 9001 certified would only use virgin cores rather than cores that have been used over and over again.

Duty Cycle-A duty cycle in the printer industry relates to the amount of pages that a printer or copier is rated for in a 30 day period.

Page Yield-a page yield is the number of pages that are able to be printed from an inkjet cartridge or toner cartridge. Typically page yields are calculated on pages having 5% coverage.

Page Coverage-Page coverage is the amount of ink or toner that is covered on a piece of paper. Generally page yields are calculated based on 5% page coverage.

OEM-OEM stands for Original Equipment Manufacturer, this means that the product is genuine and not remanufactured or compatible.

Duplexer-A Duplexer is an accessory on laser printers and copiers that allows the automatic printing on both sides of a piece of paper. Some Laser printers are sold with duplexers already built in and other laser printers allow a duplexer to be sold separately.

Wide Format-Wide Format is a term used to describe a printer that prints on larger sheets of paper that 11X17. The printer paper can range from 2-15 feet and come on large rolls. Wide format printers use Inkjet technology and can support a wide range of specialty paper. Wide format printers are typically used in industry’s like construction and architectural.

DPI-DPI stands for Dots Per Inch. This system is used to measure the resolution of printed image by a printer. The higher the DPI the more detail shown in the print quality.

MIB-Management Information Base, this is the system built into a printer that allows the device to be monitored by a network management system.

Firmware-Firmware is a set of instructions that is programmed into a device that tells the printer how to communicate with the other computer hardware. Firmware can sometimes be updated after the device has been in the market for a while.

Dot Matrix Printer-A dot matrix printer is a type of printer that creates images in the form of tiny dots.