Archive for December, 2007

12/25/2007

Students of Georgia Institute of Technology has created a robot named PrintBot that can print out images of virtually unlimited sizes. On their site, Instructibles.com, they published a detailed step-by-step printer creation guide.

The PrintBot uses a printhead from an Epson inkjet printer (as it was expected to use it, the printhead, not Epson) and Talcum powder instead of inks. The printer is said to support wireless remote control and is based on iRobot Create, which, in turn, is analog of iRobot Roomba vacuum cleaning robot.

This device can perform on almost any horizontal faces, and the creators suggest using it for sidewalk painting and advertisement.

I wonder if this idea can be transformed for document printing. For instance, instead of paper running through the printer, a smal printing bot creates an image or a text line-by-line on a sheet of paper. Just like living pen. One could give it a ‘handwriting’ (as far as this term can be applied to a printer robot) style that could customly created and changed. Well, the sky is the limit to development of this idea.

In this video you can see the PrintBot at work:

Here is the results of its work (can’t make out what that is):

Image printed by PrintBot using Talcum

I really liked this bot. Hopefully, next thing they ‘teach’ it is to print on vertical faces and with use of paint.

7 Most Expensive Printers

by Stan Retner

12/24/2007

7. Ricoh Aficio CL7300DT

The last position in the Top 7 of Most Expensive Printers belongs to the Ricoh Aficio CL7300DT which is a bit slower – only 35 pages per minute for full-color, and black & white. However it features much greater maximum paper capacity of 3,100 sheets and a duplexing unit. 200,000 pages per month is maximum duty cycle og this laser printer.

Equipped with standard 256MB of RAM and a hard drive, Ricoh Aficio CL7300DT has 100 Mbit Ethernet and USB 2.0 ports. Optional wireless (Wi-Fi and Bluetooth) and wire (gigabit Ethernet) are available. Additional features also include Sheet Finisher and Booklet Finisher.

Standard configuration of Aficio CL7300DT is priced “modest” $5,700

Ricoh Aficio CL7300DT

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12/19/2007

There is never a day that passes by printer manufacturers release new model. Supporting this tradition, Ricoh introduced Aficio SP C400DN, a color laser printer for small businesses.

Ricoh Aficio SP C400DN Color Laser PrinterApart from “high-quality output”, “superior performance”, “high productivity” and other meaningless phrases, there is something else to know about this printing.

When printer is turned on, it takes only 10 seconds to warm up for black & white prints, and 15 seconds for color.

Should you assign the Aficio SP C400DN a large task, you will see it reaching printing speed of 26 pages per minute (ppm) in both color and monochrome. And the 600MHz controller helps output large files quickly. If you switch from the draft mode, it is possible to get 1200×1200 dpi resolution for the prints.

It’s worth mentioning that a large printing task would be halted after 1,750 pages. This is the standard paper capacity of Aficio SP C400DN. However this figure can be increased by adding more paper drawers, which are not the only extension possible, by the way.

This color laser printer is easily expandable with the Ricoh IS200e Image Scanner. This adds multi-functionality to the printer and offers fast full-color and monochrome scan speeds and variety of “scan-to” capabilities.

The printer sports an LCD operation panel on the front panel that provides simple access to menu functions and at-a-glance supply levels.

Ricoh Aficio SP C400DN comes bundled with a pack of additional features:

  • WebImageMonitor tool allows users can view system status, check supply levels and change printer settings remotely from their PC.
  • Unauthorized Copy Control embeds special messages on a printed document to prevent unauthorized copying
  • DataOverwriteSecurity System (DOSS) overwrites latent data information stored on the printer’s hard drive to prevent unauthorized access.

So that you know, ‘N’ is printer model name stands for ‘network ready’ and means an Ethernet adapter is installed.

The Aficio SP C400DN is priced $999.

12/17/2007

Previously on ”How to Detect and Fix Problems with Laser Monochrome Printing” we examined toner cartridge components and reviewed several possible reasons of printing problems. Today we shall pick up from where we left last time.

3. Magnetic Roller

This roller in HP printer is a metal cylinder covered with special coating with a magnetized bar inside. This part rarely gets out of order. For most part dirty print is caused by toner dosing.

The dirt “gives” a stripe to magnetic roller, thus, “taking away” a stripe from image on prints:

Dirt on magnetic roller

One of the signs of incorrect toner dosing is spilling of toner into the split between the metering blade and the magnetic roller:


Dirt on a print

Toner is spilled onto magnetic roller, which transfers the toner on photo drum. Photo drum, in turn, transfers the toner on paper, just like it should. This is how those needless stripes occur along the length of the page. The stripes may be black, if the split is wider than necessary for toner dosing, or they may be light, when the dosing is hindered due to dirt-clogged split.

In the office, anything may qualify as dirt, even a fly.

A fly stuck in a cartridge

 Again, the problem is fixed by reassembling the cartridge or by replacing it with new.

4. Waste Toner Hopper

As we mentioned at the beginning, a cartridge contains a wiper blade that cleans unused toner. Such toner is collected into special container, waste hopper, and then is cleaned out during remanufacturing and refilling. Alas, sometimes low quality toner or carelessness of labor may lead to unpredictable results.

The prints clearly show that overrun waste hopper makes the toner spill over.

Toner spills on a print

To fix this problem you should empty the waste hopper or replace the cartridge.

It’s worth mentioning that printing artifacts are not always due to faulty parts. For most users, a printer is a mere box that prints. However, for all technical service engineers printer is a piece of art, even if it’s a simple desktop monochrome printer. So, before blaming it all on printing consumables, one should make sure it is cartridge that’s guilty.

An exotic deviations in hardware of Hewlett-Packard LaserJet 1300: failed changes of thermofilm caused ripples around letters:

Moir on print

To determine which part of the printer is guilty of bad printing, it is necessary to have some knowledge of printing technologies and how they work.

Certainly, looking for most common cartridge breakings we can consider 5-7 more situations of bad printing. But it’s very often that the cartridge was used for 2-3 or even 10 times. Such a prolonged use results in critical worn-out and subsequent replacement of this and that parts of the cartridge. To avoid these unexpected troubles, use only quality printing consumables. The trick is not to get confused with everyday situation when looking for some extraordinary breaking:

This cartridge is simply running out of toner:

Cartridge is running out of toner

Cartridges won’t fail if you regularly replace them and use quality toner for refills. Remember, saving on savings may cost you a pretty penny.

That’s how prints should look like, regardless printer brand or model. They are all crisp and contrast, without a single mark. Making the right decision on printing supplies and refilling and remanufacturing company, will save time and money and spare you of headache. This is a fact proven by time and numerous companies.

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