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Printer drums--the heart of a laser printer

by: aishahomes31 on Date: Thu, 26 Jan 2012 Time: 2:19 AM

A laser printer is a common type of computer printer that rapidly produces high quality text and graphics on plain paper. As with digital photocopiers, laser printers employ a xerographic printing process in which the image is produced by the direct scanning of a laser beam across the printer's photoreceptor.

The drum in a laser printer is the central component. This device receives the image from the laser and transfers it to the paper to produce the final print. The first thing that happens during the print process is that the drum receives a high electrostatic charge. When the light created by the laser touches it, the charge is removed. The toner then adheres to the drum and is transferred to the paper when the paper passes very close by. The paper also receives an electrostatic charge, allowing the toner to be transferred in the exact position of the final printed image. Finally, a cleaning blade wipes any excess toner from the drum's surface preparing it to receive the next image. The print image must be inscribed on the drum first in order to transfer it to paper, and the drum's coating makes it receptive to light. Most laser printer drums are coated with selenium. Selenium is a nonmetallic element with photovoltaic and photo-conductive properties that make it ideal for this use.

In newer and smaller printers, the circumference of the drum is less than the length of the paper. Because of that, the drum must make several rotations in order to image the entire page, so the imaging, transferring and cleaning happen simultaneously and continuously until the full page is printed. In larger and faster laser printers, the circumference of the drum may meet or exceed the length of the paper. These larger drums or belts can carry the full page image or even images of multiple pages with one rotation, which enhances their speed.

It is vital to keep up the maintenance of the laser print drum. The drum is the component of the laser printer that is most important in determining print quality. If the drum is scratched or dented, the image is affected. Damage to the drum may lead to unwanted markings on the printed page or deletions of the image. Additionally, laser printer drums have a certain life span, and this is usually specified as the number of pages they can print before needing replacement.

Replacing the printer drum need not be that costly. As the popularity of laser printers has increased, specialty stores-such as Brother Printer Drums-have arisen that are dedicated to selling printer drums. The cost and convenience of replacing a printer drum is also dictated by the kind of laser printer one owns. Many small, inexpensive laser printers combine the drum and toner into a single unit, so both are replaced simultaneously. Larger units have separate drum and toner cartridge units. Many retail stores also offer assistance in printer drum installation as part of their service, though installing a printer drum tends to be easy and un-cumbersome.

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For more information about printer drums please visit Brother Printer Drum.

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