Xerox 8560MFP Evaluator Guide - Page 17

Section 3: Inside a Solid Ink Printing System Overview Looking inside the Phaser 8560MFP reveals a surprisingly simple printing mechanism for such a powerful printer. In simplest terms, to make a print, a printhead applies ink droplets, comprising a printed image, onto a rapidly rotating, heated drum. The image is transferred directly off the drum onto a sheet of paper. The final print is completely dry since the ink solidifies as soon as it transfers to the paper. Drum Maintenance Camshaft Drum Maintenance Pivot Plate Reservoir Drum Oil On Drum Blade Maintenance Roller Drum Printhead Printhead Driver Board Purge Tube Jet Stack Paper Path Transfix Roller Preheater Drum Heater Drum Paper Exit Sensor Transfix Roller Exit Module Elevator Preheat Exit Sensor Exit Sensor Strip Sensor Preheat Entry (Deskew) Sensor Paper Preheater Ink Loader Ink Melt Units Ink Stick Ink Low Sensors Ink Out Sensors Printhead Preparing to print. As the printing process begins, the long-life maintenance roller quickly applies a microscopic layer of silicone oil to the heated drum for reliable ink release. Advantages • A simple, robust, reliable printing mechanism • Maintenance roller lasts up to 30,000 prints (in Extended Maintenance Kit) • No complex consumables Single pass imaging. Next, the full-width printhead applies all colours at the same time on the rotating drum. Image transfer. A sheet of paper is rapidly fed between the drum and a transfix roller, transferring the ink to the paper. • High-speed image transfer • Simultaneous application of all colours eliminates misregistration of separate cyan, magenta, yellow, and black image layers • High-speed image transfer • A short, simple paper path for speed and high reliability • Transfer printing process yields great print quality on a wide variety of papers • No fuser required Ink bonding. As the ink on the drum transfers to the paper, it penetrates the paper's fibers, but without the spreading of liquid ink-jets or the toner scattering of laser. The ink cools and solidifies immediately, forming a strong, permanent bond to the paper. • Colourfast printing with no smearing or drying time • More consistent colour quality on a wider range of media than liquid ink-jet or colour laser Two-sided printing. For automatic two-sided printing, after the first side is printed, the paper is fed back across the drum through the duplex paper path. The second image on the drum is transferred to the other side of the sheet of paper. • A simple, short, built-in duplex paper path means faster two-sided output and fewer paper jams • No additional paper tray required Reloading. The ink loader draws ink from messfree solid ink sticks instead of a single-use toner cartridge. Ink can be replaced or added at any time without taking the printer offline. • Easy, on-the-fly ink stick reloading for continuous operation • Ink loader can be "topped off" before long, highcoverage print jobs to avoid interruptions • More environmentally friendly; less waste packaging, less waste ink by-products Xerox Phaser 8560MFP Evaluator Guide 17