Xerox 8560 manual Solid Ink Technology, Inside a Solid INK Colour Printer

SECTION 3

Solid Ink Technology

INSIDE A SOLID INK COLOUR PRINTER

Drum

Printhead

Maintenance roller

Printhead

Transfix roller

Image transfer from drum

to paper

Drum

Sheet of paper	Preheater
Transfix roller	Cooled solid
	ink on paper

Image transfer

Heated, soft ink on drum

Drum

Drum heater

Transfix roller

Drum

Sheet of paper	Preheater
Ink loader	Ink stick

Drum

Ink reservoir

Printhead

Ink jets

		ADVANTAGES
Preparing to print. As the printing process	• A simple, robust, reliable printing mechanism
begins, the long-life maintenance roller	•	Maintenance roller lasts up to 30,000 prints
quickly applies a microscopic layer of
		(8560 Extended Maintenance Kit only)
silicone oil to the heated drum for reli-
	• No complex consumables
able ink release.
Single pass imaging. Next, the full-width	•	High-speed image transfer
printhead applies all colours at the same	•	Simultaneous application of all colours
time on the rotating drum.
		eliminates misregistration of separate cyan,
		magenta, yellow, and black image layers
	•	High-speed image transfer
Image transfer. A sheet of paper is rapidly	• A short, simple paper path for speed and
fed between the drum and a transfix
		high reliability
roller, transferring the ink to the paper.
	•	Transfer printing process yields great print
		quality on a wide variety of paper types
	•	No fuser required
Ink bonding. As the ink on the drum	•	Colourfast printing with no smearing
transfers to the paper, it penetrates the		or drying time
paper’s fibers, but without the spreading	•	More consistent colour quality on a
of liquid inkjets or the toner scattering of
		wider range of media than liquid inkjet
lasers. The ink cools and solidifies imme-
		or colour laser
diately, forming a strong, permanent
bond to the paper.
Two-sided printing. For automatic two-	• A simple, short, built-in duplex paper
sided printing, the paper is not fully		path means faster two-sided printing
ejected into the exit tray but is fed back		and fewer paper jams
into the printer through the duplex paper	•	No additional paper tray required
path. The second image on the drum is
transferred to the other side of the paper.
Reloading. The ink loader draws ink	•	Easy, on-the-fly ink stick reloading for
from solid ink sticks instead of a self-		continuous operation
contained toner cartridge. Ink can be	•	Ink loader can be “topped off” before long,
replaced or added at any time without
		high-coverage print jobs to avoid interruptions
taking the printer offline.
	•	More environmentally friendly; less wasteful
		packaging, less waste ink by-products

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PHASER 8560 EVALUATOR GUIDE