Star Micronics 8 Series manual Print engine

The Print engine

It’s tie print engine that forms the actual charactersand graphics.The enginedirectsitslaser,apinpointstreamoflightpulses,throughmirrorsand lensesonto the surfaceof a positively-chargedrotatingdrum.

r“’””’

Lens

Laser beam

Scanning mirror

uctor laser diode

Photosensitive drum

Asthelaserscans,it“draws”thepage-mapstoredin yourprinter’smemory. Wherevera lightpulsestrikes,that tiny part of the drumdropsto a neutral electricalcharge. That spot then attracts fine toner powder as the drum rotatespast the powdercompartment.

Asthe drumrotatesfurtherit meetsthepaper.Thepaperitselfis negatively chargedbypassingby a finecoronawire.Sinceoppositechargesattract,the negativepaperclingsto the positivedrum.Then heat and pressurefrom a rollermeltorjkre thedotsof tonerontothepaper,preciselyreproducingthe image.

Finallythepaperslidesintotheoutputbin.Thepaperusuallycomesoutface down so it stacksin the correctsequence.

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