Hp Toner, Laser Printer Reference Center

Aside from using a laser, laser printers are marked by the use of toner as the source of color for printing, but what is toner and how does it work?  Toner is actually not ink at all; it is electrically charged particles encased in miniature wax suspensions.  The toner is stored in the toner hopper inside of the cartridges in a removable casing, and this is what allows for the refilling of toner cartridges.  As printing begins the device collects the toner to be used into the toner developer. The developer is not a developing system like photography, but rather a negatively charged set of beads that are attached to a metal roller.

The roller picks up the toner using the magnetic charge as the particles are electrostatic.  The image or document being produced is an “electric” image on the rollers and the according charges are applied to pick up the particles at the correct place.  The paper or media being used has a stronger charge and thus the particles are pulled to the page from the imaging drum.  Immediately following the transfer of toner particles the “detac corona” wire discharges the entire system to prepare for the application the heat to fuse the toner.

The toner at this point is only held on the page by gravity; it would be quite easy to gently blow the toner of off the document at this point.  Intense high energy quartz tube lamps are used in the fuser to heat the wax and fuse the toner to the page. To keep the toner from adhering to the rollers, they are coated with Teflon, the same non-stick coating used in cookware.  This also prevents smearing of excess toner during the printing process.  The toner becomes embedded into the page becoming a physical part of the paper.