3.8a - Laser Printers: Professor Messer

Laser Printer

A printer that uses a laser to produce high-quality prints and fast printing speeds.

Pro of Laser Printer

Very high-quality prints.

Pro #2 of Laser Printer

Fast printing speeds.

Con of Laser Printer

Very complex - has many moving parts, requires on-printer memory, and is messy on the inside.

Laser Printing Process - Processing

Sending print data to the printer; building the entire page in memory.

Laser Printing Process - Charging

Preparing the drum with a negative electrostatic charge.

Laser Printing Process - Exposing

Laser begins writing the image to the imaging drum via a positive charge.

Laser Printing Process - Developing

Adding negatively-charged toner to positively-charged areas of the imaging drum.

Laser Printing Process - Transferring

Moving the toner from the imaging drum to the paper.

Laser Printing Process - Fusing

Applying heat and pressure to melt the toner onto the paper.

Laser Printing Process - Cleaning

Removing any excess toner from the imaging drum for successive print cycles.

Fuser Assembly

Component of a laser printer that combines heat and pressure to melt toner onto paper.

Photosensitive Drum

Component that responds to light and creates the electrostatic image for printing.

Transfer Belt

Holds four separate toner cartridges for color prints (cyan, yellow, magenta, black).

Pickup Roller

Feeds a single page into the printer from the paper tray.

Separation Pad

Pulls a single page from the top of the paper tray, preventing multiple sheets from being picked.

Duplexing Assembly

Allows double-sided printing by printing side one and then side two.