About Printer Toner Cartridges
Printer toner cartridges are major components in laser printers that create images on pieces of paper. The toner that is held in the cartridges is heated and fused to paper to make a print. This toner can be dangerous if ingested or breathed. Many companies work to recycle and refill the printer toner cartridges, making it one of the business world's largest industries.
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Function
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Printer toner cartridges are replaceable components of a laser printer and photocopier. They are generally sizable parts that contain a powder mix of carbon and polymer. This mixture is spread across paper and melted by a fuser to create a print or copy. Early toner cartridges were permanently installed in machines, while the newest ones are completely interchangeable parts that need to be replaced at certain intervals. The amount of copies that can be done per printer toner cartridge varies by model and paper saturation. The average lifespan of a printer toner cartridge is determined by the assumption that 12 percent of a piece of paper will be saturated by the toner. So if the cartridge says it can do 1000 sheets of paper, it is assuming that only 12 percent of each sheets are filled with toner.
Features
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Toner originally was available only in black and the machines had difficulty doing halftones. As the science of photocopiers progressed, the results became more advanced. This was due to the implementation of organic photo conductors, the device that places the toner on a sheet of paper. Digital technology also aided the quality of prints. After time, printer toner cartridges became available in other colors. Most modern laser printers and photocopiers use a CMYK format--meaning cyan, magenta, yellow and black cartridges. This allows a wide variety of colors and shades to be produced.
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Misconceptions
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Toner cartridges are different from ink cartridges in both size and quality. Toner cartridges use a dry powder that is heated onto a sheet of paper, while ink cartridges use wet ink to lay images on a sheet of paper. Prices for each vary significantly, however, toner cartridges are known for their better quality and high volume for price ratio. This has created a market in which two specific types of printers and copiers exist: toner-based laser printers and inkjet printers. The majority of home based systems are of the inkjet family due to space considerations, while most businesses and professional printers use laser printers.
Effects
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The majority of modern toner cartridges are refillable. This is usually done through a third-party source that neither uses the printer nor supplied the printer itself. Dealerships generally lease out printers and copy machines with a service contract for its client that may or may not include toner refills. This has created the third-party system in which companies specialize in taking shipments of empty toner bottles and cartridges and refilling them with fresh toner. The system has created a much improved recycling program from the past. Before these modern techniques, thousands of toner cartridges were merely discarded and ended up in landfills.
Warning
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Toner can be a dangerous element, both to humans and the environment. Because of the fine texture of toner, any material that gets out of the cartridge can move around as inert dust and enter the respiratory system. Great care must be taken when working on or with printers that use toner cartridges. In addition, toner cartridges that are improperly disposed in the garbage often end up in landfills and the toner inside leaks into underground water systems. This toner, especially black, is dangerous to consume due to the trace levels of metallic substances.
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Resources
- Photo Credit Asterion
