Types of Impact Printers

Impact printers use mechanical pins or keys to produce documentation on paper. They were the first type of printer to be paired with a computer for business and personal use.These large and durable machines are basic in functionality, yet have been useful in many industries.

Dot Matrix

A dot-matrix printer has rows of electromagnetic pins that move to strike the ribbon of ink to form letters and punctuation symbols. It is a loud machine, since it requires strong pressure from the pins to imprint readable text. Paper is moved forward by a rolling rubber cylinder. The printer speed varies from 50 to 500 cps (characters per second). The quality of printing averages a resolution of 240 dpi. Some businesses still use the dot-matrix printer, since it is ideal for making carbon copies (such as receipts or invoices).

Daisy Wheel

A daisy-wheel printer works like a manual typewriter. It has upper/lower case letters and punctuation-symbol keys in a raised stamp form on plastic wheels. The wheels turn until the correct character lines up and strikes the ink on the printer ribbon, forming words on the page. This legacy printer is very slow and loud, with no variance in fonts or graphic capability. Its average speed is 10 to 75 characters per second.

Line Printer

A line printer uses a long drum imprinted with raised characters. As the drum rotates, words are formed on the page. The drum moves in a horizontal direction, printing one line at a time. Line printers have limited font availability and no graphic capability. Due to their design, they require special paper with pre-punched holes on the sides that attach to the printer by raised grooves.The line printer is still found in some businesses due to its durability and ease of use.

Advantages

Impact printers have some advantages, despite their limitations in the areas of features and speed.They are less expensive, thanks to the lower cost of printer ribbons.They can print large, custom-sized pages and produce carbon copies, and are easier to maintain than their laser and inkjet counterparts.

History

The first impact printer was put into use in 1953 by the Remington Rand computer-manufacturing company. At this time, computers were not widely use by businesses or available for consumer use. IBM created the first dot-matrix printer in 1957. Daisy-wheel and line printers were introduced in the 1970s. Later, Xerox incorporated the "daisy-wheel" technology into typewriters. By the 1980s, laser and inkjet printers became available, and impact printers began declining in popularity.

Resources

• Video of impact printer (Line type)
• Source for impact printers and supplies