Xerox PHASER 8560MFP Evaluator Manual page 17

Section 3: Inside a Solid Ink Printing System
Overview
Look inside the Phaser 8560MFP multifunction printer and you'll find a surpris-
ingly simple printing mechanism for such a powerful printer.
make a print, a printhead applies ink droplets, constituting a printed image, onto a rapidly
rotating, heated drum. The image is transferred directly off the drum onto a sheet of paper.
The final print is completely dry since the ink solidifies as soon as it transfers to the paper.
Drum Maintenance
Camshaft
Drum Maintenance
Pivot Plate
Drum
Reservoir
Printhead
Driver Board
Purge Tube
Transfix Roller
Preheater
Paper Exit Sensor
Transfix Roller
Preheat Exit Sensor
Preheat Entry
(Deskew) Sensor
Ink Loader
Ink Melt
Units
Preparing to print. As the printing process begins,
Drum
the long-life maintenance roller quickly applies a
Oil On Drum
microscopic layer of silicone oil to the heated drum
Blade
for reliable ink release.
Maintenance Roller
Single pass imaging. Next, the full-width printhead
applies all colors at the same time on the rotating
Printhead
drum.
Image transfer. A sheet of paper is rapidly fed
between the drum and a transfix roller, transferring
the ink to the paper.
Jet Stack
Ink bonding. As the ink on the drum transfers to the
paper, it penetrates the paper's fibers, but without
the spreading of liquid ink-jets or the toner scatter-
ing of laser. The ink cools and solidifies immediately,
Drum Heater
forming a strong, permanent bond to the paper.
Drum
Two-sided output. For automatic two-sided output,
Exit Module Elevator
after the first side is printed, the paper is fed back
across the drum through the duplex paper path. The
second image on the drum
Exit Sensor
is transferred to the other side of the sheet
Strip
Sensor
of paper.
Paper Preheater
Reloading. The ink loader draws ink from mess-free
solid ink sticks instead of a single-use toner cartridge.
Ink can be replaced or added at any time without
taking the printer offline.
Ink Stick
Ink Low Sensors
Ink Out Sensors
Printhead
In simplest terms, to
Advantages
• A simple, robust, reliable printing mechanism
• Maintenance roller lasts up to 30,000 prints (in
Extended Maintenance Kit)
• No complex consumables
• High-speed image transfer
• Simultaneous application of all colors eliminates
misregistration of separate cyan, magenta, yellow,
and black image layers
• High-speed image transfer
• A short, simple paper path for speed and high
reliability
• Transfer printing process yields great print quality
on a wide variety of papers
• No fuser required
• Colorfast printing with no smearing or
drying time
• More consistent color quality on a
wider range of media than liquid ink-jet
or color laser
• A simple, short, built-in duplex paper path means
faster two-sided output and fewer paper jams
• No additional paper tray required
• Easy, on-the-fly ink stick reloading for
continuous operation
• Ink loader can be "topped off" before long, high-
coverage print jobs to avoid interruptions
• More environmentally friendly; less waste packag-
ing, less waste ink by-products
Xerox Phaser 8560MFP Evaluator Guide 17