A History Of Printer Ink Cartridges - By: Kathryn Dawson

Many years before printer ink cartridges such as Dell ink cartridges and Epson printer ink cartridges were made available to consumers, woodblock printing was the first printing method used as early as the sixth century in which a block of wood is used similar to the stamp we know nowadays. The block is carved in such a way that the area showing the white parts are cut out with a knife, a chisel or sandpaper which leaves the area to be printed on the surface level.

In 1040 the movable type system started being used. Letters or characters were printed individually in porcelain or metal punches and were, yes, movable for mass printing making it the ideal system for newspaper or any other publication that used letters. This paved the way to the employ of a printing press. A printing press basically is a standing machine that is usually five to seven feet long, three feet wide and seven feet tall wherein the letters are arranged in a frame or flatbed, then ink is ran over it and paper is impressed within two frames. These were all done by hand.

In 1796 lithography started being by using a smooth piece of limestone where a wax or oil-based image is drawn on to it. A gum Arabic solution is applied to the surface of the limestone sticking only to the non-oily parts so during printing the oily inked part was the only area impressed.

In 1969, the printers we use today started being used by big companies. The first laser printers were created by Xerox and were far bigger than the ones we used today. They literally took up a whole room. Inkjet printers were created as an alternative to laser printers which were extremely expensive equipment then, and since then inkjets have become the printer of popular choice.

Basically an inkjet printer replicates an image by forcing droplets of ink onto paper. An inkjet printer needs an ink cartridge in order to print pages. Most cartridges come in two kinds, thermal and piezoelectric cartridges. Most brands like Canon, HP and Lexmark cartridges have a tiny metal plate or resistor that serves as heating element that when warmed, sends the ink bubbles into the cartridge nozzle.

Epson utilizes a piezoelectric crystal in each nozzle of its cartridge that changes shape and size when current is applied to it which then forces the droplets of ink to print on paper.

Printer manufacturers supply their own cartridges that usually come in two types for printers to function. One is pure black for printing plain black and white documents and the other containing three colours (Cyan, Magenta & Yellow) for printing coloured documents or images. Some cartridges are specially made for printing photographs.

There are two ways manufacturers do their business. One is through the “Gillette” business model where one item such as the printer is sold at a low price so that the sales of supplies such as cartridges are increased. The other method is employs exactly the same business model but works other way around.

Since cartridges can sometimes come at a very hefty price. Consumers found some alternative methods in purchasing cartridges. One is through refilling kits that allows a consumer to possibly refill the cartridge on their own. However, certain equipment such as Dell ink cartridges and Epson printer ink cartridges have a resetting chip that cannot be reset simply by refilling the cartridge. Another is through purchasing compatible ink cartridges made by third party manufacturers that can replace almost any kind of brand there is. The last option is purchasing re-manufactured printer cartridges that are recycled then refilled with ink. However cheap these alternatives may be though, manufacturers do not recommend them for the sole purpose that they are not the printer ink cartridges made to work with your printer and may eventually damage your equipment and void your equipments warranty.

Although we live in a current environment where it is a goal to cut on costs and save the environment, the world is obviously not ready to adapt to that yet. Until then printing still plays a very influential role in our history, serves as a daily habit and is an organic part of every individual or business need depending on your daily usage and requirement.

About the Author

Kathryn Dawson writes about Cartridge Shop, an online shop providing high quality printer ink cartridges. If you’re looking for low costs premium epson printer ink and dell ink cartridges then Cartridge Shop definitely is the right place for you.

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