How Laser Printers Work

By Author: Tyrone Grimm
Total Articles: 1
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Unlike inkjet printers, which are easily defined by their name, laser printers are not so easy to explain. Inkjet printers literally print images onto paper by using tiny jets of ink. So, does this mean Dell laser printers use tiny laser beams to transfer letters and pictures onto paper? Certainly not. That is, of course, unless you want to burn holes into your paper. As it turns out, the process isn't as complex as you might think and it does involve a certain type of laser. Innovation and some basic scientific principles lend themselves to this efficient little machine.

There are several components that make up a laser printer. The biggest part of the printer is the drum, an aluminum cylinder coated with photosensitive material. There are also lasers that charge the different parts of the printer to allow images to transfer onto the paper. The last two mechanisms are the tonner hopper and a fuser. These components ensure that an image will be printed on the paper.

You must have learned about negative and positive charges in school. If ...
... not then listen up. If you've ever played with magnets you know that one side is positively charged and the other is negatively charged. You also know, through playing with them, that the negative ends stick to the positive ends and vice versa. The positives won't stick to themselves and the negatives won't stick to themselves. The similar charges repel and the opposite charges stick.

Now you're onto the process. The computer sends the information you want to print to the printer and the whole page is saved in the printer's memory. The photoreceptor drum is then given a positive electrical charge in preparation to print. This page is then written onto the drum using a laser. This laser gives the area in which the image is being printed a negative charge. The background is positive and the image or document is negatively charged. The printer then covers the drum in toner dust which happens to be positively charged. Recap: positive sticks to negative. The toner dust only sticks to the areas with a negative charge. Then, your paper (negatively charged) is pressed against the drum and the toner (positively charged) is transferred to the paper. The last step in this process is where the fuser heats up the paper so the toner is fused into the paper. Now, your freshly printed paper is pushed out and the whole drum is discharged for the next print job.

Documents and images are quickly transferred to your printer and onto a piece of paper. The whole process is expedited very swiftly and the outcome is a warm piece of printed paper. These machines are best used when you have a lot of pages you need printed. Now you know the inner workings of the laser printer.