Ink cartridge

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Two cartridges (one with black ink, one with colored inks) installed in an inkjet printer

An ink cartridge or inkjet cartridge is a replaceable component of an ink jet printer that contains the ink (and sometimes the print-head itself) that is spread on paper during printing.

Each ink cartridge contains one or more partitioned ink reservoirs; certain manufacturers also add electronic contacts and a chip that communicates with the printer.

Design

Thermal

Most consumer inkjet printers, such as those made by Canon, HP, and Lexmark (but not Epson) use a thermal inkjet; inside each partition of the ink reservoir is a heating element with a tiny metal plate or resistor. In response to a signal given by the printer, a tiny current flows through the metal or resistor making it warm, and the ink immediately surrounding the heated plate is vaporized into a tiny air bubble inside the nozzle. As a consequence, the total volume of the ink exceeds that of the nozzle. An ink droplet is forced out of the cartridge nozzle onto the paper. This process takes a matter of milliseconds.

The printing depends on the smooth flow of ink, which can be hindered if the ink begins to dry at the print head, as can happen when an ink level becomes low; dried ink can be cleaned from a cartridge print head, by gentle rubbing with isopropyl alcohol on a swab or folded paper towel.^[1]

The ink also acts as a coolant to protect the metal-plate heating elements: when the ink supply is depleted, and printing is attempted, the heating elements in thermal cartridges often burn out, permanently damaging the print head. When the ink first begins to run thin, the cartridge should be refilled or replaced, to avoid over-heating damage to the print-head.

Piezoelectric

All Epson printers use a piezoelectric crystal in each nozzle instead of a heating element. When current is applied, the crystal changes shape or size, forcing a droplet of ink from the nozzle. This allows use of inks which react badly when heated, and can produce a smaller ink drop in some situations than thermal inkjet schemes.

Variants

• Typically, two separate cartridges are inserted into a printer: one containing black ink and one with each of the three primary colors. Alternatively, each primary color may have a dedicated cartridge.
• Some cartridges contain ink specially formulated for printing photographs.
• All printer suppliers produce their own type of ink cartridges. Cartridges for different printers may be incompatible — either physically or electrically.
• Since replacement cartridges from the original manufacturer of the printer are often expensive, several vendors produce "compatible" cartridges as less expensive alternatives. These cartridges sometimes have more ink than the original OEM branded ink cartridges and may produce the same, better, or inferior quality, depending on a variety of factors, including the vendor's ability to duplicate the ink formulation in all respects.
• Some cartridges have incorporated the printer's head (examples include HP, Dell, and Lexmark). The precision parts required generally make the cartridges more expensive, but the printers are cheaper since they don't include the precision print head. Other cartridges don't include the print head and so can cost less, though the printers tend to be somewhat more expensive (Epson is an example).

Pricing

Typically, ink cartridges are expensive, sometimes a substantial fraction of the cost of the printer. Many people, therefore, use compatible ink cartridges (from a vendor other than the printer manufacturer); these can sometimes match the quality of the original at a reduced price. The high cost of cartridges has also provided an incentive for counterfeiters to supply cartridges falsely claiming to be made by the original manufacturer. Another alternative involves modifications of an original cartridge allowing use of continuous ink systems with external ink tanks. And some people choose to use aftermarket inks, refilling their own ink cartridges using a kit including bulk ink.

Some printer manufacturers set up their cartridges to interact with the printer, preventing operation when the ink level is low, or when the cartridge has been refilled.^[2]. One Which? researcher who over-rode such an interlocked system found that in one case he could print up to 38% more good quality pages, even though the chip stated that the cartridge was empty ^[2]. In the United Kingdom, in 2003, the cost of ink has been the subject of an Office of Fair Trading investigation, as Which? magazine has accused manufacturers of a lack of transparency about the price of ink and called for an industry standard for measuring ink cartridge performance ^[2]. Which? stated that some cartridges cost over seven times more than vintage champagne per millilitre ^[2].

Consumers are often surprised at the price of replacing their printer cartridges, especially when compared with that of purchasing a brand new printer. The major printer manufacturers, Hewlett Packard, Lexmark, Dell, Canon, Epson and Brother, often break even or lose money selling printers and expect to make a profit with the printer sale by selling cartridges over the life span of the printer. (A "razor and blades" business model.) Since much of the printer manufacturers' profits are from ink and toner cartridge sales, some of these companies have taken various actions against aftermarket cartridges.

Refills and third party replacements

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Infusing an inkjet printer

A sufficient number of consumers to support a substantial after market (ink vendors, ink cartridge refillers and remanufactures, replacement cartridge makers) opt out of buying original manufacturer ink and cartridges. ed cartridges from third parties to save money over buying new cartridges. This is much cheaper (eg, when refilling as one need only buy the ink and some other small raw materials), and a whole industry has grown up around this idea. The legality of this industry was brought to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in the case of Lexmark Int'l v. Static Control Components. The Court ruled that reverse-engineering the handshaking procedure to enable compatibility did not violate the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

There are several qualities and types of refilling, some of them being safe and successful, while other types can ruin the printer^{[citation needed]} and/or give bad quality prints. Options include taking empty cartridges to "refillers" or "remanufacturers" who pump in new ink or buying store-branded ink and doing it themselves.^[3].

Another option is for the consumer to purchase "bulk ink" (in pints, quarts, and even gallons) and refill the cartridges themselves. This can be extremely cost effective if the consumer is a heavy user of cartridges. 1 US pint (470 ml; 17 imp fl oz) is sufficient to fill approximately 15 to 17 large capacity cartridges.

Generally speaking, Canon, Dell, HP, and Lexmark cartridges are not difficult to refill, while Epson cartridges usually require purchase of a chip resetter to reset the counter chip built into many Epson cartridges. And some, or maybe all, Brother printers have scanners, which continue to register a cartridge as "empty" even if refilled. Since refilling involves handling ink, it can be inherently messy until experience has been acquired. Alternatively, 3rd party manufacturers have been offering refillable cartridges with auto reset chip ^[4] to simplify the refilling process. These refillable cartridges are environmentally friendly and often easy to further refill.

Resetting Epson ink cartridge using a resetter tool

Laser toner or inkjet cartridges sold as "remanufactured" are usually re-filled cartridges, although many third-party newly manufactured "compatible" cartridges exist. Inkjet cartridges sold as "compatible" are typically newly manufactured cartridges. Inkjet cartridges sold as "Remanufactured" are cartridges that have been used at least once by a consumer and then refilled by a third party.

See also

• Cartridge (electronics)
• Arizona Cartridge Remanufacturers Association Inc. v. Lexmark International Inc.
• Inkjet refill kit
• Razor and blades business model

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ink-jet cartridge

• BBC Radio 4 You and Yours - Hewlett Packard accused of misleading advertising in the UK, 26 April 2007