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Laser Printers: Electrostatic Application

Laser printers use electrostatic force to print documents similarly to photocopiers. A laser forms an image on a rotating drum coated with selenium that has a positive charge. Areas hit by the laser lose their charge. Toner, a fine black powder with a positive charge, sticks to the discharged areas on the drum. The drum then transfers the toner image to paper given a negative charge, which pulls the positively charged toner onto its surface to form the printed document.

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Rawn Henry
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112 views

Laser Printers: Electrostatic Application

Laser printers use electrostatic force to print documents similarly to photocopiers. A laser forms an image on a rotating drum coated with selenium that has a positive charge. Areas hit by the laser lose their charge. Toner, a fine black powder with a positive charge, sticks to the discharged areas on the drum. The drum then transfers the toner image to paper given a negative charge, which pulls the positively charged toner onto its surface to form the printed document.

Uploaded by

Rawn Henry
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Electrostatic Application

Laser Printers
Laser printers use electrostatic force between charged particles to print a
document in a very similar manner as a photocopier. The static electricity is
the main means of getting the toner onto the paper. The process takes place
in several steps

A laser (semiconductor laser) forms the image or document to be


printed on a rotating drums coated with selenium. This drum has a
positive charge.
Where the laser falls onto the drum, the electric charge would leak
away. In other words, these areas become discharged.
The drum is coated with a positively charged toner (a fine black
powder.) The positively charged toner then clings to the discharged
areas formed by the laser. Since like charges repel, the toner will only
accumulate in areas which are discharged.
With the toner in position, the drum then rolls onto a sheet of paper
which moves along a belt. Before the paper makes contact with the
drum, it is given a negative charge by a corona wire (a wire with an
electrical current running through it).
The negatively charged paper pulls the positively charged powder
towards it. The drum and the paper will be moving at the same speed
and because of this, the paper would gain the exact image formed on
the drum.
The paper is quickly discharged afterwards to prevent it from sticking
to the drum due to the opposing charges.

Simple Diagram of a Laser Printers Components

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