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Printer and Photocopier Troubleshooting and Repair Collection : Dot matrix printer operation
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1994-2007, Samuel M. Goldwasser. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of this document in whole or in part is permitted if both of the following conditions are satisfied: 1. This notice is included in its entirety at the beginning. 2. There is no charge except to cover the costs of copying.
I may be contacted via the Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ (www.repairfaq.org) Email Links Page.
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Printer and Photocopier Technology
These are the only type of impact printers still in wide use. A set of steel
pins - typically between 9 and 24 - strikes the paper through a fabric or
carbon film ribbon. The pins are activated by solenoids which are controlled
by the printer's control logic. Multiple passes may be used to increase the
effective number of pins and improve print quality (letter versus draft mode).
For text, an internal character generator (ROM) converts ASCII codes to
pin firing patterns. For arbitrary graphics, the actual bit map is read
out and used to control the pin drive.
The paper, carriage, and sometimes ribbon movement use stepper motors. These,
their drivers, or interconnect cables, are common problem areas.