Printer and Copier Supplies

Correctable ribbons are used in typewriters and are like most typewriter ribbons. The only difference being that correctable ribbons use a special type of ink which can be lifted off the paper by using a lift-off tape which can be easily bought separately.

Developer units play a very important role in functioning of any modern-day laser printer. Moving toner powder through the printing process is the main task of these units. Like other laser printer parts developer units also need to be replaced after normal wear and tear associated with the printing process.

Drums are known by many names such as photoreceptor drum, image drum, imaging unit or imaging drum. These are found in all laser printers and are essential to the laser printing process where they transfer toner powder, images and text to a paper after these are imprinted on a drum via a laser.

Fabric ribbons have been used in typewriters since the invention of first typewriter. In the early years of 20th century cotton was the main fabric used for typewriter ribbons and was replaced with silk after World War II, which remained the favourite of all sort of typists until 2000s. Fabric ribbons have some certain advantages when it comes to typing and are a good substitute for plastic ribbons.

Fuser kits play an important role in any laser printer as these devices are necessary for printing process. A fuser kit consists of a set of heavy rollers which use a combination of heat and pressure for melting toner powder on a piece of paper.

Imaging units transfer toner powder and images imprinted on their surface via a laser to paper in a process known as fusion. Indeed, imaging units are fundamental to the working of any laser printer. Printing capacity of an imaging unit normally runs into thousands of pages although this is lower for colour printers. Both black and colour imaging units need to be changed on a regular basis.

Unlike inkjet cartridges, ink sticks contain solid ink and are normally available in CMYK or Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black colours which are combined in various proportions with each other for creating numerous other colours. Solid Ink sticks waste much less ink as compared to dry ink cartridges.

Inkjet cartridges are the most widely used printing cartridges due to the widespread use of inkjet printers around the globe. Inkjet cartridges use liquid ink which is sprayed on the paper by inkjet nozzle for creating the image. Most modern inkjet cartridges can be easily refilled as it is much cheaper to refill a cartridge then buying a new one.

Laser toners function similarly to inkjet cartridges in inkjet printers and due to their role in creating the image on paper they are also known as toner cartridges. Unlike inkjet cartridges which use liquid ink, laser toners use a fine dry powder mix of carbon, plastic particles and colour for creating an image on paper.

Lift off tapes allow one to lift off the ink from a paper and are used by almost all typists. Initially developed during the 1950s, these tapes inspired the later widespread development of correction fluids and pens for correcting mistakes by pen. By lifting off the ink from a paper these tapes allow a typist to type a new set of words in place of older ones without any trace of erasing.

An OPC belt can be found in a laser printer and will need replacing, usually, your printer will flash up a message on the display telling you when it's time. They are specific to printers in much the same way as ink cartridges and it's advisable to refer to the user manual to find out which type of OPC belt you'll need.

Ozone filters protect human lungs and rubber parts in a printer from ozone which is a harmful, toxic and corrosive gas produced during the printing process in almost all laser printers. Many drum replacements also come with ozone filters and allow a user to replace an ozone filter along with the printer drum.

Photoconductors are photosensitive drums used in most laser printers which play a very important role in the laser printing process. Photoconductors act as receptors for digitized data and toner powder which is then transferred to the paper for creating an image.

Print wheels are fundamental to daisy wheel printers and typewriters as these serve as the basic printing mechanism for impacting the paper with a character. Indeed, daisy wheel printers derive their name from daisy shaped print wheels also known as disks.

A printer maintenance kit is a set of replacement parts and tools to fix a printer. This is essential for any businesses who rely on printers and use them in the day to day functioning of the business. The maintenance kit ensures the printer does not get overused and break, but instead parts are maintained regularly to ensure smooth operation of the printer.

Process units sit include a printer and contain the toner and ink cartridges. These will need replacing as they run out, and each replacement unit can be expected to yield between 4000 and 10000 copies. Process units are used by offices, printing services and any business that needs to produce large volumes of copies.

Thermal ribbons are extensively used in many printers such as label printers, line printers, barcode printers and other models of fax machines. Most of these printers are designed for large scale manufacturing and industrial use and thus thermal ribbons have especially high yield which can be in the range of millions of prints per ribbon cartridge.

Transfer belt along with other items important for transferring image to a paper make up transfer unit within a laser printer and most colour printers use transfer belts. Transfer kits contain all the items in a transfer unit such as transfer drum, belt, charger, cleaning roller, and a charcoal filter and allow one to replace all parts of a transfer unit simultaneously.

Waste toner collectors play an important role in the laser printing process by collecting and storing unused toner during the printing process which if left on printing rolls can affect the print quality. In most of the laser printers waste toner collectors are easily accessible which allows them to be replaced easily.

Other products that didn't quite fit into any of the above categories.