A copier’s inner workings are one of the most complex machine components in an office. Although a copier’s function is pretty straightforward, laymen end users are not exactly trained as to the repair and maintenance of its parts. Those tasks are usually reserved for technicians and engineers who are specially trained to work on these machines. However, if you always work with machines, it probably would not hurt to know what the important components are and how they make a copier function the way it does.
Here are the most basic components of an average copying machine:
Controller Circuitry – also known as the Electronic Control Circuit works with a switch connected to the user control panel. This then activates the specific function of copying. Thus, a signal is passed to a circuit board with an Analogue to Digital Converter. The output of the circuit will then pass the signal to the printing mechanism.
Photoreceptor Drum – is also said to be the heart of your photocopier. The drum is an aluminum cylinder, which is coated with a photoconductive or light sensitive film. Said film accumulates static electricity in the areas where there is light, thus recording image patterns in a sequence of electrically active and inactive areas.
Charge Corona – a thin wire in a metal slide that is usually made part of the drum unit. The wire releases an electrical charge to attract toner particles to the drum in order to record the image on paper.
Primary Charge Roller (PCR) – This part is made of rubber, which is located inside the toner cartridge. Its primary function is to place an initial charge on the surface of the drum so that the laser can write on to it. Its secondary function, on the other hand, is to help erase any residual charges left on the drum surface after the printing process.
Laser Beam – This is a gun that emits light and is controlled by the printer to fire light pulses towards mirrors. The mirrors will then reflect the light onto the photosensitive drum to form the image as static electricity.
Toner Unit – This unit carries the Toner, which is a powder that contains finely grounded dye colored plastic. Once heated, this plastic will become ink. It also contains the “Developer.”
Developer – the developer is a finely grounded metallic chemical that can be electrically charged. When the Drum rolls pass the toner unit, the developer becomes attracted to the drum and allows it to carry the toner along with it onto the drum.
Fuser Unit – this part binds the toner to the paper. It has two rollers, the upper one of which is heated to melt the toner plastic and release the ink onto the paper while the lower fuser roller is only a soft silicon rubber.
Cleaning Unit – this part consists of a magnetic roller and a cleaning blade or a silicone rubber strip, which removes residues.
Paper Cassette and Feed – while the cassette, also known as the paper tray, is the container to hold the stack of paper sheets to print on, the paper feed is a rubber piece that takes a piece of paper from the tray and sends it into the printer system.
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