People may wonder what toner cartridges, ink cartridges and drum units are. But when it comes to printers, are you still unfamiliar with them?
Many companies regard printers as disposable goods, yet this view is wrong. The consumables inside printers—the three items mentioned above—are all office supplies.
Never underestimate their consumption rate. Without them, a printer is nothing more than an empty shell.
What are the differences among toner cartridges, ink cartridges and drum units? Many people working in the consumables industry have this question, or have wondered about it before. Today let’s discuss this topic together.
First, let’s talk about the toner cartridge. In fact, what we commonly call a “toner cartridge” is properly referred to as a carbon toner cartridge. Toner is a solid powdery substance.
Toner cartridges are printing consumables used in multifunctional copiers and laser printers. By contrast, ink cartridges are consumables designed for inkjet printers. Drum units are also consumables applied to laser printers.
Next, let’s move on to ink cartridges. An ink cartridge is mainly the component in an inkjet printer that holds printing ink and executes the printing process. As the name suggests, it contains liquid ink. In ancient times, the term referred to a writing utensil used to hold ink for calligraphy.
Based on the structural design of ink cartridges available on the market, they can generally be divided into two types: separate ink cartridges and integrated ink cartridges.
It’s worth noting that ink cartridges play a vital role in inkjet printers. Especially for some entry-level printers, the cost of two ink cartridges can equal the price of the printer itself. Therefore, you must take the cost of ink cartridges into consideration when buying a printer.
Lastly, let’s talk about the drum unit, also known as the photosensitive drum. It generally consists of an aluminum base substrate coated with photosensitive materials.
The drum unit not only determines print quality, but also affects users’ overall printing costs. In laser printers, more than 70% of the imaging components are integrated into the drum unit. To a large extent, print quality is determined by the drum unit. Therefore, the drum unit is the most critical component of a laser printer.
