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Solid Ink Technology

Solid ink technology was first developed by Tektronix in 1986.  After Tektronix was acquired by Xerox in 2000, solid ink technology has been used in some Xerox business color printers.  Solid ink technology utilizes solid ink sticks instead of liquid ink or toner powder.  The ink exists in solid form until it is heated to a specific temperature and melts.  The liquid ink is then applied through a precise stainless steel print head and instantly turned back to solid form when printed. 

Solid ink printers have relatively simple design compared to color laser printers.  A solid ink printer consists of only three major assemblies: the print head, print drum and the controller.  The print head applies ink to the print drum which transfers the image to paper whereas the controller converts the data from the computer to the printer. 

Solid ink printers are designed for color printing and the ink sticks are shape-coded.  Xerox deliberately makes the color sticks in different shapes, so they only fit into specific slots on the top of the printer.  Because of the simplicity of design, solid ink printers are compact and more affordable than color laser printers.  They also have distinct advantages over color inkjet printers because of the fast print speed, lower consumable cost and the ability to print high quality text and images on a wide range of media.

Advantages and disadvantages of solid ink
Solid ink vs color inkjet vs color laser