用戶:JuneAugust/墨粉筒
墨粉筒（也稱為「墨粉盒」）是一種用於激光打印機的消耗部件（通常稱為「耗材」）。墨粉筒包含墨粉、細小而乾燥的塑料顆粒混合物、碳和黑色或其他顏色着色劑來使實際圖像在顯現在紙張上。在印刷過程中墨粉經由靜電充放電感光鼓單元轉印至紙上，由加熱輥加熱將其熔合在紙張上。
變體
中低端打印機通常含有兩件耗材：墨粉筒（通常打印壽命為2,000頁）和感光鼓單元（通常打印壽命為40,000頁）。一些墨粉筒在設計中也包含了感光鼓單元，因此，每一次更換墨粉意味着也要更換感光鼓單元，儘管有些人認為這種類型的設計是沒有必要的且並不符合成本效益。墨粉筒類似於噴墨打印機所使用的墨盒。
價格
Toner cartridges can be expensive, sometimes exceeding the cost of the printer itself. This is generally only true for cheap laser printers; for this reason people may dispose of the printer when it is out of toner (which basically negates any "green" or "eco friendly" claims made by the manufactures (since many insist you use their inks))and replace the entire machine (though the new machines generally come with toners that are only ⅓ full). Alternatively, consumers can turn to generic brand laser toners that are manufactured by companies other than the printer manufacturer, which are widely available at a fraction of the price of the genuine brand replacement. In addition, toner refill kit could be used to refill an empty cartridge.
墨盒類型
原裝墨盒 - 也叫做"Original Equipment Manufacturer" or "OEM"
- These are manufactured by printer manufacturers. Manufacturers offer certain guarantees when you use genuine brand toner in your printer and makes certain threats if you don't, voiding warranty is a typical accusation made, although in many countries this is illegal. Genuine cartridges are more expensive than refills, compatibles or re-manufactured cartridges, however you can reduce the difference in price dramatically by purchasing cartridges from a specialist retailer.
通用墨盒 - 也叫做「兼容墨盒」
- These cartridges are manufactured from scratch, they are not used cartridges that have been refilled or re-manufactured. They are produced by a third party companies and sold under different brand names. Often compatible cartridges may vary slightly in look, design and page yield to their genuine counterparts due to certain patents that restrict the exact copying of designs. Although some might say these generic cartridges are less reliable, they are undoubtedly a cost-effective alternative to the genuine article and many have exceeded the quality of the OEM.
重灌裝墨盒
- A process by which the OEM or other compatible cartridge is dismantled after the first use. Any worn or defective parts are replaced and the cartridge is cleaned then it is refilled with toner.
兼容性
Remanufactured, compatible, OEM and refilled toner cartridges are available from a variety of sources. While compatible and OEM cartridges are typically items that can be purchased off-the-shelf, companies that offer remanufactured cartridges typically require the customer to provide an empty cartridge, which is then remanufactured and provided back to the customer. [來源請求]
None of the refilling companies manufacture the empty shell. All of them use the shell of the exhausted cartridge, clean it, replace all the damaged parts, fill it up with fresh toner and repack it.
Although the remanufacturing process relies on there being an empty cartridge available, some companies (a handful of larger chain stores) are able to offer remanufactured cartridges off-the-shelf in the same manner that OEM and compatible cartridges are purchased. This is a factor of their size and volume which allows cartridges to be remanufactured centrally in bulk and later inventoried at store level to be picked up as an off-the-shelf item by the consumer. [來源請求] Worldwide, not many companies make empty cartridges. They buy the used cartridges from users through the scrap dealers, refurbish them and keep them ready for sale.[來源請求]
可持續發展
Each brand new toner cartridge requires the burning of over 2 quarts of petroleum in the manufacturing process. In North America alone, more than 200 million litres of petroleum are used to sustain the production of new toner cartridges with the majority of these cartridges ending up in the worlds landfills once empty. Manufactures have responded by developing 資源回收 programs for their used cartridges. On August 1, 2011 Hewlett Packard issued a press release showing their recycling process involves a partnership with an Asian firm that reuses plastic collected from the empty cartridges.
Advocates [1] [2] of more environmentally friendly processes claim that using refilled and remanufactured toner cartridges are much more environmentally friendly than using brand name new cartridges. Refilled and remanufactured cartridges reduce the dependency on petroleum that otherwise would have been used in the manufacture process of the new cartridge. Advocates[誰？] also claim that the recycling programs devised by manufacturers are not always as environmentally friendly as consumers might think or in comparison to other options that may be available.
HP's recycling program involves the recycling of cartridges in partnership with a company in Asia. The process uses significant amounts of petroleum in the collection of empty cartridges on one continent and in transporting them half way around the world to be recycled. In this example, walking to your local remanufacturer is certainly more sustainable than the aforementioned process.
Lexmark also has a similar program which they claim is in place to assure that as many empties as possible are collected and reused.[1] The program is called the "Prebate return program". In their prebate model the toner cartridges are always owned by Lexmark and consumers purchase the right to use the cartridge until empty. Once empty, Lexmark requires that the cartridges are returned to Lexmark. Since the prebate program cartridges are much more inexpensive to purchase from Lexmark, consumers are pushed into choosing those cartridges over the non prebate program cartridges.
Advocates[誰？] claim that since empty prebate cartridges are "owned" by Lexmark; and since Lexmark expressely forbids the remanufacturing or recycling of the cartridge by anyone other than themselves; and since third party remanufacturers cannot therefore remanufacture the empty cartridges; and since the majority of cartridges are never returned to Lexmark, the result is that the prebate program actually ensures fewer cartridges are recycled and customers are more often required to purchase brand name OEM cartridges.
