Parts of a typical inkjet printer include: Print head assembly:
- Print head - The middle of an inkjet printer, the print head contains a series of nozzles that are used to drop ink.
- Ink cartridges - Depending on the manufacturer and model of the printer, It has different types of cartridges The cartridges of some inkjet printers include the print head itself.
- Print head stepper motor - A stepper motor moves the print head assembly back and forth across the paper. Some printers have another stepper motor to park the print head assembly when the printer is not in use. Parking means that the print head assembly is restricted from accidentally moving, like a parking brake on a car.
- Belt - A belt is used to attach the print head assembly to the stepper motor.
- Stabilizer bar - The print head assembly uses a stabilizer bar to ensure that movement is precise and controlled.
- Paper tray/feeder - This of course is where the paper is stored and where you put in fresh pieces of paper.
- Rollers - A set of rollers pull the paper in from the tray or feeder and advance the paper when the print head assembly is ready for another pass.
- Paper feed stepper motor - This stepper motor powers the rollers to move the paper in the exact increment needed to ensure a continuous image is printed.
- Power supply - While earlier printers often had an external transformer, most printers sold today use a standard power supply that is added into the printer itself.
- Control circuitry - A small but sophisticated amount of circuitry is put into the printer to control all the mechanical aspects of operation, as well as decodes the information sent to the printer from the computer.
- Interface port(s) - The parallel port is still used by many printers, but most newer printers use the USB port. A few printers connect using a serial port or small computer system interface (SCSI) port.