Brother inkjet printers: How does ink get into the printhead?

Thread Starter

ymg200

Joined Oct 2, 2015
41
Hi,
I've used Canon and HP printers before, but not Brother. Both Canon and HP have ink cartridges installed on top of a printhead and move along with a printhead. Cartridges are always in contact with a printhead. Ink therefore just gets down to print nozzles by means of gravity.
Canon cartridge installation: https://support.usa.canon.com/libra... MG3020/Replacing Inks/cartridge_snaps_in.jpg
Unlike others, Brother printers have ink cartridges installed in the printer body, not on top of a printhead. Printhead moves back and forth when printing, but ink cartridges stay stationary. How does ink get into the print head?
Brother cartridge installation: https://support.brother.com/g/b/img/faqend/faq00002879_001/us/en/29532/faq002988_000_02.gif
Thanks all.
 

Ian Rogers

Joined Dec 12, 2012
1,136
If I remeber an old cannon I used to have... The print head has four small reservoirs that keep topped up each time the heads park.
The little rubber foam pad under the ink carts becomes clogged and messy and eventually ruins the print... I got rid and bought a HP..
 

Thread Starter

ymg200

Joined Oct 2, 2015
41
If I remeber an old cannon I used to have... The print head has four small reservoirs that keep topped up each time the heads park.
The little rubber foam pad under the ink carts becomes clogged and messy and eventually ruins the print... I got rid and bought a HP..
Yes, both Canon and HP have ink cartridges installed into the printing head, so ink is delivered from the catridge straight into the printhead. Brother, however, has cartridges on the side of the printer. When printhead moves, cartridges do not. My question is: how ink gets to printhead in Brother printers if cartridges are away from the printhead?
 

Ian Rogers

Joined Dec 12, 2012
1,136
Just told you... When the head parks, it parks under the cartridges.. The tiniest amount is taken to print a line of ink..
 

Thread Starter

ymg200

Joined Oct 2, 2015
41
Just told you... When the head parks, it parks under the cartridges.. The tiniest amount is taken to print a line of ink..
I missed that, thank you!

I print very little and ink dries up faster than I can use it. So I'm looking which system is less prone for ink drying up - cartridge in the head vs Brother's stationary cartridge.
 

atferrari

Joined Jan 6, 2004
4,764
I use my (Epson) printer, really less and less nowadays. Nothing better, at least with it, to print from time to time, one page to keep it in shape. Otherwise, had to do an occasional head cleaning to recover printing quality.

When moving to my current location, 5 years ago I came with 3 reams. The third is still in use. Very slow pace.
 

Thread Starter

ymg200

Joined Oct 2, 2015
41
Epson has cartridges in the printhead just like Canon and HP do. I can't find any discussion on the web which design is better - Brother with stationary cartridges vs everyone else. I'm curious which design is better to prevent ink from drying up. I wonder if noone else uses stationary cartridge design because the other one is better or because Brother has patented its design.
 

atferrari

Joined Jan 6, 2004
4,764
Epson has cartridges in the printhead just like Canon and HP do. I can't find any discussion on the web which design is better - Brother with stationary cartridges vs everyone else. I'm curious which design is better to prevent ink from drying up. I wonder if noone else uses stationary cartridge design because the other one is better or because Brother has patented its design.
My current L380 uses refillable tanks connected with flexible hoses.
 

Thread Starter

ymg200

Joined Oct 2, 2015
41
Refillable tanks work well for volume printing. In their refillable models Canon/Epson/HP have moved cartridges away from the head in order to make them stationary and refillable, but the design essentially stays the same - ink is still delivered directly to the printhead, only now via the tubing. Brother cartridges, however, were never part of the printhead. They were always stationary and it's much easier to make them refillable (no tubing to the printhead is needed). I've attached the pic of an aftermarket refillable cartridges for Brother - you just insert these cartridges into a "non-refillable" printer and forget about them and keep refilling bottles that feed cartridges. From design perspective I find Brother aftermarket refillable system more reliable than having flex tubing delivering ink to the moving head because Canon/Epson tubing bends on each move of the printhead, which is twice per each line that it prints. That's a gazillion times that tubing needs to bend without breaking or disconnecting. Brother refillable is having a stationary bottle feeding stationary cartridge.
Again, I can't find any pros or cons or design considerations behind Brother's stationary cartridge design.
 

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