Line Matrix Printer - How IT Works

How It Works

Often considered the “backbone” of many industrial and back-office systems, there are several types of line matrix printers used today across diverse enterprise production environments including: manufacturing, supply chain, distribution & logistics, transportation, finance and banking. Dot matrix printers, also known also as impact printers, represent the oldest printing technology, are still widely used today, due to its lowest 'cost per page' ratio. Dot matrix printers are divided on two main groups: serial dot matrix printers and line matrix printers.

A serial dot matrix printer is a type of computer printer with a print head that runs back and forth, or in an up and down motion, on the page and prints by impact, striking an ink-soaked cloth ribbon against the paper, much like the print mechanism on a typewriter. However, unlike a typewriter or daisy wheel printer, letters are drawn out of a dot matrix, and thus, varied fonts and arbitrary graphics can be produced. Because the printing involves mechanical pressure, these printers can create carbon copies and carbonless copies.

Both line matrix and serial dot matrix printers, use pins to strike against the inked ribbon, making dots on the paper and forming the desired characters. The differences are that line matrix printers use a hammer bank (or print-shuttle) instead of print head, this print-shuttle has hammers instead of print wires, and these hammers are arranged in a horizontal row instead in vertical column. The hammer bank uses the same technology as the permanent magnet print head with the small difference that instead of print wires the print-shuttle has hammers.

The permanent magnetic field holds the hammer spring in stressed, ready to strike position. The driver sends electrical current to hammer coil, which then creates electromagnetic field opposite to the permanent magnetic field. When both fields equalize, the energy stored in the spring is released to strike the hammer against the ribbon and prints a dot on the paper.

During the printing process the print-shuttle vibrates in horizontal direction with high speed while the print hammers are fired selectively. Each hammer prints a series of dots in horizontal direction for one pass of the shuttle, then paper advances at one step and the shuttle prints the following row of dots

Line matrix printers are solutions designed for high-reliability, lowest total cost of ownership and environmental benefits. As price-performance leaders, line printers cost less to service and less to use. The fastest line matrix printers available on the market are the TallyGenicom 6600 and Printronix P7000 Cartridge Series with a claimed print speed of 2,000 lines per minute (LPM).