Output Devices

OUTPUT DEVICES
CAD system is not complete unless it makes hard copies of designs.
Hard copies are used for:
Shop use, file storage, reports and presentations.
Quality of hard copy depends on the resolution of the hard copy unit.
Speed and frequency of operation of hard copy equipment is also important
Relative to the drawing rate on screen, they are slow.
Printers usually provide hard copies of text as well as graphics.
Hard copy devices follows vector (refresh) or raster plotting (raster disply)
methods.
Vector plotting can employ either absolute or incremental plotting.
Coordinated of the current point are measured relative to the absolute origin of
the plot or to the last point plotted.

OUTPUT DEVICES
Raster plotting is based on using the presence or absence of dots to
draw lines and other geometric information present in the document.
For many years plotters were the only means of obtaining high quality
outputs from a computer.
Currently, various printers are available
Black and white and multi colour printers
Hardcopy devices that are available include impact and non impact
devices
Impact devices: dot matrix printers, which produces an image on paper
by hammering a ribbon onto the surface of the paper.
Non impact devices: Pen ,inkjet printers.

Pen Plotters
Two types of conventional pen plotters are:
Flat bed plotter
Drum plotter
Flat bed pen plotter
Paper is stationary and pen
holding mechanism can move in
two axes.
It contains multiple pens to
provide varying line widths and
colours.
The plottting speed is typically
limited by the speed of the
writing pen used.

Drum Plotter

In this, the paper is attached to a drum that rotates back and forth, thereby
providing movement in one axis.
The pen moves in the transverse direction.

Pedestal Plotter

Inkjet Plotters
Dot matrix method of plotting.
Each dot is created by impelling a jet of ink on the surface of the
paper.
The jets are switched on and off at high speeds to create multicolour
plots.
Applications:
colour plots of solid models, shaded images and contour plots.
Black and White Printers
Types:
Dot matrix
Laser Printers
Dot matrix
Inexpensive but slow
Resolution is 75dpi

Laser Printer

More expensive but faster.

Resolution is 300dpi to 600 dpi.

Printing mechanism is simple.

by

A laser source is turned on and off, the laser beam deflected

a spinning mirror and exposes a photosensitive drum.

When the drum is exposed to the beam, the charge on the

drum surface changes which attracts the toner.

The toner is then transferred to the paper to produce the

image.

Colour Printer
Impact:
Dots of inks transferred from an inked ribbon onto paper.
Thermal transfer :
By controlling the temperature of the transistors, selectively melted dots of
coloured wax can be transferred onto paper.
Inkjet:
Ejects ink onto the paper medium as it revolves on a drum.