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There is a vast range of printers currently available; however, no single printer will completely satisfy all the applications within the library/information environment. Criteria for selecting the most appropriate printer for the particular library application are given and using these criteria as a framework, the advantages and disadvantages of different types of printers are discussed.

Hundreds of different printer models are offered to computer users. To take advantage of the rich selection, it is best to first choose the kind of printer that will fill your particular applications, then zero in on some of the most suitable choices within that kind.

One of the major advantages of a laser printer, over dot matrix or daisywheel printers, is the ability to produce pages that look very much as if they had been typeset at a professional printing shop. To select a laser printer for this kind of work, it is important to consider the desired fonts, as well as the compatibility of the printer with the wordprocessing (and page composition) software which is to be used.

Personal computer users now expect their systems to produce printed output that looks very much as if it had been typeset at a professional printing shop. In other words, they are using laser printers. These printers are no longer high‐priced luxury units for publication specialists only; they have become the standard units for personal computer printed output.

Just a few years ago, the laser printer was a new and rather expensive gadget with a promising but unknown future. Today, many laser printers sell on the street for less than $1000. They are fast and reliable, and can produce a variety of high‐quality output. In fact, laser printers now provide a base‐line against which other types of printers should be compared. This article discusses the principal non‐laser types of printers, including dot‐matrix, daisy‐wheel, and ink‐jet printers. Examples of currently available dot‐matrix and ink‐jet printers are discussed.

In the summary table on laser printers, the price shown is the manufacturer's list price. Competition among vendors of laser printers is now quite fierce and most of these machines are available from retailers at ‘street’ prices considerably lower than list. However, the street discount may be very different for different printers. For example, at the time this article was written, the NEC LC890, which lists for $4975 was advertised by a local retailer at $2849 (43% discount). The Panasonic KX P4450, which lists for $2595, was advertised at $1250 (52% discount). The Ricoh 6000/PS, which lists for $3499 was advertised at $2595 (26% discount). The HP LaserJet IIP, which lists at $1495 was advertised at $949 (37% discount).

This paper aims to verify a new method for accurate part manufacturing using a 3D printer. In particular, the direction and position dependence of the printed results are to be verified within the building area. The results of the accomplished experiments are to be used for the computation of new printer adjustments.

Test cubes with a defined edge length were printed and measured afterwards. The test cubes were distributed thereby either over the entire building area or only for a small part of the building area. Next, the test cubes were measured and the differences between measured and desired values were used for adjustment of the printer parameter settings. Therefore, the “bleed compensation” settings were used.

The deviations depended strongly on the position in the building area of the printer. In dependence of the position and orientation, different deviations in the three dimensions of the printer coordinate system resulted. By a calibration of the printer parameters for a reduced part of the processed area, the print accuracy could be strongly increased. Afterward, the calibration the deviations could be reduced from 0.4 mm ±0.2 mm to under 0.04 mm ±0.03 mm.

The work shows the position and direction dependency of the 3D‐printer manufacturing accuracy. Furthermore, a calibration procedure for bleed compensation calibration is presented.

Dot matrix characters are discussed in comparison to preformed characters. Quality of various output is defined. Maintenance and repair of dot matrix printers are reviewed, as are factors to consider in installing a printer. A table provides a comparison of dot matrix printers detailing price, matrix density, speed, print sizes, feed width, interface connectors, and true descender characteristics. Each printer is further described as appropriate. Manufacturers' addresses are appended.

The purpose of this paper is to explore what underlies the development of the consumer 3D printing industry and gain insight into future developments and its potentially disruptive impact on the existing manufacturing industry.

A combination of approaches was followed. Initially a consumer 3D printer was purchased to gain first-hand experience as part of a practical research case study. Results were discussed with manufacturers and additional information was sought, and triangulated, via a survey and an exploratory bibliometric study.

Many characteristics are in place to identify consumer 3D printing as a potential disruptive technology for the manufacturing industry. For example, the cost of consumer 3D printing is lower than for traditional manufacturing. However, the current adoption rate is low and the user friendliness and technological capabilities need to improve.

The main limitation is the exploratory nature of the study which does not allow generalizations.

If developments and adoption patterns continue, then traditional manufacturing industries, distribution channels and the transportation sector may become threatened.

Technological advances in consumer manufacturing can potentially threaten several economic sectors, which can lead to loss of jobs and affect budgets of states of countries that depend on sales tax.

One of the first studies to employ experiments in combination with other methods to gain insight into adoption patterns and the disruptive nature of consumer 3D printers specifically, rather than industrial 3D printers or new business models as a result of 3D printing technology.

A three-dimensional (3D) printing error simulation approach is proposed to analyze the influence of tilted vertical beams on the 3D printing accuracy. The purpose of this study is to analyze the influence of such errors on printing accuracy and printing quality for delta-robot 3D printer.

First, the kinematic model of a delta-robot 3D printer with an ideal geometric structure is proposed by using vector analysis. Then, the normal kinematic model of a nonideal delta-robot 3D robot with tilted vertical beams is derived based on the above ideal kinematic model. Finally, a 3D printing error simulation approach is proposed to analyze the influence of tilted vertical beams on the 3D printing accuracy.

The results show that tilted vertical beams can indeed cause 3D printing errors and further influence the 3D printing quality of the final products and that the 3D printing errors of tilted vertical beams are related to the rotation angles of the tilted vertical beams. The larger the rotation angles of the tilted vertical beams are, the greater the geometric deformations of the printed structures.

Three vertical beams and six horizontal beams constitute the supporting parts of the frame of a delta-robot 3D printer. In this paper, the orientations of tilted vertical beams are shown to have a significant influence on 3D printing accuracy. However, the effect of tilted vertical beams on 3D printing accuracy is difficult to capture by instruments. To reveal the 3D printing error mechanisms under the condition of tilted vertical beams, the error generation mechanism and the quantitative influence of tilted vertical beams on 3D printing accuracy are studied by simulating the parallel motion mechanism of a delta-robot 3D printer with tilted vertical beams.