Fusing is the last process in the laser printer and is known to have a significant impact on the image quality of the printed document. More must be done to understand the components of the fuser and the toner fusing process. This understanding would assist in the development of a basic model for describing the fusing process. Constructing such a basic model will help in the future design offusers, toner, and media. In this work, fuser effects on gloss have been studied and analyzed using two current HP Color LaserJet (CLJ) printers, the CLJ4700 and CLJ4650. These products differ in their fuser design, toner formulation, and gloss performance. To study the fusing parameters that affect gloss, the contribution of the fuser designs, fuser control conditions, and toner type were separated out by using an independent fusing system that allowed samples created in the two different printers to be fused using a common process. An experimental approach was used to build a foundation for developing a physical model of the fusing process. The toner type was found to have the largest effect on gloss. The toner type effect on gloss can be credited to the rheological properties of the toner. Image density was the second largest effect on gloss and can be categorized by three regions: 1) low density (substrate dependent), 2) medium density (pattern dependent), and 3) high density (fusing process dependent). Nip duration, pressure, and temperature are secondary design variables that should be used to further optimize the fusing system, especially for high density images, once the fuser physical design and toner formulation are fixed.
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