KYOTO, Japan -- Kyocera Corporation (NYSE:KYO)(TOKYO:6971) today announced the availability of its KYOCERA Mega Surface Series amorphous silicon (a-Si) photoreceptor drum, which offers record durability as a core component in electrophotographic printing equipment — including laser printers and multifunctional products (MFPs). The A4-sized a-Si drum is now available for shipment to equipment manufacturers worldwide.

The new product represents an industry first*1 in successfully employing a hard amorphous carbon (a-C) thin-film to form the drum's surface-protecting outer layer. In Kyocera's

own testing, this development makes it possible for a single A4 drum to print approximately one million sheets — more than triple the life of Kyocera's conventional A4 a-Si photoreceptor drum, which was already the industry's most durable, with a lifespan estimated by Kyocera to be approximately 300,000 A4-sized sheets*2.

Additionally, Kyocera's rigorous internal testing is designed to yield conservative durability estimates. Third-party testing of Kyocera's A3-sized imaging equipment has demonstrated 2.5-million-page durability with no drum replacement*3. The new series represents the first a-Si drum in the A4 class to demonstrate million-print durability using Kyocera's own extreme test parameters.

Features

1. Unprecedented durability: Longest life of any commercial A4 photoreceptor drum

By employing hard and durable a-C thin-film for the surface-protecting layer, Kyocera has more than tripled the industry's longest estimated A4 drum life of 300,000 sheets — a standard previously achieved by Kyocera's conventional a-Si product — to achieve a lifespan of approximately 1 million sheets.

2. Lower power consumption: No heater required

Humidity reduces print quality in many types of imaging equipment. To prevent this, a drum heater is often installed to warm the unit's photoreceptor drum. However, Kyocera's a-Si photoreceptor drum provides high-quality printing even in humid conditions by optimizing the thin-film composition of the drum's surface-protecting layer — eliminating the need for a heater, and reducing power consumption.

*1 Industry's first commercial application of amorphous carbon (a-C) thin-film (as of August 9, 2011; based on Kyocera's research).

*2 When the longitudinal feed of A4-sized paper is used for the heaterless a-Si photoreceptor drum with diameter of 30mm in electrophotographic printing (as of August 9, 2011; based on Kyocera's research). Variables affecting durability include paper characteristics, printing environment and print patterns.

*3 Buyers Laboratory Inc. certification, September 2007 (based on A3-sized paper test; drum diameter: 84mm)

To learn more about this product's features and development background, please see: http://global.kyocera.com/news/2011/0904_ewsd.html

This article was originally posted on Buyer’s Laboratory.