Tweak desktop inkjet printer

[alpedroza]

I wonder if it's possible to tweak an inkjet printer to print variable data (i.e. serial numbers and barcode) on pre-printed continuous fan-folded forms. I tried opening one of my desktop inkjet printer and noticed that there is a sensor that tells the printer that a page has already been printed. The printer then loads the next blank page. For the continuous forms, im thinking of printing a black patch near the end of each fan fold so that when the sensor scans the black patch it will tell the printer that the next page has been loaded and immediately print the next data onto it. Am i thinking the right thing? Hope to get some comments and help. Thanks.

[cs_steve]

Generally sensors like the one you mentioned are either mechanical in nature (a plastic flag is triggered when the tip of page exits the printer) or else use "optical beam sensors" (a light beam is detected once a page clears the path)... maybe you could better describe the sensor, but I guess I don't see how you think printing a black patch will help ...

You might consider a laser printer instead of an inkjet for printing continuous forms ... even if you can get a work-around for the paper sensor, that kind of printing might be a little too heavy-duty for most inkjets , if you're printing a lot of data often...

As far as laser printers, I do know folks who use the old LaserJet 4L's and LaserJet 4P's for that exact type of printing (continuous forms) ; they like those two models specifically because they each have a manual feed input slot in the front of the printer, which is a perfect feed slot for that type of continuous paper. Even better, there is a much faster/newer model, the LaserJet 1320 series which uses the same type of front-feed manual input slot ...

[alpedroza]

Thanks cs_steve, you are correct the sensor was mechanical. The reason for the black patch was to replace the mechanical sensor with reflection optical sensor that will scan the black patch and send signal to the printer for the next data to print. The reason why i want it done on inkjet printer is due to the variable color logos in the job. But now i'm studying the Epson stylus 4450 that accepts roll paper and i think its possible coz i already downloaded the driver and based from the options its possible to print without gap between pages. Thanks.

PS. I also have HP LaserJet 8150 and i might try printing continuous forms. Thanks for the info. Will post if successful on this one too.