A thermal printer is a printer that we could call the latest generation, since it does not use the usual impact technology. Instead, like laser or sublimation printers, it uses heat as the transmitting medium for printing. Therefore, this printing must be done on a special heat-sensitive paper call thermal paper.
Thermal printer
This paper is impregnate by a waxy substance that reacts when heat is apply and usually turns black. The paper is normally purchase in rolls, the standard width being 40 mm, although there are also 50 and 80 mm ones, such as thermal printers in ATMs.
The head of a thermal printer is made up of a series of pins, which are heat through resistors locate in the head, making the film that covers the paper react and thus transmitting the image on the support. To get the different glyphs or images to represent, the thermal head specifies which pins should be heat and even in certain printers, at what temperature they should be heat.
Since its inception, thermal printers represent images in black, but in recent years, printers have also been market that can print in another color (red is the most common color after black, although there are also those that print In color blue). The difference in colors is achieve by heating the pins of the header to different temperatures.
Thermal printers have recently become the most widely use to print barcodes, tickets or receipts. And the reason is because their prints are very cheap, since the only consumable that must be purchase is paper, as it does not use ink. In addition, the maintenance is hardly existent, since the head does not get dirty as in other types of printers.
Thermal printer is the sub type of Industrial Date Code Printer.
Advantages of thermal printers:
- Economical: By not using ink, you only have to purchase the paper as a consumable. In addition, the cost of maintenance is practically non-existent.
- Quiet and precise: As there is no percussion mechanism, they are barely noticeable, and paper jams rarely occur.
- Small and compact: It does not have relatively large mechanisms, since the head does not have to strike.
- Reliability and quality, simple and clean.
Disadvantages:
- You need to purchase a special role.
- Thermal printing is only monochrome in black, and only in the most recent models, using a special paper, additionally it can be print in blue.
- The wear of the ticket printing, particularly in environments with high temperatures, makes the durability of the printing relatively low, since the waxy layer of the paper reacts with the temperature and causes over time the text written on the same.
- Due to the aforemention, they are inadvisable in work environments with high temperatures. Such as dry cleaners or kitchens.
In conclusion, we can affirm that thermal printers are the most common among ticket or POS printers, since they is find in the vast majority of shops in different areas and functionalities.
In addition, from a Green IT point of view, by not causing waste in consumables, beyond the consumption of paper, it makes these types of printers the most respectful with the environment. It is not necessary to recycle cartridges, and therefore does not generate waste. Thus contributing to a sustainable economy.
