Thermal Printers
Applications
Thermal printers are commonly used in retail stores, restaurants, kiosks and many point-of- sale locations. There are also thermal label printers and color thermal CD printers. They are fast and inexpensive printing solutions. This only consumable for thermal printers is the paper, which is easily replaced causing these printers to have little down time.

The Components
A thermal printer has four main components. The thermal head is the part that actually prints on paper by generating heat. The platen is a rubber roller that is used to feed the paper through the print head. The spring is the part of the printer that applies pressure to the thermal head. It causes the head to come in contact with the paper so that printing occurs. In addition, all thermal printers have controller boards to control the mechanisms of the printer.

How They Work
A thermal printer produces images without the use of a ribbon. It functions by feeding thermo sensitive paper between the print head and the platen. The printer then sends a current of electricity to the thermal head’s heat resistor. As the head heats up and the paper passes over it and image is created.

The coating will produce black images in the pre designated pattern. There are also two color thermal printers which create images in black and red. This happens by applying heat to the thermal head at two different temperatures.

Other Facts
Because thermal printers have no ink, toner or ribbon they are easy to use and maintain. This fact also makes them affordable printing options.
Thermal prints do not have a long lifespan. They often fade with time or darken if overexposed to light, making them illegible. . For this reason thermal printers are not used for many items that require a lifespan of more than six months.

Thermal printers only work with thermo sensitive or thermal paper. This paper is coated with a heat reactive dye making printing possible when heat is applied. Paper will be the only printing supplies that will need to be purchased to keep these printers running. Thermal paper is available in one or two ply roles.