Saturday, 5 January 2019

Here Is Information On Thermal Transfer Ribbon

By Rebecca Cooper


Printers can be classified based on several criteria. In one classification, there are impact and non-impact printers. Thermal transfer printers are classified under non-impact printers because instead of using impact, they use heat to register impressions on paper. The printing is done on special papers referred to as thermal transfer ribbons. These ribbons are made of resin-based inks or wax. Here are facts regarding Thermal Transfer Ribbon.

The header of the printer is made using resistive heating pins. One print-head has several pins that serve the function of printing. Melting occurs on the resin or wax due to the heating when there is contact between the pins and the paper. This melting is what causes the image that becomes visible eventually to form.

How the pins are heated is controlled by a microprocessor. Depending on the pin that is heated, the images produced differ. Print-heads are designed to be wide so that they can traverse the entire paper that needs to be printed. This printer is very famous in printing various products, including piece tags, bar codes, and labels. Printers can be placed into two broad categories, that is, thermal wax transfer and direct thermal printers.

The working mechanism of direct thermal printers involves burning of dots through the paper. This is done as the print-head moves over the paper. These printers are however incapable of printing on thermal transfer vinyl since they are not meant to do so. This technology was used in fax machines of the earliest era.

The printers that use thermal wax transfer are designed with ribbons. The mode of printing involves applying heat on the ribbon. There is wax-based ink that is contained in the ribbon which melts when heated. Then the ink on the ribbon is transferred on the paper where the printing should be done. Cooling occurs on the ink afterwards and creates permanent impressions. The print quality is normally based on the printer quality and the ribbon it has.

Thermal transfer vinyl can be classified into three major groups. The three types of ribbons are full resin, full wax, and wax-resin ribbons. Full wax ribbons are usually coated with wax-based ink. Thus, they require a low temperature to melt. They are the most commonly available ribbons and that also makes them the most inexpensive to buy. Images that are printed on these kinds of ribbons do not have a high level of durability.

As depicted in its name, wax-resins are made of both the full wax and the full resin ribbons. They have a higher melting point than the full wax ribbons. Typically, the wax resins are applicable in weatherproofing. There is increased durability of the image that is printed on them because of the type of material they are made of. They also allow for heavy handling occasionally.

Full resin ribbons are made of pure resin and that makes them to melt at a much higher temperature. When they are melted, they dissolve into the material they are being printed on. This allows them to form highly durable images. These ribbons are the most expensive compared to the other two types.




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