by What is Ball printer?
A ball printer works without using any liquid ink or toner. It works on the principle of heating specific spots on a thermally sensitive paper, which causes a chemical reaction and changes the color of those spots. The thermally sensitive paper has a coating that changes color when heat is applied.
Ball printer Process
In a basic ball printer process, a Thermal Printing head heats up within small areas determined by electric pulses. There are a series of micro hot spots in the thermal print head that can be selectively heated or left unheated. When the thermal print head comes into contact with the thermally coated paper, the areas that are heated cause a chemical change in the coating, producing an image. No ink ribbon is required as the image is formed directly on the paper. Some key steps in ball printer include:
– Thermal print head has several microscopic heating elements that can be selectively switched on through electric pulses.
– It is brought into firm contact with specially coated thermally sensitive paper.
– Wherever the heating elements are switched on, the coating on the paper changes color due to the applied heat.
– This creates the image pattern corresponding to the signals fed to the print head.
– The paper is then pulled away from the print head and the formed image is ready.
Types of Thermal Printing Technologies
There are two main types of ball printer technologies:
Direct Ball printer
This type of ball printer uses special heat-sensitive coated paper that changes color when heated. The thermal print head selectively heats the coated surface of the paper to induce a color change without using any ribbons. It provides low-cost printing but the images cannot be archived for a long time as they may fade when exposed to light.
Thermal Transfer Printing
In this method, a heat-sensitive coated ribbon is used along with uncoated heat-resistant paper. The print head selectively heats the ribbon which then transfers the hot wax or resin coating onto the paper, producing the image. The printed images are more durable and protected from light compared to direct ball printer. But thermal transfer ribbons add to the recurring printing costs.
Applications of Ball printer
Some common applications of ball printer technology include:
– Receipt printers – Thermal printers are widely used for printing receipts in retail stores, supermarkets, petrol pumps etc. due to their low cost and reliability.
– Label printers – Thermal transfer printing is commonly used for printing labels for product identification and supply chain management. The durable images are ideal for labeling.
– Fax machines – Early fax machines widely used direct ball printer to output received faxes.
– POS printers – Point-of-sale thermal printers are extensively deployed at cash counters in retail for printing bills and payment slip copies.
– Transport ticketing – Train, bus and metro tickets are mostly printed using thermal printers located at ticket counters.
– Asset tracking – Thermal printers help track shipments, inventory and equipment using barcodes and RFID labels.
Advantages of Thermal Printing
– No ink or toner cartridges required, which reduces material waste and costs.
– Printer mechanism is simple without complex components like ink cartridges. Low maintenance and durable printers.
– Instant dry printing – Images formed are instantly dry without any wet ink smudging. Ideal for receipts and labels.
– Quiet printing – Thermal print heads work silently compared to dot matrix or inkjet printing.
– Reliable printing – Few moving parts result in highly reliable operation ideal for high volume printing.
– Low ongoing printing costs if direct thermal paper is used.
– Portable battery-powered printers allow mobility.
Thermal Printing is an innovative non-impact printing that works on the principle of changing a coating’s color on specially coated paper by applying heat. The technology has evolved applications in POS printers, transport ticketing, labeling and other high-volume printing uses due to benefits like durability, reliability and low overall costs.
*Note:
1. Source: Coherent Market Insights, Public Source, Desk Research
2. We have leveraged AI tools to mine information and compile it
About Author - Ravina Pandya
Ravina Pandya,a content writer, has a strong foothold in the market research industry. She specializes in writing well-researched articles from different industries, including food and beverages, information and technology, healthcare, chemicals and materials, etc. With an MBA in E-commerce, she has expertise in SEO-optimized content that resonates with industry professionals. LinkedIn Profile
