Thermal Printheads

A Thermal Print Head, which is the heart of the thermal printer, ensures that heating elements are concentrated on one line so as to generate heat by applying to them an electric current. Control the heat generation of each heating element can be achieved by entering a signal that corresponds to a target pattern, which thereby develops colours on thermosensitive paper with the heat difference used to adhere ink ribbons to a sheet of paper. Letters and images can be printed by synchronizing this process with the repeated movement of the paper. There are mainly two types of print heads used in thermal printers: the traditional flat head and the near-edge technology that is sometimes designated as corner edge or true edge. Let’s see what differentiates the two. In simple terms, the main difference between these two print head technologies resides in the way the print head actually makes contact with the ribbon and the media (label, tag, etc.). With the flat head technology, the print head lies flat against the ribbon and the media. With this technology, the ribbon and media remain “together” for some distance after going under the print head’s heating element, prior to their separation (Figure A). With the near edge technology, the print head makes contact at an angle with the ribbon and the media. Also, the heating elements are near the edge of the print head, so the ribbon and media only remain together for a very brief moment before separating.
We sell thermal printheads for most common printer brands. Next, to the original OEM printheads, we have our own line printheads. Good pricing and great quality!
With a standard stock of more than 5.000 printheads, we are able to send the majority of your printhead orders same day!