We offer a wide variety of printing solutions, such as direct thermal and thermal transfer bar code printers, mobile bar code printers, RFID printers, printer accessories, label design software, and supplies such as labels, RFID tags and thermal transfer ribbons, print-and-apply labelers.

There are four primary types of printing technology available today: direct thermal printing, thermal transfer printing, impact printing, and laser printing. For bar code printing mostly used direct thermal and thermal transfer bar code printers.

Direct thermal printing employs a print head with regularly spaced electrodes to create an image on specially treated paper. A chemical reaction, created by the applied energy, forms small dots that comprise text or graphical images. Historically, thermal paper supported limited longevity, particularly when exposed to heat or direct sunlight. Direct thermal printers have a small number of moving parts, which bolsters mechanical reliability, and only paper is consumed in the printing process.

Like direct thermal, thermal transfer technology employs a thermal print head to create an image on a substrate. In operation, ink is transferred from a ribbon to the substrate. Therefore, additional components include a ribbon supply and take-up mechanism, and ribbon, which must be replaced after use. Thermal dye transfer printers that produce high-quality photo images are special adaptations of this technology.

Thermal printers offer a number of output delivery options, including a manual tear bar and an automatic cutter for separating the output. For unattended applications, it may be desirable to incorporate a looping presenter, with an automatic cutter, to prevent users from pulling paper during the printing process. This can help to avoid unintended disruptions and potential maintenance issues. A partial auto cutter, combined with a receipt retractor, presents another alternative. With this configuration, the system can be programmed to withdraw the receipt to a holding area, if a specific time interval has passed and the receipt has not been removed by the user. This avoids littering the immediate area.

Other examples of application-specific delivery capabilities include: a built-in label “peeler,” to ease the manual effort required by the user when printing in large volumes; and a sensor or control mechanism that limits the flow of printed labels. The sensor capability helps the user by only dispatching a new label when the previous output is removed.

Durability may also be a key factor for particular applications. Environmental specifications for humidity and ambient temperature will help you judge whether the printer will perform reliable on your site.

The interface that moves data from the host computing system to the printer controller,and ultimately to the thermal print head itself, is another important area for electrical integration. The most common hard-wired interface options include: serial links (RS-232, TTL), parallel ports, Universal Serial Bus (USB), and, in some cases, Ethernet. Wireless interfaces, such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, are typically used in portable, standalone printer applications, and not in embedded solutions.

Software integration is primarily dependent on the availability of appropriate printer driver software or host-based software to issue printing instructions.