Thermal Printing: Giving Inkless
Printing a New Look
Group 2
Michael Barre, Orion Fliessbach, Wesley Lockley, Jordan Riddle, Jessica Zelasko
Key Words: ZINK, Thermal
Printing, Dye
Introduction
ZINK (zero-ink) Imaging, a spin-off of the Polaroid
Corporation is the main company engaged in the development of this new form of
thermal printing technology. Zink
Thermal Printing is a breakthrough technology that produces instant color
images and photographs without ink, ribbons, or toner. The printing technology
enables a new category of color printers and paper that work as a system to
print in a whole new way.
Before printing,
the embedded dye crystals are colorless, so zink paper looks like regular white
photo paper. The zink printer uses heat to activate and colorize these dye
crystals. The printing process is extremely simple. Just add paper and press
"print". The result is high quality, durable, and affordable images
that can be integrated into digital cameras, cell phones, and PDA’s.
How Thermal Imaging Works
A thermal printer (or direct thermal printer) produces a
printed image by selectively heating coated thermochromic paper, or thermal
paper. A thermal printer comprises these key components; a thermal head that
generates heat and prints on paper, a platen, which is a rubber roller that
feeds paper, a spring that applies pressure to the thermal head causing it to
contact the thermo-sensitive paper, and controller boards, for controlling the
mechanism. In order to print, thermo-sensitive paper is inserted between the
thermal head and the platen. The printer sends an electrical current to the heating resistor of the thermal head,
which in turn generates heat in a prescribed pattern. The heat activates the
thermo-sensitive coloring layer of the (Zink) paper, which creates a pattern of
color change in response. This type of printing mechanism is known as a thermal system or direct system.
The Zink paper, is
impregnated with a solid state mixture of a dye and a suitable matrix, a
combination of a fluoran leuco dye and an octadecylphosphonic acid. When the
matrix is heated above its melting point, the dye reacts with the acid, changes
to its colored form, and the changed form is then conserved when the matrix
solidifies back, a process known as
thermochromism.Controller boards are embedded
with firmware to manage the thermal printer mechanisms. These controller
boards’ features are designed to meet the needs in terms of functionality and
specification.
ZINK Paper Configuration
To make Zink photo paper, researchers start with a white plastic sheet as a base material, and then add very thin layers of dye crystals. The configuration of the crystal layers, which consists of yellow on top, magenta in the middle, and cyan on the bottom, is a crucial element in the printing process. When these layers pass through the thermal print head, they are heated by 300 tiny heaters per square inch. In order to bring out the appropriate color at each pixel, the temperature and amount of time each heater is on is precisely controlled. The crystals in the yellow top layer require the highest temperature to show their color, but the shortest amount of time. To produce the cyan bottom layer, the heaters operate at their lowest temperature for the longest amount of time. Bringing color out of the magenta middle layer requires heating times and temperatures somewhere in between. The printer does combinations of these pulses for each pixel. To produce a green pixel, for example, the heating element would turn on some yellow layers with a quick, high-temperature pulse, cool down, and then turn on cyan with a longer, low-temperature pulse. It takes only microseconds to deliver these pulses. In a typical two inch by three inch picture, which takes less than a minute to print, there are approximately two hundred million heat pulses.
Advantages
There are a number of benefits that come with this new
technology that are not available with today's standard printers. One of the benefits is technologists’ ability
to install the printer into portable devices, which would never be possible
with standard printers. Thermal
printers print faster and more quietly than dot matrix printers. They are also more
economical since their only consumption is paper, which will cost around twenty
to twent-five cents per sheet. Even though the paper is more expensive,
printers can be rapidly refilled, leading to almost zero downtime. Possible
commercial applications of thermal printers include filling station pumps, point
of sale systems, voucher printers in slot machines, ATM machines, camcorders,
digital cameras, cell phones, smart phones, I-pods, televisions, and PDA’s.
Another benefit at the top of the list, is never worrying about running out of
ink. With this new printing system,
expensive ink cartridge and toner refills will become a problem of the past.
This new technology should give ZINK Imaging a
competitive advantage in the field of printing, because of the vast array of
applications made possible by the tiny size and low maintanence provided by
this device. Although pictures produced with heat may arrouse the question of
their durability in sunlight exposure, llaboratory tests have shown that
the paper, both before and after printing, does not change color at temperatures
as high as one hundred and fifty-eight degrees Fahrenheit. If placed in
sunlight, the picture will fade at a rate similar to that of other thermal
printings and many inkjet prints.
Conclusion
This emerging technology will offer a completely new approach to printing pictures without ink. Zink has plans for two products by the end of the year, a portable printer and a printer integrated into a digital camera, both producing two inch by three inch pictures, and costing less than one hundred dollars. While the printer has been designed for tiny gadgets, it can also be integrated into larger electronics, and within the next few years this printing technology is expected to show up in computer towers, laptop computers, and even home television sets. ZINK Imaging has developed a thermal printing system that has the capability to change the way people think about photographs. Zink thermal printing system allows printing from devices, such as cell phones and digital cameras, which has never before been possible. Zink’s technology transforms relatively formal photography into an effortless means of photograph printing and sharing.
References
Greene, Kate. (2007, February 8) Printing without Ink: Technology Review press release.
http://www.technologyreview.com/printer_friendly_article.aspx?id=18155.com
What is a Thermal Printer?.
Retrieved
www.webopedia.com/TERM/T/thermal_printer.html
Thermal
Printer-Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_printer.html
Thermal Printing
Group Number 2
|
1. |
The following can be found in a thermal
printer: |
|
A. |
thermal head
|
|
B. |
Platen |
|
|
|
|
C. |
Control Boards |
|
D. |
All of the Above |
|
2. |
When the octadecylphosphonic acid is heated above its
melting point, the dye reacts with the acid, changes to its colored form, and
the changed form is then conserved when the matrix solidifies back.
This process is known as: |
|
A. |
Thermochromism |
|
B. |
Plate tectonics |
|
C. |
Exfoliation |
|
D. |
It has no name as of yet, but NASA is working
on it. |
|
1. 3.3. 2.3. |
In a thermal printer a platen.... |
|
A. |
is a biological anomaly with virus like
qualities |
|
B. |
is a rubber roller that feeds the paper. |
|
C. |
is considered the operator of a computer. |
|
D. |
acts as the special paper used in printing.
|
|
4. |
The thermal printer creates a typical two-by-three-inch picture
using approximately how many heat pulses? |
|
A. |
one---its just that good.
|
|
B. |
10 |
|
C. |
100,000 |
|
D. |
200,000,000 |
|
5. |
The advantages of the thermal printer include: |
|
A. |
It reduces the amount of downtime.
|
|
B. |
It prints more quietly. |
|
C. |
It is faster than a dot matrix printer. |
|
D. |
All the above--its just that good.
|
|
6. |
Who is the main company engaged in the development of this new
form of thermal printing technology? |
|
A. |
NASA |
|
B. |
Nabisco |
|
C. |
ZINK imaging |
|
D. |
Maxwell House |
|
7. |
True or False: Zink Imaging's thermal printer can only
print in black and white. |
|
A. |
True |
|
B. |
False |
|
C. |
|
|
D. |
|
Key
1.) D
2.) A
3.) B
4.) D
5.) D
6.) C
7.) False