3.8e - Thermal Printers: Professor Messer

• Thermal printer: Feeds special white paper to print text - the heated portions of the paper turn black.

• Uses no ink!

  • Typically used for shopping receipts.

• Pro: VERY quiet (almost silent)

• Con: Sensitive to light, heat, and clear tape - not good for long-term storage.

Feed assembly

• Feed assembly: A long cylinder that uses friction to pull paper through the thermal printer.

Heating element

• Heating element: Used to apply heat to paper and print text onto thermal printer paper - no moving print heads.

Thermal paper

• Thermochromic paper/thermal paper: Special paper type used in thermal printers - changes color when heated due to chemicals used to treat the paper.