THEORY OF OPERATION
3.Printer Mechanism
3-1. Thermal Head
The TSP400 printers employ thermal line printing. The thermal head consists of a horizontal line of 640 heat elements. These elements print one line of dots at a time as the paper passes over the head. The head is fixed in position; only the paper moves.
The printer prints a dot by heating the corresponding heat element. The heated element causes a chemical reaction in the coloring layer of the thermal paper, resulting in the formation of a visible dot.
Thermal head
Heat element
Coloring layer
Thermal paper
Printed point
Platen
Fig.
3-2. Paper-Feed Mechanism
The
The
Thermal head
Thermal paper
Platen | Gear train |
Fig.
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