Helping Reduce Assembly Time for Equipment Manufacturers and Facilitating High-Speed, High-Resolution Printing
Development of a New True-Edge Thermal Printhead for Card Printers
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(This document was translated from the Japanese press release.)
September 29, 2004
Kyocera Corporation (President: Yasuo Nishiguchi) is pleased to announce the development of a new true-edge thermal printhead used for card printers. (The printhead is a printing component in printers.)
The device has been developed by enlarging the curvature of the edge of Kyocera's own true-edge thermal printhead and optimizing the thickness of its glaze layer that is a thermal storage layer. The product significantly reduces the time required for equipment manufacturers, the users of the product, to adjust the accuracy of printing when assembling card printers. It also increases the printing speed.
New true-edge thermal printhead
Name of product: True-edge thermal printhead
Shipment of samples: November, 2004
Start of volume production: April, 2005
Production plants: Kagoshima Hayato Plant (front-end process), Nagano Okaya Plant (post-process)
Production volume: Monthly production of 1000 to 3000 units in the first year (fiscal 2005)
This product will be exhibited in CEATEC JAPAN 2004, to be held at the Makuhari Messe, Chiba, from October 5 to 9, 2004.
Background to the development
Nowadays, cards made of hard plastic, such as credit cards, employee ID cards and student cards are in widespread use and have been growing in number. We also see an increasing number of cards printed not only with letters but also with photos, such as a person's face, to increase security. For these reasons, card printers capable of printing letters and photos on the cards are required to have higher resolution and faster printing performance. At the same time, the equipment manufacturers are facing the need to reduce the time to assemble card printers to keep pace with the increased demand for the printers.
By improving the photo-etching technology in Kyocera's own true-edge thermal printheads that are suitable for card printers, and by devising a new deposition technology and photo-resist technology, Kyocera has developed a thermal printhead that reduces the assembly time for equipment manufacturers.
Main features of the new true-edge thermal printhead
1. Significantly reduces the assembly time
Kyocera reexamined the shape of the edge of the true-edge thermal printhead and increased the width of the heating element. This modification increases the flexibility in assembly and reduces the assembly time, especially the time needed to position the heating element to adjust the printing accuracy, which affects the image quality. As a result, it becomes possible to contribute to a reduction in the users' production costs by considerably improving equipment manufacturers' efficiency of assembling printers.
2. Printhead reliability equivalent to or better than that of Kyocera's conventional products
The main factor impairing the reliability of true-edge thermal printheads is damage resulting from scratches on the edge. A scratched edge causes a printing dropout where dots are omitted, and the printing is not performed accurately. This is deeply related to the contact pressure on the heating element. The pressure can be reduced by enlarging the curvature of the edge. In this way, we managed to maintain or improve the reliability compared to that of conventional products.
3. Increased printing speed
Optimizing the thickness of the glaze, which is a thermal storage layer, improved the heat response, enabling faster printing. As a result, the printing speed was increased 1.7 times over that of conventional products. This initiative contributes to the improved performance of the printers.
Reference
Kyocera's thermal printheads
Kyocera manufactures thermal printheads using an advanced thin film process that places a thermal storage layer, called a glaze layer, on the ceramic substrate so that there is a mound of glass under the heating element. The heat generated when the heating element becomes electrically live is transferred to thermal paper and ink ribbons during printing. Since the heating element is formed in thin film, the dot sequence is accurate and even, which provides outstanding heat response, that is, the response time needed to become electrically live and start generating heat. These features make this printhead suitable for high-speed and highly accurate printing. Changing the height and form of the glaze layer makes the printhead suitable for a range of applications and materials.
Example of a section view of the structure
Types of thermal printheads
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Flat type
Common configuration
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Corner-edge type
Mainly for
the high-speed barcode printing
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True-edge type
Mainly for
the card printing
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Applications of thermal printheads
Thermal printheads are characterized by a simple configuration and a compact and lightweight body. These features make the printhead flexible in design and suitable for a range of printing applications. Thermal printheads can also print on a range of materials, including paper and cards.
A range of printing equipment is able to accommodate thermal printheads. This equipment includes barcode printers, demand for which is expected to increase, especially in the food industry. Other examples are POS printers and ticket printers designed for mobile terminals that need to be smaller and lighter and to consume less power. Card printers can also use thermal printheads to print directly onto hard materials, such as cards.
The product described in this release is designed for card printing applications.
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| Inquiries |
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From Customers |
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KYOCERA Corporation
Thin Film Devices Division
Takeda Tobadono-cho, Fushimi-ku,
Kyoto 612-8501, Japan
Tel: 075-604-3404(Direct)
Fax : 075-604-3401(Direct) |
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From the Press |
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Kyocera Corporation
Corporate Communications
Head Office
Tel: 075-604-3416 (Direct)
Tokyo
Tel: 03-3274-1577(Direct) |
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