Micro printers are mainly micro printers with a width of less than 84mm, including POS printers (commercial POS and financial POS), tax-controlled printers, ATM, ECR, KIOSK and other built-in or external micro printers. Micro printers are widely used Industries, such as finance, retail, catering, lottery, transportation (including taxis, air tickets, road and bridge tolls, etc.), gas stations, health care, postal services, utility meter reading, mobile police systems, mobile Government systems, etc.
Classification of micro printers
Micro printers by application
Special micro printer: The so-called special micro printer refers to micro printers for special purposes, such as professional barcode micro printers, professional card micro printers, etc. These micro printers usually require professional software or driver support, or can only be supported One or more special devices to work,
Universal micro printers: Universal micro printers are widely used and can support the print output of many types of devices. Many so-called printers are actually universal micro printers.
Micro printers are classified by printing method
Dot-type micro printer: Dot-type micro-printing uses a printing method in which the printing needle hits the ribbon to print the ink on the printing paper;
Thermal micro printer: The thermal method is to change the color of the thermal medium coated on the printing paper by heating;
Thermal transfer micro printers, etc. Thermal transfer is to print the toner on the printing paper by heating the toner on the ribbon. At present, it is rarely used in other fields except barcode printers and ticket printers.
There are also micro-type printers, which are mostly used in taxis. Bank cash machines, etc.
Micro printers by workplace
Portable mini printers: Portable mini printers are small, battery-powered, and use infrared or Bluetooth technology for data communication. Of course, serial ports are also used; usually portable mini printers are also called portable receipt printers; they are mainly used for various mobile applications: such as government departments Mobile police system, mobile law enforcement system and other on-site printing of law enforcement documents, in addition to the insurance industry's on-site vehicle damage determination system for printing damage orders, outdoor equipment inspections, logistics system delivery orders, etc .;
Desktop mini printer: usually placed on the desktop to receive data for printing through a serial port or parallel port; usually used to print small tickets on a POS machine or print test results in conjunction with instruments;
Embedded micro printer: Strictly speaking, an embedded micro printer is not a complete product, but a component of a product. It is a module that can achieve printing functions with only simple installation. It is often used to embed instruments for printing, or to embed ATM machine, queue machine etc. print.
Features
Dot-type micro printers: Dot-type miniature printers are more common type of miniature printers. Epson print heads (printer cores) have been used in domestic products for a long time. The advantage of needle punching is that printed documents can be stored for a long time. Of course, the ribbon you choose
The ink must be of good quality, so the microprinters used in many convenience stores are needle punches, and because the needle printhead is simple to control, it can be produced using a cheaper control board solution, so it is cheaper. However, needle punching also has many disadvantages: high noise, slow printing speed, fast print head loss, and need to change the ribbon frequently, because of its principle, these are insurmountable. Thermal micro printers: Thermal micro printers are also more common micro printers, but come out later than dot-matrix micro printers. Thermal printers have fast printing speeds, low noise, and little mechanical wear on the print head, and do not require ribbons, eliminating the need to replace ribbons. However, it also has disadvantages. Because it uses thermal paper, it cannot be stored indefinitely. It can be stored for one to five years in the dark, and there are long-term thermal paper that can be stored for ten years. Wireless micro printers: Most of the wireless micro printers now use infrared data communication technology. The biggest advantage of wireless micro printers is that they can achieve wireless printing, which is convenient, especially if you need to implement printing functions outdoors. Highlighted, but infrared printing also has its shortcomings, that is, the accuracy of its data transmission. Wired micro printer: Compared with wireless micro printer, its data transmission reliability is higher, but if it is used in mobile printing, it will become very inconvenient.
Technology realization principle
A printer is a complex and precise mechatronic device. No matter what kind of printer, its structure can basically be divided into two parts: mechanical device and control circuit. These two parts are closely related. The mechanical devices include the print head, the carriage mechanism, the paper feeding mechanism, the ribbon transmission mechanism, the ink (toner) supply mechanism, and the toner cartridge transmission mechanism, etc. They are all the execution mechanisms of the printer system and are uniformly coordinated and controlled by the control circuit; The control circuit of the printer includes a CPU main control circuit, a drive circuit, an input-output interface circuit, and a detection circuit. The following is the general principle of the printer: The printer is a small mechatronic system. The mechanical part is the actuator, and the "data" printing is completed under the control of the CPU and the drive circuit inside the machine. The general structure and working principle of the printer are as follows
Although the appearance of the printer is ever-changing, and the graphics and colors printed are different, in principle, we can divide the commonly used printers into three types: dot matrix printers, inkjet printers, and laser printers.
Comparison of thermal micro and pin micro
Needle micro-printing is currently commonly used for 9-pin micro-printing; and thermal micro-printing, direct thermal thermal micro-printing is more commonly used than thermal transfer thermal micro-printing. The commonalities and differences between stylus micro-printing and thermal micro-printing should start from the working principles of these two types of printers and their respective performances.
1. Basic working principle
Dot-type micro printers are composed of at least the following basic key components: a printer core, a print controller, a power supply, and a housing, and the printer core is composed of a print head and a carriage motor movement mechanism, a paper feed motor movement mechanism, and various sensors. Among these key components, the biggest difference from thermal micro-printing is that the general line thermal micro-printing does not have a carriage motor movement mechanism and a print head movement mechanism, and these are mainly different from the thermal micro-printing print head. It is determined by the pin micro-printing, which also determines different printing methods and control methods.
Needle micro-printing is by controlling the print head movement and paper feeding movement, and controlling the print head to eject the needle to hit the ribbon and printing paper, and the ink on the corresponding point of the ribbon is printed on the printing paper, so as to print on the paper. information. Direct thermal line thermal micro-printer, the thermal head consists of a row of dense and evenly arranged special materials of heatable resistors, each unit resistance corresponds to a point, control of the different points of electricity can heat the corresponding point, And the thermal paper with thermal coating in close contact with it can print the corresponding dot information when heated, and then through the control of paper feeding, various information can be printed. Another type of thermal micro-printing-thermal transfer micro-printing, basically works the same as a direct thermal type thermal printer. The difference is that the thermal transfer micro-printing is performed by heating a carbon ribbon with a thermal coating. The coating material on the corresponding ribbon heating point is transferred to ordinary printing paper.
2. Performance
Thermal micro-printing and pin-type micro-printing have their own advantages and disadvantages at different performance points. The following table provides a more intuitive comparison of these two types of models. The following table is a comparison of the main performances of micro printers commonly used in the market. For some special applications of micro printers, some specific performances may vary greatly.
(1) Printing speed
The stylus micro-printing speed is generally 3 to 5 lines per second, which depends on factors such as the working frequency of the print head, the processing speed and method of the controller. The thermal microprinter just overcomes these speed limitations. The printing speed can reach 50mm / s or even 150mm / s, which is several times that of the needle microprinter.
(2) Copy ability
Thermal micro-printing generally does not have copying capabilities, while pin-type micro-printing can achieve the printing and copying effect of 1 layer of original paper plus 2 layers of copying. The thermal head of the direct thermal type micro-printer can only contact the surface of the single-layer thermal paper, but cannot transfer heat to the thermal paper of the copying joint, so it can only achieve single-layer printing; while the pin-type micro-printer uses The force of striking the needle can transmit the impact of the needle to the 2 layers of copy paper with copy coating, thus achieving 1 + 2 copying capacity printing. This is the unique advantage of pin microprinting in printing invoices and other applications that require printing and copying.
(3) Volume
Generally, the volume of the thermal printer is slightly smaller than that of the pin micro-printer, which is mainly determined by the fact that the thermal micro-printer is smaller than the pin micro-printer.
(4) Printing resolution
Thermal [1] Minwei Micro printing has a much higher resolution than pin micro printing, so its printing effect is better than pin micro printing. The horizontal resolution of the commonly used line thermal print head is 203dpi, and according to different applications, it is 300dpi or even higher; the vertical resolution of the pin type micro print head is 72dpi, but with appropriate control, it can reach 144dpi or more. high.
(5) Printing supplies
Dot printers use ordinary printing paper and ribbons, both of which have relatively low costs; direct thermal thermal microprinters must use special thermal paper. Although ribbons are not required, the cost of consumables is higher than Pin-type micro-type. Most of the performance of thermal transfer thermal microprinting is the same as direct thermal thermal microprinting, but because it uses thermal transfer ribbon, it increases the cost of ribbon in terms of consumables, but because of the use of ordinary printing paper Reduced paper costs.
In short, direct thermal microprinting is better than pin-type microprinting in terms of noise, speed, and resolution, but pin-type microprinting is better than direct-printing in terms of copying ability and paper preservation effect (except thermal transfer). Thermal thermal micro-printing, these respective advantages have established these two types of micro-printing in different applications
Purchase of micro printers
Because the use of special printers is relatively narrow, it is not difficult to purchase. The following introduces the characteristics of various general micro printers as a reference for your purchase.
I. Dot-type micro printer: Dot-type micro-printer is a more common type of miniature printer. The products produced by Epson print head (printer core) have been used in China for a long time. The advantage of needle printing is that the printed documents can be stored for a long time. Of course, the ink on the ribbon you choose must be of good quality, so the micro printing used in many convenience stores is needle printing, and because the needle print head controls Simple, it can be produced with a cheaper control board solution, so it is cheaper. However, needle punching also has many disadvantages: high noise, slow printing speed, fast print head loss, and need to change the ribbon frequently, because of its principle, these are insurmountable.
2. Thermal mini printers: Thermal micro printers are also more common micro printers, but come out later than dot-type micro printers. Thermal printers have fast printing speeds, low noise, and little mechanical wear on the print head, and do not require ribbons, eliminating the need to replace ribbons. However, it also has disadvantages. Because it uses thermal paper, it cannot be stored indefinitely. It can be stored for one to five years in the dark, and there are long-term thermal paper that can be stored for ten years.
3. Portable mini printers: Also known as portable receipt printers, most of the portable micro printers now use Bluetooth data communication technology. Compared with the earlier IrDA technology, its data transmission distance is long, non-directional, and smaller than desktop micro printers. , Battery-powered, can be carried around.
Fourth, desktop mini printer: Compared with portable mini printer, its printing speed is higher.
The above introduces the advantages and disadvantages of several different printers, but there may still be many questions when you buy. Let us talk about other matters that need to be paid attention to when buying a printer.
First, print the character set: the character set required by the user may not be exactly the same, some only need numbers, some need English, some need Chinese characters, pay attention to the required character set when buying.
2. Dimensions and weight: If it is a printer placed in a fixed place, then as long as there is enough space, the size and weight of the printer need not be considered too much. If it is required to be portable, the dimensions and weight must be considered.
3. Power supply: There are two power supply methods for micro printers at present, one is to use an external stabilized power supply, and the other is to use a rechargeable battery. If a stabilized power supply is used, the power quality is high. The life of the rechargeable battery, the time that it can be used on a single charge, and whether the rechargeable battery can be easily removed, especially for outdoor users, if the time that can be used on a single charge is too short, the battery life will be very small. If the battery is not easy to remove, then if the battery is exhausted outdoors, the printer cannot be used.
Fourth, the paper roll size: If the user uses it frequently, then it is necessary to consider the size of the paper roll. Frequent replacement of the paper roll is annoying.
V. Printing width and the amount of data printed: The printing width is best traced by the number of characters printed on each line. For example, the same 57mm paper width, more can print 24 characters, and less can only print 10 characters. Which one to choose depends on the needs of the user.
6. Consumables: Thermal printers and needles use different supplies, so a roll of paper of the same diameter has a long thermal printing paper, but it is expensive. The paper used for needles is short, but it is cheap. Judging from the above, the two consume almost the same amount on the printing paper, but the needle printing also consumes the ribbon, so in general, the consumables consumed by the thermal printer are cheaper.
7. Convenience of use: This may be a problem that many buyers overlook. The convenience of use is mainly reflected in various LED indicators, sound prompts, key function design, and paper change (thermal printers may have Advantages, many thermal printers now use a clamshell paper loading method, which can change the paper very easily and quickly, and needle printing can not do this due to the principle limitations of the printer core), these must be experienced by users themselves Already.
Eight, other special requirements: There are some special requirements for users, such as the ability to print barcodes, print graphics, etc., you can choose between different products from different manufacturers.
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