ROHM has developed the KR2002-Q06N5AA, a thermal printhead with a new structure powered by a single lithium-ion battery (3.6V) that realizes high-performance printing and energy savings of approximately 30%.
In recent years, portable label printers, which have become popular with the development of the logistics industry, and payment terminals, which have become popular with the development of electronic money payments, have become increasingly important. In the field of portable thermal printers such as portable label printers and payment terminals, models powered by two lithium-ion batteries are the mainstay due to print speed and print quality.
If printers can be powered by 1 lithium-ion battery, they can be made smaller and lighter, and at the same time more energy efficient. On the other hand, powering the printer with a single lithium-ion battery is associated with lower print speeds and shorter battery life. In response, ROHM has developed a thermal printhead that can achieve the same printout with one lithium-ion battery as with two batteries.
The new product has made significant improvements to the structure of the thermal print head. In addition to optimizing the design of the glaze layer*1 of the heat storage layer, a special low-resistance heat generator has been adopted, and the structure of the protective film on the heat generator has been changed. This enables the heat generated to be efficiently transferred to print media such as thermal paper or transfer ribbons. In addition, by improving the driver IC and wiring structure, it is possible to efficiently convert the electrical energy supplied to the device into thermal energy, thereby improving the printing efficiency. Energy savings have also been realized by simultaneously improving heat transfer efficiency and energy conversion efficiency.
These improvements have made it possible to achieve the same print speed and print quality with one lithium-ion battery as with conventional products powered by two lithium-ion batteries (7.2V). In addition, the new product has succeeded in reducing the amount of applied energy required for printing by approximately 30% compared to the conventional 1-cell battery-driven thermal print head. Utilizing these advantages, the new product will help make thermal printing devices smaller, lighter, and more energy efficient.
The new product has been tentatively put into mass production from December 2023 on a scale of 50,000 units per month.
For more information, please visit perceptive-ic.com.
