Ice vulcan - Appendix C - Main Board Test Points; Appendix D - Theory of Printing

Rev AA
Main Board Test Points C-4
ICE Vulcan Service Manual
Theory of Printing
The following section explains the theory of printing of the thermal transfer printer (Figure
D-1):
• The printhead (item 6, Figure D-1) contains miniature heating elements under a glass
coating (300 dpi - 12 dots/min)
• A carrier ribbon (item 5), with ink bonded to one side is used as the printing media
• The printhead presses the thermal transfer ribbon onto the substrate (item 2), with the ink
side of ribbon in contact with the substrate
• Print elements heat small areas of the ribbon and this transfers the ink to the target substrate
• The printhead and the substrate move relative to each other
• The print elements are programmable and controlled to create an image
5
6
1
4
2
3
1. Transferred Ink
2. Substrate
3. Platten
4. Ink
5. Base Film
6. Thermal Printhead
Figure D-1: Printing Process