The printer essentially consists of a transport mechanism which drags the paper across a thermal dot matrix print head.
An unintended heat source, such as a coffee cup, can discolour the paper and obscure any printing.
The earliest direct thermal papers were developed by NCR Corporation (using dye chemistry) and 3M (using metallic salts).
In the 1970s and early 1980s, Japanese producers including Ricoh, Jujo, and Kanzaki, using similar dye-based chemistry, formed partnerships with barcode printer manufacturers including TEC and Sato and entered the emerging global bar code industry, primarily for supermarket receipt printers.
U.S. producers including Appleton (NCR's license), Nashua Corporation, and Graphic Controls fought for market share.
The printer essentially consists of a transport mechanism which drags the paper across a thermal dot matrix print head.
In 2006, NCR Corporation's Systemedia division introduced two-sided thermal printing technology, called "2ST".
Zink technology allows the printing of full-color images in a single pass without requiring ink cartridges.
[11][12] BPA can transfer readily to the skin in small amounts: When taking hold of a receipt consisting of thermal printing paper for five seconds, roughly 1 μg BPA (0.2–0.6 μg) was transferred to the forefinger and the middle finger if the skin was rather dry, and about ten times more than this if these fingers were wet or very greasy.
Therefore, the New York Suffolk County signed a resolution to ban BPA in thermal receipt papers.