New Thermal Printhead Provides Clear Printing at High Speeds Even on a Single-Cell Li-ion Battery

Novel design contributes to greater miniaturization, lighter weight, and improved energy savings

Willich-Münchheide, Germany, February 21, 2024 – ROHM has developed a new thermal printhead – KR2002-Q06N5AA – compatible with single Li-ion battery cell (3.6V) battery drive that achieves high-performance printing while improving energy savings by approximately 30%. (Figure 1) In recent years, the importance of payment terminals and logistics mobile label printers continues to increase following the growth of electronic money payments. For mobile label printers and payment terminals, 2-cell Li-ion battery thermal printers have become mainstream due to their printing speed and print quality. Single-cell Li-ion battery drive allows printers to be made smaller, lighter, and more energy efficient, but drawbacks such as slower printing speed and shorter battery life prevent widespread use. In response, ROHM developed a thermal printhead that can achieve the same print output as a 2-cell drive even with a single Li-ion battery cell. The KR2002-Q06N5AA utilizes a radically new structure that breaks away from convention. In addition to optimizing the glaze design (which functions as a heat storage layer) and adopting special low resistance heat elements, the protective film structure on the heat elements was optimized. This ensures efficient transfer of generated heat to the print media such as thermal paper and thermal transfer ribbons. At the same time, improvements to the driver IC and wiring structure increase printing performance by efficiently converting power supplied to the device into thermal energy. Simultaneously improving heat transfer and power efficiency allows ROHM to achieve significant energy savings. (Figure 2 + 3) These improvements make it possible to achieve the same printing speed and quality as conventional heads driven by two Li-ion battery cells (7.2V) with just a single cell. ROHM also succeeded in reducing the applied energy required for printing by about 30% over existing single-cell drive thermal printheads. This translates to greater energy efficiency while reducing the size and weight of thermal printer equipment. Going forward, ROHM will continue to expand its considerable lineup of thermal printheads that deliver high image quality, industry-leading print speeds, and superior efficiency. Key Specifications (Figure 4) *For more information on printheads for mobile printers, please refer to the following URL on ROHM’s website. https://www.rohm.com/products/printheads/mobile-printers Availability: December 2023 (OEM quantities) Application Examples Logistics label printers, inventory management terminals, receipt printers for payment terminals (Figure 5), POS (Point of Sales) printers Visit ROHM’s Website for More Information https://www.rohm.com/news-detail?news-title=2024-02-21_news_printhead&defaultGroupId=false

About ROHM Semiconductor ROHM Semiconductor is a global company of 507.8 billion yen (3.9 billion US dollars) per March 31st, 2023, with over 23,700 employees. The company develops and manufactures a very large product range from SiC Diodes and MOSFETs, Analog ICs such as Gate Drivers and Power Management ICs to Power Transistors and Diodes to Passive Components. The production of ROHM’s high performing products is taking place in state-of-the-art manufacturing plants in Japan, Germany, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, and China. ROHM Semiconductor Europe has its Head Office near Dusseldorf serving the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East, and Africa). For further information, please contact www.rohm.com