What is the difference between barcode printer carbon tape and ribbon

Carbon and ribbon as printer consumables, although both play a key role in the printing process, they are significantly different in several ways. The following is a detailed analysis of the differences between carbon bands and color bands:

Definition and use

Carbon Belt:

Carbon tape is a special consumable for barcode printers, also known as thermal transfer ribbon.

It works through the heat transfer method, that is, the heat of printing hair transfers the toner on the carbon belt to the self-adhesive label to achieve the printing effect.

Carbon tape is widely used in packaging, logistics, manufacturing, commerce, clothing and other fields, for printing a variety of labels, barcodes and two-dimensional codes and other information.

Color Band:

Ribbon is mainly used in needle printers and is a printing consumable that works by mechanical impact.

The working principle of the ribbon is to use the dot matrix firing pin or letter bump in the head of the needle printer to impact the printing ribbon, so as to produce a printing effect on the printing paper.

Ribbon has been used from the earliest mechanical impact English printers to the later computer needle printers.

Second, structure and material

Carbon Belt:

Carbon tape is generally composed of multi-layer structure, including tape base, ink layer, inner coating, back coating and so on.

The band base is the carrier of the carbon band, which determines the performance of heat conduction. The ink layer is the core part of printing, responsible for the transfer of text and bar code information; The back coating mainly plays a role in reducing print head wear and electrostatic gaeneration.

According to the material composition, the carbon strip can be divided into wax based carbon strip, resin based carbon strip and mixed based carbon strip to meet different printing needs.

Color Band:

The ribbon is relatively simple in structure, and is mainly made of a ribbon base woven from nylon silk through ink immersion and dyeing.

Good ribbon base should be durable, elastic, printing for a long time without fuzz, constant line, not flabby edge.

Third, the working principle

Carbon Belt:

The strip works by thermal transfer, in which the heat of the printed hair melts the toner on the strip and transfers it to the label paper.

This process requires the heat and pressure of the print head to work together to achieve high-quality printing results.

Color Band:

The ribbon works by mechanical impact, that is, the dot matrix firing pin or letter bump of the needle printer hits the ribbon, leaving ink on the printing paper.

This method is relatively simple and direct, but the printing effect and durability may not be as good as carbon tape.

4. Application scenarios

Carbon Belt:

Because of its high-quality printing effect and durability, carbon belt is widely used in the need for high-precision and high-durability printing, such as packaging, logistics, manufacturing and other fields.

Especially for those labels that need to be stored for a long time or subjected to harsh environments, carbon tape is the ideal choice.

Color Band:

Ribbon is mainly suitable for needle printers, which are usually used for some specific printing tasks, such as ticket printing, multi-copy paper printing, etc.

In these scenarios, ribbon is the preferred consumable for its economy and applicability.

In summary, there are significant differences between carbon belt and color belt in terms of definition and use, structure and material, working principle and application scenarios. The user should choose according to the specific printing needs and printer types.