52
UBI EasyCoder 501 – Technical Manual
DIRECT THERMAL PAPER
UBI has specified two quality grades of direct thermal paper:
❑
Premium Quality, which sets high demands on printout quality
and resistance against moisture, high temperature, UV-light,
plasticisers and oil.
❑
Economy Quality, which gives slightly lower printout quality
and is less resistant to moisture, plasticisers and vegetable oil. In
all other respects, it is equal to Premium Quality.
When using pre-printed thermal paper, we strongly advice against
using background pre-print on such areas that are intended for
thermal printing. Not only may the readability of bar codes be
impaired by an inappropriate background colour, but the pre-print
ink may also be too opaque or have such an insulating effect, that
the legibility of text will be insufficient.
Make sure that the pre-print ink does not contain any titanium
dioxide (a white agent), which has a strong grinding effect that may
wear out the printhead prematurely. The same applies to some types
of fluorescent ink. If possible, avoid ink containing sodium, chlo-
rine and potassium, since these agents may adversely affect the
printhead through chemical corrosion.
If pre-printing cannot be avoided on areas intended for thermal
printing, the ink or varnish must be resistant to heat up to 225˚C
(+437˚F) for at least 1 second at 2.0 kgs/cm
2
. Otherwise, the ink will
melt and clog the printhead.
General Information
Pre-printed Paper
