What electronic component could I use to draw on thermal pap

H

HEMOglobina

Guest
Is there a cheap and small electronic component that generates enough
heat to draw on thermal paper? I don't need to draw fast or precisely,
I just need it to be able to produce enough heat to "activate" the
thermal paper.
The best would be something that could work on 12VDC at most.
I'm sure there is such a thing, but I just don't know what it is.
Any help is greatly appreciated,
HEMOglobina
 
HEMOglobina <hemoglobina@gmail.com> wrote in news:c2fa36d7-5e5f-47cc-b793-
f8cc13249648@m20g2000prc.googlegroups.com:

Is there a cheap and small electronic component that generates enough
heat to draw on thermal paper? I don't need to draw fast or precisely,
I just need it to be able to produce enough heat to "activate" the
thermal paper.
The best would be something that could work on 12VDC at most.
I'm sure there is such a thing, but I just don't know what it is.
Any help is greatly appreciated,
HEMOglobina
Click to expand...
Use current in a tiny resistor and wipe it across the paper. Or a sharp
hairpin bend in a bit of resistance wire... But lasers are fun if you haven't
tried them much. Dangerous too though, so if you try, do plenty of reading on
forums, and the LaserFAQ, so you know what you're getting into. They're the
most effective way to draw on thermal paper if you end up wanting precision.

If you want to try, get a laser diode, such as those in a DVD writer. They're
about 100 mW CW (continuous wave), and bright red. You'll need a small
aspheric lens, but the lens in the writer mechanism might be enough. It's
fiddly work, and you'll need very rigorous anti-static precations. To drive
the diode, look at the datasheet for the LM317, wired as a current regulator.
You can make that currrent variable to zero by putting a 5K potentiometer
across a 1.25V bandgap voltage reference, with one end of this network on the
output, AFTER the current limit resistor, on the high side of the load, the
other end to ground. Connect the wiper of the pot to the ADJ pin. Also
connect a 1K resistor from the pot wiper to ground, so that if the pot wiper
goes open-circuit, there is no danger of a surge of high current destroying
the laser diode. Laser diodes usually don't tolerate reflections of their own
light back into them. They usually die.
 
Lostgallifreyan <no-one@nowhere.net> wrote in
news:Xns9E47BB17678E4zoodlewurdle@216.196.109.145:

HEMOglobina <hemoglobina@gmail.com> wrote in
news:c2fa36d7-5e5f-47cc-b793- f8cc13249648@m20g2000prc.googlegroups.com:

Is there a cheap and small electronic component that generates enough
heat to draw on thermal paper? I don't need to draw fast or precisely,
I just need it to be able to produce enough heat to "activate" the
thermal paper.
The best would be something that could work on 12VDC at most.
I'm sure there is such a thing, but I just don't know what it is.
Any help is greatly appreciated,
HEMOglobina


Use current in a tiny resistor and wipe it across the paper. Or a sharp
hairpin bend in a bit of resistance wire...
Click to expand...
You might also use a small cheap soldering iron, 10W at most. Contact
pressure will help control the effect. Just don't leave it on one spot for
long.
 
In article <Xns9E47BBB4EEF05zoodlewurdle@216.196.109.145>,
Lostgallifreyan <no-one@nowhere.net> wrote:

Lostgallifreyan <no-one@nowhere.net> wrote in
news:Xns9E47BB17678E4zoodlewurdle@216.196.109.145:

HEMOglobina <hemoglobina@gmail.com> wrote in
news:c2fa36d7-5e5f-47cc-b793- f8cc13249648@m20g2000prc.googlegroups.com:

Is there a cheap and small electronic component that generates enough
heat to draw on thermal paper? I don't need to draw fast or precisely,
I just need it to be able to produce enough heat to "activate" the
thermal paper.
The best would be something that could work on 12VDC at most.
I'm sure there is such a thing, but I just don't know what it is.
Any help is greatly appreciated,
HEMOglobina


Use current in a tiny resistor and wipe it across the paper. Or a sharp
hairpin bend in a bit of resistance wire...

You might also use a small cheap soldering iron, 10W at most. Contact
pressure will help control the effect. Just don't leave it on one spot for
long.
Click to expand...
If you draw fast enough, friction does the work. This is how people
draw on thermal paper receipts with their fingernail.
--
I will not see posts or email from Google because I must filter them as spam
 
Kevin McMurtrie <mcmurtrie@pixelmemory.us> wrote in
news:4cff0daa$0$22132$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net:

If you draw fast enough, friction does the work. This is how people
draw on thermal paper receipts with their fingernail.
Click to expand...
That could be useful. it has a fairly high friction, and it's consistent. I
wonder if it can be had in tape form, to replace ticker tape. Not as
accurate, but nice to have silence and no moving parts except the tape and
whatever pulls it.

(I haven't used ticker tape for over 25 years, I just like the idea...)
 
In article <Xns9E487306584F3zoodlewurdle@216.196.109.145>,
Lostgallifreyan <no-one@nowhere.net> wrote:

Kevin McMurtrie <mcmurtrie@pixelmemory.us> wrote in
news:4cff0daa$0$22132$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net:

If you draw fast enough, friction does the work. This is how people
draw on thermal paper receipts with their fingernail.


That could be useful. it has a fairly high friction, and it's consistent. I
wonder if it can be had in tape form, to replace ticker tape. Not as
accurate, but nice to have silence and no moving parts except the tape and
whatever pulls it.

(I haven't used ticker tape for over 25 years, I just like the idea...)
Click to expand...
There are linear printers for thermal ticker tape - fax machines,
receipt printers, ticket printers, etc.
--
I will not see posts or email from Google because I must filter them as spam
 
Kevin McMurtrie <mcmurtrie@pixelmemory.us> wrote in
news:4d00572f$0$22122$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net:

There are linear printers for thermal ticker tape - fax machines,
receipt printers, ticket printers, etc.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't want to have to pull paper through those at high speed. :)
 
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