Thermal printing apparatus comprising a cooler

Abstract

A thermal printing apparatus includes a frame, an endless ribbon to transport ink on its outer face, a coating device to coat the endless ribbon with ink, a printhead to print by thermal transfer a substrate with a part of the ink, a plurality of first rollers supporting and transporting the endless ribbon by its inner face along a path from the coating device to the printhead and from the printhead to the coating device in a cyclic manner, at least one first conveyor arranged to support the inner face of the endless ribbon between two adjacent first rollers along its path from the coating device to the printhead; the first conveyor including a plate fixed in translation and rotation with the frame and having a first convex surface supporting the inner face, a heat exchanger designed to cool down the first surface of the plate at a predefined temperature.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.