Image forming apparatus
AssigneeToshiba Tec Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorNorio Tanaka
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An image forming apparatus includes a head configured to transfer ink from an ink ribbon to a print medium, a roller for pressing the print medium, and a controller configured to: upon receipt of print data, determine image areas in which an image is formed and non-image areas in which no image is formed, at the beginning of printing, control a distance between the head and the roller such that they contact each other, and set conveyance speeds of the medium and the ribbon to first and second values, before a boundary between the image and non-image areas reaches a position at which the head contacts the roller, set the speeds to third and fourth values lower than the first and second values, and when the boundary reaches the position, control the distance such that the head and the roller are separated from each other.
Claims20
An image forming apparatus comprising:
- a head configured to transfer ink from an ink ribbon to a print medium;
- a roller for pressing the print medium against the head;
- and
- a controller configured to control a conveyance speed of the print medium, a conveyance speed of the ink ribbon, and a distance between the head and the roller, wherein
- the controller is configured to:
- upon receipt of print data, determine, along a conveyance direction of the print medium, one or more image areas in which an image is formed on the print medium and one or more non-image areas in which no image is formed on the print medium,
- at the beginning of printing, control the distance between the head and the roller such that the head and the roller contact each other, and set the conveyance speed of the print medium to a first value and the conveyance speed of the ink ribbon to a second value,
- before a first boundary between a first image area and a first non-image area that follows the first image area reaches a print position at which the head and the roller contact each other, set the conveyance speed of the print medium to a third value and the conveyance speed of the ink ribbon to a fourth value, the third value being lower than the first value and the fourth value being lower than the second value, and
- when the first boundary reaches the print position, control the distance between the head and the roller such that the head and the roller are separated from each other.
A method performed by an image forming apparatus that includes:
- a head configured to transfer ink from an ink ribbon to a print medium, and
- a roller for pressing the print medium against the head, the method comprising:
- upon receipt of print data, determining, along a conveyance direction of the print medium, one or more image areas in which an image is formed on the print medium and one or more non-image areas in which no image is formed on the print medium;
- at the beginning of printing, controlling a distance between the head and the roller such that the head and the roller contact each other, and setting a conveyance speed of the print medium to a first value and a conveyance speed of the ink ribbon to a second value;
- before a first boundary between a first image area and a first non-image area that follows the first image area reaches a print position at which the head and the roller contact each other, setting the conveyance speed of the print medium to a third value and the conveyance speed of the ink ribbon to a fourth value, the third value being lower than the first value and the fourth value being lower than the second value;
- and
- when the first boundary reaches the print position, controlling the distance between the head and the roller such that the head and the roller are separated from each other.
A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a program causing a computer to execute a method of forming an image on a print medium using an ink ribbon, the method comprising:
- upon receipt of print data, determining, along a conveyance direction of the print medium, one or more image areas in which an image is formed on the print medium and one or more non-image areas in which no image is formed on the print medium;
- at the beginning of printing, controlling a distance between a head and a roller for pressing the print medium against the head such that the head and the roller contact each other, and setting a conveyance speed of the print medium to a first value and a conveyance speed of the ink ribbon to a second value;
- before a first boundary between a first image area and a first non-image area that follows the first image area reaches a print position at which the head and the roller contact each other, setting the conveyance speed of the print medium to a third value and the conveyance speed of the ink ribbon to a fourth value, the third value being lower than the first value and the fourth value being lower than the second value;
- and
- when the first boundary reaches the print position, controlling the distance between the head and the roller such that the head and the roller are separated from each other.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.