Two-color recording paper and method and recording apparatus utilizing _the two-color recording paper

A recording method utilizing two-color recording paper comprising the steps of:

• feeding a thermosensitive recording paper having a substrate and a coloring layer containing a developer coated on the substrate;
• coloring the coloring layer of said thermosensitive recording paper at a first position on the paper path, to produce an image in a first hue;
• feeding said thermosensitive recording paper along said paper path together with an ink film having a thin film base and an ink layer of a second hue coated on the film base, said ink layer containing a mixture of a colored material such as dye with a thermoplastic material which is solid at ordinary temperature and becomes fluid at high temperature, said ink film and said thermosensitive recording paper being separably overlapped, with an ink surface of said ink film and a coloring surface of said thermosensitive recording paper facing each other;
• melting ink of said ink film at a second position on said paper path, to transfer the melted ink onto the coloring surface of said thermosensitive recording paper;
• and
• peeling said ink film from said thermosensitive recording paper at a third position on said paper path, to produce a transferred image in the second hue on the coloring surface of said thermosensitive recording paper.

A recording apparatus utilizing two-color recording paper comprising:

• means for feeding at a predetermined feedrate two-color recording paper comprising an ink film having a thin film base and an ink layer of a hue coated on the film base and containing a mixture of a colored material such as dye with a thermoplastic material which is solid and becomes fluid at high temperature, and a thermosensitive recording paper having a substrate and a coloring layer coated on the substrate and containing a developer coloring differently from said ink, said ink film and said thermosensitive recording paper being overlapped separably with an ink surface of said ink film and a coloring surface of said thermosensitive recording paper facing each other;
• a first thermal head disposed at a first position on the paper path;
• a second thermal head disposed on the paper path with a predetermined distance away from said first thermal head;
• means for peeling said ink film from said thermosensitive recording paper in a direction at a predetermined angle measured from the surface of said recording paper, said means being interposed between said first and second thermal heads;
• and
• electrical circuit means comprising a drive circuit for driving said first thermal head, another drive circuit for driving said second thermal head, and a delay circuit for delaying operation of said second thermal head relative to operation of said first thermal head by a time period in which said recording paper is moved for said predetermined distance.