Thermal transfer type printing apparatus
AssigneeKabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
InventorAkira Toshima
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A thermal transfer type printing apparatus includes a thermal head constituted by a number of heating elements and is closely contacted with an ink ribbon. The thermal head is driven in accordance with print information to transfer the ink layer of the ink ribbon fed from an ink ribbon feeding reel to a paper. The negative formed on the ink ribbon due to the ink transferring is erased by the thermal head whose heating elements are driven while the ink ribbon is rewinded to an ink ribbon feeding reel.
Claims11
A thermal transfer type printing apparatus comprising:
- a printing section fitted with thermal head means which is constituted by a large number of heating elements and is tightly pressed against an ink medium provided with an ink layer;
- ink medium-transporting means for forwarding the ink medium;
- means for feeding a material to be printed to said printing section;
- means for issuing print information;
- thermal head-driving means which selectively operates the heating elements of the thermal head means in a print mode in accordance with the contents of the print information from the print information-issuing means;
- and
- means for specifying an erasing mode, following cessation of said print mode to render unreadable a remaining image corresponding to print information which has been retained on the transferred ink medium, and, when said erasing mode is set, issues a signal to said thermal head driving means to actuate the heating elements of the thermal head.
A thermal transfer printing method comprising a tranferring process for transferring the ink layer of the thermal transfer ink ribbon to a to-be-printed matter by a thermal head, and an erasing process for transporting again the ink ribbon into said thermal head after transferring thereby rendering the negative image remaining on the ink ribbon unreadable.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.