Recording apparatus with means for preheating

A heat transfer recording apparatus that records images by transferring an ink from an ink sheet to a recording medium based on one line of image data being prepared one after the other, comprising:

• ink sheet transport means for transporting the ink sheet;
• recording medium transport means for transporting said recording medium;
• recording means having heat producing resistor elements needed for the recording of one line, for recording images by heating said heat producing resistor elements which correspond to said image data;
• judging means for judging whether or not image data from a next line having an image to be recorded is prepared after one line of image is recorded by the recording means;
• first heating control means for controlling heating of the recording means when the judgment means has judged that the image from the next line to be recorded is being prepared;
• second heating control means for controlling heating of the recording means immediately before recording based on the image data from the next line to be recorded is performed when more than a predetermined time is required before the image data from the next line to be recorded is prepared;
• and
• control means for controlling driving of said ink sheet transport means and driving of said recording medium transport means so as to transport said ink sheet and said recording medium in order to record the next image when said judging means has judged that preparation of the image data to be recorded next is completed and said first or said second heating control means has heated said recording means.

A heat transfer recording apparatus which records images on a recording medium by transferring an ink contained in an ink sheet to said recording medium, comprising:

• ink sheet feeding means for feeding said ink sheet;
• recording medium feeding means for feeding said recording medium;
• recording means for recording images on said recording medium by acting on said ink sheet, said recording means including a plurality of heat producing elements, each of said plural heat producing elements being driven selectively;
• and
• control means for controlling driving of said plural heat producing elements after an object image recording has been finished and before a next image recording is started,
• wherein said control means drives said plural heat producing elements with a first energy and then drives said plural heat producing elements with a second energy different from said first energy after the object image recording has been finished and before the next image recording is started.

A heat transfer recording apparatus which records images on a recording medium by transferring an ink contained in an ink sheet to said recording medium, comprising:

• ink sheet feeding means for feeding said ink sheet;
• recording medium feeding means for feeding said recording medium;
• recording means for recording images on said recording medium by acting on said ink sheet, said recording means including a plurality of heat producing elements, each of said plural heat producing elements being driven selectively;
• and
• control means for controlling driving of said plural heat producing elements after an object image recording has been finished and before a next image recording is started,
• wherein said control means drives said plural heat producing elements with a first energy and then drives said plural heat producing elements with a second energy different from said first energy after the object image recording has been finished and before the next image recording is started, and wherein said control means drives said plural heat producing elements with said first energy until a predetermined time as passed since the object image recording has been finished and before the next image recording is started, and drives said plural heat producing elements with said second energy after said predetermined time has passed.

A heat transfer recording apparatus which records images on a recording medium by transferring an ink contained in an ink sheet to said recording medium, comprising:

• ink sheet feeding means for feeding said ink sheet;
• recording medium feeding means for feeding said recording medium;
• recording means for recording images on said recording medium by acting on said ink sheet, said recording means including a plurality of heat producing elements, each of said plural heat producing elements being driven selectively;
• and
• control means for controlling driving of said plural heat producing elements after an object image recording has been finished and before a next image recording is started,
• wherein said control means drives said plural heat producing elements with a first energy and then drives said plural heat producing elements with a second energy different from said first energy after the object image recording has been finished and before the next image recording is started, and wherein said control means refrains from driving said plural heat producing elements with said second energy if the next image recording by said recording means is possible and a predetermined time has not yet passed.