Thermal transfer recording method and apparatus with oppositely conveyed ink sheet and recording medium controlled to maintain a substantially constant conveyance ratio

An image forming apparatus for transferring an ink of an ink sheet to record an image on a recording medium, said apparatus comprising:

• a supply roller for supplying said ink sheet;
• a winding roller for winding said ink sheet supplied from said supply roller, said ink sheet being conveyed only by a drive of said winding roller;
• driving means for driving said winding roller;
• rotation amount detecting means for detecting a rotation amount of said supply roller;
• and
• detecting means for detecting a using amount of said ink sheet in accordance with the rotation amount of said supply roller with respect to a predetermined rotation of said winding roller by said driving means.

A recording method for transferring an ink of an ink sheet to record an image on a recording medium, said method comprising the steps of:

• supplying said ink sheet by a supply roller;
• winding by a winding roller said ink sheet supplied from said supply roller, said ink sheet being conveyed only by a drive of said winding roller;
• driving said winding roller by a predetermined amount;
• detecting a rotation amount of said supply roller;
• and
• detecting a using amount of said ink sheet in accordance with the rotation amount of said supply roller with respect to the predetermined amount of said winding roller in said driving step.

An image forming method for transferring an ink of an ink sheet to record an image on a recording medium, said method comprising the steps of:

• supplying said ink sheet by a supply roller;
• winding by a winding roller said ink sheet supplied from said supply roller, said ink sheet being conveyed only by a drive of said winding roller;
• driving said winding roller by a predetermined amount;
• detecting a rotation amount of said supply roller;
• and
• detecting a using amount of said ink sheet in accordance with the rotation amount of said supply roller with respect to the predetermined amount of said winding roller in said driving step.