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US 5,688,060 AGranted
Thermal transfer printer
AssigneeAlps Electric Co., Ltd.
InventorHirotoshi Terao
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A thermal transfer printer in which when a printing head is soiled, the debris on the printing head can be removed automatically. The printing head movable to and from a platen is mounted on a carriage capable of being reciprocated along the platen, and a cleaning pad is disposed on an extension line of the platen downsteam or upstream in the printing column direction of the platen.
Claims1
A thermal transfer printer comprising:
- a carriage capable of being reciprocated along a platen;
- a thermal head mounted on said carriage, the thermal head including a plurality of heat generating elements;
- and
- a ribbon cassette detachably mounted on said carriage, the ribbon cassette housing an ink ribbon;
- wherein said heat generating elements are selectively driven while said carriage reciprocates along said platen in a state where said thermal head is placed in pressure contact with the platen through said ink ribbon and a sheet of paper to perform a printing on said paper,
- wherein a cleaning pad is disposed at least at a downstream end or an upstream end of said platen and forming a continuous surface with said platen such that said thermal head is movable from the platen into pressure contact with the cleaning pad,
- wherein said cleaning pad is formed with a planar surface which contacts said thermal head, and
- wherein said thermal transfer printer further comprises means for electrifying said thermal head while the thermal head is in pressure contact with said cleaning pad.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.