Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha

Fumio Kouzai

Kenichi Haramoto

Kazuhiko Higashi

Tomoyuki Matsumoto

Susumu Tokumaru

Syozo Kitamura

Kiyoshi Takakuwa

Keisuke Oda

Yoshiaki Motoki

Syoichiro Hayashi

An ink sheet for a thermal transfer type color printer. In the ink sheet, a head sensor mark is provided in a transparent portion on one side of a base film, one identification sensor mark is provided in a boundary between specific colorants, and no sensor marks are provided in boundaries between other colorants. In order to reduce the cost of the ink sheet, the sensor marks are composed of the cyan or black colorant itself.

Ink sheet and thermal transfer type color printer

A color thermal printer using an ink sheet having a set of three or four colorants coated or printed so as to correspond to a print area with sensor marks arranged at boundaries between the colorants. In the color thermal printer, a plurality of sensors are disposed within a print width of a thermal head and downstream from a heat line of the thermal head in an ink sheet forward direction by a predetermined distance. When the sensors have sensed the sensor marks, the ink sheet is rewound by the predetermined distance to cause the printing operation to be effected.

Color thermal printer

A Thermally transferable ink sheet comprises a base film having a periodically repeating set of successive ink coated regions having a plurality of color inks thereon, and index mark regions whose index mark comprises a combination of a plurality of sensor marks indicating information regarding the ink sheet located at each border between adjacent ink coated regions. According to a preferred embodiment, each pair of adjacent ink coated regions juxtaposed across each border have extended portions extending toward each other into the index mark region in directions parallel to the direction of ink sheet feeding. Thus, it is possible to read the index mark and identify the ink colors of adjacent ink coated regions at the same time. According to another feature, two sets of index marks are provided contiguous to each other to allow the print apparatus to be controlled by the combination of the resultant readings obtained separately from both sets of index marks.

Thermally transferable ink sheet and a thermal printing apparatus using

Printer inksheet

The provision is made of a firmware (F/W: ROM, RAM) which enables an accurate indexing of an ink sheet so that printing is not performed at the joint portion when an ink sheet having a joint is used. Therefore, an ink sheet having a joint can be used, decreasing running cost of the printer.

Color printer capable of utilizing a jointed color ink sheet

A printing paper protective device includes a protecting plate having a bent portion for separating a paper stack and an open portion for detecting when the paper stack has disappeared. The protecting plate is placed on the printing surface of printing paper and is accommodated in a paper cassette together with the paper stack.

Printing paper protecting device

An energization indicator lamp for time switch in which a two-color light emission element which can be switched from either color to the other color is used in place of a conventional energization indicator lamp, and a color of light emitted from the two-color light emission element is automatically switched in response to supply voltage, whereby the presence of energization upon the time switch as well as a value of the supply voltage can easily and correctly be recognized.

Growing community of inventors

Hiroshima, Japan

Fumio Kouzai