Shinko Electric Company, Ltd.

Kenichi Kawahara

Minoru Yamakuni

Hayami Sugiyama

Susumu Mitsushima

Hiromitsu Ogita

Shigeyuki Kawamura

Hiroshi Matsuda

Hitoshi Nakagawa

Kazunori Masukawa

Kazuhiro Tsuji

Sigeyuki Kawamura

Takasi Kubota

A thermal transfer printer includes: an ink ribbon conveyor unit that conveys an ink ribbon; a sheet conveyor unit that conveys a sheet; a dummy pattern generation unit that generates a dummy pattern; an image data generation unit that generates print image data joining n screens together, the print image data including the dummy pattern inserted between two adjacent screens among the n screens; a thermal head that transfers a dye coated on the ink ribbon in accordance with the print image data; and a peeler unit that peels the ink ribbon from the sheet. An average density of the dummy pattern is equal to an average density of the image over an area equivalent to a distance between a tail end portion of the thermal head and the peeler unit, on one screen that follows the dummy pattern.

Thermal transfer printer

In the present invention, the recording paper is conveyed by a feed roller to plural recording portions sequentially, and each recording portion successively prints each specific color on the recording paper while applying tension to the paper. The tension applied to the recording paper is switched to a predetermined value each time the recording paper is conveyed to each recording, portion when starting to print.

Color printer and method of feeding paper by tension rollers

In a thermal-transfer-type color printer, an ink ribbon and a paper are sandwiched between a thermal head and a platen roller so that a specific image is transferred onto the paper in a specific color. The platen roller is made by a rubber material which has a certain degree of hardness. On the surface of the ink ribbon, plural colors of ink are sequentially and repeatedly painted. Hence, after transferring an image onto the paper in one color, the paper is moved backward; and then, another image is transferred onto the paper in another color. Thus, a multi-color printing is performed. In order to avoid a color shade or an printing error, in which a printing position of one-color image does not accurately match with a printing position of another-color image, the paper should be accurately moved forward and backward. In order to do so, the thermal-transfer-type color printer provides a precise paper-feed mechanism which comprises a pinch roller and a paper-feed roller. Around a surface of the paper-feed roller, micro projections are formed in predetermined size and shape, so that the paper is certainly held between the pinch roller and paper-feed roller. The micro projections can be formed at a selected surface area of the paper-feed roller. Those micro projections are formed by carrying out an etching process using a masking pattern formed at a certain surface area of the paper-feed roller.

Thermal-transfer-type color printer having a feed roller with micro

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Ise, Japan

Kenichi Kawahara