The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 24, 1998
Filed:
Apr. 30, 1996
Daniel Charles Maslanka, Rochester, NY (US);
Terrence Lee Fisher, Rochester, NY (US);
Vlade Josif Kordovich, Rochester, NY (US);
Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, NY (US);
Abstract
A thermal printer (10) is useful for printing onto a receiver sheet (22, 24, 26) having a leading edge and a trailing edge and includes an elongated rotatable platen (34); an elongated thermal print head (30) positioned parallel to the platen; a closed loop pathway (12, 14, 16) for recirculating the receiver sheet in a printing direction from the platen and back to the platen, the platen being positioned for rotation in the printing direction with at least a portion of the platen in the pathway to engage the receiver sheet or a dye donor web (31); a supply roll (28) of dye donor web positioned upstream of the print head; a mechanism (76-112, 132-142) for moving the print head into the pathway opposite the platen to press the print head into engagement with the dye donor web, the dye donor web into engagement with the receiver sheet, and the receiver sheet into engagement with the platen; a mechanism (180-188) for rotating the platen in the printing direction to move either the dye donor web or both the dye donor web and the receiver sheet between the print head and the platen; and a mechanism (18, 166-174) for recirculating the receiver sheet through the closed loop pathway in the printing direction for successive thermal transfers of different dyes from the dye donor web. A method of thermal printing also is taught.