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:
Oct. 12, 2004
Filed:
Mar. 10, 2003
Tsuaki Odaka, Tokyo-To, JP;
Kenji Sakamoto, Tokyo-To, JP;
Katsuyuki Oshima, Tokyo-To, JP;
Tatsuya Kita, Tokyo-To, JP;
Kazuhiro Masuda, Tokyo-To, JP;
Abstract
An image formation method and a thermal transfer sheet for use in the image formation method are provided. According to the image formation method and the thermal transfer sheet, an intermediate transfer recording medium comprising a substrate film and a transfer part, comprising at least a receptive layer, provided separably on the substrate film is used, and, at the time of the transfer of the transfer part in the intermediate transfer recording medium onto an object, the transfer of the transfer part onto the object in its nontransfer region, onto which the transfer part should not be transferred, can be avoided without installing any special ancillary tool on an image forming apparatus. In the method for image formation, a thermal transfer sheet comprising a substrate and at least a peel-off layer provided on the substrate is provided. Further, an intermediate transfer recording medium comprising a substrate film and a transfer part, comprising at least a receptive layer, provided separably on the substrate film is provided. The thermal transfer sheet and the intermediate transfer recording medium are put on top of each other so that the peel-off layer in the thermal transfer sheet is brought into contact with the transfer part in the intermediate transfer recording medium. The assembly is heated to remove the transfer part in its predetermined region from the intermediate transfer recording medium. The transfer part is then retransferred from the intermediate transfer recording medium onto an object. That is, the transfer part in its predetermined region in the intermediate transfer recording medium is transferred onto the thermal transfer sheet side provided with the peel-off layer and is separated from the intermediate transfer recording medium side.