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:
Dec. 20, 2011
Filed:
Aug. 29, 2007
Kenichi Hirota, Tokyo, JP;
Kenichi Hirota, Tokyo, JP;
Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A thermal transfer printer according to the invention includes at least one printing unit for thermal transfer printing with a print head via a ribbon having a dye layer; a first bending member for bending the ribbon after thermal transfer, the first bending member having at least one curved surface that is aligned perpendicular to a conveyance direction of the ribbon and protrudes toward one or the other surface of the ribbon; a second bending member disposed at a distance from the first bending member, the second bending member having at least one acute apex that is aligned perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the ribbon and protrudes toward the one or the other surface of the ribbon, the apex causing a bend line to be formed in the used ribbon conveyed from the first bending member; a folder for folding the ribbon conveyed from the second bending member along the bend line; and a heater for fusing opposing dye layers of the folded ribbon together.