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:
Sep. 17, 2013
Filed:
Jul. 23, 2008
Method and apparatus for forming image, surface-property-modifying sheet, and thermal transfer sheet
Takaaki Murakami, Kanagawa, JP;
Ken Higuchi, Kanagawa, JP;
Yasushi Hirumi, Kanagawa, JP;
Sony Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
In an image-forming method, a ribbon-shaped thermal transfer sheet with a dye layer and a protective material layer arranged side-by-side in the longitudinal direction is moved, and thermal energy is applied from a thermal head while arranging a recording medium to face the dye layer to thermally transfer the dye layer onto the recording medium to form an image. Thermal energy is applied while arranging the image to face the protective material layer to thereby form a protective layer on the image by thermal transfer. A ribbon-shaped surface-property-modifying sheet including a surface-property-modifying region for modifying the surface of the protective layer is moved, and the protective layer is aligned with the surface-property-modifying region of the surface-property-modifying sheet. Heat and pressure are applied from the thermal head and the surface-property-modifying sheet is detached after cooling to modify the surface condition of the protective layer.