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:
Aug. 04, 2015
Filed:
Oct. 23, 2014
Toshiba Tec Kabushiki Kaisha, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo, JP;
Sadayoshi Mochida, Shizuoka, JP;
Toshiba Tec Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
Generally, in accordance with one embodiment, a thermal printer comprises a ribbon conveyance mechanism, a sheet conveyance mechanism, a thermal head, a thickness sensor, a head moving mechanism and a controller. The ribbon conveyance mechanism conveys a transfer ribbon. The sheet conveyance mechanism conveys a sheet. The thermal head applies heat to the transfer ribbon to transfer ink of the transfer ribbon to the sheet. The thickness sensor detects the thickness of the transfer ribbon. The head moving mechanism heads up the thermal head during the conveyance of the sheet based on the sheet conveyance mechanism. The controller acquires a required non-print area length based on the thickness of the transfer ribbon and a set printing speed, and turns, if there is required non-print area length in printing data, the thermal head into a head-up state and stops the conveyance of the transfer ribbon in the non-print area.