(19)
(11) EP 0 945 274 A3

(12) EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION

(88) Date of publication A3:
23.02.2000 Bulletin 2000/08

(43) Date of publication A2:
29.09.1999 Bulletin 1999/39

(21) Application number: 99301857.1

(22) Date of filing: 10.03.1999
(51) International Patent Classification (IPC)7: B41J 2/36, B41J 2/325
(84) Designated Contracting States:
AT BE CH CY DE DK ES FI FR GB GR IE IT LI LU MC NL PT SE
Designated Extension States:
AL LT LV MK RO SI

(30) Priority: 25.03.1998 JP 07780898

(71) Applicant: ALPS ELECTRIC CO., LTD.
Ota-ku Tokyo 145 (JP)

(72) Inventors:
  • Kobayashi, Hiroshi
    Iwate-gun, Iwate-ken (JP)
  • Zama, Hiroyoshi
    Morioka-shi, Iwate-ken (JP)
  • Takahashi, Hiromitsu
    Morioka-shi, Iwate-ken (JP)

(74) Representative: Kensett, John Hinton 
Saunders & Dolleymore, 9 Rickmansworth Road
Watford, Hertfordshire WD1 7HE
Watford, Hertfordshire WD1 7HE (GB)

   


(54) Thermal transfer printer


(57) It is the object of the present invention to provide a thermal transfer printer which can realize a correct transfer even on the portion where the ink is overlaid on the already transferred ink or slightly transferred with the use of durable resin-based ink and a vivid multi-gradation recording.
To achieve this object, the thermal transfer printer according to the present invention is provided with an ink ribbon (17) comprising a base substance (26), a separating layer (27) laminated on the base substance (26), and a resin-based ink layer (28) laminated on the separating layer (27), and a heat insulation layer (31) formed on a recording paper (29), and a control unit (25) for controlling a time of carrying a current to the thermal head (7) in a plurality of steps according to the gradation of an image to be recorded.






Search report