Class / Patent application number | Description | Number of patent applications / Date published |
347217000 | With transfer medium or driving means therefor | 42 |
20080273074 | Thermal Transfer Printer for Film - A thermal transfer printer for film capable of thermal transfer printing on a plastic film. The thermal transfer printer for film is provided with a conveyance for conveying the plastic film along a predetermined path, an ink ribbon moving mechanism which includes a holder for holding a plurality of ink ribbons | 11-06-2008 |
20090015649 | SELECTIVE DIRECT THERMAL AND THERMAL TRANSFER PRINTING - Thermal printers and methods of operating thereof are provided. In one embodiment, a thermal printer comprising a thermal print head, thermal media including a direct thermal thermally sensitive coating on at least a first side thereof, and a thermal transfer ribbon installed between the thermal print head and the first side of the thermal media is provided, wherein the thermal print head is adapted to apply heat at a first temperature to image the direct thermal thermally sensitive coating without transferring a thermal transfer coating associated with the thermal transfer ribbon and a second temperature to image the direct thermal thermally sensitive coating and transfer the thermal transfer coating associated with the thermal transfer ribbon. | 01-15-2009 |
20090115832 | Printing apparatus and printing method - A printing apparatus includes a takeup reel driving motor which, after printing, takes up an ink ribbon to eliminate a slack in the ink ribbon. The printing apparatus includes a control device for comparing a distance (a) over which the ink ribbon R is taken up to eliminate the slack in the ink ribbon R with a distance (b) from a print end position to a print start position for a next color. | 05-07-2009 |
20090309949 | THERMAL TRANSFER PRINTER - A thermal transfer printer includes: a pealing roller which is disposed downstream of a printing position set between a thermal head and a platen roller and defines a peeling start position of an ink ribbon; and a tension plate which is disposed on a further downstream side than the peeling roller and slidably stretches the ink ribbon under a tension relative to the printing position, via the peeling roller. With a back tension being ensured by means of the tension plate to prevent slackness of the ink ribbon, the peeling roller performs peeling, thereby avoiding retention of dust or the like and the lowered quality of paper due to such retention. In this manner, problems such as wrinkles occurring with the ink ribbon are eliminated without damaging paper, and further, improvement of printing quality is compatible with that of paper quality, through a design based upon a mechanism concerning the occurrence of wrinkles. | 12-17-2009 |
20100091080 | THERMAL PRINTER AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF - When printing on a printing medium, a second image adjacent to a first image, which is already printed, control is performed such that the trailing edge of a first coating layer of the first image transferred onto the printing medium does not reach the trailing edge of the first image, and the leading edge of a second coating layer transferred onto the second image is either the same as the trailing edge of the first coating layer of the first image or is made to overlap with the trailing edge of the first coating layer. | 04-15-2010 |
20100188471 | THERMAL TRANSFER PRINTING - Apparatus for thermal transfer printing of an image from a thermal retransfer sheet onto an article, includes heating means adapted to supply a flow of heated gas for causing dye transfer, and oscillating vane means for directing the heated gas in a direction transverse to the direction of flow, for distributing the heated gas over article(s) during dye transfer. Also disclosed is a method of printing an image, and the resulting printed article. | 07-29-2010 |
20100238252 | Selective Heat-Transfer Imaging System and Method of Using The Same - A heat-transfer imaging system and a method of using the same. The heat-transfer imaging system includes a heat-transfer sheet and an activating ink. The heat-transfer sheet and the activating ink are specially formulated so that only the areas of the heat-transfer sheet onto which the ink has been printed become adhesive under heat-transfer conditions. This effect may be achieved by designing the sheet to include an ink-receptive coating whose melting temperature is higher than that typically encountered during normal heat-transfer conditions and by formulating the activating ink to include a plasticizer that, when printed onto the ink-receptive coating, lowers the melting temperature of the ink-receptive coating sufficiently so that the modified melting temperature falls within the temperature range encountered during heat-transfer. | 09-23-2010 |
20110043590 | HEAT TRANSFER PRINTING DEVICE AND PRINTING METHOD - Constant tension in the thermal printing ribbon is maintained in a loading drum placed after the thermal print head that directs the ribbon by means of a planetary pivotable support lever arm to define a loop, thereby maintaining constant tension throughout the printing stage to ensure operational quality. The printing method includes threading the thermal printing ribbon between the pivotable support lever arm and the cylindrical drum, and the mechanism retains the printing ribbon against the loading drum by a biasing force on the lever arm, the lever arm being kept in biasing mode during the printing operation. | 02-24-2011 |
20110043591 | Printer with ink ribbon - A printer using a thermal head to sublime ink on an ink ribbon includes a cylindrical ribbon core around which the ink ribbon is wound, a rotating shaft to rotate the ribbon core, first and second magnets to generate magnetic force lines in a space surrounded by an inner peripheral face of the ribbon core, and a magnet sensor located in the space to detect the magnetic force lines generated by the first and second magnets only when the magnetic force lines are set in prescribed directions by rotation of the ribbon core. The ribbon core includes a cylindrical outer core with an outside peripheral surface around which the ink ribbon is wound and a cylindrical inner core with an outside peripheral surface to which the first and second magnets are fixed. The inner core with the first and second magnets fixed thereto is installed inside the outer core. | 02-24-2011 |
20110063397 | THERMAL PRINTER WITH REDUCED DONOR ADHESION - Thermal printers and methods for operating thermal printers are provided. In one method, a sequence of thermal print head control signals is generated that is adapted to cause an array of thermal elements to cause the donor material to transfer from a donor ribbon in a manner that is modulated in accordance with image data and attenuated in accordance with an attenuation pattern. A receiver medium is urged through the printing nip while the thermal print head control signals are transmitted to the thermal print head to cause the donor material to transfer from the donor web in an image modulated pattern having a longitudinal length that is larger than a longitudinal length of the receiver medium. The attenuation pattern provides a relatively high level of attenuation at a portion of the printing wherein there is greater risk that the receiver medium will not be within the printing nip. | 03-17-2011 |
20110292155 | LASER THERMAL DONOR ELEMENTS AND METHOD OF USE - Thermal transfer donor elements can be used to transfer color images to receiving elements to provide various elements such as color filters. The thermal transfer donor elements include a transparent polymeric substrate and, in order: a propellant layer comprising a gas-producing polymer that is capable of producing a gas upon heating by a thermal layer, and an infrared radiation absorbing compound, a barrier layer, and a thermal dye transfer layer one or more thermally transferable colorants. The barrier layer comprises a hydrophilic material and is transferred with the colorant to provide a transparent overcoat in the final color image. Color transfer can be achieved using laser thermal imaging. | 12-01-2011 |
20120013698 | THERMAL TRANSFER SHEET, TRANSFERRED IMAGE RECEIVING SHEET, AND THERMAL TRANSFER METHOD - Disclosed herein is a thermal transfer sheet including: a dye layer which is provided on one side of a substrate and which contains an indoaniline dye; and a transferred image coating layer provided on that side of the substrate on which the dye layer is formed, the transferred image coating layer being operable to coat an image thermally transferred onto a transferred image receiving sheet, wherein the transferred image coating layer contains a compound having a predetermined structure and a binder resin, and the content of the compound having the predetermined structure is 0.5 to 8 parts by mass based on 100 parts by mass of the binder resin. | 01-19-2012 |
20120038735 | INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, LASER RADIATION DEVICE, RENDER INFORMATION GENERATING METHOD, CONTROL SYSTEM, PROGRAM, RECORDING MEDIUM, AND RENDER INFORMATION STORAGE DEVICE - An information processing apparatus for generating render information of an image includes a storage for storing shape information of strokes forming the image; an information acquiring unit for acquiring the shape information of strokes from the storage; a thickness acquiring unit for acquiring thickness information of the image; a stroke generator for generating a nu of parallel strokes that are each parallel to an original stroke, and to specify intervals between the parallel strokes, wherein the number and the intervals correspond to the thickness information; a length adjusting unit for adjusting a length of a first parallel stroke parallel to a first original stroke and/or a length of a second parallel stroke parallel to a second original stroke that is connected to the first original stroke; and a render information generator for registering, in the render information, the shape information of the parallel stroke whose length has been adjusted. | 02-16-2012 |
20120056965 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS, IMAGE FORMING METHOD, AND PROGRAM - An image forming apparatus includes a conveyance unit conveying a medium to be recorded in a predetermined direction, a thermal transfer sheet including an ink layer thermally transferred onto the medium to form a printing layer, and a protective material layer thermally transferred onto the medium to form a protection layer, a transfer sheet traveling unit causing the thermal transfer sheet to travel, a reforming sheet including a printing opening for bringing the ink layer and the protective material layer into contact with a surface of the medium, and a surface property reforming unit reforming the surface property of the protection layer, a reforming sheet traveling unit causing the reforming sheet to travel, and a thermal head pressing the surface property reforming unit on the medium through the protective material layer having been thermally transferred to thereby heat the pressed surface property reforming unit. | 03-08-2012 |
20120105565 | THERMAL TRANSFER PRINTER - A thermal transfer printer includes a printing unit for thermal transfer printing with a print head via a ribbon having a dye layer; a first bending member having at least one curved surface that is aligned perpendicular to a conveyance direction of the ribbon and protrudes toward a surface of the ribbon for bending the ribbon after thermal transfer, a second bending member disposed at a distance from the first bending member having at least one acute apex that is aligned perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the ribbon and protrudes toward the 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. | 05-03-2012 |
20120105566 | PRINTER, PRINT SYSTEM AND PRINTING METHOD - According to one embodiment, a printer includes a conveying mechanism, a first image forming unit and a coloring conversion mechanism. The conveying mechanism conveys a medium. The first image forming unit forms an image on the medium with a temperature-sensitive ink whose color changes depending on temperature. The coloring conversion mechanism converts a coloring state of the image with the temperature-sensitive ink by heating or cooling the image with the temperature-sensitive ink. | 05-03-2012 |
20120182369 | ALIGNING DEVICE FOR PRINTING MEMBER IN PRINTER - An aligning device for a printing member in a printer in which it is presupposed to use a printer of a one-end supporting structure. The printing member, such as a thermal transfer ribbon | 07-19-2012 |
20120188326 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS AND IMAGE FORMING METHOD - Disclosed is an image forming method including forming a concave-convex pattern on a surface of a plate by pressing the plate and a mold having the convex-concave pattern on a surface thereof against each other, the plate having the surface made of a material in which a hardness changes reversibly at a transition point temperature, forming a plate image constituted of a concave-convex region having the concave-convex pattern and a smooth region in which the concave-convex pattern is erased on the plate by erasing the concave-convex pattern by selectively heating the surface of the plate to the transfer point temperature or above corresponding to an image signal, and forming an image on a recording medium by forming an ink image on the plate by applying an ink on the plate image and by transferring the ink image on to the recording medium. | 07-26-2012 |
20120327166 | RIBBON DRIVE ASSEMBLY - A ribbon drive assembly for optimizing the tension across a ribbon supply in a thermal transfer printer comprising a supply spindle and a take up spindle operable for cooperating with each other such that the ribbon supply is fed from the supply spindle through a print station and metered onto the take up spindle. Each spindle is provided with and connected to a motor, a plurality of gears, and a rotary encoder such that the spindles may be independently controlled by a control processor. The control processor is operable for monitoring, detecting, and controlling the operation of the motors and spindles. During operation and in order to maintain a constant ribbon tension, the torque on the motors are continuously adjusted in accordance with various data provided by the printer's processor. | 12-27-2012 |
20130010047 | PRINTING - A method and apparatus for transferring an image of predetermined length onto a substrate by selective energization of a row of printing elements in a printhead of a printing apparatus. Operational characteristics of the printing apparatus are determined, and the image is rendered such that the number of rows of the pixels in the rendered image is no greater than the maximum number of rows of pixels which can be printed in the length of the image given the operational characteristics of the printing apparatus. Additional rows of pixels may be printed between pairs of rows of printed which correspond to consecutive rows in the rendered image. The pixel content of each additional row is a function of the pixel content of the adjacent pairs of rows. | 01-10-2013 |
20130208072 | THERMAL TRANSFER PRINTING DEVICE - A thermal transfer printing device includes a thermal transfer printing module and a paper ejecting module. The paper ejecting module includes a D-shaped ejecting roller, a driving gear, a switching roller, a spring, and a stopper. During a thermal transfer paper is printed by the thermal transfer printing module, the spring provides a friction force to the switching roller. In response to the friction force, the switching roller is driven by the driving gear, and the D-shaped ejecting roller is not contacted with the thermal transfer paper. After the printing task of the thermal transfer printing module is completed, the friction force provided by the spring allows the D-shaped ejecting roller to transport the thermal transfer paper. | 08-15-2013 |
20130222509 | THERMAL TRANSFER RIBBON FOR FINISHING A PRINTED LABEL AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING A THERMAL TRANSFER RIBBON THERFOR - A thermal transfer ribbon comprises a substrate, and a clear thermal transfer coating disposed on one side of the substrate, wherein the clear thermal transfer coating is substantially devoid of pigment material. Also, a method of manufacturing a thermal transfer ribbon for finishing a printed label comprises applying to one major side surface of a substrate a clear thermal transfer coating which is substantially devoid of pigment material. Further, an apparatus comprises a label printer, a thermal transfer printer, and an in-line feeding mechanism which interconnects the label printer and the thermal transfer printer to feed a printed label from the label printer to the thermal transfer printer so that the thermal transfer printer can thermally transfer a clear thermal transfer coating to the printed label to provide a finished label. | 08-29-2013 |
20130286139 | PRINT CONTROL DEVICE - An ink sheet damage calculating unit compares image element density data of each of areas into which an image is divided by an image area dividing unit with a first threshold to calculate the total number of pixels each having density data equal to or larger than the first threshold for each area, and then compares the total number of pixels calculated for each area with a second threshold. A printing operation selecting unit uses a remaining area of an already-used ink area for formation of a next print image when the total number of pixels is smaller than the second threshold in every one of all the areas, and uses an ink area in a new unit area for formation of a next print image when the total number of pixels is equal to or larger than the second threshold. | 10-31-2013 |
20130342626 | ROLL-FED DUPLEX THERMAL PRINTING SYSTEM - A roll-fed duplex thermal printing system, comprising a supply roll of receiver media, a printing path, a reversing path, a diverter and a cutter positioned between the supply roll and the reversing path. When the diverter is in a first position the receiver media is directed from the supply roll or the reversing path into the printing path. When the diverter is in a second position the receiver media is directed from the supply roll into the reversing path. During a printing operation, the diverter is positioned in the first position and the receiver media is fed into the printing path where a first side image is printed. The diverter is then repositioned the receiver media is fed into the reversing path where it is cut. The diverter is then repositioned again and the receiver media is fed into the printing path where a second side image is printed. | 12-26-2013 |
20140055547 | PRINTING APPARATUS AND PRINTING METHOD - In accordance with an embodiment, a printing apparatus includes a conveying section configured to move a recording medium fed from a paper roll along a conveyance path, a thermal head configured to thermally transfer ink of an ink ribbon to the recording medium to print, a control section configured to discriminate a print mode for the recording medium and control the printing processing for the recording medium and a feed length counting section configured to count the feed length of the recording medium conveyed from the paper roll to the thermal head in a first direction when the print mode is a preset mode. | 02-27-2014 |
20140055548 | DUPLEX THERMAL PRINTER WITH PIVOTABLE DIVERTER - A roll-fed duplex thermal printing system, comprising a supply roll of receiver media, a printing path, a reversing path, a pivotable diverter and a cutter positioned between the supply roll and the reversing path. When the diverter is in a first position the receiver media is directed from the supply roll, when the diverter is in a second position the receiver media is directed from the supply roll into the reversing path, and when the diverter is in the third position the receiver media is directed from the reversing path into the printing path. During a printing operation, the diverter is sequentially repositioned to feed the receiver media into the printing path where a first side image is printed, into the reversing path where it is cut, and into the printing path again where a second side image is printed. | 02-27-2014 |
20140132697 | TRANSFER APPARATUS - A transfer apparatus for heating a recording medium and a transfer film with a transfer member and a transfer platen transferring an image includes a transfer film transport member, a recording medium transport member, a peeling member peeling off the transfer film, a support member supporting the transfer surface of the recording medium, and a bracket. A recording medium contact point of the peeling member is set in the same position as a first tangent passing through a recording medium contact point of the transfer member and a contact of the recording medium of a transport member and a recording medium contact point of the support member is set in the same position as a second tangent passing through the recording medium contact point of the transfer member and the recording medium contact point of the peeling member or on the transfer platen side relative to the second tangent. | 05-15-2014 |
20140132698 | Tape Drive and Method of Operation of a Tape Drive - A method of detecting a reduction in tension in a tape, wherein the tape is transferable between a first spool ( | 05-15-2014 |
20140192129 | THERMAL IMAGE RECEIVER ELEMENTS HAVING RELEASE AGENTS - A thermal image receiver element dry image receiving layer has a T | 07-10-2014 |
20140267535 | IMAGE FORMING METHOD AND COMBINATION OF THERMAL TRANSFER SHEET AND THERMAL TRANSFER IMAGE-RECEIVING SHEET - An image forming method and a combination of a thermal transfer sheet and a thermal transfer image receiving sheet are capable of forming images of high print quality. An image forming method wherein an image is formed by combining a thermal transfer sheet, which is obtained by forming a dye layer on one surface of a substrate and forming a back surface layer on the other surface of the substrate, and a thermal transfer image receiving sheet, which is obtained by forming a dye receiving layer on one surface of another substrate. The dye layer of the thermal transfer sheet contains a sublimable dye, a binder resin and one or both of (A) a polyether-modified silicone having a viscosity of not less than 1,000 mm | 09-18-2014 |
20140300680 | Tape Drive and Method of Operating a Tape Drive - A tape drive for transferring tape between a first spool and a second spool, the tape comprising at least one marker indicative of a property of the tape, the tape drive having: two spool supports, each of which is suitable for supporting a spool of tape, and a tape control system which includes: two motors and a controller for controlling the operation of the motors, each motor driving a respective one of the spool supports, and a detector that is operable, in use, to detect the presence of one or more markers on a portion of a tape, the tape control system being operable to identify a property of the tape according to the detected marker or markers. | 10-09-2014 |
20140354752 | PRINTING APPARATUS AND PRINTING METHOD - To provide a printing apparatus without waste of a ribbon panel in using a two-side dedicated ribbon, a printing apparatus | 12-04-2014 |
20150029289 | MODULAR SUBLIMATION TRANSFER PRINTING APPARATUS - A safe, integrated dye sublimation transfer printer apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus is configured to print one or more images onto transfer media, then align the transfer media onto a substrate. A selected product to receive the sublimated image is positioned on top of the transfer media, and the apparatus brings the transfer media and one or more heating platens into contact to sublimate the image. The heating platen is configured to sublimate one or more opposing sides of a product substantially simultaneously in a single thermal cycle. In some embodiments, the apparatus may be incorporated into a fully-enclosed vending machine to provide on-demand personalized sublimated products and accessories for a consumer. | 01-29-2015 |
20150145941 | THERMAL TRANSFER PRINTER - A thermal transfer printer comprises a frame, a printing mechanism, and a ribbon mechanism, wherein the frame comprises a base, and a ribbon bracket and an upper housing pivoted with the base through a respective pivot shaft thereof, wherein the frame further includes a linkage mechanism used to open the ribbon bracket in linkage when the upper housing is opened relative to the base, and a driven member fixedly connected with the ribbon bracket, and a rotation axis of the driven member is coaxial with a pivot shaft of the ribbon bracket; a rotational direction of the driving member is the same with a rotational direction of the driven member; an operating space for installing the ribbon is formed between the upper housing and the ribbon bracket when the upper housing is open. | 05-28-2015 |
20150336396 | TRANSFER APPARATUS - To provide a transfer apparatus correcting a curl of a card efficiently while preventing the card from deteriorating, a printing apparatus includes a transfer section transferring a transfer surface of a transfer film to the card, a rotating unit reversing the front side and back side of the card in two-sided transfer, a decurl mechanism correcting a curl of the card with the transfer surface transferred in the transfer section, and a control section controlling the decurl mechanism. The control section controls the decurl mechanism such that a correction amount for the card with the transfer surface transferred to one surface in two-sided transfer is smaller than a correction amount for the card in one-sided transfer, and that the total sum of correction amounts for respective surfaces of the card in two-sided transfer is smaller than the correction amount for the card in one-sided transfer. | 11-26-2015 |
20150367651 | THERMAL TRANSFER IMAGE RECEIVING SHEET AND IMAGE FORMING METHOD - The present invention is to provide a thermal transfer image receiving sheet which is able to provide excellent printing sensitivity and prevent the generation of poor image quality in high density areas and folded lines even during high speed printing, and an image forming method for forming an image on the thermal transfer image receiving sheet. Presented is a thermal transfer image receiving sheet containing a substrate and, on at least one surface of the substrate, a composite porous layer containing a thermoplastic resin, and a dye receiving layer in this order from the substrate, wherein the composite porous layer contains a porous core layer and non-porous skin layers layered on both surfaces of the porous core layer; a total thickness of the non-porous skin layers is 5 to 15% of a whole thickness of the composite porous layer; and a density of the composite porous layer is 0.65 to 0.74 g/cm | 12-24-2015 |
20160039237 | THERMAL TRANSFER SHEET, COATING LIQUID FOR COLORANT LAYER, METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THERMAL TRANSFER SHEET, AND IMAGE FORMING METHOD - The purpose of the present invention is to provide a thermal transfer sheet which can prevent a kick and a scumming, and can form a photographic tone color image of high quality with a continuous tone image by sublimation transfer, while expanding the range of choices for colorants to be included in a colorant layer; a coating liquid for colorant layer to be used for forming the colorant layer of this thermal transfer sheet; a method for manufacturing this thermal transfer sheet; and image forming method employing this thermal transfer sheet. The problem is solved by a thermal transfer sheet ( | 02-11-2016 |
20160082761 | IMAGE TRANSFER MATERIAL AND POLYMER COMPOSITION - Provided is an image transfer material, comprising a support, optionally at least one barrier layer, a melt transfer layer, and an image receiving layer. Also provided is a process for preparing the image transfer material. Further provided is a heat transfer process using the disclosed material. In the heat transfer process, after imaging, the image receiving layer and melt transfer layer are peeled away from the optionally barrier-coated support material and placed, preferably image side up, on top of a receptor element. A non-stick sheet is then optionally placed over the imaged peeled material and heat is applied to the top of the optional non stick sheet. The melt transfer layer then melts and adheres the image to the receptor element. A composition comprising: at least one self-crosslinking polymer, and at least one dye retention aid. | 03-24-2016 |
20160114608 | TRANSFER DEVICE - The present invention is to eliminate loosening of a transfer film on a rear end side of a card caused due to collision of a front end of the card against a conveying roller pair provided downstream of a transfer roller to prevent wrinkles from occurring in a transferred image, by increasing a card conveying speed or reducing a feed speed of a transfer film | 04-28-2016 |
20160159106 | Unique Heat Transfer and Method of Use - A unique heat transfer is disclosed for use on specific merchandising articles for a specific event. The heat transfer would be used to promote an event and would be used as a ticket to that event. The heat transfer comprises printed matter applied to a base material. The base material would be part of a clothing article, such as a t-shirt, cap, sweatshirt, garment, accessory etc. The printed matter would be visually recognizable information incorporating text, pictures, numbers, bar codes, and QR codes. The visually recognizable information can be printed with ultraviolet-curable inks, or other suitable inks. Once the heat transfer is applied to the clothing article, user would use the clothing article as a ticket to the event. The heat transfer on the clothing article would be scanned and the unique bar code and/or QR codes would be used to identify the user's seat location and other identifying details. | 06-09-2016 |
20160176183 | Decal Printing Paper For Ceramics | 06-23-2016 |
20160185125 | TRANSFER DEVICE - The present invention is to eliminate loosening of a transfer film on a rear end side of a card caused due to collision of a front end of the card against a conveying roller pair provided downstream of a transfer roller to prevent wrinkles from occurring in a transferred image. A rotation amount of a card conveying motor SMr and a wind amount of a transfer film | 06-30-2016 |