Patent ID: 7667722
Filing Date: 2010-02-23
Classification: B41J

Abstract:
1. A thermal head, comprising: a plurality of heat generating elements arrayed therein in a main scanning direction to form a plurality of heat generating element rows, and a controller operatively configured to independently drive each of the heat generating rows and to causes the respective heat generating elements to generate heat while conveying a recording medium in a sub-scanning direction, and to forms plural dot lines, which are sets of plural dots arranged in the sub-scanning direction, in the main scanning direction on the recording medium to record an image, wherein: the plurality of the heat generating element rows are arrayed in the sub-scanning direction, the respective heat generating elements in one of the heat generating element rows have length in the sub-scanning direction relatively different from that of the respective heat generating elements in another of the heat generating element rows, and respective nth (n is a natural number) heat generating elements among the heat generating elements in the one and the other heat generating element rows sharingly form a dot in the same position in an identical dot line according to independent driving for each of the heat generating element rows by the controller.