Patent ID: 6798433
Filing Date: 2004-09-28
Classification: B41J

Abstract:
A printing method for printing a pixel having a gray level of x on paper with a printer, the printer comprising a thermal print head and a ribbon, wherein the thermal print head comprises a heater for heating the ribbon to print pixels from gray levels 1 to mâˆ’1 on the paper, wherein m is a positive integer representing possible gray levels, x is the gray level of the pixel being printed, and a value n represents a predetermined number of heating duration divisions, x being a positive integer between 1 and mâˆ’1, inclusively, and n being a positive integer, the method comprising:if x is not greater than the value n, heating the ribbon x times and evenly distributing the heating initiation times of the x times between the time point 0 and the time point (m*(xâˆ’1)/n), for printing the pixel with a gray level of x on the paper; and if x is greater than the value n, heating the ribbon x times and evenly distributing the heating initiation times of the first n times between the time point 0 and the time point (m*(nâˆ’1)/n) and distributing the heating initiation times of the remaining xâˆ’n times after the heating initiation time points of the first n times.