Patent ID: 7898560

Claim:
A printer comprising: a print head having a heating element for printing an image on a paper by transferring ink of an ink sheet having a sheet of a plurality of colors to said paper; a temperature detecting portion for detecting a temperature around said heating element of said print head; a platen roller against which said print head is pressed through said ink sheet and said paper; print head control means applying a prescribed voltage pulse to said heating element of said print head under an application condition determined on the basis of the temperature detected by said temperature detecting portion; and a color table provided in correspondence to every prescribed temperature of said print head for deciding an application time of said voltage pulse applied to said heating element of said print head, wherein said paper is so arranged that said heating element of said print head presses a margin of said paper separated from a print area of said paper by a prescribed distance when said print head presses said platen roller before starting said printing, said print head control means applies said prescribed voltage pulse to said heating element of said print head for an application time corresponding to the temperature detected by said temperature detecting portion and a prescribed gradation of said color table by a prescribed paper feed while carrying said paper from a position where said heating element of said print head presses said margin to a position where said heating element presses said print area after pressing said print head against said platen roller and before starting printing every said color of said ink sheet, the temperature detecting portion includes a temperature sensor chip for detecting the temperature around said heating element of said print head, and said print head control means applies said voltage pulse to said heating element of said print head by a plurality of lines for a time corresponding to the temperature detected by said temperature sensor chip while said heating element of said print head passes through said margin.