Patent ID: 7315316

Claim:
A one-path type color thermal printer comprising: a supply unit for storing therein a recording medium; an image recording unit including a plurality of heating elements and capable of recording a color image by selectively heating the heating elements; a conveyance mechanism capable of conveying the recording medium in a first direction from the supply unit toward the image recording unit and in a second direction reverse to the first direction, with opposing the recording medium to the image recording unit; a conveyance controller that controls the conveyance mechanism to convey the recording medium in the first direction until a leading edge of the recording medium reaches a position distant in the first direction from the image recording unit, and to then convey the recording medium in the second direction; and an image recording controller that controls the image recording unit to record a plurality of frames of color images on the recording medium being conveyed in the second direction by the conveyance mechanism, and form a non-record region in which no image is recorded, on the recording medium between the leading edge and the last recorded color image.