Patent ID: 7456854

Claim:
A thermal printer adapted to perform printing on a paper, the thermal printer comprising: a casing; a control part; a thermal head pivotally supported to the casing and operatively connected to the control part such that the thermal head is heated upon a heating instruction from the control part and the heating is ended upon a heating-ending instruction from the control part; a temperature detector operatively connected to the control part such that the temperature detector detects a temperature of the thermal head upon a temperature detection instruction from the control part; and a feed motor adapted to convey the paper, the feed motor being operatively connected to the control part such that the feed motor is driven upon a conveyance instruction from the control part and that the conveyance is ended upon a conveyance-ending instruction from the control part; the control part being configured to issue, prior to printing, the heating instruction and the conveyance instruction such that the heating of the thermal head and the conveyance of the paper are performed in parallel, the control part being configured to issue the temperature detection instruction as an interrupt every predetermined period of time after the heating instruction is issued, the control part being configured to issue the heating-ending instruction when the temperature of the thermal head detected by the temperature detector reaches a predetermined preheat-ending temperature, the control part being configured to issue the conveyance instruction such that the feed motor starts the conveyance of the paper before the temperature of the thermal head detected by the temperature detector reaches the predetermined preheat-ending temperature.