Patent ID: 6908240

Claim:
A thermal printing assembly comprised of a first flexible section, wherein: said first flexible section is comprised of a first front side and a first back side, wherein: said first back side has a Sheffield smoothness of less than about 50 Sheffield units, wherein said first back side is comprised of a multiplicity of first particles disposed therein, and wherein said first particles have a Knoop hardness of less than about 800, further comprising a second flexible section joined to said first flexible section, and wherein said second flexible section is comprised of a thermally sensitive media selected from the group consisting of a thermal transfer ribbon and a direct thermal sensitive substrate, wherein said thermally sensitive media is a thermal transfer ribbon comprised of an imaging side and a second back side and wherein said first back side of said first flexible section is congruent with said second back side of said thermal transfer ribbon, wherein at least about 90 weight percent of said first particles are smaller than about 100 microns, wherein said first particles have a Knoop hardness of less than about 500, and wherein at least about 100 of said first particles per square millimeter of said first back side are present on a surface of said first back side and are homogeneously distributed over said surface.