Patent ID: 7126620

Claim:
A thermal development method for generating an image from a latent image recorded on an image formation layer of a photosensitive photothermographic recording material, by means of heating both surfaces of the photosensitive photothermographic recording material, the method comprising: heating a first surface, which is one surface of the photosensitive photothermographic recording material, by a first heating unit, and heating a second surface, which is the remaining surface of the photosensitive photothermographic recording material, by a second heating unit, wherein the first and second heating units comprise a common material and wherein a contact area between the first surface and the first heating unit is different from one between the second surface and the second heating unit, wherein a second total amount of heat applied to one surface of the first and second surfaces, the one surface having a larger contact area, is controlled so as to be a value of 80 or less when a first amount of heat applied to the other surface having a smaller contact area is taken as 100, wherein the first and second total amounts of heat are total amounts of heat applied to the image formation layer from the first and second surfaces, respectively, and each of the first and second total amounts of heat is an integral determined from (i) a temperature which is equal to and higher than a development reaction temperature of the image formation layer and (ii) a time which has elapsed since achievement of the development reaction temperature.