Slipping Stability Improvement in Thermal Dye Transfer Printing System

Thermal dye transfer printing method has often been adopted in the field where high-quality image is required for the on-the-spot output due to the advantages such as in gradation expression, output speed, and system stability. In this method, further system stability and maintenance-free operation are required in the deployment of minilabs where larger volume of prints with higher speed is essential from now on. To realize these requirements, with an objective to improve slipping stability in the thermal dye transfer printing system, a new heat-resistant slipping layer of the ink ribbon has been designed. This report discusses improvement of friction stability between thermal printhead and heat-resistant slipping layer, and substantial decrease of abrasion-resistance against thermal printhead protective layer.