Abstract
The printing method of the thermal transfer printer is to push an ink ribbon that is heated and melted by a thermal head to a printing paper, and transfer the ink to desired positions on the paper. If the heating by the thermal head is not sufficient, the ink cannot be melted and cannot be transferred to the paper. Moreover, even if the heating is excessive, a high quality print cannot be done, because an excess amount of ink will be transferred to the paper. The heat generated by the thermal head is transmitted to the printing paper through the ink ribbon. Thus the thermal conductivity of the printing paper affects the temperature rise of the ribbon and as a result printing quality. The thermal conductivity of the paper is commonly measured with a quick thermal conductivity meter. However the printing paper is too thin for the measurement. A new method of evaluating the thermal conductivity of the printing paper using the thermal transfer printer was proposed.
