PURPOSE: To obtain a large number of clear copies with excellent printing quality, by supplying energy to a thermally transferrable ink layer comprising a supercoolable polyamide resin to melt or soften a thermally transferrable ink, transferring the ink to a recording medium under pressure, and repeating the pressure transferring step.
CONSTITUTION: A thermally transferrable ink layer 2 comprising a supercoolable polyamide resin is provided on a base 1, and is supplied with energy imagewise to selectively melt or soften a thermally transferrable ink. The melted or softened ink is transferred to a recording medium 6 under pressure, and the pressure transferring step is repeated. The ink retains stickiness in the state of a relatively high melt viscosity based on the action of the polyamide resin as a binder, and the change of the melt viscosity after application of the energy is extremely slow. Accordingly, the ink can be transferred to the recording medium 6 in a substantially fixed amount at a time, and a copied image free of voids or blur, being clear and having excellent printing quality can be obtained.
HASEGAWA TETSUO
KUSHIDA NAOKI
YAEGASHI HISAO
