Abstract: A printer wherein a piece of recording paper housed in a cassette is picked up and sent to a platen roller which is made to rotate in the direction of leading the sent recording paper to the printing position, hereupon one piece of recording paper to be sent to the printing position is separated from the other pieces, the latter pieces being sent back in the reverse direction to the printing position, by rotating a separation roller positioned against the platen roller in the same direction as that of the platen roller rotation.

Abstract: A thermal transfer recording apparatus, such as a thermal transfer printer, which winds up at constant speed an ink sheet having ink to be transferred while applying a constant tension to the ink sheet by a DC motor through a speed reduction mechanism, so that the respective rotation speed and torques, when a wind-up roll is of a minimum diameter or a maximum diameter, are computed from the feed speed and tension of the ink sheet to thereby obtain a desired gradient in a chart of the relationship between the torque and the rotation speed of the DC motor, the gradient deciding a reduction ratio of the deceleration mechanism and the driviing voltage of the DC motor being decided. Hence, even though the wind-up roll varies in an external form, variation in tension applied to the ink sheet and that in the feed speed can be restricted.

Abstract: The thermal transfer printer of the present invention prevents slackening of recording paper by exerting a braking force upon a recording paper roll to give a back tension to the recording paper when one of the colors of an ink sheet coated with inks of a plurality of colors is thermal-transfer-printed. The recording paper is unwound from the roll thereof in the forward direction and by rotating the recording paper roll in the backward direction the recording paper is rewound. A roller for carrying the recording paper is stopped or braked at the downstream side of the platen when the recording paper is carried in the backward direction for the thermal transfer printing by the next color.