Abstract: In a renewing apparatus, a thermal transfer recording medium is made to be used plural times by simple configuration although such a recording medium must be thrown away in the prior art, and the running cost in the printing can be significantly reduced. The apparatus has coating means for applying a thermal transfer recording material including at least one of a photopolymerizing monomer and a photopolymerizing polymer and a coloring agent to a substrate, means for sending the thermal transfer recording medium and means for irradiating light onto the recording material.

Abstract: In a heat sensitive transfer medium (i.e., an ink ribbon) including a base layer, an ink layer containing a coloring agent, and an ink releasing layer interposed between the base layer and the ink layer, the present invention incorporates a heat retaining layer between the base layer and the ink releasing layer for in order to delay the dissipation of heat from the ink releasing layer. When ink has a higher resin content for the purpose of printing on rough paper, the molten ink can act as an adhesive between the paper and the ink ribbon during printing thereby causing a delay in the separation of the ink ribbon from the paper. This delay allows the ink releasing layer to cool and the molten ink to become attracted to both the paper and the ink ribbon, thus resulting in poor printing quality. The heat retaining layer suppresses the dissipation of heat from the ink releasing layer and therefore allows the ink to adhere the paper causing reliably good printing quality.

Abstract: A thermal printer includes a thermal head and a printing and erasing common-use ribbon. The thermal head is configured to move during erasing operation in a direction opposite to that during printing operation so as to reuse for subsequent printing operation a portion of the ribbon once used for preceding erasing operation.

Abstract: A thermal printer includes a single thermal recording medium interposed between printing paper and a thermal head so that when predetermined energy is applied to the thermal head, colorant on the thermal recording medium is transferred to the paper to print out a desired letter or symbol, or alternatively the printed letter or symbol is removed and erased from the paper because the colorant once transferred to the paper is attached to the colorant on the thermal recording medium. A printing method using the thermal printer is characterized in originally setting printing energy and erasing energy the latter of which is equal to or larger than the former, applying the printing energy to the thermal recording medium to effect printing operation, and applying the erasing energy to the thermal recording medium to attach it to the printed letter or symbol on the paper to remove and erase it from the paper.