HOLDER FOR A THERMAL PRINT MEDIUM

摘要

A holder (12) for a thermal print medium is disclosed. The holder (12) is adapted to be used in a thermal printer (10) in which a donor element (19) in a thermal print medium transfers dye to a receiver element (21) upon receipt of a sufficient amount of thermal energy. The printer (10) includes a plurality of diode lasers which can be individually modulated to supply energy to selected dots on the medium in accordance with an information signal. The print head (20) of the printer (10) includes a fiber optic array having a plurality of optical fibers (31) coupled to the diode lasers. The holder (12) for the thermal print medium includes a rotatable vacuum drum (11), and the fiber optic array is movable relative to the drum (11). The vacuum drum (11) includes separate vacuum supplies (40, 42) for the donor sheet (19) and for the receiver sheet (21) so that the sheets can be independently handled.