Package of thermal recording sheets and a thermal image recording apparatus employing the package

摘要

The improved package of thermal recording sheets (10) of the invention is wrapped as a stack which contains at least one maintenance sheet (B) in addition to the thermal recording sheets (A). The improved thermal image recording apparatus of the invention uses the improved package (10), detects directly or indirectly that the next sheet is the maintenance sheet (B) by a detection sensor and allows the first or detected maintenance sheet (B) to be carried to a recording section (20) by a transport device (16) and a treatment associated with the maintenance sheet (B) to perform in the recording section (20) by a control device. Other improved apparatus of the invention is provided with a maintenance sheet magazine (24) for accommodating maintenance sheets (B) and allow the treatment to perform at the recording section (20) in the same manner. Therefore, the improved package (10) and apparatus permit the thermal head (66) to be cleaned periodically in an automatic fashion. As a result, the thermal head (66) can be maintained in a sufficiently good condition to ensure consistent thermal recording to produce high-quality images. <IMAGE>