Sublimation type printer and photographic paper therefor

摘要

A laser sublimation type color video printer includes a plurality of dye tanks for accommodating solid powder form sublimating dyes. The dye tanks are communicated with liquid dye vaporizing sections via respective accommodating passages which are formed as capillary tubes provided with heating elements for liquefying dyes introduced from the dye tanks. The heating elements may also be active to heat the surface of photographic paper via a protective layer of the head portion of the printer. Each of the vaporizing sections comprises a plurality of vaporizing pores having a light-heat converting element projected thereinto from a head base of the printer. A laser source is mounted over the light-heat converting element, which may comprise a heat resistant light transmitting portion having a light-heat converting layer disposed on a lower end thereof. The vaporizing pores allow a sufficient amount of liquid dye to be adhered to the lower side of the light-heat converting element to be vaporized and adhered to the surface of the photographic paper upon irradiation by a laser beam from the laser source. An area of the light-heat conversion element is limited to an area which may be covered by the vaporized dye according to an irradiation operation.