Resistive ribbon for use in resistive ribbon thermal transfer printing

摘要

The invention relates to a resistive ribbon (10) for use in a resistive ribbon thermal transfer printing process, of the type comprising a resistive layer - (12) which produces localised heating to effect printing when an electric current is passed therethrough and which has a non-linear current-voltage characteristic occurring at a knee voltage, an ink layer - (16) comprising an ink which is transferable when heated by the localised heating, and a metal layer - (14) located between between the resistive layer (12) and the ink layer (16) and along which the electrical current passes.

A ribbon according to the invention is characterised by the inclusion of an electrical interface layer (18) located between the resistive layer (12) and the metal layer (14) and serving to increase the interface resistance between the resistive layer (12) and the metal layer (14) and to increase the knee voltage of the current-voltage characteristic.