THERMAL TRANSFER TYPE OMAGE FORMING APPARATUS AND METHOD MARKING/DETECTING RESIDUAL AMOUNT OF INK RIBBON THEREOF

摘要

A thermal transfer type image forming apparatus and a method displaying/detecting a residual amount of ink ribbon are provided to have a simple structure in comparison with a conventional image forming apparatus employing a magnetic head by forming a print number mark using a thermal head. A method for displaying/detecting a residual amount of an ink ribbon(40) of a thermal transfer type image forming apparatus includes the steps of: displaying a print number mark(50) to be optically detected by removing a portion of an ink layer by applying heat on the ink ribbon using the thermal head; detecting the print number mark by using the optical sensor before starting a following print; and detecting the residual amount of the ink ribbon.