Image formation device and image transfer method

Abstract

To appropriately perform an operation of transferring a transfer image from a transfer medium to another medium.SOLUTION: A controller 8 of a printer 10 executes a transfer image forming process and a guide image forming process. The transfer image forming process is a process of ejecting sublimation ink from a recording head 63 so that a transfer image is formed on one surface of a sheet. The guide image forming process is a process of ejecting normal ink from the recording head 63 so that a guide image indicating guide information is formed on the other surface of the sheet. The guide information relates to an operation of transferring the transfer image to another medium from the sheet on which the transfer image is formed.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and an image transfer method.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, there has been an image forming apparatus that employs a method of forming an image with transfer ink on a transfer medium and then transferring the image from the transfer medium to another medium. The printing apparatus of Patent Document 1 is an example thereof.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] In the above-described technology, it is necessary for the user to perform the image transfer operation himself / herself. When performing the transfer operation, it is assumed that the user may erroneously perform the operation content, for example, the order and positional relationship of overlapping the media, the order of executing the steps, etc.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus and an image transfer method in which an image transfer operation from a transfer medium to another medium can be appropriately and easily performed.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] The image forming apparatus of the present invention includes a head having a first nozzle that discharges a first ink for transfer onto a transfer medium and a second nozzle that discharges a second ink onto the transfer medium, and a control unit. The control unit executes a transfer image forming process of discharging the first ink from the head onto the transfer medium so as to form a transfer image on one surface of the transfer medium, and a guide image forming process of discharging the second ink from the head onto the medium so as to form a guide image indicating guide information related to an operation of transferring the transfer image from the transfer medium to another medium on the other surface of the transfer medium.

[0007] Further, the image transfer method of the present invention is a method of transferring an image using the above image forming apparatus, wherein the transfer ink is an ink that is transferred by heating. The image forming apparatus includes an image forming step of forming the transfer image and the guide image on the transfer medium, an arranging step of arranging the transfer medium on the other medium with the surface on which the transfer image is formed in contact with the other medium after the image forming step, and a heating step of heating the transfer medium from above after the arranging step.

Advantages of the Invention

[0008] The transfer operation is performed in a situation where the transfer medium is arranged on the other medium such that the surface on which the transfer image is formed contacts the other medium. According to the present invention, a guide image is formed on a surface of the transfer medium different from the surface on which the transfer image is formed. Therefore, the user can proceed with the work while viewing the guide image. The guide image indicates guide information related to the transfer operation. For this reason, the user can refer to this guide information and easily execute the work content appropriately.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0009]

Figure 1

Figure 2

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Figure 8

Figure 9

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0010] Hereinafter, a sublimation printer (hereinafter simply referred to as "printer") 10 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the vertical direction is defined based on the state in which the printer 10 is installed for use (the state in FIG. 1), the front-rear direction is defined with the side where the opening 13 of the housing 11 is provided as the front side (front), and the left-right direction is defined when the printer 10 is viewed from the front side (front).

[0011] The printer 10 is a device that performs both transfer and non-transfer image formation. The paper 9 used in the printer 10 is a medium for image transfer. The image formed on the paper 9 by transfer image formation is transferred from the paper 9 to another medium (such as a resin sheet, clothing, etc.). The image formed on the paper 9 in non-transfer image formation is not used for transfer. The printer 10 can perform single-sided printing in which an image is formed on only one side of the paper 9 and double-sided printing in which images are formed on both sides of one side and the other side of the paper 9.

[0012] As shown in FIG. 1, the printer 10 has a paper feed tray 4, a paper discharge tray 5, a recording unit 6, a conveyance unit 7, a control unit 8, etc. The paper feed tray 4, the recording unit 6, the conveyance unit 7, and the control unit 8 are housed in the housing 11 of the printer 10. Inside the housing 11, the paper feed tray 4 is arranged below the recording unit 6.

[0013] The paper feed tray 4 is capable of supporting and accommodating a plurality of sheets of paper 9 in a stacked state. The paper feed tray 4 is insertable and removable in the front-rear direction with respect to the housing 11. The paper feed tray 4 has a support surface 4a for supporting the paper 9.

[0014] The paper discharge tray 5 accommodates the sheet of paper 9 on which an image is formed by a recording head 63 (described later) of the recording unit 6. The paper discharge tray 5 is arranged above the front side of the paper feed tray 4 and is configured to move in the front-rear direction together with the paper feed tray 4.

[0015] The recording unit 6 has a carriage 61 and a recording head 63. The carriage 61 is supported by two guide rails 67a, 67b. The two guide rails 67a, 67b are arranged spaced apart from each other in the front-rear direction and each extends in the left-right direction. The carriage 61 is arranged so as to straddle the two guide rails 67a, 67b. The carriage 61 is reciprocally movable in the left-right direction, which is the main scanning direction, along the two guide rails 67a, 67b by the driving force of a carriage drive motor 31 (see FIG. 2).

[0016] The recording head 63 is mounted on the carriage 61 and reciprocates in the main scanning direction together with the carriage 61. The recording head 63 forms an image on the paper 9 by discharging the ink supplied from an ink cartridge (not shown) from nozzles 63C, 63M, 63Y, 63K, and 63S provided on the nozzle surface 69 on the lower surface shown in FIG. 3.

[0017] In the ink used in this embodiment, there are both sublimation ink for transfer (corresponding to the "first ink" of the present invention) and ordinary ink for non-transfer (corresponding to the "second ink" of the present invention). Nozzles 63C, 63M, 63Y, and 63K (corresponding to the "first nozzles" of the present invention) eject cyan, magenta, yellow, and black sublimation inks, respectively. The sublimation ink is used for image formation for transfer. When the paper 9 on which an image is formed with this ink is heated by a heating device (such as an iron) until it reaches an appropriate temperature, the ink on the paper 9 sublimates. Thereby, transfer from the paper 9 to another medium is possible. Nozzle 63S (corresponding to the "second nozzle" of the present invention) ejects black ordinary ink. The ordinary ink is not ink for transfer and is not transferred even when heated or is less likely to be transferred compared to the sublimation ink.

[0018] The conveyance unit 7 conveys the paper 9 inside the printer 10 and includes a paper feed roller 70, conveyance roller pairs 71 to 74, a platen 75, and guide members 16 and 17.

[0019] The paper feed roller 70 is disposed at a position in contact with the uppermost paper 9 among the papers 9 supported by the paper feed tray 4. The paper feed roller 70 is rotated by the driving force from a paper feed motor 33 (see FIG. 2) and feeds the paper 9 in the paper feed tray 4 backward. The paper 9 fed out from the paper feed tray 4 by the paper feed roller 70 is fed into a conveyance path 14 extending from the paper feed tray 4 to the recording unit 6.

[0020] The conveyance roller pairs 71 to 74 include two rollers that contact each other and are configured to convey the paper 9 while sandwiching it between the two rollers. One of the two rollers constituting each conveyance roller pair 71 to 74 is a driving roller, which is rotated by the driving force from a conveyance motor 34 (see FIG. 2). The other of the two rollers constituting each conveyance roller pair 71 to 74 is a driven roller, which rotates along with the rotation of the driving roller.

[0021] The conveying roller pairs 71, 72, and 74 can only rotate in the forward direction (in the conveying roller pairs 71 and 72, the direction of conveying the sheet 9 in the direction D1 indicated by the solid black arrow in Fig. 1, and in the conveying roller pair 74, the direction of conveying the sheet 9 in the direction D2 indicated by the hollow arrow in Fig. 1). The conveying roller pair 73 can rotate in both the forward and reverse directions (the direction of conveying the sheet 9 in the direction D1 and the direction of conveying the sheet 9 in the direction D2).

[0022] The conveying roller pairs 71 and 72 are arranged with the recording unit 6 interposed therebetween in the front-rear direction. The conveying roller pair 71 is arranged behind the recording unit 6, and the conveying roller pair 72 is arranged in front of the recording unit 6. The conveying roller pair 71 sends the sheet 9 sent out from the paper feed tray 4 by the paper feed roller 70 to the image recording area F facing the nozzle surface 69 of the recording head 63. An image is formed on the surface of the sheet 9 sent to the image recording area F facing the nozzle surface 69 of the recording head 63 by the ink ejected from the recording head 63. The conveying roller pair 72 receives the sheet 9 sent by the conveying roller pair 71 and sends it forward.

[0023] The conveying roller pair 73 receives the sheet 9 sent by the conveying roller pair 72. In the case of single-sided printing in which an image is formed on only one side of the sheet 9, and in the case of double-sided printing in which images are formed on both sides of the sheet 9, when images have already been formed on both sides of the sheet 9, the conveying roller pair 73 rotates in the forward direction to discharge the sheet 9 to the discharge tray 5. In the case of double-sided printing, when an image is formed on only one side of the sheet 9, when the rear end in the conveying direction of the sheet 9 is conveyed to the vicinity of the conveying roller pair 73, the rotation direction is changed from the forward direction to the reverse direction, and the sheet 9 is sent into the inversion conveying path 15 extending from the vicinity of the conveying roller pair 73 to below the recording unit 6.

[0024] The pair of conveying rollers 74 receives the sheet 9 fed into the reverse conveyance path 15 by the pair of conveying rollers 73 and conveys it rearward. The sheet 9 fed into the reverse conveyance path 15 is fed into the middle of the conveyance path 14 that extends from the paper feed tray 4 to the recording unit 6 at the rear end of the apparatus. The sheet 9 fed from the reverse conveyance path 15 into the conveyance path 14 is thereby conveyed to the image recording area F with the surface facing the nozzle surface 69 of the recording head 63 reversed. That is, the sheet 9 is conveyed to the recording head 63 with the surface opposite to the surface on which the image has already been formed facing the nozzle surface 69. The sheet 9 with images recorded on both sides is discharged to the paper discharge tray 5 by the pair of conveying rollers 73.

[0025] The platen 75 is disposed below the recording unit 6 so as to face the nozzle surface 69 of the recording unit 6. The platen 75 supports the sheet 9 conveyed to the image recording area F. The guide member 16 defines the conveyance path 14 that feeds the sheet 9 sent out from the paper feed tray 4 into the image recording area F. The guide member 17 defines the reverse conveyance path 15 that extends from the vicinity of the pair of conveying rollers 73 downward of the recording unit 6.

[0026] The control unit 8 controls the entire printer 10. As shown in FIG. 2, the control unit 8 is electrically connected to a carriage drive motor 31, a recording head 63, a paper feed motor 33, a conveyance motor 34, etc. The control unit 8 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 81, a memory 82, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) 83, etc., and these cooperate to control the operations of each part such as the carriage drive motor 31, the recording head 63, the paper feed motor 33, and the conveyance motor 34.

[0027] The memory 82 is composed of a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), a flash memory, etc., and stores a program 82a executed by the CPU 81 and image data used for forming an image on the paper 9. The memory 82 is used as a working area from which various programs are read and a storage area for storing image data. The ASIC 83 rewrites image data, etc.

[0028] The program 82a stored in the memory 82 may be stored in advance at the time of manufacturing the printer 10. The program 82a may be provided in a form recorded on a CD-ROM or the like, or may be provided via a communication network such as the Internet. The CPU 81 executes the control of the printer 10 by executing the program 82a.

[0029] The image data stored in the memory 82 is image data related to the image formed on the paper 9 by the ink ejected from the recording head 63. The image data includes data temporarily stored in the memory 82 when the user requests image formation and data previously stored in the ROM. The former image data is data acquired from an external device such as a PC or a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory. The latter is used for forming a guide image 110 described later.

[0030] In FIG. 2, one CPU 81 and one ASIC 83 are illustrated, but the control unit 8 may include only one CPU 81 and this one CPU 81 may perform all necessary processes collectively, or may include a plurality of CPU 81s and these plurality of CPU 81s may share and perform the necessary processes. Also, the control unit 8 may include only one ASIC 83 and this one ASIC 83 may perform all necessary processes collectively, or may include a plurality of ASIC 83s and these plurality of ASIC 83s may share and perform the necessary processes.

[0031] The processing by the control unit 8 includes an image forming process of forming an image on the sheet 9 by controlling the operations of each part in the apparatus. In the image forming process, by controlling the driving of the carriage drive motor 31, the recording head 63, the paper feed motor 33, and the conveyance motor 34, the sheet 9 is sent to the image recording area F while appropriate ink is ejected from the recording head 63 at an appropriate timing. Thereby, an image is formed on one side or both sides of the sheet 9.

[0032] The image forming process includes a transfer image forming process for performing transfer image formation and a non-transfer image forming process for performing non-transfer image formation. In the transfer image forming process, for example, an image indicated by image data acquired from the outside is formed on the sheet 9 using sublimation ink.

[0033] The image formed on the sheet 9 with sublimation ink by the transfer image forming process is transferred to another medium by a transfer operation shown as an example in FIG. 4. The transfer destination medium 92 is placed on the heating table 101 with the transfer target surface facing up. On top of that, the sheet 9 on which transfer image formation has been performed is placed overlapping. The sheet 91 is the sheet 9 on which an image IM obtained by inverting the original image indicated by the image data for transfer is formed. In FIG. 4, an image "あ" is formed on the sheet 91 as an example of the image IM. The sheet 91 is arranged so that the surface on which the image IM is formed contacts the transfer target surface of the medium 92. The sheet 91 is fixed to the medium 92 by attaching an adhesive tape. A heat-resistant sheet 102 is installed on the sheet 91. Then, the sheet 91 is heated from above through the heat-resistant sheet 102 using the heating device 103. Thereby, the sublimation ink used for image formation on the sheet 91 sublimates and is transferred to the medium 92. The transferred image exhibits the orientation before inversion as shown in FIG. 5.

[0034] By the way, the above transfer operation needs to be performed by the user himself / herself. When performing this operation, there is a risk that the desired result may not be obtained unless the order of overlapping the sheet 91 and the medium 92, their positional relationship, the order of executing each step of the operation, etc. are performed accurately. The present embodiment is configured as follows so that the user can perform the operation appropriately.

[0035] The control unit 8 executes a guide image forming process, which is an image forming process for forming a guide image 110 indicating guide information on the sheet 91. The guide image forming process is a non-transfer image forming process, and normal ink is used for image formation. The guide information has content for guiding the user through the transfer operation. The guide image 110 is formed on the back surface of the sheet 91, which is the side opposite to the front surface on which the transfer image IM is formed.

[0036] Double-sided printing is used to form the guide image 110. That is, after the control unit 8 controls each unit to form the transfer image IM on one surface of the sheet 9 in the transfer image forming process, subsequently, the sheet 9 is conveyed again to the recording head 63 through the reverse conveyance path 15, and then each unit is controlled to form the guide image 110 on the other surface of the sheet 9 in the guide image forming process. By this double-sided printing, both the formation of the transfer image IM and the formation of the guide image 110 are automatically and continuously executed.

[0037] As shown in FIG. 6, the guide image 110 includes images 111 to 113. The image 111 includes an image of a frame line 111a and a crosshair 111b. The frame line 111a is a line along a rectangular frame corresponding to the outer edge of the image IM formed on the opposite surface. Thus, the frame line 111a indicates the position of the end of the image IM. The crosshair 111b consists of two line segments orthogonal to each other. The intersection point thereof indicates the center position of the image IM formed on the opposite surface. The image 112 consists of a long line segment and a short solid line segment inside the dashed line enclosure, and indicates the pasting position of the seal for fixing the sheet 91 to the medium 92. The image 112 is arranged at each of the four corners of the sheet 91 so as not to overlap with the image IM. The image 113 indicates an explanatory text regarding the transfer operation. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the following text regarding the procedure of the transfer operation is adopted as the explanatory text. "《Transfer Method》1. Place the article to be transferred on the stage. 2. Place the sheet on which the image to be transferred is formed with this surface facing up on the article. 3. Further, stack a heat-resistant sheet. 4. Heat with a heating device."

[0038] Hereinafter, a series of procedures for performing image formation for transfer onto the sheet 9 using the printer 10 and then transferring the image to another medium will be described with reference to FIG. 7. First, the transfer image IM and the guide image 110 are formed on both sides of the sheet 9 by double-sided printing using the printer 10, and the sheet 91 is obtained (S1). The step of S1 corresponds to the "image formation step" of the present invention.

[0039] Next, the guide information indicated by the guide image 110 on the sheet 91 is confirmed (S2). For example, by checking the image 113 in FIG. 4, the procedure of the transfer operation is confirmed. Next, the medium 92, which is the article to be transferred, is placed on the heating table 101 (S3). Next, the sheet 91 with the image formed on both sides in S1 is placed on the medium 92 with the surface on which the image IM is formed facing downward (S4). At this time, the images 111 and 112 are formed on the surface facing upward of the sheet 91. These images indicate the guide information representing the position of the transfer image and the position of the fixing seal. Therefore, by checking this information and adjusting the position of the image, the sheet 91 can be placed on the medium 92 while attaching the fixing seal at an appropriate position. The step of S4 corresponds to the "placement step" of the present invention.

[0040] Next, the heat-resistant sheet 102 is placed on the sheet 91 (S5). Next, the sheet 91 is heated from above by the heating device 103 through the heat-resistant sheet 102 (S6). Thereby, the transfer image is transferred from the sheet 9 to the article. The step of S6 corresponds to the "heating step" of the present invention.

[0041] According to the present embodiment described above, on the sheet 9, the guide image 110 is formed on the surface opposite to the surface on which the image IM for transfer is formed. Therefore, the user can proceed with the work while looking at the guide image 110. The guide image 110 indicates guide information regarding the transfer work. For this reason, the user can refer to this guide information and easily execute the work content appropriately. This guide information includes the position of the image IM indicated by the image 111. By referring to the image 111, the user can appropriately align the already image-formed sheet 91 with the transfer destination medium 92. That is, the work is likely to be appropriately executed.

[0042] Also, in the present embodiment, when performing the transfer work, the user can refer to the image 112 indicating the pasting position of the seal for fixing the sheet 91 to the medium 92. And the image 112 indicates a pasting position that does not overlap with the image IM. When the sheet 91 is heated, the seal portion is less thermally conductive than other portions. In this case, if the image IM and the seal overlap, the transfer of the image portion overlapping the seal may be less likely to proceed compared to other portions. According to the above configuration of the present embodiment, the user can refer to the image 112 to grasp the position of the seal so as not to overlap with the image IM, and can appropriately arrange the seal so as not to overlap with the image IM.

[0043] Also, in the present embodiment, by the user reading the explanatory text of the work content indicated by the image 113, the subsequent transfer work is likely to be appropriately executed.

[0044] Also, in the present embodiment, normal ink is used in the guide image formation process. Thus, since the guide image 110 is formed using ink that is not for transfer, it is difficult for the guide image 110 to be transferred from the sheet 91 to the user's body or other articles. Also, black ink is used as the normal ink. For this reason, the guide image 110 is formed to be easily visible.

[0045] Next, guide images 120 and 130, which are alternative guide images to guide image 110, will be described. As shown in FIG. 8, guide image 120 is formed on the back surface of sheet 93, which is a sheet on which the image IM for transfer is formed on the front surface. Guide image 120 includes line segment images 121 and 122 along the long side direction (vertical direction) of sheet 93 and line segment images 123 and 124 along the width direction (horizontal direction) of sheet 93. Line segment images 121 to 124 indicate the positions where sheet 93 is to be cut. Line segment image 121 and line segment image 122 are arranged so as to sandwich image IM therebetween in the width direction. Line segment image 123 and line segment image 124 are arranged so as to sandwich image IM therebetween in the long side direction.

[0046] Guide image 120 is used, for example, when a blank area is formed around image IM because image IM is relatively small with respect to sheet 93. The user can perform the transfer operation after cutting off the blank area from sheet 93 by cutting sheet 93 along line segment images 121 to 124 with reference to guide image 120. This makes it easier to perform the transfer operation compared to the case where a blank area remains.

[0047] As shown in FIG. 9, guide image 130 is formed on the back surface of sheet 94, which is a sheet on which the image IM for transfer is formed on the front surface. Guide image 130 is an image obtained by inverting the image IM for transfer, that is, it consists of at least a part of the original image indicated by the image data. Specifically, guide image 130 consists of an image obtained by inverting image IM and extracting only the outline of image IM. And guide image 130 is arranged at a position corresponding to image IM, that is, at a position exactly overlapping image IM. This makes it easy for the user to accurately grasp the position of the image for transfer by looking at the guide image. Also, since guide image 130 is an image corresponding to the outline of image IM, ink consumption is likely to be suppressed. Note that not only the outline of image IM but also an image obtained by inverting the entire image including the inside of image IM may be used as the guide image.

[0048] <Other Modification Examples> As described above, the embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration should not be considered limited to these embodiments. The scope of the present invention is defined by the claims rather than the description of the above embodiments, and further includes all modifications within the meaning and scope equivalent to the claims.

[0049] For example, in the above-described embodiment, the guide image 110 is formed on the sheet 9 using black normal ink. Instead of this, the guide image 110 may be formed using sublimation ink. According to this, the present invention can also be applied to a sublimation printer that does not correspond to normal ink. In this case, the sublimation ink used for forming the guide image 110 corresponds to the "second ink" of the present invention.

[0050] Also, in the above-described embodiment, after the transfer image IM is formed on one surface of the sheet 9, the guide image 110 is formed on the other surface of the sheet 9. Instead of this, after the guide image 110 is formed on one surface of the sheet 9, the transfer image IM may be formed on the other surface of the sheet 9.

[0051] Also, the printer 10 according to the above-described embodiment supports duplex printing. Instead of this, the present invention may be applied to a printer that does not support duplex printing and can only perform single-sided printing. In this case, for example, after the transfer image IM is formed on one side of the sheet 9 using the printer, the user reinstalls the sheet 9 recovered from the printer into the printer, and the printer may form the guide image 110 on the surface opposite to the surface on which the transfer image IM is formed.

[0052] In addition, in each of the above-described embodiments, the case where the present invention is applied to the printer 10 has been described, but it is not limited to this. The present invention may be applied to other inkjet image forming apparatuses that eject ink from a head, such as a multifunction device, a copying machine, etc., or these image forming apparatuses.

Description of Reference Numerals

[0053] IM Transfer image 8 Control Unit 9, 91, 93, 94 Paper 92 Transfer Destination Medium 10 (Sublimation Type) Printer 63 Recording Head 63C, 63M, 63Y, 63K, 63S Nozzles 110, 120, 130 Guide Images

Claims

1. A head having a first nozzle for discharging a first ink for transfer onto a transfer medium and a second nozzle for discharging a second ink onto the transfer medium, and a control unit, wherein the control unit performs a transfer image forming process of discharging the first ink from the head onto the transfer medium so as to form a transfer image on one surface of the transfer medium, and a guide image forming process of discharging the second ink from the head onto the medium so as to form a guide image indicating guide information regarding an operation of transferring the transfer image from the transfer medium to another medium on the other surface of the transfer medium. The image forming apparatus is characterized by this.

2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the guide information includes the position of the transfer image on the one surface.

3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the position includes at least one of the positions of the end portion and the center of the transfer image.

4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the guide information includes the position of a seal for fixing the transfer medium to the other medium.

5. The transfer ink is ink that is transferred by heating, and the image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the guide information includes, as the position of the seal, a position on the other surface that does not overlap with the transfer image formed on the one surface.

6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the guide information includes the position where the transfer medium is to be cut.

7. The guide image is an image obtained by inverting the transfer image, and the guide image forming process is a process of discharging the second ink from the head onto the medium so as to form at least a part of the guide image at a position corresponding to the transfer image formed on the one surface on the other surface. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2 is characterized by this.

8. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the guide information includes a description regarding the content of the operation.

9. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second ink is ink that is not for transfer.

10. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second ink is black ink.

11. The apparatus further includes a medium conveyance unit that continuously performs a first conveyance operation and a second conveyance operation. The first conveyance operation is an operation of conveying the transfer medium toward the head in a direction in which ink is ejected from the head toward the one surface. The second conveyance operation is an operation of conveying the transfer medium toward the head in a direction in which ink is ejected from the head toward the other surface by inverting and conveying the transfer medium on which the transfer image has been formed on the one surface during the first conveyance operation. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: **Claim 12** A method of transferring an image using the image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transfer ink is ink that is transferred by heating, the method including: an image forming step of forming the transfer image and the guide image on the transfer medium on the image forming apparatus; an arranging step of arranging the transfer medium on the other medium after the image forming step; and a heating step of heating the transfer medium from above after the arranging step. The image transfer method is characterized by the above.

Images