JP2000281268A - Roll-shaped printed medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the erroneous mounting of a printed medium of a different type by providing a noncontact IC unit, which is constituted of an antenna of an electromagnetic induction coil and an IC chip and stores the inherent information, in a core of the roll-shaped printed medium wound on the core and mounted on a printing device. SOLUTION: A printing device 2 is provided with a label continuum feed shaft 7 rotatably mounted with a roll-shaped label continuum 6 temporarily fitted with many label pieces 5 on a band-like mount 4, a printing mechanism 10 having a thermal printing head 8 and a platen 9, a carbon ribbon feed section 15 of a thermal transfer carbon ribbon 14, and a carbon ribbon winding section 16. A noncontact IC unit is contained in a core 25 wound with the label continuum 6. Various data, e.g. the label size of the label piece 5 of the label contiuum 6, the type of the label, the printing energy applied to the head 8, fixed printing information and printing color, are coded and stored in the IC unit.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a roll-shaped printing medium, and more particularly, to preventing erroneous printing due to a loading error when loading a printing medium, and printing energy and printing suitable for the loaded printing medium. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a roll-shaped print-receiving medium that provides print control information such as a form and enables a printing apparatus to appropriately specify control.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a printing medium of this type of printing apparatus, a label continuum in which a plurality of label pieces are temporarily attached on a band-shaped backing paper or a tag continuum made of cardboard having no adhesive layer is used. There is. Such a printing medium is generally loaded on a loading mechanism of a printing apparatus which is wound around a core in a roll shape, for example, a supply shaft in which the printing medium is rotatably loaded.

[0003] Thus, a single printing apparatus can control the pitch (length) and width of the printing medium, the name of the user of the medium to be printed, the name of the shop, the management tag in the process management slip, the delivery slip or label in the transport delivery slip, and the like. In general, it is possible to print on a print medium having different pre-printed contents or colors, and in this case, if the correct type of print medium is not loaded, an appropriate printing method of the loaded print medium is required. Since the types such as size and size do not conform to the printing contents, printing is not performed in the unclear printing or the printing range, or printing is not performed at an appropriate designated printing position. As a result, the printed printing medium may be wasted. Of the above types of printing media, many printing devices detect the feeding direction of the printing medium by an optical sensor or the like disposed in the printing device, and in the case of a wrong pitch, the printing device itself determines before the printing operation. Is possible.

However, there has been no mechanism or control for easily discriminating information such as printing medium width, company name, store name printing, and printing color indicating designation of a product or delivery destination in advance. In addition, such a loading error is often found after the start or end of the printing operation, and some measures have been desired. Of course, if the user does not notice the loading error as described above, the user will print on the printing medium of the wrong format and use it while attached to the product to be attached. It can cause problems.

Therefore, a label on which a bar code is printed is affixed to the core, or magnetic printing is performed. The bar code is read by a scanner provided in a loading mechanism of the printing apparatus, and the width of the printing medium, the name of the store, and the like are printed. It is known that data such as print colors are encoded and determined by a determination unit.
However, the data amount of the printed barcode is limited, and only limited information can be determined from the information amount of the barcode. Further, only a small amount of data is obtained for predetermined fixed information, and the data of fixed information is limited.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems. In loading a print medium, information unique to the print medium or various information necessary for proper printing is stored. Provided is a roll-shaped print-receiving medium that can be stored as a large amount of data and that is not loaded with a different type of print-receiving medium that is incompatible with the print content.

According to the present invention, a large amount of data can be stored as information on a print-receiving medium, such as print form information or fixed information to be printed, so that a display unit of a printing apparatus loaded with the print-receiving medium or A roll-shaped print medium that checks the paper size, pre-print, print form, etc. of the mounted print medium on the display unit of the external control device that sends print data to this printing device, and reduces input operations by the operator. I will provide a.

Further, the present invention relates to the type (paper quality) of a medium to be printed.
The present invention provides a roll-shaped print-receiving medium capable of automatically setting an appropriate value of printing energy required for a printing apparatus.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention focuses on attaching a storage element to a core around which a medium to be printed is wound, and is wound around the core and used as a loading section of a printing apparatus. A roll-shaped print-receiving medium, comprising an antenna of an electromagnetic induction coil and an IC chip, wherein a non-contact IC unit storing unique information is provided inside the core. is there.

The non-contact IC unit is a roll-shaped medium to be printed, in which print information is stored.

The non-contact IC unit is a roll-shaped medium to be printed, wherein print control information of a printing device is stored.

The roll-shaped print-receiving medium is characterized in that the core is made of a non-metallic material such as paper, plastic or wood.

Therefore, since the portion where the non-contact IC unit having unique information is provided is included in the core, the workability is good when the core is loaded into a printing device or the like, and the core is wound around the core. Type of the print target medium, especially its width, ruled lines,
A large amount of data can be stored with a unique code such as a store name and a printing color, and the stored information is read by a reading device provided in a loading unit of the printing device, and the loaded printing medium is read. In addition to reading the type data, it is possible to make a determination and prevent a printing incompatibility due to a loading error.

[0014]

FIG. 1 is an overall schematic view of a printing apparatus equipped with a loading mechanism capable of loading a print-receiving medium,
The printing apparatus 2 includes a device frame 3 and a continuous label body (printed medium) 6 in which a large number of label pieces 5 are temporarily attached on a band-shaped backing paper 4. A printing medium 10 having a thermal printing head 8 and a platen 9; a peeling mechanism 12 having a peeling plate 11; , A carbon ribbon supply unit 15 of a carbon ribbon 14 for thermal transfer, a carbon ribbon winding unit 16, a rotation drive motor 17, a sensor 18 of the label continuous body 6, a reader unit 20, a data management unit 21, and a head Drive circuit 22 and alarm generation circuit 23
And a print content input mechanism 24 having a function of a print medium type data input mechanism.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the core. The label continuous body 6 indicated by a virtual line is wound around a cylindrical core 25 having a hollow portion made of a material such as paper or plastic and rolled. A non-contact IC unit (hereinafter referred to as an IC unit) 30, which will be described later,
5 is provided in the inner package. That is, the core 25
Are provided so as not to be exposed on either the inner surface or the outer surface. Further, the IC unit 30 stores various data such as the label size of the label piece 5 of the label continuum 6 to be wound, the label type (material, etc.), the printing energy given to the head, the fixed printing information and the printing color. It can be encoded and stored in advance.

Such type data can be encoded, and the type is arbitrarily selected. Of course, a conventional keyboard can be adopted as the print content input mechanism 24, or the keyboard can be provided from a personal computer (external control device) 28 via the interface control 27.
The type data of the designated label continuum 6 may be transmitted together with the predetermined print data.

The continuous roll-shaped label loaded on the supply shaft 7 is pulled out from its leading end and is transferred to the printing mechanism 10 via a predetermined transfer path. On the other hand, the carbon ribbon supply unit 1
The carbon ribbon 14 pulled out of the printer 5 is transferred to the printing mechanism 10 via a predetermined transfer path. In the printing mechanism 10,
The carbon ribbon 14 overlaps the upper surface of the label continuous body 6, is sandwiched between the platen roller 9 and the thermal head 8, and the print signal is supplied to the thermal head 8 to transfer the ink of the carbon ribbon 14 onto the label piece 5. Perform predetermined printing. Reference numeral 19 denotes a sensor 19 for detecting the end of the carbon ribbon.

In the label piece 5 on which printing has been performed, only the backing sheet 4 turns backward at the part of the peeling plate 11, and the label piece 5 is peeled off from the backing sheet 4. Then, the backing sheet 4 from which the label pieces 5 have been peeled off
Is wound by the mount winding unit 13, and the carbon ribbon for thermal transfer is wound by the winding unit 16.
In the above-described operation, each of the platen roller 9, the mount winding unit 13 and the carbon ribbon winding unit 16 is driven to rotate by the rotation drive motor 17.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a main part for explaining a part of a label continuous body supply shaft.
A unit is provided. (See FIG. 2) IC unit 30
Has a nonvolatile memory (storage means) 40 to be described later, and the storage means 40 stores, as predetermined information, the type of the print-receiving medium, particularly the label size, the label type (material, etc.), the head, and the like. , Fixed printing information, printing colors, and the like.

The label continuous member supply shaft 7 has an electromagnetic induction type reader unit 20 for reading the IC unit 30 incorporated therein. The reader unit 20 transmits a weak radio wave so as to be readable in a state separated from the IC unit 30.

The reader section 20 has an A / D converter and a modulator / demodulator, and transmits weak radio waves to the IC unit 30 to read data of the IC unit 30. The data received by the reader unit 20 is stored in the data management unit 21. CPU (central control unit) 2
Reference numeral 6 denotes a memory, a data management unit 21, and a thermal head 8.
The printer controller 22 controls the printing energy of the printer, an alarm generator 23, an input unit 24 such as a keyboard provided with a printing device, and an interface 27.

FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram of the non-contact IC unit. The thin non-contact IC unit 30 has a configuration in which a main body 33 containing an IC circuit is covered with a film or paper of a PET resin material. The IC circuit includes a rectifier circuit 34, a conduction regulator 35, a clock recovery circuit (logic generation) 36, a demodulator 37, a modulator 38, a communication logic 39, a nonvolatile memory 40, and a capacitor 41.
It has. In addition, the code | symbol 32A in a figure has shown the coil (antenna). As the nonvolatile memory 40, for example, an EEROM is used. This EEPROM is an electrically rewritable ROM.

In such a configuration, the leader section 20
The call is made by weak radio waves from the side. This call uses, for example, an ASK modulation method for turning on / off a frequency of several tens of MHz according to signal information. When the IC unit 30 is held over the induced magnetic field thus generated, an electromotive force is generated in the coil 32A (antenna). The electromotive force generated in the coil 32A (antenna) is adjusted by a power supply regulator 35 connected to a rectifier circuit 34, and is used as an internal power supply.

The signal received via the coil 32A (antenna) is reproduced by the clock reproducing circuit 36 and then demodulated by the demodulator 37. The information in the nonvolatile memory 40 is read by the communication logic 39 based on the demodulated signal. The read information is output from the coil 32A (antenna) after being modulated by the modulator 38. The frequency at this time is, for example, several hundred KHz. The output information is stored in the reader unit 2.
Read by 0.

In the printing apparatus 2 having such a configuration, after the winding core 25 of the label continuous body 6 is loaded on the label continuous body supply shaft 7, the printing operation is started by rotating the rotary drive motor 17. State leader 2
According to 0, the information stored in the IC label 30 inside the winding core 25 that has started to rotate is read and input to the data management unit 21. Since the reading operation by the reader unit 20 requires only a short transfer distance, the label continuity 6
The reading operation can be completed sufficiently at the transfer distance for detecting the pitch of the label continuous body 6 by the sensor 18 of FIG.

The data management section 21 calls up print data from the print content input mechanism (input section) 24 or the external control device 28 or a print format stored in the printing device 2 to read the contents of data as label information. Is compared with the information read by the reader unit 20, and the label size (width and pitch) of the currently loaded label continuum 6, the type of label (material, etc.), the printing energy given to the head, the fixed information, etc. It is determined whether various types of data are compatible with the contents of the print. As a result of the determination, if the print job matches, a normal printing operation is started. If the print job matches, an alarm is issued by the alarm generator 23 and a message is displayed on a display unit (not shown). Further, the printing mechanism 10 is connected via the head drive circuit 22.
The printing operation at is stopped.

The information on the printing energy is stored in the IC unit 30.
From the print medium (label piece)
The optimum printing energy can be given. Also,
By reading the fixed information from the IC unit 30,
The number of print format data as print information stored in advance in the printer may be reduced.
May be reduced in memory capacity. Further, since the transmission of print data from the external control device is reduced, the process of issuing a print is improved, and the above-mentioned input from the operator can be reduced.

The operator confirms from the alarm from the alarm generator 23 that the width or pitch of the label continuous body 6 to be loaded or the type of paper is wrong, and loads the correct type of label continuous body 6. You can do it again.

Thus, the IC unit 30 can be provided inside the winding core 25 by a simple method.
Larger amounts of data can be stored than before, so print data, appropriate print density, print speed and print medium data, print forms, print colors, etc. can be stored, enabling proper printing. This is to prevent waste of the print medium.

In the present embodiment, an example is described in which the IC unit is provided inside the core of the winding core. However, any method may be used as long as the information of the print medium is read by the printing device by the IC unit. Things. Also, the printing medium has been described as a continuous label, but is not limited thereto.
Any tag that can be printed, such as a tag made of long cardboard, may be used.

[0031]

According to the present invention, as described in detail above, since the IC unit is provided inside the winding core, a large amount of data such as information, print data, and print format of various print-receiving media can be stored. Therefore, it is possible to perform proper printing and prevent waste of the printing medium. Further, input operations by the operator can be reduced. In addition, since the IC unit is provided inside the core, workability at the time of loading is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall schematic diagram of a printing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a winding core.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a main part of a continuous label supply shaft.

FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram of a non-contact IC unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 2 printing device 6 label continuous body 7 label continuous body supply axis (loading mechanism) 10 printing mechanism 20 reader unit (reading means) 21 data management unit 22 head drive circuit 23 alarm generator 25 core 30 non-contact IC unit 40 non-volatile memory

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2C060 BA05 2C087 AA07 BD55 3F052 AA01 AB05 AB09 BA24 3F058 AA02 AB01 BB01 BB11 BB19 CA00 DA04 DB05 KA03 KA04 LA00 5B035 BA01 BB09 CA12 CA23

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A non-contact IC unit which is wound around a core and is loaded into a loading section of a printing device, wherein the non-contact IC unit stores information unique to the medium to be printed. A roll-shaped print-receiving medium, wherein the medium is provided in a package. 2. A roll-shaped print-receiving medium according to claim 1, wherein print information is stored in said non-contact IC unit. 3. The roll-shaped print-receiving medium according to claim 1, wherein print control information of a printing device is stored in the non-contact IC unit. 4. The roll-shaped print-receiving medium according to claim 1, wherein the core is made of a non-metallic material such as paper or plastic.