JP2001315386A - Printer and printing medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To form a printed material at low producing cost without creating a burdensome job. SOLUTION: There is disclosed a printer wherein printing is performed on a printing tape in a tape cassette housed in a cassette housing recessed section 4 by means of a thermal head 12 provided in the cassette housing recessed section 4 and the printed printing tape is discharged to the outside from an opening section 20. A groove section 21 in which a tip of a printing sheet 23 can be placed is formed on a face part on an extended line from the opening section 20 to the thermal head 12 among faces opposite to the opening section 20 of the cassette housing recessed section 4. When the printing is performed on a large sized printing sheet 23, the tip of the printing sheet 23 is inserted into the groove 21 and then the printing is surely performed on a thermosensitive section 27 of the printing sheet 23 by means of the thermal head 12. As a result, even when the size of the printing sheet 23 is large, the printing is adequately performed so that the printing is clearly performed at low producing cost without creating a burdensome job.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a printing apparatus and a printing medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in supermarkets and stores, a price tag is attached to a product for sale. Such a price tag is small in size. I cannot see the information. Therefore, conventionally, advertising paper larger than the price tag that describes the product name, simple specifications, functions, price, sales points, etc. is placed near the product so that consumers can Make product information visible. This advertising paper is created by ordering from a printing shop, or by a seller using handwriting or a word processor.

[0003]

However, if such an advertising paper is prepared by ordering from a printing shop as in the former case, there is a problem that it is expensive and it is difficult to change product information every day. is there. In the latter case, when a merchant creates by handwriting or a word processor, it takes time and effort, and there is a problem that the merchandise cannot be neatly created.

[0004] An object of the present invention is to provide a low-cost, low-cost, and clean production.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing device and a printing medium for solving this problem.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing apparatus in which a cassette accommodating recess accommodating a tape cassette in which a printing tape and an ink ribbon are disposed are provided, and a cassette accommodating recess. A printing head having a thermal head for performing printing on the printing tape and an opening for sending the printing tape printed by the thermal head from the cassette housing recess to the outside. Forming a groove in which a part of a flat print medium can be arranged on a surface portion corresponding to an extension of a line from the opening to the thermal head on a surface facing the portion. .

According to the present invention, the groove is formed in the surface of the surface opposite to the opening of the cassette accommodating recess, which corresponds to the extension of the line from the opening to the thermal head. When the size of the print medium is large, by inserting a part of the print medium into the groove, it is possible to reliably print on the print medium with the thermal head, and therefore, even if the print medium is small or large, Since printing can be performed well, the production cost is low, labor is not required, and printing can be performed neatly.

The printing medium according to the second aspect of the present invention is formed at least at one end thereof with a thermosensitive material capable of thermal printing, and printing predetermined information such as characters, symbols or pictures near the thermosensitive material. It is characterized in that it has a structure in which a part is folded and assembled three-dimensionally, or a part is provided with an adhesive member and can be attached to another member. According to the present invention, since one end is formed of a heat-sensitive material that can be thermally printed, thermal printing can be performed on this one end, whereby the information thermally printed on the one end formed of the heat-sensitive material and It can display the specified information, so that the production cost is low, hassle-free, it can be made neatly, and it can be folded partly and assembled three-dimensionally or provided in partly By sticking it to another member with the adhesive member, it can be easily and easily arranged near a display such as a product. In this case, as described in claim 3, the printed predetermined information is information on a sale product,
Since the price of the sale product can be easily printed on the one end by thermally printing at least the price of the sale product, the price can be easily changed.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing apparatus, comprising: a cassette accommodating recess for accommodating a tape cassette in which a printing tape and an ink ribbon are disposed; and a printing unit provided in the cassette accommodating recess for printing on the printing tape. A thermal head for performing the following, an opening for sending out the printing tape printed by the thermal head from the cassette accommodating recess to the outside, and the opening of a surface of the cassette accommodating recess opposite to the opening. A groove portion on which a portion of a flat print medium can be arranged on a surface portion corresponding to an extension of a line from the portion toward the thermal head; and the thermal head when the tape cassette is stored in the cassette storage recess. Causes the printing tape to perform printing,
And a printing control unit for causing the thermal head to perform printing on the print medium when an end of the flat print medium is arranged in the groove.

According to the present invention, the groove portion is formed in a surface portion corresponding to an extension of a line from the opening to the thermal head, of the surface opposed to the opening of the cassette accommodating recess. Similar to the first aspect of the present invention, when the size of the flat print medium is large, a part of the print medium can be inserted into the groove to print on the print medium with the thermal head. Even if the medium is small or large, it can be printed easily, so the production cost is low, it can be done easily and cleanly, and when the tape cassette is stored in the cassette storage recess. In this method, printing is performed on the printing tape by the printing control means, so that two types of printing, a flat printing medium and a printing tape, are automatically switched and any one of the printings can be performed. Thus it is possible to divide using two types of printing depending on the application.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIGS.
An embodiment of a printing apparatus and a printing medium according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a plan view of a printing apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view thereof, and FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a main part thereof.
This printing device is, for example, a label printer,
As shown in FIG. On an upper surface of the apparatus main body 1, a key input unit 2, a display unit 3, a cassette storage recess 4, and an opening / closing lid 5 that covers the cassette storage recess 4 so as to be able to open and close are provided. The key input unit 2 includes various keys such as alphabet keys, numeric keys, and function keys, and inputs various information such as print data, print setting conditions, and print commands. The display unit 3 is a flat display such as a liquid crystal display device, and displays print data input by the key input unit 2 and a processing result thereof, data input from an external storage medium or another external device, and the like. As shown in FIG. 3, the cassette accommodating recess 4 accommodates a tape cassette 6, which will be described later, therein in a detachable manner.

As shown in FIG. 3, a roller support shaft 7, a head support shaft 8, a ribbon take-up shaft 9, and a tape supply shaft 10 are provided upright in the cassette housing recess 4. A platen roller 11 is attached to the roller support shaft 7, and a thermal head 12 is attached to the head support shaft 8. In this case, the roller support shaft 7 of the platen roller 11 is configured to rotate in the forward and reverse directions by a transport motor (not shown), so that the platen roller 11 can rotate forward and reverse together with the roller support shaft 7. Has become. Heating elements are arranged at the tip of the thermal head 12 along the axial direction of the platen roller 11, and the heating elements are rotated around a head support shaft 8 by a driving motor (not shown) to rotate the platen via a printing medium. The heating element is configured to be selectively driven to generate heat based on print data in a state of being pressed and separated from the roller 11 and pressed against the platen roller 11. Further, the ribbon take-up shaft 9 is rotatably attached to the bottom of the cassette accommodating recess 4, and is configured to rotate in synchronization with the transport speed of the platen roller 11 by a transport motor, similarly to the platen roller 11. .

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a tape supply reel 13, a ribbon supply reel 14, and a ribbon take-up reel 15 are rotatably provided in the tape cassette 6, and a thermal head 12 is provided on an upper side thereof. Has a rectangular notch 16 to be inserted. When the thermal head 12 is separated from the platen roller 11, the thermal head 12 is inserted into the notch 16, the tape supply shaft 10 is inserted into the cylindrical portion of the tape supply reel 13, and the ribbon winding shaft 9 is inserted into the cylindrical portion of the ribbon take-up reel 15, and is thereby mounted in the cassette accommodating recess 4.

In this state, as shown in FIG. 4, the print tape 17 wound around the tape supply reel 13 is fed out, and the ink ribbon 18 wound around the tape supply reel 14 is fed out from the ribbon supply reel 14. Tape 1
7 and the ink ribbon 18 are overlapped and sent out into the notch 16, and in this state, after passing between the platen roller 11 and the thermal head 12, the printing tape 17 and the ink ribbon 18 are separated, and the printing tape 17 is separated. Is sent out through an opening 20 provided in the apparatus main body 1, and the ink ribbon 18 is wound on a ribbon take-up reel 15. In this case, the printing tape 17 and the ink ribbon 1
When the ink passes through the platen roller 11 and the thermal head 12 while overlapping with each other, the ink of the ink ribbon 18 is transferred to the print tape 17 by the heat generated by the heat generating elements of the thermal head 12.

The tape cassette 6 is, for example,
A plurality of types are prepared for color printing, black-and-white printing, printing width, and the like. Therefore, in the lower left corner of each tape cassette 6, an identification section 6a corresponding to its type is provided.
(Only one type of tape cassette is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4). At the lower left corner in the cassette accommodating recess 4 corresponding to the identification section 6a, a detection section (print control means) 19 for detecting the presence or absence and the type of the tape cassette 6 is provided. This detector 1
Reference numeral 9 denotes a plurality of switches, and depending on the type of the tape cassette 6 mounted in the cassette accommodating recess 4, one or all or all of the switches are turned on to determine whether the tape cassette 6 is present. And the type thereof is detected.

On the other hand, an opening 20 provided in the apparatus main body 1 for sending out a printed printing tape 17 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 3, one side (the right side in FIG. 3) of the cassette accommodating recess 4 at a position corresponding to a position between the platen roller 11 and the thermal head 12, and the outer side of the apparatus main body 1 (the right side outer side in FIG. 3). It is formed in a slit shape over the side surface). In this case, the opening 20 has a depth ranging from the upper surface of the apparatus main body 1 to a position corresponding to the bottom surface of the cassette housing recess 4. Thus, the surface (left side in FIG. 3) of the cassette housing recess 4 facing the opening 20.
Has a line from the opening 20 toward the thermal head 12,
That is, the groove portion 21 is provided at a position that is located on a straight extension from the opening portion 20 and passes between the platen roller 11 and the thermal head 12. The groove of the groove 21 has the same depth as the opening 20, and its depth, that is, the length in the direction along the extension line, is a predetermined length from the left side surface of the cassette housing recess 4 to the left side of the apparatus main body 1. A part of the large-sized print sheet 23, that is, a left end side of the print sheet 23 is shown in FIG. 8 among the print sheets 22 and 23 which are formed as described above and are flat print media shown in FIGS. It is sized to be inserted as shown.

The printing sheets 22 and 23 are shown in FIGS.
As shown in the figure, the size is different, and other than that, the structure is almost the same. That is, the print sheet 22 having a small size has a vertical and horizontal length of, for example, 9 cm × 6 cm.
As shown in FIG. 5, the whole is formed in a vertically long rectangular shape, and the glue margin portion 22a and the bottom portion 22 are sequentially arranged from the upper side.
b, the rear part 22c, and the front part 22d. In this case, the width of the glue margin 22a (the length in the vertical direction in FIG. 5) is narrow, the bottom 22b is wider than the width of the glue margin 22a, and the back 22c and the front 22d have substantially the same width. It is formed sufficiently wider than the width of the bottom 22b.
A bending line 22e is provided at each boundary,
Bending line 22e at the boundary between the back part 22c and the front part 22d
In the middle part of the circular arc-shaped cut line 22 that is convex upward
f is provided.

On the front surface 22d of the small-sized print sheet 22, information about predetermined sales merchandise, for example, information 24 such as "SALE" is printed. The heat-sensitive portion 25 is formed of a heat-sensitive material that can be thermally printed. Such a print sheet 22 is folded toward the back side along each of the folding lines 22e and the cut lines 22f, and the adhesive margin portion 2 is formed.
By attaching 2a to the lower portion of the back surface of the front portion 22d, a triangular cylindrical shape as shown in FIG. 11 is assembled.

Also, the large print sheet 23 is
The vertical and horizontal lengths are, for example, 15 cm × 10 cm, and as shown in FIG.
Is formed in a size that is slightly less than twice the length and width of the printing sheet 22, and in the same distribution as the printing sheet 22 having a small size, in order from the top side, in each area of the glue margin portion 23a, the bottom portion 23b, the back portion 23c, and the front portion 23d. Has been split. In this case as well, a bent line 23e is provided at each boundary, and an arc-shaped cut line 23f that is upwardly convex is provided at an intermediate portion of the bent line 23e at the boundary between the back surface portion 23c and the front surface portion 23d. Have been. Also, on the front part 23d, similarly to the print sheet 22 having a small size, information on predetermined sales products,
For example, information 26 such as “SALE” is printed larger than information 24 of the print sheet 22, and a heat-sensitive portion 27 of the print sheet 22 is formed of a heat-sensitive material on the lower side of the information 26. It is formed wider than 25. In such a print sheet 23 as well, as shown in FIG. 11, by folding the printed sheet 23 toward the back side along each bending line 23 e and the cut line 23 f and pasting the glue margin 23 a to the lower part of the back of the front part 23 d. Assembled into a triangular cylindrical shape.

Next, a case where such a printing apparatus is used will be described. In this case, this printing apparatus has two printing methods. That is, the printing on the printing tape 17 of the tape cassette 6 and the printing sheets 22 and 23
And when printing. Hereinafter, these two printing methods will be described in order. First, when printing on the printing tape 17 of the tape cassette 6, as shown in FIG.
The cover 5 of the cassette storage recess 4 is opened, and the tape cassette 6 is set in the cassette storage recess 4 in this state. At this time, the thermal head 12 is
The thermal head 12 is separated from the notch 16
And the tape supply shaft 10 is connected to the tape supply reel 13.
And the ribbon winding shaft 9 is inserted into the cylindrical portion of the ribbon winding reel 15. And the tape supply reel 1
3 and the ink ribbon 18 from the ribbon supply reel 14, and the printing tape 17 and the ink ribbon 18 are placed between the platen roller 11 and the thermal head 12 in a state where the printing tape 17 and the ink ribbon 18 are overlapped.

When the tape cassette 6 is set in the cassette accommodating recess 4 in this manner, the tape cassette 6
Turns on each switch of the detection unit 19 in the cassette housing recess 4 in accordance with the type of the tape cassette 6. As a result, the presence / absence and type of the tape cassette 6 stored in the cassette storage recess 4 are detected by the detection unit 19. In this state, when the key input unit 2 is operated and a print command is output in accordance with the operation, the thermal head 12 is rotated based on the print command, and the print tape 17 and the ink ribbon 18 are overlapped. In this state, the platen roller 11 is pressed against the platen roller 11.

In this state, when printing based on the print data is started, the platen roller 11 and the ribbon winding shaft 9 rotate to convey the printing tape 17 and the ink ribbon 18. At the same time, the heating elements of the thermal head 12 selectively generate heat based on the print data, and the ink of the ink ribbon 18 is transferred to the print tape 17 in accordance with the heat generation, whereby the print data, for example, Product information such as a product price is sequentially printed. In this way, the printed printing tape 17 is sent out through the opening 20 of the apparatus main body 1 and can be used as a label on which product information such as a price is displayed. The printed ink ribbon 18 is taken up by the ribbon take-up reel 15 in the tape cassette 6.

Next, the case of printing on the print sheets 22 and 23 will be described. First, when printing product information such as the price of a product on the smaller print sheet 22 of the print sheets 22 and 23, the tape cassette 6 is taken out from the cassette housing recess 4 as shown in FIG. Then, the respective switches of the detection unit 19 in the cassette storage recess 4 are turned off, whereby the detection unit 19 detects that the tape cassette 6 does not exist in the cassette storage recess 4. In this state, the print sheet 22 can be disposed between the platen roller 11 and the thermal head 12 with the heat-sensitive portion 25 of the print sheet 22 facing downward. At this time, the right end of the heat-sensitive portion 25 is made to correspond to the heating element of the thermal head 12.
Further, since the size of the print sheet 22 is small, the entire print sheet 22 is arranged in the cassette housing recess 4.

When a print command is output in response to the operation of the key input unit 2, the thermal head 12 is rotated based on the print command and the print sheet 22 is placed on the platen similarly to the case of the tape cassette 6 described above. It is pressed against the roller 11. In this state, when printing is started, the platen roller 11 and the ribbon take-up shaft 9 rotate to convey the print sheet 22, and at the same time, the heating elements of the thermal head 12 selectively operate based on the print data. Heat is generated, and in accordance with this heat generation, print data, that is, product information 28 such as a product price as shown in FIG. 9 is sequentially printed on the heat-sensitive portion 25 of the print sheet 22. The printed print sheet 22 is sent out from the opening 20 of the apparatus main body 1 to the outside. This allows
As shown in FIG. 9, a print sheet 22 is obtained in which product information 28 such as the characters “uniform sale” and the price “$ 2,500” is printed below predetermined information 24.

When printing product information on a large-size print sheet 23, as shown in FIG. 8, the platen roller 11 has the heat-sensitive portion 27 of the print sheet 23 facing downward.
And the thermal head 12, and the right end of the heat-sensitive portion 27 corresponds to the heating element of the thermal head 12. At this time, since the size of the printing sheet 23 is large, the printing sheet 23 is inserted into the cassette accommodating recess 4 with a part of the printing sheet 23, that is, the left end inserted into the groove 21 provided in the apparatus main body 1. Deploy. Then, in the same manner as described above, the thermal head 1
2 rotates and presses the print sheet 23 against the platen roller 11, and in this state, the platen roller 11 rotates to convey the print sheet 23, and the heating element of the thermal head 12 selectively operates based on the print data. The product information 29 is sequentially printed on the heat-sensitive portion 27 of the print sheet 23 by generating heat to be larger than the product information 28 of the print sheet 22 having a smaller size. As a result, the printed print sheet 23 is sent out through the opening 20 of the apparatus main body 1 and desired product information 29 is printed below the predetermined information 26 as shown in FIG. A printing sheet 23 is obtained.

The printing sheet 22 thus obtained,
23, for example, the large-sized printing sheet 23 is bent toward the back side along the folding line 23e and the cut line 23f, and the glue margin 23a is changed to the front part 23d.
When it is attached to the lower part of the back surface of the device, it is assembled into a triangular cylindrical shape as shown in FIG. The printed sheet 23 assembled in this manner is placed near the product with its bottom 23b facing down, and when the front portion 23d faces the front side of the display such as a product, a predetermined printed portion on the front portion 23d is printed. Information 26 and the product information 29 printed on the heat-sensitive portion 27 of the front portion 23d can be viewed.

In this case, the large print sheet 23
Since the predetermined information 26 and the product information 29 printed on the heat sensitive part 27 are printed larger than the respective information 24 and 28 of the small-size print sheet 22, the display It can be seen from a distance. Also, in the case of the print sheet 22 having a small size, similarly to the print sheet 23 having a large size, the print sheet 22 is folded along the bending lines 22e and the cut lines 22f, and the glue margin 22a is attached to the lower portion of the back of the front portion 22d.
The information 24 and 28 can be displayed larger than those printed as labels on the printing tape 17 using the tape cassette 6 by using the tape cassette 6.

As described above, according to this printing apparatus, the portion of the left side of the cassette housing recess 4 that is opposite to the opening 20 and that is located on the extension of the line from the opening 20 toward the thermal head 12. Since the groove 21 is formed in the thermal head 12 by inserting the left end of the print sheet 23 into the groove 21 even if the print sheet 23 is a large print sheet among the print sheets 22 and 23 which are flat print media. The product information 29 can be reliably and satisfactorily printed on the heat-sensitive portion 27 of the print sheet 23, so that the small-size print sheet 22 and the large-size print sheet 23 can be printed.
However, since printing can be performed easily and reliably, printing can be performed neatly at low production cost, without any hassle.

In this case, a detecting section 19 serving as a printing control means is provided in the cassette accommodating recess 4.
9 detects whether or not the tape cassette 6 is stored in the cassette storage recess 4, and when the tape cassette 6 is stored, printing can be performed on the printing tape 17 by the thermal head 12. 6 is not stored, the print sheet 2
2 and 23, so that the two types of printing, the printing tape 17 and the printing tapes 22 and 23, are automatically switched and any one of the printings can be performed. Can use two types of printing.

The printing sheets 22 and 23 used in this printing apparatus are made of a heat-sensitive material made of a heat-sensitive material that can be thermally printed on the lower portion where predetermined information 24 and 26 are printed on the front portions 22d and 23d. Since each of the printing sheets 25 and 27 is formed, thermal printing can be performed on the heat-sensitive portions 25 and 27 of each of the printing sheets 22 and 23 without using the ink ribbon 18, whereby the predetermined information 24 and
26 and the thermally printed product information 28, 29 can be displayed, and the thermal information 25, 27 can be thermally printed with the product information on the day of the sold product, so that the sold product information 28, 29 can be easily displayed. Can be changed. In addition, since these print sheets 22 and 23 are provided with respective fold lines 22e and 23e and cut lines 22f and 23f at respective boundaries of respective portions, the respective fold lines 22e and 23e and cut lines 22e are provided.
By bending along f and 23f, it is possible to assemble into a substantially triangular tube-shaped three-dimensional body, and therefore, it is possible to easily arrange it near a display such as a product.

In the above embodiment, the case where the apparatus main body 1 is formed in a rectangular box shape has been described.
For example, as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, for example, as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, the device main body 30 is configured by a circular main body 31 and a square cassette mounting part 32, which are integrally connected to each other. But it is good. In this case, the tape cassette 6 is located at the boundary between the main body 31 and the cassette mounting section 32.
An opening 33 for feeding out the printing tape 17 or the printing sheets 22 and 23 and a groove 34 into which one end side (the upper end side in FIG. 12) of the printing sheets 22 and 23 are inserted are formed at both ends of the cassette mounting section 32. It may be provided linearly and continuously over the portions (upper and lower ends in the figure).

In this case, a key input section 2 and a display section 3 are provided on the upper surface of the circular main body section 31, and a platen is provided near the opening 33 and the groove section 34 in the main body section 31. A roller 11 is provided. The square cassette mounting portion 32 has a cassette storage recess 4.
An opening / closing lid 5 for opening and closing the cassette storage recess 4 is provided so as to be openable and closable, and a cutter device 35 for cutting the printing tape 17 is provided in the opening 3.
3 are provided. In such a printing apparatus, the same operation and effects as those of the above-described embodiment are obtained. In addition, the opening 33 and the groove 34 are formed at the boundary between the main body 31 and the cassette mounting portion 32 in the front-rear direction of the cassette mounting portion 32. Are provided linearly and continuously over both end portions of the printing sheet 23, even if the printing sheet is larger than the large-sized printing sheet 23 described above, printing can be performed reliably and satisfactorily. Therefore, for example, the same product information or different product information can be continuously printed using a sheet in which a plurality of print sheets 22 or 23 are connected in a horizontal direction.

In the above embodiment, the tape cassette 6 including the printing tape 17 and the ink ribbon 18 has been described as the tape cassette. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. May be used. In this case, the tape cassette 36 is provided with a ribbon supply reel 37 and a ribbon take-up reel 38 therein, and the ink ribbon 18 fed from the ribbon supply reel 37 passes through the cut-out portion 16 of the tape cassette 36 to form a ribbon take-up reel. It is configured to wind up at 38. If such a tape cassette 36 is used, the ink of the ink ribbon 18 can be directly transferred to the print sheets 22 and 23 without providing the heat-sensitive portions 25 and 27 made of a heat-sensitive material on the print sheets 22 and 23. The structure of the printing sheets 22 and 23 is simplified, and the cost of the printing sheets 22 and 23 can be reduced.

Further, in the above embodiment, the printing sheet 2
The folding lines 22e and 23e and the cutting lines 22f and 23f are provided on the base plates 2 and 23, and bent along these lines to assemble three-dimensionally. However, the present invention is not limited to this. An adhesive member with paper may be provided, the release paper may be peeled off after printing, and the adhesive member may be attached to a price tag stand, a display shelf, or the like.
Further, in the above embodiment, the heat sensitive portions 25 and 27 are provided only at one end of the print medium such as the print sheets 22 and 23. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the heat sensitive portions are formed at both ends of the print medium. Product information may be printed on both ends.

[0034]

As described above, according to the printing apparatus of the first aspect of the present invention, the extension of the line from the opening to the thermal head on the surface opposite to the opening of the cassette housing recess. Since the grooves are formed in the surface portion corresponding to the line, when the size of the flat print medium is large, by inserting some ends of the print medium into the grooves,
It is possible to print reliably on the print medium with the thermal head, so even if the print medium is small or large,
Since printing can be performed well, the production cost is low, labor is not required, and printing can be performed neatly.

According to the printing medium of the present invention, since at least one end is formed of a heat-sensitive material capable of thermal printing, thermal printing can be performed on one end of the printing medium. One end can display thermal-printed information and predetermined information, so that the production cost is low, hassle-free, can be made neatly, and a part can be folded By assembling three-dimensionally or attaching to another member with an adhesive member provided partially, it can be easily and easily arranged in the vicinity of a display such as a product. In this case, the predetermined information that is printed is information on the sale product, and the price of the sale product is thermally printed at one end, so that the price of the sale product can be easily printed. Can be easily changed.

According to the printing apparatus of the fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the same operation and effect as the first aspect of the present invention, especially when the tape cassette is stored in the cassette storing recess by the print control means. To print on the printing tape, and when printing is performed on the printing medium when a part of the end of the printing medium is disposed in the groove, the printing tape in the tape cassette and the flat printing medium are used. By automatically switching between the types of printing, any one of the types of printing can be performed, whereby the two types of printing can be selectively used depending on the application.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of a printing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the cassette storage recess of FIG. 1 and a tape cassette stored therein.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the internal structure of the tape cassette of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a view showing a small-sized print sheet used in the printing apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a view showing a large-sized print sheet used in the printing apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a main part showing a state in which printing is performed on a small print sheet of FIG. 5;

8 is a perspective view of a main part showing a state in which printing is performed on a large-sized print sheet in FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a view showing a small-sized print sheet printed in the state shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a large-sized print sheet printed in the state illustrated in FIG. 8;

11 is a perspective view showing a state in which the large-sized print sheet shown in FIG. 10 is folded and three-dimensionally assembled.

FIG. 12 is a plan view showing another embodiment of the printing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a side view of FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is a plan view showing the internal structure of another tape cassette used in the printing apparatus of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 4 Cassette storage recess 6, 36 Tape cassette 11 Platen roller 12 Thermal head 17 Printing tape 18 Ink ribbon 19 Detecting unit 20, 33 Opening 21, 34 Groove 22, 22, Printing sheet 24, 26 Predetermined information 25, 27 Thermal sensitivity Part 28, 29 Printed product information

Claims (4)

[Claims] A cassette accommodating recess for accommodating a tape cassette in which a printing tape and an ink ribbon are disposed; a thermal head provided in the cassette accommodating recess for printing on the printing tape; An opening for sending the printed printing tape from the cassette housing recess to the outside, wherein the thermal head is connected to the thermal head from the opening of a surface of the cassette housing recess opposite to the opening. A printing device, characterized in that a groove portion in which a part of a flat printing medium can be arranged is formed in a surface portion corresponding to an extension of a line toward the printer. 2. At least one end is formed of a heat-sensitive material capable of thermal printing, and predetermined information such as characters, symbols or pictures is printed in the vicinity of the heat-sensitive material. A print medium having a structure in which an adhesive member is provided or a part thereof can be attached to another member. 3. The printed predetermined information is information on a product for sale, and the one end includes:
3. The print medium according to claim 2, wherein at least a price of the sales product is thermal-printed. 4. A cassette accommodating recess for accommodating a tape cassette in which a printing tape and an ink ribbon are arranged, a thermal head provided in the cassette accommodating recess for printing on the printing tape, An opening for sending the printed printing tape from the cassette housing recess to the outside, and a surface of the cassette housing recess facing the thermal head from the opening on a surface opposed to the opening. A groove portion in which a part of a flat print medium can be arranged on a surface portion corresponding to an extension line, and when the tape cassette is stored in the cassette storage recess, printing is performed on the print tape by the thermal head, When a part of the flat print medium is arranged in the groove, printing is performed on the print medium by the thermal head. A printing apparatus comprising: a print control unit for performing the printing.