JP2002254757A - Printer for long print medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer for a long print medium capable of correctly printing a print data even if the carriage of the long print medium by a carriage means is stopped when the long print medium is cut by a cutting means. SOLUTION: Printing is executed the number of times set corresponding to the kind of the long print medium on one or more lines of the print data continued from the stopping time of the carriage of the long print medium. After the long print medium is cut, printing is executed the number of times set corresponding to the kind of the long print medium on one or more lines of the print data continued from the reopening time of the carriage of the long print medium.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a long printing medium printing apparatus for printing on a long printing medium such as a marker tube or a label tape attached to an electric wire.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as the long printing medium printing apparatus, for example, one described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-290524 is known. This conventional long print media device,
Conveying roller 10 for conveying tube 4 (long printing medium)
(Conveying means), a thermal head 14 (printing means) which is provided on a conveying path by the conveying roller 10 and presses the tube 4 to print the print data line by line on the tube 4, and a cutter 19 for cutting the tube 4 (Cutting means)
A long printing medium printing apparatus for stopping the transport of the tube 4 by the transport roller 10 when the tube 4 is cut by the cutter 19, and the printing performed immediately before the transport of the tube 4 is stopped. One line of data is reprinted, and printing of the subsequent print data is restarted from the time when the transport of the tube 4 is restarted, or one line of the subsequent print data is printed from the time when the transport of the tube 4 is stopped. From the start of the transport of No. 4, the one line is reprinted and printing is restarted.

In this conventional long printing medium printing apparatus, when the transport of the tube 4 by the transport roller 10 for cutting the tube 4 by the cutter 19 is stopped, the tube 4 is placed upstream and downstream with respect to the printing means of the tube 4. This is to fill in a blank space corresponding to the shift of the printing position, which is caused by the action of approximating the degree of expansion / contraction of the image No. 4 in a natural form.

[0004]

However, when characters and the like are printed on the tube 4 by the conventional long printing medium printing apparatus, there are the following problems.

If the amount of displacement of the printing position due to expansion and contraction of the tube when the conveyance is stopped is larger than the printing width for one line, printing is performed for one line of the printing data printed immediately before or one line of the following printing data. However, it is not possible to fill the blank space corresponding to the printing position deviation. This becomes remarkable when the speed of the printing position shift due to expansion and contraction of the tube when the conveyance is stopped is lower than the conveyance speed of the conveyance roller 10.

When the transport of the tube 4 by the transport roller 10 is restarted, the transport speed of the tube 4 becomes slower than normal due to the resistance of the platen roller 4. For this reason, even if printing or reprinting is performed on the print data that continues after the restart of the transport of the tube 4 as in the above-described conventional long printing medium printing apparatus, the print is narrower than the normal one-line print. .

Due to these factors, in the above-described conventional long printing medium printing apparatus, if the transport of the long printing medium is stopped by the transport means when the long printing medium is cut by the cutting means, the print data can be accurately printed. There was a problem that it was not done.

In view of the above problems, the present invention provides accurate printing of print data even when the transport means stops transporting the long print medium when the long print medium is cut by the cutting means. It is an object to provide a long printing medium printing apparatus.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a conveying means for conveying a long print medium, and a conveyance path provided by the conveyance means for pressing and printing the long print medium. A printing unit that prints the long print medium line by line on the long print medium; and a cutting unit that cuts the long print medium. In the continuous printing medium printing apparatus that stops transporting, printing of one or more lines of the following print data is performed by a set number of times corresponding to the type of the continuous printing medium, from the stop of transport of the continuous printing medium. And
After the cutting of the long print medium, from the time when the conveyance of the long print medium is resumed, one or more lines of the subsequent print data are printed by a set number of times corresponding to the type of the long print medium. And

According to this configuration, one or more lines of the subsequent print data are printed by the number of times set according to the type of the long print medium from the time when the conveyance of the long print medium is stopped. Thus, one line of the print data printed immediately before the print data is not reprinted, and the same shape as the print data is printed. Further, even when the amount of displacement of the printing position due to expansion and contraction of the long printing medium when the conveyance is stopped is larger than the printing width of one line, printing is performed for a plurality of lines, so that the blank space corresponding to the printing position is printed. Can be filled with the same shape as. Also, when the transport of the long print medium is resumed, one or more lines of the subsequent print data are printed by the set number of times corresponding to the type of the long print medium, so that the printing of one normal line can be performed. Printing with the same width is possible.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a printing and cutting process for a long printing medium M such as a tube or a label made of vinyl chloride, and a desired character on which a desired character is printed. It is a long printing medium printing apparatus for obtaining a printed material of a length.

The long printing medium printing apparatus 1 is a conveying means for conveying a long printing medium M, and includes conveying rollers 2a and 2b.
, A platen roller 3 and a pinch roller 4.
A stepping motor 5 is connected to the transport roller 2a and the platen roller 3 among these four rollers,
When the stepping motor 5 is driven, the transport roller 2a and the platen roller 3 rotate. Transport rollers 2a, 2b
Are provided on the upstream side of the transport path of the long print medium M so as to face each other with respect to the thermal head 6 which is a printing unit for printing on the long print medium M. Both transport rollers 2
When the transport roller 2a is rotated by the driving of the stepping motor 5 in a state where the long print medium M is sandwiched between a and 2b, the long print medium M is transported to the thermal head 6 side. The platen roller 3 is provided so as to face the thermal head 6, and the pinch roller 4 is provided downstream of the thermal head 6 in the transport path of the long print medium M and opposed to the platen roller 3. I have. When the platen roller 3 is rotated by the driving of the stepping motor 5 in a state where the long printing medium M is sandwiched between the platen roller 3 and the pinch roller 4, the cutter 7 is a cutting unit that cuts the long printing medium M. The long print medium M is transported to the side. During printing, the thermal head 6 presses the long print medium M with the ink ribbon 81 of the ink ribbon cassette 8 interposed therebetween, and the thermal head 6 generates heat, thereby melting the ink of the ink ribbon 81 to form the long print medium. Print characters and the like on M.

The thermal head 6 and the cutter 7 are connected to a stepping motor 9. By driving the stepping motor 9, the thermal head 6 is brought into contact with or separated from the platen roller 3, or the cutter 7 is operated to cut the long print medium M.

The long printing medium printing apparatus 1 can print and cut various long printing media M by changing the attachment to be attached to the attachment mounting section 10. For example, when the label cassette 11 shown in FIG. 2A is attached to the attachment attachment section 10, the label is pulled out from the inside of the cassette, and the label can be printed and cut. FIG. 2 (b)
When the tube attachment 12 shown in (1) is attached to the attachment mounting part 10, the tube can be printed and cut by inserting the tube through the tube insertion opening 12a.

The long printing medium printing apparatus 1 includes a sensor 1 for detecting the leading end of the long printing medium M near the cutter 7.
And a sensor 14 for detecting the rear end of the long print medium M near the transport rollers 2a and 2b.

The long printing medium printing apparatus 1 includes an input unit 15 for inputting print data such as characters to be printed and the length of a printed material, and print data input by the input unit 15 and operation instructions to an operator. And a display unit 16 for displaying the same.

Referring to FIG. 3, reference numeral 17 denotes a control unit provided inside the long printing medium printing apparatus 1;
Are the stepping motors 5 and 9 and the sensors 13 and 1
4 and are connected to the input unit 15 and the display unit 16, and controls the stepping motors 5 and 9 and the display unit 16 based on the inputs from the sensors and the input unit 15. Also,
The control unit 17 is a ROM that stores a print control program and the like.
And a RAM 19 for storing data and the like input by the input unit 15.

The RAM 19 has a medium type storage area 1 for storing the type of the long print medium M, as shown in FIG.
9, a character data storage area 192 for storing character data, a work area 193 for storing various settings and the like, a print data development area 194 for developing print data, and It has a line number and print count table area 195 for storing the number of lines to be printed and the number of prints when transport is stopped and restarted, and a print count table area 195 for storing print count tables T1 and T2, and another area 196. The work area 193 has four cut buffers CB1, CB2, CB3, and CB4.

Next, the operation of the long printing medium printing apparatus 1 will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS.

When inputting new print data, such as when the power is turned on or when a new print is started after the previous print is completed, first, in order to set the type of the long print medium M, FIG.
As shown in (a), a “vinyl chloride tube”, a “heat-shrinkable tube”, and a “label” are displayed on the upper part of the display unit 16 (S1). When the operator operates the input unit 15 to select and determine one of the long print media, for example, “vinyl chloride tube” (S 2), the long print medium M is stored in the medium type storage area 191 in the RAM 19. Is stored as a vinyl chloride tube (S3). When the setting of the type of the long print medium M is completed, the cursor C indicating the input start position of the character data is displayed at the center of the display section 16 (S4). When the operator operates the input unit 15, characters or the like to be printed on the long print medium M are separated for each page by, for example, the first page “AB1”, the second page “AB2”,. When "AB5" on the fifth page is input (S5), the input character data D1 to D5 are input.
Is stored in the character data storage area 192 (S6).
Next, as shown in FIG. 8B, the display unit 16 displays various setting screens including a print medium size setting unit 161, a print density setting unit 162, and a print number setting unit 163. (S7). Here, since the type of the long print medium M is stored in the medium type storage area 191 in the RAM 19, the control unit 17 stores the diameter size of the vinyl chloride tube in the print medium size setting unit 161. "2.5mm", "3mm", "4mm", "5
mm ”is displayed. The print density setting unit 162 includes print density levels “1”, “2”, “3”, “4”,
“5” is displayed, and “book” indicating the unit is displayed on the right side of the blank in the number-of-prints setting section 163. When the operator sets the print medium size, print density, and number of prints by operating the input unit 15 (S8), these various settings are stored in the work area 193. (S9).

Subsequently, when the operator presses a print execution button (not shown) of the input unit 15 (S10), a printing process is started (S11). When the printing process is started, the control unit 17
Is based on the type of the long print medium M set above,
The line number and the number of times of printing of the continuous print data to be printed from when the conveyance of the long print medium is stopped, and the line number and the number of times of the subsequent print data to be printed after the conveyance of the long print medium is restarted, Number and print count tables T1, T2
(S12). The number of lines and the number of times of printing correspond to the amount of displacement of the printing position due to expansion and contraction of the polyvinyl chloride tube and the speed of displacement of the printing position due to expansion and contraction when the conveyance is stopped or restarted. The number of lines to be printed and the number of times of printing from the stop of the conveyance are obtained from the number of lines and the number of prints table T1 shown in FIG. 9A.
The number of lines and the number of printing times table T2 shown in FIG. For example, in the case of a vinyl chloride tube, the number of lines printed from the stop of transport is two, and the number of prints is two. The number of lines printed from the restart of transport is two, and the number of prints is two. (S12).

Subsequently, the input character data D1 of the first page
Is developed as print data in the print data development area 194 (S13). When the development of the print data of the first page is completed (S14), the print data of the second page is developed, and the head of the tube, that is, the initial print position of the tube is moved to the position of the thermal head 6. For this purpose, the tube is transported (S15). When the cueing is completed, the number of transport pulses "500" (corresponding to the distance between the thermal head 6 and the cutter 7) for transporting the initial print position of the vinyl chloride tube to the cutter 7 is subsequently stored in the first cut buffer CB1. Is set (S16).

Subsequently, the print data of the first page is supplied from the print data development area 194 to the control unit 17 (S1).
7) The printing is started by transporting the vinyl chloride tube. (S18). When the polyvinyl chloride tube is conveyed, the number of pulses corresponding to the conveyed amount is equal to the first cut buffer C.
One pulse is subtracted from the number of transport pulses "500" set in B1 (S19).

Subsequently, the control unit 17 determines whether or not the value of the first cut buffer CB1 from which the number of pulses corresponding to the carry amount has been subtracted is 0 (S20). If the first cut buffer CB1 is not 0, the process proceeds to a determination as to whether printing of one page has been completed (S21). If the first cut buffer CB1 is 0, vinyl chloride is used. The process proceeds to tube cutting processing (S22).

The cutting process will be described with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG. 10 and a printing state diagram shown in FIG. When printing the print data consisting of the a-line to the i-line shown in FIG. 11A, assuming that the cut processing is started when the printing is completed up to the b-line as shown in FIG. 11B (S30). At this position, the conveyance of the polyvinyl chloride tube is stopped (S31), and the operation of the cutter 7 cuts the vinyl chloride tube (S32).
The subsequent print data is printed based on the number of lines and the number of prints obtained from the number of lines and print count table T1. Here, the number of lines is two and the number of prints is two.
Because it is a time, two lines following the b line, c
The line and the d line are printed twice (S3
3). Subsequently, the conveyance of the polyvinyl chloride tube is restarted (S3
4) The subsequent print data is printed based on the number of lines and the number of prints obtained from the number of lines and print count table T2. Here, since the number of lines is two and the number of times of printing is two, two lines subsequent to the d line, e-line and f-line, are printed twice (S35). Through the above process, the tube cutting process ends (S36). When the tube cutting process is completed (S36), the second cut buffer CB2 is shifted to the first cut buffer CB1 (S23), and normal printing is resumed.

If it is determined in step S21 whether printing for one page has been completed (S21), if printing for one page has not been completed, the transport and printing of the tube are continued (S18). When printing of one page is completed, the number of transport pulses required for this printing is set in the first empty cut buffer (S24).

When the cut buffer is set (S24), it is determined whether or not printing of all print data has been completed (S25). If the printing of all the print data has not been completed, the print data of the next page is supplied from the print data development area 194 (S2).
6), conveyance and printing are continued (S18). When the printing of all the print data is completed, the post-printing conveyance and the cutting operation are performed based on the data stored in the cut buffer (S27), and the printing process ends.

The type and size of the long print medium M to be used are not limited to the types and sizes shown in the present embodiment, but may be appropriately changed according to the required characteristics of the apparatus. May be. Further, in the present embodiment, the line number and the print count table T1 at the time of the conveyance stop and the line number and the print count table T2 at the time of the restart of the transfer are set, respectively. A line number and print count table may be used.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention, one or more lines of print data are printed by the number of times set according to the type of the long print medium from the time when the conveyance of the long print medium is stopped. Therefore, one line of print data printed immediately before normal printing is not reprinted, and printing in the same shape as the print data is performed. Further, even when the amount of displacement of the printing position due to expansion and contraction of the long printing medium when the conveyance is stopped is larger than the printing width of one line, printing is performed for a plurality of lines, so that the blank space corresponding to the printing position is printed. Can be filled with the same shape as. Also, when the transport of the long print medium is resumed, one or more lines of the subsequent print data are printed by the set number of times corresponding to the type of the long print medium, so that the printing of one normal line can be performed. Printing with the same width is possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall plan view of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a label cassette and a tube attachment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a control system of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an internal state diagram of a RAM;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation process of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation process of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation process of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a display unit of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a table showing the number of lines and the number of times of printing.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a cutting process.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a printing state.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 Platen roller 6 Thermal head 7 Cutter

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A transport means for transporting a long print medium, and a print means provided on a transport path by the transport means for pressing the long print medium and printing the print data line by line on the long print medium. A cutting means for cutting the long print medium, wherein when the cutting means cuts the long print medium, the conveyance means stops the conveyance of the long print medium. From the time when the conveyance of the print medium is stopped, the number of lines set according to the type of the long print medium following the print data is printed by the number of times set according to the type of the long print medium. After the cutting of the long print medium is completed, the number of lines set according to the type of the long print medium following the print data from the time when the conveyance of the long print medium is resumed, corresponds to the type of the long print medium. Marked by the number of times set A long printing medium printing apparatus characterized by performing printing.