JP2005074785A - Printer and printing medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer and a printing medium that automatically sets a thermal transfer type or a thermal type and easily controls printing and is versatile. <P>SOLUTION: A detection signal sorting section sorts detection signals detected by an end sensor 51 and a center sensor 52 into a timing mark detection signal and a paper identification mark detection signal. A printing method setting section identifies the kind of printing medium 1a and 1b (nonthermal or thermal) based on a paper identification mark detection signal, sets a printing density suited for the kind of the printing mediums 1a and 1b identified and reports to the printing control section and sets a printing method suited for the kind of the printing mediums 1a and 1b (thermal transfer printing method or a thermal printing method) and reports to a printing method suitability judgment section. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a printer and a printing medium for printing on a belt-like print medium such as a label continuous body in which labels are temporarily attached to the belt-like mount, and in particular, using timing marks that are present at regular intervals on the belt-like print medium. The present invention relates to a printer and a print medium that detect and print a paper pitch.

  In a printer that performs printing by generating heat from a thermal head, there are a thermal transfer printing method in which an ink ribbon is transferred for printing and a thermal printing method in which a thermal paper is colored for printing depending on the type of printing medium. Conventionally, the setting of the thermal transfer printing method or the thermal printing method is manually performed by the setting function of the printer. For example, when several types of printing media are used in one printer, the type of the printing medium is replaced. It was necessary to change the setting of the thermal transfer printing method or the thermal printing method manually each time.

  The present applicant prints a detection mark indicating the type of a label consisting of a plurality of lines on the back surface of the strip mount when using a continuous label body in which the labels are temporarily attached to the strip mount as a print medium. A label printer has been proposed in which the type of label is identified by reading the number of lines and the interval, and the print setting is automatically performed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2000-141775 A

  However, in the prior art, since the detection of the paper pitch and the identification of the type of the printing medium are performed by the detection marks composed of a plurality of lines printed on the edge of the printing medium, This is applicable when the tag hole formed at the center of the print medium is used as a timing mark for detecting the paper pitch, and the print control becomes complicated. I can't. In addition, it is necessary to manually change the setting of the thermal transfer printing method or the thermal printing method every time the type of printing medium is changed. If printing is performed without changing the setting of this printing method, for example, the ink ribbon Since the detection is not performed, printing is performed even if the ink ribbon runs out, and thermal transfer printing is performed on the thermal paper using the ink ribbon, and the ink ribbon is wasted.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and an object of the present invention is to make it possible to easily select a timing mark and a paper identification mark and as a timing mark for detecting a paper pitch. The present invention provides a printer and a printing medium that can be applied to the case of using a tag hole formed in the central portion of a printing medium, can be easily printed, and is versatile. Also provided are a printer and a printing medium that can automatically change the setting of the thermal transfer printing method or the thermal printing method even if the type of the printing medium is exchanged.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has the following configuration.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printer for printing on a belt-like print medium having a timing mark and a paper identification mark formed at a position different from the position where the timing mark is formed in the width direction. The first sensor means for detecting either the timing mark or the paper identification mark, and the second sensor means for detecting either the timing mark or the paper identification mark not detected by the first sensor means. And a detection signal sorting means for sorting the detection signals respectively detected by the first sensor means and the second sensor means into a timing mark detection signal and a paper identification mark detection signal, and the detection signal sorting means Recognized based on the paper identification mark detection signal and the timing mark detection signal. A printing method setting means for setting a thermal transfer printing method using an ink ribbon or a thermal printing method using thermal paper according to the interval in the transport direction between the timing mark and the paper identification mark; and the ink used for the thermal transfer printing method An ink ribbon detection means for detecting the presence / absence of ribbon attachment, and a printing method conformity determination means for determining compatibility between the printing method and presence / absence of the ink ribbon after setting a printing method by the printing method setting means; The present invention relates to a printer comprising: a printing unit that detects a sheet pitch based on the timing mark detection signal selected by the detection signal selection unit and performs printing on the printing medium.
The gist of the invention described in claim 2 is that the ink ribbon is set when the printing method setting means sets the thermal transfer printing method using the ink ribbon and then the printing method suitability determining means determines that the ink is compatible. After detecting by the ink ribbon detecting means for detecting the presence / absence of mounting and setting the thermal printing system using the thermal paper, if the printing system compatibility determining means determines that there is compatibility, the presence / absence of the ink ribbon mounting 2. The printer according to claim 1, wherein no detection is performed by an ink ribbon detection means for detecting the above.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, the timing mark is formed at either the end or the center of the print medium in the width direction, and the sheet identification mark is formed with the timing mark. The first sensor is end sensor means disposed at an end in the width direction of the print medium to be conveyed, and the second sensor is 2. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the center sensor means is disposed at the center in the width direction of the print medium being conveyed.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a belt-like print medium in which a timing mark is formed at either an end portion or a central portion in the width direction, and a sheet identification mark is formed on the timing mark. The thermal transfer printing medium using an ink ribbon is formed at either the end portion or the center portion in the width direction, and the interval in the transport direction between the timing mark and the paper identification mark or the shape of the paper identification mark is The present invention relates to a print medium characterized by being different from a thermal print medium using thermal paper.

  The printer and the print medium of the present invention include a timing mark and a paper identification mark by an end sensor disposed at the end of the conveyed print medium and a center sensor disposed at the center of the conveyed print medium. Therefore, the timing mark and the paper identification mark can be easily selected, the thermal transfer printing method or the thermal printing method can be automatically set, and the printing control can be easily performed.

  Further, the printer and the print medium according to the present invention include a timing mark and a sheet by using an end sensor disposed at an end of the conveyed print medium and a center sensor disposed at a central part of the conveyed print medium. By configuring each identification mark to be detected, the present invention can also be applied to a case where a tag hole formed at the center of the print medium is used as a timing mark for detecting the paper pitch.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of a printer according to the present invention. FIGS. 2 and 3 are diagrams showing an example of a print medium used in the embodiment of the printer according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the configuration of the slide mechanism of the sensor unit shown in FIG.

  In the present embodiment, referring to FIG. 1, the print medium 1 is sandwiched between the supply reel 2 on which the belt-like print medium 1 is mounted, the platen roller 3 that conveys the print medium 1, and the platen roller 3. The thermal head 4 that prints on the print medium 1, the print medium sensor unit 5 formed by two optical sensors, the ink ribbon supply unit 7 to which the belt-shaped ink ribbon 6 is mounted, and the ink that winds up the ink ribbon 6 A ribbon winding unit 8, an ink ribbon sensor unit 9 comprising an optical sensor, a detection signal selecting unit 16 for selecting a detection signal from the printing medium sensor unit 5, and a type of the printing medium 1 are set and a printing method is set. A printing method setting unit 17, a printing method conformity determination unit 18 that determines compatibility between the printing method and whether or not the ink ribbon 6 is mounted, a drive motor 14 that drives the platen roller 3, and a drive mode A feed control unit 15 for controlling the motor 14, by selectively heating the heating elements of the thermal head 4, consisting of the desired character, the print control unit 10 for performing printing such as a bar code on the label.

  2 and 3, the print medium sensor unit 5 is an end portion that is two reflective sensors arranged in a direction (width direction of the print media 1a and 1b) perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the print media 1a and 1b. The sensor 51 and the center sensor 52 are provided, and the end sensor 51 and the center sensor 52 detect reflected light from different places in the width direction of the print media 1a and 1b being conveyed. Specifically, the end sensor 51 is disposed at the end in the width direction of the transported print media 1a and 1b, and the center sensor 52 is disposed at the center in the width direction of the transported print media 1a and 1b. Timing marks (pitch detection horizontal lines 12, tag holes 23) formed at the end or center of the print medium 1a, 1b in the width direction by the end sensor 51 and the center sensor 52. The paper identification mark 13 is detected. Note that the timing mark and the paper identification mark 13 have different shapes so that the respective detection signals are different. In the present embodiment, the paper identification mark 13 is represented as two horizontal lines in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction. , So that it can be distinguished from the timing mark. In other words, the timing mark detected by the print medium sensor unit 5 is output as one pulse, and the sheet identification mark 13 detected by the print medium sensor unit 5 is output as two pulses, so that the timing mark and The paper identification mark 13 can be distinguished. Note that the paper identification mark 13 is not limited to two horizontal lines, but may be one horizontal line that is thicker than the timing mark whose pulse width is wider than the timing mark, for example.

  The print medium 1a is a continuous label body in which labels 21 are temporarily attached to the belt-like mount 20 at equal intervals. As shown in FIG. 2, the print medium 1a is orthogonal to the transport direction printed on the end of the back surface of the belt-like mount 20. In the case of a type in which printing is performed by detecting the sheet pitch L using the horizontal line for pitch detection 12 as a timing mark, the sheet identification mark 13 is printed at the center of the back surface of the belt-like mount 20, and the timing is detected. The mark is detected by the edge sensor 51, and the sheet identification mark 13 is detected by the center sensor 52.

  The printing medium 1b is a tag continuum 22 in which tag holes 23 are formed at equal intervals in the center. As shown in FIG. 3, printing is performed by detecting the paper pitch L using the tag holes 23 as timing marks. In the case of a type that performs the above, the paper identification mark 13 is printed on the end of the back surface of the tag continuum 22, the tag hole 23 is the center sensor 52, and the paper identification mark 13 is the edge sensor 51. To detect.

  There are printers of a side reference structure that sets the print medium 1 with the end as a reference, and a center distribution structure that sets the print medium 1 with the center as a reference. In the case of the side reference structure shown in FIG. 4A, a slide mechanism including a rack 32 fixed to the reference surface 30 and the paper guide 31 and a spur gear 33 disposed between the racks 32 is employed. In addition, the end sensor 51 is connected to the reference surface 30 and the center sensor 52 is connected to the shaft of the spur gear 33 so that the end sensor 51 is always disposed at the end of the print medium 1. Even when the print media 1 having different widths are set, the center sensor 52 is always arranged at the center of the print medium 1. Further, in the case of the center distribution structure shown in FIG. 4B, a slide mechanism including a rack 32 fixed to each of the pair of paper guides 31 and a spur gear 33 disposed between the racks 32 is employed. The central sensor 52 is always arranged at the central portion of the print medium 1 by connecting the central sensor 52 to the shaft of the spur gear 33 and connecting the end sensor 51 to one of the paper guides 31. In addition, the end sensor 51 is always arranged at the end of the print medium 1 even when the print medium 1 having a different width is set.

  The detection signal sorting unit 16 is a timing mark detection signal in which one of the detection signals detected by the edge sensor 51 and the center sensor 52 is a timing mark detection, and which is a paper identification mark in which the paper identification mark 13 is detected. Whether the signal is a detection signal is selected based on the number of pulses, a timing mark detection signal is sent, the control unit 15 is output, and a paper identification mark detection signal and a timing mark detection signal are output to the printing method setting unit 17.

  The printing method setting unit 17 receives the paper identification mark detection signal and the timing mark detection signal from the detection signal sorting unit 16 to recognize the interval M between the timing mark and the paper identification mark 13 and associates the interval with the interval M in advance. The type of printing medium 1 (plain paper or thermal paper) determined in advance is identified, a printing density suitable for the type of printing medium 1 identified is set and notified to the printing control unit 10, and the type of printing medium 1 is also determined. A printing method (thermal transfer printing method or thermal printing method) suitable for the printing method is set and notified to the printing method conformity determination unit 18.

  The printing method suitability determination unit 18 determines the suitability between the printing method notified from the printing method setting unit 17 and the presence or absence of the ink ribbon 6 notified from the ink ribbon sensor unit 9. That is, when the thermal transfer printing method is notified from the printing method setting unit 17 and it is detected from the ink ribbon sensor unit 9 that the ink ribbon 6 is mounted, it is determined that the printing method is compatible and the detection by the ink ribbon sensor unit 9 is continued. If the ink ribbon sensor unit 9 detects that the ink ribbon 6 is not mounted, it determines that the printing method is not suitable and generates an error display signal indicating that the ink ribbon is not mounted. Also, the thermal printing method is notified from the printing method setting unit 17, and if the ink ribbon sensor unit 9 detects that the ink ribbon 6 is mounted, it determines that the printing method is not applicable and generates an error display signal indicating that the ink ribbon is mounted. If it is detected from the ink ribbon sensor unit 9 that the ink ribbon 6 is not attached, it is determined that the printing method is suitable, and thereafter the ink ribbon sensor unit 9 does not perform detection.

  The feed control unit 15 controls the drive motor 14 based on the timing mark detection signal and outputs a print timing signal to the print control unit 10.

  The print control unit 10 performs printing on the print medium 1 with the print density set by the print method setting unit 17 based on the print timing signal from the feed control unit 15.

  Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described in detail.

  In the case of the print medium 1 having a timing mark at the end, the sheet identification mark 13 is provided at the center of the back surface of the print medium 1, and in the case of the print medium 1 having the timing mark at the center portion, the back surface of the print medium 1. The paper identification mark 13 is printed on the end of the paper, and the print medium 1 is wound around the supply reel 2 in a roll shape.

  The strip-shaped print medium 1 wound around the supply reel 2 in a roll shape is rewound from the supply reel 2, conveyed to the thermal head 4 by the rotation of the platen roller 3, and conveyed from the supply reel 2 to the thermal head 4. On the way, the timing mark and the paper identification mark 13 are detected by the end sensor 51 disposed at the end of the conveyed print medium 1 and the center sensor 52 disposed at the center of the conveyed print medium 1. Is detected.

  The detection signals respectively detected by the edge sensor 51 and the center sensor 52 are sorted by the detection signal sorting unit 16 into a timing mark detection signal for detecting the timing mark and a paper identification mark detection signal for detecting the paper identification mark 13. The timing mark detection signal is output to the feed control unit 15, and the sheet identification mark detection signal and the timing mark detection signal are output to the printing method setting unit 17.

  The printing method setting unit 17 that has received the sheet identification mark detection signal, the timing mark detection signal, and the printing medium 1 recognizes the interval M between the timing mark and the sheet identification mark 13 and determines the print medium 1 that is determined in advance corresponding to the interval M. The type (plain paper or thermal paper) is identified, a print density suitable for the type of the identified print medium 1 is set and notified to the print control unit 10, and a print method suitable for the type of the print medium 1 (thermal transfer print method or The thermal printing method) is set and notified to the printing method suitability determination unit 18.

  The printing method compatibility determination unit 18 notified of either the thermal transfer printing method or the thermal printing method determines the compatibility with the presence or absence of the ink ribbon 6 notified from the ink ribbon sensor unit 9, and for example, If the thermal transfer printing method is notified from the printing method setting unit 17 and it is detected from the ink ribbon sensor unit 9 that the ink ribbon 6 is mounted, it is determined that the printing method is compatible, and the ink ribbon sensor unit 9 is subsequently detected. When the thermal printing method is notified from the printing method setting unit 17 and the ink ribbon sensor unit 9 detects that the ink ribbon 6 is not attached, it is determined that the printing method is suitable and the ink ribbon sensor unit 9 is not detected thereafter. .

  The feed control unit 15 that has received the timing mark detection signal controls the drive motor 14 according to the timing mark detection signal and outputs a print timing signal to the print control unit 10, and the print control unit 10 receives the feed control unit 15. Is printed on the printing medium 1 with the printing density set by the printing method setting unit 17 based on the printing timing signal from the. Thus, by automatically identifying the type of the printing medium 1 and setting the printing method, it is not necessary to manually set the printing method when replacing the printing medium 1.

  In the present embodiment, the type of the print medium 1 is recognized by the interval M between the timing mark and the paper identification mark 13, but printing is performed according to the shape of the paper identification mark 13, that is, the number and thickness of horizontal lines. The type of the medium 1 may be recognized.

  Further, if the print mode conformity determining unit 18 is configured to hold the setting of the print mode and whether or not the ink ribbon is mounted, after identifying the type of the print medium 1, the paper identification mark 13 is used unless the print medium 1 is replaced. However, it is only necessary to detect the timing mark by either the end sensor 51 or the center sensor 52.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and it is obvious that the embodiments can be appropriately changed within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention. In addition, the number, position, shape, and the like of the constituent members are not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be set to a suitable number, position, shape, and the like in practicing the present invention. In each figure, the same numerals are given to the same component.

1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of a printer according to the present invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a printing medium used with embodiment of the printer which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a printing medium used with embodiment of the printer which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a printing medium used with embodiment of the printer which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the slide mechanism of the printing medium sensor part shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 1a, 1b Print medium 2 Supply reel 3 Platen roller 4 Thermal head 5 Print medium sensor part 6 Ink ribbon 7 Ink ribbon supply part 8 Ink ribbon winding part 9 Ink ribbon sensor part 10 Print control part 12 Pitch detection horizontal line 13 Paper identification mark 14 Drive motor 15 Feed control unit 16 Detection signal selection unit 17 Printing method switching unit 18 Printing method conformity determination unit 20 Band-shaped mount 21 Label 22 Tag continuum 23 Tag hole 30 Reference surface 31 Paper guide 32 Rack 33 Spur gear 51 End sensor 52 Center sensor

Claims (4)

A printer that performs printing on a band-shaped print medium having a timing mark and a sheet identification mark formed at a position different from the position where the timing mark is formed in the width direction,
First sensor means for detecting either the timing mark or the paper identification mark;
Second sensor means for detecting either the timing mark or the paper identification mark not detected by the first sensor means;
Detection signal sorting means for sorting detection signals respectively detected by the first sensor means and the second sensor means into timing mark detection signals and paper identification mark detection signals;
Thermal transfer using an ink ribbon according to an interval in the transport direction between the timing mark and the paper identification mark recognized based on the paper identification mark detection signal and the timing mark detection signal selected by the detection signal selection means A printing method setting means for setting a printing method or a thermal printing method using thermal paper;
An ink ribbon detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of the ink ribbon used in the thermal transfer printing method;
After setting the printing method by the printing method setting means, the printing method suitability judging means for judging the suitability between the printing method and whether or not the ink ribbon is mounted;
A printer comprising: a printing unit that detects a sheet pitch based on the timing mark detection signal selected by the detection signal selection unit and performs printing on the printing medium. By the printing method setting means,
After setting the thermal transfer printing method using the ink ribbon, if it is determined that there is compatibility by the printing method compatibility determination unit, detection by the ink ribbon detection unit that detects the presence or absence of the ink ribbon mounted,
After setting to the thermal printing method using the thermal paper, if it is determined that there is compatibility by the printing method compatibility determination unit, detection by the ink ribbon detection unit that detects whether or not the ink ribbon is mounted is not performed. The printer according to claim 1. The timing mark is formed at either the end or the center in the width direction of the print medium, and the paper identification mark is formed at either the end or the center where the timing mark is not formed. Formed,
The first sensor is an end sensor means disposed at an end in the width direction of the print medium to be conveyed,
2. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the second sensor is a center sensor means disposed at a center in the width direction of the print medium to be conveyed. A belt-shaped print medium,
The timing mark is formed at either the end or the center in the width direction,
The paper identification mark is formed at either the end or the center in the width direction where the timing mark is not formed,
An interval in the conveyance direction between the timing mark and the paper identification mark or the shape of the paper identification mark is different depending on a thermal transfer printing medium using an ink ribbon and a thermal printing medium using thermal paper. Print media.

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