JP2005288828A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer capable of preventing a reduction in the number of sheets to be printed per a unit of time period without lowering a conveyance speed or stopping the conveyance of a print medium in order to detect presence or absence of disconnection of a thermal head. <P>SOLUTION: This printer comprises a cutting means for cutting a print medium after the printing and a disconnection detection means for judging the presence or absence of disconnection of the thermal head. The printer controls the above means such that the presence or absence of disconnection is detected in parallel to the cutting action of the print medium. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus having a thermal head provided with a plurality of heating resistors, and more particularly to a printing apparatus that performs printing on a printing medium by heating a predetermined heating resistor.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a printing apparatus includes a thermal head having a plurality of heating resistors arranged in a line in a sheet width direction that is a direction orthogonal to a conveyance direction of a sheet as a printing medium, and a heating resistor corresponding to predetermined print information Prints on paper by generating heat. In this thermal head, repeated heating operation causes the heating resistor to deteriorate such as wear and breaks, and the barcode printed with the disconnected thermal head cannot be read or read incorrectly in the scanning operation of the scanner. Therefore, it is necessary to replace the thermal head. Therefore, each time printing is performed on one sheet of paper, the heating resistor is energized, and the resistance value of the heating resistor is obtained from the amount of current flowing through the heating resistor, and this resistance value is equal to or greater than a preset upper limit value. Then, there is known a printer including a determination unit that determines that the heating resistor is disconnected.
As a related technique, the following Patent Document 1 discloses a disconnection check processing means for detecting a disconnection position of each heating element of a thermal head, and a disconnection position detected by the disconnection check processing means is a bar code printing position. If the disconnection position where the disconnection is detected by the disconnection check processing means is the barcode print position, the second print control means for prohibiting the print processing is provided. A label printer is disclosed.
JP-A 64-36469

However, since a voltage lower than the thermal head voltage at the time of printing is applied in the disconnection check, the power supply at the time of printing is completely cut off before starting the disconnection check, and the capacitor for noise removal is sufficiently discharged. After confirming the above, there is a problem that it takes a lot of time for the disconnection check to start the disconnection check.
In particular, the larger the thermal head, the longer the time required for the disconnection check, and the conveyance of the print medium must be decelerated or stopped only for the disconnection check operation, and the number of prints per unit time is reduced. There is a problem of decreasing.
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems. By performing a disconnection check in parallel with the cutting operation without decelerating or stopping the conveyance of the printing medium for the thermal head disconnection checking operation, Another object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus that can perform the following printing operation.

A printing apparatus according to the present invention has a heating resistor, printing means for printing on a printing medium, cutting means for cutting the printing medium, and disconnection detection means for detecting the presence or absence of disconnection of the heating resistor. And detecting whether or not the heating resistor is disconnected by the disconnection detecting means in parallel with the cutting operation of the printing medium in the cutting means.

Since the disconnection detection means detects the presence or absence of disconnection of the heating resistor of the thermal head in parallel with the cutting operation by the cutting means that is performed after the printing on the print medium is stopped or the transport speed is reduced, the disconnection is detected. It is not necessary to reduce the conveyance speed or stop conveyance only for the presence / absence detection, and the next printing operation can be started immediately, so the number of printed sheets per unit time does not decrease.

The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a printer as a printing apparatus. As shown in FIG. 1, the printer 1 mainly includes a label supply unit 3, a label detection sensor 4, a thermal transfer unit 5, and a printer housing 2. The printing unit 6, the cutting unit 7, the discharge port 8, and the control unit 20 are included.

The label supply unit 3 rotatably holds the label continuous body 50 wound in a roll shape, and regulates the side surface in the width direction of the label continuous body 50 by a label guide (not shown). Further, the label continuous body 50 is configured by temporarily attaching a plurality of labels 52 having an adhesive to a strip-shaped mount 51 that has been peeled on the surface, with a gap 53 (see FIG. 4) having a predetermined interval. .

The label detection sensor 4 has a light emitting unit and a light receiving unit, irradiates light from the light emitting unit to the light receiving unit toward the label continuous body 50 drawn from the label supply unit 3, and depends on the intensity of light received by the light receiving unit. The position of the label 52 on the mount 51 is detected.

The thermal transfer unit 5 includes a ribbon supply shaft 12 and a ribbon take-up shaft 13, and a heat transfer ribbon 49 wound in a roll shape can be rotated from the ribbon supply shaft 12 to the ribbon take-up shaft 13 via the printing unit 6. The ribbon winding shaft 13 is driven by driving a motor (not shown) to wind the thermal transfer ribbon 49.

The printing unit 6 includes a thermal head 10 having a plurality of heating resistors 9 arranged in a line in the width direction of the label continuous body 50 and a platen roller 11 connected to a motor (not shown). Enables the label continuous body 50 to be conveyed toward the downstream side in the conveyance direction from the label supply unit 3 toward the discharge port 8 or the upstream side in the opposite conveyance direction, and the heat generating resistor 9 of the thermal head 10 is caused to generate heat to perform thermal transfer. Printing is performed on the surface of the label 52 by transferring the ink of the ribbon 49.

The cutting unit 7 is a guillotine cutter having a fixed blade and a movable blade that is connected to a motor (not shown) and moves back and forth in the direction of the fixed blade, and cuts at the position of the gap 53 between the labels 52, 52. The cut label 52 is discharged.
Further, an input unit 31 (not shown) including a plurality of input keys and a display unit 32 (not shown) for displaying input information from the input keys are provided on the front surface of the printer housing 2.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the control unit 20 of the printer 1. As shown in the figure, the control unit 20 operates in accordance with a ROM 21 that stores a predetermined control program, a control program stored in the ROM 21, and a CPU 22 that controls each unit, and is necessary for the CPU 22 to operate. A pulse signal is supplied to the RAM 23 for storing various data, the EEPROM 29 for storing various data to be retained even when the printer 1 is turned off, and the platen roller 11 including a motor (not shown). A control signal corresponding to print data such as characters and figures to be printed supplied from the conveyance control circuit 24 for controlling the conveyance and the CPU 22 is generated and supplied to the thermal head 10 to cause the heating resistor 9 to generate heat for printing. The print control circuit 25 that performs the operation and the disconnection detection that detects the voltage by detecting the voltage of the thermal head 10. Under the control of the circuit 26 and the CPU 22, the light emitting part of the label detection sensor 4 is controlled to emit light to the label continuum 50, and the electrical signal output from the light receiving part is received, converted into digital data, and the CPU 22. The label detection circuit 27 supplied to the cutting unit, the cutting control circuit 28 for controlling the advancing and retreating operation of the movable blade of the cutting unit 7, the input unit 31 for inputting settings and commands of the printer 1, the information input from the input unit 31, and the like. It has an interface 30 for connecting a display unit 32 for display and an external interface 33 for connecting to a host computer 34 as an external device.
These units are connected to the CPU 22 via the data bus 35, receive print data and commands from the host computer 34 connected via the external interface 33 under the control of the CPU 22, and the thermal head according to the received print data and commands. Ten heating resistors 9 are heated to perform printing on the surface of the label 52.

An operation for detecting the presence or absence of disconnection of the heating resistor 9 of the thermal head 10 in the printer 1 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the detection operation for the presence or absence of disconnection of the heating resistor 9 of the thermal head 10, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the transport operation of the label continuum 50 in the detection operation for the presence or absence of disconnection in FIG. .
When the power of the printer 1 is turned on, first, as an initial process, a hardware check of the memory, CPU 22, etc., various operation conditions, communication condition settings, etc. are performed (step S1). Predetermined print data and commands transmitted from the host computer 34 are received via the external interface 31 and are sequentially written in the RAM 23 (step 2). If no print data or command is received, the process waits until it is received and repeats step S2.
As shown in FIG. 4A, the label continuum 50 is moved downstream in the transport direction by the platen roller 11 so that the leading end of the label 52a, which is the first label of the label continuum 50, comes to the printing position, that is, the position of the thermal head 10. Is fed (positioned) and positioned (step S3). The label continuum 50 is conveyed downstream by the platen roller 11, and a voltage is applied to the heating resistor 9 of the thermal head 10 based on the print data written in the RAM 23 to generate heat, thereby printing the label 52a. (Step S4).

Next, as shown in FIG. 4B, when the gap 53 between the label 52a after printing and the next label 52b that has not been printed is conveyed to the cutting position, that is, to the cutting unit 7, the label continuum 50. Is temporarily stopped or the conveyance speed is reduced, and the cutting unit 7 starts the cutting operation (step S5). At the same time, the disconnection detection circuit 26 detects the voltage to the heating resistor 9 of the thermal head 10 to check whether the heating resistor 9 of the thermal head 10 is disconnected (step S6). That is, the cutting operation by the cutting unit 7 and the detection of the disconnection of the heating resistor 9 of the thermal head 10 by the disconnection detection circuit 26 are performed in parallel.
When the label 52a is cut by the cutting unit 7 as shown in FIG. 4C (step S7), the platen roller 11 is driven to rotate in the reverse direction, and the label continuous body 50 is conveyed toward the upstream side in the conveyance direction ( Back feed) (step S8). As shown in FIG. 4D, the label continuous body 50 is conveyed until the leading end of the label 52b reaches the printing position.

As a result of detection of the presence or absence of disconnection in step S6, when it is determined that there is a disconnection (step S9), an error is displayed on the display unit 32 and a notification is given by a buzzer (not shown) (step S10). If it is determined in step S9 that there is no disconnection, the printing operation for the label 51a is terminated and printing on the next label 52b is started.

As described above, in the best mode for carrying out the present invention, the disconnection detection circuit 28 utilizes the cutting operation time of the label 52a of the cutting unit 7 which is performed by temporarily stopping the conveyance of the label continuous body 50 or reducing the conveyance speed. By detecting whether or not the heating resistor 9 of the thermal head 10 is disconnected, the next label 52b is immediately started to be printed without the need to decelerate the conveyance speed or stop the conveyance only to detect the presence or absence of the disconnection. As a result, the number of printed sheets per unit time does not decrease.

In the best mode for carrying out the present invention, after the label 52a is separated by the cutting portion 7, the next label 52b is transported to the printing position upstream in the transport direction. You may make it perform printing and a cutting | disconnection operation | movement continuously, without conveying to a printing position.
For example, FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining an operation for detecting the presence or absence of disconnection of the printer 60 (not shown) according to another embodiment, and FIG. It is explanatory drawing and other embodiment is described based on these figures. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected about the structure same as the structure mentioned above, and the description is abbreviate | omitted.

In FIG. 5, when the printer 60 is turned on, first, as an initial process, a hardware check of the memory, CPU 22, etc., various operating conditions, communication condition settings, etc. are performed (step S21).
Predetermined print data and commands transmitted from the host computer 34 are received via the external interface 31, and are sequentially written in the RAM 23 (step 22).
As shown in FIG. 6A, the label continuum 50 is transported downstream in the transport direction by the platen roller 11 so that the leading end of the label 52a at the head of the label continuum 50 comes to the print position which is the thermal head 10 position. Positioning is performed (step S23). A voltage is applied to the heating resistor 9 of the thermal head 10 based on the printing data written in the RAM 23 to generate heat and print on the label 52a, and the platen roller 11 carries the label continuous body 50. After the printing on the label 52a is completed, as shown in FIG. 6B, when the leading end of the next label 52b is transported to the printing position of the thermal head 10, printing is continuously performed on the label 52b (step). S24).

It is determined whether or not the label 52a that has been printed during the printing of the label 52b has been transported to the cutting position where it is cut off (step S25). That is, in step S25, when the label 52a is transported to the cutting position during the printing of the label 52b as shown in FIG. 6C, the printing and transport of the label 52b are temporarily interrupted (step S26). If the label 52a is not conveyed to the cutting position during the printing of the label 52b, the process proceeds to step S24 and printing on the label 52b is continued.

As shown in FIG. 6C, the cutting operation is started by driving a motor (not shown) connected to the movable blade of the cutting unit 7 with the conveyance temporarily stopped at the cutting position of the label 52a or the conveyance speed being reduced. (Step S27) In parallel with this cutting operation, the disconnection detection circuit 26 detects the voltage to the heating resistor 9 of the thermal head 10 to detect the disconnection of the heating resistor 9 of the thermal head 10 (Step S27). S28).
As shown in FIG. 6D, the label continuous body 50 is cut at the position of the gap 53, the separation of the label 52a is completed (step S29), and the disconnection detection circuit 26 determines that there is a disconnection (step S30). An error is displayed on the display unit 32 and an alarm is given by a buzzer (not shown) (step S32).
If it is determined in step S10 that there is no disconnection, as shown in FIG. 6E, printing and conveyance of the label 52b temporarily interrupted in step S26 are resumed (step S31).

As described above, in another embodiment of the present invention, the thermal operation by the disconnection detection circuit 28 is performed using the cutting operation time of the label 52a of the cutting unit 7 which is performed by temporarily stopping the conveyance of the label continuous body 50 or decelerating the conveyance speed. By detecting the presence or absence of disconnection of the heating resistor 9 of the head 10, the printing operation of the next label 52b can be started immediately without the need to decelerate the conveyance speed or stop the conveyance only for the presence or absence of the disconnection. Therefore, the number of printed sheets per unit time does not decrease.
Furthermore, after the label 51a is cut off, the printing is started on the next label 52c by continuously printing, cutting and detecting the presence or absence of the head disconnection without carrying the label 52b to the printing position upstream in the carrying direction. Can be further shortened, and the number of printed sheets in a predetermined time can be increased enormously.

1 is a schematic side view of a printer as a printing apparatus according to the present invention. The block diagram of the control part of a printer. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation for detecting whether the printer is disconnected. Explanatory drawing explaining conveyance operation | movement of a label continuous body. 9 is a flowchart showing an operation for detecting whether or not a printer is disconnected in another embodiment. Explanatory drawing explaining the conveyance operation | movement of the label continuous body in other embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printer 2 Printer housing | casing 3 Label supply part 4 Label detection sensor 5 Thermal transfer unit 6 Printing part 7 Cutting part 8 Outlet 9 Heating resistor 10 Thermal head 11 Platen roller 12 Ribbon supply axis 13 Ribbon take-up axis 20 Control part 21 ROM
22 CPU
23 RAM
24 Conveyance control circuit 25 Print control circuit 26 Disconnection detection circuit 27 Label detection circuit 28 Cutting control circuit 29 EEPROM
30 Interface 31 Input unit 32 Display unit 33 External interface 34 Host computer 35 Data bus 49 Thermal transfer ribbon 50 Label continuous body 51 Mount 52 Label 53 Gap 60 Printer

Claims (1)

A printing means having a heating resistor and printing on a printing medium;
Cutting means for cutting the print medium;
Disconnection detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of disconnection of the heating resistor,
A printing apparatus characterized by detecting whether or not the heating resistor is disconnected by the disconnection detecting means in parallel with the cutting operation of the printing medium in the cutting means.

Images