JP2007301760A - Printing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printing apparatus equipped with a cutting means for cutting a longitudinal medium to be recorded in which a substrate and a releasing sheet are laminated through an adhesive layer, which can realize a cutting embodiment completely separating and cutting the medium to be recorded, and another cutting embodiment only forming the substrate and can cut in a short time. <P>SOLUTION: In a label printer 1, when printing is performed on a tape 9, based on cut data, the tape 9 is cut by either one of the cutting embodiments, half cutting or full cutting, by a cutting mechanism 15. When the full cutting is executed, a receiving member 32 is moved until the tip of a unit blade 30A provided in a line on the cutting blade 30 is brought into contact with the surface of a receiving face 32A, and a cutter holder member 31 is moved by a specified amount in the width direction of the tape 9. When the half cutting is executed, after the tip of the unit blade 30A is brought into contact with the receiving face 32A, the receiving member 32 is retreated by a thickness (t) of a release paper 154, and the cutter holder member 31 is moved by a specified amount in the width direction of the tape 9. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus including a cutting unit that cuts a long recording medium in which a base material and a release sheet are laminated via an adhesive layer, and in particular, a cutting mode that completely separates and cuts a recording medium. And a printing apparatus including a cutting unit capable of performing a cutting mode in which only the base material of the recording medium is completely separated and cut.

Conventionally, a cutting mode (hereinafter referred to as full cut) in which printing is performed on a label tape in which a base material and a release sheet are laminated via an adhesive layer and the label tape is completely separated and cut, and the label tape base There is a printing apparatus capable of realizing a cutting mode (hereinafter referred to as half-cut) in which only a material is completely separated and cut.
For example, Patent Document 1 describes a printing apparatus including a cutting mechanism that cuts one cutting blade by sliding it in the width direction of the label tape. And in the printing apparatus described in patent document 1, half cut and full cut are implement | achieved by controlling the position of the cutting blade with respect to the thickness of a label tape with high precision.
JP 2004-114167 A

Here, in the printing apparatus according to Patent Document 1, the cutting edge position of the cutting blade with respect to the thickness of the label tape is controlled with high accuracy, and the cutting blade is slid in the width direction of the label sheet in a predetermined state. Realizes half-cut or full-cut.
In this respect, in the printing apparatus, since the cutting blade is slid and cut from one end to the other end in the width direction of the label tape, the cutting blade is used to cut one end of the label tape in the width direction. It takes time to reach the other end.
Further, the printing apparatus described in Patent Document 1 is configured to return the label sheet from the other end side to the initial position on the one end side after cutting the label sheet. That is, when the label sheet is cut once, the cutting blade is reciprocated between both ends in the width direction of the label sheet. As a result, it takes a long time to cut the label sheet, which is the time required for the reciprocating movement of the cutting blade.

That is, since a long time is required for cutting each time a single label is created, it takes a very long time to produce a large number of labels.
In this regard, the user wants to complete the work in a shorter period of time when creating a large number of labels. Therefore, the long time required for cutting strongly gives the user an impression that the printing apparatus is inconvenient.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described conventional problems, and is provided with a cutting means for cutting a long recording medium in which a base material and a release sheet are laminated via an adhesive layer. It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing apparatus that can shorten the time required for cutting a recording medium.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention according to claim 1 includes a printing unit that performs desired printing on a long recording medium in which a base material and a release sheet are laminated via an adhesive layer; In a printing apparatus comprising transport means for transporting a recording medium to the outside of the apparatus and cutting means for cutting the recording medium in the width direction, the cutting means includes a cutting blade in which a plurality of unit blades are arranged in one side. A receiving member that has a contact surface that contacts the tip of the unit blade, and is disposed at a position facing the cutting blade across a conveyance path of the recording medium; and a width of the recording medium A cutting blade moving means for moving in a direction, a position between the cutting blade and the receiving member, a first state in which the unit blade tip contacts the contact surface, and a unit blade tip from the contact surface of the release sheet. Cutting mode that can be switched between a second state in which the distance is equal to the thickness Additional means, characterized in that it comprises a.

That is, in the printing apparatus according to the first aspect of the invention, desired printing is performed on the recording medium by the printing means, and the recording medium is cut in the width direction by the cutting means.
Here, in the printing apparatus, the cutting mode of the recording medium can be changed by changing the positional relationship between the receiving member and the cutting blade to the first state or the second state by the cutting mode changing unit. That is, when the cutting blade and the receiving member are in the first state by the cutting mode changing means, the cutting blade is positioned on the conveyance path of the recording medium, so that the recording medium is completely separated and cut. Can do. On the other hand, when the positions of the cutting blade and the receiving member are set to the second state, the cutting blade does not completely cut the release sheet, but completely separates and cuts only the base material portion. That is, in the printing apparatus according to the first aspect, the so-called half cut and full cut cutting modes can be realized by changing the positions of the cutting blade and the receiving member by the cutting mode changing means.
In the printing apparatus, in either the first state or the second state, the cutting blade is moved in the width direction of the recording medium by the cutting blade moving means. In this respect, since the cutting blade has a plurality of unit blades arranged in one piece, the moving distance of the cutting blade can be shortened. That is, the time required for cutting the recording medium can be shortened regardless of whether the cutting mode is half cut or full cut.
Furthermore, since a plurality of unit blades are arranged in the cutting blade, it is possible to reduce the portion cut by one blade surface when cutting the recording medium. That is, it is possible to reduce the reduction in sharpness of the cutting blade accompanying the cutting of the recording medium, and it is possible to maintain the cutting quality according to the cutting mechanism for a longer period.

  Hereinafter, based on an embodiment in which a printing apparatus according to the invention is applied to a label printer, a detailed description will be given with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a label printer.

The label printer 1 according to the present embodiment is connected to a personal computer (not shown, hereinafter referred to as a PC), and creates a tape with a desired character (so-called label) based on a print command from the PC.
Here, as shown in FIG. 1, the label printer 1 has a main body housing 2, and an internal unit 20 described later is disposed inside the main body housing 2. An open / close lid 3 is provided on the upper surface of the main body housing 2 so as to be openable and closable. The opening / closing lid 3 is pivotally supported at the right end portion of the main body housing 2 in FIG. 1 and is always urged in the opening direction via an urging member such as a spring. An open / close button 4 is disposed on the upper side of the main body housing 2. When the open / close button 4 is pressed, the lock between the open / close lid 3 and the main body housing 2 is released. That is, when the open / close button 4 is pressed, the open / close lid 3 is opened based on the action of the biasing member.

In addition, a see-through window 5 covered with a transparent cover is formed in the opening / closing lid 3, and the inside of the main body housing 2 can be visually recognized from the see-through window 5. Here, a cassette housing portion 6 in which the tape cassette 7 is mounted is formed immediately below the see-through window 5. Therefore, when the tape cassette 7 is mounted in the cassette housing portion 6, the tape specifying display portion 8 (see FIG. 2) formed on the upper surface of the tape cassette 7 can be visually recognized through the see-through window 5. . Here, information such as a tape width, a color, and a type of the long tape 9 incorporated in the tape cassette 7 is displayed on the tape identification display portion 8 (see FIG. 2).
That is, even when the tape cassette 7 is mounted in the cassette storage unit 6, the tape identification display unit 8 can be visually recognized, so that the user can easily grasp the type and the like of the tape cassette 7.

  The main body housing 2 has a side wall 10 on the front side (left side in FIG. 1). The side wall 10 is formed with a tape discharge port 11 for discharging the tape 9 printed in the main body housing 2 to the outside. Further, a power button 14 is disposed below the opening / closing button 4 on the side wall 10 of the main body housing 2. By the input operation of the power button 14, the power to the label printer 1 is turned on / off.

Next, the internal structure of the label printer 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a plan view schematically showing the internal unit 20 inside the label printer 1 according to the present embodiment.
As described above, the internal unit 20 is disposed inside the main body housing 2. The internal unit 20 basically includes a cassette housing portion 6 for housing the tape cassette 7, a printing mechanism 21 for printing on the tape 9, a cutting mechanism 15 for cutting the tape 9 printed by the printing mechanism 21, It comprises a discharge mechanism 50 that discharges the tape 9 cut by the cutting mechanism 15 to the outside of the main body housing 2.
Note that the tape cassette 7 is stored in the cassette storage portion 6 so that the direction of the width of the tape 9 discharged from the tape discharge port 11 is perpendicular to the bottom surface of the label printer 1.

Here, the printing mechanism 21 constituting the internal unit 20 will be described with reference to FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, in the printing mechanism 21, the thermal head 23 is disposed on a head mounting portion 24 that is erected on the cassette housing portion 6. The thermal head 23 is provided with a plurality of heating elements. In this respect, the control circuit 61, which will be described later, controls the heat generation of the heat generating elements arranged in the thermal head 23, so that characters and the like can be printed on the tape 9.

A roller holder 25 is pivotally supported on the printing mechanism 21 so as to be rotatable. The roller holder 25 is rotatable about a support shaft 29 on the side of the cassette housing 6 and can be switched between a printing position and a release position by a switching mechanism (FIG. 2 is switched to the printing position). Status).
Further, the roller holder 25 is provided with a platen roller 26 and a tape pressure roller 28 so as to be rotatable. As shown in FIG. 2, when the roller holder 25 is switched to the printing position, the platen roller 26 disposed in the roller holder 25 is pressed against the thermal head 23. At this time, the tape pressure roller 28 is pressed against the tape feed roller 27 located near the tape outlet 11 of the cassette housing 6.
Since the tape feeding roller 27 is disposed in the tape cassette 7, the tape feeding roller 27 comes into contact with the tape pressing roller 28 when the tape cassette 7 is mounted in the cassette housing portion 6 and the roller holder 25 is switched to the printing position.

The tape pressing roller 28 is rotationally driven by a conveying motor 72 and a gear mechanism (not shown). Accordingly, when the tape cassette 7 is mounted in the cassette housing portion 6 and the roller holder 25 is rotated to the printing position (see FIG. 2), the tape feed roller 27 is driven by the tape pressure roller by driving the transport motor 72. It rotates with 28 rotational drive. Thereby, the tape 9 between the tape feeding roller 27 and the tape pressing roller 28 can be transported in the tape discharging direction, and can be sent to the cutting mechanism 15 and the discharging mechanism 50.
The tape 9 printed by the printing mechanism 21 is conveyed to the cutting mechanism 15 located in the tape discharge direction. Here, the tape 9 transported to the cutting mechanism 15 described later is automatically cut based on the data received from the PC and discharged from the tape discharge port 11 formed in the side wall 10.

Next, the cutting mechanism 15 constituting the internal unit 20 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the cutting mechanism 15 is disposed on the side surface of the printing mechanism 21 on the downstream side in the transport direction of the tape 9. The cutting mechanism 15 is provided with a cutter holder member 31, a receiving member 32, and the like with respect to a cutting mechanism frame 33 erected along the side surface of the printing mechanism 21. In the cutting mechanism frame 33, a transport opening 33A through which the tape 9 transported from the printing mechanism 21 passes is formed between the cutter holder member 31 and the receiving member 32.
The cutting mechanism frame 33 is provided with a cutter motor 74 and a receiving member motor 76, and the cutter holder member 31 and the receiving member 32 are moved by driving the cutter motor 74 and the receiving member motor 76, respectively. It is configured as follows.
That is, in the label printer 1, the cutter holder member 31 and the receiving member 32 can be moved by driving the cutter motor 74 and the receiving member motor 76. That is, half cut and full cut can be performed on the tape 9 transported through the transport opening 33A. In this regard, the cutting mechanism 15 will be described later in detail with reference to the drawings, and thus detailed description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 2, the internal unit 20 is provided with a discharge mechanism 50 further downstream from the cutting mechanism 15 in the transport direction of the tape 9. The discharge mechanism 50 includes a discharge drive roller 51, a discharge rotation roller 52, and a discharge motor 78.
The discharge drive roller 51 is disposed so as to contact the tape 9 conveyed through the conveyance opening 33 </ b> A of the cutting mechanism 15, and is driven to rotate based on the drive of the discharge motor 78. The discharge rotation roller 52 is rotatably disposed at a position facing the discharge drive roller 51 across the conveyance path of the tape 9. Here, the discharge rotation roller 52 is disposed so as to contact the discharge drive roller 51, and rotates in accordance with the rotation drive of the discharge drive roller 51.
In other words, the tape 9 transported to the discharge mechanism 50 is transported while being sandwiched between the discharge drive roller 51 and the discharge rotation roller 52 as the discharge motor 78 is driven, and is output to the outside of the label printer 1 through the tape discharge port 11. Discharged.

  Next, a schematic configuration of the tape cassette 7 used in the label printer 1 according to the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of the tape cassette 7 according to the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 3, a transparent tape reel 158, a release paper reel 159, and an ink ribbon reel 161 are rotatably disposed inside the tape cassette 7.
A fitting portion 162 into which the thermal head 23 is fitted is formed at the front portion of the tape cassette 7. A part of the fitting portion 162 is opened forward and constitutes a print processing portion 163 that prints on the transparent tape 150. Further, a tape feed roller 27 is rotatably provided at the left front portion adjacent to the fitting portion 162.

A transparent tape 150 for printing is wound around the transparent tape reel 158. When the printing process (S2) is executed, the transparent tape 150 is pulled out to the printing processing unit 163 in accordance with the driving of the transport motor 72.
The release paper reel 159 is wound with a release paper tape 156 including a transparent first adhesive layer 151, a base material 152, a second adhesive layer 153, and a release paper 154. When the printing process is executed, the release paper tape 156 is pulled out from the release paper reel 159 toward the tape feed roller 27 in accordance with the driving of the conveyance motor 72.
On the ink ribbon reel 161, an ink ribbon 164 coated with thermally transferable ink is wound around the transparent tape 150. One end of the ink ribbon 164 wound around the ink ribbon reel 161 is attached to a take-up roller 160 that is rotatably disposed at the center between the transparent tape reel 158 and the release paper reel 159.
When the printing process (S2) is executed, the take-up roller 160 is driven to rotate as the conveyance motor 72 is driven, so that the ink ribbon 164 drawn out from the ink ribbon reel 161 passes through the print processing unit 163. Winding is performed by a winding roller 160.

Here, since the transparent tape 150 and the ink ribbon 164 are drawn out to the print processing unit 163 when the print process (S2) is executed, the transparent tape 150 is interposed between the thermal head 23 and the platen roller 26. And the ink ribbon 164 are positioned.
At this time, since the platen roller 26 presses the thermal head 23 as described above, the ink ribbon 164 and the transparent tape 150 are pressed against the thermal head 23 while being in close contact with each other. In this state, when the heat generation mode of the heat generating element of the thermal head 23 is controlled, the ink on the ink ribbon 164 is thermally transferred to the transparent tape 150. Therefore, characters and graphics corresponding to the print data received from the PC are displayed on the transparent tape 150. Etc. are printed.

  Thereafter, the transparent tape 150 on which the desired printing has been performed is conveyed between the tape feed roller 27 and the tape pressing roller 28 in the tape discharge direction (the cutting mechanism 15 and the discharge mechanism 50 direction). At this time, the release paper tape 156 drawn from the release paper reel 159 is attached to the transparent tape 150 while being pressed by the tape feed roller 27 and the tape pressure roller 28.

The tape 9 on which the desired printing is thus performed is cut by the cutting mechanism 15 and discharged to the outside of the label printer 1. Here, the tape 9 is composed of five layers of a transparent tape 150 for printing, a first pressure-sensitive adhesive layer 151, a base material 152, a second pressure-sensitive adhesive layer 153, and a release paper 154 (see FIG. 4). And the label 155 which can be affixed on a desired place is provided to a user by peeling the release paper 154 of the said tape 9. FIG. That is, the label 155 is configured by four layers of the transparent tape 150, the first pressure-sensitive adhesive layer 151, the base material 152, and the second pressure-sensitive adhesive layer 153.
In this embodiment, the thickness of the release paper 154 is (t) and the thickness of the label 155 is (T).

Next, the cutting mechanism 15 for cutting the tape 9 printed by the printing mechanism 21 will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. 5-7 is explanatory drawing which shows the cutting | disconnection mechanism 15 typically.
As shown in FIG. 2, the cutting mechanism 15 is disposed downstream of the printing mechanism 21 in the transport direction of the tape 9. The cutting mechanism 15 is configured by disposing a cutter holder member 31, a receiving member 32, a cutter motor 74, and a receiving member motor 76 with respect to the cutting mechanism frame 33.

As shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, the cutter holder member 31 is fixed with a cutting blade 30 in which a plurality of unit blades 30 </ b> A are arranged on one side. The cut blade 30 has a long side formed longer than the width dimension of the tape 9, and a plurality of unit blades 30A are arranged in the long side. Each unit blade 30A formed on the cutting blade 30 has both blades.
The cutter holder member 31 is disposed so that the unit blade 30A is positioned closer to the transport path of the tape 9 than the opening edge of the transport opening 33A in the vicinity of the transport opening 33A through which the tape 9 is transported.
Here, the cutter holder member 31 is formed with rectangular attachment openings 31 </ b> A having long sides in the width direction of the tape 9. A protrusion 33B formed on the cutting mechanism frame 33 is fitted into the attachment opening 31A. Therefore, the cutter holder member 31 can reciprocate within a predetermined range along the width direction of the tape 9.
A cutter holder spring 37 is disposed on the cutter holder member 31. The cutter holder spring 37 urges the cutter holder member 31 toward the lower side of the cutting mechanism 15. On the other hand, a cutter holder eccentric cam 36 is disposed below the cutter holder member 31. The cutter holder eccentric cam 36 is disposed so that the circumferential surface thereof is in contact with the lower surface of the cutter holder member 31, and is connected to the cutter motor 74 via a gear train (not shown).

That is, as shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, the cutter holder member 31 can be reciprocated in the width direction of the tape 9 by driving the cutter motor 74 and rotating the cutter holder eccentric cam 36. In this respect, since the lower surface of the cutter holder member 31 is always in contact with the circumferential surface of the cutter holder eccentric cam 36 by the urging force of the cutter holder spring 37, the reciprocating movement of the cutter holder member 31 can reliably correspond to the driving of the cutter motor 74. Can do.
Further, since the movement of the cutter holder member 31 in the lateral direction (left and right direction in FIG. 5) is restricted by the mounting opening 31A and the protrusion 33B, the cutter holder member 31 moves in the lateral direction when the tape 9 is cut. No, the tape 9 can be cut stably.

In the cutting mechanism frame 33, the receiving member 32 is disposed at a position facing the cutter holder member 31. The receiving member 32 is arranged to be slidable in the direction of the conveyance opening 33 </ b> A with respect to the cutting mechanism frame 33 by an attachment member 38. Here, on the right side surface of the receiving member 32, there is formed a receiving surface 32A that comes into contact with the tip of the cutting blade 30 (that is, the tip of each unit blade 30A) when the receiving member 32 slides by a predetermined amount. The receiving surface 32A comes into contact with the tape 9 transported by the cutting mechanism 15 when the receiving member 32 slides toward the transport opening 33A. That is, in the cutting mechanism 15, the cutting blade 30 can be bitten into the tape 9 by sliding the receiving member 32 in the direction of the transport opening 33 </ b> A.
The receiving member 32 is provided with a receiving member eccentric cam 34 and a receiving member spring 35. The receiving member spring 35 urges the receiving member 32 in a direction away from the transfer opening 33A (leftward in FIG. 5).
As shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, the receiving member eccentric cam 34 is rotatably arranged so that the circumferential surface thereof abuts on the left side surface of the receiving member 32. The receiving member eccentric cam 34 is connected to a receiving member motor 76 via a gear train (not shown). Therefore, by driving the receiving member motor 76 and rotating the receiving member eccentric cam 34, the receiving member 32 can be slid in the lateral direction.

  Here, the receiving member 32 is urged by the receiving member spring 35 so that the left side surface of the receiving member 32 is always in contact with the circumferential surface of the receiving member eccentric cam 34. Therefore, the receiving member 32 can be moved to an arbitrary position by controlling the driving of the receiving member motor 76. That is, in the label printer 1 according to the present embodiment, by performing drive control of the receiving member motor 76, the receiving surface 32A is moved to the leftmost position (see FIG. 5), the receiving surface 32A and the cutting blade. The full cut position (see FIG. 6) at which the tip of the 30 contacts, and the half cut position (see FIG. 7) at which the distance between the receiving surface 32A and the tip of the cutting blade 30 is the thickness (t) of the release paper 154. The position of the receiving member 32 can be changed.

Next, a control system of the label printer 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a control block diagram of the label printer 1.
As shown in FIG. 8, the control circuit unit 61 of the label printer 1 includes a CPU 62, a CGROM 63, a ROM 64, an EEPROM 65, a RAM 66, an input / output interface 67, a communication interface 68, and the like. Further, the CPU 62, the CGROM 63, the ROM 64, the EEPROM 65, the RAM 66, the input / output interface 67, and the communication interface 68 are connected to each other via a bus line, and data is transmitted and received between them.

Here, the CPU 62 performs various calculations based on various control programs stored in the ROM 64, and plays a central role in the control related to the label printer 1.
The ROM 64 stores various control programs and data. For example, a main processing program, a full cut processing program, a half cut processing program, etc., which will be described later, are stored in the ROM 64. In addition, the ROM 64 stores outline data (outline data) that defines the outline of each character for each type of character (such as Gothic typeface, Mincho typeface, etc.). Has been. The outline data is associated with the code data, and the dot pattern data is developed on the print buffer 66A based on the outline data.

The CGROM 63 stores dot pattern data corresponding to each character.
The EEPROM 65 stores dot pattern data such as external character data received from an external computer device or the like, dot pattern data of various symbol data, etc. with a registration number, and turns off the power of the label printer 1. Even the stored contents are retained.
The RAM 66 is a storage device for temporarily storing various calculation results calculated by the CPU 62, and includes various storage areas such as a print buffer 66A and a cut data storage area 66B. .
Here, in the print buffer 66A, based on the print data received from the PC 100, a dot pattern for printing such as a plurality of characters and symbols, the number of applied pulses as the amount of energy for forming each dot, and the like are stored as dot pattern data. The That is, in the label printer 1, the heat generation mode of the thermal head 23 is controlled based on the dot pattern data stored in the print buffer 66A, and dot printing is performed on the tape 9.
In the cut data storage area 66B, cut data indicating the cutting mode of the tape 9 is stored. In this cut data, a cutting position that is determined from the total length of the desired label, a cutting mode indicating a half cut or a full cut is defined. Therefore, the CPU 9 can cut the tape 9 in a desired cutting mode by executing a control program described later while referring to the cut data.

The input / output interface 67 is driven by a head drive circuit 71 for driving the thermal head 23, a transport mechanism drive circuit 73 for driving the transport motor 72, and a cutter motor 74 for rotating the cutter holder member 31. A cutting mechanism driving circuit 75 for driving, a receiving member driving circuit 77 for driving the receiving member motor 76, and a discharging mechanism driving circuit 79 for driving the discharging motor 78 are respectively connected.
The communication interface 68 is configured by, for example, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) or the like. In other words, the label printer 1 is connected to an external computer device (for example, the PC 100) via the communication interface 68 by a USB cable or the like, and can perform bidirectional data communication with the PC 100. Therefore, the user can use the PC 100 to create print data and cut data for a desired label and transmit them to the label printer 1. The label printer 1 can execute a control program to be described later based on the received print data and cut data.
In this embodiment, when print data is transmitted from the PC 100 to the label printer 1, cut data related to the print data is always transmitted.

Next, a main processing program in the label printer 1 according to the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 9 is a flowchart of the main processing program of the label printer 1.
In the description of the main processing program, it is assumed that the label printer 1 is connected to the PC 100 and is turned on.

  In the label printer 1 according to this embodiment, when the execution of the main control program is started, the CPU 62 first refers to the RAM 66 and determines whether print data is stored. When print data and cut data are received from the PC 100 or when print data and cut data that have already been received remain (S1: YES), the CPU 62 shifts the process to S2. On the other hand, if no print data is received from the PC 100 and no print data is stored in the RAM 66 (S1: NO), the CPU 62 waits for processing until print data and cut data are received from the PC 100.

In S2, the CPU 62 executes a printing process for printing on the tape 9 based on the print data stored in the print buffer 66A. That is, while the tape 9 is conveyed, the heat generation mode of the thermal head 23 is controlled based on the dot pattern data corresponding to the print data. As a result, the ink on the ink ribbon 164 is thermally transferred to the tape 9 and characters or the like defined in the print data can be printed on the tape 9. The printing process (S2) is the same process as that of the conventional label printer, and is a known process, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.
Then, when printing based on the print data is finished, the CPU 62 shifts the process to S3.

  In S3, the CPU 62 refers to the cut data corresponding to the print data printed in the print process (S2), and transports the tape 9 to the cut position defined in the cut data. When the tape 9 reaches the cut position, the CPU 62 simultaneously stops the transport motor 72 and the discharge motor 78. After transporting the tape 9 to the cutting position, the CPU 62 proceeds to S4.

  Subsequently, when proceeding to S4, the CPU 62 determines whether or not the cutting mode corresponding to the print data is full cut. That is, the CPU 62 refers to the cut data storage area 66B and determines whether or not a full cut is defined in the cut data corresponding to the print data used in the print process (S2). When full cut is defined in the cut data (S4: YES), the CPU 62 shifts the processing to full cut processing (S5). On the other hand, when the cut data specifies not a full cut but a half cut (S4: NO), the CPU 62 proceeds to the half cut process (S6) as it is.

  When shifting to the full cut processing (S5), the CPU 62 executes a full cut processing program to be described later. Specifically, the CPU 62 drives and controls the cutter motor 74 and the receiving member motor 76 to cut the tape 9 in full cut. Here, the full cut processing (S5) will be described in detail later with reference to the drawings, and thus description thereof is omitted here. After cutting the tape 9 with a full cut, the CPU 62 shifts the process to S7.

  On the other hand, when shifting to the half-cut process (S6), the CPU 62 executes a half-cut process program to be described later. Thereby, the CPU 62 drives and controls the cutter motor 74 and the receiving member motor 76, and performs a half cut on the tape 9 in which only the label 155 portion is cut in the width direction. In this regard, the half-cut processing program will also be described in detail later with reference to the drawings, and thus description thereof is omitted here. After half-cutting the tape 9, the CPU 62 proceeds to S7.

  In S7, the CPU 62 executes a transport process. When the process proceeds to the transport process (S7), the CPU 62 transports the tape 9 toward a predetermined print position in preparation for the next print process (S2). At this time, drive control of the transport motor 72 and the discharge motor 78 is performed, and the printed portion of the tape 9 subjected to the half cut or full cut is discharged from the tape discharge port 11 to the outside of the label printer 1. After transporting the tape 9 to a predetermined printing position, the CPU 62 returns the process to S1.

  Next, the full cut processing program executed in the full cut processing (S5) of the main processing program will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 10 is a flowchart of the full cut processing program. FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing an operation mode of the cutting mechanism 15 when the full cut process is executed.

  When the process proceeds to the full cut process (S5) and the execution of the full cut process program is started, the CPU 62 first starts driving the receiving member motor 76 so that the receiving member 32 approaches the cutting blade 30 (hereinafter referred to as the cutting blade 30). Move in the positive direction). That is, as shown in FIG. 11A, the receiving member 32 positioned at the initial position is moved in the forward direction. After starting the movement of the receiving member 32 in the positive direction, the CPU 62 proceeds to S12.

  After shifting to S12, the CPU 62 determines whether or not the tip of the cutting blade 30 is in contact with the receiving surface 32A of the receiving member 32. That is, in S12, it is determined whether or not the receiving member 32 has moved by a predetermined amount as the receiving member motor 76 is driven and has reached the full cut position. When the tip of the cutting blade 30 comes into contact with the receiving surface 32A (S12: YES), the CPU 62 shifts the process to S13. On the other hand, when the tip of the cutting blade 30 is not yet in contact with the receiving surface 32A (S12: NO), the CPU 62 returns the processing to S11 and repeats the processing until the tip of the cutting blade 30 comes into contact with the receiving surface 32A.

Here, since the tape 9 is positioned in the transport opening 33A when the full cut processing (S5) is started, when the receiving member 32 moves in the forward direction, the receiving surface 32A hits the tape 9 in the middle. Touch. When the receiving member 32 further moves in the forward direction, the tape 9 also moves in the forward direction accordingly.
As a result, the tape 9 is pressed against the cutting blade 30 by the receiving member 32, and when the receiving member 32 moves to the full cutting position, the cutting blade 30 is applied to the tape 9 by the thickness (t + T) of the tape 9. It will be in a state where it is bitten (see FIG. 11B).

  When the movement of the receiving member 32 to the full cut position is completed (S12: YES), the CPU 62 drives the cutter motor 74. As described above, the cutter holder eccentric cam 36 is rotationally driven by the drive of the cutter motor 74, so that the cutter holder member 31 reciprocates in the width direction of the tape 9 (see FIG. 11B). After driving the cutter motor 74 by a predetermined amount, the CPU 62 returns the receiving member 32 to the initial position (see FIG. 5) and ends the full cut processing program.

Here, since the cutting blade 30 bites into the tape 9 by the thickness (T + t) of the tape 9 at the time of shifting to S13, the cutter holder member 31 reciprocates in the width direction of the tape 9, whereby the label 155, The release paper 154 can be separated and cut (see FIG. 11C).
In the cutting blade 30 according to the present embodiment, since the plurality of unit blades 30A are arranged on the side longer than the width dimension of the tape 9, when the tape 9 is cut in the width direction, the cutter holder member 31 is used. The reciprocating distance can be shortened. That is, the tape 9 can be separated and cut in the width direction by moving the cutter holder member 31 back and forth at least the distance between the apexes of the adjacent unit blades 30A. As a result, since the moving distance of the cutter holder member 31 can be shortened, the time required for cutting the tape 9 with a full cut can be shortened. That is, it becomes possible to provide the user with the tape 9 that has been quickly cut in full cut.

  Next, the half cut processing program executed in the half cut processing (S6) will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 12 is a flowchart of the half cut processing program. FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing an operation mode of the cutting mechanism 15 at the time of executing the half-cut process.

  When the process proceeds to the half-cut process (S6) and the execution of the half-cut process program is started, as shown in FIGS. 13A and 13B, the CPU 62 moves until the receiving member 32 moves to the full-cut position. (S22: YES), the receiving member motor 76 is driven (S21). Since the processing in S21 and S22 is the same processing as S11 and S12 of the full cut processing program, detailed description is omitted. When the receiving member 32 moves to the full cut position (see FIG. 13B), the CPU 62 shifts the process to S23.

  In S <b> 23, the CPU 62 starts driving the receiving member motor 76. At this time, the receiving member motor 76 is driven in a direction opposite to the driving direction in S21 described above. That is, in S23, the process which moves the receiving member 32 in the direction away from the cutting blade 30 (henceforth a reverse direction) is performed (refer FIG. 13 (B)). After starting the movement of the receiving member 32 in the reverse direction, the CPU 62 proceeds to S24.

In the subsequent S24, the CPU 62 determines whether or not the receiving member 32 has moved to the half cut position. Specifically, in S24, a determination is made as to whether or not the movement of the receiving member 32 to the half-cut position has been completed based on the driving amount of the receiving member motor 76. When the movement of the receiving member 32 to the half-cut position has been completed (S24: YES), the CPU 62 shifts the process to S25. On the other hand, when the receiving member 32 has not yet moved to the half cut position (S24: NO), the CPU 62 returns the process to S23. That is, in S23 and S24, processing for moving the receiving member 32 in the reverse direction from the full cut position is performed until the receiving member 32 is located at the half cut position.
Thereby, at the time of S25 transfer, the space | interval for the thickness (t) of the release paper 154 arises between the front-end | tip of the cutting blade 30 and the receiving surface 32A.

Here, by the processing of S21 and S22, the tip of the cutting blade 30 is in contact with the receiving surface 32A during the transition to S23. That is, the cutting blade 30 bites into the tape 9 by the thickness (T + t) of the tape 9 (see FIG. 13B).
As shown in FIG. 2, the tape 9 is pressure-fixed on the conveyance path by the tape feed roller 27, the tape pressure roller 28, etc. on the upstream side in the conveyance direction of the cutting mechanism 15, and on the downstream side in the conveyance direction, A discharge driving roller 51 and a discharge rotation roller 52 are pressed and fixed on the conveyance path.
Further, when the receiving member 32 is at the full cut position, the receiving surface 32A is positioned on the cut blade 30 side from the conveyance path of the tape 9, and even when the receiving member 32 is at the half cut position, the receiving surface 32A is It is located closer to the cutting blade 30 than the conveying path of the tape 9.
Here, since the tape 9 is fixed on the conveyance path on the upstream side and the downstream side in the conveyance direction of the cutting mechanism 15, when the receiving member 32 moves from the full cut position to the half cut position, the tape 9 is accordingly moved. Is also moved in the reverse direction by the thickness (t) of the release paper 154. As a result, at the time of shifting to S25, the amount of biting of the cutting blade 30 with respect to the tape 9 changes from the thickness (T + t) of the tape 9 to the thickness (T) of the label 155 (see FIG. 13C).

  In S25, the CPU 62 drives the cutter motor 74 to reciprocate the cutter holder member 31 in the tape 9 width direction (see FIG. 13C). At this time, by driving the cutter motor 74 by a predetermined amount, the cutter holder member 31 slides in a predetermined range (for example, a distance between the apexes of the adjacent unit blades 30 </ b> A) in the width direction of the tape 9. By the movement of the cutter holder member 31, only the label 155 on the cut surface is cut in the width direction, and the tape 9 is half-cut (see FIG. 13D). After driving the cutter motor 74 by a predetermined amount, the CPU 62 ends the half-cut processing program and shifts the processing to S7 of the main processing program.

Here, at the time of shifting to S25, the cutting blade 30 bites into the tape 9 with the biting amount of the thickness (T) of the label 155. Therefore, only the label 155 can be separated and cut in the width direction of the tape 9 by reciprocating the cutter holder member 31 in the width direction of the tape 9.
In this regard, as described above, in the label printer 1 according to the present embodiment, the tape 9 is cut by the cutting blades 30 in which the plurality of unit blades 30A are arranged. Even at that time, the distance for reciprocating the cutter holder member 31 can be shortened. As a result, the time required for cutting the tape 9 by half-cutting can be shortened, and the tape 9 cut by half-cutting can be quickly provided to the user.

Further, in the half cut process (S6) in the label printer 1, the receiving member 32 is moved to the full cut position, and then the receiving member 32 is returned to the half cut position, so that the tape 9 is half cut. That is, the tape 9 is once cut into the tape 9 by the thickness (T + t) of the tape 9, and then the tape 9 is subjected to a half cut for separating and cutting only the label 155.
Here, when the receiving member 32 is moved to the full cut position, the cutting blade 30 bites in until the tip of the cutting blade 30 comes into contact with the surface of the receiving surface 32A. The blade 30 is partially cut along with the shape of the blade 30 (see FIGS. 13C and 13D). At this time, since the tip of the cutting blade 30 abuts on the surface of the receiving surface 32A, the surface of the release paper 154 that abuts on the receiving surface 32A corresponds to the end of the unit blade 30A arranged on the cutting blade 30. Is formed. That is, a perforated cut is formed in the release paper 154 in the width direction at the position where the half cut is performed.
As a result, even after the tape 9 has been half-cut, the release paper 154 and the label 155 can be easily separated, and neatly separated as compared to the case where the release paper 154 is simply cut. Can do. Then, by stripping the release paper 154 along the cut line, a label having a clean cut surface that is substantially the same as when the tape 9 is fully cut can be provided. However, it is possible to flexibly cope with a subsequent change in use of the created label.

As described above, in the label printer 1 according to the present embodiment, when the tape 9 is cut, the cutter motor 74 and the receiving member motor 76 are driven and controlled, and the positions of the cutter holder member 31 and the receiving member 32 are changed. Thus, so-called half cut and full cut can be performed.
When half-cutting or full-cutting is performed on the tape 9, the cutter holder member 31 is moved in the width direction of the tape 9 by driving the cutter motor 74. Here, since the plurality of unit blades 30A are arranged in the cut blade 30, the moving distance at this time can be the distance between the tips of the adjacent unit blades 30A. That is, since the moving distance of the cutter holder member 31 at the time of cutting can be shortened, the time required for half cut and full cut can be shortened.
Further, since a plurality of unit blades 30A are arranged on the cutting blade 30 and the moving distance of the cutter holder member 31 on which the cutting blade 30 is disposed can be shortened, the cutting amount that one unit blade 30A cuts Can be reduced. That is, it is possible to reduce the sharpness of the cutting blade 30 that accompanies cutting and to provide a label having a high-quality cut surface over a long period of time.

In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, Of course, various improvement and deformation | transformation are possible within the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention.
For example, in the present embodiment, the half-cut process (S6) is configured such that the distance between the receiving surface 32A and the tip of the unit blade 30A is the thickness (t) of the release paper 154. If separation and cutting are not performed, the distance can be variously changed. That is, the half-cut process (S6) can be performed by setting the distance between the receiving surface 32A and the tip of the unit blade 30A to be less than the thickness (t) of the release paper 154.

1 is an external perspective view of a label printer according to an embodiment. It is a top view which shows the structure of the internal unit of a label printer. It is a plane explanatory view showing the composition of a tape cassette. It is explanatory drawing regarding the tape discharged | emitted from a label printer. It is explanatory drawing which shows the structure of a cutting | disconnection mechanism. It is a front view which shows the cutting mechanism in which a receiving member exists in a full cut position. It is a front view which shows the cutting mechanism in which a receiving member exists in a half cut position. It is a block diagram which shows the control system of the label printer which concerns on this embodiment. It is a flowchart of the main process program of the label printer which concerns on this embodiment. It is a flowchart of the full cut process program of the label printer which concerns on this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the operation | movement aspect of the cutting mechanism at the time of full cut process execution. It is a flowchart of the half cut process program of the label printer which concerns on this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the operation | movement aspect of the cutting mechanism at the time of half-cut process execution.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Label printer 9 Tape 15 Cutting mechanism 23 Thermal head 26 Platen roller 28 Tape press roller 30 Cut blade 30A Unit blade 31 Cutter holder member 32 Receiving member 32A Receiving surface 34 Eccentric cam for receiving member 36 Eccentric cam for cutter holder 62 CPU
64 ROM
71 Head Drive Circuit 72 Conveying Motor 73 Conveying Mechanism Driving Circuit 74 Cutter Motor 75 Cutting Mechanism Driving Circuit 76 Receiving Member Motor 77 Receiving Member Driving Circuit 154 Release Paper 155 Label

Claims (1)

Printing means for performing desired printing on a long recording medium in which a base material and a release sheet are laminated via an adhesive layer;
Conveying means for conveying the recording medium to the outside of the apparatus;
In a printing apparatus comprising: cutting means for cutting a recording medium in the width direction;
The cutting means is
A cutting blade in which a plurality of unit blades are arranged on one side;
A receiving member provided with a contact surface that contacts the tip of the unit blade, and disposed at a position facing the cutting blade across a conveyance path of the recording medium;
A cutting blade moving means for moving the cutting blade in the width direction of the recording medium;
A position between the cutting blade and the receiving member is a first state in which the unit blade tip contacts the contact surface, and a second state in which the unit blade tip is separated from the contact surface by a distance corresponding to the thickness of the release sheet. And a cutting mode changing means capable of switching to the printing device.

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