JP2009090497A - Tape cassette and tape printing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a tape cassette capable of preparing a print tape with adhesive which produces no dust upon usage. <P>SOLUTION: An auxiliary cassette 70 comprises: a glue tape spool 75 around which a glue tape 74 having an adhesive layer and a separator 29 is wound; and a separator winding spool 76, and is disposed loadably and unloadably onto a tape printing device provided with a thermal head 7 and a cutter unit 14. When the auxiliary cassette 70 is loaded to the tape printing device, the auxiliary cassette 70 adjoins a print tape cassette 101, a cutter unit 14 is arranged between the auxiliary cassette 70 and the print tape cassette 101, the adhesive layer of the glue tape 74 is brought into contact with the printed print tape 17 and, thereby, is transferred to the print tape 17, and the separator 29 of the glue tape 74 is wound by the separator winding spool 76. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a tape cassette that separates a printing tape cassette and applies an adhesive layer to the printed tape, and a tape printing apparatus including the tape cassette.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various types of tape printers that include a keyboard, a display, and a printing mechanism, and that can label input characters and symbols on a tape stored in a tape cassette by the printing mechanism have been proposed.

For example, there is a tape printer that selectively half-cuts only the laminate type in a tape printer that can perform printing on both laminated and non-laminated tapes (see, for example, Patent Document 1). ).
JP 2000-6481 A

  However, the printing tape produced by the tape printing apparatus described in Patent Document 1 described above has a peeling tape regardless of whether it is a laminate type or a non-laminate type, and must be used after peeling off the peeling tape. Therefore, a separate process of peeling the release tape occurs. In addition, since the user has to peel off the release tape and affix the printing tape to the adherend, it is necessary to use both hands, and there is a problem that it cannot be easily operated when only one hand can be used.

  In addition, the release tape that was created when the printing tape was created is discarded as garbage after the printing tape is attached to the adherend. There is a problem that it is troublesome to clean up since the stripped release tape must be discarded. In the case of the tape printing apparatus described in Patent Document 1 described above, in the case of a laminate type, a plurality of printing tapes are arranged on one release tape, and each printing tape is configured to be separable by half-cutting. It is possible. However, even in this case, there is no change in that the peeling tape becomes dust when the printing tape is used.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems, and the adhesive tape cassette including the adhesive tape spool around which the adhesive tape is wound is separated from the printing tape cassette along the conveyance direction of the printing tape. To provide a tape cassette that can be installed on the downstream side of a cutting means and can create a printing tape with an adhesive that does not generate dust during use by providing only an adhesive layer to the cut printing tape. With the goal.

  In order to achieve the above object, a tape cassette according to claim 1 includes a glue tape spool on which a glue tape having a first adhesive layer and a separator is wound, and a separator take-up spool for winding the separator, and a thermal cassette. A tape cassette that is detachable from a tape printing device that includes a head and a cutting means to create a printing tape, and when the tape cassette is mounted on the tape printing device, the tape cassette is separated from the first base film and the ink layer. An ink ribbon configured; a printing film onto which an ink layer is transferred from the ink ribbon; a printing film spool around which the printing film is wound; an ink ribbon spool around which the ink ribbon is wound; and ink after printing An ink ribbon take-up spool for taking up the ribbon; The first adhesive layer is disposed between the tape cassette and the printing tape cassette, and the first adhesive layer is transferred to the printing film by contacting the printed printing film. The separator is a separator take-up spool. It is wound up by.

  The tape cassette according to a second aspect is the tape cassette according to the first aspect, wherein the print film can visually recognize the print made on the print surface from the other surface side opposite to the print surface. The pressure-sensitive adhesive layer contacts the printing surface of the printing film and is transferred to the printing surface of the printing film.

  The tape cassette according to claim 3 is the tape cassette according to claim 1, wherein the first pressure-sensitive adhesive layer is in contact with the other surface opposite to the printing surface of the printing film, and on the other surface of the printing film. It is characterized by being migrated.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the tape cassette according to the second aspect, wherein the printing tape cassette further includes an adhesive film spool having a second adhesive layer and a second base film wound thereon. The first adhesive layer of the adhesive tape is in contact with the second base film of the adhesive film and is transferred to the second base film.

  Furthermore, the tape printer which concerns on Claim 5 is the contact / separation mechanism which changes the contact / separation state of the tape cassette in any one of Claim 1 thru | or 4, and the said tape cassette and the said printing film printed. And a control device for controlling the contact / separation mechanism.

In the tape cassette according to claim 1, the first pressure-sensitive adhesive layer is transferred to the printing film by contacting the printed printing film, and the separator is wound on the separator winding spool. The printing tape is discharged with the adhesive layer exposed on the surface. From this, the user can affix it to a to-be-adhered body as it is, without peeling a peeling tape. In addition, since no release tape is used, there is no generation of dust when affixing to an adherend, and there is no inconvenience of cleaning up the dust.
In the tape cassette according to the first aspect, since the tape cassette is separated from the printing tape cassette, the type of the adhesive tape can be easily changed. Even for the same printing film, it can be freely selected according to the adherend such as strong adhesive type, weak adhesive type, Acid Free type (non-acid type), and can be changed easily.
In the tape cassette according to the first aspect, the cutting means is disposed between the tape cassette and the printing tape cassette, so that the printing tape can be cut immediately after printing. The front margin of the printing tape can be shortened as compared with the tape making apparatus of this type, and the running cost of the printing tape cassette can be reduced.

  In the tape cassette according to claim 2, the first pressure-sensitive adhesive layer contacts the printing surface of the printing film and is transferred to the printing surface of the printing film. The printing film is, for example, a transparent film. Thus, when the printing tape is affixed to the adherend, printed characters and the like are on the back side of the printing film without being exposed on the surface, and a so-called laminated printing tape is configured. Therefore, even when the surface of the printing tape is rubbed or when water, chemicals, or the like adheres to the surface of the printing tape, characters and the like do not blur or disappear.

  In the tape cassette according to claim 3, the first pressure-sensitive adhesive layer is brought into contact with the other surface on the opposite side of the printing surface of the printing film, and is transferred to the other surface of the printing film. Thereby, an adhesive can be provided to the opposite side of the printing surface of a printing film.

In the tape cassette according to claim 4, the printing tape cassette further includes an adhesive film spool around which an adhesive film having a second adhesive layer and a second base film is wound, and the first adhesive of the adhesive tape. The agent layer contacts the second base film of the adhesive film and is transferred to the second base film. Thereby, after attaching an adhesive film to the printed printing film, a 1st adhesive layer can be provided. Thus, the printing surface of the printing film does not face the adherend through only the adhesive, and the ink on the printing surface is rubbed by the adherend, so that characters and the like do not blur or disappear.
The adhesive film can be used as a background film. For example, the adhesive film may be a colored object, an object with a flower pattern or a character at both ends along the length direction of the tape, or a film made of a special material. In this way, by incorporating the adhesive film tape in the printing tape cassette, it is possible to diversify the printing tape to be created.

Further, in the printing apparatus according to claim 5, by including a tape cassette, a contact / separation mechanism that changes a contact / separation state between the tape cassette and the printed printing film, and a control device that controls the contact / separation mechanism, The production of the adhesive tape can be easily and freely controlled. That is, the user can freely determine whether or not to produce the adhesive tape by controlling the contact / separation mechanism using the control device.
Moreover, even if the same adhesive tape is used, the adhesive can be transferred only to a desired portion by controlling the transfer position.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a tape cassette and a tape printing apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings based on embodiments embodying the present invention.

(First embodiment)
The tape cassette and tape printer according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is an enlarged perspective view of a main part showing a state in which a printing tape cassette and an auxiliary cassette are mounted in a cassette housing portion of the tape printer, and FIG. 2 is a plan view schematically showing an internal configuration of the printing tape cassette and the auxiliary cassette. .

  In FIG. 1, a printing tape cassette 101 is detachable from a cassette housing 6 provided in the tape printing apparatus 110, and the printing tape cassette 101 has an upper case 2 and a lower case 3. The upper case 2 is a lid member that covers the upper surface of the lower case 3, and as shown in FIG. 2, the lower case 3 has a printing film 17 that is a long tape slightly above the center. A printing film spool 18 around which is wound is arranged. In the lower case 3, an ink ribbon spool 20 around which an ink ribbon 19 is wound is disposed at a lower right position of the print film spool 18. Further, the ink ribbon 19 is pulled out from the ink ribbon spool 20 and characters and the like are printed. An ink ribbon take-up spool 21 is provided for taking up the ink ribbon 19 consumed in step S2.

  A head insertion opening 40 is formed in the printing tape cassette 101 so as to pass through the upper case 2 and the lower case 3. When the printing tape cassette 101 is stored in the cassette storage unit 6, the head insertion opening 40 is formed in the printing tape cassette 101. In addition, a thermal head 7 described later is inserted. A separation member 4 is formed on the downstream side of the thermal head 7 (left side in FIG. 2) at the head insertion opening 40. As will be described later, the separating member 4 changes the feeding direction of the ink ribbon 19 that is sandwiched between the platen roller 8 and the thermal head 7 and pressed against the printing film 17 when characters or the like are printed by the thermal head 7. At the same time, the ink ribbon 19 is separated from the printing film 17.

  Further, the print tape cassette 101 is formed with a discharge port 13 through which the print film 17 on which characters and the like are printed is discharged to the outside of the cassette case 3 after the ink ribbon 19 is separated through the separating member 4. .

Next, the configuration of the cassette storage unit 6 in the tape printer 110 will be described. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a thermal head 7 is fixed to the cassette housing portion 6 of the tape printer 110. The thermal head 7 has a substantially rectangular plate shape when viewed from the front in FIG. 2, and is formed by arranging a predetermined number of heating elements in a line along the side of the left edge at the left edge of the front. Has been.
A platen holder 46 is rotatably supported around the holder shaft 47 in the cassette housing portion 6, and the platen roller 8 is rotatably supported by the platen holder 46. The platen holder 46 is urged counterclockwise around the holder shaft 47 by an elastic member (not shown), and is driven clockwise by a motor or the like when printing on the printing film 17, whereby the platen roller 8 is thermally moved. The head 7 can be moved toward and away from the head 7.

In addition, a ribbon take-up shaft 9 connected to the ink ribbon take-up spool 21 of the print tape cassette 101 is disposed in the cassette storage unit 6. The ribbon take-up shaft 9 is connected to a drive mechanism such as a tape feed motor 146 (see FIG. 10), and the ink ribbon take-up winds up the ink ribbon 19 separated through the separating member 4 as described above. The take-up spool 21 is rotationally driven.
Further, a scissor-type cutter unit 14 is disposed in the cassette housing portion 6 adjacent to the tape discharge port 13 of the printing tape cassette 101. The cutter unit 14 is connected to the fixed blade 14A and the fixed blade 14A. The movable blade 14B operates to cut the printed film tape 17.

In FIG. 1, the auxiliary cassette 70 can be attached to and detached from the cassette storage unit 6 provided in the tape printer 110. As shown in FIG. 2, the auxiliary cassette 70 is arranged at a position facing a bonding roller 15 described later when the auxiliary cassette 70 is mounted on the tape printer 110.
In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, the auxiliary cassette 70 is partitioned into two spaces by a partition plate 66. In one space, a glue tape spool 75 around which a glue tape 74 is wound is disposed. As will be described later, the adhesive tape 74 is formed by laminating the adhesive layer 27 on the separator 29 (see FIG. 3). A separator take-up spool 76 is arranged to draw out the adhesive tape 74 from the adhesive tape spool 75 and take up the separator 29 remaining after the adhesive layer 27 is peeled off from the adhesive tape 74. The other space is a space into which a later-described cam 79 disposed in the tape printer 110 is fitted when the auxiliary cassette 70 is stored in the cassette storage unit 6.

  Further, in the cassette housing portion 6, on the downstream side of the cutter unit 14, at a position facing the auxiliary cassette 70, it is connected to a driving mechanism such as a press release motor 182 shown in FIG. A bonding roller 15 for bonding the adhesive tape 74 and the adhesive tape 74 is provided. As shown in FIG. 1, the discharge port 5 of the tape printer is disposed immediately downstream of the bonding roller 15.

  As shown in FIG. 1, two rail grooves 71 that are elongated in plan view are formed in parallel at the bottom of the auxiliary cassette 70. When the auxiliary cassette 70 is stored in the cassette storage unit 6, the auxiliary cassette 70 is fixed to the cassette storage unit 6 by fitting the rail groove 71 into the two rails 72 provided in the cassette storage unit 6. .

Further, a columnar cam 79 that allows the auxiliary cassette 70 to be brought into and out of contact with the laminating roller 15 is disposed at the lower right end portion (upper right side in FIG. 2) of the cassette housing portion 6. The cam 79 is connected to a drive mechanism such as a pressure release motor 182 and a pressure release motor drive circuit 183 that drives the pressure release motor 182 shown in FIG. 10, and is freely rotatable by the drive of the drive mechanism. The drive mechanism is controlled by the CPU 162.
Further, the rotation of the cam 79 enables the auxiliary cassette 70 to contact and separate from the laminating roller 15 along the direction of A⇔B as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, the separator take-up spool 76 and the glue tape spool 75 are connected by a rubber belt 78, and the separator take-up spool 76 is driven by the driving force of the laminating roller 15. The tape 74 is pulled out and the separator 29 remaining after the pressure-sensitive adhesive layer 27 (see FIG. 3) is peeled off is taken up. Incidentally, a known slip clutch spring (not shown) is provided on the separator take-up spool 76 side, and is adjusted so that the take-up speed does not become too fast.

When the printing tape cassette 101 configured as described above is stored in the cassette storage unit 6 of the tape printer 110 and characters or the like are printed on the printing film 17, the printing film 17 wound around the printing film spool 18 is The tape guide roller 30 provided at the corner of the lower case 3, the inner wall of the lower case 3, the guide pin 42 formed on the arm portion 41, the opening 43 of the arm portion 41, and toward the thermal head 7 and the platen roller 8. Will be guided. The ink ribbon 19 is guided toward the thermal head 7 and the platen roller 8 through the opening 43 while being regulated by the regulating projections 44 and 45 of the arm 41.
The print film 17 and the ink ribbon 19 guided as described above are overlapped between the thermal head 7 and the platen roller 8, and in this state, the heating element group of the thermal head 7 is driven to generate heat. As a result, characters and the like are printed on the print film 17 via the ink ribbon 19. Thereafter, the ink ribbon 19 is fed to the downstream side of the thermal head 7, separated from the print film 17 via the separating member 4, and then taken up by the ink ribbon take-up spool 21.

  In addition, characters and the like are printed via the ink ribbon 19 and the thermal head 7, and after the ink ribbon 19 is separated via the separating member 4, the printed print film 17 is printed from the tape discharge port 13 to the print tape cassette. Further, the printed print film 17 is discharged to the outside of 101, and is conveyed between the auxiliary cassette 70 and the bonding roller 15 through the cutter unit 14 by driving the bonding roller 15.

  Next, the configuration of the ink ribbon, the printing tape, and the adhesive tape according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 3 is an explanatory view schematically showing the relationship between the ink ribbon, the print film and the glue tape in the printing process of characters and the like. As shown in FIG. 3, the ink ribbon 19 includes a base film 22 and an ink layer 23. The printing film 17 is made of a transparent film, and the ink layer 23 is transferred from the ink ribbon 19.

On the other hand, the adhesive tape 74 is composed of an adhesive semi-solid adhesive layer 27 and a separator 29. The glue tape having such a structure is commercially available as a stationery in a wound state, and is well known. Unlike the liquid paste, the pressure-sensitive adhesive constituting the pressure-sensitive adhesive layer 27 is characterized by being easy to handle without dripping.
When applying the pressure-sensitive adhesive to the print film 17, only the pressure-sensitive adhesive layer 27 is applied to the print film 17. Accordingly, when the produced printing tape is adhered to the adherend, the printing tape can be directly attached to the adherend without removing the separator.

  The print film 17 drawn from the print film spool 18 is sent out to the print position between the thermal head 7 and the platen roller 8 of the tape printer 110 by the tape guide roller 30 or the like as described above. The printing film 17 is overlaid with the ink ribbon 19 at the printing position. At this time, the ink layer 23 of the ink ribbon 19 is transferred to the printing film 17 by heating the thermal head 7.

  The tape printer 110 also includes a head drive circuit 169 (see FIG. 10) that controls the drive of the heat generating portion of the thermal head 7, and the transferred ink layer 23 is mirror-image printed on the print film 17. Therefore, when viewed from the opposite side of the printing surface of the transparent film tape 17, characters or the like that are normal images can be visually recognized.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the printed print film 17 is discharged from the tape discharge port 13 to the outside of the print tape cassette 101. A cutter unit 14 disposed immediately downstream of the print tape cassette 101 is disposed along the tape transport direction. The printed printing film 17 is conveyed between the auxiliary cassette 70 and the bonding roller 15 after passing through the cutter unit 14 by the driving of the bonding roller 15.

  As described above, the auxiliary cassette 70 can be brought into contact with and separated from the bonding roller 15 by the cam 79. Here, first, as shown in FIG. 2, a state in which the adhesive tape 74 and the bonding roller 15 are in contact with each other by the cam 79 will be described.

  At this time, the separator take-up spool 76 pulls out the adhesive tape 74 from the adhesive tape spool 75 by driving the laminating roller 15. The glue tape 74 drawn out in this way comes into contact with the printed printing film 17. The abutting position is a position where the auxiliary cassette 70 and the laminating roller 15 face each other as shown in FIG.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the adhesive tape 74 abuts on the printed print film 17 at a position facing the bonding roller 15. At this time, the adhesive layer 27 of the adhesive tape 74 contacts the ink layer 23 of the printed printing film 17 and is transferred to the printing film 17, and the separator 29 is separated from the adhesive tape 74, and then the separator winding is performed. It is wound up by the spool 76.

Then, the produced printing tape 80 is transported to the discharge port 5 of the tape printing apparatus arranged immediately downstream of the laminating roller 15 by driving the laminating roller 15.
When the printing tape 80 reaches a desired length, the cutter unit 14 is driven by the cutter driving circuit 181, whereby the printing tape 80 is operated in cooperation with the fixed blade 14 </ b> A and the movable blade 14 </ b> B of the cutter unit 14. Cut to the desired length. The cut print tape 80 is discharged to the outside of the tape printer 110.

On the other hand, when the adhesive tape is not prepared, the cam 79 is rotated 180 ° from the state shown in FIG. 2 by driving a drive mechanism such as a press release motor 182 shown in FIG. Due to the rotation of the cam 79, the auxiliary cassette 70 moves away from the position where it comes into contact with the bonding roller 15. In this way, the printed printing film 17 is conveyed to the outside of the tape printer 110 by driving the bonding roller 15 without being bonded to the adhesive tape 74.
In this way, by providing the auxiliary cassette 70 containing the adhesive tape and the laminating roller 15 on the downstream side of the cutter unit 14, the cutter unit 14 is disposed immediately downstream of the thermal head 7, so Immediately after printing characters or the like, the printing film 17 can be cut. As a result, the margin of the printing film 17 after printing can be shortened, and the running cost of the printing film 17 can be reduced. As a result, the running cost of the printing tape cassette 101 can be reduced.
Further, since the printing tape is discharged from the tape printer 110 with the pressure-sensitive adhesive layer exposed on the surface, the user can directly apply it to the adherend without removing the peeling tape. Moreover, since no release tape is used, there is no generation of dust at the time of application to the adherend, and the cleaning is not troublesome.

In addition, the printing tape cassette 101 does not include the glue tape spool and the laminating roller, and the auxiliary cassette 70 and the laminating roller 15 in which the glue tape spool 75 is accommodated are arranged on the downstream side of the cutter unit 14 for printing. A tape 80 is created. In this respect, it is possible to realize a more compact and simplified configuration of the printing tape cassette as compared with a conventional tape cassette in which a glue tape spool wound with a glue tape and a bonding roller are incorporated.
In the first embodiment, the auxiliary cassette is separated from the printing tape cassette without incorporating the auxiliary cassette containing the glue tape spool and the bonding roller in the printing tape cassette. The type can be changed easily. That is, even for the same printing film, a strong adhesive type, a weak adhesive type, an acid free type (non-acid type), etc. can be freely selected according to the adherend and can be easily changed.

  Furthermore, in the first embodiment, since the auxiliary cassette can be brought into and out of contact with the laminating roller 15 by rotation of the cam, an adhesive tape (printing with an adhesive for adhering to the adherend is applied). Tape) can be easily and freely controlled. That is, the user can freely decide whether or not to produce the adhesive tape by controlling the rotation of the cam. Compared to a conventional tape cassette with a built-in glue tape spool and a laminating roller, the production control of the adhesive tape can be easily performed. Further, by controlling the transfer position of the pressure-sensitive adhesive layer, the pressure-sensitive adhesive can be transferred only to a portion that the user likes.

Next, the circuit configuration of the tape printer 110 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 10 is a functional block diagram of the tape printer according to the present embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 10, the control circuit unit 160 formed on the control board of the tape printer 110 includes a CPU 162, a ROM 163, a RAM 164, a CG (character generator) ROM 165, an input / output interface (I / F), and the like. ing. Further, the CPU 162, the ROM 163, the RAM 164, the CGROM 165, and the input / output interface (I / F) are connected to each other through a bus line 167, and exchange data with each other.
The thermal head 7 is connected to the head drive circuit 169, the tape feed motor 146 is connected to the motor drive circuit 170, the cutter unit 14 is connected to the cutter drive circuit 181, and the press contact release motor 182 is driven by the press contact release motor. The circuit 183 is connected. The head drive circuit 169, the motor drive circuit 170, the cutter drive circuit 181 and the press release motor drive circuit 183 are connected to the input / output I / F, respectively. The tape printer 110 also includes a keyboard 137 that accepts user key input, and the keyboard 137 is connected to an input / output I / F. The tape printer 110 includes an LCD 138 that displays various settings and editing contents, and the LCD 138 is connected to the input / output I / F via the LCDC 168.

Also, as shown in FIG. 10, during printing, the thermal head 7 is driven via a head drive circuit 169 for printing. Simultaneously with the printing, the tape feeding motor 146 is driven via the motor driving circuit 170 and the printing film 17 is fed out. When printing is finished, the cutter unit 14 is operated via the cutter driving circuit 181 to cut and separate the printing tape 80 having a predetermined length after the application of the adhesive. The printing surface of the printing tape 80 is an adhesive surface without a separator, and the cut and separated printing tape 80 can be held by hand and attached to a predetermined place. There is no useless separator.
Further, the cam 79 is connected to a drive mechanism such as a pressure release motor 182 and a pressure release motor drive circuit 183 that drives the pressure release motor 182 shown in FIG. 10, and is freely rotatable by driving of this drive mechanism. . The drive mechanism is controlled by the CPU 162.

(Second Embodiment)
A printing tape cassette and an auxiliary cassette according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a plan view schematically showing the internal configuration of the printing tape cassette and auxiliary cassette according to the second embodiment.
Here, the configuration of the print tape cassette 201 according to the second embodiment is the same as the configuration of the print tape cassette 101 according to the first embodiment described above. The configuration of the tape printer (not shown) according to the second embodiment is substantially the same as the configuration of the tape printer 110 according to the first embodiment described above. Omitted. In the following description, the components of the printing tape cassette 101 according to the first embodiment described above will be described with the same numbers.

  In the second embodiment, the auxiliary cassette 88 is detachable from a tape printer (not shown). In the tape printer (not shown), as in the first embodiment, the tape cassette is arranged on the downstream side of the cutter unit 14 along the tape transport direction. Unlike the first embodiment, the auxiliary cassette 88 is It is arranged on the opposite side of the printing tape cassette 201. That is, the adhesive layer from the auxiliary cassette 88 is applied from the opposite side of the printing surface of the printed printing film 17.

  First, the configuration of the ink ribbon, the print film, and the adhesive tape according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 5 is an explanatory view schematically showing the relationship between the ink ribbon, the print film, and the glue tape in the printing process of characters and the like. As shown in FIG. 5, the ink ribbon 19 includes a base film 22 and an ink layer 23. The printing film 17 is made of a transparent film, and the ink layer 23 is transferred from the ink ribbon 19.

On the other hand, the adhesive tape 84 is composed of an adhesive semi-solid adhesive layer 27 and a separator 29. The glue tape having such a structure is commercially available as a stationery in a wound state, and is well known. Unlike the liquid paste, the pressure-sensitive adhesive constituting the pressure-sensitive adhesive layer 27 is characterized by being easy to handle without dripping.
When applying the pressure-sensitive adhesive to the print film 17, only the pressure-sensitive adhesive layer 27 is applied to the other surface of the print film 17 opposite to the ink layer 23. Accordingly, when the produced printing tape 90 is adhered to the adherend, the printing tape can be directly attached to the adherend without removing the separator.

  Next, the process of creating an adhesive tape using the printing tape cassette and auxiliary cassette according to the second embodiment will be described in detail.

  As in the first embodiment, the print film 17 drawn out from the print film spool 18 is, as shown in FIG. 4, a tape guide roller or the like, which is connected to the thermal head 7 and the platen roller 8 of a tape printer (not shown). It is sent to the tape printing position in between. The printing film 17 is overlaid with the ink ribbon 19 at the printing position. At this time, the ink layer 23 of the ink ribbon 19 is transferred to the printing film 17 by heating the thermal head 7.

  At this time, in the tape printer (not shown), unlike the first embodiment, the transferred ink layer 23 is transferred to the print film 17 by driving the head drive circuit 169 (see FIG. 10) of the heat generating portion of the thermal head 7. Is controlled so that a normal image is printed. For this reason, when the film tape 17 is viewed from the printing surface side, characters and the like printed with a normal image can be visually recognized.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the printed print film 17 is discharged from the tape discharge port 13 to the outside of the print tape cassette 201. A cutter unit 14 disposed immediately downstream of the print tape cassette 201 is disposed along the tape transport direction. The printed printing film 17 is conveyed between the auxiliary cassette 88 and the bonding roller 83 after passing through the cutter unit 14 by the driving of the bonding roller 83.
Here, as shown in FIG. 4, a state in which the adhesive tape 84 and the bonding roller 83 are in contact with each other by the cam 89 will be described.

  The separator take-up spool 86 draws the glue tape 84 from the glue tape spool 85 by driving the laminating roller 83. The glue tape 84 pulled out in this way comes into contact with the printed printing film 17 at a position where the auxiliary cassette 88 and the laminating roller 83 face each other.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 4, the adhesive layer 27 of the adhesive tape 84 contacts the opposite side of the ink layer 23 of the printed printing film 17 and is transferred to the printing film 17, and the separator 29 is connected to the adhesive tape. After being separated from 84, it is taken up by a separator take-up spool 86.
In this manner, the adhesive tape 84 is bonded to the printed printing film 17 to produce the printing tape 90. On the other hand, the separator 29 after being separated from the adhesive tape 84 is taken up by the separator take-up spool 86.

In other words, in the second embodiment, the adhesive layer 27 of the adhesive tape 84 contacts the opposite side of the ink layer 23 of the printed printing film 17, thereby transferring to the printing film 17. The printing tape 90 created in this way is conveyed to the discharge port 5 of the tape printing apparatus disposed immediately downstream of the bonding roller 83 by driving the bonding roller 83.
When the printing tape 90 reaches a desired length, the cutter unit 14 is driven, whereby the printing tape 90 is moved to a desired length by the cooperation of the fixed blade 14A and the movable blade 14B of the cutter unit 14. Disconnected. The cut printing tape 90 is discharged to the outside of a printing apparatus (not shown).

  On the other hand, when an adhesive tape (a printing tape to which an adhesive for adhering to the adherend is applied) is not prepared, the cam 89 is driven by a drive mechanism such as the press release motor 182 shown in FIG. Rotate 180 degrees from the state shown. With this rotation of the cam 89, the auxiliary cassette 88 moves away from the position where it comes into contact with the bonding roller 83. In this manner, the printed printing film 17 is conveyed to the outside of the printing apparatus (not shown) by driving the laminating roller 83 without being bonded to the adhesive tape 84.

  As described above, the auxiliary cassette 88 containing the glue tape spool 85 and the laminating roller 83 are not contained in the printing tape cassette 201 without incorporating the auxiliary cassette 88 containing the glue tape spool and the laminating roller. By providing on the opposite side of the printing tape cassette 201 on the downstream side, an adhesive can be applied to the opposite side of the printing surface of the printed printing film 17.

(Third embodiment)
A printing tape cassette and an auxiliary cassette according to the third embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a plan view schematically showing the internal configuration of the printing tape cassette and auxiliary cassette according to the third embodiment.
Here, the configuration of the print tape cassette 301 according to the third embodiment is the same as the configuration of the print tape cassette 101 according to the first embodiment described above. The configuration of the tape printer according to the third embodiment is substantially the same as the configuration of the tape printer 110 according to the first embodiment described above, and thus detailed description of the tape printer is omitted. In the following description, the components of the printing tape cassette 101 according to the first embodiment described above will be described with the same numbers.

In the third embodiment, the auxiliary cassette 98 can be attached to and detached from a tape printer (not shown). In the tape printer (not shown), as in the first embodiment, the tape printer is arranged on the downstream side of the cutter unit 14 along the tape transport direction. The direction in which the adhesive is applied from the auxiliary cassette 98 is the same as in the first embodiment. That is, the adhesive layer from the auxiliary cassette 98 is applied to the printing surface of the printed printing film 17.
However, in the third embodiment, in the printing tape cassette 301, the printing film spool 18 wound with the printing film 17, the ink ribbon spool 20 wound with the ink ribbon 19, and the ink ribbon consumed in printing characters and the like. In addition to an ink ribbon take-up spool 21 for taking up 19, an adhesive film spool 50 around which an adhesive film 51 is wound is provided. The adhesive film 51 is a long tape, and is configured by laminating an adhesive layer 52 on a base film 53 (see FIG. 7).

  Such an adhesive film 51 is used as a background film for the printing film 17. For example, the adhesive film 51 may be a colored film, a film on which floral patterns or characters are printed at both ends along the longitudinal direction of the film, or a film made of a special material. In that case, the pressure-sensitive adhesive layer constituting the pressure-sensitive adhesive film 51 is transparent.

  First, the configuration of the ink ribbon, the print film, the adhesive film, and the glue tape according to the third embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing the relationship between an ink ribbon, a printing film, an adhesive film, and an adhesive tape in a printing process of characters and the like according to the third embodiment. As shown in FIG. 7, the ink ribbon 19 includes a base film 22 and an ink layer 23. The printing film 17 is made of a transparent film, and the ink layer 23 is transferred from the ink ribbon 19.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 7, the adhesive film 51 includes a base film 53 and an adhesive layer 52. When the adhesive layer of the adhesive film 51 is applied to the printing film 17 in the printing tape cassette 301, the adhesive layer 52 is applied to the printing surface of the printed film 17. The resulting printing film 17 is further adhered to the adhesive tape 94 between the auxiliary cassette 98 and the bonding roller 93.

On the other hand, the adhesive tape 94 is composed of an adhesive semi-solid adhesive layer 27 and a separator 29. The glue tape having such a structure is commercially available as a stationery in a wound state, and is well known. Unlike the liquid paste, the pressure-sensitive adhesive constituting the pressure-sensitive adhesive layer 27 is characterized by being easy to handle without dripping.
When the adhesive is applied to the print film with the adhesive film bonded, only the adhesive layer 27 is applied to the base film 53 of the print film with the adhesive film bonded, as shown in FIG. Create Thereby, when the produced printing tape 100 is adhered to the adherend, the printing tape can be directly attached to the adherend without removing the separator.

  Hereinafter, a process of creating an adhesive tape (a printing tape provided with an adhesive for bonding to an adherend) using the printing tape cassette and the auxiliary cassette according to the third embodiment will be described in detail.

  As in the first embodiment, the print film 17 drawn out from the print film spool 18 is sent to a print position between a thermal head 7 and a platen roller 8 of a tape printer (not shown) by a tape guide roller or the like. It is. The printing film 17 is overlaid with the ink ribbon 19 at the printing position. At this time, the ink layer 23 of the ink ribbon 19 is transferred to the printing film 17 by the heating of the thermal head 7.

  At this time, in the tape printer (not shown), the transferred ink layer 23 is controlled to be mirror-image printed on the print film 17 as in the first embodiment. When viewed from the opposite side of the surface, characters or the like that are normal images can be visually recognized.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the printing film 17 is printed between the thermal head 7 and the platen roller 8 of a tape printing apparatus (not shown), and then, from the adhesive film spool 50 in the printing tape cassette 301. The printed adhesive film 51 is bonded to the drawn adhesive film 51 to create a printed film with the adhesive film bonded.
In this way, the printed film on which the adhesive film has been bonded is discharged from the tape discharge port 13 to the outside of the print tape cassette 301. A cutter unit 14 disposed immediately downstream of the print tape cassette 301 is disposed along the tape transport direction. After the adhesive film is pasted, the printing film is conveyed between the auxiliary cassette 98 and the laminating roller 93 after passing through the cutter unit 14 by driving of the laminating roller 93.
Here, as shown in FIG. 5, a state in which the adhesive tape 94 and the bonding roller 93 are in contact with each other by the cam 99 will be described.

  At this time, the separator take-up spool 96 draws the glue tape 94 from the glue tape spool 95 by driving the laminating roller 93. The glue tape 94 drawn out in this manner comes into contact with the printed film on which the adhesive film has been bonded at a position where the auxiliary cassette 98 and the bonding roller 93 face each other.

  In addition, the adhesive layer 27 of the adhesive tape 94 comes into contact with the base film 53 of the printing film that has been bonded with the pressure-sensitive adhesive film (constituted the pressure-sensitive adhesive film), and is transferred to the printing film that has been bonded with the pressure-sensitive adhesive film. The separator 29 is separated from the adhesive tape 94 and then taken up by the separator take-up spool 96.

Then, the produced printing tape 100 is transported to the discharge port 5 of the tape printing apparatus arranged immediately downstream of the laminating roller 93 by driving the laminating roller 93.
When the printing tape 100 reaches a desired length, the cutter unit 14 is driven, whereby the printing tape 100 is moved to a desired length by the cooperation of the fixed blade 14A and the movable blade 14B of the cutter unit 14. Disconnected. The print tape 100 is discharged to the outside of a tape printer (not shown).

  On the other hand, when the adhesive tape is not prepared, the cam 99 is rotated 180 ° from the state shown in FIG. 4 by driving a drive mechanism such as a press release motor 182 shown in FIG. With this rotation of the cam 99, the auxiliary cassette 98 moves away from the position where it comes into contact with the bonding roller 93. In this way, the print film having the adhesive film bonded thereto is conveyed to the outside of a tape printer (not shown) by driving the bonding roller 93 without being bonded to the adhesive tape 94.

As described above, the adhesive tape spool 50 is built in the printing tape cassette 301, and the auxiliary printing cassette and the laminating roller in which the adhesive tape spool is accommodated are provided on the downstream side of the cutter unit 14, so that the printed printing film 17 is printed. An adhesive can be applied after attaching an adhesive film to the printing surface.
The adhesive film can be used as a background film. For example, the adhesive film may be a colored film, a film on which floral patterns or characters are printed at both ends in the film width direction along the longitudinal direction of the film, or a film made of a special material. As described above, by incorporating the adhesive film in the printing tape cassette, it is possible to diversify the printing tape to be created.

Moreover, in said embodiment, the adhesive film 51 used may be a transparent film, an opaque film, or a colored film.
The base film 53 of the adhesive film 51 may be a film in which floral patterns and characters are printed at both ends in the film width direction along the film longitudinal direction. Thereby, the adhesive tape which has a floral pattern and a character in parts other than a character part can be created.

In the first embodiment, the printing tape cassette 101 and the auxiliary cassette 70 are configured as separate units. However, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the printing tape cassette and the auxiliary cassette may be configured as a single unit. it can. FIG. 8 is a plan view schematically showing the internal configuration of the printing tape cassette and auxiliary cassette when the printing tape cassette and auxiliary cassette are integrated. FIG. 9 is a plan view schematically showing an internal configuration of the printing tape cassette and the auxiliary cassette when the printing tape cassette and the auxiliary cassette are integrated.
As shown in FIG. 9, the tape cassette 401 is configured by integrating a printing tape cassette portion 81 and an auxiliary cassette portion 82. The print tape cassette portion 81 is provided with a print film spool 18, an ink ribbon spool 20, an ink ribbon take-up spool 21, and the like. The auxiliary cassette portion 82 is provided with a glue tape spool 75 and a separator take-up spool 76.

The tape cassette 401 has a notch 91 as shown in FIG. The notch 91 exists between the auxiliary cassette portion 82 and the tape discharge port 13. When the print tape cassette 401 is mounted on the tape printer 410, the notch 91 is fixed to the fixed blade 14 </ b> A of the tape printer 410. Will be located.
Further, since the tape cassette 401 is configured by integrating the printing tape cassette portion 81 and the auxiliary cassette portion 82, when mounting the tape cassette 401 in the cassette storage portion 6 of the tape printing apparatus, the positioning rail in the first embodiment. Even without the 72 and the rail groove 71, it can be mounted in the cassette housing portion 6.

  Further, the auxiliary cassette portion 82 and the printing tape cassette portion 81 are connected by a rail having a T-shaped cross section and a rail groove having a cross section that wraps around the rail. Each of the rail and the rail groove may be in either the auxiliary cassette portion 82 or the print tape cassette portion 81. The auxiliary cassette portion 82 can slide along the direction of A⇔B shown in FIG. 8 with respect to the print tape cassette portion 81 by the rotation of the cam 79. As described above, the auxiliary cassette portion 82 can be brought into contact with and separated from the bonding roller 15.

The external shapes of the tape printer, the print tape cassette, and the auxiliary cassette shown in the description of each embodiment are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to this external shape.
Other than the first embodiment, when making a laminate type printing tape, the printing film is not limited to a transparent film, but may be a film that can read characters on the other side from one side, such as a frosted glassy film called MAT. That's fine. The color of the printing film is not colorless and may be colored.

It is a principal part expansion perspective view which shows the state which mounts a printing tape cassette and an auxiliary | assistant cassette in the cassette storage part of the tape printer which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a top view which shows typically the internal structure of the printing tape cassette and auxiliary | assistant cassette in 1st Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows typically the relationship between the ink ribbon in the printing process of the character etc. of 1st Embodiment, a printing film, and a glue tape. It is a top view which shows typically the internal structure of the printing tape cassette in 2nd Embodiment, and an auxiliary | assistant cassette. It is explanatory drawing which shows typically the relationship between the ink ribbon in the printing process of the character etc. of 2nd Embodiment, a printing film, and a glue tape. It is a top view which shows typically the internal structure of the printing tape cassette and auxiliary | assistant cassette in 3rd Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows typically the relationship between the ink ribbon in the printing process of the character etc. of 3rd Embodiment, a printing film, an adhesive film, and an adhesive tape. It is a principal part expansion perspective view which shows the state which mounts a printing tape cassette and an auxiliary | assistant cassette in the cassette storage part of a tape printer when a printing tape cassette and an auxiliary | assistant cassette are integrated. It is a top view which shows typically the internal structure of a printing tape cassette and an auxiliary | assistant cassette at the time of integrating a printing tape cassette and an auxiliary | assistant cassette. It is a functional block diagram of the tape printer concerning this embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

7 Thermal Head 14 Cutter Unit 15, 83, 93 Bonding Roller 17 Print Film 18 Print Film Spool 19 Ink Ribbon 20 Ink Ribbon Spool 21 Ink Ribbon Take-up Spool 22 Base Film 23 Ink Layer 27 Adhesive Layer 29 Separator 50 Adhesive Film Spool 51 Adhesive film 70, 88, 98 Auxiliary cassette 74, 84, 94 Adhesive tape 75, 85, 95 Adhesive tape spool 76, 86, 96 Separator take-up spool 79, 89, 99 Cam 80, 90, 100 Printing tape (adhesive tape)
101, 201, 301, 401 Print tape cassette 110, 410 Tape printer 162 CPU

Claims (5)

A glue tape spool around which a glue tape having a first adhesive layer and a separator is wound;
A separator take-up spool for taking up the separator;
A tape cassette that is detachable from a tape printer that includes a thermal head and cutting means to create a printing tape,
In the state of being mounted on the tape printer, the tape cassette is
An ink ribbon composed of a first base film and an ink layer, a printing film on which the ink layer is transferred from the ink ribbon, a printing film spool on which the printing film is wound, and the ink ribbon being wound Adjacent to a print tape cassette comprising an ink ribbon spool and an ink ribbon take-up spool for taking up the ink ribbon after printing,
The cutting means is disposed between the tape cassette and the printing tape cassette;
The first pressure-sensitive adhesive layer is transferred to a printing film by contacting the printed printing film, and the separator is wound up by a separator winding spool. The printing film can visually recognize the printing made on the printing surface from the other surface side opposite to the printing surface,
2. The tape cassette according to claim 1, wherein the first pressure-sensitive adhesive layer contacts the printing surface of the printing film and is transferred to the printing surface of the printing film.   2. The tape cassette according to claim 1, wherein the first pressure-sensitive adhesive layer contacts the other surface opposite to the printing surface of the printing film and is transferred to the other surface of the printing film. The printing tape cassette further includes an adhesive film spool around which an adhesive film having a second adhesive layer and a second base film is wound,
The tape cassette according to claim 2, wherein the first pressure-sensitive adhesive layer of the adhesive tape contacts the second base film of the pressure-sensitive adhesive film and is transferred to the second base film. The tape cassette according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
A contact / separation mechanism for changing a contact / separation state between the tape cassette and the printed printing film;
And a control device for controlling the contact / separation mechanism.