JP2009096124A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To increase the processing speed of printing on a printing medium and data writing. <P>SOLUTION: A printer receives distance data between sensors 121 (a first sensor 121a and a second sensor 121b) of a tag antenna 120 of an IC tag 118 arranged at two places of the upstream and the downstream in the guiding-conveying direction of a label 101b as a printing medium attached on a label paper 101, together with printing data and data to be written in an IC tag, and memorizes them in a storage part. The printer performs printing on the label 101b according to the printing data stored in the storage part. The sensors 121 (the first sensor 121a and the second sensor 121b) of the tag antenna 120 arranged at two places choose the timing to meet an antenna 117 of a radio reader writer 109 according to the distance data stored in the storage part, and the data stored in the storage part is written in the IC tag 118 embedded in the label 101b. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printer that performs printing on a printing surface of a print medium having an IC tag and wireless writing of data to the IC tag.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, printers have been developed that perform printing on a printing surface of an IC tag and wireless writing of data to the IC tag (see Patent Document 1). Such a printer performs printing by, for example, a thermal printing method on a printing surface of a printing medium, while establishing wireless communication with an IC tag using a wireless reader / writer, and IC by wireless data communication. Write data to the tag.

  In a printer that performs wireless writing of data to an IC tag, the conveyance of the print medium is temporarily stopped at a position where the tag antenna of the IC tag faces the antenna of the wireless reader / writer, and wireless data writing to the IC tag is performed. It is common. This is to ensure that data is recorded on the IC tag. Therefore, when the data writing to the IC tag is successful, the conveyance of the print medium is resumed.

JP 2007-001061 A

  When the transfer of the printing medium is temporarily stopped at the position where the tag antenna of the IC tag faces the antenna of the wireless reader / writer and the wireless data writing to the IC tag is executed, processing for printing and data writing on the printing medium is performed. There is a problem of being slow.

  An object of the present invention is to increase the processing speed for printing and data writing on a print medium.

  A printer according to the present invention includes a medium transport unit that guides and transports a print medium having an IC tag capable of reading and writing data wirelessly and having a print surface formed on one surface along a predetermined guide path, and the guide path. A printing unit that performs printing on the print medium, and a guide for the print medium included in a tag antenna of the IC tag provided on the print medium in a process in which the print medium is guided and conveyed along the guide path Provided with an antenna at a position where the sensitive parts having higher sensitivity than other parts arranged in two places on the upstream side and the downstream side in the transport direction face each other, and wireless data communication between the antenna and the tag antenna A wireless reader / writer that reads and writes data from and to the IC tag, and (1) distance data, print data, and I Data to be written to the tag is stored in the storage unit, (2) the printing unit is driven and controlled, and printing according to the printing data stored in the storage unit is executed on the printing surface of the printing medium. 3) Determine the timing when the sensing units arranged in the two locations face the antenna according to the distance data stored in the storage unit, and (4) drive the wireless reader / writer at the determined timing. And the data stored in the storage unit is written to the IC tag.

  A printer according to another aspect of the present invention includes a medium transport unit that guides and transports a print medium having an IC tag capable of reading and writing data wirelessly and having a print surface formed on one surface along a predetermined guide path. A tag unit for printing on the print medium in the guide path; and a tag antenna of the IC tag provided on the print medium in a process in which the print medium is guided and conveyed along the guide path. An antenna having a length such that the sensitive portions face each other at positions where sensitive portions that are more sensitive than other portions arranged at two locations on the upstream side and the downstream side in the guide conveyance direction of the print medium have A wireless reader / writer that reads and writes data from and to the IC tag by wireless data communication between the antenna and the tag antenna, and (1) print data and the IC Data stored in the storage unit is stored in the storage unit, and (2) the printing unit is driven and controlled in accordance with the printing data stored in the storage unit on the printing surface of the printing medium. 3) The wireless reader / writer is driven and controlled, and the data stored in the storage unit is written to the IC tag.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to increase the chances of data writing to the IC tag, and as an example, printing by the printing unit and writing of data by the wireless reader / writer can be executed while transporting the print medium. Therefore, it is possible to increase the processing speed for printing and data writing on the print medium.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The present embodiment is an example applied to a thermal printer 102 which is a printer that performs printing by a line thermal printing method on a label paper 101 wound in a roll shape (see FIGS. 1 and 2). ). The label sheet 101 has a structure in which a plurality of labels 101b as printing media are attached to a long mount 101a at regular intervals and wound in a roll shape (see FIG. 2). Such a label sheet 101 has a structure used as an internally wound sheet, and therefore the label 101b is positioned inside the winding direction. The surface of the label 101b is a printing surface.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic vertical side view of a printer. The thermal printer 102 according to the present embodiment is configured by housing each part in a rectangular parallelepiped housing 103. The housing 103 is provided with a paper holding unit 104 for storing and holding the label paper 101 wound in a roll shape so that it can be pulled out. The label sheet 101 stored in the sheet holding unit 104 is guided to a predetermined guide path 105 and discharged from the discharge port 106. The guide path 105 connects the sheet holding unit 104 and the discharge port 106 substantially straight, and a sheet conveying unit 107, a printing unit 108, and a wireless reader / writer 109 serving as a medium conveying unit are disposed therebetween. Has been.

  The sheet conveying unit 107 includes a pair of driving rollers DR and a driven roller FR that are arranged to face each other with the guide path 105 interposed therebetween, and also includes a platen roller PR (described later) provided in the printing unit 108. As an element. In the guide path 105, the pair of driving rollers DR and driven rollers FR are arranged upstream of the platen roller PR in the conveyance direction of the label paper 101. Then, the driving roller DR and the platen roller PR are rotationally driven using a driving motor DM (see FIG. 3) as a driving source to apply a conveying force to the label paper 101. The driven roller FR is in contact with the driving roller DR via the guide path 105, and is configured to be able to effectively transmit the rotational force of the driving roller DR to the label sheet 101. A role similar to that of the driven roller FR also plays a role in a thermal printer head 110, which will be described later, constituting the printing unit 108. That is, the thermal printer head 110 is in contact with the platen roller PR via the guide path 105, and is configured to be able to effectively transmit the rotational force of the platen roller PR to the label paper 101.

  As described above, the printing unit 108 includes the platen roller PR and the thermal printer head 110, and these are the main components. The thermal printer head 110 is a line-type thermal printer head having heating elements (not shown) arranged in a line. The thermal printer head 110 uses a thermal transfer system in which the ink on the ink ribbon 111 is transferred to the label paper 101 by selective heat generation of the heating elements. Execute printing. Therefore, the printing unit 108 has a ribbon feeding mechanism 112 as another important component. The ribbon feed mechanism 112 includes a ribbon feed shaft 113 that winds and holds the ink ribbon 111 and a ribbon take-up shaft 114 that winds the ink ribbon 111. The ribbon feed shaft 112 winds and holds the ink ribbon 111 wound and held on the ribbon feed shaft 113. This is a mechanism that passes between the platen roller PR and the thermal printer head 110 and winds the ribbon winding shaft 114. A plurality of guide rollers 116 are provided in the ribbon feeding mechanism 112 so that the path of the ink ribbon 111 is a predetermined ribbon guide path 115. As with the drive roller DR and the platen roller PR, the ribbon take-up shaft 114 is rotationally driven using a drive motor DM (see FIG. 3) as a drive source and winds the ink ribbon 111 wound around the ribbon feed shaft 113. take.

  The wireless reader / writer 109 is disposed between the driving roller DR and the platen roller PR along the guide path 105, and performs short-range wireless communication with the IC chip using RFID technology. For this reason, the wireless reader / writer 109 includes an antenna 117 (see FIG. 2) for short-range wireless communication. As an example, the wireless reader / writer 109 performs wireless communication by a passive electromagnetic induction method.

  2A is a front view and FIG. 2B is a side view showing the positional relationship between the tag antenna of the IC tag and the antenna 117 of the wireless reader / writer 109. An IC tag 118 is embedded in the label 101b of the label sheet 101. The IC tag 118 is configured by connecting a tag antenna 120 to an IC chip 119. The IC chip 119 is formed by an integrated circuit including a processor, a memory, and a short-range wireless communication circuit (not shown), and the tag antenna 120 supports short-range wireless communication executed by the IC chip 119. That is, the tag antenna 120 has a pair of sensitive parts 121 having higher sensitivity than other parts, and these sensitive parts 121 face the antenna 117 of the wireless reader / writer 109, so Realize wireless communication. In this embodiment, since the wireless reader / writer 109 performs short-distance wireless communication by an electromagnetic induction method, the sensing unit 121 of the tag antenna 120 is received at a position facing the antenna 117 of the wireless reader / writer 109. Electromagnetic induction occurs between the sensing part 121 and the antenna 117. As a result, the IC chip 119 is electromotive via the sensing unit 121 of the tag antenna 120, and the processor included in the IC chip 119 executes processing according to the program stored in the memory. As a result, short-range wireless communication between the wireless reader / writer 109 and the IC tag 118 becomes possible.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 2A, the tag antenna 120 of the IC tag 118 according to the present embodiment is upstream and downstream in the conveyance direction (indicated by arrows in FIG. 2) of the label 101b that is a printing medium. The sensor part 121 is provided in two places with the side. In the present specification, for the sake of convenience, with the transport direction of the label 101b as a reference, the sensitive part 121 located on the downstream side thereof is referred to as the first sensitive part 121a, and the sensitive part 121 located on the upstream side thereof as the second sensitive part. This is referred to as the sensor unit 121b. The distance between these sensing parts 121 (121a, 121b) is a distance X (see FIG. 2A). On the other hand, the antenna 117 of the wireless reader / writer 109 is formed long in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the label 101b (indicated by an arrow in FIG. 2).

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the thermal printer 102. The thermal printer 102 has an information processing unit 201 as hardware resources for executing information processing. The information processing unit 201 is configured by connecting an SRAM 203, a flash ROM 204, and an EEPROM 205, which constitute a storage unit, via a bus line 206 to a CPU 202 that executes various arithmetic processes and controls each unit centrally. ing. The SRAM 203 stores variable data such as temporary storage data in a rewritable manner and is used as a work area. The flash ROM 204 stores various setting values and various tables in a rewritable manner, and can store the stored contents without power supply. The EEPROM 205 stores a control program or the like in a rewritable manner, and can retain the stored contents without power feeding.

  As a hardware resource controlled by the information processing unit 201 or used for such control, the information processing unit 201 includes a paper transport unit 107, a printing unit 108, a wireless reader / writer 109, an operation display unit 122, and A sensor S is connected.

  That is, the drive roller DR included in the paper transport unit 107, the platen roller PR included in the paper transport unit 107 and the print unit 108, and the ribbon take-up shaft 114 included in the print unit 108, as described above, using the drive motor DM as a drive source. Driven by rotation. Therefore, a motor control circuit 207 for driving and controlling the drive motor DM is connected to the information processing unit 201 via the bus line 206.

  The thermal printer head 110 included in the printing unit 108 is driven by a head control circuit 208. The head control circuit 208 is connected to the information processing unit 201 via the bus line 206.

  The wireless reader / writer 109 is also connected to the information processing unit 201 via the bus line 206.

  Further, the thermal printer 102 according to the present embodiment has an operation display unit 122 (not shown) outside the housing 103. The operation display unit 122 is driven by the operation display drive circuit 209. The operation display drive circuit 209 is connected to the information processing unit 201 via the bus line 206.

  Further, the thermal printer 102 of the present embodiment has a plurality of sensors S for detecting the position of the label 101b of the label paper 101, and the sensor input circuit 210 for these sensors S is also a bus line. It is connected to the information processing unit 201 via 206.

  In addition, the information processing unit 201 includes a communication interface 211 for realizing communication between the thermal printer 102 according to the present embodiment and an external device. The communication interface 211 is also connected via the bus line 206. It is connected to the information processing unit 201. The thermal printer 102 according to the present embodiment receives various data and commands from an external device via the communication interface 211. Examples of such various data include print data, data to be written in the IC tag 118 (hereinafter referred to as RFID data), position data and distance data for the sensing unit 121 included in the tag antenna 120, and the like. The position data for the sensing part 121 is data for specifying the position from the tip position of the label 101b to the first sensing part 121a. The distance data for the sensing part 121 is data for specifying the distance between the first sensing part 121a and the second sensing part 121b. The command is an execution command that instructs execution of printing or data writing, for example.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of printing and data writing processing. In the thermal printer 102 of the present embodiment, the CPU 202 executes various processes in accordance with a control program stored and saved in the EEPROM 205, and performs printing on the label 101b and data writing on the IC chip 119.

  When the CPU 202 first receives print data accompanied by an execution command, data to be written to the IC tag 118, position data, and distance data from an external device via the communication interface 211, the CPU 202 stores these commands and data in the SRAM 203 serving as a storage unit. Temporarily store (step S101). Then, the CPU 202 drives and controls the printing unit 108 according to the printing data temporarily stored in the SRAM 203, and executes printing according to the printing data on the printing surface of the label 101b while referring to the output signal of the sensor S (step S102). ).

  When the control program stored in the EEPROM 205 receives print data or the like (step S101), the work area of the SRAM 203 is provided with a counter for counting the number of times of writing the RFID data and an area for a successful writing flag of the RFID data. Generate.

  The initial count value of the number of times RFID data is written is “0”, and increments to “1” and “2” each time RFID data is written. And it is cleared by RAM clear in step S114 described later. In the present embodiment, the RFID data writing process is executed once for each of the first and second sensing units 121a and 121b (see step S108 and the like). In this case, the “one-time” RFID data writing process corresponding to each of the first sensing unit 121a and the second sensing unit 121b may be executed by a single writing operation. The write operation may be executed by a plurality of write operations as a set.

  The initial value of the RFID data write success flag is “0”, and this initial value is set to “1” by a command from the CPU 202.

  Following the printing operation in step S102, the CPU 202 determines whether or not the number of times of writing RFID data is “2” (step S103). This determination is made by referring to the value of a counter that counts the number of times of writing RFID data set in the work area of the SRAM 203. If the number of times the RFID data is written is not “2”, the process proceeds to step S104. If it is “2”, the process proceeds to a determination process in step S112 to be described later. Since the initial count value of the number of times of writing the RFID data is “0”, the process initially proceeds to step S104.

  In step S104, it is determined whether or not the first sensor 121a included in the tag antenna 120 of the IC tag 118 is located at the position of the antenna 117 of the wireless reader / writer 109, which is the RFID data writing position. This determination is based on the position data received in step S101 and temporarily stored in the SRAM 203, that is, the data for specifying the position from the tip position of the label 101b to the first sensor 121a and the position of the label 101b. This is done by referring to the output value.

  When the CPU 202 determines that the first sensor 121a is not located at the RFID data writing position (N in step S104), the CPU 202 determines whether or not the number of times of writing the RFID data is “1”. (Step S105). If it is determined that the number of times of writing RFID data is not “1”, the process returns to the printing operation of step S102 (N in step S105), and if it is determined that the number of times of writing RFID data is “1”, step S106 is performed. The process proceeds to (Y in step S105). Since the initial count value of the number of times of writing RFID data is “0”, the determination process in step S105 is initially determined that the number of times of writing RFID data is not “1” (N in step S105). . As a result, the process returns to the printing operation in step S102.

  If the CPU 202 determines that the first sensor 121a is located at the RFID data writing position (Y in step S104), the CPU 202 proceeds to the process in step S108 (N in step S101). Since the initial value of the RFID data write success flag is “0”, the determination process in step S106 is initially determined that the initial value of the RFID data write success flag is not “1”, and the process of step S108 is performed. There is a transition (N in step S106).

  The processing in step S108 is RFID data writing processing. That is, the CPU 202 drives and controls the wireless reader / writer 109 and executes processing for writing RFID data to the IC chip 119 of the IC tag 118. Then, the CPU 202 increments a counter for counting the number of times of writing RFID data set in the work area of the SRAM 203, and sets the value to “1” (step S109).

  Thereafter, the CPU 202 determines whether or not the RFID data has been successfully written (step S110). This process is performed by a confirmation signal transmitted from the IC chip 119 during short-range wireless communication with the IC tag 118. If the CPU 202 determines that the writing of the RFID data has succeeded (Y in step S110), the CPU 202 sets the RFID data writing success flag generated in the work area of the SRAM 203 to “1” (step S111), and the printing ends. It is determined whether or not (step S112). On the other hand, if it is not determined that the writing of the RFID data is successful (N in step S110), the RFID data writing success flag generated in the work area of the SRAM 203 is not set to “1”. It is determined whether or not printing is complete (step S112). As a result, the RFID data write success flag remains NULL data. If it is determined in step S112 that printing has ended, the process proceeds to step S113 (Y in step S112). If it is determined that printing has not ended, the process returns to the printing operation in step S102 (step S102). N) of S112.

  When the process returns to the printing operation of step S102 in the process of step S112 (N of step S112), the first RFID data writing process is executed in a state where the first sensor 121a is positioned at the position of the antenna 117. In this stage (see Y in step S104, step S108), the number of times of writing the RFID data set in step S109 is “1”. Therefore, the CPU 202 determines that the number of times of writing the RFID data is not “2” in the determination process in step S103 (N in step S103).

  At this time, the first sensor 121a included in the tag antenna 120 of the IC tag 118 is transported to the RFID data writing position and then passes through the RFID data writing position. Therefore, in the subsequent determination processing in step S104, since the first sensor 121a included in the tag antenna 120 has already passed the RFID data write position, the first sensor 121a included in the tag antenna 120 is wireless. The reader / writer 109 is determined not to be located at the position of the antenna 117 (N in step S104), and in the subsequent determination process in step S105, it is determined that the count value of the number of times of writing the RFID data is “1” (in step S105). Y), the process proceeds to step S106.

  In step S106, it is determined whether or not the value of the successful writing flag of the RFID data prepared in the work area of the SRAM 203 is “1”. If it is determined that the value of the RFID data write success flag is “1” (Y in step S106), since the RFID data has already been successfully written, the print end determination process in step S112 described later is performed. Transition. On the other hand, when it is determined that the value of the RFID data write success flag is not “1” (N in step S106), the process proceeds to the determination process in step S107.

  In step S107, it is determined whether or not the second sensor 121b included in the tag antenna 120 of the IC tag 118 is positioned at the position of the antenna 117 of the wireless reader / writer 109, which is the RFID data writing position. This determination is based on distance data, that is, data that specifies the distance (distance X) between the first and second sensing parts 121a and 121b and the output value of the sensor S that detects the position of the label 101b. It is done by referring to.

  When the CPU 202 determines that the second sensor 121b is not located at the RFID data writing position (N in step S107), the CPU 202 returns to the printing operation in step S102, and N in step S103 and N in step S104. The determination process of Y in step S105 and N in step S106 is repeated until it is determined that the second sensor 121b is located at the RFID data write position.

  When the second sensor 121b included in the tag antenna 120 of the IC tag 118 is transported to the position of the antenna 117 of the wireless reader / writer 109, which is the RFID data writing position, the CPU 202 detects the second sensitivity of the tag antenna 120. It is determined that the sensing unit 121b is located at the RFID data writing position (Y in step S107). In this case, the process proceeds to step S108, and the RFID data writing process is executed. That is, the CPU 202 drives and controls the wireless reader / writer 109 and executes processing for writing RFID data to the IC chip 119 of the IC tag 118. Then, the CPU 202 increments a counter that counts the number of times of writing RFID data set in the work area of the SRAM 203, and sets the value to “2” (step S109).

  Thereafter, the CPU 202 determines whether or not the RFID data has been successfully written (step S110). If the CPU 202 determines that the writing of the RFID data has succeeded (Y in step S110), the CPU 202 sets the RFID data writing success flag generated in the work area of the SRAM 203 to “1” (step S111), and the printing ends. It is determined whether or not (step S112). On the other hand, if it is not determined that the writing of the RFID data is successful (N in step S110), the RFID data writing success flag generated in the work area of the SRAM 203 is not set to “1”. It is determined whether or not printing is complete (step S112). If it is determined in step S112 that printing has ended, the process proceeds to step S113 (Y in step S112). If it is determined that printing has not ended, the process returns to the printing operation in step S102 (in step S112). N).

  By the processing so far, the RFID data writing processing for the IC chip 119 of the IC tag 118 has been completed. At this time, the RFID data writing process at a position where the first sensor 121a of the tag antenna 120 of the IC tag 118 and the antenna 117 of the wireless reader / writer 109 face each other. RFID data writing processing is performed at a position where the second sensor 121b of the tag antenna 120 and the antenna 117 of the wireless reader / writer 109 face each other. That is, in the CPU 202, the sensor units 121 (the first sensor unit 121a and the second sensor unit 121b) arranged at two locations according to the distance data stored in the SRAM 203 serving as a storage unit are the antennas 117. The wireless reader / writer 109 is driven and controlled at the determined timing, and the function of writing RFID data to the IC tag 118 is executed. As a result, when the RFID data write process is successful, the write success flag is set to “1”, and when the RFID data write process is not successful, the write success flag is set to “1”. However, it remains NULL data (see Step S110 and Step S111). Therefore, if it is determined in step S112 that printing has ended (Y in step S112), if the write success flag is set to “1” (Y in step S113), RAM clear processing is executed (step S114). The printing and data writing process is finished as it is. On the other hand, when “1” is not set in the write success flag (N in step S113), error processing is executed (step S115), RAM clear processing is executed (step S114), and thereafter The printing and data writing process ends.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the RFID data writing process is performed at the position where the first sensor 121a of the tag antenna 120 of the IC tag 118 and the antenna 117 of the wireless reader / writer 109 face each other. If this is unsuccessful, the RFID data writing process is executed at a position where the second sensor 121b of the tag antenna 120 of the IC tag 118 and the antenna 117 of the wireless reader / writer 109 face each other. As a result, opportunities for data writing to the IC tag 118 can be increased. Therefore, printing by the printing unit 108 and writing of RFID data by the wireless reader / writer 109 can be performed while the label sheet 101 is conveyed. In this case, printing on the label 101b attached to the label sheet 101 and printing are performed. Processing for writing data to the IC tag 118 embedded in the label 101b can be accelerated.

  Next, another embodiment of the thermal printer 102 will be described with reference to FIG. The same parts as those in the embodiment described with reference to FIGS.

  5A is a front view and FIG. 5B is a side view showing the positional relationship between the tag antenna 120 of the IC tag 118 and the antenna 117 of the wireless reader / writer 109. The difference between the present embodiment and the embodiment described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4 is the arrangement shape of the antenna 117. That is, the antenna 117 of the wireless reader / writer 109 is formed so as to be long in the direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the label 101b (indicated by an arrow in FIG. 2) in the embodiment described with reference to FIGS. On the other hand, in this embodiment, the label 101b is formed so as to be long in the conveyance direction (indicated by an arrow in FIG. 5). For example, the length of the antenna 117 is longer than the entire length of the tag antenna 120.

  In the embodiment described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4 as the printing and data writing processing, the first sensor 121 a included in the tag antenna 120 of the IC tag 118 and the antenna 117 of the wireless reader / writer 109 face each other. The RFID data writing process is executed at the position, and if this fails, the RFID data is read at the position where the second sensor 121b of the tag antenna 120 of the IC tag 118 and the antenna 117 of the wireless reader / writer 109 face each other. Execute the write process. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the RFID data write process may be executed a plurality of times according to the success or failure of the RFID data write, or it may not be so. In other words, in the present embodiment, the antenna 117 is formed so as to be long in the conveyance direction of the label 101b (indicated by the arrow in FIG. 5), and thus structurally increases the chance of data writing to the IC tag 118. be able to. Therefore, printing by the printing unit 108 and writing of RFID data by the wireless reader / writer 109 can be performed while the label sheet 101 is conveyed. In this case, printing on the label 101b attached to the label sheet 101 and printing are performed. Processing for writing data to the IC tag 118 embedded in the label 101b can be accelerated.

1 is a schematic longitudinal side view of a printer showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5A is a front view and FIG. 5B is a side view showing a positional relationship between a tag antenna of an IC tag and an antenna of a wireless reader / writer. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a printer. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a printing and data writing process. As another embodiment, (a) is a front view and (b) is a side view showing the positional relationship between a tag antenna of an IC tag and an antenna of a wireless reader / writer.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101b ... Label (printing medium), 105 ... Guide route, 107 ... Paper conveyance part (medium conveyance part), 108 ... Printing part, 109 ... Wireless reader / writer, 117 ... Antenna, 118 ... IC tag, 120 ... Tag antenna, 121 ... Sensitive section, 121a... First sensing section (sensing section), 121b... Second sensing section (sensing section), 203... SRAM (storage section)

Claims (4)

A medium transport unit that guides and transports a print medium having an IC tag capable of reading and writing data wirelessly and having a print surface formed on one surface along a predetermined guide path;
A printing unit for printing on the printing medium in the guide path;
In the process in which the print medium is guided and transported along the guide path, the tag antenna of the IC tag provided on the print medium has two locations on the upstream side and the downstream side in the guide transport direction of the print medium. A wireless reader / writer that includes an antenna at a position where sensitive portions having higher sensitivity than other arranged parts sequentially face each other, and performs reading and writing of data with respect to the IC tag by wireless data communication between the antenna and the tag antenna When,
Means for storing the distance data between the sensing parts arranged at the two locations, the print data and the data to be written to the IC tag in the storage unit;
Means for driving the printing unit to perform printing in accordance with the printing data stored in the storage unit on the printing surface of the printing medium;
Means for determining the timing at which the sensing units arranged at the two locations face the antenna according to the distance data stored in the storage unit;
Means for driving and controlling the wireless reader / writer at the determined timing, and writing the data stored in the storage unit to the IC tag;
Printer with. The tag antenna position data is also stored in the storage unit,
Determining the timing at which the sensor units arranged at the two locations face the antenna according to the position data and distance data stored in the storage unit;
The printer according to claim 1. In the case where writing of data to the IC tag is successful at a position where the sensor unit located on the downstream side in the guide conveyance direction of the print medium of the tag antenna faces the antenna of the wireless reader / writer, Do not write data to the IC tag at a position where the sensing unit located on the upstream side in the guide conveyance direction of the print medium faces the antenna of the wireless reader / writer,
The printer according to claim 1 or 2. A medium transport unit that guides and transports a print medium having an IC tag capable of reading and writing data wirelessly and having a print surface formed on one surface along a predetermined guide path;
A printing unit for printing on the printing medium in the guide path;
In the process in which the print medium is guided and transported along the guide path, the tag antenna of the IC tag provided on the print medium has two locations on the upstream side and the downstream side in the guide transport direction of the print medium. An antenna having a length where the sensitive portions face each other at a position where the sensitive portions having higher sensitivity than other arranged portions face each other, and the IC is connected by wireless data communication between the antenna and the tag antenna. A wireless reader / writer that reads and writes data to the tag;
Means for storing print data and data to be written to the IC tag in a storage unit;
Means for driving the printing unit to perform printing in accordance with the printing data stored in the storage unit on the printing surface of the printing medium;
Means for driving the wireless reader / writer to write data stored in the storage unit to the IC tag;
Printer with.

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