JP2011073851A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer capable of performing printing for various kinds of printing media with excellent productivity. <P>SOLUTION: This printer is capable of performing printing for a plate having a flat surface (a first printing medium) and a plate P2 (a second printing medium) having an unevenness part. When the plate having the flat surface (the first printing medium) is conveyed, the plate having the flat surface (the first printing medium) is conveyed by being nipped by a pair of conveying rollers 23 provided in a conveying path and is printed. When the plate P2 is conveyed, the plate P2 is conveyed by setting a conveying belt 10 constituted to be attachable/detachable to/from the conveying path and is printed. The conveying belt 10 includes a mounting part 40 for mounting the plate P2. The mounting part 40 includes recessed parts to which the projecting parts of the plate P2 are engaged and a bottom surface supporting part for supporting a bottom surface between the projecting parts of the plate P2. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, and more particularly to a printing apparatus capable of printing on a surface of a first printing medium having a flat surface and a second printing medium having a concavo-convex portion.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, printing apparatuses that print various information such as images and characters on a plate such as a card-like recording medium are known. In this type of printing apparatus, there is disclosed a printing apparatus that supports and conveys a plate having no protrusions (no unevenness) using a dedicated conveyance tray (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  In this printing apparatus, a print head is provided, a platen roller is provided to face the print head, and a print unit is configured by the print head and the platen roller. On both sides (upstream and downstream) of the printing unit, a conveyance unit composed of a pair of conveyance rollers is arranged, and a conveyance tray that supports the plate is conveyed to the printing unit by the conveyance unit, where the plate After the image is formed (printed), the sheet is further conveyed, and the plate is automatically separated from the conveyance tray and discharged. There is also known a printing apparatus that uses a pair of conveyance rollers to nip and convey a plate (card) without projections and performs a printing process without using a dedicated conveyance tray (for example, see Patent Document 2).

  On the other hand, when printing processing is performed on a plate having protrusions (with unevenness), the plates are manually set (placed) one by one on a dedicated transport tray different from the transport tray described above, and the printing process is performed. And then manually removed. In addition, when a plate having protrusions is printed by being conveyed by niping the plate with a pair of conveying rollers as disclosed in Patent Document 2, a uniform pressing force is applied to the entire plate during printing. It was difficult because it was not possible.

Patent 3892287 JP 2008-179088 A

  As described above, in a printing apparatus that prints a plate, printing must be performed on various types of print media. However, when printing is performed on a plate having protrusions, the plate is placed on a dedicated transport tray. Since each sheet was manually set and removed manually after the printing process was completed, there was a problem that productivity was poor and a person had to always operate.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus that can print on a variety of print media and has high productivity.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is configured to be able to print on a first print medium having a flat surface and a second print medium having a concavo-convex portion. When transporting the first print medium, the first print medium is nipped and transported by a pair of transport rollers provided in the transport path to perform printing, and when transporting the second print medium, the transport path is used. On the other hand, a transport belt configured to be detachable is set, and the second print medium is transported to perform printing. The conveyor belt is provided with a placement portion for placing the second print medium. The placement portion includes a concave portion where the convex portion of the second print medium is engaged and a convex portion of the second print medium. It has the bottom face support part which supports the bottom face between parts.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to convey and print on various types of plates, and for the second print medium having an uneven portion, the second print medium is supplied, conveyed and printed by using the conveyor belt. The effect that productivity improves compared with the past can be acquired.

1 is an external perspective view of a printer according to an embodiment to which the present invention is applicable. 1 is an external perspective view of a printer according to an embodiment to which the present invention is applicable. It is a front sectional view of the printer of the embodiment. It is a front sectional view of the printer of an embodiment, and shows the state where a conveyance belt was set. It is a figure which shows the detail of a conveyance belt. It is the elements on larger scale which show the mounting part of a conveyance belt. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a second print medium is set on a conveyance belt. FIG. 6 is a partial enlarged view showing a placement unit in a state where a second print medium is set on a conveyance belt. 1 shows a plate (second printing medium) having an uneven portion, (A) is an external perspective view of the surface side of the plate, (B) is an external perspective view of the bottom side of the plate, and (C) is arranged in a large number on the plate. FIG. (A) is a side view showing the relationship between a binding band bound to an electric wire and the chip, (B) is a plan view of the binding band, and (C) is printed and fitted to the binding band. FIG. It is a front view which shows typically conveyance / printing state of a flat-shaped plate (1st printing medium), (A) is the state in which the plate was set, (B) is the state which is performing printing processing to the plate , (C) shows a state where the plate is discharged. It is a front view which shows typically conveyance / printing state of the plate (2nd printing medium) which has an uneven | corrugated | grooved part, (A) is the state in which the plate was set, (B) is performing the printing process to a plate The state (C) shows a state where the plate is discharged. The front view which shows typically the printing state of a roll sheet (1st printing medium).

Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a printer that prints characters and symbols on a plate as a printing medium will be described with reference to the drawings.
(Constitution)
<Printer>
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the printer 1 of the present embodiment is provided with a printing unit 20 having a print head 21 to be described later, and the cover 2a is used except when it is necessary to replace the printing ribbon. Covered. The cover 2a is engaged with the main body of the printer 1 so as to open by flipping up from the front to the rear.

When feeding the flat plate P1 into the printing unit 20, the pair of guide rails 8 and the plate P1 parallel to the printing direction are arranged one by one so that the plate P1 is not displaced laterally with respect to the printing direction. An isolation gate 9 is provided for isolation. The separation gate 9 is covered with a cover 2a, and the guide rail 8 is covered with a lid 2b.

The lid 2b is engaged with the main body of the printing press 1 so as to swing and open in a direction away from the printing unit along the printing direction. An operation display unit 6 having an input button for operating the printer 1 and an LCD for displaying the status of the printer 1 and the like is disposed on the front of the printer 1.

  The printer 1 has an interface, and can be connected to a host device such as a personal computer (hereinafter abbreviated as a PC) 3 via a communication code 4. For this reason, the operator can operate from the PC 3 in place of the input from the input button of the operation display unit 6, and further, data stored in the external storage device by mounting an external storage device such as a RAM card. Can also be used.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the printer 1 according to the present embodiment is roughly divided into the operation display unit 6 described above, a printing unit 20 that prints desired characters and symbols on the plate, a conveyance unit that conveys the plate P1, and a conveyance path 15. The plate supply unit 5 that stacks and holds the plate group, the control unit that controls each unit, and a housing that houses them.

  The printing unit 20 is disposed at substantially the center of the printer 1 and selectively heats a large number of heating elements arranged in a matrix via an ink ribbon R interposed between the printing unit 20 and the plate. The print head 21 is configured to include a bottom surface side of the plate P1 and a platen roller 22 that supports the conveyance belt 10 described later.

  The conveyance roller pair 23 provided in the conveyance path 15 includes a driving roller 23a disposed on the lower side and a driven roller 23b disposed on the upper side. The driving roller 23a, the pickup roller 24, and the platen A rotational driving force from the stepping motor M is transmitted to the roller 22 via a coupling mechanism (not shown). Here, the pickup roller 24 is configured to be able to switch drive transmission by an electromagnetic clutch (not shown). Therefore, when the plate P1 is supplied, the rotation of the pickup roller 24 is stopped by the electromagnetic clutch. A position sensor 27 that includes a light emitting element and a light receiving element and grasps the position of the plate P1 is disposed between the roller pair 23 and the printing unit 20. In this example, the position sensor 27 is constituted by a reflection-integrated sensor.

  The transport roller pair 23 is positioned at a standby position as shown in FIG. 3 in the initial state, and when the printing operation starts, the driven roller 23b of the transport roller is transported as shown in FIG. Move to position. At this time, the thickness of the printing medium is detected by a sensor (not shown), and the conveyance position of the driven roller 23b is adjusted according to the result. The print head is also positioned at the standby position shown in FIG. 3 in the initial state. However, the print head moves to the print position shown in FIG. 11B according to the thickness of the print medium, and print processing is performed on the print medium. Apply. Of the driven rollers 23b, one of the rollers disposed on the upstream side of the printing unit 20 is a cleaning roller having an adhesive surface, and removes dust from the print medium before printing.

  On the upstream side of the conveying roller pair 23, a supply unit 5 is disposed that can stack and hold a predetermined number (for example, 50) of plates P1 (see FIG. 2). The supply unit 5 includes the mounting table 16, the guide rail 8 and the separation gate 9 described above. The user places the plate P1 on the mounting table 16, guides the side surface of the plate P1 with the guide rail 8, and sets the gap of the separation gate 9 to the thickness of one plate P1 by the adjustment knob 17. An empty sensor 28 that detects the presence or absence of a plate is provided below the supply unit 5.

  Here, the printer 1 can print on the flat plate P1 as described above, but can also print on the plate P2 (FIG. 9) having a protrusion on the surface. When printing the plate P1, the plate P1 is transported and printed by the pair of transport rollers 23, and when printing the plate P2, the plate P2 is transported using a transport belt 10 to be described later (FIG. 5). 4).

<Conveyor belt and plate P2>
As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the transport belt 10 is made of a resin member, and mounting portions 40 a and 40 b (hereinafter simply referred to as a mounting portion 40) on which the plate P <b> 2 is mounted at two locations. have. The mounting portion 40 is a bottom surface supporting portion that supports the bottom surface between the groove 13 and the concave portion 14 that engage with the convex portion of the plate P2 (a leg portion 32B, a protrusion 33, which will be described later), and the convex portion of the plate P2. 12.

  As shown in FIG. 9A, in this example, the plate P2 is disposed at substantially equal intervals in a direction intersecting with the longitudinal direction of the frame 31 and the rectangular frame 31 constituting the outer edge of the plate P2. A plurality of (four in this example) ribs 34 and a plurality of (eight in this example, eight) tips 32 extending through the weakened portion along the longitudinal direction of the ribs 34; The synthetic resin such as vinyl chloride is used as the material. Therefore, a large number (32 in this example) of chips 32 are arranged on the plate P2, and can be printed on the front surface, and has at least an uneven portion on the back surface.

  As shown in FIG. 9C, the chip 32 includes a plate-like portion 32A having a substantially horizontal surface and leg portions 32B projecting downward with a substantially L-shaped cross section. For example, as shown in FIG. 10, such a chip 32 is fitted into a binding band 36 that is bound to an electric wire 35, thereby preventing erroneous wiring of the electric wire used for the switchboard. That is, as shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B, the binding band 36 includes a band 36B bound to the electric wire 35 and a chip receiver 36A fixed to the band 36B. Is formed with a fitting groove 36C into which the leg portion 32B of the chip 32 can be fitted. For this reason, as shown in FIGS. 10A and 10C, after characters, symbols and the like are printed on the surface of the plate-like portion 32A of the chip 32 by the printer 1, the chip 32 is separated from the plate 30, and the binding band 36 is obtained. The electric wire 35 can be identified by being fitted to the chip receiver 36A.

  As shown in FIG. 9B, the leg portion 32B of the chip 32 protrudes from the bottom surface (back surface) side of the plate P2, and the projection 33 for supplying the plate P2 is provided at a predetermined position of the frame body 31. Projected. Accordingly, the plate P2 has an uneven portion.

  7 and 8 show a state in which the plate P2 is set on the mounting portion 40. FIG. In this state, the leg 32B of the chip 32 of the plate P2 is engaged with the groove 13, and the protrusion 33 is engaged with the recess 14. In addition, an opening 19 that transmits light from the light emitting element of the position sensor 27 is formed at the tip of the mounting portion 40. For this reason, the CPU of the printer 1 monitors the output of the position sensor 27 via the sensor control unit, so that the conveyance belt 10 that supports the plate P2 is conveyed to the position of the position sensor 27 by the conveyance unit of the printer 1. Thus, it is possible to cue the plate P2 for printing by the printing unit 20.

  In this example, the placement units 40 are arranged at two locations on the conveyor belt 10 and are arranged to supply the next plate P2 after the first plate P2 is printed and discharged. ing. That is, when the plate P2 placed on the first placement unit 40a is discharged, the tip of the second placement unit 40b still reaches the protrusion 33 on the tip side of the plate P2 set on the supply unit 5. (See FIG. 12C). In other words, the distance from the rear end of the first placement unit 40a to the front end of the second placement unit 40b is such that the discharge unit 7 (the plate P2 and the conveyor belt 10 are separated from the front end (discharge unit side) of the supply unit 5. Is set to be longer than the distance to the point.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the conveyance belt 10 is configured to be detachable from the conveyance path 15 of the printer 1. The transport belt 10 is configured in an endless belt shape by being connected by the connecting portion 11, but the connection of the connecting portion 11 can be released. When the conveyance belt 10 is set from the state of FIG. 3, the connection of the conveyance belt 10 is released, and the conveyance belt 10 is passed along the upper side of the conveyance path 15 between the supply unit 5 and the guide rail 8. When the leading end of the conveyance belt 10 reaches the discharge unit 7, the conveyance belt 10 is passed along the lower side of the conveyance path 15 (lower side of the conveyance roller 23). And if the front-end | tip reaches | attains the supply part 5 side, the conveyance belt 10 will be connected by the connection part 11 (state of FIG. 4). The conveyance belt 10 is nipped by the conveyance roller pair 32 and is driven by the rotation of the conveyance roller 32a.

  When setting the plate P <b> 2 in the supply unit 5, the plate P <b> 2 is loaded between the guide rails 8 and on the conveyor belt 10 with the conveyor belt 10 being set. At this time, the rear end support part 18 which supports the rear end part (rear end of the frame 31) of the plate P2 provided inside the guide rail is caused (state of FIG. 3). The rear end support portion 18 is configured to be housed in the guide rail except when the plate P2 is set. Therefore, when the plate P2 is set in the supply unit 5, the front end portion of the plate P2 comes into contact with the sliding contact portion 41 of the transport belt 10, and the rear end portion is supported by the rear end support portion 18, so that the plate P2 is supported by the transport belt. 10 is held in a tilted state.

  The control unit includes a CPU that functions as a central processing unit at high speed, a ROM that stores the basic control program and program data of the printer 1, a RAM that functions as a work area of the CPU, and the like. Connected by internal bus.

  An external bus is connected to the control unit. The external bus controls information from various sensors including an operation display control unit that controls the operation display unit 6, a head control unit that controls the print head 21, a driver that controls the operation of the stepping motor M, and the position sensor 27. A sensor control unit is connected. The external bus is connected to the above-described interface for connection with the host device and a buffer for temporarily storing data from the host device.

(Printing operation of plate P1)
Next, the operation of the printer 1 of this embodiment will be described. First, when the printer 1 is powered on, the program and program data stored in the ROM are expanded in the RAM, and it is confirmed whether each unit described above is at a predetermined home position via various sensors. If not, after performing an initial setting process including a return process for moving to the home position and a confirmation process for confirming whether or not the plate P1 is stored in the supply unit 5, the state of the printer 1 is displayed on the operation display unit 6. Is displayed and the following routine is executed.

  When the type of the plate to be printed from the PC 3 is set to the plate P1, the CPU monitors the output from the empty sensor 28 via the sensor control unit and determines whether the plate P1 is set in the supply unit 5, When a negative determination is made, the fact is displayed on the operation display unit 6 and waits until the setting is made. When an affirmative determination is made (FIG. 11A), the stepping motor M is driven via a driver, and the pickup roller 24 and The drive roller 23a is rotated. Thus, the lowermost plate P1 of the stacked plate group is supplied by the pickup roller 24, and is separated one by one by the separation gate 9 at that time. At this time, the drive to the pickup roller 24 is not transmitted by the electromagnetic clutch. When one plate P1 is supplied, the driven roller 23b of the transport roller pair 23 is moved from the standby position shown in FIG. 3 to the transport position to detect the thickness of the plate P1, and the transport position of the follower roller 23b. The printing position of the print head 21 is determined.

  Thereafter, the supplied plate P <b> 1 is conveyed toward the printing unit 20 by the conveyance roller pair 23. When the plate P1 passes the position sensor 27, the plate P1 is cued with respect to the print head 21. At this time, the CPU moves the print head 21 from the retracted position to the previously set print position by pressing a moving mechanism (not shown) (presses the plate P1 with the print head 21), and stores it in the buffer in the head controller. The printed data is converted into thermal energy and output to the print head 21 (FIG. 11B). The plate P1 for which the printing process has been completed is discharged from the discharge port 7 (FIG. 11C). When the discharging operation of the plate P1 is completed, the CPU stops the rotation driving of the stepping motor M, ends one routine, and waits until receiving a new instruction. When all the printing is completed, the driving of the stepping motor M is stopped, and the transport roller 23 and the print head 21 are moved to the standby position to complete the operation.

(Printing operation of plate P2)
Next, the printing operation for the plate P2 will be described. Since the initial operation when the printer 1 is turned on has been described above, a description thereof will be omitted. When the type of the plate to be printed by the PC 3 is set to the plate P2, the CPU monitors the output from the belt presence sensor 29 via the sensor control unit, determines whether the conveyor belt 10 is set, and makes a negative determination. In this case, a message to that effect is displayed on the operation display unit 6 and the apparatus waits until the conveyor belt 10 is set. If the determination is affirmative, the output from the empty sensor 28 is further monitored and the plate P2 is set in the supply unit 5. If a negative determination is made, a message to that effect is displayed on the operation display unit 6 and the process waits until the plate P2 is set. If an affirmative determination is made (FIG. 12A), the stepping motor M is connected via a driver. And the conveying belt 10 is driven by the rotation of the conveying roller pair 23.

  When the placement unit 40 of the transport belt 10 passes through the supply unit 5, the lowermost plate P <b> 2 of the plate in which the protrusions 33 on the front end side of the plate P <b> 2 are engaged with the recesses 14 of the transport belt 10 and stacked. Supplied to be withdrawn. Note that, until the concave portion 14 of the conveyor belt 10 arrives, the protrusion 33 is in sliding contact with the conveyor belt 10 (but is in contact with the surface of the conveyor belt 10). At that time, the second plate P2 is not pulled out from the lowermost stage by the separation gate 9, and only the lowermost plate P2 is supplied. At this time, the lowermost plate P2 is disengaged from the rear end support portion 18 that supports the rear end side of the plate P2, and all the convex portions (leg portions 32B, projections 33) are conveyed to the conveyor belt 10 (mounting portion). 40), and the plate P2 is supported by the bottom surface support portion 12 of the mounting portion 40. When the plate P2 is supplied, the driven roller 23b of the conveying roller pair 23 is moved from the standby position shown in FIG. 4 to the conveying position to detect the thickness of the conveying belt 10 and the plate P2, and the driven roller 23b The transport position and the print position of the print head 21 are determined.

  Thereafter, the plate P <b> 2 set on the placement unit 40 of the conveyance belt 10 is conveyed to the printing unit 20 by the movement of the conveyance belt 10. When the opening 19 of the conveyor belt 10 passes through the position sensor 27 and the front end of the plate P2 is detected, the plate P2 is cued with respect to the print head 21. At this time, the CPU moves the print head 21 from the retracted position to the previously set print position by pressing a moving mechanism (not shown) (presses the plate P2 and the conveyance belt 10 with the print head 21), and sends it to the head controller. The print data stored in the buffer is converted into thermal energy and output to the print head 21 (FIG. 12B). The plate P1 for which the printing process has been completed is discharged from the discharge port 7 (FIG. 12C). When the discharging operation of the plate P1 is completed, the CPU stops the rotation driving of the stepping motor M, ends one routine, and waits until receiving a new instruction.

  When the plate P2 is continuously printed, the next plate P2 is supplied by the other placement unit 40 immediately after the first plate P2 is discharged. Since the subsequent operation is as described above, the description thereof is omitted. When all the printing is completed, the driving of the stepping motor M is stopped, and the transport roller 23 and the print head 21 are moved to the standby position to complete the operation.

(Effects etc.)
Next, functions and effects of the printer 1 of the present embodiment will be described.

  The printer 1 of the present embodiment is configured to be able to print on a plate P1 having a flat surface and a plate P2 having an uneven portion on the surface. When the plate P1 is transported, the plate P1 is nipped and transported by a pair of transport rollers 23 provided in the transport path 15, and printing is performed. When the plate P2 is transported, the transport belt 10 is set in the transport path 15. Printing is performed by conveying the plate P2. The conveyor belt 10 is provided with a mounting portion 40 for mounting the plate P2. The mounting portion 40 has a groove 13 and a concave portion 14 with which convex portions (leg portions 32B, projections 33) of the plate P2 are engaged. And a bottom surface support portion 12 that supports the bottom surface between the convex portions of the plate P2. As a result, it is possible to convey and print on various types of plates, and for the plate P2 having an uneven portion, the plate P2 is supplied, conveyed and printed using the conveyor belt 10, so that productivity is improved as compared with the conventional case. did.

  In the printer 1 of the present embodiment, when printing processing is performed on a print medium (plate), the print medium is pressed between the print head 21 and the platen roller 22 via an ink ribbon for printing. Therefore, when pressure is directly applied to the plate P2 having the concavo-convex portion, a uniform pressure cannot be applied to the plate P2 due to the influence of the convex portion. Since the mounting portion 40 of the conveyance belt 10 of the present embodiment is provided with the groove 13 and the concave portion 14 with which the convex portion engages and the bottom surface support portion 12 that supports the bottom surface of the convex portion of the plate P2, the mounting portion 40 is mounted. In addition to the effect that the plate P2 is stabilized by the portion 40, it is possible to apply a uniform pressing force to the plate P2, thereby improving the quality of printing.

  Further, the transport belt 10 moves in a state where the projections 33 of the plate P2 are engaged with the recesses of the placement unit 40, so that the plates P2 stacked on the supply unit 5 can be supplied one by one. Therefore, for example, the conveyance of the plate P2 is stabilized because there is no fear that the conveyance roller and the plate slip during the conveyance of the roller. The guide rail 8 is provided with a rear end support portion 18 that supports the rear end of the plate P2. Thus, when the plate P2 is set in the supply unit 5, the front end of the plate P2 comes into contact with the transport belt 10 and the rear end is supported by the rear end support 18 so that the plate P2 is inclined with respect to the transport belt 10. It is held in the state. Therefore, since the projection 33 on the rear end side of the plate P2 is not initially engaged with the concave portion 14 of the transport belt, the convex portion of the plate P2 is paired with the concave portion of the transport belt 10 (mounting portion 40). 1 can be engaged. In addition, when the protrusion 33 of the plate P2 is formed in a rib shape along the transport direction of the plate P2, it is not necessary to support the rear end of the plate P2.

  Further, the transport belt 10 of this embodiment is provided with two mounting portions 40 (mounting portions 40a and 40b), and the first plate P2 is printed and discharged (separated from the transport belt 10). After that, the mounting portion 40 is arranged so that the next plate P2 is supplied. Thereby, productivity is improved when the plate P2 is continuously printed as compared with the case where the placement unit 40 is provided at one place. In addition, if the next plate P2 is supplied before the plate P2 being printed is discharged, if all the printing processes are finished with the currently printed plate P2, a plate P2 that is not scheduled to be printed is selected. I will supply. If the power is turned off in this state, the pre-printing plate P2 remains in the transport path 15. However, since the transport belt 10 of the printer 1 of the present embodiment has the mounting portions 40a and 40b arranged so as not to supply the next plate P2 before the plate P2 being printed is discharged, such a configuration is adopted. No problem will occur. Note that the placement portion does not need to be provided at two locations, and the placement portion may be provided at any number of locations as long as the next plate is supplied after the previous plate is separated from the transport belt 10.

  Further, the conveyance belt 10 is driven while being nipped by a conveyance roller pair 23 for conveying the flat plate P1. Accordingly, the driving does not change when conveying various types of printing media (there is no need to prepare a driving dedicated to the conveying belt 10), and thus the cost can be reduced. If the number of parts is not considered, the conveyance belt 10 may be driven using a drive different from the conveyance roller pair 23.

  In the present embodiment, an example in which a card-like cut plate is used as the flat plate P1 is shown, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a long plate or a roll sheet (tape) S as shown in FIG. 13 is set in the supply unit 5, and the roll sheet is nipped and conveyed by the conveyance roller pair 23, and printing processing is performed by the printing unit 20. May be. In that case, the printed roll sheet is discharged from the discharge unit 7 and is cut by a cutter unit (not shown).

  The present invention provides a printing apparatus that can print on various types of printing media and has high productivity, and thus contributes to the manufacture and sale of the printing apparatus, and thus has industrial applicability.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printer 5 Supply part 7 Discharge part 8 Guide rail 9 Separation gate 10 Conveying belt 12 Bottom surface support part 13 Groove (a part of recessed part)
14 Recess (part of recess)
15 Transport Path 20 Printing Section 21 Print Head 22 Platen Roller 23 Conveying Roller Pair 32B Leg (Part of Unevenness)
33 Protrusions (part of irregularities)
40 Placement part M Stepping motor (part of drive means)
P1 Flat plate (first print medium)
P2 Plate with irregularities (second print medium)
S roll sheet (first print medium)

Claims (4)

In a printing apparatus capable of printing on the surface of a first print medium having a flat surface and a second print medium having an uneven portion,
A printing unit having a print head and a platen, and performing printing on the surfaces of the first print medium and the second print medium;
A supply unit configured to stack and hold the first print medium and the second print medium;
A transport path for transporting the first print medium and the second print medium;
A discharge unit for discharging the first print medium and the second print medium;
A transport roller provided in the transport path for transporting the first print medium;
A transport belt configured to be detachable from the transport path and transporting the second print medium;
Drive means for driving the transport roller and the transport belt,
The conveyor belt has a placement portion for placing the second print medium, the placement portion includes a recess that engages with a protrusion of the second print medium, and a second print medium. A printing apparatus comprising a bottom surface support portion for supporting a bottom surface between convex portions. The apparatus further comprises a separation gate for separating the second print media one by one, and the conveyor belt includes the placing portion, and a sliding contact portion that is in sliding contact with the convex portion of the second print medium in the supply portion. The convex portion of the second print medium is in sliding contact with the sliding contact portion until the placement portion is positioned at the supply portion, and when the placement portion is positioned at the supply portion, The concave portion of the mounting portion engages with the convex portion of the second print medium, and in this state, the transport belt passes through the separation gate, so that the second print medium is fed from the supply portion one by one. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the printing apparatus is supplied.   The conveyor belt has at least a first placement portion and a second placement portion, and the second print medium placed on the first placement portion is removed from the first placement portion. After the separation, the first placement portion and the second placement portion so that the convex portion of the second print medium to be printed next is engaged with the concave portion of the second placement portion. The printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the printing apparatus is arranged. The transport roller is composed of a pair of transport rollers that nip and transport the first print medium,
The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conveyance belt is nipped by the conveyance roller pair and is driven by rotation of the conveyance roller.

Images