JP2012196794A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer capable of high speed printing improving throughput by shortening the time required for printing.SOLUTION: The printer includes: a printing section 3; a paper feeding section 1 holding a recording medium Pa so as to enable supply of the recording medium Pa continuing along a predetermined continuous direction X; a conveying means 2 for conveying the recording medium Pa; and a reversing means 7 for reversing the front side and rear side of the recording medium Pa supplied from the paper feeding section 1 to the printing section 3 via the conveying means 2. When printing a plurality of sets of one set of picture planes which are printed on a first surface f and a second surface b respectively to form the front side and rear side, a plurality of sets of picture planes g1, g3, g5 to print on the first surface f are arranged along the continuous direction X to continuously print while conveying the recording medium Pa in such a manner that the printing section 3 and the first surface f are opposed, the recording medium Pa is reversed by the reversing means 7, and a plurality of sets of picture planes g2, g4, g6 to print on the second surface b are arranged to continuously print along the continuous direction X so as to form the front side and rear side of the picture planes g1, g3, g5 printed on the first surface f while conveying the recording medium Pa in such a manner the printing section 3 and the second surface b are opposed.

Description

  The present invention relates to a printer that performs double-sided printing by reversing the front and back of a recording medium such as roll paper conveyed to a printing unit.

  As an example of a printer, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a paper feeding unit that holds a recording medium that is wound in a roll shape and continues in a predetermined continuous direction, a roller that conveys the recording medium supplied from the paper feeding unit, and the like. Transporting means, a front surface printing section and a back surface printing section for printing on the front and back surfaces of the recording medium transported by the transporting means, and a cutting means for cutting the recording medium printed on both sides, respectively. A printer is disclosed that prints on the front and back surfaces, cuts the double-sided printed recording medium with a cutting means, and discharges the cut recording media one by one. This printer is a thermal transfer type printer in which a printing unit has a thermal head and a ribbon, and the transfer of the ink or laminate material applied to the ribbon is thermally transferred to a recording medium by heating the ribbon with the thermal head.

JP 2006-347050 A

  The above printer is provided with a plurality of printing units such as a front side printing unit and a back side printing unit, so that the configuration is redundant and the manufacturing cost is increased, and the ribbon is exchanged for the plurality of printing units when used. Maintenance is required.

  In order to solve the problems caused by providing a plurality of such printing units, it is possible to provide a reversing means for reversing the front and back of the recording medium leading to the printing unit to enable double-sided printing with a single printing unit. It can be considered as an effective means. The following structure is mentioned as an example of the concrete structure which implement | achieves an inversion means. That is, in the case of having a paper feed unit that holds a recording medium wound in a roll shape so that the recording medium can be supplied and a conveyance path that guides the recording medium supplied from the paper supply unit to the printing unit, The configuration is such that the front and back of the recording medium from the paper feed unit to the printing unit via the conveyance path are reversed by being configured to be rotatable with respect to the conveyance path.

  In this case, when performing double-sided printing, the following series of operations can be considered as one means. That is, an operation for printing on the surface of the recording medium, and a reversing operation for turning the recording medium upside down so that the recording medium is temporarily withdrawn from the printing unit after printing on the surface and the backside of the recording medium is in contact with the printing unit. And an operation of printing on the back surface of the recording medium after the reversing operation and an operation of cutting and discharging the printed recording medium. When printing multiple sets of screens with a pair of screens printed on the front and back surfaces as a set, the above series of operations will be repeated for each set, and multiple sets of screens Although the time required for all printing is proportional to the time required for printing a set of screens, it is required to further reduce the time required for printing.

  These problems are not limited to the case where the reversing unit is configured by making the paper feeding unit rotatable as described above. For example, a plurality of conveyance paths for guiding the recording medium to a single printing unit are provided. The same can be said for other reversing means such as the one provided so that the recording medium is guided to the printing unit from two directions opposite to each other.

  The present invention has been made paying attention to such problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a printer capable of high-speed printing in which the time required for printing is shortened and the throughput is improved.

  In order to achieve this object, the present invention takes the following measures.

  That is, a printer according to the present invention includes a printing unit for printing on a first surface of a recording medium that is continuous along a predetermined continuous direction and a second surface that is the back surface of the first surface, and the recording medium. A paper supply unit that holds the paper supply unit, a conveyance unit that conveys the recording medium, and a recording medium that is supplied from the paper supply unit to the printing unit through the conveyance unit and temporarily retracted from the printing unit is supplied again to the printing unit. At this time, the recording medium once retracted from the printing unit is turned over or turned to the printing unit so that the front and back sides are switched with the case where the surface facing the printing unit is first supplied to the printing unit. A reversing means for guiding, a first surface printing operation for printing on the first surface while conveying the recording medium so that the printing unit and the first surface face each other, and after the first surface printing operation, Turn over the recording medium by reversing means A controller that performs a reversing operation and a second surface printing operation that performs printing on the second surface while conveying the recording medium so that the printing unit and the second surface face each other after the reversing operation. Thus, the control unit should print on the first side in the first side printing operation when printing a plurality of sets of screens that are printed on the first side and the second side, respectively. A plurality of sets of screens are arranged along the continuous direction for continuous printing, and a plurality of sets of screens to be printed on the second side in the second side printing operation are displayed on the first side and the front and back sides. As described above, the continuous printing is performed along the continuous direction.

  According to this configuration, when printing a plurality of sets of screens that are printed on the first surface and the second surface, respectively, the front and back surfaces are printed along the continuous direction. A series of screens are printed side by side, the front and back of the recording medium are reversed by the reversing means, and multiple sets of screens to be printed on the second side are aligned along the continuous direction so as to form the front and back sides of the screen printed on the first side. As a result, the number of inversion operations can be greatly reduced compared to the case in which the inversion operation is performed each time a set of screens is printed. Can be realized.

  As a preferred application example of the present invention, a conveyance path for guiding the recording medium supplied from the paper feeding unit to the printing unit is provided, and the paper feeding unit transfers the recording medium wound in a roll shape to a roll. It is held so that it can be paid out or wound by rotation around the central axis, and the posture of the sheet feeding unit relative to the conveyance path can be changed by configuring the entire sheet feeding unit to be rotatable with respect to the conveyance path, For example, the front and back of the recording medium from the paper feeding unit to the printing unit via the conveyance path can be reversed by changing the posture of the paper feeding unit.

  As described above, the present invention provides a plurality of sets to be printed on the first side and the second side when printing a plurality of sets of screens that are printed on the first side and the second side, respectively. Therefore, it is possible to significantly reduce the number of reversing operations to turn the recording medium over, shorten the time required for printing, and realize high-speed printing. Therefore, it is possible to provide a printer capable of high-speed printing with improved throughput.

1 is an overall configuration diagram schematically showing a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. Explanatory drawing regarding the screen printed on the 1st surface and 2nd surface of a recording medium. The figure which shows printing operation typically. The figure which shows printing operation typically. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a control processing routine executed by the printer of the present embodiment. FIG. 6 is an overall configuration diagram schematically showing a printer according to another embodiment of the present invention.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the printer according to the present embodiment includes a paper feeding unit 1 that holds a recording medium Pa such as continuous paper that is wound in a roll shape and continues along a predetermined continuous direction X, and a paper feeding unit 1. Conveying means 2 that conveys the recording medium Pa supplied from the printer, a printing unit 3 that performs printing on the recording medium Pa that is conveyed by the conveying means 2, and a cutting that cuts the recording medium Pa printed by the printing unit 3 Means 4 and a control part 5 for controlling the driving of each means and each part are provided, and a screen (printing content) made up of characters, images, etc. in accordance with a print command is displayed on the surface f of the recording medium Pa in the printing part 3. And the back surface b, respectively, the cut recording medium Pa is cut by the cutting means 4, the cut recording medium Pa is conveyed to the discharge side, and discharged to the outside from the discharge port ko formed in the housing bo. . As shown in FIG. 2, one print command may instruct to print a plurality of sets of one set of screens printed on the front surface f and the back surface b.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the paper feed unit 1 includes a shaft support unit 11 that supports a recording medium Pa that is wound in a roll shape and that is continuous along a predetermined continuous direction X, and is rotatable about an axis C <b> 1. And an auxiliary feed roller 12 for determining the feeding position of the recording medium Pa while applying tension while sandwiching Pa, and the roll-shaped recording medium Pa is rotated around the axis C1 by a power unit such as a motor (not shown). The recording medium Pa is fed out and rewound by rotating forward and backward.

  The conveying means 2 is composed of a pair of conveying rollers 21 shown in FIG. 1, a guide (not shown), etc., and rotationally drives at least one of the rollers while sandwiching the recording medium Pa between the pair of conveying rollers 21. The recording medium Pa is transported along the transport path Li toward the discharge side (the discharge port ko side formed in the housing bo).

  As shown in FIG. 1, the printing unit 3 performs printing on the front surface f and the back surface b of the recording medium Pa supplied via the transport path Li. Specifically, a ribbon roller 31 for feeding out a ribbon Rb coated with a transfer material such as a plurality of colors of ink or a transparent laminate material, a thermal head 32 provided with a heating resistor (not shown), and transported to the thermal head 32 And an ink ribbon Rb and a platen roller 33 which are disposed opposite to each other across the path Li and sandwich the recording medium Pa together with the thermal head 32. The ribbon Rb is heated by energizing the heat generating resistor of the thermal head 32 to transfer the ribbon Rb. The object is thermally transferred to the recording medium Pa, and as shown in FIG. 2, screens g1 to g8 composed of characters, images, and the like related to the print command are formed (printed) on the recording medium Pa.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the cutting means 4 is arranged along the width direction (main scanning direction) perpendicular to the discharge direction of the recording medium Pa with the fixed blade 41 and the movable blade 42 in order to discharge the recording medium Pa to the outside. Disconnect.

  The above units are arranged in the order of the printing unit 3, the cutting unit 4, and the discharge port ko along the transport path Li from the upstream side of the paper feed unit 1 toward the downstream side of the discharge port ko, and downstream of the discharge port ko. On the side, a discharge tray 6 for receiving the recording medium Pa as a discharge destination is provided.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 1, reversing means 7 for reversing the front and back of the recording medium Pa reaching the thermal head 32 is provided, and duplex printing on the recording medium Pa is enabled by the single thermal head 32. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, the paper feed unit 1 is rotatable with respect to the transport path Li by supporting the paper feed unit on the housing bo so as to be rotatable about the rotation axis Cn, and a motor (not shown). For example, as shown in FIG. 3C, the recording medium Pa is configured such that the power supply unit 1 rotates the paper supply unit 1 so that the paper supply unit 1 can take the first posture po1 or the second posture po2. The front and back of the recording medium Pa from the paper feed unit 1 to the thermal head 32 through the transport path Li is reversed by rotating the paper feed unit 1 with the front end of the recording medium retracted from the transport path Li. The reversing means 7 is realized. In other words, the reversing unit 7 faces the printing unit 3 when the recording medium Pa supplied from the paper feeding unit 1 to the printing unit 3 through the conveying unit 2 and once retracted from the printing unit 3 is supplied to the printing unit 3 again. It can also be said that the recording medium Pa once withdrawn from the printing unit is turned over so that the front and back sides are switched from the time when the surface is first supplied to the printing unit 3. Although only a single thermal head 32 is shown in the drawing, a plurality of thermal heads capable of duplex printing can be provided by the reversing means as described above.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a guide portion 8 that receives a recording medium Pa sandwiched between auxiliary feed rollers 12 and having a free tip at the upstream end of the transport path Li and draws it downstream of the transport path Li. Is provided. The guide portion 8 is formed so that the gap between the guide surfaces 81 forming a pair is widened in a trumpet shape so that the recording medium Pa with a curl is smoothly received. Of course, if the position where the recording medium Pa and the guide portion 8 meet is clear, it is not necessary to incline both of the opposing guide surfaces 81 to form a trumpet, and one of the opposing guide surfaces 81 is not required. Only the guide surface 81 may be inclined to serve as a receiving surface.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 1, a winding unit 9 capable of temporarily winding the recording medium Pa is provided, and the recording medium Pa is provided on the conveyance path Li between the thermal head 32 and the cutting unit 4. Is provided with a branching unit 90 serving as a switching unit for switching the transport destination to either the cutting unit 4 or the winding unit 9. The branching unit 90 is driven by a power unit (not shown), and the switching is controlled by the control unit 5. The take-up means 9 is mainly composed of a take-up roller 91 and rotates in accordance with the transport roller 21 constituting the transport means 2 to wind and feed out the recording medium Pa.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the control unit 5 is composed of a normal microcomputer unit having a CPU, a memory, and an interface as in a known thermal printer, and the control processing routine shown in FIG. This program is written, and when the CPU calls and executes a necessary program as appropriate, the intended transport operation and energization operation are realized in cooperation with peripheral hardware resources.

  In the above configuration, an example is given in which a set of screens that are printed on the first surface f that is the front surface f and the second surface b that is the back surface b are printed on both sides (for example, three sets) on both sides. I will explain. In this example, as shown in FIG. 2, the screens g1 and g2, the screens g3 and g4, the screens g5 and g6 are front and back, the screens g1, g3, and g5 are on the first surface f, and the other screens g2, g4, g6 is printed on the second surface b.

  In this case, in step SP1 (see FIG. 5), the control unit 5 sets the posture of the paper feeding unit 1 to the first posture po1 as shown in FIG. In order to continuously print the screens g1, g3, and g5 for the set, the region where the screens g1, g3, and g5 to be printed on the first surface f of the recording medium Pa are to be formed downstream of the thermal head 32 (discharge side) ), The recording medium Pa having a length corresponding to the number of screens to be printed on the first surface f is unwound from the paper feeding unit 1, and the leading end side of the recording medium Pa is wound around the winding means 9. In the next step SP2 (see FIG. 5), as shown in FIG. 3B, the paper is fed from the winding means 9 via the thermal head 32 so that the printing unit 3 and the first surface f face each other. Printing on the first surface f is performed while transporting the recording medium Pa in the direction toward the section 1 (first surface printing operation). In this first side printing operation, a plurality of sets of screens to be printed on the first side f are arranged along the continuous direction and continuously printed. In a specific example, as shown in FIG. 2, screens g1, g3, and g5 are sequentially formed on the first surface f.

  When the printing of a plurality of sets of screens g1, g3, and g5 to be printed on the first surface f in step SP2 (see FIG. 5) is finished, in the next step SP3, the control unit 5 as shown in FIG. In addition, the recording medium Pa is wound around the paper feeding unit 1 and the leading edge eg of the recording medium Pa is retracted from the printing unit 3 and the conveyance path Li to the paper feeding unit 1 side. Is changed from the first posture po1 to the second posture po2 by rotation (inversion operation).

  In the next step SP4 (see FIG. 5), as shown in FIG. 4D, the control unit 5 performs recording so as to continuously print a plurality of sets of screens g2, g4, and g6 to be printed on the second surface b. Of the medium Pa, the screen to be printed on the second surface b so that the area where the screens g2, g4, g6 to be printed on the second surface b are to be formed is downstream (discharge side) from the thermal head 32. The recording medium Pa having a length corresponding to the number is fed out from the paper feeding unit 1, and the leading end side of the recording medium Pa is wound around the winding means 9. In the next step SP5 (see FIG. 5), as shown in FIG. 4E, the control unit 5 passes through the thermal head 32 from the winding means 9 so that the printing unit 3 and the second surface b face each other. Then, printing is performed on the second surface b while transporting the recording medium Pa in the direction toward the paper feeding unit 1 (second surface printing operation). In this second side printing operation, a plurality of sets of screens to be printed on the second side b are continuously printed in a continuous direction so as to be in front of the corresponding screen printed on the first side f. In the specific example, as shown in FIG. 2, the screens g2, g4, and g6 are sequentially formed on the second surface b so as to face the corresponding screens g1, g3, and g5 printed on the first surface f. .

  When the printing for a plurality of sets to be printed on the second surface b in step SP5 (see FIG. 5) is completed, in the next step SP6 (see FIG. 5), the control unit 5 as shown in FIG. The conveyance destination of the branching section 90 is switched from the winding means 9 to the cutting means 4, the recording medium Pa is conveyed to the discharge side, the recording medium Pa is cut by the cutting means 4 in pairs, and the recording medium Pa is discharged one by one. Discharge from exit ko.

  As described above, the printer of the present embodiment performs printing on the first surface f of the recording medium Pa that is continuous along the predetermined continuous direction X and the second surface b that is the back surface of the first surface f. The printing unit 3, the paper feeding unit 1 that holds the recording medium Pa so as to be supplied, the conveying unit 2 that conveys the recording medium Pa, and the printing unit 3 that is supplied from the paper feeding unit 1 to the printing unit 3 through the conveying unit 2. When the recording medium Pa once retracted from 3 is supplied again to the printing unit 3, the recording medium Pa is temporarily withdrawn from the printing unit 3 so that the front and back of the surface facing the printing unit 3 are switched to the front and back. A first surface printing operation for performing printing on the first surface f while conveying the recording medium Pa so that the printing unit 3 and the first surface f face each other; A reversing operation of turning over the recording medium Pa by the reversing means 7 after the printing operation; And a control unit 5 that performs a second surface printing operation for performing printing on the second surface b while conveying the recording medium Pa so that the printing unit 3 and the second surface b face each other after the reversing operation. Thus, the control unit 5 prints on the first surface f in the first surface printing operation when printing a plurality of sets of screens that are printed on the first surface f and the second surface b, respectively. A plurality of sets of screens g1, g3, and g5 arranged along the continuous direction X and continuously printed, and a plurality of sets of screens g2, g4, and g6 to be printed on the second side b in the second side printing operation, The screens g1, g3, and g5 printed on the first surface f are arranged along the continuous direction X so as to be in front and back, and are continuously printed.

  Thus, when printing a plurality of sets of screens that are printed on the first surface f and the second surface b, respectively, and the front and back surfaces are printed, a plurality of sets of screens g1, g3,. g5 are arranged along the continuous direction X and printed continuously, the reversing means 7 reverses the front and back of the recording medium Pa, and a plurality of screens g2, g4, and g6 to be printed on the second surface b are displayed on the first surface. Since the screens g1, g3, and g5 printed on f are lined up along the continuous direction X so as to be front and back, continuous printing is performed, so that the reversal operation is performed compared to the case where the reversal operation is performed every time a set of screens is printed. It is possible to drastically reduce the number of prints, shortening the time required for printing, and realizing high-speed printing.

  In the present embodiment, since the printing unit 3 is a thermal transfer printer configured using the thermal head 32, the thermal medium 32 is rewound and the sheet feeding unit 1 is rotated, that is, during the reversing operation. The head 32 gets cold. In this case, heating time and energy (electricity) for heating are necessary to compensate for the damaged heat, but the number of inversion operations can be reduced, so that the heating time is reduced and the energy is reduced. It becomes possible to save energy by suppressing consumption.

  In particular, in the present embodiment, a transport path Li for guiding the recording medium Pa supplied from the paper feeding unit 1 to the printing unit 3 is provided, and the paper feeding unit 1 transfers the recording medium Pa wound in a roll shape to the roll. It is held so that it can be fed or taken up by rotation around the central axis C1, and the orientation of the paper feed unit 1 with respect to the transport path Li can be changed by configuring the entire paper feed unit 1 to be rotatable with respect to the transport path Li. And the recording medium Pa reaching the printing unit 3 from the paper feeding unit 1 to the printing unit 3 through the transport path Li by changing the posture of the paper feeding unit 1 is reversed. The reversing operation for reversing the front and back includes a winding operation to the paper feeding unit 1 and a posture changing operation by rotation of the whole paper feeding unit 1, and these operations require time. The advantage of shortening the time obtained by reducing the number Listen, be mentioned as a preferred application example of the invention.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described based on drawing, it should be thought that a specific structure is not limited to these embodiment. The scope of the present invention is shown not only by the above description of the embodiments but also by the scope of claims for patent, and further includes all modifications within the meaning and scope equivalent to the scope of claims for patent.

  For example, in the present embodiment, the front surface is the first surface and the back surface is the second surface, but the back surface may be the first surface and the front surface may be the second surface. Further, in the present embodiment, the winding means 9 for temporarily winding the recording medium Pa is provided, but recording is performed on the conveyance path Li from the thermal head 32 (printing unit 3) to the cutting means 4 and the discharge port ko. If there is a space for evacuating the medium Pa, the winding means 9 can be omitted. In this case, since the number of sets that can be continuously printed is determined by the space for saving the recording medium Pa, the control unit performs continuous printing within a range not exceeding this number.

  In this embodiment, the reversing unit 7 is supplied to the printing unit 3 when the recording medium Pa supplied from the paper feeding unit 1 to the printing unit 3 through the conveying unit 2 and once withdrawn from the printing unit 3 is supplied to the printing unit 3 again. The recording medium Pa once withdrawn from the printing unit 3 is turned over so that the opposite side is first supplied to the printing unit 3 and the front and back are reversed. For example, as shown in FIG. A plurality of conveyance paths for guiding the recording medium Pa supplied from the paper section 1 to the single printing section 3 are provided, and recording is performed on the printing section 3 from two directions opposite to each other through the plurality of conveyance paths Li. The reversing means 107 may be configured to guide the medium Pa. That is, the reversing unit 107 faces the printing unit 3 when the recording medium Pa supplied from the paper feeding unit 1 to the printing unit 3 through the conveying unit 2 and once retracted from the printing unit 3 is supplied to the printing unit 3 again. The recording medium Pa once retracted from the printing unit 3 is guided to the printing unit 3 so that the recording medium Pa is turned over before reaching the printing unit so that the front and back of the recording medium are first supplied to the printing unit 3. . The reversing means 107 is composed of a roller, a guide, etc., almost the same as the conveying means 2.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 6B, the inside-out path capable of turning over the recording medium Pa printed on one of the first side and the second side by the printing unit 3 and cut into a predetermined size by the cutting unit 4. There may be provided a reversing means 207 capable of transporting the inverted recording medium Pa to the printing unit 3. The reversing unit 207 is configured by a roller, a guide, and the like, almost the same as the existing conveying unit 2.

  The specific configuration of each part is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Paper feed part 2 ... Conveyance means 3 ... Printing part 5 ... Control part 7 ... Inversion means X ... Continuous direction Pa ... Recording medium f ... First surface b ... Second surface g1-g6 ... Screen Li ... Conveyance path

Claims (2)

A printing unit for printing on a first surface of a recording medium that is continuous along a predetermined continuous direction and a second surface that is the back surface of the first surface;
A paper feed unit for holding the recording medium in a supplyable manner;
Conveying means for conveying the recording medium;
When the recording medium that is supplied from the paper feeding unit to the printing unit through the conveying unit and is once retracted from the printing unit is supplied to the printing unit again, the surface facing the printing unit is supplied to the printing unit first. Reversing means for guiding the printing medium so that the recording medium once retracted from the printing unit is turned over or turned over until reaching the printing unit, so that the front and back sides are switched;
A first side printing operation for printing on the first side while conveying the recording medium so that the printing unit and the first side face each other, and after the first side printing operation, the recording medium is moved by the reversing means. A control unit that performs a reversing operation for turning over and a second surface printing operation for carrying out printing on the second surface while conveying the recording medium so that the printing unit and the second surface face each other after the reversing operation. Comprising
The control unit prints a plurality of sets of screens that are printed on the first surface and the second surface, respectively, and forms the front and back surfaces, and a plurality of sets to be printed on the first surface in the first surface printing operation. A plurality of screens to be printed on the second surface in the second surface printing operation, the screens arranged side by side along the continuous direction, and the screen printed on the first surface so as to be front and back A printer that performs continuous printing side by side along a continuous direction. A conveyance path for guiding the recording medium supplied from the paper feeding unit to the printing unit;
The paper feeding unit holds a recording medium wound in a roll shape so that the recording medium can be fed out or wound by rotation around the central axis of the roll, and the whole paper feeding unit can be rotated with respect to the conveyance path. By configuring, it is possible to change the orientation of the paper feed unit with respect to the transport path, and by changing the orientation of the paper feed unit, the front and back of the recording medium from the paper feed unit to the printing unit via the transport path are reversed. The printer according to claim 1, which is configured as follows.

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