JP2013111792A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer which can prevent wrinkles upon printing even if performing printing by the combination of a printing sheet and an ink ribbon whose width is excessively longer than that of the printing sheet.SOLUTION: The printer capable of using a plurality of different-sized ink ribbons includes: a conveying means for conveying the printing sheet; a thermal head for transferring the ink of the ink ribbon to the printing sheet while conveying the printing sheet in the printing direction by the conveying means; a cutting means for cutting the ink ribbon in the conveying direction of the ink ribbon. When the width of the ink ribbon is longer by a predetermined length than the width of the printing sheet, the ink ribbon is cut by the cutting means in the conveying direction.

Description

  The present invention relates to a printer that transfers ink ribbon ink onto photographic paper using a thermal head.

  In a printer that transfers ink ribbon ink onto photographic paper using a thermal head, there is a printer that prevents the ink ribbon from wrinkling in order to prevent the ink ribbon from wrinkling. . (See Patent Document 1).

JP-A-9-123494

  However, when using an ink ribbon that is excessively wide relative to the width of the photographic paper, it is difficult to adjust the tension applied to the ink ribbon, and the following problems arise.

  When printing is performed, the printing paper and the ink ribbon are conveyed while being held in pressure contact with the thermal head and the platen. Here, the ink ribbon protruding outside the width of the photographic paper is not held by the gap generated by the thickness of the photographic paper and is in a free state.

  Accordingly, a shearing force is generated between the ink ribbon held inside the width of the photographic paper and the ink ribbon not held outside the width of the photographic paper due to the conveyance tension of the ribbon, and wrinkles are generated.

  The greater the width of the ribbon that protrudes outside the width of the photographic paper, the greater the shearing force that is generated and the greater the tendency of wrinkles. If the wrinkles become too large, the ribbon will be bent during printing, and printing wrinkles will occur.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to prevent the occurrence of printing wrinkles even when printing is performed with a combination in which the width of the ink ribbon is excessively larger than the width of the printing paper.

In order to achieve the above object, the printer of the present invention provides:
A printer capable of using a plurality of ink ribbons of different sizes, a conveying means for conveying a photographic paper, and the ink on the ink ribbon being transferred to the photographic paper while conveying the photographic paper in the printing direction by the conveying means. A thermal head that transfers to the ink ribbon, and a cutting means that cuts the ink ribbon in the direction of conveyance of the ink ribbon, and the width of the ink ribbon is longer than the width of the photographic paper by a predetermined length or more. Further, the cutting means cuts the ink ribbon in the transport direction.

  According to the present invention, even when printing is performed with a combination in which the width of the ink ribbon is excessively larger than the width of the photographic paper, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of printing wrinkles.

Cross-sectional schematic diagram of the image forming unit at the printing position Cross-sectional schematic diagram of the image forming unit at the head retracted position Cross-sectional schematic diagram of the image forming unit at the media transport position Diagram showing the positional relationship in the width direction of the ink ribbon, photographic paper, and cutter blade Schematic diagram showing the configuration of the driving force transmission of the cutting member Sectional view of the fitting part of the switching member The block diagram which shows the structure in the case of electrically controlling a switching member Flowchart diagram showing the printing operation

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the image forming unit of the printer apparatus according to the present invention.

  An ink ribbon 1 is stored in an ink ribbon cassette 2 including a ribbon supply unit 2a and a winding storage unit 2b, and is loaded in the printer apparatus main body.

  Reference numeral 3 denotes a platen roller which is held so as to be rotatable about its axis.

  A thermal head 4 is arranged so that a plurality of heating elements arranged in a line shape face the platen roller 3.

  The thermal head 4 is fixed and held by a head holding member 5 with screws, and the holding member 5 is connected to the position change motor 6 by a head driving mechanism (not shown).

  When the position change motor 6 rotates in the forward direction or the reverse direction, the holding member 5 is driven, and the thermal head 4 moves between three positions: an image printing position, a medium transport position, and a head retracting position.

  When the thermal head 4 is in the pressure contact position, the thermal head 4 is pressed against the platen roller 3 by a pressure mechanism (not shown), and the photographic paper 7 and the ink ribbon 1 are pressed and sandwiched.

  When the thermal head 4 is at the media conveyance position, the thermal head 4 is separated from the platen roller 3, and the printing paper 7 and the ink ribbon 1 can be freely conveyed through the gap.

  When the thermal head 4 is in the head retracted position, the thermal head 4 is further retracted from the platen roller 3 than the media transport position, and the ink ribbon cassette 2 can be attached to and detached from the apparatus main body.

  Reference numeral 8 denotes a grip roller, and reference numeral 9 denotes a paper discharge roller, which are connected to the media transport motor 10 via a drive system (not shown), and can be rotated in both forward and reverse directions by driving the media transport motor 10.

  The grip roller 8 is pressed against the pinch roller 11, and the paper discharge roller 9 is pressed against the paper discharge opposing roller 12, thereby holding the photographic paper 7 and transporting it in either the printing direction A or the paper feeding direction B opposite thereto. can do.

  The pinch roller 11 is always in pressure contact with the grip roller 8 by a pressure contact spring (not shown), and the photographic paper 7 that has passed between both rollers is always held in pressure contact.

  The paper discharge counter roller 12 is connected to the position change motor 6 by a drive mechanism (not shown), and can move to a paper discharge position pressed against the paper discharge roller 9 and a separation position separated from the paper discharge roller 9. it can.

  When the paper discharge opposing roller 12 moves to the paper discharge position, the photographic paper 7 is pressed and pinched with the paper discharge roller 9.

  A ribbon take-up shaft 2c for winding the used ink ribbon 1 is connected to the media transport motor 10 via a drive system (not shown).

  The drive system connected to the ribbon take-up shaft 2c includes a planetary mechanism, and when the photographic paper 7 is conveyed in the print conveyance direction A by each photographic paper conveyance roller, the ink ribbon 1 is conveyed in the take-up direction. When the photographic paper 7 is transported in the paper feed transport direction B, the transport of the ink ribbon 1 is not performed.

  Reference numeral 13 denotes a cutting member that rotatably supports the rotation shaft 13a, and includes a cutter blade 13b on one side and a sliding portion 13c on the opposite side. The cutting member 13 is urged in the counterclockwise direction in the figure by the urging spring 14, and is locked by the sliding portion 13 a coming into contact with the cam member 15.

  The cam member 15 is connected to the position change motor 6 via a drive system (not shown), and rotates a predetermined amount in conjunction with the movement of the thermal head 4. When the cam member 15 rotates, the cam surface moves the sliding portion 13a of the cutting member and rotates the cutting member 13.

  The cutting member 13 is provided upstream of the thermal head in the conveyance direction of the printing paper and the ink ribbon at the time of printing. for that reason. At the time of printing with the thermal head, printing is performed using the ink ribbon cut by the cutting member 13.

  Next, the positions of the thermal head 4, the ink ribbon 1, and the cutting member 13 at each head position will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  In FIG. 2, the thermal head 4 is located at the head retracted position.

  At this time, the ink ribbon 1 is guided by the rib 2e that forms the supply port of the ink ribbon cassette 2 and the rib 2f that forms the storage port, and follows the bending conveyance path.

  Reference numeral 16 denotes a paper guide unit that forms a path of the photographic paper, but the cutter blade 13b of the cutting member 13 is in a retracted position retracted from the path of the photographic paper 7 formed by the paper guide 16.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the image forming unit when the thermal head 4 is at the medium conveyance position.

  At this time, the thermal head 4 approaches the platen roller 3 with a gap where the ink ribbon 1 and the printing paper 7 can move.

  The ink ribbon 1 includes a supply port rib 2e, a ribbon guide 17 attached to the thermal head 4, a peeling member 18 that serves to peel the ink ribbon 1 from the printing paper 7 during printing, and a ribbon guide shaft 19 that is rotatably held. It follows a path that bends.

  There are two types of positions of the cutting member at the media conveyance position.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a state when the position change motor 6 is driven from the state where the thermal head 4 of FIG. 2 is at the head retracted position, and the thermal head 4 reaches the position of the media transport position.

  When the thermal head 4 moves from the head retracted position to the media transport position, the cutting member 13 also moves in conjunction with it. The cutting member 13 rotates clockwise in the figure and assumes the position shown in FIG. At this time, the cutter blade 13 b is in a protruding position protruding from the paper guide 16 and enters the path of the photographic paper 7. Then, the cutter blade 13b enters the transport path of the ink ribbon 7 and enters the ink ribbon 1 stretched between the supply port rib 2e and the ink ribbon guide 17, whereby a cutting operation is performed and the ink ribbon is cut. Is started.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the image forming unit when the thermal head 4 is at the printing position.

  In this state, the position change motor 6 is further driven from the media conveyance position in FIG. 3 and the thermal head 4 is pressed against the platen roller 3.

  At this time, the ink ribbon 1 and the photographic paper 7 are held in pressure contact with the thermal head 4 and the platen roller 3. In this state, the thermal head 4 generates heat, and the ink ribbon 1 and the photographic paper 7 are conveyed to transfer. And an image is formed.

  At the printing position, the cutting member 13 is at the same position as the media transport position.

  However, when the ink ribbon 1 is pushed down by the ink ribbon guide 17 that is lowered as the thermal head 4 is pressed, the cutter blade 13b enters the path of the ink ribbon 1 more deeply than the media transport position.

  That is, in the state of FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, the position of the cutting member 13 is the same, but the transport path of the ink ribbon is changed. Therefore, the amount of entry of the cutter blade into the ink ribbon is larger at the printing position in FIG. 1, and it is possible to cut deeply.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the positional relationship in the width direction of the ink ribbon 1, the photographic paper 7, and the cutter blade 13b.

  3 is a platen roller, 13 is a cutting member, and the ink ribbon 1 and the photographic paper 7 are conveyed in the upward direction in the drawing.

  The printer in this embodiment is compatible with printing on photographic papers having a width of 4 inches and 5 inches, and the ink ribbon is an ink ribbon 1a having a width corresponding to 4 inches and an ink ribbon 1b having a width corresponding to 5 inches. Is possible.

  FIG. 4A is a diagram showing a case where printing is performed using a normal 4-inch wide ink ribbon and photographic paper.

  At this time, the ink ribbon 1a for 4 inch width printing is used for the 4 inch width printing paper 7a.

  The length of each color ink applied to the ink ribbon 1a for 4-inch width printing is set to a necessary and sufficient length by adding a conveyance margin to the length of the printed matter. The width of the ink ribbon 1a for 4 inch width printing is about 5 mm longer on the left and right than the 4 inch width printing paper 7a. As a result, even if the ink ribbon 1 and the printing paper 7 are slightly shifted in the width direction during printing conveyance, the printing paper 7 does not protrude from the ink ribbon 1 to cause a transfer failure.

  The cutter blade 13b of the cutting member 13 has one each on the left and right, and is positioned further outside the 4-inch wide printing ink ribbon 1a.

  Therefore, even if the cutter blade 13b enters the path of the ink ribbon 1 within the cross section, the ink ribbon 1 is not cut.

  FIG. 4B is a diagram showing a case where printing is performed using a normal 5-inch wide ink ribbon and photographic paper.

  At this time, the ink ribbon 1b for 5 inch width printing is used for the 5 inch width printing paper 7b.

  The length of each color ink applied to the 5-inch width printing ink ribbon 1b is set to a necessary and sufficient length by adding a conveyance margin to the length of the printed matter. In addition, the width of the ink ribbon 1b for 5 inch width printing is also about 5 mm longer than that of the 5 inch width printing paper 1b. Therefore, even if the ink ribbon 1 and the printing paper 7 are slightly shifted in the width direction during printing conveyance, the printing paper 7 does not protrude from the ink ribbon 1 to cause a transfer failure.

  The cutter blade 13b of the cutting member 13 is located inside the photographic paper 13b having a width of 5 inches on each of the left and right sides.

  Accordingly, when the cutter blade 13b enters the path of the photographic paper 7 within the cross section, the photographic paper 7 is cut. Therefore, when the photographic paper 7b having a width of 5 inches is printed, the cutting member 13 is used as the photographic paper. 7b and the ink ribbon 1b need to be retreated from the transport path.

  FIG. 4C is a diagram showing a case where printing is performed with a combination of a 4 inch wide printing paper 7a and a 5 inch wide printing ink ribbon 1b.

  Since the cutter blades 13b of the cutting member 13 are positioned inside the ink ribbon 1b for 5 inch width printing, when the cutter blade 13b enters the transport path of the ink ribbon 1, the ink ribbon 1 is cut and printed. Unnecessary excess ribbon can be cut off. The width of the photographic paper 7a is much shorter than the width of the ink ribbon 1b and is conveyed inside the cutter blade 13b. Therefore, even if the cutter blade 13b enters the conveyance path side of the photographic paper 7, the photographic paper having a width of 4 inches is used. 7a is not cut.

  In the printer of this embodiment, there are combinations of three patterns of photographic paper and ink ribbon as described above. As shown in FIG. 4C, when the width of the ink ribbon is longer than the photographic paper by a predetermined distance L or more, a shearing force due to the conveyance tension is generated, and the ink ribbon is easily wrinkled. Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4C, the width of the ink ribbon 1b is set in the transport direction at a position inside the width of the ink ribbon 1b and outside the printing paper 7a. Disconnected.

  In this embodiment, only 4 inch width and 5 inch width are supported. Therefore, when a photographic paper having a width of 5 inches is set, the width of the ink ribbon is larger than the width of the photographic paper. It does not become longer than the distance L.

  Therefore, the printer of this embodiment incorporates a mechanism that disconnects the drive system that connects the cam member 15 and the position change motor 6 when a photographic paper cassette containing 5 inch wide photographic paper is loaded. Therefore, the cutting member 13 does not move to the cutting position.

  A mechanism for releasing the connection between the position change motor 6 and the cutting member 13 will be described below.

  FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a connecting member for transmitting the driving force of the position change motor 6 to the cutting member 13 and a switching member for switching whether to transmit the driving force. In this embodiment, the driving force is transmitted and switched using a connecting member and a switching member as shown in FIG. 5, but may be realized by other configurations.

  Reference numeral 20 denotes a switching member, which includes a switching lever 20a, a sun gear 20b, and a planetary gear 20c.

  The switching lever 20a is rotatably held at the same rotation center as the sun gear 20b, and holds the planetary gear 20c rotatably. The switching member 20 functions as a connecting member that transmits the driving force of the position change to the cam member 15 and as a switching member for switching whether or not to transmit the driving force of the position change motor 6. Have a role.

  The sun gear 20 b is connected to the position change motor 6, and the power transmitted from the position change motor 6 is transmitted to the cam member 15 via the sun gear 20 b, the planetary gear 20 c, and the idler gear 23.

  5 (a) and 5 (b) show how power is transmitted to the cam member 15 when the position change motor 6 is driven forward / reversely. When the position motor 6 is rotated in the forward direction, the thermal head 4 is moved from the head retracted position → media transport position → printing position, and when rotated in the reverse direction, the thermal head 4 is moved from print position → media transport position → head retracted position. To do. When a 4-inch photographic paper cassette is mounted, the driving force of the position motor 6 is transmitted to the cam 15 member as shown in FIGS. Therefore, when the thermal head 4 moves to the printing position, the cutter blade 13b moves to the cutting position that has entered the conveyance path for the printing paper 7 and the ink ribbon 1 as shown in FIG. When the thermal head 4 moves to the head retracted position, the cutter blade 13b moves to the retracted position retracted from the transport path of the photographic paper 7 and the ink ribbon 1 as shown in FIG. When the thermal head 4 is located at the media conveyance position, the cutter blade does not move to a position where it enters the conveyance path of the ink ribbon 1, and the cutter blade 13 is at a position where the ink ribbon 1 is not cut. The cutter blade 13b can cut the ink ribbon 1 by moving the thermal head further from the media transport position to the printing position.

  FIG. 5C is a view showing a state in which a photographic paper cassette having a width of 5 inches is loaded in the printer apparatus.

  The 5-inch wide photographic paper cassette is provided with a pin shape 24 which is not found in the 4-inch wide photographic paper cassette. When the photographic paper cassette is loaded, the pin 24 is fitted to the switching lever 20a. It fits in 20d and fixes rotation of the switching lever 20a.

  Therefore, even if the position change motor 6 is driven, the power is not transmitted to the cam member 15 and the cutting member 13 is not driven.

  FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the fitting portion 20d when a photographic paper cassette having a width of 5 inches is loaded.

  When the photographic paper cassette is not loaded, the thermal head is in the head retracted position, but at that time, the pin 24 is not fitted to the switching member 20. When a photographic paper cassette storing photographic paper having a width of 5 inches is mounted in a mounting portion (not shown), the switching member does not move because the pin 24 is fitted to the switching member 20 as shown in FIG. The driving force of the change motor is not transmitted to the cam member 15.

  An inclined portion is provided at the tip of the pin 24, and when the photographic paper cassette is loaded, the tip of the pin 24 enters the fitting portion 20d, and the inclined portion pushes up the fitting portion 20d to switch the switching lever 20a. Is rotated to the position shown in FIG.

  The photographic paper cassette is pushed to the position shown in FIG. 6 to complete the loading.

  In this embodiment, the pin 24 provided in the photographic paper cassette performs the connection release of the switching member 20. However, it is of course possible to electrically detect the type of the photographic paper and release the connection of the switching member 20.

  FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an example of detecting the state of the photographic paper electrically and releasing the connection of the switching member 20.

  For example, a sensor 25 for detecting the type of photographic paper cassette is provided so that loading of a photographic paper cassette having a width of 5 inches can be electrically detected.

  When the CPU 26 receives a signal indicating that a 5-inch wide photographic paper cassette has been loaded, it outputs a signal for driving the solenoid actuator 27.

When the actuator 27 is driven, it engages with the switching lever 20a and fixes the switching lever 20a at the position shown in FIG.
With this configuration, the same effect can be obtained.

  In the printer of this embodiment, the ink ribbon and photographic paper corresponding to 4 inches and the ink ribbon and photographic paper corresponding to 5 inches can be used. However, the photographic paper and ink ribbon corresponding to other sizes can be used. It may be usable. At this time, it is determined whether the width of the ink ribbon is longer than the photographic paper by a predetermined distance L. If the width of the ink ribbon is long, the ink ribbon is cut at a position slightly outside the width of the photographic paper. It may be configured to do so.

  Next, with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 8, a printing process when printing is performed with a combination of the 4 inch wide printing paper 7a and the 5 inch wide printing ink ribbon 1b in the embodiment of the present invention will be described. This flowchart is a flowchart in the case where a photographic paper cassette storing photographic paper having a width of 4 inches is mounted on the printer. When a photographic paper cassette having a width of 5 inches is mounted, the same printing process as in FIG. 8 is performed. However, since the movement of the switching member 20a is restricted by the screw 24 as described above, the position of the thermal head is changed. Even if it is moved, the cutting member does not move and the cutting operation is not performed. These processes are executed by a CPU (not shown) provided in the printer controlling the operation of the motor and each mechanism based on a program read from the memory.

  First, when an instruction to start printing is given by the user, first, in step S101, it is confirmed whether or not the ink ribbon cassette 2 is loaded in the apparatus main body.

  The printer is provided with a sensor 26 for detecting the type of the ink ribbon cassette 2 and detects whether an ink ribbon cassette for 4 inch width printing is loaded or whether an ink ribbon cassette for 5 inch width printing is loaded or no cassette is loaded. be able to.

  If the ink ribbon cassette 2 is not loaded, the operation does not proceed.

  Therefore, since the cutting member 13 is not driven, the cutter blade 13b is not touched when the user accidentally puts a hand into the ink ribbon cassette loading port.

  If it is confirmed that the ink ribbon cassette 2 is loaded, the position change motor 6 is driven in step S102 to move the position of the thermal head. When the printing process is not performed, the thermal head 4 is at the head retracted position in FIG. 2, and is moved by the position change motor 6 from the head retracted position shown in FIG. 2 to the print position in FIG. Although printing is not started at this time, since the cutting operation for starting the cutting of the ink ribbon by the cutting member 13 is performed, the thermal head is moved to a printing position at which deeper cutting can be performed and the cutting operation is performed reliably. Execute.

  Next, in order to perform the operation of cueing the ink ribbon and cueing the photographic paper, the position change motor 6 is driven in step S103, and the thermal head 4 is moved to the media transport position shown in FIG. At the media transport position, the cutter blade enters the ink ribbon transport path. In this state, in step S <b> 104, ink is cued while the ink ribbon is being transported using the media transport motor 10. Since the ink ribbon is transported while the cutter blade 13b enters the transport path of the ink ribbon, the ink ribbon is cut in the transport direction. While transporting the ink ribbon, the leading position of each ink is detected, and when detected, the transport of the ink ribbon is stopped. First, since the yellow ink is printed, the head of the yellow ink is detected.

  In this embodiment, cutting is started before the printing in S107 is started. This is because the cutting member is upstream of the thermal head in the transport direction during printing of the ink ribbon and the photographic paper. If the cutting operation is started in a state where the ink ribbon is conveyed to the printing start position, the ink ribbon is not cut at the position of the thermal head at the start of printing downstream of the cutting member 13. turn into. Therefore, by starting the cutting of the ink ribbon before the ink ribbon is conveyed to the printing start position, the ink ribbon at the printing start position is cut when the ink ribbon is conveyed to the printing start position. Is possible.

  When the cueing of the ink ribbon is completed in S104, the media transport motor 10 is driven in Step S105, and the photographic paper 7 is transported so that the writing position of the photographic paper 7 is directly below the heating element of the thermal head 4. .

  When the conveyance of the ink ribbon and the photographic paper is completed and preparation for printing by the thermal head 4 is completed, the position change motor 6 is driven in step S106 to move the thermal head to the printing position. By moving to this printing position, the ink ribbon 1 and the printing paper 7 are pressed and sandwiched by the thermal head 4 and the platen roller 3.

  Next, in step S107, while the heating element of the thermal head 4 is generating heat, the media transport motor 10 is driven in the print transport direction to transport the ink ribbon 1 and the print paper 7, and the ink on the ink ribbon is transferred to the print paper. To print. During printing in S107, that is, during the transfer of ink, the cutting member is at the cutting position and the ink ribbon is being conveyed, so the ink ribbon 1 continues to be cut by the cutter blade 13b. At this time, slits by cutting are formed on both sides of the portion of the ink ribbon 1 that is pressed and held by the thermal head 4 and the platen roller 3. Therefore, the tension acting on the ink ribbon outside the slit does not affect the shearing force generated in the ink ribbon 1 at the boundary between the outside and the inside of the photographic paper 7. Therefore, it is possible to carry the print without causing large wrinkles on the ink ribbon 1.

  When printing is completed, in step S108, the position change motor 6 is driven to move the thermal head 4 to the head retracted position. At this time, the cutting member 13 also moves in conjunction with the thermal head, and the cutter blade 13b is retracted from the ink ribbon transport path as shown in FIG. In this state, the ink ribbon is transported by a small distance by the media transport motor 10 in step S109. In S109, since the cutter blade 13b is in the retracted position, the ink ribbon is not cut by the distance that has been conveyed. This is in order to prevent the force applied at the time of winding between the central portion and the outside from becoming non-uniform or preventing the cut portion from being wound beautifully if the ink ribbon is continuously cut. In this way, once the ink of one color is transferred, the thermal head is once moved to the head retracted position to convey the ink, and an area where the ink ribbon is not cut is provided for each printing on one surface. By providing a region that is not cut in this way, it is possible to reset a slight deviation in the width direction of winding of the ink ribbon 1 that occurs due to cutting.

  In the printer of this embodiment, an image is printed by sequentially transferring three types of inks of yellow, magenta, cyan, and overcoat on the same photographic paper. Therefore, in S110, it is determined whether the printing process for all inks has been completed. If all colors have been printed, the printing process is terminated. If the printing of all colors has not been completed, the process returns to S102, the process from S102 is performed for the next color, and the processes of S102 to S109 are repeated until the printing of all colors is completed.

  Although the present invention has been described in detail based on preferred embodiments thereof, the present invention is not limited to these specific embodiments, and various forms within the scope of the present invention are also included in the present invention. included. A part of the above-described embodiments may be appropriately combined.

  Also, when a software program that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied from a recording medium directly to a system or apparatus having a computer that can execute the program using wired / wireless communication, and the program is executed Are also included in the present invention.

Accordingly, the program code itself supplied and installed in the computer in order to implement the functional processing of the present invention by the computer also realizes the present invention. That is, the computer program itself for realizing the functional processing of the present invention is also included in the present invention.
In this case, the program may be in any form as long as it has a program function, such as an object code, a program executed by an interpreter, or script data supplied to the OS.

As a recording medium for supplying the program, for example, a magnetic recording medium such as a hard disk or a magnetic tape, an optical / magneto-optical storage medium, or a nonvolatile semiconductor memory may be used.
As a program supply method, a computer program that forms the present invention is stored in a server on a computer network, and a connected client computer downloads and programs the computer program.

  In the embodiment, an LCD display device in the form of a touch panel is given as an example. However, an operation using a mouse or a device using a display device other than the LCD can be applied.

Claims (10)

A printer capable of using a plurality of different size ink ribbons,
Conveying means for conveying photographic paper;
A thermal head for transferring the ink ribbon ink to the photographic paper while conveying the photographic paper in the printing direction by the conveying means;
Cutting means for cutting the ink ribbon in the transport direction of the ink ribbon,
A printer characterized in that the ink ribbon is cut in the transport direction by the cutting means when the width of the ink ribbon is longer than a predetermined length by the width of the photographic paper.   The printer according to claim 1, wherein the cutting unit is provided upstream of the thermal head in the printing direction. The cutting means is movable to at least two positions of a protruding position and a retracted position,
In the protruding position, the cutting means enters the transport path of the ink ribbon,
3. The printer according to claim 1, wherein at the retracted position, the cutting unit retracts from both the transport path of the ink ribbon and the transport path of the photographic paper. The thermal head is movable to at least two positions: a printing position where printing is performed by the thermal head, and a conveyance position for conveying photographic paper or an ink ribbon;
The transport path of the ink ribbon is different when the thermal head is at the printing position and when the thermal head is at the transport position.
The cutting operation for starting the cutting of the ink ribbon by moving the cutting means from the retracted position to the protruding position includes a cutting amount of the cutting means to the ink ribbon out of the print position and the transport position. The printer according to claim 3, wherein the cutting operation is performed by moving the thermal head to a larger position. An ink ribbon cassette in which the ink ribbon is stored;
The ink ribbon cassette is provided with a guide portion for bending the transport path of the ink ribbon supplied from the ink ribbon cassette to the thermal head,
The printer according to claim 1, wherein the cutting unit cuts the ink ribbon between the guide unit and the thermal head. Having ink ribbon transport means for transporting the ink ribbon in the printing direction;
During the transfer of ink on the ink ribbon by the thermal head, the ink ribbon is transported by the ink ribbon transport means while the ink ribbon is being cut by the cutting means, and after the ink on the ink ribbon is transferred, the cutting is performed. 6. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the ink ribbon is transported by a predetermined distance by the ink ribbon transport means without being cut by the means. A drive unit for moving the thermal head to a printing position where printing is performed by the thermal head, and a retracted position retracted from the printing position;
In conjunction with the movement of the thermal head from the retracted position to the printing position, the driving force of the driving means is transmitted to the cutting means so that the cutting means moves from the retracted position to the cutting position. The printer according to claim 3, further comprising a connecting member that connects the driving unit and the cutting unit. When the width of the ink ribbon is not longer than a predetermined length by a width of the photographic paper,
The printer according to claim 7, further comprising a releasing unit that releases the connection by the connecting unit so that the driving force of the driving unit is not transmitted to the cutting unit. The printer corresponds to a photographic paper and an ink ribbon corresponding to a first size and a photographic paper and an ink ribbon corresponding to a second size larger than the first size,
The cutting means is provided at a position on the inside of the width of the ink ribbon corresponding to the second size and the outside of the width of the ink ribbon corresponding to the first size in the transport path of the ink ribbon. The printer according to claim 8, wherein the printer is provided.   10. The printer according to claim 9, wherein when the printing is performed using the second size of photographic paper, the connection by the connection unit is released by the release unit.

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