JP2016085345A - Label creation device and label creation method for the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a label creation device capable of creating a label piece whose peripheral part is colored.SOLUTION: A label creation device includes: a print part 14 for performing print processing on a medium 100; and a laser cut part 13 for performing cut processing in which a laser beam is applied on the medium 100 between processes of the print processing so as to form a cut line as an outline of a label piece. In the print processing, the print part 14 applies ink to at least a peripheral part of the label piece. The laser cut part 13 preferably cuts the medium 100 in a thickness direction of the medium 100 in a plurality of processes of the cut processing so as to complete the cut line.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

  The present invention relates to a label producing apparatus for producing a printed label by performing printing and laser cutting on a medium, and a label producing method in the label producing apparatus.

  Conventionally, a thermal head that performs printing on a label continuum, and a laser cutting mechanism that forms a cut line on the label continuum by irradiating the label continuum with laser light. A label printer apparatus is known (see Patent Document 1).

JP 2003-226313 A

The inventor has found the following problems.
When the label creation device forms a cut line by irradiating the media with laser light, the cross-sectional shape is open to the laser light irradiation side due to the intensity distribution of the laser light on both sides of the cut line. A slope having a “V” shape (hereinafter referred to as “side slope”) is formed on the medium. If the label producing apparatus does not perform the printing process after the side slope is formed by the cutting process, ink is not applied to the side slope. In this case, the label producing apparatus cannot produce a label piece having a peripheral edge colored.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a label producing apparatus and a label producing method in the label producing apparatus capable of producing a label piece having a colored peripheral edge.

  The label producing apparatus of the present invention forms a cut line that becomes an outline of a label piece by performing a cutting process of irradiating a medium with a laser beam between a printing unit that performs a printing process on the medium and the printing process. And a laser cutting portion that performs printing, and the printing portion applies ink to at least a peripheral portion of the label piece in the printing process.

  The label producing method in the label producing apparatus of the present invention performs a printing process on the medium, performs a cutting process of irradiating the medium with laser light between the printing processes, and forms a cut line that becomes an outline of the label piece. In the printing process, ink is applied to at least the peripheral edge of the label piece.

  According to this configuration, since the label producing apparatus performs the cutting process between the printing processes, even when a cut line with a side slope is formed by the cutting process, the peripheral edge of the label piece, that is, the side of the label piece by the printing process. Ink is applied to the slope, and the side slope is colored with ink. Therefore, the label producing apparatus can produce a label piece whose peripheral part is colored. Furthermore, since the label producing apparatus performs the cut process between print processes, the production speed can be improved as compared with the case where the cut process is performed after the print process.

  In this case, the printing unit includes a recording head that ejects ink, and a head moving unit that moves the recording head to the medium at a constant speed and then moves the recording head at a constant speed, and further decelerates the printing head. The printing process is preferably performed in a constant speed section where the recording head moves at a constant speed, and the laser cut unit preferably performs the cutting process in an acceleration section where the recording head accelerates and a deceleration section where the recording head decelerates.

  According to this configuration, since the label producing apparatus performs the cut process in the acceleration section and the deceleration section, the acceleration section and the deceleration section where the printing process is not performed can be used effectively.

  In this case, it is preferable that the laser cut part forms a cut line by dividing the media in the thickness direction of the media in a plurality of cut processes.

If the amount of laser light received by the media is reduced, side slopes are less likely to be formed on both sides of the cut line.
In this regard, according to the present configuration, the cut line is formed in a plurality of cut processes in the media thickness direction, and therefore the cut line is formed by a single cut process in the media thickness direction. Compared to, the amount of light received by the media is less per cut process. Therefore, the label producing apparatus can form the cut line while avoiding the side slope as much as possible.

  In this case, it is preferable that the laser cut part forms a cut line by cutting the media in the length direction of the cut line in a plurality of cut processes.

  In this case, it is preferable to further include a condition setting unit that sets a cutting condition including at least one of the output of the laser beam and the scanning speed.

  In this case, it is preferable that the condition setting unit sets the cutting condition based on the number of times of the cutting process.

  According to this configuration, the label producing apparatus can irradiate the medium with laser light under the cutting conditions corresponding to the number of times of the cutting process.

  In this case, it is preferable that the condition setting unit sets the cutting condition based on the print duty of the label piece.

  According to this configuration, the label producing apparatus can irradiate the medium with laser light under the cutting condition corresponding to the printing duty.

  In this case, it is preferable that the printing unit sets the cutting condition based on the type of ink.

  According to this configuration, the label producing apparatus can irradiate the medium with the laser beam under the cutting condition corresponding to the ink type.

  In this case, it is preferable that the printing unit performs a printing process on the stationary medium, and the laser cutting unit performs a cutting process on the medium in which the stationary state is maintained.

  According to this configuration, the label producing apparatus performs the printing process and the cutting process on the stationary medium. For this reason, the label producing apparatus can appropriately apply ink to the peripheral portion of the label piece without detecting the position where the label piece is formed.

  In this case, the apparatus further comprises a platen on which the medium is placed in an immobile state, and the laser cutting unit cuts the label continuous body and removes the liner from the medium including the label continuous body and the liner attached to the label continuous body. It is preferable to form a cut line so as not to cut.

  According to this structure, it is suppressed that a laser beam passes a medium and is irradiated to a platen. For this reason, the label producing apparatus can prevent the platen from being damaged when the medium is irradiated with laser light.

It is a block diagram of the label production apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram of a laser cut part. It is a figure which shows the residue raising by the residue raising part. FIGS. 9A to 9E are diagrams illustrating each process in the label creating process, and FIG. 8F is a graph illustrating a relationship between each process in the label creating process and acceleration / deceleration of the carriage. It is a block diagram which shows the control system of a label production apparatus. It is a figure for demonstrating the label production process which a label production apparatus performs with respect to a medium, Comprising: (a) (c) (e) (g) (i) (k) (m) (o) is printing FIGS. (B), (d), (f), (h), (j), (l), (n), and (p) are plan schematic diagrams of media that have been subjected to cut processing, and It is a cross-sectional schematic diagram. It is a figure for demonstrating the label production processing different from this embodiment, Comprising: FIG. (A) is the plane schematic diagram and cross-sectional schematic diagram of the media in which the printing process was performed, FIG. (B) is the cut process. FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view and a schematic cross-sectional view of a medium. It is a figure for demonstrating the label production process which concerns on a modification, Comprising: The printing process was performed for figure (a) (c) (e) (g) (i) (k) (m) (o) FIGS. 4B, 4D, 5F, 6H, 6H, 6H, 6H, 5H, 5H, 5H, 5H, 5H, 5H, 5H, 5H, 5H, 5H, 5H, 5H .

  Hereinafter, a label producing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The label creating apparatus according to the present embodiment creates a printed label by performing a cut process between print processes on a medium to be supplied and removed by a roll-to-roll method.

  The medium 100 will be described with reference to FIG. The medium 100 is a long belt-like sheet. The medium 100 includes a label continuous body 101 and a liner 102. The liner 102 is detachably attached to the attaching surface of the label continuous body 101. The medium 100 is set in the label producing apparatus 1 as a label roll 100R wound in a roll shape with the label continuous body 101 outside. The material of the label continuous body 101 is not particularly limited, and various materials such as paper and resin film can be used.

  Next, the label producing apparatus 1 will be described. The label producing apparatus 1 performs a label producing process on the medium 100 for each unit area. The label producing apparatus 1 alternately performs a printing process and a cutting process in each label producing process.

  The label producing apparatus 1 includes a feeding unit 2, a winding unit 3, and a media processing unit 4. A buffer unit 5 is provided between the winding unit 3 and the media processing unit 4. In the buffer unit 5, the media 100 sent out from the media processing unit 4 is temporarily stored.

  The feeding unit 2 includes a feeding shaft 6 and a feeding-side intermediate roller 7. The feeding shaft 6 supports the set label roll 100R so as to be able to rotate. The media 100 fed out from the label roll 100R is sent to the media processing unit 4 via the feeding-side intermediate roller 7.

  The winding unit 3 includes a winding shaft 8 and a winding side intermediate roller 9. The take-up shaft 8 takes up the media 100 fed from the media processing unit 4 via the take-up side intermediate roller 9 in a roll shape. The winding shaft 8 is rotationally driven by a winding shaft driving unit (not shown). More specifically, the winding shaft 8 is driven and controlled based on the detection result of the slack position of the medium 100 in the buffer unit 5.

  The media processing unit 4 includes a media feeding unit 11, a platen 12, a laser cutting unit 13, a printing unit 14, and a residue raising unit 15.

  The media feeding unit 11 includes an upstream roller group 16 and a downstream roller group 17. The upstream roller group 16 and the downstream roller group 17 are provided on the upstream side and the downstream side of the platen 12, respectively.

  The upstream roller group 16 sends the media 100 sent from the feeding unit 2 to the platen 12. The upstream roller group 16 includes an upstream first roller 21, an upstream second roller 22, and an upstream roller pair 23 in order from the upstream side. The upstream first roller 21 and the upstream second roller 22 are driven to rotate in accordance with the feeding of the medium 100. The upstream roller pair 23 is rotationally driven by an upstream feed drive unit (not shown). The meandering or the like of the medium 100 is corrected by a substantially “V” -shaped feed path formed by the upstream first roller 21, the upstream second roller 22, and the upstream roller pair 23.

  The downstream roller group 17 sends the media 100 sent from the platen 12 toward the winding unit 3. The downstream roller group 17 includes a downstream first roller 31, a downstream second roller 32, a downstream third roller 33, and a downstream roller pair 34 in order from the upstream side. The downstream first roller 31, the downstream second roller 32, and the downstream third roller 33 are driven to rotate in accordance with the feeding of the medium 100. The downstream roller pair 34 is rotationally driven by a downstream feed driving unit (not shown). The meandering of the medium 100 is corrected by a substantially “U” -shaped feed path formed by the downstream first roller 31, the downstream second roller 32, the downstream third roller 33, and the downstream roller pair 34. .

  In the media feeding unit 11 configured as described above, when the label creation process for the media 100 on the platen 12 is completed, the upstream roller pair 23 and the downstream roller pair 34 rotate in a substantially synchronized manner. As a result, the medium 100 on which the label creation processing has been performed is sent from the platen 12 to the downstream side of the platen 12 by a unit area. At the same time, the medium 100 that has not been subjected to the label creation process is sent to the platen 12 for the unit area from the upstream side of the platen 12.

  The upper surface of the platen 12 is an area where label creation processing is performed on the medium 100. A plurality of suction holes (not shown) that are connected to the suction fan 35 are provided on the upper surface of the platen 12. The suction fan 35 is driven when the media feeding unit 11 is stopped. As a result, the medium 100 is attracted to the upper surface of the platen 12, and the medium 100 becomes immobile. On the other hand, the suction fan 35 is stopped when the media feeding unit 11 is operating. Thereby, the suction of the medium 100 to the upper surface of the platen 12 is released, and the feeding of the medium 100 is allowed.

  The laser cutting unit 13 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. The laser cutting unit 13 performs a cutting process on the medium 100 adsorbed on the upper surface of the platen 12. The laser cutting unit 13 irradiates the medium 100 with laser light from the printing surface 100 a side, thereby forming a cut line 103 serving as an outline of the label piece 104 on the medium 100. The inside of the cut line 103 becomes a label piece 104 on which an image or the like is printed, that is, a printed label, and the outside of the cut line 103 is collected as a label residue 105 by the residue raising unit 15. The laser cutting unit 13 half-cuts the medium 100. That is, the laser cut unit 13 forms the cut line 103 on the medium 100 so as to cut the label continuous body 101 and not the liner 102. Note that, on both sides of the cut line 103, due to the intensity distribution of the laser beam, a side inclined surface 101a having a substantially “V” shape opened on the laser beam irradiation side, that is, the printing surface 100a side (see FIG. 7) may be formed on the label continuous body 101.

  The laser cut unit 13 scans the medium 100 with laser light by a galvano method. The laser cut unit 13 includes an oscillator 41, a first lens 42, a second lens 43, a first mirror 44, a second mirror 45, a first lens moving unit 46, a first motor 47, and a second motor. And a motor 48.

  The oscillator 41 oscillates laser light. As the oscillator 41, a carbon dioxide laser, a YAG laser, or the like can be used. The laser beam emitted from the oscillator 41 has its beam diameter expanded by the first lens 42 and is incident on the second lens 43. The second lens 43 emits laser light so that the laser light converges on one point on the medium 100. The laser light emitted from the second lens 43 is reflected by the first mirror 44 and the second mirror 45 and is applied to the medium 100.

  The first lens moving unit 46 moves the first lens 42 along the optical axis of the laser light. Thereby, the distance between the 1st lens 42 and the 2nd lens 43 changes, and the focal distance of a laser beam can be adjusted. The first lens moving unit 46 includes, for example, a stepping motor as a drive source.

  The first motor 47 rotates the first mirror 44 and changes its angle. The second motor 48 rotates the second mirror 45 and changes its angle. As the first motor 47 and the second motor 48, for example, a stepping motor can be used. The laser cut unit 13 scans the medium 100 two-dimensionally with laser light by changing the angles of the first mirror 44 and the second mirror 45. In place of the galvano method, for example, the laser beam may be scanned by an XY plotter method.

The printing unit 14 will be described with reference to FIG. The printing unit 14 performs a printing process on the medium 100 adsorbed on the upper surface of the platen 12. The printing unit 14 includes a carriage 51, an X-axis table 52, and a Y-axis table (not shown). A direction parallel to the feeding direction of the medium 100 is referred to as an X-axis direction, and a direction orthogonal to the X-axis direction in a horizontal plane is referred to as a Y-axis direction.
The X-axis table 52 is an example of a “head moving unit”.

  A plurality of recording heads 54 are mounted on the carriage 51. The recording head 54 ejects, for example, CMYK four-color ink A (see FIG. 4). As the recording head 54, an ink jet head can be suitably used. The X-axis table 52 reciprocates the carriage 51 in the X-axis direction. The Y-axis table is mounted on the X-axis table 52 and moves the carriage 51 in the Y-axis direction.

  Here, an operation in which the carriage 51 moves forward or backward in the X-axis direction is referred to as a printing pass. The printing unit 14 prints an image or the like on the medium 100 by performing printing passes a plurality of times in one label creation process. Note that the carriage 51 moves in the Y-axis direction between print passes.

  The scrap raising part 15 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 3. The residue raising portion 15 is provided on the downstream side of the platen 12. The residue raising portion 15 includes a residue raising roller 25 and a residue raising shaft 26. The label residue 105 is peeled from the liner 102 by the residue raising roller 25. The peeled label residue 105 is wound around the residue raising shaft 26.

  With reference to FIG. 4, the label production process performed by the label production apparatus 1 will be described. In each printing pass, the X-axis table 52 moves the carriage 51 at an equal speed and then decelerates the carriage 51 (see FIG. 4F). The section in which the carriage 51 is accelerated, the section in which the carriage 51 moves at a constant speed, and the section in which the carriage 51 moves at a reduced speed are referred to as an acceleration section Sa, a constant speed section Sb, and a deceleration section Sc, respectively.

  The label producing apparatus 1 does not perform the cutting process and the printing process in the acceleration section Sa in the first printing pass (see FIG. 4A). The label producing apparatus 1 performs a printing process by the printing unit 14 in the constant speed section Sb in the first printing pass (see FIG. 4B). The label producing apparatus 1 performs a cutting process by the laser cutting unit 13 from the deceleration section Sc in the first printing pass to the acceleration section Sa in the second printing pass (see FIG. 4C). The label producing apparatus 1 performs a printing process by the printing unit 14 in the constant speed section Sb in the second printing pass (see FIG. 4D). The label producing apparatus 1 performs a cutting process by the laser cutting unit 13 from the deceleration section Sc in the second printing pass to the acceleration section Sa in the third printing pass (see FIG. 4E). Similarly, the label producing apparatus 1 performs the printing process in the constant speed section Sb in each printing pass, and performs the cutting process from the deceleration section Sc to the acceleration section Sa in the next printing pass (last) Even after the end of the second printing pass, the cutting process is performed for the time corresponding to the acceleration section Sa following the last deceleration section Sc). For this reason, the label producing apparatus 1 performs the cutting process by the same number of times as the number of printing passes in each label producing process. As will be described later, the label producing apparatus 1 may perform a cut process before the first print pass in addition to such a cut process during the print pass in each label producing process.

  With reference to FIG. 5, the control system of the label producing apparatus 1 will be described. The label producing apparatus 1 includes a controller 60 in addition to the media feeding unit 11, the laser cutting unit 13, and the printing unit 14.

  The controller 60 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like (not shown). The CPU of the controller 60 loads a program from the ROM and executes it using the RAM, and controls the overall operation of the label producing apparatus 1.

  The controller 60 includes a data acquisition unit 61, a condition setting unit 62, a main control unit 63, a feed control unit 64, a cut control unit 65, and a print control unit 66. At least a part of these functional units is realized by executing a predetermined program by the controller 60.

  The data acquisition unit 61 acquires cut data and print data. The cut data is processed to a state where it can be used by the laser cut unit 13. Similarly, the print data is subjected to halftone processing and the like, and is processed to a state where it can be used by the printing unit 14.

The condition setting unit 62 sets the cutting conditions including the output of the laser beam irradiated by the laser cutting unit 13 and the scanning speed.
The laser beam output and the scanning speed when the laser cutting unit 13 cuts the continuous label body 101 by one cutting process are referred to as a reference output P0 and a reference speed V0, respectively. The total time of the acceleration section Sa and the deceleration section Sc in each printing pass is referred to as a partial acceleration / deceleration time Ta, and the total time of the partial acceleration / deceleration time Ta in each label creation process is the total addition time. This is called deceleration time Tt.

  The condition setting unit 62 acquires the print pass number n in each label creation process from the print data. Subsequently, the condition setting unit 62 calculates a total acceleration / deceleration time Tt from the acquired printing pass number n and a preset partial acceleration / deceleration time Ta (Tt = n × Ta). In addition, the condition setting unit 62 acquires the cut length L of the cut line 103 from the cut data. The condition setting unit 62 calculates a cut time Tc from the acquired cut length L and a preset reference speed V0 (Tc = L / V).

  When the cut time Tc is equal to or shorter than the total acceleration / deceleration time Tt, the laser cutting unit 13 can form the cut line 103 based on the cut data only within the total acceleration / deceleration time Tt. In this case, the laser cutting unit 13 performs the cutting process for the cutting time Tc in n times corresponding to n printing passes.

  Therefore, when the condition setting unit 62 determines that the cutting time Tc is equal to or shorter than the total acceleration / deceleration time Tt, the condition setting unit 62 sets the laser beam output to the reference output P0, and sets the scanning speed to the reference speed. Set the speed to n times V0.

  On the other hand, when the cut time Tc exceeds the total acceleration / deceleration time Tt, the laser cutting unit 13 cannot form the cut line 103 based on the cut data only within the total acceleration / deceleration time Tt. In this case, the laser cutting unit 13 performs the cut processing for the total acceleration / deceleration time Tt in the cut time Tc in n times corresponding to n printing passes, and exceeds the total acceleration / deceleration time Tt. Min cut processing is performed before the first printing pass.

  Therefore, when the condition setting unit 62 determines that the cutting time Tc exceeds the total acceleration / deceleration time Tt, the laser light output is used as a reference output for n cutting processes performed in n printing passes. P0 is set, and the scanning speed is set to {(Tc / Tt) × n} times the reference speed V0. Also, the condition setting unit 62 sets the laser beam output to the reference output P0 and the scanning speed to the reference speed V0 {Tc / (Tc−Tt) for the cutting process before the first printing pass. } Set the speed twice.

  The main control unit 63 instructs the feed control unit 64 to send the medium 100 for the unit area after the label creation processing is completed. The main control unit 63 instructs the printing unit 14 to perform n printing passes, and instructs the ink A to be ejected according to the printing data in the constant speed section Sb of each printing pass. . The main control unit 63 instructs the cut control unit 65 to irradiate laser light in accordance with the cut data and the cutting conditions in the deceleration section Sc of each printing pass and the acceleration section Sa of the next printing pass. To do. When the condition setting unit 62 determines that the cut time Tc exceeds the total acceleration / deceleration time Tt, the main control unit 63 also instructs the cut control unit 65 before the first printing pass. Instruct to irradiate the laser beam according to the cut data and the cutting conditions.

  The feed control unit 64 controls the media feed unit 11 based on an instruction from the main control unit 63. The cut control unit 65 controls the laser cut unit 13 based on an instruction from the main control unit 63. The print control unit 66 controls the printing unit 14 based on an instruction from the main control unit 63.

  With reference to FIG. 6, the label creation process performed on the medium 100 by the label creating apparatus 1 will be specifically described. For example, it is assumed that the number n of printing passes acquired by the condition setting unit 62 is 8, the total acceleration / deceleration time Tt calculated by the condition setting unit 62 is 800 ms, and the cut time Tc calculated by the condition setting unit 62 is 800 ms. .

  In this case, since the condition setting unit 62 determines that the cutting time Tc is equal to or shorter than the total acceleration / deceleration time Tt, the laser beam output is set to the reference output P0, and the scanning speed is set to 8 times the reference speed V0. Set. The label producing apparatus 1 performs eight printing processes (see FIGS. 6A, 6C, 6E, 5G, 6i, 5k, 5m, and 8o) in each label producing process. The cutting process (see FIGS. 6B, 6D, 6F, 6H, 6J, 6L, 1N, and 1P) is alternately performed once each.

  In each cutting process, since the scanning speed of the laser beam is 8 times the reference speed V0, the amount of light received by the medium 100 becomes 1/8 compared to when the laser beam scans at the reference speed V0. . For this reason, the laser cut unit 13 divides the label continuous body 101 in the thickness direction of the medium 100 by approximately 1/8 by dividing into 8 cut processes (that is, by cutting the same portion 8 times), The cut line 103 is formed.

  If the amount of laser light received by the medium 100 is reduced, the side inclined surfaces 101 a are less likely to be formed on both sides of the cut line 103. In this regard, the label producing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment forms the cut line 103 by cutting the medium 100 in the thickness direction of the medium 100 by dividing into eight cut processes. For this reason, compared with the case where the cut line 103 is formed by one cutting process in the thickness direction of the medium 100, the amount of laser light received by the medium 100 is reduced per cutting process. Therefore, the label producing apparatus 1 can form the cut line 103 without forming the side inclined surface 101a as much as possible. Even if the side slope 101a is formed by a certain cutting process, since the printing process is performed after that, the ink A is applied to the peripheral portion of the label piece 104, that is, the side slope 101a, and the side slope 101a is formed. 101a is colored with ink A.

  With reference to FIG. 7, a label creation process different from the present embodiment will be described. In this comparative example, the label producing apparatus 1 performs a printing process to apply ink A to the medium 100 (see FIG. 7A), and then performs a cutting process with the side slopes 101a on both sides. The cut line 103 is formed (see FIG. 7B). Then, since the label producing apparatus 1 does not perform the printing process after the cutting process, the ink A is not applied to the side inclined surface 101a. For this reason, the label producing apparatus 1 cannot produce the label piece 104 whose peripheral portion is colored. In other words, when the user observes the label piece 104 from the printing surface 100a side, the side formed by laser irradiation, not the color of the ink A applied to the printing surface 100a, at the peripheral portion of the label piece 104. The slope 101a, that is, the color of the label continuous body 101 itself can be seen. For example, when the color of the label continuous body 101 itself is white, a white edge 109 is generated at the peripheral portion of the created label piece 104.

  On the other hand, since the label producing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment performs the cut process between the printing processes as described above, even when the cut line 103 with the side slope 101a is formed by the cut process, Ink A is applied to the peripheral portion of the label piece 104, that is, the side inclined surface 101a by the printing process, and the side inclined surface 101a is colored by the ink A. Therefore, the label producing apparatus 1 can produce the label piece 104 whose peripheral portion is colored. Moreover, since the label production apparatus 1 performs the cut process between the print processes, the production speed can be improved as compared with the case where the cut process is performed after the print process.

  Since the label producing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment performs the cut process in the acceleration section Sa and the deceleration section Sc, the acceleration section Sa and the deceleration section Sc that are not subjected to the printing process can be used effectively.

  The label producing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment performs a printing process and a cutting process on the medium 100 that is attracted to the platen 12, that is, the immobile medium 100. For this reason, the label producing apparatus 1 can appropriately apply the ink A to the peripheral portion of the label piece 104 without detecting the position where the label piece 104 is formed.

  In the label producing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, the laser cut unit 13 half-cuts the medium 100. This suppresses the laser light from passing through the medium 100 and being irradiated on the upper surface of the platen 12. For this reason, the label producing apparatus 1 can prevent the upper surface of the platen 12 from being damaged when the medium 100 is irradiated with laser light.

  Needless to say, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various configurations can be employed without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, this embodiment can be changed into the following forms.

As shown in FIG. 8, the laser cut unit 13 cuts the medium 100 in the length direction of the cut line 103 by approximately 1/8 in 8 cut processes (that is, cuts the same portion only once). Thus, the cut line 103 may be formed. In this case, the condition setting unit 62 sets the scanning speed of the laser light to the reference speed V0.
In addition, the laser cutting unit 13 divides the medium 100 in the length direction of the cut line 103 by approximately 1/4 each in 8 cut processes (that is, cuts the same portion twice), thereby cutting the cut line. 103 may be formed. In this case, the condition setting unit 62 sets the laser beam scanning speed to twice the reference speed V0.

  When the printing unit 14 ejects the curable ink A, the condition setting unit 62 may set the cutting conditions based on the printing duty. For example, a case is assumed in which UV ink is applied to the left half of the rectangular label piece 104 with a printing duty of 100% cyan, and UV ink is not applied to the right half (printing duty is 0%). In this case, the amount of laser light necessary to form the cut line 103 changes according to the printing duty of the label piece 104. For example, it is assumed that a portion where the printing duty is 100% cyan requires twice as much light to form the cut line 103 as compared to a portion where the printing duty is 0%, that is, a portion where nothing is printed. (The relationship between the printing duty and the amount of laser light is determined in advance by experiments or the like). In this case, the condition setting unit 62 sets the output of the laser beam to the reference output P0 and sets the scanning speed to the reference speed for the right half of the label piece 104 where the print duty is 0%. Set to 8 times V0. On the other hand, the condition setting unit 62 sets the output of the laser beam to an output that is twice the reference output P0 for the left half of the label piece 104 where the print duty is 100%, and sets the scanning speed to the reference speed V0. Is set to 8 times. Thereby, the label producing apparatus 1 can irradiate the medium 100 with the laser light under the cutting conditions corresponding to the number of times of the cutting process and the printing duty.

  The condition setting unit 62 may set the cutting condition based on the ink type. For example, when the curable ink A is applied to the medium 100, the amount of laser light necessary to form the cut line 103 is increased compared to the case where the dye ink or the pigment ink is applied to the medium 100. become. For this reason, the condition setting unit 62 sets the scanning speed of the laser beam to a lower speed when the curable ink A is applied, compared to the case where the dye ink or the pigment ink is applied, Set the output to a higher output. Further, since the portion where the light-colored ink A is applied is less likely to absorb the light energy of the laser light than the portion where the dark-colored ink A is applied, the amount of light necessary to form the cut line 103 Will increase. Therefore, the condition setting unit 62 sets the scanning speed of the laser light at a lower speed for the portion to which the light-colored ink A is applied, compared to the location to which the dark-colored ink A is applied. Set the light output to a high output.

The label producing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment does not perform the cut process in the acceleration section Sa in the first printing pass in each label producing process, and after the last printing pass ends, the last deceleration section Sc. Subsequently, the cutting process is performed for a time corresponding to the acceleration section Sa. However, the cutting process may be performed in the acceleration section Sa in the first printing pass, and after the last printing pass is completed. The cut process may not be performed.
The label producing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment performs the cutting process for the same number of times as the number of printing passes in each label producing process. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, cutting is performed every other printing pass. Processing may be performed, and cut processing may be performed only once in each label creation processing.

  The shape of the label piece 104 formed by the laser cutting unit 13 and the shape and color of the image printed by the printing unit 14 are not particularly limited. The printing unit 14 may apply ink A to both sides of the cut line 103, and applies ink A only to the inside of the cut line 103, which is the peripheral portion of the label piece 104, of both sides of the cut line 103. May be.

1: Label creation device 13: Laser cut unit 14: Printing unit 100: Media 103: Cut line 104: Label piece A: Ink

Claims (11)

A printing section that performs printing processing on media;
A laser cutting unit that performs a cutting process of irradiating the medium with a laser beam between the printing processes and forms a cut line that becomes an outline of the label piece; and
In the printing process, the printing unit applies ink to at least a peripheral portion of the label piece. The printing unit
A recording head for ejecting ink;
A head moving unit that moves the recording head at a constant speed and further decelerates the recording head with respect to the medium;
The printing unit performs the printing process in a constant speed section in which the recording head moves at a constant speed,
2. The label producing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the laser cut unit performs the cutting process in an acceleration section in which the recording head accelerates and a deceleration section in which the recording head decelerates.   3. The label according to claim 1, wherein the laser cut unit forms the cut line by cutting the media in the thickness direction of the media in a plurality of times of the cutting process. Creation device.   The said laser cut part forms the said cut line by dividing | segmenting the said medium in the length direction of the said cut line divided into the said cutting process of multiple times, The said cut line is formed. Label making device.   5. The label producing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a condition setting unit configured to set a cutting condition including at least one of an output of the laser beam and a scanning speed.   The label creating apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the condition setting unit sets the cutting condition based on the number of times of the cutting process.   The label creating apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the condition setting unit sets the cutting condition based on a printing duty of the label piece.   The label producing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the printing unit sets the cutting condition based on the type of the ink. The printing unit performs the printing process on the stationary medium;
The label producing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the laser cutting unit performs the cutting process on the medium in which the stationary state is maintained. A platen on which the media is placed in a stationary state;
The laser cutting unit forms the cut line so as to cut the label continuous body and not cut the liner for the media including a label continuous body and a liner attached to the label continuous body. The label producing apparatus according to claim 9. Print the media,
In the interval between the printing processes, a cutting process for irradiating the medium with laser light is performed, and a cut line is formed as an outline of a label piece by dividing the media into a plurality of the cutting processes. A label producing method in a label producing apparatus, wherein ink is applied to at least a peripheral part of a piece.

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