JP2017030333A - Label printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a new label printer which can be used by switching between a label with mount and a mountless label.SOLUTION: A label printer which is used by switching between a mountless label and a label with mount includes: a printing part which performs printing on a label; a cutter unit which is arranged on the downstream side of the printing part and cuts the printed mountless label having passed through cutter blades; and a temporary attachment part which is arranged on the downstream side of the cutter unit and temporarily attaches the cut label. When the label with mount is used instead of the mountless label, the label peeled from the mount is held by the temporary attachment part.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a label printer that can be used by switching between a label with a mount and a label without a mount with a single label printer.

  Fresh food products such as supermarkets are attached with price labels such as product name, weight, price, etc. There are two types of such price labels: labels with mounts and mountless labels. A label with a mount is a label (a release paper) that is attached to a mount (release paper) at a constant pitch. In use, the labels are peeled off from the mount one by one and attached to a product. On the other hand, a mountless label is a label in which the mount is not attached to the adhesive surface of the label, and the surface of the label coated with a release agent is rolled out and rolled out. In this case, the mountless label fed from the roll is cut to a required length to form a single label.

  As a label printer that can selectively use these two types of labels, a printer described in Patent Document 1 is known. The one described in Patent Document 1 prepares a cassette for storing a label with a mount and a cassette for storing a mount-less label, and uses these two types of cassettes by replacing them with the printer body.

  In this case, in order to cut the printed and printed label sheet, a perforation is put in the sheet in advance, and the perforation is cut against an elastic plate 24c (so-called fixed blade). Yes. The elastic plate 24c is disposed on the downstream side of the platen roller 34a. However, Patent Document 1 describes that an automatic cutter can be used instead of the elastic plate 24c.

JP 2011-161650 A

  However, since the elastic plate 24c is provided not on the cassette side but on the cover side of the printer main body, the structure shown in FIGS. These drawings are transcriptions of FIGS. 5 and 7 described in Patent Document 1, and FIG. 9 shows an arrangement configuration of the auto cutter AC when the cassette CC1 for a label with a mount is used. Reference numeral 10 denotes an arrangement configuration of the autocutter AC when the mountless label cassette CC2 is used.

When such a configuration is adopted, the following problems occur.
First, since these cassettes CC1 and CC2 are provided with a platen roller PR, when the auto cutter AC is arranged in front of the platen roller PR (downstream in the label L feeding direction), the cassettes CC1 and CC2 are inserted. When taking out, there is a problem that the auto cutter AC interferes with the cassettes CC1 and CC2. To solve this problem, if the auto cutter AC is attached to the cover side (not shown in the patent document 1) to which the print head H and the label detector S are attached (not shown), it can be retracted. It can be avoided.

  However, in FIG. 9, when the printed label L with the mount is peeled from the peeling plate T, the label L cannot be peeled even if it is pulled in the feeding direction of the label L. Therefore, the direction D1 perpendicular to the feeding direction D1. Then, since there is a cutter blade E in the direction D1, there is a problem that it touches the label L and damages the label L.

  Also, in FIG. 10, when using the mountless label cassette CC2, the label L that has been cut when the auto cutter AC is activated unless the printed mountless label LS is grasped by the hand. Has the problem of falling.

  The present invention has been developed in view of these problems, and an object thereof is to provide a new label printer that does not cause the above-described problem even when both a label with a mount and a label without a mount are used.

  The label printer according to the present invention is a label printer that switches between a mountless label and a label with a mount, and is disposed on the downstream side of the printing unit, and between the cutter blades. A cutter unit that cuts the printed mountless label that has passed through, and a temporary attachment portion that is disposed downstream of the cutter unit and temporarily attaches the cut label, and instead of the mountless label, When using a label with a mount, the label peeled off from the mount is held by the temporary attachment portion.

  1 and 2 are conceptual diagrams for explaining the configuration of the present invention. In these drawings, the print unit 1 includes a print head 11 and a platen roller 12, and a cutter unit 2 and a temporary attachment unit 3 are disposed on the downstream side thereof. Further, between the platen roller 12 and the cutter unit 2, a peeling member 4 for peeling the label L2 with mount from the mount M (see FIG. 2) is provided.

  The cutter unit 2 is used when the mountless label L1 is set, and one is a fixed blade and the other is a movable blade, but both may be movable blades. The temporary attachment portion 3 temporarily holds the cut label L or the label L peeled off from the mount M, and includes a free roller 31 provided on a path on which the label L is printed. A pressing member 32 that lightly presses the fed label L against the free roller 31 is provided at a position facing the free roller 31. However, the pressing member 32 is not an essential configuration. For example, the pressing member 32 is configured so that the printing unit 1 in FIG. 1 is directed in the vertical direction, the cutter unit 2 is directed in the horizontal direction, and the label L is sent out in the vertical direction. Is provided.

  When the mountless label L1 is used, the mountless label L1 is set so that the print surface of the mountless label L1 faces the print head 11 and the adhesive surface contacts the platen roller 12, as shown in FIG. When label issuance is instructed by operating the print key or the like, the print head 11 prints predetermined items on the mountless label L1 while the platen roller 12 rotates in the direction of the arrow. In that process, the printed label L passes between the cutter blades of the cutter unit 2 and enters between the free roller 3 1 of the temporary attachment portion 3 and the pressing member 32.

  Even when printing by the print head 11 is completed, the platen roller 12 continues to rotate, and the platen roller 12 stops at the timing when the trailing edge of the printed label L reaches the cutting position of the cutter unit 2, and at the same time, the cutter unit. 2 is activated, and the delivered label L is cut off from the subsequent label sheet. FIG. 1 shows a state immediately after being separated.

  When the mount-less label L1 is set, the label's adhesive surface moves forward while in contact with the peeling member 4, but the contact portion is provided with a non-adhesive coating that does not adhere an adhesive, so the label The adhesive surface of L does not adhere to the peeling member 4.

  On the other hand, when the label L2 with mount is used, the mount M is set so as to be in contact with the platen roller 12, and the mount M is folded at an acute angle at the tip of the peeling member 4 as shown in FIG. Wind around the take-up bobbin. When a label issuance is instructed by operating a print key or the like, the print head 11 prints predetermined items on the label L while the platen roller 12 rotates in the direction of the arrow. In that process, the mount M is folded back at an acute angle by the peeling member 4 and taken up by the take-up bobbin, so that the label L with the waist is sent out while being peeled from the mount M. The sent label L passes between the cutter blades of the cutter unit 2 and enters between the free roller 31 and the pressing member 32 of the temporary attachment portion 3 as described above. After the printing is finished, the platen roller 12 continues to rotate, and the platen roller 12 stops at the timing when the trailing edge of the fed label L is separated from the leading edge of the peeling member 4. FIG. 2 shows this state. In this case, the cutter unit 2 does not operate.

  When the printing and printing of the label L is completed in this way, the label L that has been printed and printed is held by the temporary attachment portion 3 regardless of the type of label, and the operator picks it up and applies it to the product. . At this time, since the label L is only lightly pressed by the free roller 31, the label L can be easily removed.

  Since the length of one label is various in length, if the temporary attachment part 3 is attached to the cutter unit 2 so as to be close to and away from the temporary attachment part, the temporary attachment part is provided according to the length of the label L fed out. The label length protruding from 3 can be adjusted. Thereby, even if it is the short label L, sufficient grip allowance can be ensured.

In addition, even if the forgotten label L is forgotten and the next label is issued, the preceding label L is held in the forward tilted position by the temporary attachment portion 3, so that the subsequent label L3 issued later As shown in FIG. 3, even if the leading label L forgets the leading label L and the next label is issued because the leading end of the leading part sinks and sticks below the trailing end of the leading label L, There is an advantage that these labels L and L3 are held and not dropped.
In FIG. 3, the preceding label L is held in a forward tilted posture, but conversely, the preceding label L may be held in a state where the rear end portion of the preceding label L is lowered and the leading end portion is jumped up. .

  According to the present invention, the temporary attachment portion for holding the mountless label cut on the downstream side of the cutter unit is provided, and when the label with the mount is used instead of the mountless label, the label peeled off from the mount is removed. Since it is held by the temporary attachment section, a single label printer can be used for both a paperless label to be cut and a label with a paperboard that is peeled from the paperboard. You can use different labels. Therefore, since it is not necessary to prepare a label printer for mounting and a label printer with mounting, it is possible for the user to reduce capital investment and save space. Further, the mountless label to be used is not perforated and can be cut with a label size corresponding to the printing amount, so that there is an advantage that the amount of label used can be reduced.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the configuration of the present invention, particularly when a mountless label is set. The figure when it replaces with the mount-less label of FIG. 1 and the label with a mount is set. In FIG. 1, the figure of the state which overlapped and stuck the label of front and back partially. 1 is an external perspective view of an embodiment of an electronic scale equipped with a label printer according to the present invention. The external appearance perspective view of the state where the cassette used by the above-mentioned embodiment was pulled out from the main part. The external appearance perspective view of the cassette which can set a mount-less label and a label with a mount. Explanatory drawing of label issuing when a mountless label is set in a cassette. Explanatory drawing of label issuing when a label with a mount is set in a cassette. The block diagram of the conventional apparatus for labels with a mount which uses an auto cutter. The block diagram of the conventional apparatus for the mount-less label which mounts an auto cutter.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of an electronic balance equipped with the label printer of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The following embodiments do not limit the technical scope of the present invention.

  4 to 6, an electronic balance 100 with a printer is incorporated in a main body case C, a label printer P incorporated therein, a weighing unit W installed on the upper surface of the main body case C, and the main body case C. A control unit (not shown) that controls the label printer P and the weighing unit W and a power supply unit that is also incorporated in the main body case C and supplies power to the label printer P and the control unit. An operation display unit D is attached to the front side of the main body case C operated by the store clerk, and a customer side display unit Dd is attached to the back side.

  The label printer P is housed in the right-side main body case C, and an opening / closing door G is provided on the front side thereof. Thus, the opening / closing door G can be opened downward, and if it is opened, the cassette CA can be taken out from the inside. A handle H is attached to the front side of the cassette CA, and the cassette CA can be pulled out from the main body case C by pulling it forward.

  The label printer P includes a cassette CA for storing a label roll LR (see FIG. 7), a platen roller 12 provided at the upper end of the cassette CA, a print head 11 provided on the back surface of the opening / closing door G, and a main body case. A cutter unit 2 provided at the upper front end of C, a temporary attachment portion 3 provided in the vicinity thereof, and a peeling member 4 attached in the vicinity of the front side of the platen roller 12 on the cassette CA side are provided.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 to 8, the cassette CA is configured so that both the mountless label L1 and the label L2 with mount can be set. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, a roll support R is attached to the side wall CA1 in a cantilevered state, and a label roll LR (see FIGS. 7 to 8) for a mountless label L1 and a label L2 with mount. ) Paper tube is rotatably mounted. The label sheet of the mountless label L1 and the label L2 with mount drawn out from the label roll LR is under the guide roller GR (see FIGS. 7 to 8) attached in a cantilevered manner to the side wall CA1 of the cassette CA. Then, it is delivered to the platen roller 12 at the upper end of the tip.

  The platen roller 12 is attached to the upper end of the cassette CA. A gear mechanism for driving the platen roller 12 is incorporated in the side wall CA1 of the cassette CA. When the cassette CA is inserted into the main body case C, the gear mechanism is inserted. The rear end gear GC (see FIGS. 7 and 8) meshes with the drive gear DG on the main body case C side to transmit power, so that the platen roller 12 rotates.

  On the side wall CA1 of the cassette CA, a take-up bobbin B that winds the peeled mount M when the label L2 with mount is set is attached in a cantilevered state. A gear is attached to the rotating shaft of the take-up bobbin B via a slip clutch (not shown). When this gear is engaged with the gear mechanism of the platen roller 12 and the platen roller 12 rotates, the take-up is linked with it. Bobbin B also rotates while slipping. As a result, the peeled backing sheet M is wound up while being pulled by the winding bobbin B. In FIG. 5, the take-up bobbin B is hidden and hardly seen, and thus illustration thereof is omitted.

  A peeling member 4 is attached in the vicinity of the platen roller 12 and downstream from the position in contact with the print head 11 (the feeding direction side of the label L). The non-adhesive coating (Toshiko Co., Ltd. Toshika S coating processing) which prevents adhesion of the adhesive applied to is applied. Thereby, even if the adhesive surface of the mountless label L1 comes into contact with the peeling member 4, it is sent out without being attached thereto.

  The print head 11 provided on the back surface of the open / close door G in FIG. 5 is a thermal print head, and its heat generation line is in contact with the platen roller 12 of the accommodated cassette CA when the open / close door G is closed. Is positioned.

  FIG. 7 shows a state in which the mountless label L1 is set in the cassette CA and inserted into the main body case C, and a cross-sectional view of the main part of the label issuing port at that time. FIG. 8 shows a state in which the label L2 with mount is set in the cassette CA and is inserted into the main body case C, and a cross-sectional view of the main part of the label issuing port at that time. In these drawings, a support frame 13 that supports the print head 11 is attached to the back surface of the door G so as to be swingable with respect to the door G via a hinge 14. Further, the print head 11 is attached to the inside of the support frame 13, and the print head 11 is placed on the side facing the print head 11, particularly between the support frame 13 and the open / close door G, when the open / close door G is closed. A spring 15 that presses against the roller 12 is inserted.

  The mountless label L1 is obtained by applying an adhesive on the back side of the paper as a base material, laminating a heat sensitive agent that develops color on the surface, and then applying a silicone resin as a release agent on the surface. Is wound around a paper tube to form a label roll LR. When attaching it to the cassette CA, after attaching the label roll LR to the roll support portion R, as shown in FIG. 7, with the tip portion fed out of the label roll LR facing the adhesive surface upward The sheet is sandwiched between the print head 11 and the platen roller 12 under the guide roller GR.

  Further, the label L2 with mount is a label in which the label L is pasted on a long mount M at a constant pitch, and is wound around a paper tube with the mount M inside. When setting it in the cassette CA, after attaching the label roll LR to the roll support portion R, as shown in FIG. 8, the mount M is directed upward, and the leading end fed out from the label roll LR is placed on the guide roller. The sheet M is sandwiched between the print head 11 and the platen roller 12 under the GR, and the mount M is folded back at an acute angle by the peeling member 4, and the leading end is wound around the winding bobbin B.

  On the other hand, a cutter unit 2 having a fixed blade 21 and a movable blade 22 is attached to the upper part of the platen roller 12. The cutter unit 2 is configured such that a movable blade 22 is connected to a crank mechanism inside the unit 2 and reciprocates in a horizontal direction between the movable blade 22 and the fixed blade 21 at a high speed.

  A temporary attachment portion 3 is disposed above the fixed blade 21 and the movable blade 22. The temporary attachment part 3 is comprised by the free roller 31 and the pressing member 32 which presses the label L lightly on the surface. In order to reduce the contact area with the adhesive surface of the label L, the free roller 31 is composed of a rotatable roller having an uneven surface. The pressing member 32 is formed of a thin resin plate in order to lightly press the printed label L against the free roller 31. In this embodiment, the free roller 31 and the pressing member 32 are attached to a cover case that covers the cutter unit 2, but the temporary attachment portion 3 is unitized so as to be close to and away from the fixed blade 21 of the cutter unit 2. You may comprise so that it can. If comprised in this way, since the distance of the temporary attachment part 3 and the cutting position of the cutter unit 2 can be adjusted, the length of the label front-end | tip part which protrudes from the temporary attachment part 3 is adjusted according to label size. can do.

The weighing unit W wirelessly transmits a known load cell that converts mechanical strain into an electrical signal, a signal processing circuit that amplifies the load cell output and converts it into a digital signal, and a digital signal to a control unit in the body case C. A communication module and a battery unit for supplying power to them are provided. In the main body case C, the communication module that receives the digital signal transmitted from the weighing unit W, the received signal is converted into mass, and the price is calculated by multiplying it by the unit price per unit mass set. A control unit that displays it on the operation display unit D and the customer display unit Dd, a label printer P, and a power supply unit that supplies power to these units are housed.
In this embodiment, the weight signal is wirelessly transmitted from the weighing unit W to the control unit. However, the weight signal may be transmitted by wire instead.

  In FIG. 4, the operation display part D is comprised with the touchscreen TP and the fixed key K, and the basic information required for operation of the electronic balance 100 with a printer is displayed on the touchscreen TP by control of a control unit. Yes. The fixed key K includes a “unit price” key, a “fixed amount” key, a “tare” key, a “print” key, a “call” key, etc., which are necessary for the fee scale, and these are appropriately arranged together with numeric keys. ing. Then, after operating the “call” key and touching the displayed item to read the registration information of the product to be weighed, if the product is placed on the weighing unit W, the weight, price, and product name are displayed on the touch panel TP. It is displayed on the customer display unit Dd. In addition, the customer side display unit Dd is also composed of a liquid crystal display, and displays various advertisement messages regarding products in addition to weight and price.

  In use, a label designated by a product, for example, a label roll LR of a mountless label L1 is set in a cassette CA as shown in FIG. Then, the “call” key is operated, the product name is designated on the touch panel TP, and the product is placed on the weighing unit W. Then, the weight, price, and product name of the product are displayed on the touch panel TP and the customer display unit Dd. Subsequently, when the “print” key is operated, the platen roller 12 rotates in the reverse direction, and the leading edge of the label is returned to the heat generation line of the print head 11 while retracting the overrun label L. Subsequently, while the platen roller 12 rotates in the forward direction to feed out the label L, the weight, price, product information, etc. are printed in a predetermined format. In the meantime, the leading end of the label L to be sent out rises between the fixed blade 21 and the movable blade 22.

  Even after the printing is completed, the platen roller 12 continues to rotate until the trailing edge of the label L reaches the cutting position. As a result, the leading end portion of the label L enters between the free roller 31 and the pressing member 32. Then, when the rear edge of the label L reaches the cutting position, the platen roller 12 stops, and then the cutter unit 2 operates to cause the movable blade 22 to cut the boundary line between the front and rear labels. Then, the label L cut off from the subsequent label sheet L1 is tilted toward the measuring unit W and stops. As a result, even if the next label is issued in the state where the label L of the temporary attachment portion 3 is forgotten, the temporary attachment is performed with the leading end portion of the subsequent label partially attached to the adhesive surface of the preceding label L. Held in part 3.

  On the other hand, when the label roll LR of the label L2 with mount is set in the cassette CA, the label L2 with mount is hidden under the guide roller GR and passed through the printing unit 1 as shown in FIG. The member 4 is folded at the front end and wound around the take-up bobbin B. When the “print” key is operated in the same manner as described above, the platen roller 12 rotates reversely, and the leading edge of the label is returned to the heat generation line of the print head 11 while retracting the overrun label L. Subsequently, while the platen roller 12 rotates in the forward direction to feed out the label L, the weight, price, product information, etc. are printed in a predetermined format. In the meantime, the leading end of the label L to be sent out rises between the fixed blade 21 and the movable blade 22.

Even after the printing is completed, the platen roller 12 does not stop and continues to rotate until the trailing edge of the label L is separated from the peeling member 4. When the rear end of the label L moves away from the peeling member 4, the platen roller 12 stops. At that time, the label L separated from the mount M is held by the temporary attachment portion 3.
Thus, if the printed label L is held by the temporary attachment part 30, the label L can be easily removed by pulling it up.

  As mentioned above, although one Embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to this, Other structures are employable. For example, in the above embodiment, the cassette unit 2 is arranged in the horizontal direction so that the cassette CA can be taken in and out in the horizontal direction without interfering with the cutter unit 2, but instead, as shown in FIGS. In addition, the cutter unit 2 may be arranged in the vertical direction. In this case, as shown in these drawings, the print head 11 may be arranged above the platen roller 12 so that the cutter unit 2 is retracted upward when the cassette CA is taken in and out.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printing part 2 Cutter unit 3 Temporary part L Label L1 Mountless label L2 Label with mount L3 Subsequent label

Claims (6)

  A label printer that switches between a mount-less label and a label with a mount, and is printed on the label and printed on the downstream side of the print unit and printed between the cutter blades. A cutter unit that cuts a label, and a temporary attachment portion that is disposed on the downstream side of the cutter unit and holds the cut label, and when using the label with a mount instead of the mount-less label, A label printer, characterized in that a label separated from a mount is held in the temporary attachment portion.   2. The label according to claim 1, wherein the cutter blade is disposed so as to be reciprocally movable in a horizontal direction, and the mountless label and the label with the mount are fed upward from below between the cutter blades. Printer.   A cassette that stores the mountless label or the label with the mount and sends the label to the printing unit is provided, and the cassette has the mountless label or the label with the mount sandwiched between the printing unit and the cassette. A platen roller that feeds out, a peeling member that is located on the downstream side of the platen roller and peels the label from the mount, and a take-up bobbin that winds up the mount from which the label has been peeled are provided. Item 3. A label printer according to item 1 or 2.   The label printer according to claim 3, wherein a coating agent for preventing adhesion of the mountless label is applied to a portion of the peeling member that contacts the mountless label.   The label printer according to claim 1, wherein the temporary attachment portion includes a free roller to which a printed label is attached and a pressing member that presses the label printed on the free roller.   The temporary attachment portion holds the cut label by tilting it in a direction intersecting with the feeding direction of the label, thereby cutting the printing surface of the subsequent label on the adhesive surface of the cut label or cutting The label printer according to claim 5, wherein an adhesive surface of the succeeding label is superposed on a printed surface of the label.

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