JP2019064012A - Printer and print program - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a printer which cuts a printed medium according to user's purpose and preference while reducing a burden of operating work.SOLUTION: A printing label preparation device 1 includes: a tape feeding roller drive shaft 109 for transferring a cover film 103; a print head 21 which forms prints on the transferred cover film 103; a cutting part 31 which cuts a printed medium T; a housing 200; and a discharge port 4 which is provided at the housing 200 and discharges the printed medium R from the inside of the housing 200 to the outside of the housing 200. The printing label preparation device 1 further includes an action detection sensor 9 which is provided below the discharge port 4 of the housing 200 and detects a detection object located outside the housing 200 in a non-contact manner; and a CPU 111 which controls operation of the cutting part 31 in response to a detection result of the action detection sensor 9.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus and a printing program for producing a printed matter on which a desired print is formed.

  A printing apparatus is conventionally known which produces desired printed matter on a medium to be printed and cuts the medium to be printed after printing to create a printed matter (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  In this prior art, for example, a plurality of printed materials having different print contents (such as characters) can be printed by a simultaneous printing operation on a series of print-receiving media. At this time, a plurality of different printed materials are separated according to the print content of the print medium according to the print content (hereinafter referred to as "full cut") and according to the print content of the print medium. And a function of performing half separation (hereinafter referred to as "half cut") for each sheet.

JP 2000-006472 A

  In the above-described prior art, it is possible to combine full cut and half cut when printing.

  Here, in the printed matter creation work in the printing apparatus, for example, when the full cut and the half cut are combined based on a predetermined number of sheets set in advance for the print target medium after printing, the difference in the number of characters, etc. In the case where the lengths of the printed matter caused by the above differ, the printed medium can not be cut according to the application or preference of the user, for example, the printed matter can not be sorted in a combination desired by the user.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus and a printing program capable of cutting a printed medium according to a user's application and preference while reducing the operation labor burden.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a conveying means for conveying a medium to be printed, a printing means for forming a print on the medium to be printed conveyed by the conveying means, and using the medium as a printed medium; A cutting means for cutting the printed medium, a case containing the transport means, the printing means, and the cutting means, and a case provided in the case and discharging the printed medium from the inside of the case to the outside of the case And a detection unit that is provided below the discharge opening in the housing and detects a detection target positioned outside the housing without contact, and the detection unit. And control means for controlling the operation of the cutting means in accordance with the detection result of the means.

  In the present invention, printing is performed by the printing unit on the print-receiving medium transported by the transport unit, and a printed medium is formed. The printed medium is cut by the cutting means into, for example, printed matter such as a printed label, and then discharged from the discharge port to the outside of the housing.

  At this time, depending on the application and preference of the user, it may be different in what form it is desired to cut the printed medium. Therefore, in the present invention, the housing is provided with detection means, and the control means controls the operation of the cutting means according to the detection result. Thus, for example, by causing the detection means to detect the hand as a detection target by the user holding the hand in front of the detection means, it becomes possible to cause the cutting means to perform the operation intended by the user. As a result, for example, compared with the case where the user performs the disconnection setting on the screen of the operation terminal connected to the printing apparatus or the screen provided in the printing apparatus itself, the burden of operation labor can be reduced.

  Also, particularly in the present invention, the detection means is disposed below the outlet. Thus, for example, in a state where the user holds the hand over the detection means and performs the above operation, the printed matter discharged from the discharge port can be received by hand as it is. It can be received and the convenience is further improved. Furthermore, it is possible to detect the printed matter itself discharged from the discharge port by the detection means, and thereby operate the cutting means.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to cut the printed medium according to the application and preference of the user while reducing the operation labor burden.

It is a system configuration figure showing a print label production system provided with a print label production device operated by an operation terminal of one embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view showing the whole structure of a printing label production device. It is an enlarged plan view which represents typically an example of an internal unit provided in a case with a cartridge. It is a functional block diagram showing an example of a control system of a printing label production device. It is a top view showing an example of the appearance of the produced printed matter. It is a perspective view showing the whole structure of the printing label production apparatus which shows an example which a user holds a hand over an action detection sensor. FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a print setting screen set by the user using the operation terminal. It is a flowchart showing an example of the processing which the control system of a printing label production device performs. It is an enlarged plan view which represents typically other examples of the internal unit provided in a case with a cartridge. It is a functional block diagram showing the other example of the control system of a printing label production apparatus. It is a top view showing the other example of the appearance of the produced printed matter. It is a flowchart showing the other example of the process which the control system of a character printed label production apparatus performs. It is a perspective view showing the whole structure of the printing label production apparatus which shows the other example which the user holds his hand over an action detection sensor. It is a perspective view showing the whole structure of the printing label production device which shows the example which arranged a plurality of action detection sensors.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The present embodiment is an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a print label generation system.

  A print label generation system including a print label producing apparatus which is a printing apparatus in the present embodiment and a terminal connected to the print label produce apparatus to execute the printed matter production method in the present embodiment is shown in FIG. . In this print label production system LS, a plurality of print label production apparatuses 1 (three print label production apparatuses 1A, 1B and 1C in this example) are connected via a wired or wireless communication line NW, for example, from a general purpose computer Terminal 118 (in this example, one desktop personal computer 118A and notebook personal computer 118B) as one or more operation terminals.

  The terminal 118 includes an operation unit 118a including a keyboard or a mouse (including a touch pad), a display unit 118b including a liquid crystal display, a CPU (arithmetic unit), a RAM, a ROM, and an HDD (all not shown). And a main body 118c with an interior. The CPU executes various programs stored in advance in the HDD while utilizing the temporary storage function of the RAM. Thereby, control of the print label production apparatus 1 whole is performed. The above-described stored program also includes the printing program according to the present embodiment when a plurality of print labels (printed matter) described later are created by selectively using the three print label producing apparatuses 1A, 1B, and 1C. included.

<Overall structure of print label producing device>
Next, the entire structure of the print label producing apparatus 1A, 1B, 1C will be described with reference to FIG. The three print label producing apparatuses 1A, 1B, and 1C have the same structure, and when it is not necessary to distinguish them, hereinafter, they will be referred to simply as "print label producing apparatus 1".

  As shown in FIG. 2, the print label producing apparatus 1 can be opened and closed on an apparatus main body 2 having a substantially hexahedral (substantially cubic) shaped casing 200 in an outer shell, and an upper surface (see arrow in FIG. 2) of the apparatus main body 2. It has an open / close lid 3 provided on (or may be detachable from).

  The case 200 is located on the front surface of the device body 2 (see the arrow in FIG. 2), and printing is performed on a strip-shaped (tape-like) print medium (not shown) formed inside the device body 2 A front wall 5 having a discharge port 4 for discharging the spent medium T to the outside, and a front lid 6 provided below the discharge port 4 of the front wall 5 and rotatably supported at its lower end (openable). And.

  At one end of the front wall 5, the user operates the power key 7 for turning the power of the print label producing apparatus 1 on and off, and the cutting unit 30 (see FIG. 3 described later) disposed inside the apparatus main body 2 And a cutter drive key 8 for making it possible to drive by a manual operation of The front lid 6 is provided with a non-contact type action detection sensor (detection means) 9 for enabling the cutting unit 30 to be driven by a predetermined action by the user, separately from the cutter drive key 8. In addition, as long as the action detection sensor 9 is disposed under the discharge port 4 and detects the detection target in a noncontact manner, for example, a known optical sensor, an infrared sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, etc. are applied. be able to. At this time, it is desirable that the action detection sensor 9 have detection accuracy including the separation distance to the detection target.

  The open / close lid 3 is pivotally supported at an end portion of the right rear (refer to the arrow in FIG. 2) of the apparatus main body 2 and always attached in an open direction via a biasing member (not shown) such as a spring. It is powered. Then, when the open / close button 10 disposed adjacent to the open / close lid 3 is pressed on the upper surface of the device body 2, the lock between the open / close lid 3 and the device main body 2 is released, and the biasing action of the biasing member Opened by A see-through window 11 covered with a transparent cover is provided on the central side of the open / close lid 3.

<Internal unit>
Next, an internal unit disposed inside the housing 200 will be described based on FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the internal unit of the print label producing apparatus 1 schematically includes a cartridge holder 13 for housing the cartridge 12, and a printing mechanism 20 having a print head (thermal head) 21 as printing means. A cutting unit 30 and a label discharging mechanism (not shown) are provided.

  The print head 21 includes a large number of heat generating elements, and is attached to a head attachment portion (not shown) erected on the cartridge holder 13.

  The cartridge holder 13 accommodates the cartridge 12 so that the direction of the width direction of the printed medium T discharged from the discharge port 4 after being discharged from the tape discharge portion (not shown) of the cartridge 12 is the vertical direction. .

  The cartridge 12 includes a housing 14 and a first roll 102 disposed in the housing 14 and wound with a strip-shaped base tape 101 (in fact, it is spiral but is shown as being simply concentric in the drawing) And a second roll 104 (in practice, it is spiral but is shown as being simply concentric in the figure) on which a transparent cover film 103 having a width substantially the same as the base tape 101 is wound, and an ink ribbon 105 (a thermal transfer ribbon, but not necessary when the print-receiving tape is a heat-sensitive tape) A ribbon supply side roll 106 (actually a spiral but shown in a simplified concentric manner in the figure) and after printing It has a ribbon take-up roller 107 for taking up the ink ribbon 105, and a tape feed roller 22 rotatably supported in the vicinity of the tape discharge portion of the cartridge 12. The cover film 103 and the printed medium T in which the base tape 101 is bonded to the cover film 103 constitute a print target medium described in each claim.

  The first roll 102 has the base tape 101 wound around a reel member 102R. The base tape 101 has a four-layer structure in this example as shown in an enlarged view of a portion A surrounded by an ellipse of a two-dot chain line in FIG. 3, and the base tape 101 has a four-layer structure. An adhesive layer 101a made of an appropriate adhesive material, a colored base film (base material layer) 101b made of PEL (polyethylene terephthalate) or the like, an adhesive layer made of an appropriate adhesive material, facing the opposite side (left side in FIG. 3) (Adhesive Pressure-Sensitive Adhesive Layer) 101c and release paper (release material layer) 101d are laminated in this order.

  An adhesive layer 101a for adhering a cover film 103 later is formed on the front side (right side in FIG. 3) of the base film 101b, and the adhesive layer 101c is peeled off on the back side (left side in FIG. 3) of the base film 101b. The paper 101 d is adhered to the base film 101 b.

  The second roll 104 has a cover film 103 wound around a reel member 104R.

  The housing 14 has a detected portion 15. On the other hand, a cartridge sensor 16 is provided at a position corresponding to the detected portion 15 of the cartridge holder 13. The cartridge sensor 16 detects the mounting state of the cartridge 12 and also detects cartridge information (tape attribute information) on the type of the cartridge 12.

  On the other hand, a roller holder (not shown) is pivotally supported by the support shaft in the cartridge holder 13 and can be switched between the printing position (contact position) and the release position (separation position) by the switching mechanism. ing. In the roller holder, a platen roller 23 and a tape pressure contact roller 24 are rotatably disposed. Then, when the roller holder is switched to the printing position, the platen roller 23 and the tape pressure roller 24 are brought into pressure contact with the print head 21 and the tape feed roller 22. The tape feed roller 22 of the cartridge 12 feeds the tape in the direction indicated by the arrow B in FIG. 3 while pressing the base tape 101 and the cover film 103 to bond them to form a printed medium T. The ribbon take-up roller 107 and the tape feed roller 22 are rotationally driven in conjunction with each other by driving the ribbon take-up roller drive shaft 108 and the tape feed roller drive shaft (conveying means) 109. Thus, the transport driving force is applied to the printed medium T and the ink ribbon 105, respectively. The ribbon take-up roller drive shaft 108 and the tape feed roller drive shaft 109 have a gear mechanism (not shown) in which the driving force of a transport motor 121 (see FIG. 4 described later), which is a pulse motor, is provided outside the cartridge 12. It is driven by being transmitted through.

  The cutting unit 30 includes a cutting unit (cutting means) 31 that fully cuts the printed medium T. The cutting unit 31 includes a fixed blade 33 and a movable blade 34. The driving force of the cutter motor 122 (see FIG. 4 described later) is transmitted to the movable blade 34 via a power transmission mechanism or the like (for example, a cutter screw gear, a boss, a long hole, etc.) which is not shown. Do. As a result, the movable blade 34 cooperates with the fixed blade 33 to cover all layers of the printed medium T (the cover film 103, the adhesive layer 101a shown in a partially enlarged view of FIG. , The base film 101b, the adhesive layer 101c, and the release paper 101d) are divided (totally cut) in the thickness direction, and a full cut line CL (see FIG. ) Etc.). This full cutting state is detected by a micro switch (not shown) switched by the action of the cutter helical gear cam. Note that this full cut line CL actually divides all the layers of the printed medium T in the thickness direction, and as shown in FIG. 5B, for example, four types of printed matter L1 to L4 It falls apart one by one. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5A, no physical line segment remains between one (series of) band-shaped printed matter. In the following description, the printed materials L1 to L4 are collectively referred to as "printed material L" unless otherwise noted.

  As shown in an enlarged view of a portion C surrounded by a double-dashed chain ellipse in FIG. 3, each of the printed materials L1 to L4 has a five-layer structure in which the cover film 103 is added to the four-layer structure described above. That is, the cover film 103, the adhesive layer 101a, the base film 101b, the adhesive layer 101c, and the release paper 101d constitute five layers from the cover film 103 side to the opposite side.

  The label discharge mechanism discharges the printed matter L after being completely cut in the cutting unit 30 from the discharge port 4. That is, the label discharge mechanism opposes the drive roller 51 (see FIG. 4 described later), which is rotated by the driving force of the tape discharge motor 124 (see FIG. 4 described later) And a pressing roller (not shown).

<Operation of internal unit>
In the internal unit configured as described above, when the cartridge 12 is attached to the cartridge holder 13, the cover film 103 and the ink ribbon 105 are nipped between the print head 21 and the platen roller 23, and the base tape 101 and the cover The film 103 is nipped between the tape feed roller 22 and the tape pressure roller 24. Then, the ribbon winding roller 107 and the tape feeding roller 22 are rotationally driven in synchronization with the winding direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. 3 by the driving force of the conveyance motor 121. At this time, the tape feed roller drive shaft 109, the tape pressure contact roller 24, and the platen roller 23 are connected by a gear mechanism (not shown), and the tape feed roller 22 is pressed with the tape feed roller drive shaft 109 driven. The roller 24 and the platen roller 23 rotate, and the base tape 101 is fed from the first roll 102 and supplied to the tape feed roller 22.

  On the other hand, the cover film 103 is fed from the second roll 104. The ink ribbon 105 driven by the ribbon supply roller 106 and the ribbon take-up roller 107 is brought into contact with the back surface of the cover film 103 by being pressed by the print head 21. Then, a plurality of heating elements of the print head 21 are energized by the drive circuit 119A (see FIG. 4 described later). As a result, the print R (see FIG. 3) based on the print data from the terminal 118 is printed on the back surface of the cover film 103 along the transport direction.

  Then, the base tape 101 and the cover film 103 for which printing has been completed are adhered by the tape feed roller 22 and the tape pressure roller 24 and integrated to form a printed medium T, and the tape discharge unit Is transported. The ink ribbon 105 that has been printed on the cover film 103 is wound around the ribbon winding roller 107 by the drive of the ribbon winding roller drive shaft 108.

  Then, the above-described full cutting is performed by the cutting unit 30 on the printed medium T that is generated by being bonded as described above, and the printed matter L is generated. The printed medium T (printed matter L) is further discharged from the discharge port 4 (see FIG. 2) by the label discharging mechanism.

<Control system of print label producing device>
The control system of the print label producing apparatus 1 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG. A control circuit 110 shown in FIG. 4 is disposed on a control substrate (not shown) of the print label producing apparatus 1.

  The control circuit 110 is provided with a CPU 111 for controlling each device, an input / output interface 113 connected to the CPU 111 via a data bus 112, a CGROM 114, ROMs 115 and 116, and a RAM 117.

  The ROM 116 stores various programs necessary for control of the print label producing apparatus 1. The CPU 111 performs various calculations based on various programs stored in the ROM 116.

  The RAM 117 is provided with a text memory 117A, a print buffer 117B, a parameter storage area 117C, and the like. Print data input from the terminal 118 is stored in the text memory 117A. The print buffer 117B stores dot patterns for printing dot patterns such as a plurality of characters and symbols, the number of applied pulses which is the formation energy amount of each dot, etc. as dot pattern data, and the print head 21 is stored in the print buffer 117B. Dot printing is performed according to the existing dot pattern data. Various calculation data and the like are stored in the parameter storage area 117C.

  The input / output interface 113 includes a terminal 118, a drive circuit 119A for driving the print head 21, a drive circuit 119B for driving the transport motor 121, and a drive circuit 119C for driving the cutter motor 122. And a drive circuit 119E for driving the tape discharge motor 124.

  In the control system having such a control circuit 110 as a core, when the print data such as character data is input through the terminal 118, the text (document data) is sequentially stored in the text memory 117A and printed. The head 21 is driven through the drive circuit 119A, and each heating element is selectively driven to generate heat corresponding to the printing dots of one line, and the dot pattern data stored in the printing buffer 117B is printed, In synchronization, the transport motor 121 controls the transport of the tape via the drive circuit 119B.

  An example (in this example, four types of the printed materials L1 to L4) of the printed material L created using the printed medium T by the print label creating apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 (a) to 5 (b).

  In each of the printed materials L1 to L4 shown in FIGS. 5A to 5B, a print area in which the print R is printed on the cover film 103 (for example, a range excluding upper and lower, right and left margins according to the number of characters and font size) )It is included. In the printed materials L1 to L4 shown in FIG. 5, the desired print R is printed on the back surface of the cover film 103 in the print area. In the printed matter L1 shown in FIG. 5, the printing R of the character "ABCDE" is printed in the printing area. In the printed matter L2 shown in FIG. 5, the printing R of the character "F" is printed in the printing area. In the printed matter L3 shown in FIG. 5, the printing R of the character "GHJ" is printed in the printing area. In the printed matter L4 shown in FIG. 5, the print R of the character "MNOP" is printed in the print area. That is, in this example, the printed contents L1 to L4 have different print contents, and as a result, the lengths (label lengths) along the transport direction are different.

  In addition, all the four printed materials L1 to L4 are, for example, as shown in FIG. 5B, by switching whether or not all cutting to the print-completed medium T is performed at the boundaries of each other under the control of the CPU 111. It is in the state of falling apart by making it a full cut.

  In the above, the main part of the present embodiment is to create a plurality of printed products L using the plurality of print label producing apparatuses 1A to 1C, and at that time, drop the printed products L1 to L4 at hand by one action. It is to

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, the print label producing apparatus 1 forms a print on the tape feed roller drive shaft 109 for transporting the cover film 103 and the cover film 103 transported by the tape feed roller drive shaft 109, A print head 21 which is a printed medium T, a cutting unit 31 which cuts (full cut) the printed medium T, a housing 200 which includes a tape feed roller drive shaft 109, a print head 21 and the cutting unit 31; And a discharge port 4 provided in the housing 200 for discharging the print-completed medium T from the inside of the housing 200 to the outside of the housing 200, provided below the discharge port 4 in the housing 200, According to the detection result of the action detection sensor 9 which detects the detection target located outside the body 200 in a non-contact manner, and controls the operation of the cutting unit 31 That has a CPU111, a.

  That is, in the present embodiment, printing is performed by the print head 21 on the cover film 103 conveyed by the tape feed roller drive shaft 109, and the printed medium T is formed. The printed medium T is cut by the cutting unit 31 into, for example, printed matter such as a print label, and then discharged from the discharge port 4 to the outside of the housing 200.

  At this time, depending on the use or preference of the user, there may be differences in the form in which it is desired to cut the printed medium T. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the action detection sensor 9 is provided in the housing 200, and the CPU 111 controls the operation of the cutting unit 31 according to the detection result. Thus, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, the intention of the user with respect to the cutting unit 31 is that the user holds his hand in front of the action detection sensor 9 and causes the action detection sensor 9 to detect that hand. It is possible to make the

  As a result, for example, on the screen of the operation terminal connected to the print label producing apparatus 1 or the screen provided in the print label producing apparatus 1, for example, when the user performs the disconnection setting on the setting screen as shown in FIG. In comparison, the burden of operation can be reduced.

  Further, particularly, in the present invention, the action detection sensor 9 is disposed below the discharge port 4. Thus, for example, in a state where the user performs the above operation by holding the hand over the action detection sensor 9, the printed matter discharged from the discharge port 4 can be received by hand as it is, so the cutting portion is performed by one action. 31 operation + reception can be performed, and the convenience is further improved. Furthermore, it is also possible to cause the action detection sensor 9 to detect the printed matter itself discharged from the discharge port 4 and thereby operate the cutting unit 31.

  Therefore, the CPU 111 controls whether or not the cutting unit 31 cuts the printed medium T. An example of a control routine executed by the CPU 111 based on the print program will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

<Label creation processing>
When the user operates the terminal 118 to perform a predetermined label production operation by the print label producing apparatus 1 and receives print data for the printed matter L1 to L4 produced by the user from the terminal 118, the CPU 111 drives the drive circuit 119B. The tape feed roller 22 and the ribbon take-up roller 107 are rotationally driven by the drive force of the transport motor 121 via the drive motor 119, and the drive roller 51 is rotationally driven by the drive force of the tape discharge motor 124 via the drive circuit 119E.

  Thereby, the base tape 101 is drawn out from the first roll 102 and supplied to the tape feed roller 22, and the cover film 103 is drawn out from the second roll 104, and the base tape 101 and the cover film 103 are tapes. It is bonded and integrated by the feed roller 22 and the tape pressure roller 24 and is formed as a printed medium T, and is further transported from the outside of the cartridge 12 to the outside of the print label producing apparatus 1.

  In this transport state, in step S1, the CPU 111 appropriately counts the number of pulses output from the drive circuit 119B for driving the transport motor 121, which is a pulse motor, based on the print data acquired from the terminal 118 It is determined whether the cover film 103 has reached the print start position by the print head 21 or not. The CPU 111 waits for a loop if the determination is not satisfied without reaching the print start position (No), and shifts the process to step S2 when the print start position is reached and the determination is satisfied (Yes).

  In step S2, the CPU 111 outputs a control signal to the drive circuit 119A through the input / output interface 113 to energize the print head 21, and the character corresponding to the acquired print data in the print area of the cover film 103 described above. , Printing of a symbol, a bar code and the like (for example, the character "ABCDE" of the printed matter L1) R is started.

  Thereafter, the CPU 111 shifts the process to step S3 and determines whether or not the medium T with print has been conveyed to the print end position based on the print data. The determination at this time may be detected by a known method as described above. If the determination is not satisfied without reaching the print end position (No), the CPU 111 waits in a loop, and if the determination is satisfied after reaching the print end position (Yes), the process proceeds to Step S4.

  In step S4, the CPU 111 outputs a control signal to the drive circuit 119A via the input / output interface 113, stops the energization of the print head 21, and stops the printing of the printing R (printing of the character "ABCDE"). This completes the printing of the print R on the print area of one print L1. Thereafter, the CPU 111 shifts the processing to step S5.

  In step S5, based on the acquired print data, whether or not the cut setting of the rear end of the printed matter L created at this time has the full cut function using the action detection sensor 9 effective. Determine if. That is, in the print data acquired as described above, for example, in the printed materials L1 to L4 shown in FIGS. 5 (a) to 5 (b) described above, the setting of the rear end portion is the full cut setting. In such a case, the CPU 111 determines whether the auto-cut function is enabled or another cut function is enabled on the setting screen shown in FIG. For example, when the auto-cut function is enabled and the determination is not satisfied (No), the CPU 111 skips the process to step S8 and sets the other functions as valid without making the auto-cut function valid. If it is (Yes), the process moves to step S6.

  In step S6, the CPU 111 stands by for a detection signal from the action detection sensor 9, and when a determination is not satisfied without receiving a detection signal from the action detection sensor 9, the CPU 111 stands by for a loop, for example, as shown in FIG. As shown in, when it is detected that the user's hand is held up and the determination is satisfied (Yes), the processing is shifted to step S7. This step S6 corresponds to the acquisition procedure described in each claim.

  In step S7, the CPU 111 determines whether the detection signal from the action detection sensor 9 continues for a predetermined time. Here, for example, if the detection signal is not received from the action detection sensor 9 continuously for one second or more and the determination is not satisfied (No), the CPU 111 waits in a loop, and continuously from the action detection sensor 9 for one second or more. If the detection signal is received and the determination is satisfied (Yes), the process proceeds to step S8.

  In step S8, the CPU 111 determines, for example, whether or not the printed medium T has been conveyed to a predetermined full cut position including a margin. If the CPU 111 does not determine that the printed medium T has been conveyed to the predetermined full cut position (No), the CPU 111 continuously conveys the printed medium T and waits for a loop to reach the predetermined full cut position. If it is determined that the printed medium T has been transported (Yes), the process proceeds to step S9. That is, based on the acquired print data, the CPU 111 uses the same known method as step S1 to print the printed medium T at the rear end including the margin of the print L1 (print L2 following the print L1 along the transport direction) It is determined whether the full cut position located at the In other words, the CPU 111 determines whether or not the printed medium T has reached the position where the movable blade 34 of the cutting unit 30 faces the full cut line CL. The determination is not satisfied until the full-cut position is reached (No), and the process waits for a loop, and when reached, the determination is satisfied (Yes), and the process proceeds to Step S9.

  In step S9, the CPU 111 outputs control signals to the drive circuit 119B and the drive circuit 119E via the input / output interface 113 to stop the driving of the transport motor 121 and the tape discharge motor 124, and the tape feed roller 22 and the ribbon winding The rotation of the take-up roller 107 and the drive roller 51 is stopped. As a result, in the process of moving the printed medium T fed out from the cartridge 12 in the discharge direction, the movable blade 34 of the cutting unit 30 faces the full cut line CL of the printed matter L1 from the first roll 102. The feeding of the base tape 101, the feeding of the cover film 103 from the second roll 104, and the conveyance of the printed medium T are stopped.

  Thereafter, in step S10, the CPU 111 outputs a control signal to the drive circuit 119C to drive the cutter motor 122 to rotate the movable blade 34 of the cutting unit 30, thereby covering the cover film 103 of the printed medium T and the adhesive layer. A full cut process is performed in which all of the base film 101b, the base film 101b, the adhesive layer 101c, and the release paper 101d are divided (= all cut) to form a full cut line CL. The division by the cutting unit 30 separates from the printed medium T to generate one print L. This step S10 corresponds to the control procedure described in each claim. Thereafter, the CPU 111 shifts the processing to step S14.

  Note that the CPU 111 outputs control signals to the drive circuit 119B and the drive circuit 119E via the input / output interface 113 as needed, and rotates the tape feed roller 22, the ribbon winding roller 107, and the drive roller 51 to print. The transport of the finished medium T is resumed. As a result, conveyance by the drive roller 51 is started, and the generated printed matter L is conveyed toward the discharge port 4 and is discharged from the discharge port 4 to the outside of the print label producing apparatus 1. The conveyance here is arbitrary depending on, for example, the length of the margin of the printed matter L, the length of the conveyance path from the cutting position to the discharge port 4, and the like.

  In step S14, the CPU 111 determines, based on the acquired print data, whether or not creation of all the printed materials L (for example, the next printed materials L2 to L4) included in the print data is completed. If all labels have not been created yet, the determination is not satisfied (NO), and the process returns to step S1 to repeat the same procedure. If all labels have been created, the determination is satisfied (Yes), and this flow is ended.

  By the above control, while repeating steps S1 to S10 and step S14, the printed materials L1 to L4 having the corresponding predetermined print R are sequentially generated, and all the printed materials finally assigned to the print label producing apparatus 1 L1 to L4 are generated.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the print R is formed on the tape feed roller drive shaft 109 for transporting the cover film 103 and the cover film 103 transported by the tape feed roller drive shaft 109, and printing is completed. Print head 21 as medium T, cutting section 31 for cutting (full cut) printed medium T, housing 200 including tape feed roller drive shaft 109, print head 21 and cutting section 31, and housing A discharge port 4 provided on the housing 200 for discharging the printed medium T from the inside of the housing 200 to the outside of the housing 200, and provided below the discharge port 4 in the housing 200 and located outside the housing 200 CPU provided in the print label producing apparatus 1 having the action detection sensor 9 for noncontact detection of the detection target (for example, the user's hand, the printed medium T) to be detected 11, obtains the detection result of the action detection sensor 9 (step S6), and controls the operation of the cutting portion 31 according to the obtained detection result (step S7), and the execution.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Hereinafter, such other examples will be described in order.

(1) When there is a half cut Next, another example of the print label producing device 1 according to the present embodiment will be described based on FIGS. 9 to 13. In this example, a so-called half cut function is provided in addition to the full cut function. Therefore, the configuration and functions other than the cutting unit 30 are the same (or substantially the same) as the configurations and functions shown in FIGS. 3 to 7 described above, and therefore, the same reference numerals are given and detailed description thereof is omitted. Do.

<Internal unit>
As shown in FIG. 8, the internal unit of the print label producing apparatus 1 schematically includes a cartridge holder 13 for housing the cartridge 12, and a printing mechanism 20 having a print head (thermal head) 21 as printing means. A cutting unit 30 and a label discharging mechanism (not shown) are provided.

  The cutting unit 30 includes a cutting portion (cutting means) 31 for fully cutting the printed medium T, and a semi-cutting portion (half cutting means) 32 for partially half-cutting the printed medium T in the thickness direction. . The configuration of the cutting unit 31 is the same as that described above.

  In the half cutting unit 32, the receiving stand 35 and the half cutter 36 are disposed to face each other so that the printed medium T is located therebetween. The half cutter 36 is rotated by a driving force of a half cutter motor 123 (see FIG. 4 described later) around a predetermined rotation fulcrum (not shown). As a result, the half cutter 36 cooperates with the receiving base 35 to separate (semi-cut) the other layers except the release paper 101 d in the thickness direction while leaving the release paper 101 d in the printed medium T. A half cut line HC (see FIG. 10 (c) to FIG. 10 (e) to be described later) is formed at a portion to be a label rear end portion along the line. Note that, contrary to the above, the half cutter 36 may cut only the release paper 101 d of the printed medium T. In this case, the positional relationship between the half cutter 36 and the support 35 sandwiching the printed medium T in FIG. 3 is reversed. Although the details will be described later, the half cut line HC shown in FIG. 10C to FIG. 10E is a broken line in the representation of the drawing, but a solid line when physically viewed from one side It is. In addition, the half cut line HC may be formed in a perforation when physically viewed from either of the both sides. In this case, the cut portion is completely cut (broken) in the thickness direction, and the other portions are not cut.

<Operation of internal unit>
In the internal unit configured as described above, the generated printed medium T is completely cut or partially cut by the cutting unit 30 to generate the printed matter L. Thereafter, the printed matter L is further discharged from the discharge port 4 (see FIG. 2) by the label discharging mechanism.

<Control system of print label producing device>
The control system of the print label producing apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The parts equivalent to those in FIG. 4 are given the same reference numerals, and the description will be omitted or simplified as appropriate. The input / output interface 113 includes a terminal 118, a drive circuit 119A for driving the print head 21, a drive circuit 119B for driving the transport motor 121, and a drive circuit 119C for driving the cutter motor 122. A drive circuit 119D for driving the half cutter motor 123 and a drive circuit 119E for driving the tape discharge motor 124 are connected.

  The ROM 116 stores various programs necessary for control of the print label producing apparatus 1. The CPU 111 performs various calculations based on various programs stored in the ROM 116.

  The input / output interface 113 includes a terminal 118, a drive circuit 119A for driving the print head 21, a drive circuit 119B for driving the transport motor 121, and a drive circuit 119C for driving the cutter motor 122. A drive circuit 119D for driving the half cutter motor 123 and a drive circuit 119E for driving the tape discharge motor 124 are connected.

  In the control system having such a control circuit 110 as a core, when the print data such as character data is input through the terminal 118, the text (document data) is sequentially stored in the text memory 117A and printed. The head 21 is driven through the drive circuit 119A, and each heating element is selectively driven to generate heat corresponding to the printing dots of one line, and the dot pattern data stored in the printing buffer 117B is printed, In synchronization, the transport motor 121 controls the transport of the tape via the drive circuit 119B.

  An example (in this example, four types of the printed materials L1 to L4) of the printed material L created using the printed medium T by the print label creating apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 11 (a) to 11 (e).

  In each of the printed materials L1 to L4 shown in FIGS. 11A to 11E, a print area in which the print R is printed on the cover film 103 (for example, a range excluding upper and lower, right and left margins according to the number of characters and font size) )It is included. In the printed matter L1 to L4 shown in FIG. 11, the desired print R is printed on the back surface of the cover film 103 in the print area. In the printed matter L1 shown in FIG. 11, the printing R of the character "ABCDE" is printed in the printing area. In the printed matter L2 shown in FIG. 11, the printing R of the character "F" is printed in the printing area. In the printed matter L3 shown in FIG. 11, the printing R of the character "GHJ" is printed in the printing area. In the printed matter L4 shown in FIG. 11, the printing R of the character "MNOP" is printed in the printing area. That is, in this example, the printed contents L1 to L4 have different print contents, and as a result, the lengths (label lengths) along the transport direction are different.

  In addition, for example, as shown in FIG. 11B, all four of the printed materials L1 to L4 are fully cut by switching whether or not cutting to the printed medium T is performed at the boundaries of each other. Thus, as shown in FIG. 11 (c), in the case of a series of states by half cutting all four, as shown in FIG. 11 (d) and FIG. 11 (e). As shown, in the case where a full cut and a half cut are mixed in two or three sheets, it is possible to cut and connect the printed medium T according to the application and preference of the user as in the case.

  As described above, the CPU 111 further includes the half cutting unit 32 (half cutter) that partially cuts the printed medium T in the thickness direction, and the CPU 111 controls the cutting unit 31 and the half according to the detection result of the action detection sensor 9. It is also possible to control the operation of the cutting unit 32. That is, the CPU 111 controls the mode (full cut ON / OFF and half cut ON / OFF) of cutting into the printed medium T by the cutting unit 31 and the half cutting unit 32.

  This makes it possible to separately discharge the printed materials one by one, discharge the plurality of printed materials in a continuous manner, and the like according to the application and preference of the user, and further improve the convenience. . In particular, in the case where the printed matter itself discharged from the discharge port 4 is detected by the action detection sensor 9, the medium T with print is semi-cut by the semi-cut portion 32 while it is not detected. The printed medium T can be cut (entirely cut) by the cutting unit 31 when a plurality of printed materials that are dropped down from the discharge port 4 are detected by the action detection sensor 9.

  Here, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, the CPU 111 is in a state where the user holds his hand for a relatively long time and a state where the user holds his hand for a relatively short time as shown in FIG. In accordance with the time (ex. 1 second or less than 1 second) during which the action detection sensor 9 is detecting the user's hand to be detected, as described in (3), the mode of cutting is controlled.

  In such a configuration, as shown in FIG. 12, in addition to the above-described steps S1 to S4, S6, S8 to S10, and S14, the CPU 111 performs S5, S7, and S7 for half-cut processing. The processes of steps S11 to S13 are executed based on the print program. In addition, the process of said step S1-step S4, step S6, step S8-step S10, and step S14 is the same as the above (or substantially the same).

  In step S5, based on the acquired print data, whether or not the cut setting of the rear end of the printed matter L created at this time has the full cut function using the action detection sensor 9 effective. Determine if. That is, in the acquired print data, for example, the half cut function is enabled in the setting screen shown in FIG. 7 described above. In such a case, the CPU 111 determines, for example, whether the auto-cut function is enabled or whether another cut function is enabled. For example, when the auto-cut function is enabled and the determination is not satisfied (No), the CPU 111 skips the process to step S8 and sets the other functions as valid without making the auto-cut function valid. If it is (Yes), the process moves to step S6.

  In step S6, the CPU 111 stands by for a detection signal from the action detection sensor 9, and when a determination is not satisfied without receiving a detection signal from the action detection sensor 9, the CPU 111 stands by for a loop, for example, as shown in FIG. As shown in, when it is detected that the user's hand is held up and the determination is satisfied (Yes), the processing is shifted to step S7. In the same manner as described above, step S6 corresponds to the acquisition procedure described in each claim.

  In step S7, the CPU 111 determines whether the detection signal from the action detection sensor 9 continues for a predetermined time. Here, as shown in FIG. 6, for example, when the printed material L1 is fully cut and received by hand as shown in FIG. 6, basically, the hand is held until the processing of step S8 to step S10 described above is executed. As a result, the detection signal is continuously received from the action detection sensor 9 for one second or more. On the other hand, for example, as shown in FIG. 13, when the hand is passed to pass the action detection sensor 9, a momentary detection signal of less than one second is received from the action detection sensor 9 as a result. It will be. Therefore, if such a difference in operation is determined as a request from a user having a different cutting mode, and the determination that the duration after the determination in step S6 continues for a predetermined time or longer is not satisfied (No), step S11 If the determination that the duration after the determination in step S6 is continued for the predetermined time or more is satisfied (Yes), the process proceeds to step S8 to execute the above-described full cut. .

  In step S11, based on the acquired print data, the CPU 111 uses the same known method as in step S1 to print the printed medium T at the rear end of the print L1 (the print L2 following the print L1 along the transport direction) It is determined whether the sheet has been transported to the half cut position located at the In other words, the CPU 111 determines whether or not the printed medium T has reached the position where the half cutter 36 of the half cutting unit 32 faces the half cut line HC. The determination is not satisfied until the half-cut position is reached (No), and the process waits for a loop. If the half-cut position is reached, the determination is satisfied (Yes), and the process proceeds to Step S12.

  In step S12, the CPU 111 stops the rotation of the tape feed roller 22, the ribbon take-up roller 107, and the drive roller 51 and stops the conveyance of the print medium T, as in step S9. Thus, the base tape 101 is fed out from the first roll 102 and the cover film 103 is fed out from the second roll 104 in a state where the half cutter 36 of the half cutting portion 32 faces the half cut line HC of the printed matter L1. , And the conveyance of the printed medium T is stopped.

  Thereafter, in step S13, the CPU 111 outputs a control signal to the drive circuit 119D via the input / output interface 113 to drive the half cutter motor 123 to rotate the half cutter 36, thereby covering the cover film 103 of the print medium T. The adhesive layer 101a, the base film 101b, and the adhesive layer 101c are divided (= half cut) to perform a half cut process to form a half cut line HC. The division by the half cutting unit 32 generates one print L1 (in a state of being separated from and connected to the printed medium T at the rear end side in the transport direction). In addition, step S10 similar to the above-mentioned and step S13 correspond to the control procedure described in each claim. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S14.

  Thereafter, according to the length of detection time of the action detection sensor 9 accompanying the user's hand holding operation, as shown in FIG. 11C to FIG. In combination with the above, the printed medium T (the printed matter L1 to L4) can be cut according to the application and preference of the user while reducing the operation labor burden.

(2) When the action detection sensor 9 is a distance sensor That is, by using the action detection sensor 9 as a distance sensor, the CPU 111 controls the cutting mode according to the distance to the detection target detected by the distance sensor. It is also possible.

  In such a case, for example, the position of the hand illustrated in FIG. 6 is close to the discharge port 4 in order to receive the printed materials L1 to L4. On the other hand, since the hand position shown in FIG. 13 does not receive the printed materials L1 to L4, no problem occurs even at a position far from the outlet 4. Therefore, it is possible to control full cut and half cut by changing the time for holding the hand and replacing it with the distance to the hand.

(3) When a plurality of action detection sensors 9 are arranged That is, as shown in FIG. 14, the action detection sensor 9 is arranged below the discharge port 4 in the vertical direction into three action detection sensors 9A to 9C. It is also possible to control the mode of disconnection by the CPU 111.

  For example, in step S6 described above, in the state where none of the three action detection sensors 9A to 9C is detected, the process waits as it is, and the operation of FIG. 6 described above with reference to the lowest action detection sensor 9C or It waits for the operation of FIG.

  On the other hand, if the uppermost action detection sensor 9A detects the printed medium T before cutting in step S6 described above, nothing is detected even if the other action detection sensors 9B to 9C have passed a predetermined time. If not, the full cut (or half cut) is executed with priority given to the function shown in FIG.

  Furthermore, in step S6 described above, when the lowermost action detection sensor 9C detects the user's hand in a state in which the uppermost action detection sensor 9A detects the printed medium T before cutting, the diagram in step S7 A full cut or a half cut is performed according to the operation 6 or the operation of FIG. When the top and middle action detection sensors 9A and 9B detect the printed medium T before cutting, the bottom action detection sensor 9C performs a full cut when the user's hand is detected.

  In the above, the arrows shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 10 indicate an example of the flow of the signal, and the direction of the flow of the signal is not limited.

  Further, the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 8 and 12 do not limit the present invention to the procedure shown in the above flow, and the addition / deletion of the procedure, the change of the order, etc. can be made without departing from the spirit and technical idea of the invention. You may

  Further, other than those described above, the methods according to the above-described embodiment and each modification may be combined as appropriate for use.

  In addition, although not illustrated one by one, the present invention is to be implemented with various modifications without departing from the scope of the invention.

1 (1A to 1C) Print label producing apparatus (printing apparatus)
4 Discharge port 9 Action detection sensor (detection means)
21 Print head (printing means)
31 Cutting section (cutting means, full cutter)
32 Half cutting part (half cutting means, half cutter)
103 Cover film (printing medium)
108 Tape feed roller drive shaft (conveying means)
111 CPU (control means)
118 terminal (operation terminal)
200 enclosures L printed matter (L1 to L4)
R print T print medium

Claims (8)

Transport means for transporting the print medium;
Printing means for forming a print on the medium to be printed conveyed by the conveying means, and for making the medium as a printed medium;
Cutting means for cutting the printed medium;
A case containing the transport means, the printing means, and the cutting means;
A discharge port provided in the housing for discharging the printed medium from the inside of the housing to the outside of the housing;
A printing device having
A detection unit provided below the discharge port in the housing and detecting a detection target located outside the housing without contact;
Control means for controlling the operation of the cutting means according to the detection result of the detection means;
A printing apparatus characterized by having: In the printing apparatus according to claim 1,
The control means
A printing apparatus characterized by controlling whether or not cutting to the printed medium is performed by the cutting means. In the printing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
It further comprises a semi-cutting means for partially cutting the printed medium in the thickness direction,
The control means
A printing apparatus characterized by controlling operations of the cutting unit and the half cutting unit according to the detection result of the detection unit. In the printing apparatus according to claim 3,
The control means
A printing apparatus characterized by controlling an aspect of cutting to the printed medium by the cutting means and the half cutting means. In the printing device according to claim 4,
The control means
A printing apparatus characterized in that the cutting mode is controlled in accordance with the time during which the detection means detects the detection target. In the printing device according to claim 4,
The detection means is a distance sensor,
The control means
A printing apparatus, comprising: controlling an aspect of the cutting in accordance with a distance to the detection target detected by the distance sensor. In the printing device according to claim 4,
The detection means is a plurality of sensors vertically arranged below the discharge port, and
The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the cutting mode in accordance with detection results of the respective sensors included in the plurality of sensors. A conveying means for conveying the medium to be printed, a printing means for forming a print on the medium to be printed conveyed by the means for conveying, and using it as a medium with print, a cutting means for cutting the medium with print, A case containing the transport means, the printing means, and the cutting means, a discharge port provided in the case and discharging the printed medium from the inside of the case to the outside of the case, and the discharge of the case out of the case According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an arithmetic unit provided in a printing apparatus provided below an outlet and having a detection unit that detects a detection target located outside the housing without contact.
An acquisition procedure for acquiring the detection result of the detection means;
A control procedure for controlling the operation of the cutting unit according to the detection result acquired in the acquisition procedure;
A printing program to run.

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