JP2022089571A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

To realize a new printer that has dealt with: paper jams caused by skewing of unnecessary parts due to a separation mechanism during vertical cutting; and occurrence of deterioration of straightness of the vertical cutting.SOLUTION: A paper sheet 1 and an ink ribbon are fed to a printing position, and a color printing layer and an overcoat layer OP are printed by a printing head. Cutting in a longitudinal direction by a transverse cutter for cutting out a region U serving as a printed matter and cutting in a width direction by a longitudinal cutting cutter 13 are performed. A control section performs operation which separates a region contiguous to the region U serving as the printed matter as an unnecessary part V by pressing a position away from the region U serving as the printed matter by prescribed distance in the width direction by a separation mechanism 14 based on printed information. Then, it is configured so as to cause the control section to perform control for not printing the overcoat layer OP on a predetermined region including a range of the unnecessary part V with which the separation mechanism 14 contacts.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

The present invention relates to a printer capable of outputting a narrow-sized mini-printed matter by cutting a required position in the paper width direction with a vertical cutting cutter.

Conventionally, as a printer of this type, the one shown in Patent Document 1 is known.
As shown in FIG. 8, this printer mainly conveys the paper feed roller 2 loaded with the paper roll R and feeds the paper 1 toward the printing position PL, and the paper 1 fed from the paper roll R at a predetermined speed. The transport means 3, a pair of supply-side bobbins 5a and take-up-side bobbins 5b arranged to supply the ribbon 4 together with the paper 1 to the printing position PL, and a platen roller 6 arranged below the paper 1 at the printing position PL. And the print head 7 that prints on the paper 1 in a state where the paper 1 and the ink ribbon 4 are press-contacted with the platen roller 6 and are arranged so as to be in contact with the platen roller 6 above the paper 1. A paper ejection means 8 for sandwiching and ejecting the paper 1 and a cross-cutting cutter 9 for cutting the paper 1 before ejection to a required length are provided.

As shown in FIG. 9, the paper feed roller 2 is provided with disk-shaped paper guides 2b on both sides of the shaft portion 2a. The paper roll R has a central portion supported by the shaft portion 2a and both side portions are paper guides. It is loaded while being sandwiched between 2b.

For printing, the paper 1 once unwound from the paper roll R in the paper ejection direction (direction of arrow A in FIG. 8) is conveyed by the main transport means 3 in the anti-paper ejection direction (printing B direction) opposite to the paper ejection direction. It is done while.

The paper 1 after printing is cut by the cross-cutting cutter 9. The paper 1 after cutting is discharged by the auxiliary transport means 12.

In addition, this printer is provided with a vertical cutting cutter 13 downstream of the horizontal cutting cutter 9 in order to diversify the print size. As shown in FIGS. 8 and 10, the vertical cutting cutter 13 cuts a required portion in the paper width direction, and the area (printed matter) U of the cut paper 1 to be printed and becomes a printed matter is The unprinted area is configured to be transferred to the trash can as an unnecessary portion V to the printed matter outlet. Reference numeral 14 in the figure is a separation mechanism for separating the unnecessary portion V from the printed matter U, changing the route, and guiding the unnecessary portion V to the trash can.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2014-104655

By the way, the width W0 of the separation mechanism 14 shown in FIG. 11A is designed to be the minimum necessary for outputting printed matter U having various widths. This is because the minimum width that can be vertically cut depends on the width W0 of the separation mechanism 14. That is, when the width dimension W of the unnecessary portion V becomes smaller than the width dimension W0 of the separation mechanism 14, the separation mechanism 14 protrudes from the unnecessary portion V to the region U side of the printed matter, and the unnecessary portion V cannot be separated. Because. The lower limit of the minimum width is such that a pressing force for separating the unnecessary portion V from the printed matter region U can be appropriately applied. For example, if the minimum width of the unnecessary portion V is 1 inch, the separation is performed. The width W0 of the mechanism 14 is set to about half of that, about 0.5 inch (13 mm).

On the other hand, this type of separation mechanism 14 together with the vertical cutting cutter 13 shown in FIG. 10 vertically moves in the width direction between the standby position when vertical cutting is not required and the position where vertical cutting is required. It is customary to attach the vertical cutting cutter 13 to the holder H having an appropriate structure at a position close to the cutting cutter 13.

In the case of FIG. 11A, vertical cutting cutters 13 and 13 are attached to the left and right, but the separation mechanism 14 is coupled to the vertical cutting cutter 13 on the left side, and the separation mechanism 14 is combined with the vertical cutting cutter 13 on the left side. Is also configured to work.

For example, when the width W of the unnecessary portion V is narrow as shown in FIG. 11A, the separation mechanism 14 can press substantially the center of the unnecessary portion V, so that the unnecessary portion V is evenly separated in the width direction. Friction resistance acts from the mechanism 14.

However, when the width W of the unnecessary portion V becomes wide as shown in FIG. 11B, the frictional resistance due to the separation mechanism 14 is generated only on the left side of the unnecessary portion V, so that it becomes difficult to convey the unnecessary portion V straight. As a result, paper jams due to skewing of the unnecessary portion V during vertical cutting and deterioration of straightness of vertical cutting may occur.

The present invention pays attention to such a problem, and takes good care of the fact that paper jams and deterioration of the straightness of vertical cutting occur due to skewing of unnecessary parts due to the separation mechanism during vertical cutting. The purpose is to realize a printer.

The present invention has taken the following measures in order to achieve the above object.

That is, the printer of the present invention prints a color print layer and an overcoat layer on paper with a print head, and performs longitudinal cutting with a horizontal cutting cutter and width cutting with a vertical cutting cutter to cut out an area to be printed matter. At the same time, the control unit can perform an operation of pressing a position separated from the printed matter area by a predetermined distance in the width direction with the separation mechanism to separate the area adjacent to the printed matter area as an unnecessary part based on the print information. The control unit is configured to control the unnecessary portion to control the overcoat layer not to be printed in a predetermined area including a range in which the separation mechanism contacts.

In this way, in a predetermined region of the unnecessary portion including the range where the separation mechanism comes into contact, the frictional resistance between the surface of the unnecessary portion and the separation mechanism is higher when the overcoat layer is not provided than when the overcoat layer is provided. Is smaller. Therefore, according to the present invention, even if the separation mechanism presses a position biased in the width direction of the unnecessary portion, it is possible to prevent the straightness of the unnecessary portion from being lowered, whereby the separation mechanism can be used during vertical cutting. As a result, it is possible to effectively prevent paper jams due to skewing of unnecessary portions and deterioration of straightness of vertical cutting.

Alternatively, the printer of the present invention prints a color print layer and an overcoat layer on paper with a print head, and performs longitudinal cutting with a horizontal cutting cutter and width cutting with a vertical cutting cutter to cut out an area to be printed matter. At the same time, the printer can perform the operation of pressing the position separated from the printed matter area by a predetermined distance in the width direction by the separation mechanism to separate the area adjacent to the printed matter area as an unnecessary part, based on the print information. In the control unit, a low friction layer that reduces the frictional resistance received by the separation mechanism is smaller than that of the overcoat layer in place of the overcoat layer for a predetermined region of the unnecessary portion including the range in which the separation mechanism contacts. It is characterized in that it is configured to control printing.

Even in this way, in a predetermined region of the unnecessary portion including the range where the separation mechanism contacts, the frictional resistance between the surface of the unnecessary portion and the separation mechanism is lower than that when the overcoat layer is provided. The time is smaller. Therefore, according to the present invention, even if the separation mechanism presses a position biased in the width direction of the unnecessary portion, it is possible to prevent the straightness of the unnecessary portion from being lowered, whereby the separation mechanism can be used during vertical cutting. As a result, it is possible to effectively prevent paper jams due to skewing of unnecessary portions and deterioration of straightness of vertical cutting. Moreover, since heat energy is applied to the paper when printing the low friction layer, the curl of the paper is corrected and the trash can containing unnecessary parts is prevented from becoming bulky as compared with the case where the overcoat layer is simply not printed. be able to.

The low friction layer in this case is preferably a matte printing of the overcoat layer.

Matte printing refers to printing in a matte state with higher heat energy than usual when printing the overcoat layer. If the thermal energy is raised too much, the surface becomes rough and the frictional resistance increases, but if it is within a certain limit, the friction reduction effect by matte printing can be expected.

Alternatively, the low friction layer is preferably a gray coat layer having a smaller thermal energy during printing than the color printing layer.

The gray coat layer must be color printing, but compared to the color print layer that prints based on image information, if each dye is uniformly mixed at a predetermined ratio to form a gray coating layer, it will be better than the overcoat layer. However, the effect of reducing friction can be obtained, and the effect of correcting curl of paper by applying heat energy can be expected.

It is preferable that the separation mechanism is attached to a common holder together with the vertical cutting cutter at a position adjacent to the vertical cutting cutter.

In the first place, if the separation mechanism is driven separately from the vertical cutting cutter, it is possible to arrange the separation mechanism at a position where the center of the unnecessary portion is always pressed, but in the present invention, the separation mechanism is combined with the vertical cutting cutter. Under a simple structure that attaches to a common holder, it is beneficial in that problems caused by pushing unnecessary parts can be eliminated.

It is preferable to print the overcoat layer only on the region to be the printed matter and the predetermined region of the unnecessary portion close to the region.

By doing so, the overcoat layer can be reliably printed even if the printing position is slightly displaced. For example, in the case of borderless printing, by printing in a range slightly larger than the actually provided printed matter, the printed matter after cutting maintains the borderless printing state even when the printing position is slightly displaced, as described above. Then, the same measures can be taken for the overcoat layer.

According to the present invention described above, a new printer is provided which is good at dealing with paper jams caused by skewing of unnecessary parts due to the separation mechanism during vertical cutting and deterioration of straightness of vertical cutting. can do.

The schematic side view which shows the structure of the printer of this embodiment. FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the internal configuration of FIG. 1 from above along the paper. The figure which shows the relationship between the ink ribbon sent to a printing position, and the paper. FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG. The figure which shows the modification of FIG. The figure explaining the control which does not print an overcoat among unnecessary parts of this embodiment. The figure explaining the control which prints the low friction layer among unnecessary parts of this embodiment. Schematic side view showing the configuration of a conventional printer. The figure which shows the paper feed roller of the printer. The figure which shows the vertical cut function of the printer. The figure corresponding to FIG. 6 explaining the malfunction of the conventional printer.

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

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing the configuration of the printer of the present embodiment, FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing the internal configuration of FIG. 1 from above along the paper 1, and FIG. 3 is fed to the printing position PL. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the ink ribbon 4 and the paper 1.

This printer P includes a printer main body PB and a vertical cutting unit SU.

The printer main body PB includes a paper feed roller 2 loaded with a paper roll R and feeds the paper 1 toward the printing position PL, and a main transport roller which is a main transport means for transporting the paper 1 fed from the paper roll R at a predetermined speed. 3, a pair of supply-side bobbins 5a and take-up-side bobbins 5b arranged to supply the ribbon 4 together with the paper 1 to the print position PL, and a platen roller 6 arranged below the paper 1 at the print position PL. A print head 7 that prints on the paper 1 with the paper 1 and the ink ribbon 4 pressed against the platen roller 6 so as to be in contact with and detachable from above the paper 1 and the paper. A paper ejection roller 8 which is a paper ejection means for sandwiching 1 and ejecting paper, a cross-cutting cutter 9 which cuts the paper 1 before ejection to a required length, and a control for transporting the paper 1 and energizing the print head 7. The control unit CU is provided.

As shown in FIG. 2, the paper feed roller 2 is provided with disk-shaped paper guides 2b on both sides of the shaft portion 2a, and the paper roll R has its central portion supported by the shaft portion 2a and both side portions are paper guides. It is loaded into the paper feed roller 2 in a state of being sandwiched between 2b. The paper feed roller 2 is connected to a motor (not shown) and is driven when it is necessary to feed or rewind the paper 1 from the paper roll R.

The main transport roller 3 shown in FIG. 1 includes a feed roller 3a and a main pinch roller 3b. The feed roller is connected to a motor (not shown) independently of the paper feed roller 2, and the main pinch roller 3b can be brought into contact with the feed roller 3a via the paper 1 and pressed into contact with the feed roller 3a. The paper 1 is sandwiched between the paper 1 and the paper 1 to transmit the carrying force. The feed roller 3a has a function of driving the paper 1 in the forward and reverse directions to convey the paper 1 at a predetermined speed.

The bobbins 5a and 5b are arranged on both sides of the print position PL along the transport direction of the paper 1, an unused ribbon 4 is sent from the supply side bobbin 5a to the print position PL, and the ribbon 4 used for printing is wound up. It is wound up on the side bobbin 5b.

As shown in FIG. 3, in the ink ribbon 2, regions coated with Y (yellow), M (magenta), C (cyan), and OP (overcoat) dyes are repeatedly formed in the length direction. Hereinafter, the color print layer printed by the ink ribbon 2 is referred to as "CLR".

The print head 7 shown in FIG. 1 is arranged so as to be able to move up and down with respect to the platen roller 6, and heats the link ribbon 4 based on the print information (image information) sent from the control unit CU in a pressure contact state to transfer ink to the paper 1. Transfer.

The paper ejection roller 8 includes a transport roller 8a and a pinch roller 8b. The transfer roller 8a is connected to a motor (not shown) independently of the paper feed roller 2 and the like, and the pinch roller 8b is made to be in contact with and detachable from the transfer roller 8a via the paper 1, and the transfer roller 8b is brought into contact with the transfer roller 8a by pressure contact. The paper 1 is sandwiched between the paper 1 and the paper 1 to transmit the transport force in the paper ejection direction to the paper 1.

As shown in FIG. 2, the cross-cutting cutter 9 crosses the paper 1 in the width direction and cuts the paper 1 in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction.

The control unit CU is composed of a normal microcomputer unit including a CPU, a memory, and an interface, and the memory stores programs and data necessary for controlling the printer main body PB and the vertical cutting unit SU. As a basic control during printing, the paper 1 once fed from the paper roll R in the paper feeding direction (direction of arrow A in FIG. 1) is fed by the main transport roller 3 together with the ink ribbon 4 in the printing direction opposite to the ejection direction (FIG. 1). These are sent to the printing position PL while being conveyed in the direction of the middle arrow B), and printing is performed on the required portion of the paper 1 based on the printing information given from the outside.

As shown in FIG. 3, the same printing area of the paper 1 to be printed is reciprocated between the printing start position 1 (P) and the printing end position 1 (Q), and is conveyed at the start of each printing. The head of the ink ribbon 4 is replaced with Y, M, C, and OP as shown in (a) to (d) in the figure, and the print head 7 heads down in a state where it is superimposed on the paper 1 (P) at the printing start position. , The color print layer CLR and the overcoat layer OP are printed while the paper 1 and the ink ribbon 4 are simultaneously conveyed. Until the overcoat layer OP is printed, the print head 7 heads up after printing is completed, and only the paper 1 is returned from the printing end position 1 (Q) to the printing start position 1 (P), leaving the ink ribbon 4. ..

After printing up to the overcoat layer OP for one print area is completed, the paper 1 is sent out to the paper ejection port 10 side of the printer main body PB shown in FIG. 2 by the paper ejection roller 8 shown in FIG. The cross-cutting cutter 9 operates in the paper width direction at the feeding position, and the printed area A1 and the unprinted area A2 are cut off.

On the other hand, the vertical cutting unit SU shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is attached to the printer main body PB afterwards, and includes a vertical cutting guide 11 for receiving the paper 1 discharged from the paper ejection port 10 of the printer main body PB. A pair of auxiliary transport rollers 12 which are auxiliary transport means for transporting the paper 1 introduced from the vertical cutting guide 11 in the vertical cutting unit SU, and a vertical cutting cutter 13 located between the pair of auxiliary transport rollers 12. Be prepared.

The vertical cutting guide 11 has a tapered shape that gradually narrows along the transport direction in order to position the paper 1 in the width direction while receiving the paper 1. The paper guide 11'also exists in the printer main body PB, but the vertical cutting guide 11 of the vertical cutting unit US is narrower than the paper guide 11'of the printer main body PB.

The auxiliary transport roller 12 includes an auxiliary drive transport roller 12a located below the paper 1 and an auxiliary pinch roller 12b above the paper that can be brought into contact with and detached from the auxiliary drive transport roller 12a. The auxiliary drive transfer roller 12a is connected to a motor independent of the feed roller 3a of the printer main body PB, the transfer roller 8a of the paper ejection roller 8, and the paper feed roller 2, and the elevating motor of the auxiliary pinch roller 12b is also the printer main body PB. It is connected to a motor independent of the main pinch roller 3b, the pinch roller 8b of the paper ejection roller 8, and the elevating motor of the print head 7.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG. FIG. 4A is a diagram showing how a region (printed matter) U that becomes a printed matter after being cut by the vertical cutting cutter 13 is led out to a printed matter ejection port, and FIG. 4B is a diagram showing how the region (printed matter) U is led out to the printed matter ejection port, and FIG. It is a figure which showed the appearance that the unnecessary part V which becomes the dust which was not subjected to printing is drawn out to the dust box by the separation mechanism 14. The vertical cutting cutter 13 cuts the paper 1 in the vertical direction between the lower cutter 13a on the lower surface side of the paper and the upper cutter 13b on the upper surface side of the paper to form a slit S, and the lower cutter 13a and the upper cutter 13b form a slit S. They are held in the holders Ha and Hb, respectively. As shown in FIG. 2, the holders Ha and Hb synchronously move the cutters 13a and 13b into a standby position 13 (A) that does not interfere with the passage of the paper 1 and a required position 13 (B) in the paper width direction that requires vertical cutting. It is said that it can be moved to and from. The movement of the holders Ha and Hb from the standby position (A) to the required position 13 (B) is performed before the paper 1 reaches the position where vertical cutting is required. After the vertical cutting with respect to the paper 1 is completed and the printed matter U and the unnecessary portion V are sent to the printed matter outlet or the trash can, the cutters 13a and 13b are moved to the standby position (A) again by the holders Ha and Hb.

The illustrated example has one vertical cutting cutter 13, but as shown in FIG. 5, two sets of vertical cutting cutters 13 are provided, and they are moved from the standby position 13 (A) to different cutting positions 13 (B). It is also possible to configure the paper 1 to be cut into three parts.

The position of the slit S generated by the vertical cut is based on print information (for example, photo print print information) given from the outside. That is, when it is determined from the print information how many inches of the printed image is and which position of the paper 1 is the print area, the position of the slit S for vertical cutting is specified, so that the control unit CU determines the vertical cutting cutter. 13 is moved to the position of the slit S to perform vertical cutting.

After cutting with the vertical cutting cutter 13, the area (printed matter) U that becomes the printed matter obtained by applying the required printing to the printed area passes through the regular route as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4A, and finally the vertical cutting unit. Derived to the printed matter outlet of SU. On the other hand, in order to send the unnecessary portion V, which becomes dust, to the route for accommodating the waste portion V in the trash can, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4B, the unnecessary portion V is discharged while being separated from the printed matter region U. A separation mechanism 14 for changing the route is provided.

As shown in FIGS. 2, 4 (b), and 10, the separation mechanism 14 is attached to the upper holder Hb that holds the upper cutter 13b downstream of the vertical cutting cutter 13, and is a position where the vertical cutting is cut. It is arranged so as to press a position separated by a predetermined distance in the width direction from the above, and operates together with the upper cutter while maintaining the positional relationship. Then, it is configured to move from the position shown by the imaginary line in FIG. 4B, which does not interfere with the paper 1, to the position where the paper 1 is pressed downward by rotating around the axis m. The contact surface of the separation mechanism 14 with the paper 1 is a smooth curved surface that smoothly guides the paper 1 downward. As a result, the unnecessary portion V is separated from the region (printed matter) U that becomes the printed matter, and is guided in the direction toward the trash can.

When the end of the printed area A1 shown in FIG. 2 reaches the position of the cross-cutting cutter 9 during the vertical cutting by the vertical cutting cutter 13, the cross-cutting cutter 9 cuts between the printed area A1 and the unprinted area A2. do. After that, the remaining vertical cuts are completed while feeding the paper 1 by the auxiliary transport roller 12. As a result, the area to be the printed matter (printed matter) U is cut out as a mini print.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numerals 15 and 15'are sensors for detecting the tip of the paper.

In the above configuration, in the conventional mini-print, as shown in FIG. 11B, the unnecessary portion V is skewed due to the separation mechanism 14 pushing the unnecessary portion V one-sided during vertical cutting. As a result, there are concerns about paper jams and a decrease in the straightness of vertical cutting.

That is, in the conventional control, the color print layer CLRs Y, M, and C are printed based on the print information in the area U serving as the print unit, whereas in the overcoat layer OP, the print area has a size of several inches. It is customary to print on the entire surface of the paper 1 regardless of which position of the paper 1 is the print area. However, when the overcoat layer OP is applied, the frictional resistance between the separation mechanism 14 and the unnecessary portion V becomes larger than that in the state before printing of the overcoat layer OP, which promotes a decrease in the straightness of the unnecessary portion V. As a result of the examination, it became clear that it was doing.

Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6A, the control unit CU is overloaded only with respect to the predetermined region (dimension α) in the width direction of the region U to be the printed matter and the unnecessary portion V adjacent to the region U. The coat layer OP is printed, and the overcoat layer OP is not printed on the remaining predetermined area indicated by hatching in the figure including the area of the unnecessary portion V where the separation mechanism 14 contacts. There is.

For example, when the print size of the mini print is planned to have a width dimension of about 1 inch to 6 inches, in the present embodiment, the separation mechanism 14 appropriately presses the 1 inch size, which is the minimum print size. The width W0 of the separation mechanism 14 is set to about 0.5 inch (13 mm), which is half the size of the separation mechanism 14. Then, when the distance from the position of the slit S formed by the vertical cutting cutter 13 to the nearest pressing end portion in the pressing region by the separation mechanism 14 is L, the overcoat layer OP is printed on the unnecessary portion V. The predetermined region α in the power width direction is set so as to be a range (α <L) narrower than the above distance L. The value of α can be set as appropriate, but in this embodiment, it is about 2 mm. In the figure, the blade width of the vertical cutting cutter 13 and the width of the slit S are shown as showing the state at the time of cutting, but the vertical cutting cutter 13 is finally retracted and the slit S is closed, so that the vertical cutting cutter is closed. The blade width of 13 and the width dimension of the slit S are not taken into consideration in the dimension setting and calculation of the overcoat layer OP in this specification.

In the case of FIG. 6, since the left side of the paper 1 is the area U that becomes the printed matter and the right side is the unnecessary part V that does not become the printed matter, the overcoat layer OP is printed only in the predetermined area in the width direction on the left side of the unnecessary part V, and the right side is printed. The area indicated by hatching is an area in which the overcoat layer OP is not printed. On the other hand, in the case of FIG. 6B, since the left and right sides of the paper 1 are the printed matter region U and the center is the unnecessary portion V which is not the printed matter, the overcoat layer OP is printed in the left and right 2 mm regions of the unnecessary portion V. However, the other areas, that is, the areas indicated by the hatching in the center, are areas where the overcoat layer OP is not printed.

As described above, since the position, that is, the coordinates of the slit S is known from the print information, the control unit CU adds α of a predetermined area in the width direction to the coordinates and calculates the area where the overcoat layer OP should be printed by calculation. For example, if the coordinates of the color print layer CRL are X0 to X1 in FIG. 6A, the slit position is X1, the range of the overcoat layer OP is X0 to X1 + α, and the remaining predetermined area is the range of X1 + α to Xend. Does not print the overcoat layer OP.

Alternatively, in the case of FIG. 6B, if the coordinates of the color print layer CRL are X0 to X1 and X2 to Xend, the slit positions are X1 and X2, and the overcoat layer OP range is X0 to X1 + α and X2-α. ~ Xend, and the remaining predetermined area X1 + α to X2-α does not print the overcoat layer OP.

Based on this information, the control unit CU issues a print command for the color print layer CLR and the overcoat layer OP to the print head 7, and the print head 7 executes printing of the overcoat layer OP after printing the color print layer CLR. do.

As described above, the printer of the present embodiment prints the color print layer CLR and the overcoat layer OP on the paper 1 by the print head 7, and cuts in the longitudinal direction by the cross-cutting cutter 9 for cutting out the region U to be the printed matter. While cutting in the width direction with the vertical cutting cutter 13, a position separated by a predetermined distance in the width direction from the area U to be printed matter is pressed by the separation mechanism 14 which is a separation mechanism to eliminate the area adjacent to the area U to be printed matter. The operation of separating as V can be executed by the control unit CU based on the print information.

Then, the overcoat layer OP is printed only on the predetermined region α of the region U to be the printed matter and the unnecessary portion V close to the region U on the control unit CU, and includes the range of the unnecessary portion V where the separation mechanism 14 comes into contact. It is configured to control the remaining predetermined area not to print the overcoat layer OP.

In this way, the overcoat layer OP is printed in the predetermined region α of the unnecessary portion V near the region U to be the printed matter, so that the overcoat layer is surely printed on the entire surface of the region U to be the printed matter. can do. Then, in the remaining predetermined region of the unnecessary portion V including the range where the separation mechanism 14 comes into contact, as described above, the frictional resistance between the surface of the unnecessary portion V and the separation mechanism 14 is set when the overcoat layer OP is provided. It is smaller when the overcoat layer OP is not provided than when it is not provided. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, even if the separation mechanism 14 presses a position biased in the width direction of the unnecessary portion V, it is possible to prevent the straightness of the unnecessary portion V from being lowered, and thus during vertical cutting. In addition, it is possible to effectively prevent a paper jam due to skew of the unnecessary portion V due to the separation mechanism 14 and a decrease in the straightness of vertical cutting.

Specifically, the separation mechanism 14 is attached to a common holder Hb together with the upper cutter 13b of the vertical cutting cutter 13 at a position adjacent to the vertical cutting cutter 13.

In the first place, if the separation mechanism 14 is driven separately from the vertical cutting cutter 13, it is possible to arrange the separation mechanism 14 at a position where the center of the unnecessary portion V is always pressed, but in the present embodiment, the separation mechanism 14 can be arranged. Since the simple configuration is adopted in which 14 is attached to the common holder Hb together with the upper cutter 13b of the vertical cutting cutter 13, the problem caused by pushing the unnecessary portion V one-sided under such a configuration can be solved. It will be useful.

Further, the control unit CU prints the overcoat layer OP only on the predetermined region α of the region U to be the printed matter and the unnecessary portion V near the region U. Therefore, the overcoat layer can be reliably printed even if the printing position is slightly displaced. For example, in the case of borderless printing, by printing in a range slightly larger than the printed matter U actually provided, the printed matter after cutting maintains the borderless printing state even when the printing position is slightly displaced, as described above. If this is set, the same measures can be taken for the overcoat layer OP.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the specific configuration of each part is not limited to the above-described embodiment.

For example, in the above embodiment, the frictional resistance with the separation mechanism 14 is reduced by not printing the overcoat layer OP on a part of the unnecessary portion V, but as shown in FIG. 7A, the control unit CU is used. The overcoat layer OP is printed only on the predetermined area α of the unnecessary portion V close to the region U to be printed matter, and the remaining predetermined region of the unnecessary portion V including the range in which the separation mechanism 14 comes into contact is printed. On the other hand, instead of the overcoat layer OP, it is configured to control printing of a low friction layer (hereinafter referred to as "LFL") having a smaller frictional resistance received by the separation mechanism 14 than the overcoat layer OP. May be good.

Even in this case, since the overcoat layer OP is printed in the predetermined region α of the unnecessary portion V near the region U to be the printed matter, the overcoat layer is surely provided on the entire surface of the region U to be the printed matter. Can be printed. Then, in the remaining predetermined region of the unnecessary portion V including the range where the separation mechanism 14 comes into contact, the frictional resistance between the surface of the unnecessary portion V and the separation mechanism 14 is lower than that when the overcoat layer OP is provided. It is smaller when LFL is provided. Therefore, according to this configuration, even if the separation mechanism 14 presses a position biased in the width direction of the unnecessary portion V, it is possible to prevent the straightness of the unnecessary portion V from being lowered, and thereby during vertical cutting. It is possible to effectively prevent a paper jam due to skew of the unnecessary portion V due to the separation mechanism 14 and a decrease in the straightness of vertical cutting. Moreover, since heat energy is applied to the paper when printing the low friction layer LFL, the curl of the paper 1 is corrected and the trash can containing the unnecessary portion V is bulkier than when the overcoat layer OP is simply not printed. It can be prevented from becoming.

The low friction layer LFL of FIG. 7A shows a case of matte printing formed by printing the overcoat layer OP in a matte state with higher heat energy than usual. If the thermal energy is raised too much, the surface becomes rough and the frictional resistance increases, but if it is within a certain limit, the friction reduction effect by matte printing can be expected.

Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 7B, it is also effective to print a gray coat layer having a smaller heat energy during printing than the color printing layer CLR as the low friction layer LFL. The gray coat layer must be color printing, but compared to the color print layer that prints based on image information, if each dye is uniformly mixed at a predetermined ratio to form a gray coat layer, the overcoat layer OP The effect of reducing friction can be obtained, and the effect of correcting curl of paper by applying heat energy can be expected.

Further, the region or unnecessary portion to be a printed matter may have a positional relationship or combination other than the above, and other configurations can be variously modified without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

1 ... Paper 4 ... Ink ribbon 7 ... Print head 9 ... Horizontal cutting cutter 13 ... Vertical cutting cutter 14 ... Separation mechanism CLR ... Color printing layer CU ... Control unit Hb ... Holder LFL ... Low friction layer OP ... Overcoat layer PL ... Printing position U ... Area to be printed matter V ... Unnecessary part X1 + α ... End coordinate X2-α ... Edge coordinate X1, X2 ... Vertical cut cut coordinate α ... Predetermined area

Claims (5)

A color print layer and an overcoat layer are printed on paper by a print head, and longitudinal cutting is performed by a horizontal cutting cutter and width cutting is performed by a vertical cutting cutter to cut out an area to be printed matter, and the width from the area to be printed matter is cut. In a printer in which the control unit can perform an operation of pressing a position separated by a predetermined distance in the direction by a separation mechanism to separate an area adjacent to an area to be printed matter as an unnecessary part based on print information.
The printer is characterized in that the control unit is configured to control not to print the overcoat layer in a predetermined area including a range in which the separation mechanism comes into contact with the unnecessary unit. A color print layer and an overcoat layer are printed on paper by a print head, and longitudinal cutting is performed by a horizontal cutting cutter and width cutting is performed by a vertical cutting cutter to cut out an area to be printed matter, and the width from the area to be printed matter is cut. In a printer in which the control unit can perform an operation of pressing a position separated by a predetermined distance in the direction by a separation mechanism to separate an area adjacent to an area to be printed matter as an unnecessary part based on print information.
The control unit is printed with a low friction layer that reduces the frictional resistance received by the separation mechanism as compared with the overcoat layer in place of the overcoat layer for a predetermined area of the unnecessary portion including the range in which the separation mechanism contacts. A printer characterized by being configured for control. The printer according to claim 2, wherein the low friction layer is a matte printing of an overcoat layer. The printer according to claim 2, wherein the low friction layer is a gray coat layer having a smaller thermal energy during printing than a color printing layer. The printer according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the overcoat layer is printed only on a region to be a printed matter and a predetermined region of the unnecessary portion close to the region.

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