JP2023031370A - recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

To suppress the occurrence of a conveyance failure when a tape-like recording medium is conveyed in a recording device which selectively conveys heterogeneous recording media like a tube-like recording medium and a tape-like recording medium and performs recording.SOLUTION: A recording device comprises: a recording head 51 which can perform recording in a tape-like recording medium in such a state that a tape cassette 20 is attached to a cassette holder and can perform recording in a tube-like recording medium in such a state that the tape cassette 20 is not attached to the cassette holder; a supply roller 54 which is arranged on the upstream side of the recording head 51 in the conveyance direction of the recording medium and which conveys the recording medium in the direction of supplying to the recording head 51; a supply roller 55 which forms a nip by being in contact with the supply roller 54 and is driven following the drive of the supply roller 54; and change means 100 which can change the rotational resistance of the supply roller 54 so as to be larger in the recording to the tape-like recording medium than that in the recording to the tube-like recording medium.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 10

Description

The present invention relates to a recording apparatus that performs recording on, for example, a tube-shaped recording medium and a tape-shaped recording medium.

2. Description of the Related Art Recording apparatuses that print on long tube-shaped recording media (hereinafter referred to as tubes) and long tape-shaped recording media such as tapes and labels (hereinafter referred to as tapes) have become widespread. Such a recording apparatus includes a recording head such as a thermal head and a platen roller, which are arranged to face each other. In this recording apparatus, when printing is performed on the surface of the tube, the tube is pressed between the platen roller and the recording head, and the tube is flattened or flattened to be flattened and deformed for printing. .

As such a recording apparatus, there is known one having a conveying roller for flattening the tube along the platen roller in order to flatten the tube when printing with the recording head (see Patent Document 1). . In this recording apparatus, the tube is conveyed while being nipped by a supply roller arranged upstream of the platen roller, through the platen roller, and conveyed by a conveying roller arranged downstream of the platen roller. transported to This is also the case when printing on a tape, and in this way it is possible to convey different shaped recording media such as a tube and a tape. In general, in this type of recording apparatus, the conveying speed of the printing section and downstream of the printing section is faster than the conveying speed of the upstream of the printing section so that wrinkles and wave patterns do not occur in the image in the printing section. The recording medium is pulled.

JP-A-2002-255416

In recent years, the types of tubes have diversified, and in particular, a large carrying force is required due to the increase in diameter. However, in the recording apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1, if the nip pressure of the supply roller is increased in order to increase the conveying force, the conveying ability of the supply roller increases, and the difference between the conveying ability of the platen roller and the conveying ability of the platen roller increases. Relationships can fall apart. That is, during tape printing, there is a possibility that the feeding capacity of the supply roller exceeds the feeding capacity of the platen roller, and the platen roller cannot maintain the state of pulling the tape. As a result, there has been a problem that transport failures such as wrinkles may occur when the tape is transported.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY In a recording apparatus that selectively transports and records different types of recording media such as a tube-shaped recording medium and a tape-shaped recording medium, the present invention can suppress the occurrence of transport failures when transporting the tape-shaped recording medium. An object of the present invention is to provide a recording device that is

A recording apparatus according to the present invention includes a tape supply cassette containing a tape-shaped recording medium, a cassette holder in which the tape supply cassette is detachably mounted, and an ink ribbon interposed between the tape supply cassette and the cassette holder. a recording head capable of recording on the tape-shaped recording medium when the tape supply cassette is not mounted on the cassette holder, and facing the recording head. a platen for pressing the recording medium against the recording head; a transport roller for transporting the recording medium in a direction in which the recording medium is pulled from the recording head and the platen; a supply driving roller arranged to convey a recording medium in a direction to supply the recording head; a supply driven roller forming a nip in contact with the supply driving roller and driven by the supply driving roller; and a change means capable of changing the rotation resistance of the driven roller so that it is larger when recording on the tape-shaped recording medium than when recording on the tube-shaped recording medium.

According to the recording apparatus of the present invention, in a recording apparatus that selectively conveys and records different types of recording media, namely, a tube-shaped recording medium and a tape-shaped recording medium, there is no problem in conveying the tape-shaped recording medium. can suppress the occurrence of

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the printer according to the embodiment of the present invention with the cover opened and the guide unit attached. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the printer according to the embodiment with the cover opened and the tape cassette mounted. 3 is a plan view showing the periphery of a recording unit of the printer according to the embodiment; FIG. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the recording section with the guide unit attached to the printer according to the embodiment; FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the recording unit with the tape cassette attached to the printer according to the embodiment; 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration for controlling the printer according to the embodiment; FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a tape cassette according to an embodiment; FIG. It is a perspective view which shows a change means when the supply roller which concerns on embodiment spaced apart. FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a change means when the supply rollers according to the embodiment are moved to form a nip; FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing change means when the supply rollers according to the embodiment form a nip;

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 10. FIG. 1 and 2 are plan views showing a state in which an opening/closing cover 2 of a printer 1 as an example of a recording apparatus according to this embodiment is opened. The printer 1 of the present embodiment can selectively use a long tube-shaped recording medium (hereinafter also referred to as tube Tu) and a long tape-shaped recording medium such as a tape or label (hereinafter also referred to as tape Ta). It is designed to be portable like a notebook computer. Also, the tube Tu and the tape Ta are collectively referred to as a recording medium T.

[Overview of recording device]
The printer 1 can be roughly divided into an operation unit 3 having a keyboard and the like, a display unit 4 having an LCD (liquid crystal display) and a display control unit, and a transport unit for transporting a tube Tu or tape Ta as a recording medium T. a recording unit 5 that includes a recording head 51 and performs recording on the recording medium T; and a cutting unit 6 that performs cutting processing on the recording medium T recorded by the recording unit 5 . The printer 1 of this embodiment selects a guide unit 10 for guiding and conveying the tube Tu shown in FIG. 1 to the recording unit 5 and a tape cassette 20 for conveying the stored tape Ta shown in FIG. A cassette holder 8 is provided to hold the cassette holder 8 in a detachable manner. Further, the printer 1 is detachably provided with an ink ribbon cassette 7 for receiving heat from the recording head 51 and transferring ink to the recording medium T. As shown in FIG. The guide unit 10, the tape cassette 20, the ink ribbon cassette 7, and the like are attached to the upper cover 9 so that these units can be easily replaced.

[Display part]
The LCD of the display unit 4 includes various information display areas for displaying the input mode, etc., a character information display area for displaying characters, numbers, and symbols (hereinafter abbreviated as characters) input from the operation unit 3, and character sizes. It is divided into three display areas: a parameter display area for displaying Thereby, the settings and information necessary for printing can be displayed.

[Operation part]
The operation unit 3 includes function keys, letter/number/symbol keys, a space key, a conversion key, a cross direction key, a return key, and the like. The recording information of the printer 1 can be set by inputting recording conditions and the like.

[Cut part]
The cutting unit 6 is arranged downstream in the transport direction D of the transport roller 53 in the recording unit 5, and cuts the tube Tu and the tape Ta. The cutting unit 6 uses a cutter blade and a cutter receiving member (not shown) to cut the recording medium T in half or completely, on which recording has been performed by the recording unit 5 . The cut tube Tu is discharged out of the machine by the transport unit.

[Recording section]
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of the recording unit 5. As shown in FIG. The recording unit 5 includes a supply roller pair 50 for conveying the recording medium T, a recording head 51 and a platen roller 52 arranged downstream of the supply roller pair 50 in the conveying directions D1 and D2 of the recording medium T, A conveying roller 53 arranged downstream of the recording head 51 and the platen roller 52 is provided. The conveying direction D1 is the downstream direction, and the conveying direction D2 is the upstream direction.

The supply roller pair 50 can contact and separate from the supply roller 54, which is an example of a supply drive roller driven by a main motor 82 (see FIG. 6), which will be described later. It has a supply roller 55 which is an example of a driven supply driven roller. The supply roller 55 can be brought into contact with and separated from the supply roller 54 in a nip formation state (see FIG. 3) and a nip non-formation state (see FIG. 8). In this embodiment, by mounting the tape cassette 20 in the cassette holder 8 and closing the opening/closing cover 2, the supply roller 55 is brought into contact with the supply roller 54 in conjunction with the closing operation to ensure the necessary pressing force. , and the nip is formed. Further, the supply roller 55 is made of plastic such as POM.

The recording head 51 is provided so as to face a platen roller 52, which is an example of a platen, with the recording medium T interposed therebetween. The recording head 51 has a predetermined number of heating elements arranged in the width direction of the recording medium T, and can transfer ink on the ink ribbon R to the recording medium T, which will be described later. The ink ribbon R is conveyed to the recording head 51 side of the recording medium T conveyed between the platen roller 52 and the recording head 51 . The ink ribbon R is supplied from a ribbon supply reel 71 in the ink ribbon cassette 7 and wound on a ribbon take-up reel 72 . The conveying roller 53 faces the platen roller 52 on the downstream side of the platen roller 52 in the circumferential direction and is arranged with a slight gap from the platen roller 52 .

A main motor 82 (see FIG. 6) is provided on the upstream side of the supply roller pair 50 to rotate the supply roller 54, the platen roller 52, and the spool of the ribbon take-up reel 72 of the ink ribbon cassette 7 via a gear train (not shown). is provided. In addition, the recording head 51 is conveyed through a gear train and a cam (not shown) on the downstream side of the ink ribbon cassette 7 (left side in FIG. 2) and below the cutting section 6 (bottom side in FIG. 2). A sub-motor 83 (see FIG. 6) is provided for moving between a retracted position retracted from the platen roller 52 and a recording position pressed against the platen roller 52 . On the upstream side of the supply roller pair 50 and on the downstream side of the conveying roller 53, light emitting and receiving integrated sensors (not shown) are arranged for detecting the presence or absence of the recording medium T and the leading edge of the conveyed recording medium T, respectively. there is

FIG. 4 shows a state in which the guide unit 10 that guides and transports the tube Tu is attached. During recording, the ink ribbon R of the ink ribbon cassette 7 is sandwiched between the recording head 51 and the recording head 51 is pressed against the tube Tu, and the heating elements of the recording head 51 are selectively heated according to the recording data input from the operation unit 3 . As a result, the ink of the ink ribbon R is melted and the character string in the array direction of the heating elements is recorded line by line on the tube Tu.

At this time, the tube Tu is sandwiched between the platen roller 52, the transport roller 53, and the recording head 51, and further sandwiched between the pair of supply rollers 50 and driven to be transported in a predetermined direction. Further, with the above configuration, the tube Tu is wound around the platen roller 52, and the winding state causes the tube Tu to be in a flattened state. As a result, the recording width of the tube Tu can be stably ensured by the pressing operation of the recording head 51 . Printing is continuously performed on the tube Tu by moving the tube Tu directly above the recording head 51 in a flattened state.

An example of the material of the tube Tu used as the recording medium in this embodiment is PVC (polyvinyl chloride). The PVC tube Tu is crushed when passing through the recording head 51 and the platen roller 52 in the recording section 5, but after passing through the recording section 5, it restores its original tubular shape from the crushed state.

FIG. 5 shows a state in which a tape cassette 20 that guides and conveys the tape Ta is mounted. During recording, the recording head 51 is pressed against the tape Ta with the ink ribbon R of the ink ribbon cassette 7 interposed therebetween, and the heating elements of the recording head 51 are selectively heated according to recording data input from the operation unit 3 . As a result, the ink of the ink ribbon R is melted and the character string in the array direction of the heating elements is recorded line by line on the tape Ta.

At this time, the tape Ta is driven while being sandwiched between the platen roller 52 and the recording head 51, and between the supply roller pair 50, so that the recording medium is transported in a predetermined direction. Thus, by moving the tape Ta directly above the recording head 51, printing is continuously performed on the tape Ta. Incidentally, the tape Ta passes through a slight gap provided between the platen roller 52 and the transport roller 53, thereby preventing problems such as peeling off during transport of the tape Ta. Note that the recording unit 5 can record on the tube Tu when the tape cassette 20 is not attached to the cassette holder 8 .

[Control configuration]
FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration for control in the printer 1 according to this embodiment. A power supply unit 81 is provided in the printer 1 and is necessary for operating the operation unit 3, the display unit 4, the recording head 51, the main motor 82, the sub motor 83, the media sensor 84, the outside temperature sensor 85, the CPU (control unit) 86, and the like. power supply unit.

The CPU 86 controls the operation and processing of each section in the printer 1 . The main motor 82 drives the platen roller 52 and the supply roller pair 50, and employs a stepping motor in this embodiment. Conveyance forward feed and back feed control of the recording medium T on which recording is performed by the printer 1 is performed by forward and reverse rotation of the stepping motor. Also, the transport speed setting of the printer 1 can be changed in three stages from high speed to medium speed and low speed, and can be changed by driving control of the main motor 82 . A ribbon take-up reel 72 of the ink ribbon cassette 7 is also connected to the drive train of the main motor 82 , and the main motor 82 is also driven to collect the ink ribbon R after printing on the recording medium T is completed.

The sub-motor 83 drives the cutting section 6, and adopts a stepping motor in this embodiment. The cutting operation of the recording medium T is performed by driving the sub-motor 83 in forward and reverse directions. Also, the cutting depth of the cutting means can be adjusted by adjusting the number of pulses. A total of two media sensors 84 are mounted, one on the upstream side of the supply roller pair 50 and one on the downstream side of the conveying roller 53 and the upstream side of the cutting section 6 . A media sensor 84 arranged upstream of the supply roller pair 50 detects the presence or absence of the recording medium T being printed and conveyed, and a media sensor 84 arranged downstream of the conveying roller 53 detects the leading edge of the recording medium T. I am in charge.

The outside air temperature sensor 85 is a sensor that detects the ambient temperature around the printer 1 , and the CPU 86 controls the power supply time to the recording head 51 based on the temperature detected by the outside air temperature sensor 85 . The recording head 51 performs recording by holding the recording medium T and the ink ribbon R between the platen roller 52 and the recording head 51 . At this time, print control is performed by controlling heat generation of the heat generating elements of the recording head 51 via the CPU 86 . The temperature of the heating element of the recording head 51 can be changed in a plurality of stages. You need to add more heat. At this time, by increasing the time during which the heating elements of the recording head 51 are energized to raise the temperature, it is possible to print without lowering the print density even in a low-temperature environment.

[Method of change]
Next, changing means, which is a characteristic configuration of the present invention, will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 7 to 10. FIG. In recent years, the types of tubes Tu have diversified, and in particular, a larger diameter has required a greater carrying force. However, if the nip pressure of the supply roller 54 is increased in order to increase the conveying force, the conveying ability of the supply roller 54 becomes higher than that of the platen roller 52, and the platen roller 52 pulls the tape Ta during tape printing. There is a risk that it will not be possible to maintain the As a result, transport failures such as wrinkles may occur when the tape is transported. Therefore, in the present embodiment, by providing the changing means 100, the rotation resistance of the supply roller 54 is made larger when recording on the tape Ta than when recording on the tube Tu.

When recording on the tape Ta, the printer 1 is loaded with a tape cassette 20 . As shown in FIG. 7, a spiral tape Ta is housed inside a tape cassette 20, which is an example of a tape supply cassette. Further, the housing 21 of the tape cassette 20 is formed with a hole portion 22 in a portion overlapping the supply roller 55 when the tape cassette 20 is attached to the cassette holder 8 . The hole portion 22 has an edge portion 23 positioned on the side of the supply roller 54 when mounted on the cassette holder 8 . Further, the edge portion 23 is formed with a restriction portion 24 and a guide portion 25 . The restricting portion 24 is arranged on the side of the transport direction D<b>2 at the edge portion 23 . That is, the restricting portion 24 is part of the hole portion 22 formed in the housing 21 of the tape cassette 20 . The guide portion 25 is arranged continuously from the regulating portion 24 in the conveying direction D<b>1 side at the edge portion 23 and has a substantially triangular shape protruding toward the center of the hole portion 22 . The position where the guide portion 25 is formed overlaps with the rotation center of the supply roller 55 in the nip formation state (see FIG. 10).

As shown in FIG. 8, a protrusion 56, which is an example of a contact portion, is provided on a part of the axial end face of the supply roller 55 of the printer 1. As shown in FIG. The projecting portion 56 is an example of a contact portion, and is provided so as to project in the axial direction of the supply roller 55 . Here, the changing means 100 is configured by the regulating portion 24 of the tape cassette 20 and the projecting portion 56 of the supply roller 55 . As shown in FIG. 8, when the supply roller 55 is separated from the supply roller 54, the hole 22 overlaps the supply roller 55 by mounting the tape cassette 20, and the protrusion 56 is positioned in the hole 22. inserted. Then, as shown in FIG. 9, when the supply roller 55 approaches the supply roller 54 in conjunction with closing the opening/closing cover 2, the protrusion 56 comes into contact with the guide portion 25 and moves in either the conveying direction D1 or D2. be guided to In other words, the guide portion 25 guides the projecting portion 56 to the restricting portion 24 when the supply roller 55 moves from the non-nipped state to the nipped state.

Further, as shown in FIG. 10, the supply roller 55 is brought closer to the supply roller 54 to form a nip. That is, after the tape cassette 20 is loaded, the supply roller 55 moves from the nip non-forming state to the nip forming state. At this time, the restricting portion 24 comes to be positioned within the rotation area of the protrusion 56, and interferes with the rotation. When the driving for conveying the tape Ta is started, the supply roller 55 also starts to rotate in conjunction with the rotating operation of the supply roller 54, and the protrusion 56 of the supply roller 55 comes into contact with the regulating portion 24 of the tape cassette 20. At this point, the rotation of the supply roller 55 is stopped. That is, when the tape cassette 20 is attached to the cassette holder 8 , the rotation of the supply roller 55 causes the protrusion 56 to come into contact with the restricting portion 24 , thereby stopping the rotation of the supply roller 54 . As a result, the supply roller 55 does not rotate and the tape Ta is conveyed while sliding on the supply roller 55, so that the frictional resistance between the supply roller 55 and the tape Ta becomes the conveyance resistance.

When the tape Ta is conveyed, F1>F2, where F1 is the conveying force of the nip between the platen roller 52 and the recording head 51, and F2 is the conveying force of the supply roller pair 50. FIG. As a result, it is possible to apply a constant tension to the tape Ta, so that it is possible to suppress the occurrence of wrinkles, peeling of the tape, and the like during recording. Since the supply roller 55 is driven when the opening/closing cover 2 is opened and the nip of the supply roller pair 50 is released, the position of the protrusion 56 cannot be specified. It becomes possible to follow the edge 23 .

As described above, the printer 1 of the present embodiment has the changing means 100 capable of changing the rotational resistance of the supply roller 55 to be greater when recording on the tape Ta than when recording on the tube Tu. Therefore, when the tape Ta is printed, it is possible to prevent the feeding capacity of the supply roller 54 from exceeding the feeding capacity of the platen roller 52, and the platen roller 52 can maintain the state in which the tape Ta is pulled, so that the tape Ta can be fed. It is possible to suppress the occurrence of transport failures at times.

Further, according to the printer 1 of the present embodiment, the change means 100 is composed of the regulation portion 24 provided on the tape cassette 20 and the projection portion 56 provided on the supply roller 55, so that the cost is increased with a simple configuration. can be suppressed. Further, since the rotation of the supply roller 55 is not stopped when the tape cassette 20 is not used, a strong nip force can be supplied by the supply roller 54 and the supply roller 55 when printing on the tube Tu.

In the printer 1 according to the present embodiment described above, the changing means 100 is made up of the restricting portion 24 provided on the tape cassette 20 and the projecting portion 56 provided on the supply roller 55, but it is not limited to this. do not have. Other mechanical configurations may be used, or an electric actuator such as a motor or solenoid may be used to transmit drive.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Printer (recording apparatus) 8... Cassette holder 20... Tape cassette (tape supply cassette) 21... Housing 22... Hole part 24... Regulation part 25... Guide part 51... Recording head 52... Platen roller (platen) 53 Conveyance roller 54 Supply roller (supply drive roller) 55 Supply roller (supply driven roller) 56 Projection (contact portion) 100 Changing means R Ink ribbon , T... recording medium, Ta... tape (tape-shaped recording medium), Tu... tube (tube-shaped recording medium)

Claims (4)

a tape supply cassette containing a tape-shaped recording medium;
a cassette holder to which the tape supply cassette is detachably mounted;
Through an ink ribbon, recording is performed on the tape-shaped recording medium when the tape supply cassette is attached to the cassette holder, and recording is performed on the tube-shaped recording medium when the tape supply cassette is not attached to the cassette holder. a recording head capable of recording on a medium;
a platen arranged to face the recording head and pressing the recording medium against the recording head;
a conveying roller that conveys the recording medium in a direction in which the recording medium is pulled from the recording head and the platen;
a supply driving roller arranged upstream of the recording head with respect to the recording medium conveying direction and conveying the recording medium in the direction of supplying the recording head to the recording head;
a supply driven roller contacting the supply drive roller to form a nip and driven by the supply drive roller;
a change means capable of changing the rotation resistance of the supply driven roller so that when recording on the tape-shaped recording medium, it is greater than when recording on the tube-shaped recording medium,
A recording device characterized by: The changing means has a regulating portion provided on the tape supply cassette and a contact portion provided on the supply driven roller,
When the tape supply cassette is attached to the cassette holder, rotation of the supply driven roller stops rotation of the supply driven roller by bringing the contact portion into contact with the regulation portion.
2. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: The restricting portion is a part of a hole formed in a housing of the tape supply cassette,
The contact portion is a protrusion provided to protrude in the axial direction of the supply driven roller,
When the tape supply cassette is attached to the cassette holder, the projection is inserted into the hole, and the rotation of the supply driven roller causes the projection to abut against the regulation portion, thereby preventing the supply driven roller from moving. rotation is stopped,
3. The recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein: The supply driven roller is capable of contacting and separating from the supply driving roller in a nip forming state and a nip non-forming state, and moves from the nip non-forming state to the nip forming state after the tape supply cassette is mounted,
The hole has a guide portion that guides the protrusion to the restricting portion when the supply drive roller moves from the nip non-formed state to the nip formed state.
4. The recording apparatus according to claim 3, wherein:

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