JP2530903Y2 - Tape printer - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

The present invention relates to a tape printer.
In particular, a thermal transfer ribbon having at least two ink areas in which inks of different colors are separately applied in parallel with the length direction, and coloring different from the color of each ink area in the length direction is applied to each ink area. The present invention relates to a tape printer that can print a plurality of colors of print images by printing once using a thermal head, using a film tape provided with at least two printing areas.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a tape printing apparatus which performs reverse printing of characters and the like on one side of a film tape by a thermal head and a thermal transfer ribbon, and affixes a double-sided adhesive tape with release paper to the printing surface to form a tape. There was. In such a tape printing apparatus, usually, a transparent film tape is used, and characters and the like are printed by a thermal transfer ribbon coated with ink of a desired color to prepare a tape. Therefore, the tape produced by such a conventional tape printer can only produce a tape having characters of only one color.
Even if the film tape is colored, there is no change in that only a tape having only one color character or the like obtained by combining the color of the film tape and the color of the ink of the thermal transfer ribbon can be produced. In recent years, video recording / reproducing devices and cassette type recording / reproducing devices have become remarkably widespread, and users of these devices immediately increase the amount of video cassettes and audio cassettes. The contents of the recording become unknown, and it takes time to search for a desired cassette, and the operation is extremely complicated. In order to prevent this, it is common to write the recorded contents and the like by hand on a predetermined portion of a cassette or its case.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, handwritten characters and the like are difficult to read and often cannot be understood by anyone other than the person. In addition, it is sometimes easier to read and understand the contents of the recorded contents and the like by displaying them in different colors, and in such a case, the tape created by the above-described conventional tape printing apparatus has only one color. Only characters can be printed.
In order to perform such a request with a conventional tape printing apparatus, it is necessary to prepare a film tape of a plurality of colors and a thermal transfer ribbon and perform printing while exchanging them, and such an operation is extremely complicated. The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problem, and it is possible to simultaneously print characters and the like of different colors over a plurality of stages by performing printing once by a thermal head via a printing control means. It is an object of the present invention to provide a tape printer capable of easily organizing cassettes and the like.

In order to achieve the above object, a tape printing apparatus according to the present invention performs printing control of a thermal head having a plurality of heating elements arranged in tandem by printing control means, and performs film control via a thermal transfer ribbon. Letters on the tape,
In a tape printer for producing a tape by printing a symbol, one of the thermal transfer ribbon and the film tape has at least two areas of different colors parallel to each other in a length direction thereof, and the print control means is Printing control is performed while dividing a plurality of heating elements into groups corresponding to the respective areas. Further, the thermal transfer ribbon of the tape printing apparatus of the present invention has at least two ink areas in which inks of different colors are separately applied in the length direction of the ribbon, and the film tape of the present invention has At least two print areas are provided opposite to each other and are colored differently from the colors of the ink areas in parallel with the length direction of the film tape.

In the tape printing apparatus of the present invention having the above structure, the heating elements of the thermal head correspond to each ink area while at least two ink areas of the thermal transfer ribbon correspond to at least two print areas of the film tape. Print control is performed in groups. As a result, a tape in which characters and the like are printed in different colors from each other in at least two upper and lower stages by one printing of the thermal head is created.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 show a tape printing apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the tape printing apparatus.
FIG. 3 is a plan view of a main part, excluding an upper case of a tape printing apparatus and an upper lid of a tape storage cassette. In both figures, the tape printer 1 has an upper case 2 and a lower case 3, and a keyboard 4, a character / symbol input dial 5, and a liquid crystal display 6 are arranged on the upper surface of the upper case 2. The keyboard 4 includes a power switch key 6 for switching power ON / OFF, a print switch key 7 for executing normal printing, a multi-color print switch key 8 for executing multi-color printing, a printing direction switch key 9, A tape cut switch key 10 and other various switch keys are provided. Here, the print switch key 7 is used when printing one color, and the multi-color print switch key 8 is used when printing two or more colors, for example, two colors. The print direction switch key 9 is used to specify the type of tape created by the printing device. The three types of tape creation modes A (FIG. 3) shown in FIGS.
), B (corresponding to FIG. 4), and C (corresponding to FIG. 5). Further, the character / symbol input dial 5 is for selecting and inputting desired characters and symbols, and the liquid crystal display 6 is for displaying characters and symbols input from the dial 5. The keyboard 4 and the dial 5 constitute an input unit. In the lower case 3, a tape storage cassette 11 that rotatably supports a supply spool of various tapes and ribbons, a take-up spool, and the like is provided. The tape storage cassette 11 is detachably attached to a printing unit provided in the tape printing device 1.
The film tape spool 13 around which the film tape 12 is wound, the ribbon supply spool 15 with the thermal transfer ribbon 14 wound with its ink side inside, and the ribbon take-up for winding the thermal transfer ribbon 14 drawn from the ribbon supply spool 15. A double-sided adhesive tape spool 1 in which a double-sided adhesive tape 17 having substantially the same width as the spool 16 and the film tape 12 and having release paper adhered to one side thereof is wound with the release paper outside.
8, and an aligning roller 19 for aligning the double-sided adhesive tape 17 and the film tape 12 is housed therein.
Each spool is rotatably supported via an upper cover (not shown) and a support portion. Here, as shown in FIG. 6, the film tape 12 is colored differently in two upper and lower stages parallel to the length direction of the film, for example, cyan in the upper stage and magenta in the lower stage. Thus, two print areas 12A and 12B are provided in the upper and lower two stages. Also, the thermal transfer ribbon 14
As shown in FIG. 7, two ink regions 14A and 14B are formed by applying different colors in parallel to the length direction , for example, magenta in the upper stage and yellow ink in the lower stage similarly to the film. You. The print area and the ink area that face each other have different colors. When printing is performed using a combination of these colors, characters and the like are printed on the film tape 12 in blue in the upper part and green in the lower part. In the same manner as above, the upper tape is colored cyan and the lower tape is colored magenta, and the thermal transfer ribbon 14 is made of normal yellow one color, and vice versa. When a normal yellow one color is used as the thermal transfer ribbon 14 and the upper part is cyan and the lower part is magenta, two-color printing is possible. In these cases, the upper part of the film tape 12 is green, Characters etc. are printed in purple at the bottom. Further, the ribbon take-up spool 16 and the aligning roller 19 are connected to a tape ribbon feed motor 43 shown in FIG.
Is driven to rotate via an appropriate power transmission mechanism. A thermal head 21 fixed to the lower case 3 is disposed in a concave portion 20 provided in the tape storage cassette 11, and a lower case 3 is provided on the opposite side of the alignment roller 19 and the thermal head 21. A feed roller 23 and a platen roller 24, which are disposed on a support 22 rotatably supported with respect to, are opposed to each other. The support 22 is selectively urged by an urging member (not shown) so that the platen roller 24
The feed roller 23 is pressed against the alignment roller 19. As shown in FIG. 8, the thermal head 21 has forty-eight heating elements 21A arranged in tandem, and in the case of multi-color printing, a single printing operation can simultaneously print two upper and lower rows of character strings. The character size of each character string is 24 dots including space dots between upper and lower characters. Next, a control system of the tape printer according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The input units 4 and 5 are connected to an input interface 26 of a microcomputer 25. Input interface 26 is bus line 2
7, a central information processing device (hereinafter abbreviated as CPU) 28, a read-only memory (hereinafter abbreviated as ROM) 29, a random access memory (hereinafter abbreviated as RAM).
Abbreviated. ) 30, character generators for printing and display (hereinafter abbreviated as CGROM) 31, 32
And the output interface 33. RO
M29 is a program memory 34 for storing a program for controlling the overall operation of the tape printer 1,
A dictionary memory 35 used for kanji conversion and the like is provided.
The RAM 30 has an input buffer 36 and a print buffer 3.
7. It has necessary counters and registers including the shift register 38. Further, the CGROM 31 generates a dot pattern for printing based on input code data of characters and the like, and the CGROM 32 generates a dot pattern for display to be displayed on the display 6. The CGROM 31 for printing contains 4
Two types of printing dot patterns represented by an 8-dot matrix and a 24-dot matrix are stored, and the dot pattern data is temporarily stored in the print buffer 3.
7, the data is transferred in parallel to the upper 24 bits and lower 24 bits of the shift register 38 via the CPU 28. A head drive circuit 39, a motor drive circuit 40, a display drive circuit 41, and a motor drive circuit 42 are connected to the output interface 33, and the thermal head 21, the tape ribbon feed motor 43, the display 6, and the cutter drive motor 44 are respectively connected to the output interface 33. It is connected.
Next, the operation of the tape printing apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. When the power is turned on by operating the power switch key 6, in steps (hereinafter simply referred to as S1; the same applies to other steps), initialization of each buffer register in the RAM 30 and other initial settings are performed. Is performed. Subsequently, in S2, the keyboard 4 and the dial 5 are scanned to determine which key switch has been operated and what print data has been input. If it is determined in S3 that print data such as characters and symbols has been input from the dial 5, data input processing is performed in S4, the data is stored in the input buffer 36, and a character corresponding to the print data is stored in S5. Is displayed on the display 6 via the display CGROM 32. If print data is not input, it is determined in step S6 whether the print switch key 7 has been operated. If it is determined that the print switch key 7 has been operated, the dot pattern generated in the print CGROM 31 corresponding to the input data is determined in step S7. Will be expanded to. In this case, since the printing mode is the normal printing mode, the pattern is developed by a dot matrix of 48 dots. Subsequently, the flow shifts to S8, where the dot pattern developed in the print buffer 37 is stored in the shift register 38 for each dot row.
And the dot string is printed. The above operation is repeated until all data is printed (S
9). As a result, a printing result represented by a dot matrix of 48 dots over the entire length of the heating element 21A is obtained. If it is determined in S10 that the tape cut switch key 10 has been operated, the tape 12 and the double-sided adhesive tape 17 are cut by a tape cutter (not shown) in S11, and a tape of a desired length is created. When the multi-color print switch key 8 is pressed in S12, S13 is executed. In S13, which tape creation mode is selected by the print direction switch key 9 is detected. Here, when the creation mode A is detected, the process proceeds to S14. The creation mode A is a mode for creating a tape T as shown in FIG. 3, and a character string is similarly printed on both sides of the center line O in the width direction of the tape T as a boundary. Subsequently, in S14, the input data is stored in the print buffer 37.
After being developed as a 24-dot character pattern, the shift register 38
Then, the dot data is transferred in parallel to the upper 24 bits and the lower 24 bits, and the process proceeds to S17. Further, when the creation mode B is detected in S13, S1 is executed in S15.
4, the input data is developed in the print buffer 37 as a 24-dot character pattern.
Of the shift register 38 in order from the first dot row of
At the same time, the dot data is transferred to the upper 24 bits of the shift register 38 from the last dot row of the print buffer 37 in the up and down direction.
Move to 17. Here, the creation mode B is a mode for creating a tape T as shown in FIG. 4, and a character string is displayed on both sides of the center line O in the width direction of the tape T as a boundary when viewed from either side of the tape T. It is printed so as to become a horizontal writing normal image. That is, in the upper part of the tape T,
A virtual image character string that is symmetrical with respect to the character string printed in the lower part is printed. Further, when the creation mode C is detected in S13, the input data is developed as a 24-dot dot pattern in the print buffer 37 in S16, and then the upper 24 bits and the lower 24 bits of the shift register 38 are sequentially printed from the first dot row of the print buffer 37. By transferring the dot data to 24 bits in parallel, the dot pattern is vertically and horizontally converted, and the process proceeds to S17. here,
The creation mode C is a mode in which a tape T as shown in FIG. 5 is created, in which printing is performed on both sides of the center line O in the width direction of the tape T so as to be vertically written when viewed from the length direction. is there. Further, in S17 and S18, the printing operation is performed until all the character strings input for the dot data transferred to the shift register 38 are printed. If another key switch other than the above is operated in S19, a process corresponding to the key switch operated in S20 is performed. For example, processing such as kana-kanji conversion is performed as necessary. Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the above-described embodiment, the mode is set between normal printing (one-line printing using a 48-dot matrix) and multi-color printing (two-line printing using two rows of upper and lower rows using a 24-dot matrix) by selectively using the print switch keys 7 and 8. However, other embodiments try to do this automatically. Hereinafter, another embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. Note that the same components as those in the above embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and those having the same basic configuration are referred to the description of the above embodiment, detailed description is omitted, and only the portions having different configurations are described. explain. The tape printer 50 has the same basic configuration as the tape printer 1 of the above embodiment, and differs from the tape printer 1 in that a microswitch 52 is provided on the mounting portion 51 of the tape storage cassette. On the cassette mounting portion 51, two types of tape storage cassettes 53 and 54 shown in FIGS. 12 and 13 are mounted. The tape storage cassette 53 shown in FIG. 12 is a cassette used for normal one-color printing. The film tape 55 is colored only in one color.
Similarly, only one color of ink is applied. In this regard, the film tape 1 used in the above embodiment
2. Different from the thermal transfer ribbon 14. When the tape storage cassette 53 is mounted on the cassette mounting portion 51, the bottom wall of the storage cassette 53 presses the micro switch 52. When the microswitch 52 is pressed, a switch signal including an ON or OFF signal is generated, and the CPU 28 detects the switch signal via the input interface 26. Accordingly, the CPU 28 determines that the printing mode is the normal one-color printing mode, performs printing control based on the printing mode, and creates the tape T. The tape storage set 54 shown in FIG. 13 is used in the case of multi-color printing, and the double-sided adhesive tape 57 wound on the double-sided adhesive tape spool 18 has only one color or two layers vertically. A release paper is adhered to one surface of a tape colored with a different color via an adhesive. Further, the thermal transfer ribbon 59 is formed by applying two different colors of ink, each having a color different from the color of the area facing the double-sided adhesive tape. Further, a through hole 58 is formed in the bottom wall of the tape storage cassette 54 in correspondence with the micro switch 52 provided in the cassette mounting portion 51.
The other members of the tape storage cassette 54 are the same as those of the tape storage cassette 53. When such a tape storage cassette 54 is placed on the cassette mounting portion 51, the microswitch 52 is inserted into the through-hole 58 through the through-hole 58, so that the bottom wall of the tape storage cassette 54 depresses the microswitch 52. I will not do it. Therefore, unlike the case of the tape storage cassette 53, no switch signal is generated. In this case, the CPU 28 determines that the printing mode is the multi-color printing mode, and performs printing control to perform multi-color printing using the thermal transfer ribbon 56 on the surface of the double-sided adhesive tape 57 opposite to the side on which the release paper is adhered. Create T. As described above, according to the tape printer according to the other embodiment, even if the user does not particularly specify the one-color printing mode or the multi-color printing mode by using the switch, the micro printer provided on the cassette mounting portion 51 can be used. By detecting the presence or absence of a switch signal from the switch 52, the CPU 28 can automatically determine in which print mode printing should be controlled. As described in detail above, according to the tape printing apparatus of the present embodiment, the plurality of heating elements 21A of the thermal head 21 are divided into upper and lower two stages by one operation of the multi-color printing switch key 8, and the printing is driven. As a result, the film tape 12
The characters and the like are printed on the upper and lower two tiers of the film tape 12 through the two printing areas 12A and 12B and the two ink areas 14A and 14B of the thermal transfer ribbon 14.
It is possible to obtain a tape T on which characters of different colors are printed. The tape T thus created is used by being attached to the back of a video cassette or audio cassette or the like. As described above, the recorded contents of the tape T and the recorded contents are printed in two different colors in the upper and lower stages in the width direction of the tape as necessary, so that cassettes and the like can be easily arranged. . In the tape printing apparatus of another embodiment, the tape storage cassettes 53 and 54 for the one-color printing mode and the multi-color printing mode are prepared in advance,
Micro switch 52 provided on cassette mounting portion 51
Can automatically determine the type of cassette and determine the print mode, so there is no need for the user to specify the print mode by using a switch. Not at all. In the above embodiment, both the film tape 12 and the thermal transfer ribbon 14 are divided into upper and lower two-tiered areas of different colors.
It is not necessary to limit to this, and it is needless to say that the area may be divided into two or more stages. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the same characters and the like are printed on the upper and lower two rows in the width direction of the tape T has been described as an example. March 2
As described in detail in Japanese Patent Application No. 3-91492 filed on Oct. 8, the print area of the film tape 12 is
If the print data is divided into print lines and the input character code data is made to correspond to each print line, and the print control is performed while rearranging the data of each print line in the rearrangement memory, each print line differs from each other. It goes without saying that characters and the like can be printed in different colors.

As described above, the tape printing apparatus according to the present invention can print characters of different colors over a plurality of levels in the width direction of the tape by performing printing once using a thermal head. It is possible to provide a tape printing apparatus capable of producing a tape which can easily organize the tapes and the like, and the effect obtained in the industrial field is great.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a tape printer.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a main part, excluding an upper case of a tape printing apparatus and an upper lid of a tape storage cassette.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged plan view showing a print example of a tape created in a creation mode A.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan view illustrating a print example of a tape created in a creation mode B.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged plan view showing a print example of a tape created in a creation mode C.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged plan view of a film tape.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged plan view of the thermal transfer ribbon.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged explanatory view of a thermal head.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a control system of the tape printer.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the tape printing apparatus.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a tape printer according to another embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a plan view showing a tape printing apparatus according to another embodiment, excluding an upper lid of a tape storage cassette used in a normal printing mode.

FIG. 13 is a plan view showing a tape printing apparatus according to another embodiment, excluding an upper cover of a tape storage cassette used in a multi-color printing mode.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Tape printer 4 Keyboard 5 Dial for character / symbol input 7 Print switch key 8 Multi-color print switch key 9 Print direction switch key 12 Film tape 12A, 12B Print area 14 Thermal transfer ribbon 14A, 14B Ink area 21 Thermal head 21A Heating element 28 CPU 29 ROM 30 RAM

Claims (2)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. A tape printing method in which a printing control unit controls printing of a thermal head in which a plurality of heating elements are arranged in tandem, and prints characters and symbols on a film tape via a thermal transfer ribbon to form a tape. In the apparatus, one of the thermal transfer ribbon and the film tape has at least two regions of different colors parallel to each other in a length direction thereof, and the print control unit divides the plurality of heating elements into groups corresponding to the respective regions. A tape printer which performs printing control while dividing. 2. A tape printing method in which a printing control means controls printing of a thermal head in which a plurality of heating elements are arranged in tandem, and prints characters and symbols on a film tape via a thermal transfer ribbon to form a tape. In the apparatus, the thermal transfer ribbon has at least two ink areas in which inks of different colors are separately applied in parallel with the length direction of the ribbon, and the film tape faces each of the ink areas, At least two printing areas provided with coloring different from the color in the length direction of the film tape are provided, and the printing control means controls printing while dividing the plurality of heating elements into groups corresponding to the respective ink areas. And a tape printer.