JP4343512B2 - Printing system, handy printing system and printing medium - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a printing system, specifically, a handy printing system, a printing apparatus, and a printing medium.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, when printing contents are written on a printing medium such as paper by a printing device such as a printer used in an office or the like, a reference for a printing position to be printed on a printing medium transfer mechanism of the printer is provided, and printing is performed based on this reference A device that determines a position to be printed on a medium is known. The same applies to a printing apparatus used for a fixed label or the like.
[0003]
On the other hand, in the case of a handy type that does not have a printing medium transfer mechanism, that is, a printing apparatus that performs printing by moving the printing apparatus over the printing medium, the rotation of the roller is usually detected using an encoder, and the printing position is A reference encoder pulse or the like is acquired, and a printing position is determined (for example, see Patent Document 1).
[0004]
However, a handy type printing apparatus using a roller has a problem in that it cannot be reduced in size and cannot be inexpensive because it is necessary to install a roller and a mechanism for providing the roller.
[0005]
Therefore, for example, Patent Document 2 proposes a method of determining a printing position by reading a dot pattern at the time of printing using a printing medium on which a dot pattern indicating a reference of a printing position is entirely drawn.
[0006]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-195724
[Patent Document 2]
WO 01/74598 A1 Publication [0008]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the method described in Patent Document 2, the dot pattern indicating the reference of the printing position drawn on the entire print medium has the remaining print quality on the print medium even after printing characters or images. In addition to lowering, once printing is performed, the dot pattern serving as position information is filled with the print contents and cannot be used as print position information, and therefore cannot be applied to a rewritable print medium that repeats printing and erasing.
[0009]
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a handy printing system and a printing apparatus capable of printing with good quality on a rewritable print medium, and a rewritable print medium therefor. .
[0010]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The handheld printing system of the present invention includes a print medium having print reference position information indicating a reference of a print position;
Print reference position information reading means for reading the print reference position information as it is moved over the print medium;
A handy-type printing system comprising: a printing unit that performs a printing process according to a printing reference position read by the printing reference position information reading unit;
The printing medium is a rewritable printing medium capable of erasing the printed content printed by the printing process,
It further comprises an erasing unit capable of erasing the printed content.
[0011]
That is, the handy printing system of the present invention is for printing on a rewritable print medium. Instead of using a roller, print reference position information is provided on the print medium, and the print reference position information reading means performs the print. The reference position information is acquired and the print position is determined.
[0012]
The rewritable print medium in the handheld printing system according to the present invention includes an encoder pattern portion in which an encoder pattern is printed with a pattern color material of a first color as the print reference position information and a second color in a normal coloring state. A writing portion that has a writing portion formed by coloring a coloring material on the carrier.
The first color is different from the second color;
The writing portion color material is changed from the second color in the normal coloring state to a third color different from the second color by the printing process, and the third color by the erasing process by the erasing unit. To return to the normal coloring state,
It is preferable that the printing unit performs printing by partially changing the color of the writing unit according to the printing content to be printed.
[0013]
Here, “partially discoloration” may be a process of changing the color so that the printed content can be understood as a result. For example, when the printed content is a character “A”, Of course, only the portion corresponding to the character “A” is discolored, and other portions excluding the portion corresponding to “A” are discolored so that the character “A” is printed as a result. Good.
[0014]
The “third color” means a color emitted by the writing unit after the writing unit color material has changed from the second color by the printing process, and the writing unit color material is the color of the writing unit. If the printing process is not transparent, the third color is the color after the color change of the writing part color material, but the writing part color material is substantially transparent by the printing process, Since the writing unit will emit the color of the carrier, this third color will be the color of the carrier.
[0015]
The color material of the encoder pattern of the rewritable print medium in the handheld printing system of the present invention preferably emits the same color as the third color, that is, the first color and the third color The color is preferably a similar color.
[0016]
The printing apparatus of the present invention is a handy type printing apparatus that performs printing on a rewritable print medium having print reference position information indicating a reference of a print position,
Print reference position information reading means for reading the print reference position information as it is moved on the print medium;
Printing means for performing a printing process according to the printing reference position read by the printing reference position information reading means;
And an erasing unit capable of erasing the printed content printed by the printing process.
[0017]
The print medium of the present invention is a rewritable print medium for a handheld printing apparatus,
A print reference position information section on which print reference position information indicating a reference of a position to be printed on the handy type printing apparatus is printed;
A writing unit for printing processing by the handy type printing device,
The print reference position information portion is an encoder pattern portion in which an encoder pattern is printed with a pattern color material of a first color as the print reference position information.
The writing part is formed by coloring a writing part color material that emits the second color in a normal coloring state on the carrier,
The first color is different from the second color.
[0018]
The writing portion color material of the printing medium of the present invention is changed from the second color in the normal coloring state to a third color different from the second color by the printing process, and the predetermined color is deleted by the predetermined erasing process. It is possible to return from the third color to the normal coloring state. In this case, it is preferable that the first color is the same color as the third color.
[0019]
【The invention's effect】
The handy printing system and the printing apparatus of the present invention can be applied to a rewritable print medium because the print contents are erased by the erasure process and the print reference position information remains. Also, the print reference position information written on the print medium is assimilated with the color of the writing area that has been discolored at the same time as the printing, and is therefore inconspicuous, so the print quality is good.
[0020]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
[0021]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a printing system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the printing system according to the present embodiment includes a label 1 as a printing medium and a handy printer 50 that performs printing on the label 1, and the handy printer 50 is moved over the label 1. Accordingly, the label 1 is printed.
[0022]
2 and 3 show the configurations of the label 1 and the handy printer 50, respectively.
[0023]
FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing the configuration of the label 1, and FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b) are a plan view and a side view, respectively. As shown in FIG. 2, the label 1 has a writing area 10 provided on the surface of the carrier 20, and a ladder pattern 15 serving as an encoder pattern is printed on the writing area 10. The writing area 10 is formed by coloring a predetermined color material on the surface of the carrier 20.
[0024]
The ladder pattern 15 emits white, and is printed with a color material having a property that does not change color even when a printing process and an erasing process are performed by a handy printer 50 (details will be described later). The coloring material in the writing area 10 emits black in a normally colored state, and the portion heated by the printing process by the handy printer 50 (details will be described later) changes to white, while the erasing process by the handy printer 50 Therefore, it has a property of returning to a normal colored state, that is, black.
[0025]
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the handy printer 50 in the printing system shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the handy printer 50 includes a storage unit 55 that stores print data, a position detection unit 65 that reads a ladder pattern on the label 1 and generates a print reference pulse, and a thermal head (hereinafter abbreviated as TPH). The controller 60 controls the label 70 to perform printing on the label 1, and the TPH 70 performs printing by partially applying heat to the label 1 according to the control of the controller 60. The control unit 60 also causes the TPH 70 to perform an erasing process for erasing the content printed on the label 1.
[0026]
The position detection unit 65 of the handy printer 50 shown in FIG. 3 includes a light emitting device composed of a laser diode (not shown), a light receiving sensor that receives reflected light from the label 1 in response to irradiation of a laser beam emitted from the light emitting device, The ladder input pulse shown in FIG. 4 is generated based on the reflected light from the label 1 (specifically, the ladder pattern 15) received by the light receiving sensor, and the print reference pulse shown in FIG. 4 is generated according to the ladder input pulse. And a reference pulse generation unit to be generated. Note that the pulse interval of the ladder input pulse shown in FIG. 4 is determined by the moving speed of the ladder pattern 15 printed on the label 1 and the handy printer 50.
[0027]
The control unit 60 generates a print signal shown in FIG. 4 based on the print reference pulse generated by the position detection unit 65 and the print data stored in the storage unit 55, and the control signal of the TPH 70 is generated according to the print signal. Is generated and output to the TPH 70 for printing. In the present embodiment, the control unit 60 prints a portion of the print content in the label 1 (for example, when the print content is “rewritable”, a portion corresponding to a portion in the label 1 where “rewritable” is to be printed). The TPH 70 is controlled so as to apply heat to the other parts without applying heat. As a result, the printed content portion does not change color and is the color (black) of the normal coloring state of the color material constituting the writing area 10 of the label 1, while the portion other than the printed content is the ladder pattern 15 of the label 1. The color changes to the same color (white). FIG. 5 shows the result obtained by printing the characters “rewritable” by the handy printer 50.
[0028]
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a printing operation of the printing system according to the first embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the printing system of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 starts the printing operation when the handy printer 50 is manually moved on the label 1 (S10). Along with the movement of the handy printer 50, the position detector 65 emits a laser beam by a light emitting device (not shown) and is received by a light receiving sensor (not shown) and reflected from the ladder pattern 15 of the label 1 by the irradiation of the laser beam. A ladder input pulse is generated based on the reflected light (S12). The control unit 60 of the handy printer 50 generates a print reference pulse in accordance with the ladder input pulse generated by the position detection unit 65 (S14), reads the print data from the storage unit 35, and prints the print data and the print reference pulse. Based on the above, a print signal is generated (S16). The control unit 60 further generates a control signal for causing the TPH 70 to perform printing based on the print signal and transmits the control signal to the TPH 70, and the TPH 70 performs printing in accordance with the control signal from the control unit 60 (S18).
[0029]
The printing operation by the printing system shown in FIG. 1 has been described above. As described above, the handy printer 50 in the printing system shown in FIG. 1 performs the printing process on the label 1 and erases the printed content. It is also possible. Specifically, when erasing the contents printed on the label 1 by the user (for example, the “rewritable” character portion shown in FIG. 5), the handy printer 50 is erased at a predetermined speed for erasing (slower speed than when printing). ), The color material constituting the writing area 10 of the label 1 returns to the normal coloring state, that is, black, while the ladder pattern 15 remains white. It returns to the state where nothing is printed as shown in (a).
[0030]
As described above, according to the printing system of the first embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 1, the label 1 on which the ladder pattern 15 serving as the printing position information is printed is used as a printing medium, and the ladder pattern 15 is read. Since the position to be printed is determined, it is not necessary to use a roller as in the case of a conventional hand-held printing device, the printing device can be reduced in size, and only the print contents are erased by an erasing process. It can also be applied to rewritable print media.
[0031]
Further, the label 1 of the printing medium used in the printing system shown in FIG. 1 is printed with the same white as the ladder pattern 15 serving as the printing position information, which is the same color as the portion where the writing area 10 has changed color. After the printing is performed, as shown in FIG. 5, the color of the ladder pattern 15 is assimilated with the color of the writing area 10 after the color change, which is the background, so that the ladder pattern 15 is not noticeable and clean.
[0032]
The preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above. However, the handy printing system, the printing apparatus, and the print medium of the present invention are not limited to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, and unless the gist of the present invention is changed, Various changes can be made.
[0033]
For example, in the printing system according to the first embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 1, the handy printer 50 itself holds the print data in the storage unit 55 and controls the TPH 70 for performing printing and erasing, and the position detection unit 65. 7 has a configuration including a control unit 60 that generates a print signal based on the ladder input pulse generated by the printer and the print data. Even if the present invention is applied to a printing system as shown in FIG. Good.
[0034]
FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of a printing system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, in the printing system, the label 1 is the same as the label 1 used in the printing system shown in FIG. 1, and the handy printer 50a is the same as the handy printer 50 in the printing system of FIG. While the TPH 70 and the position detection unit 65 are provided, the control unit 60 of the handy printer 50 in the printing system of FIG. 1 is not provided, and processing such as control of the TPH 70 and generation of a print signal is performed by the computer 100. In addition to the control of the TPH 70, the computer 100 also creates print data to be printed by the handy printer 50a, and outputs the created print data to the handy printer 50a for printing. Note that communication between the computer 100 and the handy printer 50 may be any method of wired wireless.
[0035]
FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of a printing system according to the third embodiment of the present invention. As shown, in the printing system, the label 1 is the same as the label 1 used in the printing system shown in FIGS. 1 and 7, and the handy printer 50b is the same as the handy printer 50a shown in FIG. On the other hand, the controller 80 performs processing such as control of the TPH 70 and generation of a print signal. The print data may be stored by providing a storage unit in the controller 80 or the handy printer 50b, or input means may be provided in the handy printer 50b or the controller 80 so that the print data can be input from the outside. It may be.
[0036]
It goes without saying that the printing system of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 can obtain the same effects as the printing system of the first embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG.
[0037]
The handy printers 50, 50a, and 50b are configured so that the thermal head 70 has both printing and erasing functions. However, the thermal head 70 is dedicated to printing, and a heating plate is provided for erasing only. You may make it do.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a printing system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a label 1 serving as a printing medium in the printing system illustrated in FIG. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the handy printer 50 in the printing system. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the position detection unit 65 and the control unit 60 in the printing system shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the printing operation of the printing system shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the printing system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The block diagram which shows the structure of the printing system used as the 3rd Embodiment of this invention.
1 Label 10 Writing Area 15 Ladder Pattern 20 Carrier 50, 50a, 50b Handy Printer 55 Storage Unit 60 Control Unit 65 Position Detection Unit 70 Thermal Head 80 Controller 100 Computer TPH Thermal Head

Claims (4)

A print medium having print reference position information indicating a reference of a print position; print reference position information reading means for reading the print reference position information as it is moved over the print medium; and the print reference position information reading Printing means for performing a printing process according to a printing reference position read by the printing means, and the printing medium is a rewritable printing medium capable of erasing the printed contents printed by the printing process, and erases the printed contents A handy printing system equipped with an erasing means capable of
The print medium has an encoder pattern portion in which an encoder pattern is printed with a pattern color material of a first color as the print reference position information, and writing that emits a second color different from the first color in a normal coloring state It has a writing part formed by coloring the part color material on the carrier,
The writing portion color material changes from the second color in the normal coloring state to the first color by the printing process, and from the first color to the normal coloring state by the erasing process by the erasing unit. It ’s back,
The handy printing system, wherein the printing means performs printing by partially changing the color of the writing unit according to the printing content to be printed. A rewritable print medium for a handheld printer,
A print reference position information section on which print reference position information indicating a reference of a position to be printed on the handy type printing apparatus is printed;
A writing unit for printing processing by the handy type printing device,
The print reference position information portion is an encoder pattern portion in which an encoder pattern is printed with a pattern color material of a first color as the print reference position information.
The writing section is formed by coloring a writing section color material that emits a second color different from the first color in a normal coloring state on the carrier,
The writing portion color material is changed from the second color in the normal coloring state to the first color by the printing process, and is returned from the first color to the normal coloring state by a predetermined erasing process. A print medium characterized by the above.   A print medium having print reference position information indicating a reference of a print position;
  Print reference position information reading means for reading the print reference position information as it is moved over the print medium;
  Printing means for performing a printing process according to the printing reference position read by the printing reference position information reading means,
  The printing medium is a rewritable printing medium capable of erasing the printed content printed by the printing process, and a printing system including an erasing unit capable of erasing the printed content,
  The printing medium has a pattern portion in which a pattern is printed with a pattern color material of a first color as the print reference position information, and a writing portion that emits a second color different from the first color in a normal coloring state Having a writing part formed by coloring a coloring material on a carrier;
  The writing portion color material changes from the second color in the normal coloring state to the first color by the printing process, and from the first color to the normal coloring state by the erasing process by the erasing means. It ’s back,
  The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the printing means performs printing by partially changing the color of the writing unit in accordance with printing contents to be printed.   A rewritable print medium for a printing device,
  A print reference position information section on which print reference position information indicating a reference of a position to be printed on the printing apparatus is printed;
  A writing unit for printing processing by the printing device,
  The print reference position information part is a pattern part in which a pattern is printed with a pattern color material of a first color as the print reference position information.
  The writing part is formed by coloring a writing part coloring material that emits a second color different from the first color in a normal coloring state on the carrier,
  The writing portion color material is changed from the second color in the normal coloring state to the first color by the printing process, and is returned from the first color to the normal state by a predetermined erasing process. A rewritable print medium characterized by the above.

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