JP5925563B2 - Printing apparatus and printing method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus and a printing method for forming a print sheet by providing cuts around printing.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, printing apparatuses that perform printing on a belt-like sheet and cut the sheet are known (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).
The printing apparatus described in Patent Literature 1 calls product information from a product file storing product information for each product number, and prints the amount of the long label paper corresponding to the product number and a label common to the product number. Based on the issue feed amount, the printing unit prints the printed sheet and cuts the printed sheet into a label.
The printing apparatus described in Patent Document 2 cuts the recording paper drawn from the roll paper along the paper feeding direction, and based on the cutting position, the size of the character according to the print area of the recording paper to be cut Print with.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-24627 JP 2000-229751

  However, in the printing apparatus described in Patent Document 1, printing is performed using a database in which product name data and unit price data to be printed in advance, product information and a print feed amount of label paper are associated with each other. If it is changed, it is necessary to rebuild the database, and there is a possibility that it cannot be immediately handled. Further, the printing apparatus described in Patent Document 2 prints the same content that is cut in the width direction of a belt-like sheet and printed as a receipt and the other as a journal. Even if the amount changes, the cutting position does not change.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus and a printing method capable of forming a printing sheet that can appropriately recognize a printing position with a simple configuration and does not cause a positional deviation from a cut even in a printing area having a different shape. .

  In order to achieve the above object, the printing apparatus of the present invention conveys a belt-like sheet along its extending direction, prints in a predetermined printing area, and cuts into the sheet surrounding the printing area. A printing apparatus for forming a printing sheet by providing a sheet conveying means for conveying the sheet, a printing means for printing the conveyed sheet, and a notch for forming the printing sheet by providing the notch And a control device for controlling the sheet feeding means, the printing means, and the cutting means, wherein the cutting means is a first cut that is part of the cut. First cutting means for forming the second cutting means for forming the second cutting formed by the first cutting, and the printing means includes the first cutting means. And the second cutting means for detecting the first cutting Comprising a cutting detection means, said control means determines the printing position of said printing means based on the position information of the first cut detected by the cutting detecting means employs the configuration that.

At this time, in the printing apparatus of the present invention, one of the first cutting means and the second cutting means performs cutting along the sheet conveying direction, and the other is the above It is preferable that the cutting is performed along the direction intersecting the sheet conveyance direction.
Moreover, in the printing apparatus of this invention, it is preferable that at least one of the said 1st cutting means and the 2nd cutting means is equipped with the rotation means to change the direction which provides a cutting.
Further, in the printing apparatus of the present invention, the sheet is an adhesive sheet in which an adhesive layer is laminated on one surface of a belt-like base material sheet, and the adhesive layer is temporarily attached to the belt-like release sheet to be original. It is preferable that the substrate is provided with peeling means for peeling the printed sheet from the release sheet, and sticking means for sticking the peeled printed sheet to an adherend.

  On the other hand, in the printing method of the present invention, a belt-like sheet is conveyed along its extending direction, and printing is performed on a predetermined printing area, and a cut is provided in the sheet so as to surround the printing area. A printing method to be formed, the step of conveying the sheet, the step of forming a first notch that is a part of the notch in the conveyed sheet, and the step of detecting the first notch. , Determining a printing position based on the detected cut and printing the sheet; and forming a second cut that forms the cut by the first cut. The configuration is adopted.

  According to the present invention as described above, even if the print area is suddenly changed due to the change in the number of characters or the arrangement, and the size of the print area varies, the reference for determining the print position is the first cutting means. This can be easily determined by cutting in. Therefore, even with a configuration in which the shape of the print sheet can be freely changed, the print position can be appropriately set with a simple configuration, and printing can be appropriately performed without misalignment between the cut and the print area.

At this time, the printing position can be appropriately recognized by using a configuration in which a cut for forming a printing sheet is provided, and the configuration can be easily simplified.
Since the direction in which the cut is provided is changed by the rotating means, the shape of the cut can be changed more freely, such as cutting perpendicularly or obliquely with respect to the sheet extending direction.
In addition, when a printed sheet is formed from an adhesive sheet composed of an adhesive layer and a release sheet temporarily attached to the release sheet, the print sheet is attached to the adherend by a series of operations by providing a release means and a pasting means. Can be affixed.

1 is a side view showing a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. (A)-(D) are top views which show the different pattern of a printing sheet.

Hereinafter, a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
In this embodiment, for example, when directions such as up, down, left, right, front, and back are indicated, all of FIG. Based on the case of viewing from an appropriate direction), the upper, lower, left, and right directions are directions parallel to the paper surface, and the front and back directions are directions orthogonal to the paper surface.

[Configuration of printing device]
In FIG. 1, a printing apparatus 1 conveys an adhesive sheet AS, which is a belt-like sheet, along its extending direction, performs printing on a predetermined printing area LS3 (see FIG. 2), and surrounds the printing area. A cut is provided in the adhesive sheet AS to form the print sheet LS.
Here, the adhesive sheet AS is configured by laminating an adhesive layer AD on one surface of the base sheet BS, and the adhesive layer AD is temporarily attached to a strip-shaped release sheet RL to form a raw fabric R. Has been.

  The printing apparatus 1 includes a sheet conveying unit 2 that conveys the original fabric RS, a printing unit 3 that performs printing on the adhesive sheet AS of the conveyed original RS, and a notch 41 (see FIG. 2). , A peeling plate 5 as a peeling means for peeling the printing sheet LS from the peeling sheet RL, a sticking means 6 for sticking the peeled printing sheet LS to the adherend WK, and the printing apparatus 1 And a control means 7 composed of a personal computer or a sequencer for controlling the overall operation.

  The sheet conveying means 2 includes a support roller 21 that supports the original fabric RS wound in a roll shape, first, second, and third guide rollers 22, 23, and 24 that guide the original fabric RS, and a driving device. A driving roller 26 driven by a rotation motor 25, a pinch roller 27 that sandwiches the release sheet RL between the drive roller 26, and a recovery roller 28 that recovers the release sheet RL by a driving device (not shown). .

The printing unit 3 includes a printing unit 31 that performs predetermined printing on the other surface of the base sheet BS that constitutes the adhesive sheet AS, and a platen roller 32 that is disposed to face the printing unit 31 with the raw fabric RS interposed therebetween. And an optical sensor 33 as a cut detection means.
As the printing unit 31, various conventionally known printing method units such as a thermal head printer, an ink jet printer, and a dot impact printer can be used.
The printing unit 31 is provided so as to be able to print a predetermined character or pattern at a predetermined position under the control of the control means 7.
Specifically, when forming the print sheet LS shown in FIG. 2A, the user uses the input unit 71 such as a keyboard or an operation panel connected to the control unit 7 to perform various settings for printing. Items are input to the control means 7. The setting items include, for example, a character string LS1, a character font and size, an arrangement position of the character string LS1, a pattern LS2 such as a frame and a pattern, an arrangement position of the picture LS2, a color, and a size. By inputting these setting items, the control unit 7 sets a print form in which the character string LS1 and the pattern LS2 are arranged in a predetermined area that is a print range, and generates a print form signal related to the print form.
Then, the printing unit 31 performs printing based on the printing form signal, and printing is performed with the inside of the cut 41 as the printing area LS3 as shown in FIG. In addition, if the configuration and the size of the print area LS3 are stored in advance in the control unit 7 as a form and can be set by selecting from various forms, the convenience can be further improved.
When forming the print sheet LS shown in FIG. 2B, the rectangular outer frame shape of the print region LS3 in FIG. 2A may be set to a parallelogram.
Furthermore, when the pattern shown in FIG. 2C, that is, several types of print sheets LS are repeated as the set LS4, print forms of several types of print sheets LS may be generated and set as one set LS4.
Further, as shown in FIG. 2D, when the type of the print sheet LS is irregular, the print order and the print form of each print sheet LS may be set in association with each other.

  The cutting means 4 is a first cutting means that forms a part of the cutting 41 surrounding the printing area LS3, that is, a first cutting 41A (see FIG. 2) along the conveying direction of the original fabric RS. 42 and the cut following the first cut 41A, that is, the second cut 41B (see FIG. 2) along the direction intersecting the conveying direction of the original fabric RS is formed to form the cut 41. 2nd cutting means 43 is provided.

  The first cutting means 42 includes a rotary blade 42C supported by an output shaft 42B of a rotation motor 42A that is a driving device, a receiving roller 42D that is disposed to face the rotary blade 42C with a raw fabric RS interposed therebetween, The output shaft 42E supports the rotation motor 42A, and the linear motion motor 42F as a driving device provided so that the rotary blade 42C can be brought into contact with and separated from the receiving roller 42D, and the output shaft 42G supports the linear motion motor 42F. The rotating blade 42C is rotatably provided around the axis of the output shaft 42E of the linear motor 42F, and the rotating motor 42H is supported by a rotating motor 42H as a driving means and a slider 42I. The rotary blade 42C is provided with a linear motor 42J as drive means provided so as to be movable in the width direction orthogonal to the conveying direction of the adhesive sheet AS. 42A, 42C, 42F, and 42H are provided in pairs in the direction orthogonal to the paper surface in FIG. 1, and supported by another slider (not shown) of the linear motor 42J.

  The second cutting means 43 includes a rotary blade 43C supported by an output shaft 43B of a rotation motor 43A that is a driving device, a receiving roller 43D that is disposed to face the rotary blade 43C with a raw fabric RS interposed therebetween, A rotation motor 43A is supported by the output shaft 43E, and a linear motion motor 43F as a drive device provided so that the rotary blade 43C can be contacted and separated with respect to the receiving roller 43D, and a linear motion motor 43F is supported by the output shaft 43G. Rotating means 43 </ b> C is a rotating means provided rotatably around the axis of the output shaft 43 </ b> E of the linear motor 43 </ b> E, and the rotating motor 43 </ b> H is supported by a slider 43 </ b> I as a driving means. And a linear motion motor 43J as drive means provided so as to be able to move the rotary blade 43C in the width direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the adhesive sheet AS.

  The affixing means 6 has a suction plate 61 provided with a plurality of suction holes (not shown) on the lower surface and sucking and supporting the base sheet BS side of the printing sheet LS, and the suction plate 61 supported by the output shaft 62. A pressing means for moving 61 up and down, and a linear motion motor 63 as a drive device are provided.

[Printer operation]
Next, a process until the printing sheet LS in the printing apparatus 1 described above is formed and pasted on the adherend WK will be described.
First, as shown in FIG. 1, the user feeds necessary information such as characters and designs for generating a print form of the print sheet LS to be created by the user using the input unit 71 while passing the original RS. Then, the control means 7 generates a print form signal based on the set and inputted items, and performs a step of forming the print sheet LS.

When forming the printing sheet LS shown in FIG. 2A, the first cutting means 42 drives the linear motor 42J so that a predetermined width is provided between the pair of rotary blades 42C according to the printing form signal. Moving. The sheet conveying means 2 drives the rotation motor 25 to rotate the driving roller 26 to feed out the original fabric RS. The first cutting means 42 drives the linear motion motor 42F to pierce the rotary blade 42C into the adhesive sheet AS. At this time, the rotary blade 42C reaches the release sheet RL from the base sheet BS side and has a depth that does not penetrate the release sheet RL.
When a predetermined time has passed in accordance with the printing form signal, the first cutting means 42 drives the linear motion motor 42F to separate the rotary blade 42C from the adhesive sheet AS. Thereby, a pair of parallel first cuts 41A corresponding to two sides in the longitudinal direction of the print region LS3 is formed.

  Thereafter, when the conveyance of the original fabric RS is continued, the optical sensor 33 of the printing unit 3 detects the end of the first cut 41A, and the printing unit 3 prints the printing unit 31 at a predetermined timing based on the detection result. Is driven to perform printing at a predetermined position based on the printing form.

  After that, when the conveyance of the original fabric RS is continued, the sheet conveying means 2 temporarily interrupts the conveyance of the original fabric RS based on the printing form. Next, the second cutting means 43 drives the linear motion motor 43F to pierce the rotary blade 43C into the adhesive sheet AS. At this time, the rotary blade 43C reaches the release sheet RL from the base sheet BS side and has a depth that does not penetrate the release sheet RL. Then, after the second cutting means 43 drives the linear motor 43J to move the rotary blade 43C forward or backward, and stops the driving of the linear motor 43J in accordance with the printing form signal, the linear motion motor 43F is turned on. The rotary blade 43C is driven to move away from the adhesive sheet AS. Thereby, the 2nd cutting means 43 forms the 2nd cutting 41B of the conveyance direction downstream based on a printing form. Then, after the sheet conveying means 2 again conveys the original fabric RS based on the printing form for a predetermined time, the conveyance of the original fabric RS is temporarily stopped, and the second cutting means 43 performs the same as described above based on the printing form. By forming the second cut 41B on the upstream side in the transport direction, the printing area LS3 is surrounded by the cut 41 formed by the pair of first cuts 41A and the pair of second cuts 41B. Thus, the print sheet LS is formed.

  After the printing sheet LS is formed, the sheet conveying means 2 conveys the original fabric RS, and as shown in FIG. 1, the formed printing sheet LS is peeled by a predetermined amount by the peeling plate 5 and peeled by a sensor (not shown). The leading edge of the print sheet LS is detected and stopped. After that, when the adherend WK is transported and stopped at a predetermined position below the pasting means 6, the suction plate 61 of the pasting means 6 starts suction, and the sheet transport means 2 transports the original fabric RS, and the print sheet LS. Is sucked and supported by the suction plate 61. Thereafter, the sticking means 6 drives the linear motion motor 63 to lower the suction plate 61, places the printing sheet LS on the adherend WK, stops the suction of the suction plate 61, and raises the suction plate 61.

  Here, when forming the print sheet LS shown in FIG. 2B, the timing of cutting the first cut 41A on the near side in the first cut step in FIG. 2A is based on the print form. It is controlled to be slower than the first cut 41A. Then, when cutting the second cut 41B, the rotation motor 43H is rotated so as to provide the second cut 41B obliquely based on the print form, and the slider 43I is driven in accordance with the conveyance of the sheet conveying means 2. By making it cut, the cut 41 can be provided in the parallelogram shown in FIG.

  When the print sheet LS shown in FIG. 2C is formed, the print form is associated with the set LS4 in advance by setting input by the user. Then, in order to form two printing sheets LS in parallel, the first cutting means 42 sets the linear motion motor 42F in accordance with the operation in which the sheet conveying means 2 repeats the forward feed and reverse feed of the original fabric RS according to the print form. The rotary blade 42C is driven to contact and separate from the receiving roller 42D, and the linear motor 42J is driven to move the rotary blade 42C in the width direction orthogonal to the conveying direction of the original fabric RS. The operation of these motors is all determined based on the printing form.

Further, when forming the print sheet LS shown in FIG. 2D, since the print form is set and input by the user in the order of formation, the above-described series of steps are performed for each print form. The printing sheet LS having a different shape is formed.
In addition, in FIG. 2D, in the case where a circular cut sheet 41 is provided by providing a partially discontinuous circumferential cut 41, the first cut process is performed in an arc shape based on the print form. After the first cut 41A is formed and the first cut 41A is detected and printed in the printing process based on the print form, the second cut 41B may be provided based on the print form in the second cut process. .

[Effects of Embodiment]
According to the embodiment as described above, even if the print area LS3 is suddenly changed due to a change in the number of characters or the arrangement and the size of the print area LS3 changes, the first cut 41A is detected each time and the print position is changed. Since recognition is performed and printing is performed, there is no need to provide a configuration such as providing a separate mark in order to determine the printing position. For this reason, even in a configuration in which the shape of the print sheet LS can be freely changed, the print position can be appropriately recognized with a simple configuration, and the print sheet LS can be appropriately formed without misalignment between the notch 41 and the print region LS3. it can.
Further, when the driving roller 26 or the like conveys the original fabric RS, even if the length of slippage and conveyance of the original fabric RS changes, the first cut 41A is detected each time to recognize the printing position. Since printing is performed, the print sheet LS can be appropriately formed without causing the notch 41 and the print region LS3 to be misaligned.

[Modification]
As described above, the best configuration, method and the like for carrying out the present invention have been disclosed in the above description, but the present invention is not limited to this.
That is, the invention has been illustrated and described with particular reference to certain specific embodiments, but without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, Various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art in terms of material, quantity, and other detailed configurations. In addition, the description of the shape, material, and the like disclosed above is exemplary for ease of understanding of the present invention, and does not limit the present invention. The description by the name of the member which remove | excluded the limitation of one part or all of such restrictions is included in this invention.

For example, although the configuration has been described in which the cut 41 is provided at the position of the outer frame of the print area LS3, the cut 41 may be provided at a position of the outer frame that is slightly larger than the outer frame of the print area LS3, for example.
Moreover, the control method in the printing means 3 for forming the print sheet LS in each pattern of FIGS. 2A to 2D is not limited to the above embodiment, and various conventionally known methods can be used. .
Furthermore, although the structure which detects the edge part of the 1st cut 41A and recognizes a printing position was illustrated, the 1st cut 41A was cut by predetermined length based on a printing form, for example, The length may be detected, the print area LS3 may be calculated according to the detected length of the first cut 41A, and printing may be performed so that the print form is positioned in the print area LS3.

And the 1st notch means 42 which provides the 1st notch 41A along the conveyance direction of original fabric RS, and the 2nd notch means 43 which provides the 2nd notch 41B in the width direction of original fabric RS are replaced. You may arrange.
Further, as the first cutting means 42 and the second cutting means 43, for example, a flat blade is used, and various conventionally known methods such as cutting by moving the flat blade relative to the original fabric RS can be used. .
Furthermore, the number of the rotary blades 42C and 43C of the first cutting means 42 and the second cutting means 43 may be singular or plural. When the number of the rotary blades 42C of the first cutting means 42 is single, the sheet conveying means 2 can form the first cut 41A similar to the above by repeating the forward feed and the reverse feed of the original fabric RS. In the case where four rotary blades are provided, for example, when two printing sheets LS are formed in parallel in FIG. 2C, four first cuts 41A are collectively formed by the four rotary blades. When forming one printing sheet LS, the first cut 41A may be provided using two of the four rotary blades.

  Further, conventionally known detection means such as an ultrasonic sensor can be applied to the incision detection means.

And as a peeling means, conventionally well-known various peeling apparatuses, such as hooking the printing sheet LS with the nail | claw etc. from the notch 41 and peeling, are applicable.
In addition, the pasting means 6 is, for example, a variety of conventionally known pasting, such as pasting the peeling plate 5 obliquely and pasting the end of the peeled printing sheet LS against the adherend WK with a roller or the like. Applicable equipment. Furthermore, without providing the peeling plate 5 and the pasting means 6, the operator may peel off the printing sheet LS manually and paste it.

The circular printed sheet LS illustrated in FIG. 2D is not limited to the case where the cuts 41 are partially discontinuous, and is formed so that the first cuts 41A and the second cuts 41B are continuous. Also good.
In addition, by making it partially discontinuous, for example, when the lamination process is performed in a later process, it is possible to prevent the inconvenience that the print sheet LS falls off.

And the kind, material, etc. of the sheet | seat (original fabric RS) in this invention are not specifically limited.
Specifically, not only the configuration of the above-described embodiment in which the adhesive sheet AS is temporarily attached to the release sheet RL, but also the base sheet BS alone, or an intermediate layer is provided between the base sheet BS and the adhesive layer AD. Three or more layers may be used such as one having other layers.
Furthermore, as the adhesive sheet AS, a protective sheet, a dicing tape, a die attach film, any other sheet, a film, a tape, or the like can be used for any application and shape.

  In addition, the drive device in the above-described embodiment includes an electric device such as a rotation motor, a linear motion motor, a linear motor, a single-axis robot, and an articulated robot, an actuator such as an air cylinder, a hydraulic cylinder, a rodless cylinder, and a rotary cylinder. In addition, it is possible to adopt a combination of them directly or indirectly (some of them overlap with those exemplified in the embodiment).

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Printing apparatus 2 ... Sheet conveyance means 3 ... Printing means 4 ... Cutting means 5 ... Release plate (peeling means)
6 …… Paste means 7 …… Control means 33 …… Optical sensor (cut detection means)
41..cutting 41A ... first cutting (cutting)
41B ... 2nd cutting (cutting)
42 …… First cutting means 43 …… Second cutting means 42F, 43F ... Rotation motor (rotating means)
72 ... Feed control means 73 ... Print control means 74 ... Cutting control means AD ... Adhesive layer BS ... Base sheet RL ... Release sheet RS ... Original fabric (sheet)

Claims (5)

A belt-shaped sheet is conveyed along its extending direction, printing is performed on a predetermined printing area, and a printing apparatus is provided that forms a printing sheet by forming a cut in the sheet surrounding the printing area,
Sheet conveying means for conveying the sheet;
Printing means for printing on the conveyed sheet;
A notch means for forming a print sheet by providing the notch;
A control device for controlling the sheet conveying means, the printing means, and the cutting means,
The notch means forms a first notch that forms a first notch that is a part of the notch and a second notch that forms the notch by the first notch. A cutting means,
The printing means is provided between the first cutting means and the second cutting means, and includes a cutting detection means for detecting the first cutting,
The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit determines a printing position of the printing unit based on position information of the first cut detected by the cut detection unit.   One of the first cutting means and the second cutting means performs cutting along the sheet conveying direction, and the other intersects the sheet conveying direction. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein cutting is performed along the line.   3. The printing according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the first cutting unit and the second cutting unit includes a rotating unit that changes a direction in which the cutting is provided. apparatus. The sheet is an adhesive sheet in which an adhesive layer is laminated on one surface of a strip-shaped base sheet, and the adhesive layer is temporarily attached to the strip-shaped release sheet to form an original fabric,
Peeling means for peeling the print sheet from the release sheet;
The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising: an attaching unit that attaches the peeled print sheet to an adherend. A belt-like sheet is transported along the extending direction, printed on a predetermined printing area, and a printing method for forming a printing sheet by forming a cut in the sheet surrounding the printing area,
Conveying the sheet;
Forming a first cut that is part of the cut in the sheet being conveyed;
Detecting the first cut;
Determining the printing position based on the detected cut and printing the sheet;
Forming a second cut for forming the cut by the first cut.

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