JP5945941B2 - Print medium cartridge - Google Patents

Description

The present invention is, for example, is used by being mounted to the cartridge holder of the printing apparatus relates to the print medium cartridge.

  As a printing apparatus that performs desired printing on a flat tube-shaped printing medium, for example, a technique described in Patent Document 1 is known. In this prior art, a print medium cartridge (mark tube cartridge) is mounted and used in a cartridge holder (accommodating portion) of a printing apparatus (thermal transfer printing apparatus). When the print medium cartridge is mounted, the flat tube-shaped print medium (mark tube) wound around the winding member is fed out and conveyed by the conveying means (platen roller) provided in the printing apparatus. . Then, after the printing medium is supplied to the outside of the cartridge in a state of being crushed into a flat tube shape, desired printing is formed in a printing area provided on one side of the flat shape. Thus, in use, the user cuts the medium to be printed on which the printing is formed to have an appropriate length direction dimension, and then expands the flat tube shape from the crushed flat tube shape into a cylindrical shape. A tube piece (part) with a printed shape can be obtained.

  At this time, in the said prior art, a thin part is provided in the site | part used as the width direction both ends of the said flat tube shape, and the intensity | strength becomes weak in the said site | part. As a result, when the above-described printing is performed, the print medium is sufficiently crushed and has a sufficiently flat shape, and as a result, it is possible to perform print formation with good quality.

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 6-74345

  However, the following problems exist in the above-described conventional technology. That is, the generated tube piece is normally used in a state where a cylindrical object such as a cable is inserted into the inner cavity of the tube piece and the inner periphery of the tube piece is in close contact with the outer periphery of the object. Is done. For the above insertion, the user needs to perform an operation of manually expanding the tube piece from a flat tube shape to a cylindrical shape. Is difficult to expand to the above cylindrical shape. In addition, after the end of use, it is necessary to peel off the tightly attached tube piece from the outer periphery of the object, but it is not easy for the user to peel off the tube piece that has been in close contact with the object for a long time. This was an operation.

The object of the present invention is to improve the print quality of the tube piece, to easily open the generated tube piece into a cylindrical shape, and to easily peel off the tube piece from the object after use. An object of the present invention is to provide a print medium cartridge that can be printed.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises a winding member that winds a flat tube-shaped print medium in a roll around an axis along the width direction of the print medium, and the winding A print medium cartridge configured to be able to continuously feed and supply the print medium wound around a rotating member, wherein the print medium is positioned at one end in the width direction of the print medium. One side medium end, the other side medium end located at the other end in the width direction of the print medium, and a medium intermediate part located in the middle in the width direction of the print medium, At least one of the one-side medium end portion and the other-side medium end portion includes a plurality of slits arranged at a predetermined pitch along the longitudinal direction of the print medium, and the medium intermediate portion is formed from the winding member. Outside in the radial direction when feeding Surface to be the side, or the surface to be the radially inner peripheral side at the time of feeding from said winding member, characterized in that it comprises the print-receiving area.

  The print medium cartridge of the present invention is used by being mounted on a cartridge holder of a printing apparatus, for example. After the mounting, the print medium wound around the winding member is fed out and supplied to the outside of the cartridge. At this time, the medium to be printed is in a state of being crushed into a flat tube shape, and is provided with one side medium end and the other side medium end at both ends in the width direction and a medium intermediate portion at the middle in the width direction. Then, after the printing medium is supplied to the outside of the cartridge in the form of the flat tube, desired printing is formed in a printing area provided on the radially outer peripheral side (or inner peripheral side) at the time of feeding. As a result, in use, the user is crushed after the print medium that has been fed out and printed in the print area as described above is cut in the width direction to an appropriate length dimension. By expanding from a flat tube shape to a cylindrical shape, a tube piece with a print having a circular cross-sectional shape can be obtained.

  Here, in the present invention, a slit is provided in at least one of the one-side medium end portion and the other-side medium end portion, and the strength is weak at the portion. Thus, the printing medium is sufficiently crushed and flattened when supplied to the outside of the cartridge and printing is performed. As a result, the adhesiveness with the thermal head is improved, and it is possible to perform printing with good quality without, for example, faint printing or printing disturbance.

  In the present invention, a plurality of the slits are provided at a predetermined pitch along at least one of the one side medium end and the other side medium end along the longitudinal direction of the print medium. As a result, when the print medium is cut in the width direction as described above, if cutting is performed at the position of the slit (in other words, if a slit is provided at a site where cutting is planned), There is always a notch along the longitudinal direction of the print medium at the cylindrical end of the tube piece produced by the cutting. As a result, when the user expands from a flat tube shape to a cylindrical shape as described above, an opening operation to the cylindrical shape can be easily performed from the cut. In addition, the generated tube piece is usually used in a state where a cylindrical object such as a cable is inserted into the inner cavity of the tube piece, and the inner periphery of the tube piece is in close contact with the outer periphery of the object. Is done. And after the end of use, it is necessary to peel off the tightly attached tube piece from the outer peripheral portion of the object. In the present invention, a cut always exists at the cylindrical end of the tube piece as described above. As a result, the user can easily peel off the tube piece that is in close contact with the object as described above by turning it up from the notch.

  As described above, in the present invention, the print quality of the tube piece can be improved, the generated tube piece can be easily opened into a cylindrical shape, and the tube piece can be removed from the object after use. It can be easily peeled off.

  According to the present invention, the print quality of the tube piece can be improved, the generated tube piece can be easily opened into a cylindrical shape, and the tube piece can be easily peeled off from the object after use. be able to.

1 is a perspective view illustrating an overall configuration of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating an internal structure of the printing apparatus in a state where the detachable cover is removed and the cartridge and the dry battery are detached from the cartridge holder and the battery storage unit. It is a top view showing the internal structure of a cartridge with a roller holder, a rib, a heat sink, a thermal head, etc. It is explanatory drawing of the state which provided the slit by the alternating staggered pattern on both sides of the to-be-printed tube of a flat state, and represented the unspecified cutting | disconnection site | part. It is PP sectional drawing in FIG. 4, QQ sectional drawing, and RR sectional drawing. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a control system in the printing apparatus. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the behavior which opens the notch formed by the said slit of the tube piece with printing cut | disconnected in the slit position, and inserts a cable. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the behavior which opens the notch formed by the slit and extracts a cable from the tube piece with printing. It is explanatory drawing showing the modification which the slit position of both sides is equal to the longitudinal direction, and explanatory drawing showing the modification which provides a slit only in one side.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following figures, if there are notes of “front”, “rear”, “left”, “right”, “upper”, “lower”, in the description in the specification, the front, rear, left, right Up, down refers to the noted direction.

<Appearance outline structure of the device>
As shown in FIG. 1, a printing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is a so-called handy type printing apparatus that is gripped by a user's hand. The casing 6 of the printing apparatus 1 includes a front cover 6A that forms the front face of the apparatus and a rear cover 6B that forms the rear face of the apparatus. Further, the rear cover 6B is detached from the rear cover main body 6B1 when the rear cover main body 6B1 incorporating various mechanisms and the cartridge 31 (see FIG. 3 described later) and the dry battery (not shown) of this embodiment are attached and detached. It is composed of a removable cover 6B2.

On the upper side of the front cover 6A, a display unit 550 (also see FIG. 6 described later) for displaying various setting screens is provided. The front surface of the display unit 550 is covered with a cover panel 2A that is, for example, a transparent acrylic plate. An operation unit 3 for operating the printing apparatus 1 is provided below the cover panel 2A. The operation unit 3 includes character keys such as characters, symbols, and numbers, various function keys, appropriate buttons, and the like. When the user inputs the content to be printed based on the operation of the operation unit 3, the corresponding print data is generated and the content is displayed on the display unit 550. Further, a flat print-receiving tube 101 (see AA cross-sectional view in FIG. 3 described later) in which printing is formed in the print-receiving area 300 as described above is cut at the upper right side of the rear cover body 6B1. A cut lever 4 is provided.

<Internal structure of the device>
The internal structure of the printing apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, a frame 13 made of resin, for example, is disposed inside the front cover 6A and the rear cover body 6B1. A cartridge holder 7 having a rectangular shape in plan view formed in a concave shape is provided on the upper rear side of the frame 13 in order to attach and detach a cartridge 31 (see FIG. 3 described later).

  Below the cartridge holder 7 is provided a motor storage portion 5 for storing a drive motor (not shown). A battery storage unit 9 for storing a dry cell is provided further below the motor storage unit 5.

  A discharge slit 24 for discharging the print-receiving tube 101 (see FIG. 3 described later) to the outside is formed in the upper portion of the frame 13. A roller holder 17 is provided on the upper right side of the frame 13. On the rear side of the roller holder 17, a plate portion 25 made of synthetic resin having a plate shape is provided so as to cover the roller holder 17. On the upper portion of the plate portion 25, a protruding portion insertion port 10 that is an opening portion is provided. Further, the upper end portion of the rear cover body 6B1 is provided with a lock hole 11, and the lower end portion is provided with two lock holes 12.

  A gear recess 26 formed in a concave shape is provided at a substantially central portion of the frame 13. The gear recess 26 is provided with a gear (not shown), and the gear tooth portion is covered with the concealing umbrella portion 114 and is not exposed. A ribbon take-up shaft 14 for taking up an ink ribbon 55 (see FIG. 3 to be described later) is erected on the rear side of the gear.

  A rib 30 is provided upright on the right side of the ribbon take-up shaft 14. A heat sink 15 which is a rectangular heat sink is provided on the right side surface of the rib 30. A roller shaft 20 is erected between the rib 30 and the discharge slit 24. A convex portion 27 is erected on the left side of the roller shaft 20. The convex portion 27 is inserted into a concave portion (not shown) of the cartridge 31 to position the cartridge 31 in the front-rear direction.

  Further, a guide holder 40 that houses a cutter holder (not shown) having a cutter blade in the vicinity of the discharge slit 24 in the frame 13 is provided.

  A rib 42 is formed integrally with the frame 13 in the vicinity of the discharge slit 24. The rib 42 formed on the right side of the discharge slit 24 is erected vertically with respect to the planar rear surface portion 25A of the plate portion 25.

<Inner cartridge structure 1>
The internal structure of the cartridge 31 (print medium cartridge) will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, a ribbon spool 56 around which an ink ribbon 55 is wound is rotatably disposed at the lower left side in the cartridge case 33. The ink ribbon 55 fed out from the ribbon spool 56 is guided toward the cartridge opening 371.

  A ribbon take-up spool 57 is rotatably disposed on the side of the ribbon spool 56 adjacent to the upper left side. The ribbon take-up spool 57 pulls out the ink ribbon 55 from the ribbon spool 56 and winds up the ink ribbon 55 consumed by printing characters and images. Further, on the upper left side of the cartridge 31, there is a print-receiving tube roll 53 (which is originally a spiral shape but is simplified and illustrated as a simple circle). The tube-to-be-printed roll 53 is a reel having a flat tube-like tube-to-be-printed tube 101 (printed medium; details will be described later) having an axis k along the width direction (vertical direction toward the plane of FIG. 3). It is wound around the part 54 (winding member) and rolled.

  On the right side of the cartridge 31 attached to the cartridge holder 7, an arm-shaped roller holder 17 having a platen roller unit 18 and a discharge roller unit 19 is provided so as to be swingable in the left-right direction around the shaft support portion 171. ing. When the detachable cover 6B2 is attached, the roller holder 17 is moved toward the cartridge 31 by a projection (not shown). As a result, the discharge roller unit 19 and the platen roller unit 18 provided in the roller holder 17 are moved to the printing position (position shown in FIG. 3).

  The platen roller unit 18 is disposed on the right side of the heat sink 15. The platen roller unit 18 is provided with a platen roller 182 (conveying means) and a platen roller gear (not shown). The platen roller 182 is disposed at a position facing the thermal head 16 (printing means) provided on the right side surface of the heat sink 15.

  The thermal head 16 includes a plurality of heating elements, and performs desired print formation on the print-receiving tube 101 conveyed by the discharge roller 192, the platen roller 182 and the like. The platen roller gear is meshed with a gear (not shown) provided on the front side of the frame 13, and the platen roller gear 182 is rotated by the rotation of the platen roller gear to which power is transmitted from the drive motor. . As a result, when the platen roller unit 18 moves to the printing position, the platen roller 182 presses the print tube 101 and the ink ribbon 55 against the thermal head 16 and rotates the print tube 101 by the rotation. It is conveyed in the direction of the discharge roller unit 19.

  The discharge roller unit 19 is provided with a discharge roller 192 and a discharge roller gear (not shown). The discharge roller 192 is disposed at a position facing the roller shaft 20, and conveys the print-receiving tube 101 along a conveyance path (see arrows A, A, and C) toward the discharge slit 24. The roller shaft 20 includes a cylindrical portion 201 formed in a cylindrical shape and six ribs 202 formed radially from the outer periphery of the cylindrical portion 201 to the outside. Further, the roller shaft 20 is inserted into a shaft hole 391 of a transport roller 39 provided in the cartridge 31, and supports the transport roller 39 so as to be rotatable.

  The discharge roller gear is meshed with a gear (not shown) provided on the front side of the frame 13, and the discharge roller 192 is rotated by rotation of the discharge roller gear to which power is transmitted from the drive motor. To do. Thus, when the discharge roller unit 19 moves to the printing position, the discharge roller 192 presses the print-receiving tube 101 against the transport roller 39 that is rotatably supported by the roller shaft 20. As a result, the print-receiving tube 101 on which printing has been performed by the thermal head 16 as described above is discharged out of the cartridge 31 from the discharge port 59. Thereafter, the print-receiving tube 101 is guided to the discharge slit 24 by conveyance of the discharge roller 192 and the like, and is discharged from the discharge slit 24 to the outside of the printing apparatus 1. Then, when the user operates the cut lever 4, the printing tube 101 is cut by the cutter blade.

<Details of printed tube>
A detailed structure of the print tube 101 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5A to 5C. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5A to 5C, the print-receiving tube 101 is configured by flattening a known heat-shrinkable tube, for example. That is, the print-receiving tube 101 includes a one-side medium end portion 101AR located at one end (the lower end portion in FIG. 4) in the width direction of the print-receiving tube 101 and the other end in the width direction of the print-receiving tube 101 ( The other side medium end 101AL located at the upper end in FIG. 4 and the medium middle part 101B located at the middle in the width direction of the print-receiving tube 101 (parts other than both ends) are provided.

  Then, in the medium intermediate portion 101B, when it is fed out from the reel portion 54, the radially inner peripheral side (front side toward the paper surface of FIG. 4, the upper side of FIGS. 5A to 5C, the enlarged view of FIG. A printing area 300 is provided on the surface which is the right side of the inside. This print area 300 is an area subjected to surface treatment by an image receiving layer (not shown). The image receiving layer is, for example, a transparent film of a material to be printed on which a desired print is formed by thermal transfer of the ink by heating the thermal head 16 in a state of being superimposed on the ink ribbon 55. The exposed surface of the image receiving layer is the print area 300. Contrary to the above, the area to be printed 300 may be provided on the surface on the radially outer side when the reel unit 54 is fed out. In this case, the thermal head 16 is arranged on the outer peripheral side in the radial direction with respect to the printing tube 101, and the ink ribbon 55 is arranged between the thermal head 16 and the printing tube 101.

  FIG. 4 shows a state in which printing has already been formed by the thermal head 16 with respect to a plurality of print areas 300 sequentially arranged in the longitudinal direction of the tape (state before cutting). In this example, text characters “signal line 1”, “signal line 2”, “signal line 3”, and “signal line 4” are printed in each print area 300, respectively.

  As a feature of the present embodiment, the one-side medium end portion 101AR of the print-receiving tube 101 includes a plurality of first slits S1 arranged at a first pitch p1 along the longitudinal direction of the print-receiving tube 101. . Similarly, the other-side medium end portion 101AL includes a plurality of second slits S2 arranged at a second pitch p2 along the longitudinal direction of the print-receiving tube 101. In this example, the first pitch p1 and the second pitch p2 are substantially the same value, that is, p1 = p2.

  At this time, the plurality of first slits S1 and the plurality of second slits S2 described above are alternately staggered along the longitudinal direction of the print-receiving tube 101 (arranged alternately in the vertical direction in FIG. 4) on one side. It is provided in each of the medium end portion 101AR and the other side medium end portion 101AL. At this time, the first slit S <b> 1 and the second slit S <b> 2 that are alternately arranged are arranged so that the positions along the longitudinal direction of the print-receiving tube 101 overlap each other. As a result, as shown in FIG. 4, when the cut tube 4 is cut by the operation of the cut lever 4, the print tube 101 can be cut at any arbitrary longitudinal position (see each cutting portion C in FIG. 4). There is always at least one slit S1, S2 at the cutting site C. As a result, in this embodiment, it is possible to cut in the width direction at an arbitrary (in other words, unspecified) cutting site C.

<Functional structure of control system>
FIG. 6 shows a functional configuration of a control system in the printing apparatus 1.

  In FIG. 6, the printing apparatus 1 is provided with a control unit 530 including, for example, a microprocessor. The controller 530 includes a drive system 540 including a motor drive circuit (not shown) that controls the drive of the drive motor, a thermal head drive circuit (not shown) that controls energization of the thermal head 16, and the like. The display unit 550 and the operation unit 3 are connected via an input / output interface 560.

<Basic operation of printing device>
Next, the operation of the printing apparatus 1 having the above configuration will be described.

  In FIG. 3 described above, when the cartridge 31 is mounted on the cartridge holder 7, the print tube 101 fed from the print tube roll 53 passes between the thermal head 16 and the platen roller 182 through the cartridge opening 371. Arrangement. Further, the ink ribbon 55 fed out from the ribbon spool 56 overlaps with the print tube 101 through the cartridge opening 371 while being guided and regulated by a regulating projection (not shown) of the cartridge 31, and the thermal head 16 and the platen roller 182 are left as they are. It becomes the arrangement which passes between.

For example, when an appropriate operation input from the user is made in the operation unit 3, an instruction signal corresponding to the input is input to the control unit 530 via the input / output interface 560, and printing is started under the control of the control unit 530. The That is, the roller holder 17 is rotated in the clockwise direction in FIG. 3, and the platen roller 182 is pressed toward the thermal head 16 so as to sandwich the print-receiving tube 101 and the ink ribbon 55. At the same time, the platen roller 182 is rotationally driven by the motor drive circuit, and conveys the print-receiving tube 101 and the ink ribbon 55 to the downstream side (see the upper side in FIG. 3, arrow a).

  Simultaneously with the pressure conveyance by the platen roller 182, the heating element is driven by the thermal head driving circuit, and in the flat state, on the image receiving layer on the surface of the print head tube 101 on the thermal head 16 side (ink ribbon 55 side). The ink on the ink ribbon 55 is thermally transferred to form a desired print on the print area 300.

At this time, the ink ribbon 55 fed to the downstream side of the thermal head 16 is separated from the print tube 101 via a separating member (not shown) and then taken up by the ribbon take-up spool 57. Then, the print-receiving tube 101 sent to the downstream side of the thermal head 16 and separated from the ink ribbon 55 is discharged from the discharge port 59 to the outside of the cartridge 31 in a flat state and passes through a cutter blade (not shown). Then, it is sent out in the direction of arrow A in FIG.

  Then, when the print tube 101 advances by a predetermined distance, the conveyance is stopped. Thereafter, the cutter blade is operated by operating the cut lever 4 to cut the tube 101 to be printed, thereby obtaining a tube piece T with a predetermined length (see FIGS. 7 and 8 to be described later). When the printed tube piece T is generated as described above, the user expands the crushed flat tube shape into a cylindrical shape, thereby printing the tube piece T with a circular cross-sectional shape (see FIG. 7 described later). , See FIG. 8).

<Effect of embodiment>
As described above, in the print-receiving tube 101 provided in the cartridge 31 of the present embodiment, the plurality of first slits S1 and the one-side medium end portion 101AR and the other-side medium end portion 101AL of the print-receiving tube 101 are provided. A second slit S2 is provided. And the intensity | strength becomes weak in the said site | part by these slits S1 and S2. As a result, the printing tube 101 is sufficiently crushed and flattened when supplied to the outside of the cartridge 31 and printed by the thermal head 16. As a result, the adhesiveness with the thermal head 16 is improved, and it is possible to form a print of good quality without, for example, faint printing or printing disturbance.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the plurality of first slits S1 and the plurality of second slits S2 are arranged in a staggered arrangement along the longitudinal direction of the print-receiving tube 101 so that the one-side medium end portions 101AR and The other side medium end portion 101AL is provided respectively. In addition, the first slit S1 and the second slit S2 that are alternately arranged are overlapped with each other in the longitudinal direction of the printing tube 101, so that the printing tube 101 can be positioned in any arbitrary longitudinal direction. Even if it cut | disconnects by, the said cutting | disconnection site | part C always has at least 1 slit S1, S2. By using the slits S1 and S2, it is possible to improve the convenience of the user when the printing tube 101 is used.

  That is, due to the staggered arrangement of the slits S1 and S2, as shown in FIG. 7A, the circular end of the tube piece T generated by cutting is cut along the longitudinal direction of the tube 101 to be printed. V always exists. As a result, when the user expands from a flat tube shape to a cylindrical shape in use, as shown in FIG. 7B, the edges V1 and V2 of the notch V are turned up and opened to the opposite sides (outside). Thus, the opening operation to the cylindrical shape can be easily performed. Thereby, the cross-sectionally cylindrical object K such as a cable can be easily inserted into the inner cavity of the tube piece T through the wide open opening. As a result, the tube K can be used in a state where the inner periphery of the tube piece T is in close contact with the outer periphery of the object K (in other words, the tube piece T is attached to the object K).

  At this time, in particular, in the present embodiment, slits S1 and S2 (not shown in the longitudinal direction of the tube pieces T of the tube pieces T in the staggered alternating arrangement) are overlapped with the internal cutting sites C of the slits S1 and S2 shown in FIG. The object that does not become is opened by the insertion of the object K. Therefore, the user can visually recognize the surface appearance of the object K through the opened slits S1 and S2. Thereby, since the user can confirm the condition of the target K in the tube piece T, the convenience can be improved also by this.

  On the other hand, after the end of the use of the tube piece T, it is necessary to peel off the tube piece T adhered to the object K from the outer peripheral portion of the object K as described above. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8 (a), the notch V always exists at the circular end of the tube piece T, so that the user can target the object as shown in FIG. 8 (b). The edge portions V1 and V2 can be easily peeled off from the notch V at the end of the tube piece T in close contact with the object K by turning the edges V1 and V2 to the opposite sides (outside). As a result, the large area of the object K can be exposed and the object K can be easily removed. As described above, when there are slits S1 and S2 located in the intermediate portion (those that do not overlap with the internal cutting site C of the slits S1 and S2 shown in FIG. 4), the slit S1 located in the intermediate portion together. , S2 can be used for further easy peeling.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the printing quality of the tube piece T can be improved, and the generated tube piece T can be easily opened into a cylindrical shape. The piece T can be easily peeled off from the object K.

  In the present embodiment, in particular, the slits S1 and S2 are provided in both the one-side medium end portion 101AR and the other-side medium end portion 101AL, respectively. As a result, the tube to be printed 100 is more flattened and more reliably printed than when the slit S1 or S2 is provided only on one side of the one-side medium end 101AR and the other-side medium end 101AL. Quality can be improved.

  Further, particularly in the present embodiment, at least one slit S1, S2 is always present in the cut portion C even if the print-receiving tube 100 is cut at any arbitrary longitudinal position. As a result, the tube piece T having a user-desired length can be created, so that convenience for the user can be further improved.

Further, in the present embodiment, in particular, even when a heat-shrinkable tube that is firmly fixed to the outer peripheral portion of the object K by heat shrinkage after the object K is inserted therein is used as the print-receiving tube 101, The printing quality of the tube piece T is good, the generated tube piece T can be easily opened into a cylindrical shape, and the tube piece T can be easily peeled off from the object after use.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and technical idea of the present invention. Hereinafter, such modifications will be described in order. In each modification, the same reference numerals are given to the same parts as those in the above embodiment, and the description will be omitted or simplified as appropriate.

(1) When slit positions on both sides are aligned in the longitudinal direction As shown in FIG. 9A, in this modified example, the first slit S1 of the one-side medium end 101AR in the flat tube-to-be-printed tube 101 is used. The second slits S2 of the other-side medium end portion 101AL are provided so as to face each other at the same pitch (p1 = p2) (so that the positions in the left-right direction in FIG. 9A are the same). ing. In this case, the positioning control of the printing tube at the time of conveyance is performed by a known method by detecting an appropriate identifier (mark or the like) provided at an appropriate location of the printing tube 100 with a known sensor or the like. Thus, positioning control is performed such that the position of the first slit S1 or the second slit S2 becomes the cutting site C when the cut lever 4 is operated. That is, specific cutting parts C (same positions as the slits S1 and S2) capable of cutting the print-receiving tube 101 in the width direction are set in advance in a plurality of places, and are cut at any of the cutting parts C. The positioning control is performed.

  Also in the present modification, the printing quality of the tube piece T can be improved by the flat shape using the slits S1 and S2, and the tube piece generated using the slits S1 and S2 as in the above embodiment. T can be easily opened into a cylindrical shape, and the tube piece T can be easily peeled off from the object K after use.

  Further, in particular, since the first slit S1 and the second slit S2 are provided at the same longitudinal position of the print-receiving tube 100, two cylindrical ends of the tube piece T generated by cutting are provided. There are notches V and V. As a result, the user can more reliably and easily perform the opening operation of the tube piece T from the flat tube shape to the cylindrical shape and the peeling operation of the tube piece T from the object after use.

(2) When a slit is provided only on one side As shown in FIG. 9B, in this modified example, any one of the one-side medium end 101AR and the other-side medium end 101AL in the flat print-receiving tube 101 the or the other (one side medium position 101AR in this example), the first slit S1 is first pitch p1 is provided. Also in this case, as described above, positioning control is performed by detecting an appropriate identifier. That is, in this modified example, as described above, specific cutting parts C (same positions as the first slits S1) capable of cutting the print-receiving tube 101 in the width direction are set in advance in a plurality of places, and any one of them is cut. The positioning control is performed so as to be cut at the site C.

In this modification, as in the modification of the above embodiments and (1), the printing quality of the tube piece T can be improved by flat shape using the first slit S1, also using the first slit S1 Thus, the generated tube piece T can be easily opened into a cylindrical shape, and the tube piece T can be easily peeled off from the object K after use.

  In the above description, the case where the print-receiving tube 101 as the print-receiving medium is wound around the axis k constitutes the print-receiving tube roll 53 is described as an example, but the present invention is not limited thereto. In other words, the present invention may be applied to a tube to be printed (corresponding to a medium to be printed) that is not wound as described above, and has a linear or curved winding mode. In this case as well, the tube piece can be easily opened into a cylindrical shape while ensuring the printing quality, and the tube piece can be easily peeled off from the object after use. Get the effect.

  In the above, the arrows shown in FIG. 6 show an example of the signal flow, and do not limit the signal flow direction.

  In addition, although not illustrated one by one, the present invention is implemented with various modifications within a range not departing from the gist thereof.

1 Printing device 31 Cartridge (Print medium cartridge)
54 Reel part (winding member)
101 Printed tube (printed medium)
101AR One side medium end 101AL The other side medium end 101B Medium intermediate part 300 Printed area C Cutting part p1 First pitch p2 Second pitch S1 First slit S2 Second slit

Claims (5)

A flat tube-shaped print medium has a winding member wound in a roll around an axis along the width direction of the print medium;
A print medium cartridge configured such that the print medium wound around the winding member can be fed out and continuously supplied,
The print medium is
One side medium end located at one end in the width direction of the printing medium;
The other side medium end located at the other end in the width direction of the printing medium;
A medium intermediate portion located in the middle in the width direction of the print medium;
Have
At least one of the one-side medium end and the other-side medium end is
A plurality of slits arranged at a predetermined pitch along the longitudinal direction of the print medium;
The medium intermediate part is
A printing target area is provided on a surface on the radially outer peripheral side at the time of feeding from the winding member, or on a surface on the radial inner periphery side in the feeding from the winding member. Media cartridge. The print medium cartridge according to claim 1,
The print medium is
The specific cutting site capable of cutting the print medium in the width direction is set at a plurality of locations, or is configured to be cut in the width direction at an unspecified cutting site,
The print medium cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the slit is provided in at least one of the cutting portions. The print medium cartridge according to claim 1 or 2,
The one-side medium end is
A plurality of first slits arranged at a first pitch along the longitudinal direction of the printing medium;
The other side medium end is
A print medium cartridge comprising a plurality of second slits arranged at a second pitch that is substantially the same value as the first pitch along the longitudinal direction of the print medium. The print medium cartridge according to claim 3,
The plurality of first slits and the plurality of second slits are:
A print medium cartridge, wherein the print medium cartridge is provided at each of the one-side medium end and the other-side medium end so as to alternate in a staggered arrangement along the longitudinal direction of the print medium. The print medium cartridge according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The print medium is
A print medium cartridge characterized by being a heat-shrinkable tube configured in the shape of a flat tube by a heat-shrinkable material.

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