JP6421846B2 - Printing apparatus, printing method, and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, a printing method, and a program.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, printing apparatuses that transfer ink applied to an ink ribbon to a printing medium by controlling energization of a heating element provided in a thermal head based on a desired printing pattern are known. Such a printing apparatus is described in Patent Document 1, for example.

JP 2011-062896 A

  By the way, since the temperature of the thermal head rises with printing, it may rise until it exceeds the upper limit of the guaranteed operating temperature. In order to prevent the thermal head from being damaged or malfunctioning in this case, it is conceivable to reduce the temperature of the thermal head by stopping printing during printing.

  However, since printing is performed in a state where the thermal head and the printing medium are in contact with each other, if printing is stopped in the middle of printing, the print quality deteriorates due to blurring or crushing of the printing result. Further, if printing is stopped in the middle of printing, it causes unevenness such as a slightly different printing density when printing is stopped and when printing is resumed, and the print quality is also lowered in this respect.

  It may be possible to separate the thermal head from the printing medium when printing is stopped during printing, but due to the separation of the thermal head from the printing medium, gaps or misalignments may occur in the printing results when printing resumes. As a result, the print quality is degraded. In addition, it is conceivable to change the structure of the printing apparatus so that the thermal head and the printing medium are separated and no gaps or deviations occur in printing. The structure is complicated.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus, a printing method, and a program that can suppress a decrease in print quality due to a temperature increase of a print head.

In order to achieve the above object, one aspect of a printing apparatus according to the present invention is:
A transport unit that transports the print medium along a certain direction;
A printing unit for printing on the printing medium;
A control unit that controls the printing unit to print a printing pattern along the certain direction on the printing medium;
The controller is
When the print unit prints the length from the print start position to the end position of the print pattern on the print medium, when the temperature of the print unit is predicted to be a set temperature or higher,
The temperature of the printing unit does not exceed a set temperature, and a portion selected from a portion of the printing pattern that is not controlled to generate heat from the heating element of the printing unit is determined as a stop position and printed to the stop position. After the printing unit is controlled to stop printing, when the temperature of the printing unit decreases, the printing unit is controlled to allow execution of printing.

  According to the present invention, it is an object to provide a printing apparatus, a printing method, and a program that can suppress a decrease in print quality due to a temperature rise of a print head.

It is a perspective view for demonstrating the printing apparatus which concerns on one embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows the tape cassette accommodated in the printing apparatus which concerns on one embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows the cassette storage part of the printing apparatus which concerns on one embodiment. It is sectional drawing which shows the printing apparatus which concerns on one embodiment. It is a control block diagram which shows the printing apparatus which concerns on one embodiment. 6 is a flowchart for explaining a control method of the printing apparatus according to the embodiment. It is a graph for demonstrating the prediction of the temperature rise in one Embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the printing pattern in one Embodiment. 6 is a flowchart for explaining a control method of a printing apparatus according to another embodiment. It is a graph for demonstrating the prediction of the temperature rise in other embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the stop candidate area | region in other embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the stop candidate area | region in the modification of other embodiment. It is a graph for demonstrating the prediction of the temperature rise in the middle of printing in other embodiment.

  Hereinafter, a printing apparatus, a printing method, and a program according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

<One embodiment>
FIG. 1 is a perspective view for explaining a printing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment.
A printing apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 is, for example, a label printer that performs printing on a long print medium M by a single pass method. Hereinafter, a thermal transfer type label printer using an ink ribbon will be described as an example, but the printing method is not particularly limited. For example, a thermal method using thermal paper may be used. The printing apparatus 1 acquires print information such as a print pattern from the computer 100. The computer 100 creates a print pattern for printing on the print medium M based on a user operation. The print medium M is, for example, a tape member having a base material having an adhesive layer and a release paper that is attached to the base material so as to be peelable so as to cover the adhesive layer. The print medium M may be a tape member without release paper.

  In the apparatus housing 2 of the printing apparatus 1, a discharge port 2 a for discharging the print medium M to the outside of the apparatus housing 2 is formed. The apparatus housing 2 is provided with a power cord connection terminal, an external device connection terminal that functions as an interface unit 8 described later, a storage medium insertion port, and an opening / closing lid for attaching / detaching a tape cassette 30 described later.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the tape cassette 30 housed in the printing apparatus 1.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the cassette storage unit 19 of the printing apparatus 1.
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the printing apparatus 1.

  The tape cassette 30 shown in FIG. 2 is detachably stored in the cassette storage unit 19 shown in FIG. FIG. 4 shows a state in which the tape cassette 30 is stored in the cassette storage unit 19.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the tape cassette 30 includes a cassette case 31 that accommodates a printing medium M and an ink ribbon R in which a thermal head insertion portion 36 and an engagement portion 37 are formed. An identification tag 38 is affixed to the surface of the cassette case 31. The identification tag 38 is, for example, an RFID (Radio Frequency Identifier) tag, in which an identifier for identifying the tape cassette 30 (and thus the print medium M or the ink ribbon R accommodated in the tape cassette 30) is recorded. The reading unit 25 illustrated in FIG. 5 is, for example, an RFID reader, and by reading an identifier (identification information) from the identification tag 38, the print medium M and ink accommodated in the tape cassette 30 and eventually the tape cassette 30 are read. The ribbon R is identified, and a sensor signal indicating the identifier is output. The control unit 5 described later can acquire information on the material of the printing medium M and the material of the ink ribbon R (that is, the material of the ink printed on the printing medium M) from the sensor signal output in this way. It is. Note that the information on the material of the printing medium M and the ink can also be acquired by receiving user input in the printing apparatus 1 or the computer 100 shown in FIG.

  The cassette case 31 is provided with a tape core 32, an ink ribbon supply core 34, and an ink ribbon winding core 35. The print medium M is wound around a tape core 32 inside the cassette case 31 in a roll shape. In addition, the thermal transfer ink ribbon R is wound around the ink ribbon supply core 34 inside the cassette case 31 in a state where the leading end of the ink ribbon R is wound around the ink ribbon winding core 35.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the cassette housing part 19 of the apparatus housing 2 is provided with a plurality of cassette receiving parts 20 for supporting the tape cassette 30 at a predetermined position. The cassette receiving unit 20 is provided with a tape width detection switch 24 for detecting the width of the tape (the printing medium M) accommodated in the tape cassette 30. The tape width detection switch 24 is an example of a width detection unit that detects the width of the printing medium M accommodated in the tape cassette 30 based on the shape of the tape cassette 30 (the shape of the unevenness provided on the tape cassette 30). A sensor signal indicating the detected width of the printing medium M and the ink ribbon R is output. The widths of the printing medium M and the ink ribbon R can be acquired by the reading unit 25 reading the identifier of the identification tag 38 described above, or can be acquired by the user in the printing apparatus 1 or the computer 100 shown in FIG. It is also possible to acquire by receiving the input. Further, the tape width detection switch 24 may acquire the material of the printing medium M and the material of the ink ribbon R.

  The cassette housing 19 further includes a thermal head 10 having a plurality of heating elements 10a for printing on the printing medium M, a platen roller 21 for conveying the printing medium M, a tape core engaging shaft 22, and an ink ribbon. A winding drive shaft 23 is provided. Further, a thermistor 13 is embedded in the thermal head 10. The thermistor 13 is an example of a temperature sensor that measures the temperature of the thermal head 10, and outputs a sensor signal indicating the measured temperature. The thermal head 10 is an example of a printing unit that performs printing on the print medium M based on an input print pattern. The platen roller 21 functions as an example of a transport unit that transports the printing medium M together with the stepping motor 12 described later.

  In the state in which the tape cassette 30 is stored in the cassette storage unit 19, as shown in FIG. 4, the engaging unit 37 provided in the cassette case 31 is supported by the cassette receiving unit 20 provided in the cassette storage unit 19. The thermal head 10 is inserted into a thermal head insertion portion 36 formed in the cassette case 31. Further, the tape core 32 of the tape cassette 30 is engaged with the tape core engaging shaft 22, and the ink ribbon winding core 35 is engaged with the ink ribbon winding drive shaft 23.

  When a printing instruction is input from the computer 100 shown in FIG. 1 to the printing apparatus 1, the printing medium M is fed out from the tape core 32 by the rotation of the platen roller 21. At this time, the ink ribbon winding drive shaft 23 rotates in synchronization with the platen roller 21, whereby the ink ribbon R is fed out from the ink ribbon supply core 34 together with the printing medium M. As a result, the printing medium M and the ink ribbon R are conveyed in an overlapping state. The ink ribbon R is heated by the thermal head 10 when passing between the thermal head 10 and the platen roller 21, whereby the ink is transferred to the printing medium M and printing is performed.

  The used ink ribbon R that has passed between the thermal head 10 and the platen roller 21 is wound around the ink ribbon winding core 35. On the other hand, the printed medium M that has passed between the thermal head 10 and the platen roller 21 is cut by the half-cut mechanism 16 and the full-cut mechanism 17 and discharged as a printed matter from the discharge port 2a.

FIG. 5 is a control block diagram showing the printing apparatus 1.
In addition to the thermal head 10, the thermistor 13, the half cut mechanism 16, the full cut mechanism 17, the platen roller 21, the tape width detection switch 24, and the reading unit 25, the printing apparatus 1 shown in FIG. A read only memory (RAM) 6, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 7, an interface unit 8, a head drive circuit 9, a transport motor drive circuit 11, a stepping motor 12, a cutter motor drive circuit 14, and a cutter motor 15 are provided. Note that the control unit 5, the ROM 6, and the RAM 7 constitute a computer of the printing apparatus 1.

  The control unit 5 includes a processor 5a such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The control unit 5 controls the operation of each unit of the printing apparatus 1 by developing and executing a program stored in the ROM 6 in the RAM 7. Therefore, the control unit 5 can be said to be a head control unit that controls energization of the heat generating element 10 a of the thermal head 10 via the head drive circuit 9. The control unit 5 can also be said to be a conveyance control unit that controls the stepping motor 12 and the platen roller 21, which are examples of the conveyance unit, via the conveyance motor drive circuit 11.

  The ROM 6 stores a printing program for printing on the printing medium M and various data (for example, fonts) necessary for executing the printing program. The ROM 6 also functions as a storage medium in which a program readable by the control unit 5 is stored.

The RAM 7 functions as an input data memory that stores print information such as a print pattern P10 and a width of the print medium M shown in FIG.
The interface unit 8 is connected to the computer 100 shown in FIG. 1 by wire or wirelessly, and receives print information such as the print pattern P10 from the computer 100.

  The head drive circuit 9 energizes the plurality of heating elements 10a based on the print pattern during the period when the strobe signal is ON. The thermal head 10 is a print head having a plurality of heating elements 10a arranged in the main scanning direction. The thermal head 10 heats the ink ribbon R by the heating element 10a when the head driving circuit 9 selectively energizes the heating element 10a in accordance with the print pattern during the energization period of the strobe signal sent from the control unit 5. Then, printing is performed line by line on the printing medium M by thermal transfer.

  The conveyance motor drive circuit 11 drives the stepping motor 12. The stepping motor 12 drives the platen roller 21. The platen roller 21 is rotated by the power of the stepping motor 12 and conveys the printing medium M in the longitudinal direction (sub-scanning direction) of the printing medium M.

  The cutter motor drive circuit 14 drives the cutter motor 15. The half-cut mechanism 16 and the full-cut mechanism 17 operate by the power of the cutter motor 15 and half-cut or full-cut the print medium M. The full cut is an operation of cutting the base material of the printing medium M along the width direction together with the release paper, and the half cut is an operation of cutting only the base material along the width direction. When a printing apparatus that does not cut the printing medium M is employed, the cutter motor drive circuit 14, the cutter motor 15, the half cut mechanism 16, and the full cut mechanism 17 are omitted.

  The thermistor 13 that measures the temperature of the thermal head 10, the tape width detection switch 24 that detects the width of the printing medium M, and the reading unit 25 that identifies the tape cassette 30 constitute a sensor unit 26 of the printing apparatus 1. The sensor unit 26 may include any configuration that acquires information for identifying the printing environment of the printing apparatus 1. Therefore, the sensor unit 26 may include other configurations in addition to the above configuration.

  The printing apparatus 1 acquires printing information such as a printing pattern from a separate computer 100 shown in FIG. Therefore, as compared with a printing apparatus that includes an input unit and a display unit and also creates a print pattern, it is easier to perform continuous printing, and it can be said that the temperature of the thermal head 10 described later is likely to increase. However, the printing apparatus 1 may include an input unit and a display unit. The input unit includes, for example, an input key for inputting characters, pictures, figures, etc., a print key for instructing start of printing, a cursor key for moving the cursor on the display screen of the display unit, a print mode setting and various types Examples include an input unit having any or all of various control keys for performing setting processing. In addition, the display unit is, for example, a liquid crystal display panel, and characters, pictures, figures, etc. corresponding to input from the input unit, selection menus for various settings, and notification to the user at the time of error And a display unit for displaying messages related to various processes. The display unit may be provided with a touch panel unit, and in that case, the display unit may be regarded as a part of the input unit.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the printing method.
The processing shown in FIG. 6 is executed when the control unit 5 that has received an instruction to start printing from the user via the computer 100 shown in FIG. 1 reads a predetermined program recorded in the ROM 6.

  First, the control unit 5 obtains print information such as a print pattern P10 composed of characters “AB Corporation” shown in FIG. 8, the width and material of the print medium M, the ink material, and the like (step S11). As described above, the print pattern P10 can be obtained from, for example, the computer 100 shown in FIG. 1, and the width of the print medium M can be obtained from, for example, the tape width detection switch 24. The material can be acquired from the reading unit 25, for example. The print information includes other information such as the length in the transport direction of the printed material created from the printing medium M.

  Next, the control unit 5 presets the temperature TH of the thermal head 10 (hereinafter referred to as “head temperature”) TH by printing until the printing of the printing pattern P10 shown in FIG. 8 is completed. In order to predict and determine whether the upper limit temperature TP is reached, first, a threshold temperature TT is determined (step S12).

  FIG. 7 is a graph showing an example of a temperature change of the thermal head 10 according to the printing position. The position of the vertical axis (origin) of this graph corresponds to the print start position (in FIG. 11 described later, the rear end (right side) of the front margin area A21), and the dotted line position is the print end position (in FIG. 11). , Corresponding to the front end (left side) of the rear margin area A21. The threshold temperature TT in FIG. 7 is a temperature at the start of printing (or at the time of resuming printing) that is predicted to reach the upper limit temperature (set temperature) TP at the end of printing in anticipation of the temperature rise of the thermal head 10 accompanying printing. . As shown in FIG. 7, the temperature of the thermal head 10 rises as printing progresses, but the temperature rise width (temperature change amount) from the start of printing according to the printing position also changes depending on the printing pattern P10. Therefore, the actual threshold temperature TT varies depending on the print pattern P10. For example, as described below, the threshold temperature TT may be determined in consideration of the maximum temperature rise. Specifically, the entire length of the print pattern P10 to be printed, that is, the entire length in the longitudinal direction of the print medium M, excluding the front margin and the rear margin of the label to be created, The threshold temperature TT may be determined in consideration of the temperature rise of the thermal head 10 when the heating element 10a is energized to print all dots. This print pattern (all-dot print pattern) P10 corresponds to printing all dots in the entire printable area out of the total length of the label to be created. The temperature rise is the largest at.

  On the other hand, since the normal print pattern P10 includes characters, designs, etc., the temperature increase width is smaller than that in the case of the all-dot print pattern P10, and therefore the threshold temperature TT is the case of the all-dot print pattern P10. Can be set higher. Therefore, the head temperature TH that is the temperature of the thermal head 10 corresponding to the print position in the print pattern P10 may be predicted based on the print pattern P10. For example, the total number of printing dots corresponding to heating the heating element 10a in the printing pattern P10, or the total number of printing dots included in the entire length of the printing pattern P10 and the non-printing dots corresponding to not heating the heating element 10a. The ratio of the total number of print dots to the total number of lines (excess lines) in which the number of print dots included in each line of the print pattern P10 exceeds a separately defined threshold or the total length of the print pattern P10 The temperature rise width corresponding to the printing position may be predicted based on the ratio of the total number of excess lines to all lines, and the threshold temperature TT may be determined according to the predicted temperature rise width. Note that at the start of printing or at the time of resuming printing, the head temperature TH tends to increase immediately after the start of printing or the resumption of printing because the head temperature TH approaches the environmental temperature as the stop period becomes longer. This phenomenon may be reflected in the prediction of the rising temperature.

  For example, the prediction of the rising temperature based on the print pattern P10 obtains a corresponding calculation condition from a predetermined table based on the total number and / or the ratio of the number of heating elements 10a that generate heat when the print pattern P10 is printed. This can be done by calculating. The temperature rise may be predicted based on at least one of the width of the printing medium M, the material of the printing medium M, and the material of the ink, or based on at least one of these and the printing pattern P10. . This is because the width and material of the printing medium M and the ink material are related to the temperature rise of the thermal head 10. Further, for example, the length of a printed material created by cutting out from the printing medium M after printing may be included in the condition.

  The upper limit temperature TP is, for example, the upper limit of the operation guaranteed temperature of the thermal head 10, but the controller 5 is different from the upper limit of the operation guaranteed temperature (for example, from the upper limit of the operation guaranteed temperature to provide a margin). The threshold temperature TT may be determined using the lower temperature as the upper limit temperature TP.

  Next, the control part 5 acquires head temperature TH from the sensor signal output from the thermistor 13 (step S13). Then, the control unit 5 compares the head temperature TH with the threshold temperature TT (step S14).

  If it is determined that the head temperature TH is lower than the threshold temperature TT (step S14: YES), the control unit 5 is predicted to not reach the upper limit temperature TP even if the head temperature TH increases, and therefore performs printing (step S15). ). As described above, this printing is executed by the control unit 5 performing control so that the thermal head 10 performs printing while the stepping motor 12 and the platen roller 21 convey the printing medium M.

  On the other hand, if the controller 5 determines that the head temperature TH is not lower than the threshold temperature TT as shown in FIG. 7 (step S14: NO), the controller 5 acquires the head temperature TH until the head temperature TH becomes lower than the threshold temperature TT. The process (step S13) and the process of comparing the head temperature TH with the threshold temperature TT (step S14) are repeated. As a result, printing is in a standby state, and the head temperature TH decreases to a temperature TH-1 that is lower than the threshold temperature TT as shown in FIG.

  When the head temperature TH decreases to the temperature TH-1 that is lower than the threshold temperature TT as described above, the control unit 5 determines that the head temperature TH is lower than the threshold temperature TT (step S14: YES), and executes printing (step S15). ). However, it may take a long time for the head temperature TH to become lower than the threshold temperature TT because the environmental temperature is high. For this reason, if the head temperature TH does not become lower than the threshold temperature TT even after waiting for a predetermined time, the control unit 5 may notify the user of the situation by making a warning sound or the like, or the control unit 5 may detect the threshold as time passes. The temperature TT (or the upper limit temperature TP) may be automatically increased. Note that since the user may suspect a failure of the printing apparatus 1 or the like just by entering the standby state after performing the printing operation, the above notification is made to the user when the head temperature TH is not less than the threshold temperature TT. You may perform when it is determined.

  In the present embodiment described above, the printing apparatus 1 is an example of a transport unit (for example, the stepping motor 12 and the platen roller 21) that transports the printing medium M and a printing unit that performs printing on the printing medium M. A thermal head 10, a thermistor 13 that is an example of a temperature sensor that measures the temperature of the thermal head 10, and a controller 5 that controls the transport unit and the thermal head 10 are provided. The control unit 5 predicts the temperature of the thermal head 10 accompanying printing from the printing pattern, and determines whether or not the predicted head temperature TH of the thermal head 10 reaches the upper limit temperature TP (steps S12 to S14). When it is determined that the head temperature TH does not reach the upper limit temperature TP (step S14: YES), the transport unit and the thermal head 10 are controlled to perform printing (step S15), and the head temperature TH reaches the upper limit temperature TP. If it is determined (step S14: NO), the transport unit and the thermal head 10 are controlled so as not to perform printing.

  Therefore, even when the head temperature TH rises with printing, it is possible to prevent the head temperature TH from reaching the upper limit temperature TP during printing without adding a complicated configuration. As a result, it is possible to prevent bleeding, crushing, density unevenness, and the like that occur when printing is stopped during printing in order to suppress damage or malfunction of the thermal head 10 due to temperature rise. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to suppress a decrease in print quality due to a temperature increase of the thermal head 10 with a simple configuration.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the thermal head 10 includes a plurality of heating elements 10a, and the control unit 5 at least the total number of the heating elements 10a that generate heat when the printing pattern P10 is printed, or the printing pattern P10. The head temperature TH is based on the rate at which the plurality of heating elements 10a generate heat during printing, or based on at least one of the width of the printing medium M, the material of the printing medium M, the material of ink, and the like. Judgment is made by predicting whether or not the upper limit temperature TP is reached. Thereby, the control part 5 can predict the temperature rise of the thermal head 10 easily.

<Other embodiments>
In another embodiment, the control unit 5 determines the position of one or more stop candidate areas An based on the print pattern P10, and after printing starts, the head temperature TH is set to the upper limit before printing each stop candidate area An. It differs from the above-described embodiment in that a step (steps S24, S28 to S30) for predicting and determining whether or not the temperature TP is reached is different from the above-described one embodiment, and other matters can be made the same. The explanation will be focused on.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining a printing method according to another embodiment.
FIG. 10 is a graph for explaining the prediction of the temperature rise of the print head.

As described above, the control unit 5 acquires printing information such as the printing pattern P10, the width and material of the printing medium M, and the ink material (step S21).
Next, the control unit 5 determines the position of one or more stop candidate areas An that are candidates for stopping printing during printing in the print pattern P10 (step S22). For example, in the example illustrated in FIG. 11, the stop candidate areas An are non-printing areas A11 to A17 that are not printed in the printing pattern P10. The non-printing areas A11 to A17 are non-printing areas A12 to A16 between the characters “AB Corporation”. Further, in the printing medium M, which is a label to be produced, a front margin area A21 is provided on the left side of the non-print area A12, and a rear margin area A22 is provided on the right side of the non-print area A12. Printing is not performed in each of these areas. In FIG. 11, the dotted line between the front margin area A21 and the stop candidate area A11 and the dotted line between the stop candidate area A17 and the rear margin area A22 merely indicate the boundary between the areas. These are not included in the print pattern P10. The boundary between the front margin area A21 and the stop candidate area A11 corresponds to the printing start position, and the boundary between the stop candidate area A17 and the rear margin area A22 corresponds to the printing end position. If there is no region that satisfies the condition for determining the stop candidate region An, the stop candidate region An is not determined, and steps S28 to S30 described later are omitted.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 12, the stop candidate area An is a front margin area A21 of the pattern P20 including the pattern P21 including the characters “AB Corporation” and the rectangular pattern P22 surrounding the pattern P21. ', Rear margin area A22', and selection areas A11 'to A17' selected from the print area may be used. These selection areas A11 ′ to A17 ′ are areas that are located between characters of the pattern P21 made up of characters and are located only on a straight line extending in the left-right direction (conveyance direction) in the rectangular pattern P22. Although there is a possibility that printing may be stopped in these selection areas A11 ′ to A17 ′, the area located only on the straight line extending in the transport direction is compared with other printing areas even if printing is stopped during printing. It is thought that it is difficult to cause a decrease in print quality. Therefore, these selection areas A11 ′ to A17 ′ are selected as the stop candidate areas An. However, the selection areas A11 'to A17' can be selected under arbitrary conditions. For example, the priority order for determining the selection area for each of the patterns P21 and P22 may be performed, for example, a selection area other than the printing area of the pattern P21 in the printing area.

Next, the control unit 5 determines a threshold temperature TT1 that is a temperature at the start of printing that is predicted to reach the upper limit temperature TP at the end of printing (step S23).
Further, the control unit 5 determines one or more threshold temperatures TT2-n that are predicted to reach the upper limit temperature TP by one or more stop candidate regions An (step S24). Regarding the threshold temperature TT2-n, for example, when there are three stop candidate areas An (A14, A15, A16) as in the example shown in FIG. 10, each of the stop candidate areas A14, A15, A16 The threshold temperatures TT2-1, TT2-2, and TT2-3 that are predicted to reach the upper limit temperature TP are determined. In the case of the example in FIG. 11, the threshold temperature TT2 corresponding to each of the stop candidate areas A11 to A17 may be determined, but the non-print areas A11 and A17 corresponding to the left and right margins of the print pattern P10 are Each may be ignored as an area before the start of printing or an area after the end of printing. That is, it may be determined that printing is performed from the rear end (right side) of the non-printing area A11 to the front end (left side) of the non-printing area A17 in the transport direction (right direction in FIG. 11).

Further, the prediction of the temperature rise for determining the threshold temperatures TT1, TT2-1, TT2-2, and TT2-3 can be performed based on the print pattern P10 as described above.
Next, the control unit 5 acquires the head temperature TH from the sensor signal output from the thermistor 13 (step S25). Then, the control unit 5 compares the head temperature TH with the threshold temperature TT1 (step S26).

  If the control unit 5 determines that the head temperature TH is lower than the threshold temperature TT1 (step S26: YES), even if the head temperature TH increases, it is predicted that the upper limit temperature TP will not be reached by the printing end position. Therefore, printing is executed without stopping halfway to the printing end position (step S27).

  On the other hand, when determining that the head temperature TH is equal to or higher than the threshold temperature TT1 (step S26: NO), the control unit 5 determines whether there is a stop candidate area An (step S28), and if there is a stop candidate area An ( In step S28: YES), the head temperature TH is compared with each of the threshold temperatures TT2-1, TT2-2, and TT2-3 corresponding to the stop candidate areas A14, A15, and A16 (step S29). If the controller 5 determines that the head temperature TH is lower than at least one threshold temperature (unreachable threshold temperature) among the threshold temperatures TT2-1, TT2-2, and TT2-3 (step S29: YES), the head Even if the temperature TH rises, the upper limit temperature TP is reached by at least one position (temperature unreachable stop position) corresponding to the at least one unreached threshold temperature at which the head temperature TH is determined to be lower. Since it is predicted that there will be no printing, printing is executed without stopping until at least one temperature non-achieving stop position (step S27). After printing to at least one temperature non-achieving stop position, the process is performed again from the determination process of the threshold temperature TT1 in step S23.

  When there are a plurality of threshold temperatures TT2 as in the present embodiment, the head temperature TH does not necessarily have to be compared with all the threshold temperatures TT2-1, TT2-2, and TT2-3. You may make it compare sequentially from threshold temperature TT2 corresponding to the stop candidate area | region close | similar to an end position. Normally, as shown in FIG. 10 and the like, since there is a positive correlation between the printed length and the temperature rise range between them, the following equation (1) is established for a plurality of threshold temperatures TT2.

  TT2-1> TT2-2> TT2-3 Formula (1)

  Accordingly, it is found that the head temperature TH is lower than the threshold temperature TT2-3 when the threshold temperatures TT2-3, TT2-2, TT2-1 corresponding to the stop candidate areas A16, A15, A14 are compared in this order. For example, since it is clear that the following expression (2) holds, the process of comparing the head temperature TH with the remaining threshold temperatures TT2-2 and TT2-1 can be omitted.

  TT2-1> TT2-2> TT2-3> TH (2)

  When there is no stop candidate region An (step S28: NO), the control unit 5 sets the head temperature TH to the threshold temperature TT2- for all threshold temperatures TT2-n (TT2-1, TT2-2, TT2-3). When it is determined that it is n or more (step S29: NO), the head temperature TH is acquired until the head temperature TH becomes lower than the threshold value TT1 or TT2, and is compared with the threshold temperatures TT1 and TT2 (step S25). , S26, S28, S29) are repeated. As a result, printing is in a standby state, and the head temperature TH first decreases until it becomes lower than the threshold temperature TT2 (for example, the threshold temperature TT2-3 corresponding to the nearest stop candidate area A1).

  For example, as shown in FIG. 13, when printing is performed up to the stop candidate area A14 and printing is stopped, it is predicted that the upper limit temperature TP will be reached at the end of printing with reference to the current print position (print stop position). The threshold temperature TT1-1, which is the temperature at the time when printing is resumed, is determined (step S23). The control unit 5 also includes one or more threshold temperatures TT2-4 that are predicted to reach the upper limit temperature TP by one or more remaining stop candidate areas A15 and A16 between the current print position and the print end position. , TT2-5 are determined (step S24). And the control part 5 performs the process after the process (S25) acquisition of head temperature TH as mentioned above. If there is no remaining stop candidate area A, step S24 is omitted at this stage, and steps S25 and S26 are repeated in the same manner as steps S13 and S14 in FIG.

  Also in the present embodiment described above, similarly to the above-described one embodiment, the control unit 5 predicts and determines whether or not the head temperature TH of the thermal head 10 reaches the upper limit temperature TP. Therefore, also according to the present embodiment, it is possible to suppress a decrease in print quality due to a temperature increase of the thermal head 10 with a simple configuration.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the control unit 5 causes the stop candidate area A (for example, the stop candidate areas A11 to A13 illustrated in FIG. 10 or the stop candidate areas A11 to A13 illustrated in FIG. The stop candidate areas A11 to A17) to be shown are determined, and it is determined by predicting whether the head temperature TH reaches the upper limit temperature TP by the stop candidate area A (steps S22, S24, S25, S28, S29). Therefore, even when the head temperature TH is predicted to reach the upper limit temperature TP by the end of printing of the print pattern P10, printing up to the stop candidate area A can be performed.

  In the present embodiment, the stop candidate area A determined by the control unit 5 includes, for example, as shown in FIG. 12, non-print areas A21 ′ and A22 ′ that are not printed in the print pattern P20, and printing. It includes at least one of selected areas A11 ′ to A17 ′ selected from the print area where the pattern P20 is printed. For this reason, even if printing is stopped, such as non-printing areas A21 ′ and A22 ′, where printing is not performed, and selection areas A11 ′ to A17 ′ selected from the printing areas, the print quality is degraded. By setting the difficult region as the stop candidate region A, it is possible to prevent a decrease in print quality.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above. However, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments, and the present invention includes the invention described in the claims and the equivalent scope thereof. And are included. Hereinafter, the invention described in the scope of claims of the present application will be appended.

[Appendix 1]
A transport unit that transports the print medium along a certain direction;
A printing unit for printing on the printing medium;
A control unit that controls the printing unit to print a printing pattern along the certain direction on the printing medium;
The controller is
When the printing unit prints on the printing medium at least a part of the print pattern along the certain direction, when the temperature of the printing unit is predicted to be equal to or higher than a set temperature,
A printing apparatus that controls the printing unit so as to allow execution of printing when the temperature of the printing unit decreases after the printing unit is controlled not to allow printing.
[Appendix 2]
The controller is
The length from the start position to the end position of the print pattern, the length from the start position to the intermediate position of the print pattern, or the length from the intermediate position to another intermediate position or the end position, The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least a part of the length is determined as to whether or not a temperature of the printing unit is equal to or higher than a set temperature.
[Appendix 3]
The printing according to appendix 2, wherein the control unit controls the printing unit so that printing is stopped at the intermediate position or the other intermediate position after printing to the intermediate position or the other intermediate position. apparatus.
[Appendix 4]
The controller is
A portion selected from a portion of the print pattern that is not controlled to heat the heat generating element of the printing unit or a portion of the print pattern that is controlled to generate heat of the heat generating element of the printing unit. The printing apparatus according to attachment 3, wherein the printing apparatus determines the position.
[Appendix 5]
The controller is
After controlling the printing unit so as not to execute printing, when the printing unit prints the at least part of the length on the printing medium, the temperature of the printing unit satisfies the set temperature. The printing apparatus according to any one of Supplementary Note 1 to Supplementary Note 4, wherein the printing unit is controlled to allow execution of printing when the temperature of the printing unit decreases to a temperature at which the printing unit is predicted to be absent.
[Appendix 6]
The printing apparatus according to any one of appendix 1 to appendix 5, wherein the control unit determines whether the temperature of the printing unit is equal to or higher than a preset temperature when the printing unit is not printing.
[Appendix 7]
The control unit varies the set temperature according to a width of the printing medium, a temperature of the printing unit when printing is not performed, or an operating environment temperature of the printing apparatus when printing is not performed. The printing apparatus according to any one of appendix 1 to appendix 6, wherein the temperature is determined.
[Appendix 8]
The control unit determines whether or not the temperature of the printing unit is equal to or higher than a set temperature based on the contents of the printing pattern, the material of the printing medium, or the material of ink printed on the printing medium. The printing apparatus according to any one of appendix 1 to appendix 7.
[Appendix 9]
A transport unit that transports the print medium along a certain direction;
A printing unit for printing on the printing medium;
A control unit that controls the printing unit to print a printing pattern along the certain direction on the printing medium;
The controller is
Predicting that the amount of change in temperature of the print unit is greater than a certain value when the length along the certain direction of the print pattern is greater than or equal to a certain length, and not allowing execution of printing by the print unit; and When the length of the print pattern along the certain direction is less than the certain length, the temperature change amount of the print unit is predicted to be less than the certain value, and the printing unit is allowed to execute printing. A printing apparatus for controlling the printing unit.
[Appendix 10]
A transport unit that transports the print medium along a certain direction;
A printing unit for printing on the printing medium;
A control unit that controls the printing unit to print a printing pattern along the certain direction on the printing medium;
The controller is
Without allowing printing to be performed when the temperature change amount of the printing unit, which is expected when the printing unit is controlled so as to print all the dots of a certain length, is greater than a certain value, and A printing apparatus that controls the printing unit to allow execution of printing when a temperature change amount of the printing unit is less than the certain value.
[Appendix 11]
A printing method executed by a control unit included in the printing apparatus,
The printing apparatus further includes a transport unit that transports the printing medium along a certain direction, and a printing unit that performs printing on the printing medium,
The printing method includes:
When printing the print pattern along the certain direction on the print medium by the printing unit,
When the printing unit prints on the printing medium at least a part of the print pattern along the certain direction, when the temperature of the printing unit is predicted to be equal to or higher than a set temperature,
After controlling the printing unit so as not to allow execution of printing, when the temperature of the printing unit decreases, the printing unit is controlled to allow execution of printing.
A printing method including that.
[Appendix 12]
A printing method executed by a control unit included in the printing apparatus,
The printing apparatus further includes a transport unit that transports the printing medium along a certain direction, and a printing unit that performs printing on the printing medium,
The printing method includes:
When printing the print pattern along the certain direction on the print medium by the printing unit,
Predicting that the amount of change in temperature of the print unit is greater than a certain value when the length along the certain direction of the print pattern is greater than or equal to a certain length, and not allowing execution of printing by the print unit; and When the length of the print pattern along the certain direction is less than the certain length, the temperature change amount of the print unit is predicted to be less than the certain value, and the printing unit is allowed to execute printing. So as to control the printing section,
A printing method including that.
[Appendix 13]
A printing method executed by a control unit included in the printing apparatus,
The printing apparatus further includes a transport unit that transports the printing medium along a certain direction, and a printing unit that performs printing on the printing medium,
The printing method includes:
When printing the print pattern along the certain direction on the print medium by the printing unit,
Without allowing printing to be performed when the temperature change amount of the printing unit, which is expected when the printing unit is controlled so as to print all the dots of a certain length, is greater than a certain value, and Controlling the printing unit to allow execution of printing when a temperature change amount of the printing unit is less than the certain value;
A printing method including that.
[Appendix 14]
A program for controlling a control unit of a printing apparatus,
The printing apparatus further includes a transport unit that transports the printing medium along a certain direction, and a printing unit that performs printing on the printing medium,
When printing the print pattern along the certain direction on the print medium by the printing unit,
When the printing unit prints on the printing medium at least a part of the print pattern along the certain direction, when the temperature of the printing unit is predicted to be equal to or higher than a set temperature,
A program for controlling the printing unit so as to allow execution of printing when the temperature of the printing unit decreases after controlling the printing unit so as not to allow execution of printing.
[Appendix 15]
A program for controlling a control unit of a printing apparatus,
The printing apparatus further includes a transport unit that transports the printing medium along a certain direction, and a printing unit that performs printing on the printing medium,
When printing the print pattern along the certain direction on the print medium by the printing unit,
Predicting that the amount of change in temperature of the print unit is greater than a certain value when the length along the certain direction of the print pattern is greater than or equal to a certain length, and not allowing execution of printing by the print unit; and When the length of the print pattern along the certain direction is less than the certain length, the temperature change amount of the print unit is predicted to be less than the certain value, and the printing unit is allowed to execute printing. A program for controlling the printing unit.
[Appendix 16]
A program for controlling a control unit of a printing apparatus,
The printing apparatus further includes a transport unit that transports the printing medium along a certain direction, and a printing unit that performs printing on the printing medium,
When printing the print pattern along the certain direction on the print medium by the printing unit,
Without allowing printing to be performed when the temperature change amount of the printing unit, which is expected when the printing unit is controlled so as to print all the dots of a certain length, is greater than a certain value, and A program that controls the printing unit to allow execution of printing when a temperature change amount of the printing unit is less than the certain value.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Printing apparatus, 2 ... Apparatus housing, 2a ... Discharge port, 5 ... Control part, 5a ... Processor, 6 ... ROM, 7 ... RAM, 8 ... Interface unit, 9 ... head drive circuit, 10 ... thermal head, 10a ... heating element, 11 ... transport motor drive circuit, 12 ... stepping motor, 13 ... thermistor, 21 ... Platen roller, 24 ... Tape width detection switch, 25 ... Reading section, 26 ... Sensor section, An (A11-A17, A21, A22) ... Stop candidate area, M ... Print medium, P10, P20 ... print pattern, P21, P22 ... pattern, R ... ink ribbon, TH ... head temperature, TT ... threshold temperature, TP ... set temperature

Claims (8)

A transport unit that transports the print medium along a certain direction;
A printing unit for printing on the printing medium;
A control unit that controls the printing unit to print a printing pattern along the certain direction on the printing medium;
The controller is
When the print unit prints the length from the print start position to the end position of the print pattern on the print medium, when the temperature of the print unit is predicted to be a set temperature or higher,
The temperature of the printing unit does not exceed a set temperature, and a portion selected from a portion of the printing pattern that is not controlled to generate heat from the heating element of the printing unit is determined as a stop position and printed to the stop position. After the printing is performed, the printing unit is controlled so as to stop printing, and when the temperature of the printing unit decreases, the printing unit controls the printing unit to allow printing to be executed. The controller is
After the printing by the printing unit is stopped, when the printing unit prints the length from the stop position to the end position of the printing pattern on the printing medium, the temperature of the printing unit is the set temperature. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the printing unit is controlled so as to allow execution of printing when the temperature of the printing unit is lowered to a temperature predicted to be less than. Wherein the control unit, the printing apparatus according to whether or not the temperature of the printing unit becomes equal to or higher than the set temperature, to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the printing unit to determine when not performing printing. The control unit varies the set temperature according to a width of the printing medium, a temperature of the printing unit when printing is not performed, or an operating environment temperature of the printing apparatus when printing is not performed. The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the temperature is determined. Wherein, the content of the printed pattern, on the basis of the material of ink to be printed on the material or the printing medium of the printing medium, judges whether the temperature of the printing unit becomes equal to or higher than the set temperature printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4. When there are a plurality of portions in the print pattern that are not controlled to generate heat from the heating element of the printing unit, the control unit prints the printing medium from the printing start position. The temperature of the printing unit does not exceed the set temperature, and the portion that is most different from the end position is determined as the stop position
The printing apparatus according to claim 1 . A printing method executed by a control unit included in the printing apparatus,
The printing apparatus further includes a transport unit that transports the printing medium along a certain direction, and a printing unit that performs printing on the printing medium,
The printing method includes:
When printing the print pattern along the certain direction on the print medium by the printing unit,
When the print unit prints the length from the print start position to the end position of the print pattern on the print medium, when the temperature of the print unit is predicted to be a set temperature or higher,
The temperature of the printing unit does not exceed a set temperature, and a portion selected from a portion of the printing pattern that is not controlled to generate heat from the heating element of the printing unit is determined as a stop position and printed to the stop position. After controlling the printing unit to stop printing after performing the above, when the temperature of the printing unit decreases, the printing unit is controlled to allow execution of printing.
A printing method including that. A program for controlling a control unit of a printing apparatus,
The printing apparatus further includes a transport unit that transports the printing medium along a certain direction, and a printing unit that performs printing on the printing medium,
When printing the print pattern along the certain direction on the print medium by the printing unit,
When the print unit prints the length from the print start position to the end position of the print pattern on the print medium, when the temperature of the print unit is predicted to be a set temperature or higher,
The temperature of the printing unit does not exceed a set temperature, and a portion selected from a portion of the printing pattern that is not controlled to generate heat from the heating element of the printing unit is determined as a stop position and printed to the stop position. After the printing is performed, the printing unit is controlled to stop printing, and then, when the temperature of the printing unit decreases, the program is controlled so as to allow execution of printing.

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