JP6458724B2 - Printing device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus.

  Conventionally, a printing apparatus for cutting a print medium is known. For example, the printing apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 transports a tape printed by a thermal head to a cutting operation position by driving a stepping motor. The printing apparatus cuts the tape conveyed to the cutting operation position with a cutter. The cutter operates by driving a motor. While the cutter cuts the tape, a driving pulse is output to the stepping motor, and the stepping motor maintains the energized state.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-827

  When the cutter cuts the tape, the power consumption of the printing device increases. In order to suppress an increase in power consumption, a printing apparatus that puts the stepping motor in a non-energized state during cutting of the tape can be considered. However, the printing apparatus requires time to switch the stepping motor from the non-energized state to the energized state after cutting the tape. This may increase the time from when the tape is cut until the next printing is executed.

  The objective of this invention is providing the printing apparatus which can suppress the increase in printing time and the increase in the power consumption accompanying cutting | disconnection of a printing medium.

A printing apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention includes a head that prints on a print medium, a conveyance roller that sandwiches the print medium between the head, a conveyance motor that rotates the conveyance roller, the head, and the head At a position where the print medium is sandwiched and cut between a receiving table provided on the downstream side in the conveying direction in which the printing medium is conveyed with respect to the conveying roller, and the receiving table. A cutting blade that can move between a cutting position and a cutting standby position that is a position facing the cradle with a conveyance region that is a region through which the print medium passes, and a cutting that moves the cutting blade It is possible to detect whether or not the cutting blade is at a predetermined position included in the moving region of the cutting blade, a sensor that outputs a signal according to the detection result, and driving and controlling the conveyance motor, Of the print medium A transport control means for transporting a first part, which is a fixed part, to the cradle, and when the first part is transported to the cradle by the transport control means, drive control is performed by the transport control means. When the energization stop control means stops energizing the conveyance motor, and when the energization stop control means stops energization, the cutting motor is driven and controlled, and the cutting blade is moved from the cutting standby position to the cutting position. The sensor outputs cutting control means that moves and further moves the cutting blade from the cutting position to the cutting standby position, and pre-excitation, which is excitation that makes the drive motor ready to start driving. based on a signal after the start of the first movement, and before the end of the second movement, a control means and performing during the movement of the cutting blade by the cutting control means, the first movement, the switching The control means moves the cutting blade from the cutting standby position toward the cutting position, and the second movement of the cutting blade from the cutting position toward the cutting standby position by the cutting control means. A first excitation control means that is a movement, and the conveyance motor that has been subjected to the pre-excitation by the first excitation control means is driven and controlled after completion of the second movement to convey the print medium, and And a first print control unit that drives the head to perform printing on the transported print medium.
A printing apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention includes a head that prints on a print medium, a conveyance roller that sandwiches the print medium between the head, a conveyance motor that rotates the conveyance roller, the head, and the head At a position where the print medium is sandwiched and cut between a receiving table provided on the downstream side in the conveying direction in which the printing medium is conveyed with respect to the conveying roller, and the receiving table. A cutting blade that can move between a cutting position and a cutting standby position that is a position facing the cradle with a conveyance region that is a region through which the print medium passes, and a cutting that moves the cutting blade It is possible to detect whether or not the cutting blade is at a predetermined position included in the moving region of the cutting blade, a sensor that outputs a signal according to the detection result, and driving and controlling the conveyance motor, Of the print medium A transport control means for transporting a first part, which is a fixed part, to the cradle, and when the first part is transported to the cradle by the transport control means, drive control is performed by the transport control means. When the energization stop control means stops energizing the conveyance motor, and when the energization stop control means stops energization, the cutting motor is driven and controlled, and the cutting blade is moved from the cutting standby position to the cutting position. The sensor outputs cutting control means that moves and further moves the cutting blade from the cutting position to the cutting standby position, and pre-excitation, which is excitation that makes the drive motor ready to start driving. Control means to be executed after the start of the first movement and before the end of the second movement based on the signal to perform the first movement, the cutting movement from the cutting standby position by the cutting control means Movement of the cutting blade toward the position, and the second movement is a first excitation control means that is a movement of the cutting blade from the cutting position toward the cutting standby position by the cutting control means, The transport motor in which the pre-excitation is executed by the first excitation control means is driven and controlled after the second movement is finished to transport the print medium, and the head is driven to be transported. First print control means for printing on the print medium, and the sensor is capable of detecting whether or not the cutting blade is in the cutting standby position, and outputs a signal corresponding to the detection result. A sensor and a second sensor capable of detecting that the cutting blade is at a position different from the cutting standby position and outputting a signal corresponding to the detection result, wherein the first excitation control means includes the first excitation control means, Pre-excitation, the second sensor When the print medium arranged on the cradle is different from the specific part that is the first part that has passed between the head and the transport roller, the transport motor is On the other hand, it comprises second excitation control means for executing the pre-excitation at the end of the second movement based on a signal output from the first sensor, and the first excitation control means is disposed on the cradle. When the print medium is the specific part, the pre-excitation for the transport motor is executed after the start of the first movement and before the end of the second movement. The first excitation control unit or the second excitation control unit drives and controls the transport motor in which the pre-excitation is performed.
A printing apparatus according to a third aspect of the present invention includes a head that prints on a print medium, a conveyance roller that sandwiches the print medium between the head, a conveyance motor that rotates the conveyance roller, the head, and the head At a position where the print medium is sandwiched and cut between a receiving table provided on the downstream side in the conveying direction in which the printing medium is conveyed with respect to the conveying roller, and the receiving table. A cutting blade that can move between a cutting position and a cutting standby position that is a position facing the cradle with a conveyance region that is a region through which the print medium passes, and a cutting that moves the cutting blade It is possible to detect whether or not the cutting blade is at a predetermined position included in the moving region of the cutting blade, a sensor that outputs a signal according to the detection result, and driving and controlling the conveyance motor, Of the print medium A transport control means for transporting a first part, which is a fixed part, to the cradle, and when the first part is transported to the cradle by the transport control means, drive control is performed by the transport control means. When the energization stop control means stops energizing the conveyance motor, and when the energization stop control means stops energization, the cutting motor is driven and controlled, and the cutting blade is moved from the cutting standby position to the cutting position. The sensor outputs cutting control means that moves and further moves the cutting blade from the cutting position to the cutting standby position, and pre-excitation, which is excitation that makes the drive motor ready to start driving. Control means to be executed after the start of the first movement and before the end of the second movement based on the signal to perform the first movement, the cutting movement from the cutting standby position by the cutting control means Movement of the cutting blade toward the position, and the second movement is a first excitation control means that is a movement of the cutting blade from the cutting position toward the cutting standby position by the cutting control means, The transport motor in which the pre-excitation is executed by the first excitation control means is driven and controlled after the second movement is finished to transport the print medium, and the head is driven to be transported. First print control means for printing on the print medium, and the sensor is capable of detecting whether or not the cutting blade is in the cutting standby position, and outputs a signal corresponding to the detection result. A sensor and a second sensor capable of detecting that the cutting blade is at a position different from the cutting standby position and outputting a signal corresponding to the detection result, wherein the first excitation control means includes the first excitation control means, Pre-excitation, the second sensor Is executed based on a signal output from the print medium, and the print medium placed on the cradle by the transport control unit is different from the specific part that is the first part that has passed between the head and the transport roller. The second sensor outputs a signal indicating that the cutting blade is not detected instead of a signal indicating that the cutting blade is detected, and is shorter than the time required for the second movement. A third excitation control means for executing the pre-excitation on the transport motor when a third predetermined time has elapsed; and the transport motor for which the pre-excitation has been executed by the third excitation control means. When the second movement is completed based on a signal output from one sensor, the drive control is performed to transport the print medium, and the head is driven to perform printing on the transported print medium. Second printing The first excitation control means, when the first part arranged on the cradle is the specific part, after the start of the first movement and before the end of the second movement The pre-excitation is executed.
A printing apparatus according to a fourth aspect of the present invention includes a head that prints on a print medium, a conveyance roller that sandwiches the print medium between the head, a conveyance motor that rotates the conveyance roller, the head, and the head At a position where the print medium is sandwiched and cut between a receiving table provided on the downstream side in the conveying direction in which the printing medium is conveyed with respect to the conveying roller, and the receiving table. A cutting blade that can move between a cutting position and a cutting standby position that is a position facing the cradle with a conveyance region that is a region through which the print medium passes, and a cutting that moves the cutting blade It is possible to detect whether or not the cutting blade is at a predetermined position included in the moving region of the cutting blade, a sensor that outputs a signal according to the detection result, and driving and controlling the conveyance motor, Of the print medium A transport control means for transporting a first part, which is a fixed part, to the cradle, and when the first part is transported to the cradle by the transport control means, drive control is performed by the transport control means. When the energization stop control means stops energizing the conveyance motor, and when the energization stop control means stops energization, the cutting motor is driven and controlled, and the cutting blade is moved from the cutting standby position to the cutting position. The sensor outputs cutting control means that moves and further moves the cutting blade from the cutting position to the cutting standby position, and pre-excitation, which is excitation that makes the drive motor ready to start driving. Control means to be executed after the start of the first movement and before the end of the second movement based on the signal to perform the first movement, the cutting movement from the cutting standby position by the cutting control means Movement of the cutting blade toward the position, and the second movement is a first excitation control means that is a movement of the cutting blade from the cutting position toward the cutting standby position by the cutting control means, The transport motor in which the pre-excitation is executed by the first excitation control means is driven and controlled after the second movement is finished to transport the print medium, and the head is driven to be transported. A first print control means for printing on the print medium, and the first part disposed on the cradle is the specific part that is the first part that has passed between the head and the transport roller. If different, the pre-excitation for the transport motor comprises a fourth excitation control means that executes when the second movement is completed based on a signal output by the sensor, the first excitation control means, Placed in the cradle When the first part is the specific part, the pre-excitation is performed on the transport motor after the start of the first movement and before the end of the second movement. Is characterized in that drive control of the transport motor in which the pre-excitation is executed by the first excitation control means or the fourth excitation control means is provided.

  According to the above configuration, the cutting blade moves the cutting blade from the cutting standby position to the cutting position, so that the cutting blade cuts the first portion with the cradle. While the first part is cut, the energization stop control means stops energization to the transport motor. Therefore, the printing apparatus can suppress an increase in power consumption accompanying cutting of the print medium. Further, before the cutting blade moves from the cutting position to the cutting standby position, the printing apparatus executes pre-excitation. Therefore, the first printing control means can start printing on the printing medium in a short time after the first portion is cut. Therefore, the printing apparatus can suppress an increase in printing time. As described above, a printing apparatus that can suppress an increase in printing time and an increase in power consumption accompanying cutting of the printing medium is realized.

1 is a perspective view of a printing apparatus 1. FIG. FIG. 3 is a plan view of the printing apparatus 1 that performs a first printing operation. 3 is a perspective view of a cutting mechanism 100. FIG. 4 is another perspective view of the cutting mechanism 100. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a cradle support unit 150. FIG. It is a perspective view of the cradle 180. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an electrical configuration of the printing apparatus 1. FIG. It is a flowchart of a printing process. It is a flowchart of DC motor forward rotation processing. It is explanatory drawing which shows the flow of the intermittent gear 136 which rotates from a 1st initial rotation position to a 1st operation | movement rotation position. It is a flowchart of an error determination process. It is explanatory drawing which shows the flow of the cutting | disconnection operation | movement of the 1st time. It is a left view of the cutting | disconnection mechanism 100 which performs a half cut. It is a flowchart of DC motor reverse rotation processing. It is a right view of the intermittent gear 136 in the first origin rotation position. It is a top view of the printing apparatus 1 which performs the printing operation of the 2nd time. It is explanatory drawing which shows the flow of the cutting | disconnection operation | movement of the 2nd time. It is a right view of the intermittent gear 136 which the rotation position shifted | deviated. It is a flowchart of the DC motor reverse rotation process which concerns on a modification.

<1. Outline of Configuration of Printing Apparatus 1>
A printing apparatus 1 as an example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, upper, lower, upper left, lower right, lower left, and upper right in FIG. 1 are defined as upper, lower, left, right, front, and rear of the printing apparatus 1, respectively. The printing apparatus 1 of this example is an apparatus that prints a print medium 9 (see FIG. 2). The print medium 9 of this example is a tube that does not have translucency. In the following description, unless otherwise specified, both clockwise and counterclockwise indicate the rotation direction in plan view.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the printing apparatus 1 includes a housing 10 including a main body case 11 and a lid member 12. The main body case 11 is a rectangular parallelepiped box-shaped member that is long in the left-right direction. The main body case 11 includes a mounting surface 11A facing upward. The lid member 12 is a plate-like member disposed on the upper side of the main body case 11. One end of the lid member 12 is rotatably supported above the rear end of the main body case 11. The lid member 12 is rotatable between a closed position (not shown) and an open position (see FIG. 1). The closed position is a rotational position of the lid member 12 that covers the mounting surface 11A. The open position is a rotation position of the lid member 12 that opens the mounting surface 11A upward. Hereinafter, a direction in which the lid member 12 is directed from the open position to the closed position is referred to as a closed direction, and a direction opposite to the closed direction is referred to as an open direction. The closing direction is the direction in which the arrow A1 faces. The opening direction is the direction in which the arrow A2 faces.

  The lid member 12 is provided with a protrusion 4. The protruding portion 4 protrudes from the lid member 12 in the closing direction. A lid sensor 24 (see FIG. 7) is provided inside the main body case 11. When the lid member 12 is in the closed position, the lid sensor 24 detects the protrusion 4. That is, the lid sensor 24 can detect the lid member 12 in the closed position. A display unit 5 (see FIG. 7) is provided on the end surface of the lid member 12 in the opening direction. The display unit 5 can display various information related to the printing apparatus 1.

  A substrate 19 is provided at the right rear portion inside the main body case 11. The substrate 19 is provided with a CPU 41, a ROM 42, a RAM 44, a flash memory 45 (see FIG. 7), and the like. The CPU 41 governs the operation of the printing apparatus 1.

  An operation unit 17, a tube insertion port 15, and a tube discharge port 16 are provided on the side surface of the housing 10. The operation unit 17 is a plurality of operation buttons including a power button and a start button. The operation unit 17 is provided on the upper right side of the front surface of the main body case 11. The tube insertion opening 15 is an opening for guiding the print medium 9 into the housing 10. The tube insertion port 15 has a rectangular shape that is provided at the upper part on the rear side of the right surface of the main body case 11 and is slightly longer in the vertical direction. The tube discharge port 16 is an opening for discharging the print medium 9 to the outside of the housing 10. The tube discharge port 16 is provided in the upper part on the rear side of the left surface of the main body case 11 and has a rectangular shape that is slightly longer in the vertical direction. The tube discharge port 16 is slightly in front of the tube insertion port 15.

  A mounting portion 7 including a print medium mounting portion 40 and a ribbon mounting portion 30 is provided on the mounting surface 11A. The mounting portion 7 is a concave portion that opens upward. The bottom wall portion of the mounting portion 7 faces the bottom wall portion of the main body case 11 from above with a gap.

  The print medium mounting portion 40 extends linearly from the tube insertion port 15 to the vicinity of the right side of the tube discharge port 16. The print medium mounting unit 40 forms a transport area 58 that is a space in which the print medium 9 is transported. The print medium 9 can be attached to and detached from the print medium mounting unit 40. Hereinafter, the direction in which the print medium mounting unit 40 extends is referred to as “transport direction”, the side from the tube insertion port 15 toward the tube discharge port 16 along the transport direction is referred to as “downstream side”, and the opposite side from the downstream side is referred to as “downstream side”. It is called “upstream side”.

  The ribbon mounting part 30 is a part to which the ribbon cassette 90 can be attached and detached. The ribbon mounting part 30 is formed in an opening shape substantially corresponding to the ribbon cassette 90 in plan view. The ribbon mounting portion 30 of this example is provided at the left front portion of the mounting surface 11A. The ribbon mounting unit 30 is located on the front side of the print medium mounting unit 40.

  The space formed at the front end portion of the central portion in the extending direction of the print medium mounting portion 40 and the space formed at the rear end portion of the ribbon mounting portion 30 communicate with each other. A space where the print medium mounting unit 40 and the ribbon mounting unit 30 communicate with each other is referred to as a communication space 8 (see FIG. 2).

  As shown in FIG. 2, a ribbon cassette 90 is mounted on the ribbon mounting portion 30. The ribbon cassette 90 includes a case 101, a ribbon spool 81, and a take-up spool 300. The case 101 is a box-shaped body that houses the ribbon spool 81, the take-up spool 300, and the like. The ribbon spool 81 and the take-up spool 300 are substantially cylindrical members that extend in the vertical direction. The ribbon spool 81 is disposed on the right side of the take-up spool 300. The take-up spool 300 and the ribbon spool 81 are respectively supported by a first support hole (not shown) and a second support hole (not shown) provided in the case 101 so as to be rotatable about an axis extending in the vertical direction. The The first support hole is supported by a ribbon take-up shaft 63 that extends upward from the bottom wall portion of the ribbon mounting portion 30. The ribbon take-up shaft 63 can rotate integrally with the take-up spool 300. The second support hole is supported by a detection rotating shaft 71 described later. The detection rotating shaft 71 can rotate integrally with the ribbon spool 81.

  The ink ribbon 96 is wound around the ribbon spool 81 and the take-up spool 300 in a posture in which the width direction is substantially parallel to the vertical direction. A part of the ink ribbon 96 that bridges the ribbon spool 81 and the take-up spool 300 is exposed to the outside of the case 101 and is disposed in the communication space 8. Hereinafter, the ink ribbon 96 exposed to the outside from the case 101 is referred to as a specific ink ribbon 96A.

  The ribbon take-up shaft 63 is connected to a drive motor 88 (see FIG. 7) via a one-way clutch (not shown). The drive motor 88 is a pulse motor provided inside the main body case 11 and is rotatable in the forward direction and the reverse direction. The forward rotation direction is one direction in which the motor rotates. The reverse direction is the opposite direction to the forward direction. The one-way clutch transmits only the reverse driving force among the forward driving force and the reverse driving force of the drive motor 88 to the ribbon take-up shaft 63. The forward rotation driving force is the rotational driving force of the drive motor 88 in the forward rotation direction, and the reverse rotation driving force is the rotational driving force of the drive motor 88 in the reverse rotation direction. The ribbon take-up shaft 63 rotates counterclockwise by the reverse driving force.

<2. Configuration of Printing Mechanism 80>
The printing mechanism 80 will be described with reference to FIG. The printing mechanism 80 is a mechanism for sandwiching the print medium 9 and the specific ink ribbon 96 </ b> A and printing a character on the print medium 9. The character is, for example, a character, a figure, a number, a symbol, or the like.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the printing mechanism 80 includes a platen roller 27, a first transport unit 21, a second transport unit 22, an upstream sensor 23, a downstream sensor 25, and a head 60. The platen roller 27 is provided in the transport area 58 at a position behind the communication space 8.

  The first transport unit 21 is provided in the transport region 58 on the upstream side in the transport direction with respect to the platen roller 27. The first transport unit 21 includes a driving roller 21A and a driven roller 21B. The driving roller 21A and the driven roller 21B are both along the vertical direction. The driven roller 21B is rotatably provided in front of the drive roller 21A.

  The second transport unit 22 is provided in the transport region 58 on the downstream side of the platen roller 27 in the transport direction. The second transport unit 22 includes a driving roller 22A and a driven roller 22B. Both the driving roller 22A and the driven roller 22B are along the vertical direction. The driven roller 22B is rotatably provided in front of the driving roller 22A.

  The platen roller 27 and the drive rollers 21A and 22A are all connected to a drive motor 88 (see FIG. 7). When the drive motor 88 is driven to rotate in the forward rotation direction, the platen roller 27 and the drive rollers 21A and 22A are rotated clockwise. On the other hand, when the drive motor 88 is driven to rotate in the reverse direction, the platen roller 27 and the drive rollers 21A and 22A rotate counterclockwise.

  The driven rollers 21B and 22B can be displaced between an operating position (see FIG. 2) and a retracted position (not shown). When the driven rollers 21B and 22B are in the operating position, the driven rollers 21B and 22B respectively face the driving rollers 21A and 22A close to each other from the front. In this case, the driven rollers 21B and 22B can sandwich the print medium 9 between the drive rollers 21A and 22A, respectively. On the other hand, when the driven rollers 21B and 22B are in the retracted position, the driven rollers 21B and 22B are separated forward from the drive rollers 21A and 22A. The driven rollers 21 </ b> B and 22 </ b> B at the separation positions are all separated forward from the print medium 9.

  The driven rollers 21B and 22B are displaced between the retracted position and the operating position in accordance with the change in the posture of the lever 79 (see FIG. 1). The lever 79 is provided inside the main body case 11 and behind the print medium mounting unit 40. The lever 79 is displaced between an open posture that extends upward from the main body case 11 and a closed posture that extends in the left-right direction inside the main body case 11. When the user moves the lever 79 from the open position to the closed position, the driven rollers 21B and 22B are displaced from the retracted position to the operating position, respectively.

  The upstream sensor 23 is provided between the first transport unit 21 and the tube insertion port 15 in the transport direction. The upstream sensor 23 is fixed to the bottom wall portion of the print medium mounting portion 40 at a position retracted downward from the conveyance area 58. The upstream sensor 23 of this example is a transmissive photosensor provided with a light emitter (not shown) and a light receiver (not shown). A movable member 29 can enter a gap formed between the light emitter and the light receiver. The movable member 29 is movable between a first entry position that is a position that enters the transport area 58 and a second entry position that is a position that enters between the light emitter and the light receiver of the upstream sensor 23. It is. The movable member 29 is urged in a direction from the second entry position toward the first entry position by an urging member (not shown). The print medium 9 attached to the print medium attachment unit 40 moves the movable member 29 from the first entry position to the second entry position against the urging force of the urging member. The upstream sensor 23 detects the print medium 9 by detecting the movable member 29 at the second entry position.

  The downstream sensor 25 is provided between the second transport unit 22 and the tube discharge port 16 in the transport direction. The downstream sensor 25 includes a light emitter 25A and a light receiver 25B. The light emitter 25A and the light receiver 25B are opposed to each other with the conveyance region 58 in the front-rear direction. The printing medium 9 disposed between the light emitter 25A and the light receiver 25B (that is, the conveyance region 58) blocks light emitted from the light emitter 25A toward the light receiver 25B, whereby the downstream sensor 25 performs printing. The medium 9 is detected.

  The head 60 is a plate-like body including a heat generator that can generate heat, and is provided in the communication space 8. The head 60 is movable between a clamping position (see FIG. 2) and a separation position (not shown) by a driving force of a head motor 89 (see FIG. 7) provided inside the main body case 11. The sandwiching position is an arrangement position of the head 60 that sandwiches the specific ink ribbon 96 </ b> A and the print medium 9 with the platen roller 27. The separation position is an arrangement position of the head 60 on the opposite side of the conveyance area 58 from the platen roller 27.

<3. Outline of Structure and Operation of Cutting Mechanism 100>
The cutting mechanism 100 will be described with reference to FIGS. In FIG. 2, the cutting mechanism 100 is schematically illustrated, and in FIG. 13, illustration of a mounting plate 109 and a second sensor 119 (see FIG. 3), which will be described later, is omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the cutting mechanism 100 is provided between the tube discharge port 16 and the downstream sensor 25. The cutting mechanism 100 is a mechanism that performs a cutting operation on the print medium 9. The cutting operation of this example includes a half cut and a full cut. Half-cut is a cutting operation for cutting the print medium 9 while leaving a part in the circumferential direction. The full cut is a cutting operation for cutting the print medium 9 in the circumferential direction.

  The outline of the cutting mechanism 100 is as follows. The cutting mechanism 100 includes a cutting blade 275 and a cradle 180. The cutting blade 275 and the cradle 180 are disposed to face each other in the front-rear direction. The cutting blade 275 has a blade portion 275A that extends linearly in the up-down direction, and is movable in the front-rear direction. The cutting mechanism 100 moves the cutting blade 275 toward the cradle 180 after the print medium 9 is placed on the cradle 180. The blade portion 275 </ b> A of the cutting blade 275 sandwiches the print medium 9 with the cradle 180. When the cutting blade 275 presses the print medium 9 toward the cradle 180, the cutting operation on the print medium 9 is executed. The cutting mechanism 100 switches the cutting operation for the print medium 9 to half cut or full cut by switching the position of the cradle 180 in the left-right direction. In the following description, the position in the transport direction in which the print medium 9 is sandwiched between the cutting blade 275 and the cradle 180 is referred to as a cutting execution position S. In this example, the position of the cutting blade 275 in the transport direction matches the cutting execution position S.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the cutting mechanism 100 includes a cradle moving mechanism 120 and a cutting blade moving mechanism 200. The cradle moving mechanism 120 is a mechanism that moves the cradle 180 in the left-right direction. The cutting blade moving mechanism 200 is a mechanism that supports the cutting blade 275 so as to be movable in the front-rear direction.

<3-1. Receiving base moving mechanism 120>
The cradle moving mechanism 120 includes a cradle support 150, a cradle 180, a DC motor 104, a power transmission unit 105 (see FIG. 4), and the like.

<3-1-1. Receiving Support Unit 150>
The cradle support unit 150 includes a holding member 102, a support member 152, and support rods 161 and 163. The holding member 102 is a substantially rectangular plate-like member provided on the lower side of the conveyance region 58 in a side view.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the support member 152 is a plate-like member fixed on the upper side of the holding member 102. The support member 152 includes a lower wall portion 152A, a left wall portion 152B, and a right wall portion 152C. The lower wall portion 152A is disposed below the transfer area 58. The lower wall portion 152A is a substantially rectangular wall portion extending in the front-rear direction so as to straddle the conveyance region 58 in plan view. The left wall portion 152B and the right wall portion 152C are wall portions that stand upward from the left end portion and the right end portion of the lower wall portion 152A, respectively. Each of the left wall portion 152B and the right wall portion 152C has an L shape in a left side view. Inner corners of the left wall portion 152B and the right wall portion 152C are close to the transport area 58 (see FIG. 3).

  The support rods 161 and 163 are rod-shaped members extending in the left-right direction, and are provided side by side from above. The support bars 161 and 163 are all supported by the left wall portion 152B and the right wall portion 152C.

<3-1-2. Receptacle 180>
4 to 6 is disposed between the left wall portion 152B and the right wall portion 152C. The cradle 180 includes a support portion 186 (see FIGS. 4 and 5), a mounting portion 187 (see FIG. 6), and a covering portion 185 (see FIG. 6). In addition, in FIG. 6, illustration of the support part 186 of the receiving stand 180 is abbreviate | omitted.

  The support portion 186 is a rectangular parallelepiped box-shaped member that is long in the vertical direction. Two upper insertion holes 186 </ b> A and two lower insertion holes 186 </ b> B are formed in the support portion 186. The two upper insertion holes 186A and the two lower insertion holes 186B extend in the left-right direction. One of the two upper insertion holes 186A passes through the left wall portion of the support portion 186, and the other of the two upper insertion holes 186A passes through the right wall portion of the support portion 186. Similarly, one of the two lower insertion holes 186B passes through the left wall portion of the support portion 186, and the other of the two lower insertion holes 186B passes through the right wall portion of the support portion 186. The support bar 161 is inserted through the two upper insertion holes 186A, and the support bar 163 is inserted through the two lower insertion holes 186B. Accordingly, the cradle 180 is supported by the support bars 161 and 163 so as to be movable in the left-right direction.

  The support rods 161 and 163 support the coil springs 171 and 173 (see FIG. 5), respectively. The coil spring 171 is disposed in a compressed state between a contact wall (not shown) formed inside the upper insertion hole 186A and the left wall 152B. The coil spring 173 is disposed in a compressed state between a contact wall (not shown) formed inside the lower insertion hole 186B and the left wall 152B. The coil springs 171 and 173 respectively urge the cradle 180 to the right via a contact wall portion (not shown).

  As shown in FIG. 6, the mounting portion 187 is a substantially rectangular parallelepiped member mounted on the front surface of the support portion 186 (see FIG. 5). A front surface 187A of the mounting portion 187 is formed in a planar shape. The covering portion 185 is a thin plate member. The covering portion 185 is attached to the mounting portion 187 so as to cover the upper end portion, the lower end portion, and the right portion of the front surface 187A of the mounting portion 187. The covering portion 185 forms a recess 190 having a depth corresponding to the plate thickness of the covering portion 185 by exposing the left portion of the front surface 187A of the mounting portion 187 toward the front. The recess 190 opens forward. Hereinafter, a portion of the front surface 187A that is exposed by the covering portion 185 is referred to as a facing surface 187B.

  The front surface of the covering portion 185 includes two first contact surfaces 181 and a second contact surface 182. The two first contact surfaces 181 are adjacent to each other in the vertical direction across the recess 190. The second contact surface 182 is disposed on the right side of the recess 190 and the first contact surface 181.

  The cradle 180 having the above configuration can move between the full cut position (not shown) and the half cut position (see FIGS. 3 to 5) in the left-right direction along the support bars 161 and 163. The full cut position is a horizontal position of the cradle 180 where the second contact surface 182 is at the cutting execution position S. In other words, the full cut position is the horizontal position of the cradle 180 where the second contact surface 182 contacts and contacts the blade portion 275A of the cutting blade 275. The half-cut position is the left-right position of the cradle 180 where the recess 190 and the two first contact surfaces 181 are disposed at the cutting execution position S. In other words, the half-cut position is the left-right direction position of the cradle 180 where the two first contact surfaces 181 are in contact with the blade portion 275A. A distance (hereinafter referred to as a first predetermined distance) from the half-cut position to the full-cut position along the left-right direction is illustrated by a dimension W1 in FIG.

<3-1-3. DC motor 104, power transmission unit 105>
As shown in FIG. 3, the DC motor 104 is fixed to the front portion of the right surface of the holding member 102. The output shaft of the DC motor 104 passes through the holding member 102 and protrudes leftward from the holding member 102. A motor gear 104 </ b> A is provided at the tip of the output shaft of the DC motor 104.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the power transmission unit 105 is a mechanism for transmitting the driving force of the DC motor 104 to the cradle 180. The power transmission unit 105 includes a rotation member 106 (see FIG. 3), an intermittent gear 136, a shaft portion 154, a cam drive gear 156, a cam member 160 (see FIG. 5), and a contact portion 179 (see FIG. 5). The rotating member 106 (see FIG. 3) is disposed on the left side with respect to the rear portion of the holding member 102. The rotating member 106 is a member that rotates around an axis (not shown) extending in the left-right direction, and has a thickness in the left-right direction. A first tooth portion and a second tooth portion (not shown) are formed on the right portion of the rotating member 106. The first tooth portion is formed in an annular shape when viewed from the right side, and is connected to the motor gear 104A via a plurality of gears (not shown). The second tooth portion is disposed inside the first tooth portion and has a circular shape when viewed from the right side. The second tooth portion of this example is formed integrally with the first tooth portion.

  The intermittent gear 136 is provided on the side opposite to the rotating member 106 with respect to the holding member 102. The intermittent gear 136 is provided on a support shaft 132 that penetrates the holding member 102 and extends in the left-right direction. The support shaft 132 is rotatably supported by the holding member 102. The left end portion of the support shaft 132 supports an intermediate gear (not shown). The intermediate gear is disposed on the left side with respect to the holding member 102 and inside the first tooth portion of the rotating member 106 (see FIG. 3). The intermediate gear meshes with the second tooth portion (not shown) of the rotating member 106. Accordingly, the driving force of the DC motor 104 is transmitted to the intermittent gear 136 through the motor gear 104A, the rotating member 106, the intermediate gear, and the support shaft 132. A tooth portion 136 </ b> A is provided on a part of the circumferential surface of the intermittent gear 136 in the rotational direction.

  Hereinafter, the counterclockwise direction in the right side view with the support shaft 132 as the center is referred to as “first rotation direction”, and the direction opposite to the first rotation direction is referred to as “second rotation direction”. The first rotation direction is the direction in which the arrow A1 faces. The second rotation direction is the direction in which the arrow A2 faces. When the DC motor 104 is driven to rotate in the forward rotation direction, the intermittent gear 136 rotates in the first rotation direction. On the other hand, when the DC motor 104 is rotationally driven in the reverse direction, the intermittent gear 136 rotates in the second rotational direction.

  As shown in FIG. 10A, the intermittent gear 136 includes a wall portion 139 and an opening wall portion 137. The wall portion 139 extends in the rotational direction around the support shaft 132 at a position separated from the support shaft 132. The opening wall portion 137 is provided side by side with the wall portion 139 in the rotation direction about the support shaft 132. The opening wall 137 forms a hole 138. The hole 138 passes through the intermittent gear 136 in the front-rear direction and extends in the rotational direction about the support shaft 132. The opening wall portion 137 includes a first end portion 137A and a second end portion 137B. The first end 137A is an end facing the hole 138 from the first rotation direction side, and the second end 137B is a wall facing the hole 138 from the second rotation direction side.

  As shown in FIG. 4, a mounting plate 107 is provided behind the intermittent gear 136. The mounting plate 107 protrudes rightward from the rear end portion of the holding member 102. A first sensor 117 is provided on the mounting plate 107. The first sensor 117 of this example is a transmission type photosensor provided with a light emitter (not shown) and a light receiver (not shown). The wall 139, the first end 137A, the hole 138, and the second end 137B can pass through the gap formed between the light emitter and the light receiver. Hereinafter, the position where the light emitted from the light emitter of the first sensor 117 toward the light receiver intersects the rotating intermittent gear 136 is referred to as a position K (see FIG. 10A).

  When the wall portion 139, the first end portion 137A, and the second end portion 137B pass through the position K, the intermittent gear 136 blocks light emitted from the light emitter of the first sensor 117. Thereby, the first sensor 117 detects the intermittent gear 136. On the other hand, when the hole 138 passes through the position K, the light emitted from the light emitter of the first sensor 117 passes through the hole 138 and is received by the light receiver of the first sensor 117. Thereby, the first sensor 117 does not detect the intermittent gear 136.

  The rotation range of the intermittent gear 136 includes a first initial rotation position (see FIG. 10A), a first origin rotation position (see FIG. 15), and a first operation rotation position (see FIG. 10B). It is. When the intermittent gear 136 is in the first initial rotation position, the end portion of the tooth portion 136A in the second rotation direction is at a rotation position slightly displaced in the first rotation direction from a position directly above the support shaft 132. Further, when the intermittent gear 136 is in the first initial rotation position, the first end 137 </ b> A is slightly displaced from the position K in the first rotation direction. In this case, since the hole 138 is disposed at the position K, the first sensor 117 does not detect the intermittent gear 136.

  The first origin rotation position is a rotation position where the intermittent gear 136 at the first initial rotation position is slightly rotated in the first rotation direction. When the intermittent gear 136 is at the origin rotation position, the first end 137A is located at the position K (see FIG. 2). In this case, the first sensor 117 detects the intermittent gear 136. The first operation rotation position is a rotation position of the intermittent gear 136 in which the end portion of the tooth portion 136A in the first rotation direction is behind the support shaft 132. When the intermittent gear 136 is at the first operating rotational position, the second end 137B is at a rotational position slightly displaced from the position K in the second rotational direction. In this case, since the hole 138 is disposed at the position K, the first sensor 117 does not detect the intermittent gear 136.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the shaft portion 154 is a shaft member that extends in the left-right direction above the intermittent gear 136 and below the support bar 163. The shaft portion 154 is rotatably supported by the left wall portion 152B and the right wall portion 152C of the support member 152. The shaft portion 154 extends further to the right than the right wall portion 152C. Hereinafter, the counterclockwise direction in the right side view with the shaft portion 154 as the center is referred to as “third rotation direction”, and the direction opposite to the third rotation direction is referred to as “fourth rotation direction”. The third rotation direction is the direction in which the arrow A3 shown in FIG. 5 is directed. The fourth rotation direction is a direction in which an arrow A4 shown in FIG. 5 faces.

  The cam drive gear 156 is fixed to the right end portion of the shaft portion 154. The cam drive gear 156 can rotate together with the shaft portion 154. On the peripheral surface of the cam drive gear 156, a tooth portion 156A (see FIG. 5) is provided. The tooth portion 156 </ b> A can mesh with the tooth portion 136 </ b> A of the intermittent gear 136. When the tooth portion 156A meshes with the tooth portion 136A (see FIG. 4), the cam drive gear 156 is rotated by the intermittent gear 136. When the intermittent gear 136 is in the initial rotation position, the end portion of the tooth portion 136A in the second rotation direction is located slightly in front of the lower end portion of the tooth portion 136A, and the intermittent gear 136 and the cam drive gear 156 are located. Do not mesh with each other.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the cam member 160 is supported by the shaft portion 154 between the left wall portion 152B and the right wall portion 152C. The cam member 160 can rotate together with the shaft portion 154. The cam member 160 includes a cam surface 162 that slides with respect to a contact portion 179 described later. The cam surface 162 includes a first cam surface 162A, a second cam surface 162B, and a third cam surface 162C. The first cam surface 162A is a surface extending in parallel with the fourth rotation direction (arrow A4 direction) and faces leftward. The second cam surface 162B is a surface that extends to the left along the fourth rotational direction from the end portion of the first cam surface 162A in the fourth rotational direction. Hereinafter, the distance along the left-right direction from one end to the other end of the second cam surface 162B in the rotation direction around the shaft portion 154 is referred to as a second predetermined distance. The second predetermined distance is illustrated by the dimension W2 in FIG. The second predetermined distance is the same as the first predetermined distance (dimension W1 in FIG. 6). The third cam surface 162C is a surface that extends in parallel with the fourth direction from the end of the second cam surface 162B in the fourth direction and faces leftward.

  The cam member 160 shown in FIG. 5 is in the initial rotation position. When the cam member 160 is in the initial rotation position, the first cam surface 162A is located immediately above the shaft portion 154.

  The contact portion 179 has a hemispherical shape that protrudes downward from the lower wall portion of the support portion 186 of the cradle 180. The contact portion 179 can move in the left-right direction together with the cradle 180. When the cam member 160 is in the initial rotation position and the cradle 180 is in the half-cut position (see FIGS. 3 and 4), the contact portion 179 causes the first cam from the left side by the biasing force of the coil springs 171 and 173. The surface 162A is pressed.

  <3-1-4. Outline of operation of cradle moving mechanism 120>

With reference to FIG. 3 to FIG. 5, an outline of the operation of the cradle 180 accompanying the rotational drive of the DC motor 104 will be described. Before the DC motor 104 is driven to rotate, the cradle moving mechanism 120 is in an initial state.
When the cradle moving mechanism 120 is in the initial state, the intermittent gear 136 is in the first initial rotation position, the cam member 160 is in the initial rotation position, and the cradle 180 is in the half cut position.

  When the cradle moving mechanism 120 is in the initial state, when the DC motor 104 is rotationally driven in the forward rotation direction, the intermittent gear 136 (see FIG. 4) rotates in the first rotation direction (arrow A1 direction). The intermittent gear 136 idles without meshing with the cam drive gear 156. Therefore, the cradle 180 maintains the state located in the half cut position.

  On the other hand, when the cradle moving mechanism 120 is in the initial state, when the DC motor 104 is rotationally driven in the reverse direction, the intermittent gear 136 (see FIG. 4) rotates in the second rotational direction (arrow A2 direction). Immediately after the intermittent gear 136 starts to rotate in the second rotational direction, the intermittent gear 136 meshes with the cam drive gear 156. As the intermittent gear 136 continues to rotate in the second rotation direction, the cam drive gear 156 is rotated in the third rotation direction (the direction of arrow A3 in FIG. 5). Thereby, the cam member 160 rotates in the third rotation direction from the initial rotation position. The second cam surface 162B that rotates in the third rotation direction comes into contact with the contact portion 179 from the fourth rotation direction side. The contact portion 179 is urged leftward by the second cam surface 162B. The cradle 180 moves from the half-cut position toward the full-cut position against the urging force of the coil springs 171 and 173.

  When the contact portion 179 comes into contact with an end portion in the third direction of the third cam surface 162C instead of the second cam surface 162B (not shown), the cradle 180 reaches the full cut position. As the DC motor 104 continues to rotate in the reverse direction, the contact portion 179 slides with respect to the third cam surface 162C. During this time, the horizontal position of the cradle 180 does not change, and the cradle 180 is located at the full cut position.

<3-2. Cutting blade moving mechanism 200>
The cutting blade moving mechanism 200 will be described with reference to FIG. The cutting blade moving mechanism 200 includes a rotating unit 215. The rotation part 215 is a part formed in the left part of the rotation member 106 (refer FIG. 3) mentioned above. That is, the rotating part 215 can rotate integrally with the first tooth part and the second tooth part (not shown) described above. A pressing pin 215 </ b> A is provided on the left surface of the rotating unit 215. The pressing pin 215A is a cylindrical body that protrudes leftward from the rotating portion 215.

  Hereinafter, the counterclockwise direction in the left side view of the rotation direction of the rotation member 106 is referred to as a “first direction”, and the direction opposite to the first direction is referred to as a “second direction”. The first direction is the direction in which the arrow B1 shown in FIG. 3 faces. The second direction is the direction in which the arrow B2 shown in FIG. 3 faces. When the DC motor 104 is driven to rotate in the forward direction, the rotating unit 215 rotates in the first direction, and when the DC motor 104 is driven to rotate in the reverse direction, the rotating unit 215 rotates in the second direction.

  The rotation range of the rotation unit 215 includes a second initial rotation position (see FIG. 3), a second origin rotation position (not shown), and a second operation rotation position (see FIG. 13). When the rotation part 215 is in the second initial rotation position, the pressing pin 215A is at a rotation position slightly displaced in the first direction from the rotation position directly above the shaft part 106A. When the rotating part 215 is at the second origin rotation position, the pressing pin 215A is substantially directly above the shaft part 106A. The second origin rotation position is a rotation position that is slightly displaced in the second direction from the second initial rotation position. When the rotation part 215 is in the second operation rotation position, the pressing pin 215A is located below the shaft part 106A. In each case where the intermittent gear 136 is in the first initial rotation position, the first origin rotation position, and the first operation rotation position, the rotation unit 215 includes the second initial rotation position, the second origin rotation position, and the second origin rotation position. In the operating rotation position.

  A link member 220 is provided on the left side of the rotating unit 215 and on the left rear side of the motor gear 104A. The link member 220 is a substantially L-shaped plate member when viewed from the right side. The link member 220 is rotatable around a link shaft portion 223 extending in the left-right direction. The right end portion of the link shaft portion 223 is fixed to the left surface of the holding member 102. Hereinafter, the counterclockwise direction in the left side view centering on the link shaft portion 223 is referred to as a third direction, and the direction opposite to the third direction is referred to as a fourth direction. The third direction is the direction in which the arrow B3 shown in FIG. 3 faces. The fourth direction is the direction in which the arrow B4 shown in FIG. 3 faces. The link member 220 is urged in the fourth direction by a spring 220 </ b> A provided on the link shaft portion 223.

  The link member 220 includes a first plate-like portion 221 and a second plate-like portion 222. The first plate-like portion 221 is a plate-like portion that extends substantially in the front-rear direction below the transport region 58. The second plate-like portion 222 is a plate-like portion extending from the front end portion of the first plate-like portion 221 to the upper side with an inclination of approximately 90 ° with respect to the first plate-like portion 221. The upper end portion of the second plate-like portion 222 is disposed on the front side with respect to the transport region 58.

  The first plate portion 221 is provided with a spring shaft portion 226 and locking pieces 225 and 227. The spring shaft portion 226 protrudes leftward from the left surface of the first plate-like portion 221. Each of the locking pieces 225 and 227 protrudes leftward from the first plate-shaped portion 221 behind the spring shaft portion 226. The locking piece 225 is provided at the rear end portion of the upper surface of the first plate-like portion 221. The locking piece 227 is provided in the rear part of the lower surface of the first plate-like part 221 from the center in the front-rear direction.

  The spring shaft 226 is provided with a torsion spring 235 elastically deformed. The torsion spring 235 includes a first arm part 231 and a second arm part 232. The first arm portion 231 is locked to the locking piece 225 by urging the locking piece 225 from below. The second arm portion 232 is locked to the locking piece 227 by urging the locking piece 227 from above.

  The rotation range of the link member 220 includes a third initial rotation position (see FIG. 3), a third origin rotation position (not shown), and a third operation rotation position (see FIG. 13). When the link member 220 is in the third initial rotation position, the first arm portion 231 contacts the pressing pin 215A of the rotation unit 215 at the second initial rotation position from below. When the link member 220 is at the third origin rotation position, the first arm portion 231 contacts the pressing pin 215A of the rotation unit 215 at the second origin rotation position from below. When the link member 220 is in the third operation rotation position, the first plate-like portion 221 extends downward and rearward in a left side view (see FIG. 13).

  In each case where the rotating unit 215 is at the second initial rotation position, the second origin rotation position, and the second operation rotation position, the link member 220 is connected to the third initial rotation position, the third origin rotation position, and the third origin rotation position. In the working rotation position.

The rear end portion of the first plate-shaped portion 221 is a detected portion 221A. When the link member 220 is in the third initial rotation position or the third origin rotation position, the detected portion 221 </ b> A is on the upper side of the second sensor 119.
The second sensor 119 is attached to an attachment plate 109 that protrudes leftward from the holding member 102 behind the rotating member 106. The second sensor 119 of this example is a transmissive sensor that includes a light emitter and a light receiver. When the link member 220 is in the third operation rotation position, the detected portion 221A is disposed in a gap formed between the light emitter and the light receiver of the second sensor 119. In this case, the second sensor 119 detects the link member 220.

  A protruding pin 238 is provided at the upper end of the second plate-like portion 222. The protruding pin 238 protrudes rightward from the second plate-like portion 222. The protruding pin 238 is connected to the front end portion of the arm member 277 extending in the front-rear direction. The rear end portion of the arm member 277 is housed in the housing member 272 disposed behind the protruding pin 238. The housing member 272 is a box-like member that is mounted on the lower wall portion 152A of the holding member 102 so as to be movable in the front-rear direction and opens in the front-rear direction. A cutting blade 275 (see FIG. 12) is provided inside the housing member 272 and is connected to the rear end portion of the arm member 277. The cutting blade 275 (see FIG. 12) is a plate-like body having a thickness in the left-right direction, and is urged forward by an attachment spring (not shown) provided inside the housing member 272.

  A blade portion 275A (see FIG. 12A) extending linearly in the vertical direction is formed at the rear end portion of the cutting blade 275. The cutting blade 275 is movable in the front-rear direction integrally with the arm member 277.

  The moving range of the cutting blade 275 includes a first cutting standby position (see FIG. 12A), a second cutting standby position (not shown), and a cutting position (see FIG. 12B). In each case where the link member 220 is in the third initial rotation position, the third origin rotation position, and the third action rotation position, the cutting blade 275 has a first cutting standby position, a second cutting standby position, and a cutting position. It is in. The second cutting standby position is the front end position of the movable range of the cutting blade 275. The first cutting standby position is a position where the cutting blade 275 at the second cutting standby position is slightly displaced rearward. The cutting position is the rear end position of the movable range of the cutting blade 275. When the cutting blade 275 is in the cutting position, the blade portion 275 </ b> A can contact the first contact surface 181 or the second contact surface 182 of the cradle 180.

  Hereinafter, the movement of the cutting blade 275 from the first cutting standby position to the cutting position is referred to as “first movement”, and the required time from the cutting position to the second cutting standby position is referred to as “second movement”. The first movement of the cutting blade 275 is executed in accordance with the rotational drive of the DC motor 104 in the forward rotation direction, and the second movement of the cutting blade 275 is executed in accordance with the rotational drive of the DC motor 104 in the reverse rotation direction. The In this example, the time required for each of the first movement and the second movement is 100 ms. Further, when the first cutting standby position and the second cutting standby position are collectively referred to as “cutting standby position”. The cutting blade 275 in the cutting standby position is in front of the conveyance area 58.

<3-3. Outline of Operation of Cutting Blade Moving Mechanism 200>
An outline of the operation of the cutting blade moving mechanism 200 accompanying the rotational drive of the DC motor 104 will be described. Before the DC motor 104 is driven to rotate, the cutting blade moving mechanism 200 is in an initial state. When the cutting blade moving mechanism 200 is in the initial state, the rotating unit 215 is in the second initial rotation position, the link member 220 is in the third initial rotation position, and the cutting blade 275 is in the first cutting standby position.

  When the DC motor 104 is driven to rotate in the forward direction, the rotating unit 215 rotates in the first direction (arrow B1 direction). As the rotating part 215 rotates in the first direction, the pressing pin 215A presses the first arm part 231 downward. The link member 220 rotates in the third direction (arrow B3 direction), and the protruding pin 238 moves the arm member 277 backward. The arm member 277 and the housing member 272 move backward from the front end position of the movable range, and the cutting blade 275 moves backward from the first cutting standby position.

  On the other hand, when the cutting blade moving mechanism 200 is in the initial state, when the DC motor 104 is driven to rotate in the reverse direction, the rotating unit 215 rotates in the second direction (arrow B2 direction). The pressing pin 215A comes into contact with the first arm portion 231. The contact position between the pressing pin 215A and the first arm portion 231 is closer to the spring shaft portion 226 than when the rotating portion 215 rotates in the first direction. As the rotating part 215 rotates in the second direction, the pressing pin 215A presses the first arm part 231 downward. The link member 220 rotates in the third direction. The arm member 277 and the housing member 272 move backward from the front end position of the movable range, and the cutting blade 275 moves backward from the second cutting standby position.

<4. Electrical configuration of printing apparatus 1>
The electrical configuration of the printing apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The substrate 19 of the printing apparatus 1 includes a CPU 41, a ROM 42, a RAM 44, a flash memory 45, an input / output interface 49, and the like, which are connected via a data bus.

  The ROM 42 stores a program for the CPU 41 to execute a printing process (see FIG. 8) described later. The RAM 44 temporarily stores various data. The RAM 44 includes a cutting number storage area (not shown) and a rotation direction storage area (not shown). The number of cuttings is stored in the cutting number storage area. The number of times of cutting is the cumulative number of times that the printing apparatus 1 has cut the print medium 9. In this example, the number of times of cutting is the same value as the number of printing operations executed by the printing apparatus 1 in a printing process (see FIG. 8) described later. The rotation direction storage area stores the direction in which the DC motor 104 is driven to rotate when the cutting mechanism 100 cuts the print medium 9. The CPU 41 stores information indicating “forward rotation direction” or “reverse rotation direction” in the rotation direction storage area of the RAM 44.

  The operation unit 17, the upstream sensor 23, the downstream sensor 25, the lid sensor 24, the first sensor 117, the second sensor 119, and the drive circuits 91 to 95 are connected to the input / output interface 49. The operation unit 17 outputs various types of input information to the CPU 41. The upstream sensor 23 outputs an ON signal to the CPU 41 when it detects the movable member 29, and outputs an OFF signal to the CPU 41 when it does not detect the movable member 29. The downstream sensor 25 outputs an ON signal to the CPU 41 when the print medium 9 is detected, and outputs an OFF signal to the CPU 41 when the print medium 9 is not detected. The lid sensor 24 outputs an ON signal to the CPU 41 when the protrusion 4 is detected, and outputs an OFF signal to the CPU 41 when the protrusion 4 is not detected.

  The first sensor 117 outputs an ON signal to the CPU 41 when detecting the intermittent gear 136, and outputs an OFF signal to the CPU 41 when not detecting the intermittent gear 136. When the first sensor 117 detects the intermittent gear 136 moved from the first initial rotation position to the first origin rotation position, the first sensor 117 outputs an ON signal instead of the OFF signal. That is, the first sensor 117 can detect whether or not the cutting blade 275 is at the second cutting standby position, and outputs an ON signal and an OFF signal according to the detection result. The second sensor 119 outputs an ON signal to the CPU 41 when it detects the detected part 221A, and outputs a CPU 41 OFF signal when it does not detect the detected part 221A. When the second sensor 119 detects the detected part 221A, the cutting blade 275 is in the cutting position. Therefore, the second sensor 119 can detect whether or not the cutting blade 275 is at the cutting position, and outputs an ON signal and an OFF signal according to the detection result.

  The drive circuits 91 to 95 are connected to the display unit 5, the head 60, the drive motor 88, the head motor 89, and the DC motor 104, respectively. The CPU 41 displays various types of information on the display unit 5 by drivingly controlling the drive circuit 91. The CPU 41 controls the drive circuit 92 to generate heat from the heating element of the head 60. The CPU 41 drives and controls the drive motor 88, the head motor 89, and the DC motor 104 by transmitting drive signals to the drive circuits 93 to 95, respectively.

<5. Mounting Method of Print Medium 9 and Ribbon Cassette 90>
With reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the mounting method of the printing medium 9 and the ribbon cassette 90 will be described. The lid member 12 is in the open position, the lever 79 is in the open position, and the head 60 is in the head separation position. The user attaches the print medium 9 to the print medium attachment unit 40. The print medium 9 is mounted on the print medium mounting unit 40 across the tube insertion port 15 and the tube discharge port 16. Thereafter, the user mounts the ribbon cassette 90 on the ribbon mounting unit 30 and displaces the lever 79 from the open position to the closed position. Both of the driven rollers 21B and 22B are displaced from the retracted position to the operating position. The portions of the print medium 9 sandwiched between the first transport unit 21 and the second transport unit 22 are elastically deformed so as to be crushed. The user rotates the lid member 12 to the closed position. Thereby, the mounting of the print medium 9 and the ribbon cassette 90 is completed. At this time, the cross-sectional shape orthogonal to the transport direction of the print medium 9 on which the cradle 180 is arranged is substantially the same as the cross-sectional shape of the print medium 9 before being mounted on the print medium mounting portion 40 (FIG. )reference). The thickness of the print medium 9 placed on the cradle 180 immediately after being mounted on the print medium mounting unit 40 corresponds to the dimension L1 in FIG.

<6. Printing process>
The printing process executed by the CPU 41 will be described with reference to FIGS. Before the printing process is executed, the print medium 9 is loaded in the print medium loading section 40, the ribbon cassette 90 is loaded in the ribbon loading section 30, the lid member 12 is in the closed position, and the cutting mechanism 100 Is in the initial state. When the cutting mechanism 100 is in the initial state, the cradle moving mechanism 120 and the cutting blade moving mechanism 200 are both in the initial state. Both the first sensor 117 and the second sensor 119 output an OFF signal. When the user operates the operation unit 17 to turn on the power of the printing apparatus 1, the CPU 41 reads a program for executing the printing process from the ROM 42 and starts the printing process. Even if the user turns on the power, the drive motor 88 is in a non-energized state.

  A printing process when the first printing operation is executed will be described with reference to FIGS. 2, 3, and 8 to 15. As shown in FIG. 8, the CPU 41 determines whether or not the print medium 9 is properly loaded in the print medium loading unit 40 by acquiring the detection results of the upstream sensor 23 and the downstream sensor 25. (S1). When at least one of the upstream sensor 23 and the downstream sensor 25 has not detected the print medium 9, the CPU 41 determines that the print medium 9 is not properly mounted on the print medium mounting unit 40. (S1: NO), a standby state is entered. When both the upstream sensor 23 and the downstream sensor 25 detect the print medium 9, the CPU 41 determines that the print medium 9 is properly attached to the print medium attachment unit 40 (S1: YES). The process proceeds to S2.

  The CPU 41 drives the head motor 89 to move the head 60 from the separation position to the clamping position (S2). The head 60 sandwiches the print medium 9 with the platen roller 27. As shown in FIG. 2, in this example, the portion of the print medium 9 between the first transport unit 21 and the second transport unit 22 is elastically deformed so as to be crushed in the transport direction. .

  The CPU 41 overwrites and stores “0” in the cutting number storage area (not shown) of the RAM 44 (S3), and stops energization of the drive motor 88 (S4). In the first printing operation, the drive motor 88 is in a non-energized state. The CPU 41 maintains the non-energized state of the drive motor 88 (S4).

  The CPU 41 executes a DC motor forward rotation process (S5). As shown in FIG. 9, the CPU 41 drives the DC motor 104 to rotate in the forward direction (S11). When the DC motor 104 starts to rotate in the forward rotation direction, the intermittent gear 136 (see FIG. 10A) at the first initial rotation position rotates in the first rotation direction (arrow A1 direction). . In this case, the first sensor 117 continuously outputs the OFF signal.

  Also, as shown in FIG. 3, when the DC motor 104 starts to rotate in the forward rotation direction, the rotating unit 215 at the second initial rotation position rotates in the first direction (arrow B1 direction). The link member 220 in the third initial rotation position rotates in the third direction (arrow B3 direction), and the cutting blade 275 (see FIG. 12A) in the first cutting standby position moves backward. The first movement of the cutting blade 275 is started. As shown in FIG. 9, the CPU 41 executes an error determination process (S12).

  The error determination process will be described with reference to FIG. The error determination process is a process for the CPU 41 to determine whether or not the rotational position of the intermittent gear 136 is at an appropriate rotational position. The CPU 41 stores information indicating the direction of the DC motor 104 being rotationally driven in the rotation direction storage area of the RAM 44 (S21). For example, the CPU 41 stores information indicating the “forward rotation direction” in the rotation direction storage area of the RAM 44 (S21).

  The CPU 41 determines whether or not the signal output from the first sensor 117 has been switched (S22). If the CPU 41 determines that the signal output from the first sensor 117 has not been switched (S22: NO), the process proceeds to S23.

  CPU41 judges whether specific time passed since the 1st movement of cutting blade 275 was started (Drawing 9, S11) (S23). The specific time is approximately equal to the time from when the first movement of the cutting blade 275 is started until the cutting blade 275 starts to contact the print medium 9. The cutting blade 275 starts to contact the print medium 9 between the first cutting standby position and the cutting position. That is, the specific time is shorter than the time required for the first movement of the cutting blade 275. In other words, the specific time is shorter than the time required for the intermittent gear 136 to rotate from the first initial rotation position (see FIG. 10A) to the first operation rotation position (see FIG. 10B). . The specific time in this example is 70 ms as an example.

  If the CPU 41 determines that the specific time has not elapsed (S23: NO), the process proceeds to S22. The CPU 41 repeatedly executes S22 and S23 until the specific time elapses (S23: NO). When the CPU 41 determines that the specific time has elapsed (S23: YES), the CPU 41 proceeds to S14 (see FIG. 9). The case where the signal output from the first sensor 117 is switched before the lapse of the specific time (S22: YES) will be described later.

  As shown in FIG. 9, after executing the error determination process (S12), the CPU 41 determines whether or not the second sensor 119 has output an ON signal (S13). If the cutting blade 275 moving toward the cutting position has not reached the cutting position, the second sensor 119 continues to output an OFF signal (S13: NO), and the CPU 41 enters a standby state. The cutting blade 275 that moves to the cutting position urges the print medium 9 toward the cradle 180. As a result, the print medium 9 is gradually elastically deformed (not shown) so as to be crushed while part of the circumferential direction enters the recess 190.

  As shown in FIGS. 10B, 12B, and 13, when the rotating unit 215 rotates to the second operating rotation position, the second sensor 119 detects the detected portion 221A and outputs an OFF signal. Instead, an ON signal is output (S13: YES). At this time, the link member 220 rotates to the third operation rotation position, the cutting blade 275 moves to the cutting position, and the intermittent gear 136 rotates to the first operation rotation position. The cutting blade 275 at the cutting position sandwiches the print medium 9 between the receiving stand 180 (see FIG. 12B). The cutting blade 275 is restricted from moving backward from the cutting position by the first contact surface 181 of the cradle 180, and the link member 220 is restricted from rotating in the third direction from the third operation rotation position. The first movement of the cutting blade 275 ends.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the CPU 41 further urges the print medium 9 toward the cradle 180 by further rotating the DC motor 104 in the forward rotation direction by a certain amount of rotation drive, and the print medium 9 9 is half-cut (S14). As shown in FIG. 13, the rotating part 215 further rotates in the first direction (arrow B1 direction) from the first operating rotation position (see FIG. 13). The detected part 221A maintains the state of being arranged in the gap between the light emitter and the light receiver of the second sensor 119 (see FIG. 3), and the second sensor 119 continuously outputs an ON signal. The pressing pin 215 </ b> A biases the first arm portion 231 of the torsion spring 235 downward, so that the elastic force of the torsion spring 235 is transmitted to the cutting blade 275 via the link member 220. As a result, the cutting blade 275 biases the print medium 9 toward the cradle 180. The cutting blade 275 cuts the first portion 9A of the print medium 9 except for the portion that has entered the recess 190 (see FIG. 12B). As a result, the first portion 9A of the print medium 9 is half cut (S14). CPU41 complete | finishes the rotational drive to the normal rotation direction of the DC motor 104 (S15), and returns a process to a printing process (refer FIG. 8).

  In this example, the CPU 41 determines whether or not the DC motor 104 has been further rotated in the forward rotation direction by a certain amount of rotation after the second sensor 119 outputs an ON signal instead of an OFF signal. Judgment is made based on whether or not the time has elapsed. That is, the CPU 41 determines, based on the output result of the second sensor 119, whether or not the load required for the cutting blade 275 to perform half-cutting has been applied to the print medium 9. The CPU 41 that executes S14 may change the rotational drive amount of the DC motor 104 in accordance with the size and material of the print medium 9 instead of rotationally driving the DC motor 104 by a fixed rotational drive amount. Good.

  The CPU 41 overwrites and stores “1”, which is a value obtained by adding “1” to “0” stored in the cutting number storage area (S6). The CPU 41 executes DC motor reverse rotation processing (S7).

  As shown in FIG. 14, the CPU 41 refers to the cutting number storage area of the RAM 44 to determine whether or not the cutting number is “1” (S31). When the CPU 41 determines that the number of times of cutting is “1” (S31: YES), the CPU 41 starts to rotate the DC motor 104 in the reverse rotation direction (S32). When the driving of the DC motor 104 in the reverse rotation direction is started, the intermittent gear 136 rotates from the first operation rotation position in the second rotation direction (arrow A2 direction), and the rotation unit 215 rotates in the second operation rotation position. Rotate in a second direction (arrow B2 direction) from a position that becomes the first direction. After the rotating part 215 passes through the first operation rotation position, the link member 220 rotates in the fourth direction (arrow B4 direction) from the third operation rotation position, and the cutting blade 275 moves forward from the cutting position. . The second movement of the cutting blade 275 is started, and the second sensor 119 outputs an OFF signal instead of the ON signal. The first sensor 117 continuously outputs an OFF signal.

  The CPU 41 determines whether or not the first sensor 117 outputs an ON signal (S33). CPU41 will be in a standby state, when it is judged that the 1st sensor 117 is not outputting ON signal (S33: NO). The cutting blade 275 is separated forward from the half-cut print medium 9 (not shown). When the intermittent gear 136 rotates to the first origin rotation position (see FIG. 15), the first sensor 117 outputs an ON signal instead of the OFF signal (S33: YES). CPU41 complete | finishes the rotational drive to the reverse rotation direction of the DC motor 104 (S34). When the DC motor 104 finishes rotating (S34), the rotation unit 215 stops at the second origin rotation position, the link member 220 stops at the third rotation position, and the cutting blade 275 stops at the second cutting position. (S34). Thereby, the second movement of the cutting blade 275 is completed.

  The CPU 41 executes pre-excitation of the drive motor 88 (S35). The pre-excitation is excitation that makes a motor in a non-energized state ready to start driving. By performing the pre-excitation, the rotation angle phase of the rotor (not shown) of the drive motor 88 becomes the same as the rotation angle phase of the rotor of the drive motor 88 when the energization is stopped with the execution of S4. . The drive motor 88 is switched from the non-energized state to the energized state by executing pre-excitation (S35). In this example, the CPU 41 performs pre-excitation on the drive motor 88 at substantially the same timing as when the first sensor 117 reaches the cutting standby position (S35). In other words, the CPU 41 executes pre-excitation of the drive motor 88 at the end of the second movement of the cutting blade 275 (S34) based on the signal output from the first sensor 117 (S33: YES).

  The CPU 41 executes alignment (S36). Initial alignment is the operation of the printing apparatus 1 that rotates the intermittent gear 136 from the first origin rotation position to the first initial rotation position. The CPU 41 rotationally drives the DC motor 104 in the forward rotation direction, and rotates the intermittent gear 136 at the first origin rotation position in the first rotation direction. When the first sensor 117 outputs an OFF signal instead of the ON signal, the CPU 41 stops the rotational drive of the DC motor 104. As shown in FIG. 10B, the intermittent gear 136 stops at the first initial rotation position (S36). With the execution of the initial alignment, the rotating unit 215 rotates from the second origin rotation position to the second operation rotation position, the link member 220 rotates from the third operation rotation position to the third initial rotation position, and the cutting blade 275 It moves from the second cutting standby position to the first cutting standby position (S36). CPU41 complete | finishes DC motor reverse rotation process, and transfers a process to S8.

  The CPU 41 executes printing (S8). Specifically, the printing apparatus 1 drives the head 60 at the same time as the drive motor 88 in which pre-excitation has been executed is rotationally driven in the forward rotation direction (S8). Since the drive motor 88 is pre-excited, it can start rotating in a short time.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 16, the platen roller 27, the first transport unit 21, and the second transport unit 22 transport the print medium 9 in the transport direction by driving the drive motor 88 to rotate in the forward direction. The ribbon take-up shaft 63 takes up the ink ribbon 96 around the take-up spool 300. When the head 60 is driven, the heating element heats the specific ink ribbon 96 </ b> A and prints a character on the print medium 9. The print medium 9 on which the character is printed is transported in the transport direction. The used specific ink ribbon 96 </ b> A is taken up by the take-up spool 300, and the unused ink ribbon 96 is fed out from the ribbon spool 81.

  After the character is printed on the print medium 9, a predetermined part of the print medium 9 is transported in the transport direction to the cradle 180 (cutting execution position S) (see FIG. 16). After the predetermined part of the print medium 9 is conveyed to the cradle 180, the drive motor 88 stops rotating. The drive motor 88 maintains an energized state.

  Hereinafter, the part of the print medium 9 that has been transported to the cradle 180 is referred to as a “first part 9A”. The first part 9A may be a part of the print medium 9 on which the character is printed, or may be a part of the print medium 9 on which printing is not executed. In the present example, the first portion 9 </ b> A is a portion sandwiched between the head 60 and the platen roller 27. Accordingly, the thickness of the first portion 9A is equal to the thickness of the first portion 9A (corresponding to the dimension L2 in FIG. 17A) of the print medium 9 placed on the receiving base 180 during the first cutting operation (see FIG. 12 (a) corresponding to the dimension L1).

  The CPU 41 determines whether or not to continue the printing operation by determining whether or not an instruction to continue the printing operation is detected (S9). For example, when the user inputs an instruction to end the printing operation to the operation unit 17 (S9: NO), the CPU 41 ends the printing process. On the other hand, when the user inputs an instruction to continue the printing operation to the operation unit 17 (S9: YES), the CPU 41 proceeds to S4, and the printing apparatus 1 executes the second printing operation.

  A printing process when the printing apparatus 1 executes the second printing operation will be described with reference to FIGS. In addition, about the process which overlaps with the process mentioned above, description is simplified. The user has input an instruction to continue the printing operation to the operation unit 17 (S9: YES).

  The CPU 41 stops energization of the drive motor 88 (S4). In other words, the CPU 41 stops energization of the drive motor 88 that is controlled to be energized with the execution of S8. The drive motor 88 is switched from the energized state to the non-energized state (S4).

  The CPU 41 executes a DC motor forward rotation process (S5). CPU41 performs S11-S15. Thereby, the cutting blade 275 moves from the first cutting standby position to the cutting position (see FIGS. 17A and 17B), and urges the first portion 9 </ b> A toward the cradle 180. The first portion 9A is half-cut (S14). The CPU 41 stores “2”, which is a value obtained by adding “1” to “1” in the cutting number storage area of the RAM 44 (S6). The CPU 41 executes DC motor reverse rotation processing (S7).

  As shown in FIG. 14, since the RAM 44 stores “2” in the cutting frequency storage area (S6), the CPU 41 determines that the cutting frequency is not “1” (S31: NO). The CPU 41 starts reverse rotation driving of the DC motor 104 (S41). As shown in FIGS. 4 and 17, the intermittent gear 136 at the first operation rotation position rotates in the second rotation direction, and the cutting blade 275 at the cutting position moves forward. Therefore, after the DC motor 104 starts reverse rotation driving, the second sensor 119 outputs an OFF signal instead of the ON signal.

  After the second sensor 119 outputs an OFF signal instead of the ON signal (S41), the CPU 41 determines whether or not the first standby time has elapsed (S42). The first waiting time in this example is half the time required for the second movement of the cutting blade 275 and is 50 ms. CPU41 will be in a standby state until the 1st standby time passes (S42: NO). Until the first waiting time elapses (S42: NO), the cutting blade 275 is separated forward from the half-cut first portion 9A (not shown). The wall thickness of the first portion 9A in this example is thinner than the wall thickness of the print medium 9 disposed on the cradle 180 when the first cutting operation is performed. Accordingly, the cutting blade 275 is separated from the first portion 9A at an earlier timing than when the first cutting operation is performed.

  When the CPU 41 determines that the first standby time has elapsed (S42: YES), the CPU 41 performs pre-excitation on the drive motor 88 (S43). In other words, based on the signal output from the second sensor 119, the CPU 41 executes pre-excitation after the start of the first movement of the cutting blade 275 and before the end of the second movement of the cutting blade 275 (S43). . The CPU 41 determines whether or not the first sensor 117 outputs an ON signal (S44). The first sensor 117 outputs an OFF signal until the cutting blade 275 reaches the second cutting standby position. The CPU 41 is in a standby state until the first sensor 117 outputs an ON signal (S44: NO). When the cutting blade 275 reaches the second cutting standby position, the first sensor 117 outputs an ON signal instead of the OFF signal (S44: YES). CPU41 complete | finishes the rotational drive to the reverse rotation direction of the DC motor 104 (S45). After executing the alignment (S36), the CPU 41 ends the DC motor reverse rotation process.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the CPU 41 executes a printing operation (S8). That is, the CPU 41 rotationally drives the drive motor 88 in which the pre-excitation has been executed in the forward rotation direction with the execution of S43. The print medium 9 is printed with characters while being conveyed downstream in the conveyance direction. As a result, the printing apparatus 1 executes the second printing operation. In the second and subsequent printing operations of this example, the CPU 41 executes the printing operation after a predetermined time has elapsed after the pre-excitation for the drive motor 88 is executed (S43) (S8). In this example, the fixed time is 80 ms. The total value of the fixed time and the first waiting time is 130 ms. That is, the total value of the fixed time and the first waiting time is substantially equal to the time required for the second movement (100 ms). The “time approximately equal to the time required for the second movement” is a time when the increment amount with respect to the time required for the second movement is within several hundred ms, and includes the time required for the second movement. When the user inputs an instruction to continue printing to the operation unit 17 (S9: YES), the CPU 41 executes a third printing operation (S4 to S9).

  The error determination process when the intermittent gear 136 is not at the proper rotational position will be described with reference to FIGS. 11 and 16. For example, as the CPU 41 rotationally drives the DC motor 104 in the forward rotation direction (FIG. 9, S11), there is a possibility that the rotational position of the intermittent gear 136 may shift due to a sudden factor. Specifically, there is a possibility that the intermittent gear 136 may rotate in the first rotation direction from the first operation rotation position before the elapse of the specific time. In this case, the second end 137B passes the position K, and the signal output from the first sensor 117 is switched from the OFF signal to the ON signal (S22: YES). The CPU 41 stops the rotational drive of the DC motor 104 in the forward rotation direction (S24).

  The CPU 41 rotationally drives the DC motor 104 in the direction opposite to the information indicating the rotation direction stored in the rotation direction storage area of the RAM 44 (S25). Information indicating the “forward rotation direction” is stored in the rotation direction storage area (S21). CPU41 starts the rotational drive to the reverse rotation direction of DC motor 104 (S25). The intermittent gear 136 rotates in the second rotation direction. Since the CPU 41 rotates the drive motor 88 in a direction opposite to the rotation direction indicated by the information stored in the rotation direction storage area of the RAM 44, the printing apparatus 1 reliably ensures that the intermittent gear 136 is in the first origin rotation position. Can be rotated toward.

  The CPU 41 determines whether or not the signal output from the first sensor 117 has been switched twice (S213). CPU41 will be in a standby state until it judges that the signal which the 1st sensor 117 outputs changed twice (S26: NO). While the CPU 41 is in the standby state, the intermittent gear 136 sequentially passes through the first operating rotation position and the first initial rotation position and rotates to the first origin rotation position. Thereby, the signal which the 1st sensor 117 outputs switches twice (S26: YES). The CPU 41 stops the rotational drive of the DC motor 104 in the reverse rotation direction (S27). The intermittent gear 136 stops at the first origin rotation position (S27).

  The CPU 41 executes initial alignment (S28). S28 is the same process as S36. The CPU 41 drives the display unit 5 to notify the occurrence of an error (S29) and ends the process. The CPU 41 displays, for example, “error occurrence” on the display unit 5 (S29). The user can recognize that the rotational position of the intermittent gear 136 has shifted due to the relationship with the rotating unit 215 or the cam member 160, and can perform maintenance work on the printing apparatus 1.

  As described above, when the CPU 41 cuts the print medium 9 (S14), the cutting blade 275 moves from the two-cut standby position to the cut position. Thereby, the cutting blade 275 half-cuts the first portion 9 </ b> A of the print medium 9 between the cutting blade 275 and the first contact surface 181 of the cradle 180. While the cutting mechanism 100 half-cuts the print medium 9, the pressing pin 215A biases the first arm portion 231 downward, so that the power consumed by the printing apparatus 1 increases. However, the CPU 41 stops energization of the drive motor 88 (S4) before half-cutting the print medium 9 (S14). Therefore, the printing apparatus 1 can suppress an increase in power consumption due to the half cut of the print medium 9. When the printing apparatus 1 executes the second and subsequent printing operations, the CPU 41 executes pre-excitation on the drive motor 88 (S43) before the second movement of the cutting blade 275 is completed (S45). Therefore, when executing the printing operation (S8), the CPU 41 can start rotational driving of the driving motor 88 in the normal rotation direction in a short time. Therefore, the printing apparatus 1 can suppress an increase in printing time in the third and subsequent printing operations. As described above, the printing apparatus 1 that can suppress an increase in printing time and an increase in power consumption accompanying cutting of the printing medium 9 is realized.

  The CPU 41 measures the first standby time after the second sensor 119 outputs an OFF signal instead of the ON signal (S42). The first waiting time is shorter than when the CPU 41 counts from when the first sensor 117 outputs an OFF signal instead of the ON signal. Therefore, the printing apparatus 1 can execute pre-excitation for the drive motor 88 at a precise timing (S43).

  The first waiting time is measured from when the second sensor 119 outputs an OFF signal instead of an ON signal. Accordingly, the pre-excitation for the drive motor 88 is executed after the half cut for the print medium 9 is executed. Therefore, the printing apparatus 1 can further suppress an increase in power consumption.

  The total value of the first waiting time (50 ms) and the fixed time (80 ms) is (130 ms), which is substantially equal to the time required for the second movement (100 ms). Therefore, the printing apparatus 1 can further suppress an increase in printing time.

  In this example, when the first cutting operation is executed (S31: YES), the portion of the print medium 9 arranged on the receiving stand 180 is not elastically deformed and is mounted on the print medium mounting unit 40. It has a thickness (dimension L1 in FIG. 12) substantially equal to the thickness of the previous print medium 9. Therefore, in the first cutting operation, the timing at which the cutting blade 275 moving forward is separated from the print medium 9 tends to be slower than the second and subsequent cutting operations. However, in the first cutting operation, after the first sensor 117 detects the cutting blade 275 in the second cutting standby position (S33: YES), the CPU 41 executes pre-excitation of the DC motor 104 (S35). Then, the printing operation is executed (S8). Therefore, when the first cutting operation is performed, the printing apparatus 1 can suppress the printing operation from being performed while the cutting blade 275 is in contact with the print medium 9. Therefore, the printing apparatus 1 can stabilize the printing operation. Further, while the cutting blade 275 moving backward from the cutting position is in contact with the print medium 9, the power consumption of the printing apparatus 1 may increase due to the frictional force generated between the cutting blade 275 and the print medium 9. is there. Even in this case, since the pre-excitation is not executed during the contact between the cutting blade 275 and the print medium 9, the printing apparatus 1 can suppress an increase in power consumption. Therefore, the printing apparatus 1 can stabilize power consumption.

<7. Other>
In the above embodiment, the platen roller 27 is an example of the “conveying roller” in the present invention. The drive motor 88 is an example of the “conveyance motor” in the present invention. The DC motor 104 is an example of the “cutting motor” in the present invention. The first waiting time is an example of the “first predetermined time” in the present invention. The certain time is an example of the “second predetermined time” in the present invention.

  The CPU 41 that executes S8 is an example of the “transport control means” in the present invention. The CPU 41 that executes S4 is an example of the “energization stop control unit” in the present invention. The CPU 41 that executes S5 and S7 is an example of the “cut control unit” in the present invention. The CPU 41 that executes S43 is an example of the “first excitation control means” in the present invention. The CPU 41 that executes S8 is an example of the “first print control unit” in the present invention. The CPU 41 that executes S35 is an example of the “second excitation control means” in the present invention. The CPU 41 that executes S54 is an example of the “third excitation control means” in the present invention. The CPU 41 that executes S8 after S54 is an example of the “second print control unit” in the present invention. The CPU 41 that executes S35 is an example of the “fourth excitation control means” in the present invention.

  The above embodiment can be variously modified. The printing apparatus 1 may transport the portion of the print medium 9 that has been sandwiched by the first transport unit 21 to the cradle 180 before executing the first printing operation. In this case, in the first cutting operation, the cutting mechanism 100 half-cuts a portion (not shown) of the print medium 9 that is slightly elastically deformed so as to be crushed. For example, the thickness of the portion of the print medium 9 is thinner than the dimension L1 shown in FIG. 12A and thicker than the dimension L2 shown in FIG. The print medium 9 may be, for example, a sheet-like label instead of the tube.

  The CPU 41 may execute the error determination process when the cutting mechanism 100 performs a full cut operation. Further, a configuration in which the first sensor 117 outputs an ON signal instead of the configuration in which the first sensor 117 outputs an OFF signal while the intermittent gear 136 rotates from the first initial rotation position to the first operation rotation position is adopted. May be. In this case, for example, an intermittent gear (not shown) in which the positional relationship between the opening wall portion 137 and the wall portion 139 in the rotation direction around the support shaft 132 is reversed is employed.

  The printing apparatus 1 may not include the second sensor 119. In this case, the CPU 41 may execute pre-excitation for the drive motor 88 during the first movement of the cutting blade 275 based on the detection result of the first sensor 117 regardless of the number of printing operations to be executed. Further, the CPU 41 may execute pre-excitation on the drive motor 88 while the cutting blade 275 is half-cutting the print medium 9 (S14).

  A modification of the DC motor reverse rotation process (S7) will be described with reference to FIG. In the DC motor reverse rotation process shown in FIG. 19, the same reference numerals are given to the same processes as the DC motor reverse rotation process shown in FIG.

  A DC motor reverse rotation process according to a modification in the first printing operation will be described. When the CPU 41 determines that the number of times of cutting is “1” (S31: YES), the CPU 41 rotates the DC motor 104 in the reverse direction (S32). After the rotational drive of the DC motor 104 in the reverse rotation direction is started (S32), the cutting blade 275 starts the second movement, and the second sensor 119 outputs an OFF signal instead of the ON signal.

  The CPU 41 determines whether or not the second standby time has elapsed after the second sensor 119 outputs the OFF signal instead of the ON signal (S53). The second waiting time in this example is half of the time required for the second movement of the cutting blade 275, and is 50 ms. CPU41 will be in a standby state until the 2nd standby time passes (S53: NO). Until the second waiting time elapses (S533: NO), the cutting blade 275 is separated forward from the print medium 9 (not shown). When the second standby time has elapsed (S53: YES), the CPU 41 executes pre-excitation of the drive motor 88 (S54).

  When it is determined that the cutting blade 275 has moved to the second cutting standby position (S33: YES), the CPU 41 finishes driving the DC motor 104 in the reverse rotation direction (S34), and executes initial positioning (S36). Thereafter, the CPU 41 executes a printing operation (S8). In other words, based on the ON signal output from the first sensor 117 (S33: YES), the CPU 41 executes a printing operation when the second movement of the cutting blade 275 is completed (S23: YES) (S8). .

  On the other hand, in the second and subsequent cutting operations (S31: NO), the CPU 41 rotates the DC motor 104 in the reverse direction (S41) and executes the pre-excitation of the drive motor 88 (S62). In other words, the CPU 41 performs pre-excitation of the drive motor 88 while the cutting blade 275 moving backward from the cutting position is in contact with the first portion 9A (S62). CPU41 performs S44, S45, and S36 in order.

  In this modification, the CPU 41 executes pre-excitation for the drive motor 88 after the second standby time has elapsed (S53: YES) (S54). Since the pre-excitation of the drive motor 88 is executed during the second movement of the cutting blade 275, the printing apparatus 1 can suppress an increase in printing time. Further, after the cutting blade 275 has moved to the second cutting standby position (S33: YES), a printing operation is executed (S8). The printing apparatus 1 does not execute the printing operation while the cutting blade 275 is in contact with the print medium 9. Therefore, the printing apparatus 1 can stabilize power consumption.

  In the present modification, the CPU 41 that executes S54 is an example of the “third excitation control means” in the present invention. The CPU 41 that executes S8 in the first printing operation is an example of the “second printing control unit” in the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printing apparatus 9 Print medium 9A 1st site | part 27 Platen roller 41 CPU
58 Transport area 60 Head 88 Drive motor 104 DC motor 117 First sensor 119 Second sensor 180 Receiving base 275 Cutting blade 275

Claims (7)

A head for printing on a print medium;
A conveying roller for sandwiching the print medium with the head;
A transport motor for rotating the transport roller;
A cradle provided on the downstream side in the transport direction in which the print medium is transported with respect to the head and the transport roller, and on which the print medium is disposed;
A cutting position that is a position where the print medium is sandwiched and cut between the cradle and a cutting standby position that is a position facing the cradle with a conveyance area that is an area through which the print medium passes therebetween. A cutting blade movable between,
A cutting motor for moving the cutting blade;
A sensor that can detect whether or not the cutting blade is in a predetermined position included in the moving region of the cutting blade, and that outputs a signal according to the detection result;
A conveyance control means for driving and controlling the conveyance motor to convey a first portion which is a predetermined portion of the print medium to the cradle;
When the first part is transported to the cradle by the transport control unit, an energization stop control unit that stops energization of the transport motor that is driven and controlled by the transport control unit;
When the energization stop control unit stops energization, the cutting motor is driven and controlled, the cutting blade is moved from the cutting standby position to the cutting position, and the cutting blade is moved from the cutting position to the cutting standby position. A moving cutting control means;
Based on a signal output from the sensor, pre-excitation, which is excitation for enabling the drive to be started, is performed after the start of the first movement and before the end of the second movement , and the cutting. Control means executed during movement of the cutting blade by the control means, wherein the first movement is movement of the cutting blade from the cutting standby position toward the cutting position by the cutting control means, The second movement is a first excitation control means that is a movement of the cutting blade from the cutting position toward the cutting standby position by the cutting control means;
After the second movement is completed, the transport motor that has been subjected to the pre-excitation by the first excitation control means is controlled to transport the print medium, and the head is controlled to be transported. And a first printing control means for printing on the printing medium. The sensor is
A first sensor capable of detecting whether or not the cutting blade is in the cutting standby position and outputting a signal according to the detection result;
A second sensor capable of detecting that the cutting blade is at a position different from the cutting standby position and outputting a signal corresponding to the detection result;
The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first excitation control unit performs the pre-excitation based on a signal output from the second sensor.   The printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the different position is the cutting position. The first excitation control means outputs a signal indicating that the second sensor is not detecting the cutting blade instead of a signal indicating that the cutting blade is detected, and then outputs a first predetermined control signal. When the time has passed, execute the pre-excitation,
The first print control means starts conveying the print medium when a second predetermined time has elapsed since the first excitation control means executed the pre-excitation,
The printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a total value of the first predetermined time and the second predetermined time is substantially equal to a time required for the second movement. A head for printing on a print medium;
A conveying roller for sandwiching the print medium with the head;
A transport motor for rotating the transport roller;
A cradle provided on the downstream side in the transport direction in which the print medium is transported with respect to the head and the transport roller, and on which the print medium is disposed;
A cutting position that is a position where the print medium is sandwiched and cut between the cradle and a cutting standby position that is a position facing the cradle with a conveyance area that is an area through which the print medium passes therebetween. A cutting blade movable between,
A cutting motor for moving the cutting blade;
A sensor that can detect whether or not the cutting blade is in a predetermined position included in the moving region of the cutting blade, and that outputs a signal according to the detection result;
A conveyance control means for driving and controlling the conveyance motor to convey a first portion which is a predetermined portion of the print medium to the cradle;
When the first part is transported to the cradle by the transport control unit, an energization stop control unit that stops energization of the transport motor that is driven and controlled by the transport control unit;
When the energization stop control unit stops energization, the cutting motor is driven and controlled, the cutting blade is moved from the cutting standby position to the cutting position, and the cutting blade is moved from the cutting position to the cutting standby position. A moving cutting control means;
Control that executes pre-excitation, which is excitation for enabling the start of driving of the transport motor, after the start of the first movement and before the end of the second movement based on a signal output from the sensor The first movement is a movement of the cutting blade from the cutting standby position toward the cutting position by the cutting control means, and the second movement is the cutting by the cutting control means. A first excitation control means that is a movement of the cutting blade from a position toward the cutting standby position;
After the second movement is completed, the transport motor that has been subjected to the pre-excitation by the first excitation control means is controlled to transport the print medium, and the head is controlled to be transported. First print control means for printing on the print medium
With
The sensor is
A first sensor capable of detecting whether or not the cutting blade is in the cutting standby position and outputting a signal according to the detection result;
A second sensor capable of detecting that the cutting blade is in a position different from the cutting standby position and outputting a signal corresponding to the detection result;
Including
The first excitation control means executes the pre-excitation based on a signal output from the second sensor,
When the print medium disposed on the cradle is different from the specific part that is the first part that has passed between the head and the transport roller, the pre-excitation is performed on the transport motor, A second excitation control unit that executes at the end of the second movement based on a signal output from the sensor;
The first excitation control means performs the pre-excitation on the transport motor after the start of the first movement and the second movement when the print medium arranged on the cradle is the specific part. Run before the end of
It said first print control means, printing device you wherein controlling the driving of the conveyance motor in which the front excitation is performed by the first excitation control means or the second excitation control means. A head for printing on a print medium;
A conveying roller for sandwiching the print medium with the head;
A transport motor for rotating the transport roller;
A cradle provided on the downstream side in the transport direction in which the print medium is transported with respect to the head and the transport roller, and on which the print medium is disposed;
A cutting position that is a position where the print medium is sandwiched and cut between the cradle and a cutting standby position that is a position facing the cradle with a conveyance area that is an area through which the print medium passes therebetween. A cutting blade movable between,
A cutting motor for moving the cutting blade;
A sensor that can detect whether or not the cutting blade is in a predetermined position included in the moving region of the cutting blade, and that outputs a signal according to the detection result;
A conveyance control means for driving and controlling the conveyance motor to convey a first portion which is a predetermined portion of the print medium to the cradle;
When the first part is transported to the cradle by the transport control unit, an energization stop control unit that stops energization of the transport motor that is driven and controlled by the transport control unit;
When the energization stop control unit stops energization, the cutting motor is driven and controlled, the cutting blade is moved from the cutting standby position to the cutting position, and the cutting blade is moved from the cutting position to the cutting standby position. A moving cutting control means;
Control that executes pre-excitation, which is excitation for enabling the start of driving of the transport motor, after the start of the first movement and before the end of the second movement based on a signal output from the sensor The first movement is a movement of the cutting blade from the cutting standby position toward the cutting position by the cutting control means, and the second movement is the cutting by the cutting control means. A first excitation control means that is a movement of the cutting blade from a position toward the cutting standby position;
After the second movement is completed, the transport motor that has been subjected to the pre-excitation by the first excitation control means is controlled to transport the print medium, and the head is controlled to be transported. First print control means for printing on the print medium
With
The sensor is
A first sensor capable of detecting whether or not the cutting blade is in the cutting standby position and outputting a signal according to the detection result;
A second sensor capable of detecting that the cutting blade is in a position different from the cutting standby position and outputting a signal corresponding to the detection result;
Including
The first excitation control means executes the pre-excitation based on a signal output from the second sensor,
When the print medium placed on the cradle by the transport control unit is different from the specific part that is the first part that has passed between the head and the transport roller, the second sensor is configured to use the cutting blade. When a third predetermined time shorter than the time required for the second movement has elapsed after outputting a signal indicating that the cutting blade is not detected instead of a signal indicating that the Third excitation control means for performing the pre-excitation on the transport motor;
When the second movement is completed based on a signal output from the first sensor, the conveyance motor in which the pre-excitation is performed by the third excitation control unit is driven to convey the print medium. And a second print control means for driving and controlling the head to print on the transported print medium,
The first excitation control means executes the pre-excitation after the start of the first movement and before the end of the second movement when the first part arranged on the cradle is the specific part. printing device characterized by. A head for printing on a print medium;
A conveying roller for sandwiching the print medium with the head;
A transport motor for rotating the transport roller;
A cradle provided on the downstream side in the transport direction in which the print medium is transported with respect to the head and the transport roller, and on which the print medium is disposed;
A cutting position that is a position where the print medium is sandwiched and cut between the cradle and a cutting standby position that is a position facing the cradle with a conveyance area that is an area through which the print medium passes therebetween. A cutting blade movable between,
A cutting motor for moving the cutting blade;
A sensor that can detect whether or not the cutting blade is in a predetermined position included in the moving region of the cutting blade, and that outputs a signal according to the detection result;
A conveyance control means for driving and controlling the conveyance motor to convey a first portion which is a predetermined portion of the print medium to the cradle;
When the first part is transported to the cradle by the transport control unit, an energization stop control unit that stops energization of the transport motor that is driven and controlled by the transport control unit;
When the energization stop control unit stops energization, the cutting motor is driven and controlled, the cutting blade is moved from the cutting standby position to the cutting position, and the cutting blade is moved from the cutting position to the cutting standby position. A moving cutting control means;
Control that executes pre-excitation, which is excitation for enabling the start of driving of the transport motor, after the start of the first movement and before the end of the second movement based on a signal output from the sensor The first movement is a movement of the cutting blade from the cutting standby position toward the cutting position by the cutting control means, and the second movement is the cutting by the cutting control means. A first excitation control means that is a movement of the cutting blade from a position toward the cutting standby position;
After the second movement is completed, the transport motor that has been subjected to the pre-excitation by the first excitation control means is controlled to transport the print medium, and the head is controlled to be transported. First print control means for printing on the print medium
With
When the first part disposed on the cradle is different from the specific part that is the first part that has passed between the head and the transport roller, the pre-excitation is performed on the transport motor with the sensor. Comprises a fourth excitation control means to be executed when the second movement is completed based on a signal output by
The first excitation control unit performs the pre-excitation on the transport motor after the start of the first movement and the second movement when the first part arranged on the cradle is the specific part. Run before the end of the move,
First print control means, the first excitation control means or said fourth excitation control means by printing device you and drives controlling the conveyance motor in which the front excitation is running.

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