JP7024363B2 - Printing device, control method of printing device, and program - Google Patents

Description

The disclosure of the present specification relates to a printing device, a control method of the printing device, and a program.

Conventionally, a label printer for printing characters, figures, and the like on a tape member, which is a long printed medium, to create a label has been known. Such a label printer is described in, for example, Patent Document 1.

In the conventional label printer, the length of the label can be set arbitrarily. By using this function, the user of the label printer can create a label with a length that matches the size of the area where the label is planned to be pasted (hereinafter referred to as the area to be pasted). can.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2014-028448

However, in order to create a label having a length that matches the size of the area to be pasted, the user measures the length of the area to be pasted in advance, and the length obtained by the measurement is used as the label length (the length obtained by the measurement). Hereinafter, it has to be set in the label printer as the label length.), Which is troublesome.

Based on the above circumstances, an object of one aspect of the present invention is to provide a technique for supporting the creation of a label having a length corresponding to the size of the area to be pasted.

The printing apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention has a rewinding mechanism for rewinding the printed medium drawn from a cassette containing a long printable medium, and at least the rewinding mechanism. Based on the rewinding amount when the print medium is rewound to a preset position, the length of the label created by printing on the printed medium is set , and the rewinding amount is set in advance. A control circuit that omits setting the length of the label when it is smaller than a predetermined threshold value is provided.

The method for controlling a printing device according to one aspect of the present invention includes a rewinding mechanism for rewinding the printed medium drawn from a cassette in which the printing device contains a long printed medium. The rewinding mechanism rewinds the printed medium to a preset set position, and prints on the printed medium based on the rewinding amount when the printed medium is rewound to the set position. As a result, the length of the label to be created is set , and if the rewinding amount is smaller than a predetermined threshold value, the setting of the label length is omitted .

The program according to one aspect of the present invention is a program to be executed by a computer of a printing apparatus, and the printing apparatus captures the printed medium drawn from a cassette containing a long printed medium. A rewinding mechanism is provided, and the rewinding mechanism causes the printed medium to be rewound to a preset set position, and the rewinding amount when the printed medium is rewound to the set position. Based on this, the process of setting the length of the label to be created by printing on the printable medium is executed, and when the rewinding amount is smaller than the predetermined threshold value, the length of the label is set. Execute the process to be omitted .

According to the above aspect, it is possible to support the creation of a label having a length that matches the size of the area to be pasted.

It is a perspective view of the printing apparatus 1. It is a perspective view of the tape cassette 30 housed in a printing apparatus 1. It is a perspective view of the cassette accommodating part 19 of a printing apparatus 1. FIG. It is sectional drawing of the printing apparatus 1. It is a top view of the photo sensor 41. It is a block diagram which shows the hardware structure of a printing apparatus 1. This is an example of a flowchart of the label length setting process. It is a figure which showed the state which pulled out the printed medium M from a tape cassette 30 according to the size of the area to be attached. It is a figure which showed the state which accommodated the tape cassette 30 in the state which pulled out the print medium M in the printing apparatus 1. It is a figure which showed the state which pulled out the printed medium M from the printing apparatus 200 according to the size of the area to be pasted. It is a perspective view of the printing apparatus 200.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the printing apparatus 1 according to the embodiment. The printing device 1 is a label printer that prints on a long printed medium M. Hereinafter, a thermal transfer type label printer using an ink ribbon will be described as an example, but the printing method is not particularly limited. The printing device 1 may be a heat-sensitive label printer that uses thermal paper. Further, the printing device 1 which is a label printer may be an inkjet printer, a laser printer, or the like. Further, although the label printer that prints by the single pass (one pass) method will be illustrated below, the printing device 1 may print by the multi pass (scan) method.

The print medium M is a long tape member housed in a roll-shaped state inside a tape cassette, and has an adhesive layer. The medium to be printed M may be, for example, an adhesive tape member having a base material having an adhesive layer and a release paper removably attached to the base material so as to cover the adhesive layer, without a release paper. It may be an adhesive tape member.

As shown in FIG. 1, the printing apparatus 1 includes an apparatus housing 2, an input unit 3, a display device 4, an opening / closing lid 18, and a cassette accommodating unit 19. An input unit 3, a display device 4, and an opening / closing lid 18 are arranged on the upper surface of the device housing 2. Further, although not shown, the device housing 2 is provided with a power cord connection terminal, an external device connection terminal, a storage medium insertion port, and the like.

The input unit 3 includes various keys such as an input key, a cross key, a conversion key, and a decision key. The display device 4 is, for example, a liquid crystal display, an organic EL (electro-luminescence) display, or the like, and displays selection menus for various settings such as characters corresponding to inputs from the input unit 3, messages related to various processes, and the like. Further, during printing, the contents such as characters and figures instructed to be printed on the print medium M may be displayed, and the progress of the printing process may be displayed. The display device 4 may be provided with a touch panel unit, and in that case, the display device 4 may be regarded as a part of the input unit 3.

The opening / closing lid 18 is arranged so as to be openable / closable on the upper part of the cassette accommodating portion 19. The opening / closing lid 18 is opened by pressing the button 18a. A window 18b is formed on the opening / closing lid 18 so that it can be visually confirmed whether or not the tape cassette 30 (see FIG. 2) is accommodated in the cassette accommodating portion 19 even when the opening / closing lid 18 is closed. ing. Further, a discharge port 2a is formed on the side surface of the device housing 2. The printed medium M printed in the printing apparatus 1 is discharged to the outside of the apparatus through the ejection port 2a.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the tape cassette 30 housed in the printing apparatus 1. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the cassette accommodating portion 19 of the printing apparatus 1. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the printing apparatus 1. The tape cassette 30 shown in FIG. 2 is detachably housed in the cassette accommodating portion 19 shown in FIG. FIG. 4 shows a state in which the tape cassette 30 is housed in the cassette storage unit 19.

As shown in FIG. 2, the tape cassette 30 has a cassette case 31 that houses the printing medium M and the ink ribbon R. The cassette case 31 is formed with a thermal head insertion portion 36 and an engagement portion 37. Further, the cassette case 31 is provided with a tape core 32, an ink ribbon supply core 34, and an ink ribbon winding core 35. The print medium M is wound in a roll around the tape core 32 inside the cassette case 31. Further, the ink ribbon R for thermal transfer is wound around the ink ribbon supply core 34 inside the cassette case 31 in a roll shape with its tip wound around the ink ribbon winding core 35.

As shown in FIG. 3, the cassette accommodating portion 19 of the apparatus housing 2 is provided with a plurality of cassette receiving portions 20 for supporting the tape cassette 30 at a predetermined position. Further, the cassette receiving unit 20 is provided with a tape width detection switch 24 for detecting the width of the tape (printed medium M) accommodated in the tape cassette 30.

The tape width detection switch 24 is a switch for detecting the width of the printed medium M based on the shape of the tape cassette. A plurality of tape width detection switches 24 are provided in the cassette accommodating portion 19. Tape cassettes having different tape widths are configured to press a plurality of tape width detection switches 24 in different combinations. As a result, the control circuit 5 (see FIG. 5), which will be described later, identifies the type of the tape cassette from the combination of the pressed tape width detection switches 24, and detects the width (tape width) of the printed medium M.

The cassette accommodating portion 19 further includes a thermal head 10 which is a print head that prints on the print medium M, a platen roller 21 which is a transport unit that conveys the print medium M, a tape core engaging shaft 22, and ink. A ribbon winding drive shaft 23 is provided. Further, a thermistor 13 is embedded in the thermal head 10. The thermistor 13 measures the temperature of the thermal head 10.

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

When a printing instruction is input to the printing apparatus 1, the printing medium M is unwound from the tape core 32 by the rotation of the platen roller 21. At this time, the ink ribbon winding drive shaft 23 for winding the ink ribbon R rotates in synchronization with the platen roller 21, so that the ink ribbon R is fed out from the ink ribbon supply core 34 together with the printing medium M. As a result, the print medium M and the ink ribbon R are conveyed in an overlapping state. Then, when passing between the thermal head 10 and the platen roller 21, the ink ribbon R drawn out from the cassette case 31 is heated by the thermal head 10, so that the ink is transferred to the printing medium M and printing is performed. Will be done.

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

The printing device 1 further includes a photo sensor 41. The photo sensor 41 is a sensor arranged on the transport path of the printed medium M in order to detect the tip T (see FIG. 2) of the printed medium M, and constitutes an example of the tip detecting device in the present invention. That is, the photo sensor 41 is a sensor capable of detecting the end portion of the print medium M. The photo sensor 41 is used in the label length setting process described later.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the photo sensor 41. As shown in FIG. 5, the photo sensor 41 includes a light emitting element 42 and a light receiving element 43. The light emitting element 42 is, for example, a light emitting diode, and the light receiving element 43 is, for example, a photodiode. The photo sensor 41 is a photoreflector that detects the reflected light of the light emitted from the light emitting element 42 by the light receiving element 43, and outputs a signal to the control circuit 5 described later. The control circuit 5 detects the tip T of the printed medium M, for example, based on the change in the amount of reflected light detected by the light receiving element 43.

The light emitting element 42 may be, for example, a white LED, and the light receiving element 43 may include a plurality of photodiodes having filters of different colors. In this case, the control circuit 5 may detect the tip T of the printed medium M based on the change in the wavelength distribution of the reflected light (that is, the color of the reflected light) detected by the light receiving element 43.

FIG. 5 shows an example in which the photo sensor 41 is a photo reflector that detects the reflected light of the light emitted from the light emitting element 42, but the photo sensor 41 is not limited to the photo reflector. The photo sensor 41 may be a photointerruptor in which the light emitting element 42 and the light receiving element 43 are arranged so as to face each other.

Further, in FIG. 4, the photo sensor 41 is provided between the full cut mechanism 17 and the half cut mechanism 16 in the vicinity of the discharge port 2a, but the arrangement of the photo sensor 41 is not limited to this example. The photo sensor 41 may be arranged on the transport path of the print medium M. However, when the photo sensor 41 is arranged in a portion of the transport path where the printed medium M and the ink ribbon R are overlapped and transported, the photo sensor 41 is preferably a photoreflector, and the light emitting element 42. It is desirable that the light receiving element 43 is arranged not on the ink ribbon R side but on the print medium M side. This makes it possible to detect the tip T of the print medium M based on the difference between the light amount or color of the light reflected by the print medium M and the light amount or color of the light reflected by the ink ribbon R. Is. The photo sensor 41 is arranged at a position corresponding to a preset setting position described later.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a hardware structure of the printing apparatus 1. In addition to the above-described components, the printing device 1 includes a control circuit 5, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 6, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 7, a display device drive circuit 8, and a head drive circuit 9, as shown in FIG. , Conveying motor drive circuit 11, transport motor 12, clutch 25, encoder 26, cutter motor drive circuit 14, cutter motor 15, half-cut mechanism 16, and full-cut mechanism 17.

The control circuit 5 includes a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The control circuit 5 controls the operation of each part of the printing apparatus 1 by expanding the program stored in the ROM 6 into the RAM 7 and executing the program.

The ROM 6 stores a program and various data (for example, fonts and the like) necessary for executing the program. The RAM 7 is a work memory used for executing a program. The computer-readable recording medium that stores the program and data used for processing in the printing apparatus 1 includes a physical (non-temporary) recording medium such as ROM 6 and RAM 7.

The display device drive circuit 8 is a liquid crystal display driver circuit and an organic EL display driver circuit. The display device drive circuit 8 controls the display device 4 based on the display data stored in the RAM 7.

The head drive circuit 9 controls energization of a plurality of heat generating elements 10a of the thermal head 10 based on print data and control signals. The thermal head 10 is a print head having a plurality of heat generating elements 10a arranged in the main scanning direction. The thermal head 10 heats the ink ribbon with each heat generating element 10a and prints one line at a time on the printing medium M by thermal transfer.

The transport motor drive circuit 11 drives the transport motor 12. The transport motor 12 may be, for example, a stepping motor or a direct current (DC) motor. The transport motor 12 is a drive unit that operates the platen roller 21 and the ink ribbon winding drive shaft 23, and more specifically, rotates and moves the platen roller 21. Under the control of the transfer motor drive circuit 11, the transfer motor 12 can rotate not only in the forward direction, which is the direction in which the printed medium M is fed, but also in the reverse direction, which is the direction in which the printed medium M is rewound. It has become.

The platen roller 21 is rotated by the driving force of the transport motor 12, and transports the print medium M in the longitudinal direction (sub-scanning direction, transport direction) of the print medium M. The platen roller 21 functions as a feeding mechanism for feeding out the print medium M from the tape cassette 30 when the transport motor 12 is rotating in the forward direction, and the tape when the transport motor 12 is rotating in the reverse direction. It functions as a rewinding mechanism for rewinding the printed medium M unwound (or, as will be described later) from the cassette 30.

The clutch 25 is a power transmission device that transmits the driving force of the transport motor 12 to the ink ribbon winding drive shaft 23. The control circuit 5 controls the clutch 25 in a connected state in which the driving force is transmitted to the ink ribbon winding drive shaft 23 when the transport motor 12 is rotating in the forward direction. Further, in the control circuit 5, when the transport motor 12 is rotating in the opposite direction, that is, when the platen roller 21 is used to rewind the printed medium M, the driving force is transmitted to the ink ribbon winding drive shaft 23. The clutch 25 is controlled in a disengaged state. This makes it possible to prevent the ink ribbon R from being rewound together with the printed medium M when the platen roller 21 is used to rewind the printed medium M in the label length setting process described later.

The encoder 26 is a measuring unit that measures the driving amount of the transport motor 12 or the platen roller 21, and outputs the measured driving amount to the control circuit 5. The encoder 26 may be provided on the rotating shaft of the transport motor 12, or may be provided on the rotating shaft of the platen roller 21 which is a rewinding mechanism. There is a certain known relationship between the drive amount measured by the encoder 26 and the transfer amount of the print medium M. Therefore, when the platen roller 21 is used to rewind the printed medium M, the control circuit 5 can acquire the rewinding amount of the printed medium M based on the driving amount. By detecting the rewinding amount based on the driving amount measured by the measuring unit, it is possible to obtain a highly accurate rewinding amount. Here, the driving amount is an amount in which the driving object (here, the transport motor 12 or the platen roller 21) has moved, and is, for example, a rotation angle. The rewinding amount is the amount at which the printed medium M is rewound, and is the amount of the printed medium M conveyed by the rotation of the conveying motor 12 in the opposite direction.

When the transport motor 12 is a stepping motor, the control circuit 5 is based on the signal (number of input pulses) input to the transport motor drive circuit 11 that drives the transport motor 12, and the transport motor 12 is used. It is also possible to acquire the driving amount of. Therefore, when the transport motor 12 is a stepping motor, the encoder 26 may be omitted, and the control circuit 5 is a printing medium based on the signal (number of input pulses) input to the transport motor drive circuit 11. The rewinding amount of M may be acquired. By acquiring the rewinding amount based on the number of input pulses, the device configuration can be simplified.

The cutter motor drive circuit 14 drives the cutter motor 15. The full-cut mechanism 17 and the half-cut mechanism 16 are operated by the power of the cutter motor 15 to fully cut or half-cut the printed medium M. The full cut is an operation of cutting the base material of the printed medium M together with the release paper along the width direction of the printed medium M, and the half cut is an operation of cutting only the base material along the width direction. That is.

FIG. 7 is an example of a flowchart of the label length setting process. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a state in which the printed medium M is pulled out from the tape cassette 30 according to the size of the area to be pasted. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a state in which the tape cassette 30 in a state where the printing medium M is pulled out is housed in the printing apparatus 1. Hereinafter, a method of setting the label length according to the size of the pasting target area will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 7 to 9. In the following, a case of creating a label to be attached to the spine of the file F shown in FIG. 8 will be described as an example.

First, the user takes out the tape cassette 30 from the printing device 1 before causing the printing device 1 to start the label length setting process. Then, as shown in FIG. 8, the printed medium M is pulled out from the tape cassette 30 according to the size of the spine of the file F, which is the area to be pasted. At this time, since the printed medium M is not pressed against the ink ribbon R, the ink ribbon R is not pulled out toward the ink ribbon winding core 35, and the printed medium M is pulled out from the tape cassette 30 by itself. ..

Next, as shown in FIG. 9, the user accommodates the tape cassette 30 in the cassette accommodating portion 19 of the printing apparatus 1 with the printed medium M pulled out, and closes the opening / closing lid 18. After that, the user operates the input unit 3 to cause the printing apparatus 1 to start the label length setting process shown in FIG. 7.

When the label length setting process is started, the printing apparatus 1 first starts the reverse transfer of the print medium M (step S1). Here, after the control circuit 5 controls the clutch 25 to the disengaged state, the transfer motor 12 is rotated in the reverse direction by the transfer motor drive circuit 11. As a result, the platen roller 21 conveys the printed medium M drawn out from the tape cassette 30 in the rewinding direction. At this time, the ink ribbon R is not reversely conveyed because the clutch 25 is in the disengaged state. Therefore, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the used ink ribbon R is rewound to the printing position and used again for printing.

Next, the printing apparatus 1 determines whether or not the tip T of the printed medium M is detected (step S2). Here, the control circuit 5 determines whether or not the tip T of the printed medium M is detected based on the detection result of the photo sensor 41. In other words, the control circuit 5 determines whether or not the printed medium M has been rewound to the set position. More specifically, the control circuit 5 may make the above determination based on, for example, the change in the amount of light detected by the light receiving element 43, or may make the determination based on the absolute amount of the amount of light. Further, the determination may be made based on the color of the light detected by the light receiving element 43 or its change. The set position is a preset position and is set on the transport path of the printed medium M in the printing apparatus 1.

When it is determined that the tip T is detected, that is, when it is determined that the printed medium M has been rewound to the set position, the printing apparatus 1 stops the reverse transfer (step S3). Here, the control circuit 5 controls the clutch 25 to the connected state after the transfer motor drive circuit 11 stops the rotation of the transfer motor 12. By the processing of steps S1 to S3, the platen roller 21 is controlled by the control circuit 5 so as to rewind the print medium M to the set position.

When the reverse transfer is stopped, the printing apparatus 1 acquires the rewinding amount of the printed medium M (step S4). Here, the control circuit 5 sets the printed medium M by the platen roller 21 based on the drive amount of the transport motor 12 or the platen roller 21 measured by the encoder 26 between steps S1 and S3. The rewinding amount when rewinding to is may be acquired. If the transport motor 12 is a stepping motor, the control circuit 5 is a platen roller based on the number of pulses input by the transport motor drive circuit 11 to the transport motor 12 between steps S1 and S3. The rewinding amount when the printed medium M is rewound to the set position by 21 may be acquired.

When the rewinding amount is acquired, the printing apparatus 1 sets the label length (step S5), and ends the label length setting process. Here, the control circuit 5 sets the label length, which is the length of the label created by printing on the printed medium M, based on at least the rewinding amount acquired in step S4. More specifically, the label length is set based on the rewinding amount and the transport distance between the preset reference position and the photosensor 41.

The reference position is defined as a portion (a portion of the tape cassette 30 or the printing apparatus 1) overlapped with the end portion of the pasting target area when the printed medium M is pulled out according to the pasting target area. , The position of the reference portion in the printing apparatus 1 at the start of rewinding. In this example, at the start of drawing out the printed medium M, the discharge port 30a of the tape cassette 30 from which the printed medium M is discharged is overlapped with the end of the sticking target area (see FIG. 8). Therefore, the discharge port 30a of the tape cassette 30 is the reference portion, and the reference position is the position of the discharge port 30a of the tape cassette 30 when the tape cassette 30 is housed in the printing apparatus 1.

Therefore, in step S5, the control circuit 5 sets the label length based on the rewinding amount, the position of the discharge port 30a of the tape cassette 30, and the transport distance D1 (see FIG. 4) between the photo sensor 41. .. That is, the length of the printed medium M drawn out from the tape cassette 30 before the label length setting process shown in FIG. 9 is the amount of rewinding of the drawn printed medium M to the photo sensor 41, and the photo sensor 41 is used. The length is the sum of the transport distance D1 between the tape cassette 30 and the tape cassette 30.

After the label length setting process shown in FIG. 9 is completed, the printing apparatus 1 may set the label length set in the label length setting process and perform label printing. This makes it possible to easily create a label having a length that matches the size of the area to be pasted. The print data may be input to the printing device 1 before the start of the label length setting process, or may be input to the printing device 1 after the start of the label length setting process.

As described above, in the printing apparatus 1, the user simply pulls out the printed medium M from the tape cassette 30 according to the size of the area to be pasted, and sets the label length according to the size of the area to be pasted. can do. Therefore, it is possible to set an appropriate label length for the printing device 1 without the user having to measure the size of the pasting target area and input it to the printing device 1. Therefore, according to the printing apparatus 1, it is possible to support the creation of a label having a length that matches the size of the area to be pasted, and to create a label having an appropriate length while reducing the burden on the user. be able to.

Further, in the printing apparatus 1, it is determined whether or not the printed medium M has been rewound to the set position based on the detection result of the photo sensor 41. Therefore, the rewinding process can be performed accurately, and as a result, the label length according to the size of the pasting target area can be set with high accuracy.

Further, in the printing apparatus 1, the label length is set by a simple calculation based on the rewinding amount, the reference position, and the transport distance between the photo sensor 41. Therefore, the label length can be set in a short time.

The above-described embodiments show specific examples for facilitating the understanding of the invention, and the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. The printing device, the control method of the printing device, and the program can be variously modified and changed without departing from the description of the claims.

In the above-described embodiment, the printing device 1 having the input unit 3 and the display device 4 is exemplified, but the printing device does not have to have the input unit and the display device, and the print data is electronically different from the printing device. It may be received from the device.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the platen roller 21 functions as a rewinding mechanism, but the rewinding mechanism is not limited to the platen roller 21. For example, the tape core engaging shaft 22 may be configured as a drive shaft, and the tape core engaging shaft 22 may function as a rewinding mechanism. By rewinding the printed medium M using the tape core engaging shaft 22, the printed medium M can be reliably wound even when the printed medium M is drawn out for a long time. On the other hand, by rewinding the print medium M using the platen roller 21, the rewinding amount can be calculated more accurately.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the rewinding portion is used to set the label length, but the rewinding mechanism may be used to reduce unnecessary margins generated in the printed medium M. .. Specifically, for example, even if the printed medium M is further rewound until the tip T is located near the thermal head 10 by using the rewinding mechanism after the label length setting process and before the label printing is started. good.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, an example in which the label length is set regardless of the magnitude of the rewinding amount is shown in the label length setting process, but the control circuit 5 sets the label length based on the rewinding amount. You may decide whether or not. When the tape cassette 30 is housed in the cassette storage unit 19 of the printing apparatus 1 in a state where the print medium M is not pulled out from the tape cassette 30 at all, the print medium is stored in the half-cut mechanism 16 or the full-cut mechanism 17. Since M may not be normally conveyed, the tape cassette 30 is drawn out from the tape cassette 30 to the printing apparatus 1 in a state where the printed medium M is drawn short enough to enter the half-cut mechanism 16 and the full-cut mechanism 17. It is usually contained. Therefore, when the rewinding amount is relatively small (for example, 5 to 15 mm), the control circuit 5 normally conveys the printed medium M, not drawn out for setting the label length. Therefore, it may be determined that there is a high possibility that the label has been pulled out, and the setting of the label length may be omitted.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the stationary type printing device 1 is exemplified, but the printing device may be, for example, a handy type printing device 200 that can be used while being held by hand, as shown in FIG. good. The printing device 200 is a printing device including an input unit 203 and a display device 204, but does not have to have the input unit 203 and the display device 204.

In the case of the handy type printing device 200, the printed medium M may be pulled out according to the area to be pasted while the tape cassette is housed in the printing device 200, and then the label length setting process may be performed. In this case, neither the work of taking out the tape cassette from the printing device 200 nor the work of accommodating the tape cassette in the printing device 200 is required. Therefore, it is possible to create a label having an appropriate length while further reducing the burden on the user as compared with the printing apparatus 1.

In the label length setting process performed by the printing device 200, the reference position in step S5 is the position of the discharge port 202a (see FIG. 11) of the printing device 200. That is, the control circuit 5 sets the label length based on the rewinding amount acquired in step S4 and the transport distance between the position of the discharge port 202a of the printing device 200 and the sensor. That is, the length of the printed medium M drawn out from the tape cassette before the label length setting process is obtained by subtracting the transport distance between the photo sensor 41 and the ejection port 202a from the rewinding amount to the photo sensor 41. It becomes the length.

Further, in the printing apparatus 200, the ink ribbon R is also conveyed when the printing medium M is pulled out. Therefore, in the label length setting process performed by the printing device 200, the control circuit 5 may omit the control of the clutch 25 in steps S1 and S3 and keep the clutch 25 in the connected state at all times. As a result, the ink ribbon R drawn out together with the printed medium M is rewound together with the printed medium M, so that the unused ink ribbon R can be used without wasting it.

Hereinafter, the inventions described in the scope of claims at the time of filing the application of the present application will be added.
[Appendix 1]
A rewinding mechanism for rewinding the printed medium drawn from a cassette containing a long printed medium, and a rewinding mechanism.
At least, the length of the label created by printing on the print medium is set based on the rewind amount when the print medium is rewound to a preset set position by the rewind mechanism. A printing device, characterized in that it is equipped with a control circuit.

[Appendix 2]
In the printing apparatus described in Appendix 1,
The set position is set on the transport path of the printed medium in the printing apparatus.
The printing device includes a sensor that is arranged at a position corresponding to the set position and can detect an end portion of the printed medium.
The control circuit determines that the printed medium has been rewound to the set position based on the detection result of the sensor.
A printing device characterized by that.

[Appendix 3]
In the printing apparatus described in Appendix 2,
The control circuit is characterized in that the length of the label is set based on the rewinding amount and the transport distance of the printed medium between the preset reference position and the set position. Printing equipment.

[Appendix 4]
In the printing apparatus according to any one of Supplementary Note 1 to Supplementary Note 3, further.
The motor that operates the rewinding mechanism and
A measuring unit for measuring the driving amount of the motor or the rewinding mechanism is provided.
The control circuit acquires the rewinding amount based on the driving amount measured by the measuring unit.
A printing device characterized by that.

[Appendix 5]
In the printing apparatus according to any one of Supplementary Note 1 to Supplementary Note 3, further.
The motor that operates the rewinding mechanism and
With a drive circuit that drives the motor,
The control circuit acquires the rewinding amount based on the signal input to the drive circuit.
A printing device characterized by that.

[Appendix 6]
The printing apparatus described in Appendix 4 or Appendix 5 is
A printing head that heats the ink ribbon drawn from the cassette to print on the printing medium, and a print head.
The ink ribbon winding drive shaft for winding the ink ribbon and
A power transmission device for transmitting the driving force of the motor to the ink ribbon winding drive shaft is provided.
The control circuit controls the power transmission device to a cut state so that the ink ribbon is not rewound when the printed medium is rewound by the rewinding mechanism.
A printing device characterized by that.

[Appendix 7]
It is a control method of the printing device.
The printing apparatus includes a rewinding mechanism for rewinding the printed medium drawn from a cassette containing a long printed medium.
The rewinding mechanism rewinds the printed medium to a preset position.
Based on the rewinding amount when the printed medium is rewound to the set position, the length of the label created by printing on the printed medium is set.
A method of controlling a printing device, characterized in that.

[Appendix 8]
A program that is executed by the computer of the printing device.
The printing apparatus includes a rewinding mechanism for rewinding the printed medium drawn from a cassette containing a long printed medium.
The rewinding mechanism causes the printed medium to be rewound to a preset set position.
Based on the rewinding amount when the printed medium is rewound to the set position, the length of the label created by printing on the printed medium is set.
A program characterized by executing processing.

1,200 Printing device 2a, 202a Outlet 5 Control circuit 6 ROM
7 RAM
10 Thermal head 11 Conveying motor drive circuit 12 Conveying motor 14 Cutter motor drive circuit 15 Cutter motor 16 Half-cut mechanism 17 Full-cut mechanism 19 Cassette housing 21 Platen roller 23 Ink ribbon winding drive shaft 25 Clutch 26 Encoder 30 Tape cassette 41 Photosensor 42 Light emitting element 43 Light receiving element M Printed medium R Ink ribbon F File

Claims (9)

A rewinding mechanism for rewinding the printed medium drawn from a cassette containing a long printed medium, and a rewinding mechanism.
At least, the length of the label created by printing on the print medium is set based on the rewind amount when the print medium is rewound to a preset set position by the rewind mechanism. A printing apparatus including a control circuit that omits setting the length of the label when the rewinding amount is smaller than a predetermined threshold value . In the printing apparatus according to claim 1,
The set position is set on the transport path of the printed medium in the printing apparatus.
The printing device includes a sensor that is arranged at a position corresponding to the set position and can detect an end portion of the printed medium.
The control circuit determines that the printed medium has been rewound to the set position based on the detection result of the sensor.
A printing device characterized by that. In the printing apparatus according to claim 2,
The control circuit is characterized in that the length of the label is set based on the rewinding amount and the transport distance of the printed medium between the preset reference position and the set position. Printing equipment. In the printing apparatus according to claim 3,
The control circuit sets the length of the label with the discharge port of the cassette from which the print medium is discharged as the reference position.
A printing device characterized by that. In the printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , further
The motor that operates the rewinding mechanism and
A measuring unit for measuring the driving amount of the motor or the rewinding mechanism is provided.
The control circuit acquires the rewinding amount based on the driving amount measured by the measuring unit.
A printing device characterized by that. In the printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , further
The motor that operates the rewinding mechanism and
With a drive circuit that drives the motor,
The control circuit acquires the rewinding amount based on the signal input to the drive circuit.
A printing device characterized by that. The printing apparatus according to claim 5 or 6 .
A printing head that heats the ink ribbon drawn from the cassette to print on the printing medium, and a print head.
The ink ribbon winding drive shaft for winding the ink ribbon and
A power transmission device for transmitting the driving force of the motor to the ink ribbon winding drive shaft is provided.
The control circuit controls the power transmission device to a cut state so that the ink ribbon is not rewound when the printed medium is rewound by the rewinding mechanism.
A printing device characterized by that. It is a control method of the printing device.
The printing apparatus includes a rewinding mechanism for rewinding the printed medium drawn from a cassette containing a long printed medium.
The rewinding mechanism rewinds the printed medium to a preset position.
Based on the rewinding amount when the printed medium is rewound to the set position, the length of the label created by printing on the printed medium is set , and the rewinding amount is predetermined. If it is smaller than the threshold value, the setting of the label length is omitted .
A method of controlling a printing device, characterized in that. A program that is executed by the computer of the printing appliance.
The printing apparatus includes a rewinding mechanism for rewinding the printed medium drawn from a cassette containing a long printed medium.
The rewinding mechanism causes the printed medium to be rewound to a preset set position.
Based on the rewinding amount when the printed medium is rewound to the set position, the length of the label created by printing on the printed medium is set, and the rewinding amount is predetermined. If it is smaller than the threshold value, the setting of the label length is omitted .
A program characterized by executing processing.

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