JPH052957U - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] The character information printed on the film tape can be recognized accurately from both front and back sides at the same time. [Constitution] The character information input by the dial 6 and the confirm button 6a is a state in which the CPU 101 horizontally inverts the normal image information of the character information and the character array of the normal image information, and the character patterns of the respective characters are horizontally reversed. It is stored in the RAM 103 as left-right inversion information of. The normal image information and the horizontal inversion information are read from the RAM 103 according to the input from the keyboard 5 and output to the thermal head 36.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a printing device for printing left-right inverted characters on a transparent print medium.

[0002]

[Prior Art]

 Conventionally, as a printing apparatus of this type, the applicant of the present invention has proposed a printing apparatus as described in JP-A-63-95952. When printing mirror image characters with this printing device, the mirror image information is obtained by reversing the character information stored in the storage device upside down, and the mirror image information or normal image information is supplied to the print head to provide the mirror image information. Characters or normal image characters were printed on transparent paper.

[0003]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 However, in the printing device as described above, after printing the normal image characters and the mirror image characters on the same transparent film, a double-sided tape is attached to the surface opposite to the printing surface of the transparent film to print the tape. If the printing tape is attached to one side of a transparent window glass, etc., the part printed as a normal image character can be read correctly, but the part printed as a mirror image character is displayed above and below the character. It turned over and didn't make sense. Therefore, in order to correctly read from both sides of a transparent window glass, etc., cut off the printing tape, flip the mirror image character part upside down, and stick it on the same surface as the normal image character part. Had to do.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and when printing the normal image information and the left-right reversal information on the same transparent print medium, without special modification. The purpose is to provide a printing device that prints so that it can be viewed accurately from both the front and back sides.

[0005]

In order to achieve this object, a printing device of the present invention is a printing device for printing character information input from an input means on a transparent print medium by the printing means, and further comprising: Storage means for storing the character information input from the input means as normal image information, and for horizontally inverting the character array of the normal image information and for horizontally inverting the pattern of each character. And a supply means for reading at least one of the normal image information and the left-right reversal information from the storage means and supplying it to the printing means.

[0006]

[Action]

 In the printing apparatus of the present invention having the above-described configuration, the storage means stores the character information input from the input means in the normal image information and the character array of the normal image information is horizontally reversed, and at the same time, the respective character patterns are stored. It is stored as left-right inverted information in the state of left-right inverted. Then, at least one of the normal image information and the left-right reversal information stored in the storage means is read by the supply means, supplied to the print means, and printed by the print means.

[0007]

【Example】

 An embodiment in which the present invention is embodied in a tape printer will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5.

As shown in FIG. 2, a housing 5 a of the tape printer 1 has a keyboard 5 including a power switch 2, a printing key 3, a changeover switch 4 and a dial for selecting characters and symbols to be input. 6 and a confirm button 6a for confirming the selected character or symbol. Above the dial 6 and the confirmation button 6a, a liquid crystal display 7 for displaying the inputted characters and symbols is arranged. A discharge port 9 for discharging the recording tape 10 produced by the tape printer 1 is formed on the side surface of the housing 1a, and a tape cutting device 68 described later is provided near the discharge port 9. Is attached. A tape storage cassette 20, which will be described later, is mounted inside the housing 1a.

As shown in FIG. 4, the tape storage cassette 20 includes a film tape spool 22 around which a transparent film tape 12 is wound, and a thermal transfer ribbon 24 which is wound with its ink surface inside. The rotated ribbon supply spool 26, the ribbon winding spool 28 for winding the thermal transfer ribbon 24 drawn out from the ribbon supply spool 26, and the film tape 12 have substantially the same width, and the adhesive layer 14 is provided on one side. An adhesive layer supply spool 30 in which the formed release paper 16 is wound with the release paper 16 on the outside, and an alignment roller for aligning the adhesive layer 14 of the release paper 16 and the printing surface of the film tape 12 32, and a cassette case 19 for accommodating the above-mentioned members. Then, by closing the opening of the cassette case 19 with the lid 34, the cassette case 19 and the supporting portions S1 to S5 formed on the bottom of the lid 34 facing the cassette case 19 are interposed. The spools and the adjusting roller 32 are rotatably fixed.

As shown in FIG. 3, the tape storage cassette 20 has a recess 38 for accommodating the thermal head 36 provided in the tape printer 1, and the inside and the outside of the recess 38 are formed. Guide plates 40 and 42 are erected on the periphery to secure a space for accommodating the thermal head 36. Further, the guide plate 40 is provided with a plate spring 46 for urging the film tape 12 and the thermal transfer ribbon 24 guided to the recess 38 through the guide pin 44 in the outward direction. The leaf spring 46 can reliably secure a space for accommodating the thermal head 36. Further, the guide plate 42 guides the thermal transfer ribbon 24, which has passed through the concave portion 38, to the ribbon take-up spool 28 by its end 42a.

When the tape storage cassette 20 is attached to the tape printer 1, the thermal head 36 is arranged on the back surface (the surface other than the ink surface) of the thermal transfer ribbon 24. Then, by pressing the film tape 12 and the thermal transfer ribbon 24 against the thermal head 36 by the platen roller 48 provided in the tape printer, desired characters can be recorded on the film tape 12.

On the other hand, the housing 1a of the tape printer 1 is fitted with the aligning roller 32 and the ribbon take-up spool 28 of the tape storage cassette 20 when the tape storage cassette 20 is attached to the tape printing apparatus, and By the drive motor 8 shown in FIG. 1 and a power transmission mechanism (not shown), the tape feeder 50 that drives the aligning roller 32 to rotate in the direction of arrow A shown in FIG. 3 and the ribbon take-up spool 28 to rotate in the direction of arrow B. The ribbon winding body 52 is formed. By these rotational drives, the thermal transfer ribbon 24 and the film tape 12 travel through the guide pin 44, the guide plate 40, and the recess 38 in that order.

Further, the same casing 1a is provided with a feed roller 54 supported by a support body 58 which is fixed so as to be rotatable around a shaft 56 integrally formed with the casing 1a. The feed roller 54 is a film which is formed by urging a support member 58 in the direction of arrow C (counterclockwise direction) by an urging member (not shown) after the tape storage cassette 20 is mounted in the tape printer 1. It contacts the roller surface of the alignment roller 32 via the tape 12 and the release paper 16. As a result, the recording surface of the film tape 12 and the adhesive layer 14 of the release paper 16 are pressure-bonded to each other, and the recording tape 10 is produced.

A guide plate 60 for guiding the film tape 12 to the aligning roller 32 is provided in the path from the recess 38 of the film tape 12 to the aligning roller 32. On the other hand, a guide roller 64 that guides the release paper 16 to the aligning roller 32 is provided in the path of the release paper 16 to the aligning roller 32.

A tape retainer 66 for guiding the produced recording tape 10 to a tape cutting device 68 described later is formed near the aligning roller 32. In the housing 1a of the tape printer 1 near the tape retainer 66, the recording tape 10 guided to the outside of the tape storage cassette 20 via the tape retainer 66 is left, leaving a margin due to the structure of the device. A tape cutting device 68 having a cutter blade 70 for cutting is attached. A receiving portion 72 for receiving the cutter blade 70 is formed at a position of the cassette case 19 of the tape storage cassette 20 facing the cutter blade 70.

Next, a control device that controls the tape printer 1 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 1, the control device 100 includes a well-known CPU 101, a ROM 102, a RAM 103, an interface circuit 104, and a common bus 105 connecting them. The dial 6, the confirmation button 6a, the keyboard 5, the liquid crystal display 7, the thermal head 36, and the drive motor 8 are all connected to the interface circuit 104. The CPU 101 displays the normal image information of the character information input by the dial 6 and the confirmation button 6a, and the left and right reversed information of the character array of the normal image information and the left and right reversed information of each character pattern which is horizontally reversed. The RAM 103 stores the normal image information or the horizontal inversion information from the RAM 103 in accordance with the input from the keyboard 5, and outputs it to the thermal head 36 through the interface circuit 104.

Next, the operation of the tape printer 1 having such a configuration will be described based on the flow chart shown in FIG.

With the tape storage cassette 20 attached to the tape printer 1, the power switch 2 of the keyboard 5 is turned on. Then, the character information such as a symbol or a character to be printed is selected by the dial 6 and the confirmation button 6a and confirmed input (S1). The input character information is stored in the RAM 103 by the CPU 101 as the normal image information and the horizontal inversion information as described above (S2).

When printing the input character information, the changeover switch 4 provided on the keyboard 5 is operated to print a normal image character, a left-right reversed character, or a normal image character. Select whether to print both the left and right reversed characters, and press the print key 3. When the normal image character is selected (S3, Yes), the CPU 101 reads the normal image information from the RAM 103 and outputs it to the thermal head 36 via the common bus 105 and the interface circuit 104 (S4). When the left-right inverted character is selected (S5, Yes), the CPU 101 reads the left-right inverted information from the RAM 103 and outputs it to the thermal head 36 via the common bus 105 and the interface circuit 104 (S6). Further, when both the normal image character and the horizontally inverted character are selected (S5, No), the CPU 101 reads the normal image information and the horizontally inverted information from the RAM 103, and the thermal image is read via the common bus 105 and the interface circuit 104. Output to the head 36 (S7).

Then, the thermal head 36 prints the normal image information or the horizontal inversion information read from the RAM 103 on the film tape 12 via the thermal transfer ribbon 24 (S 8). The recording surface of the film tape 12 is prepared by the aligning roller 32 and the feed roller 54, the printing surface of the film tape 12 being overlapped with the adhesive layer 14 of the release paper 16 and being pressure-bonded. Then, the recording tape 10 is cut by operating the tape cutting device 68 leaving an appropriate margin, and is discharged from the discharge port 9 of the tape printer 1 to the outside of the casing 1a.

Regarding the conveyance of the printed film tape 12 and the release paper 16, the pressure bonding of the film tape 12 and the release paper 16 by the aligning roller 32 and the feed roller 54, and the cutting of the recording tape 10 created. The details are disclosed by the present applicant in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-106555, and thus the description thereof will be omitted.

By the way, when the normal image characters and the horizontally reversed characters are simultaneously printed on the recording tape 10 created as described above, left and right symmetrical images are formed as shown in FIG. Therefore, when the release paper 16 of the recording tape 10 is peeled off and attached to a transparent window glass or the like, accurate character information can be recognized from either side.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described in detail above, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

For example, when the input character information is stored, only the normal image information is stored, and when the print of the horizontal inversion information is selected by the changeover switch 4, the normal image information is changed to the horizontal inversion information. It may be controlled by the CPU 101 so as to be converted into the output and output to the thermal head.

[0026]

[Effect of the device]

 As is clear from the above description, according to the printing apparatus of the present invention, when the normal image information and the left-right reversal information are printed on one side of the same transparent print medium, they can be accurately viewed from both front and back sides. The effect is that you can.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of a tape printer embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the external appearance of a tape printer embodying the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a mounting state of a tape storage cassette to a tape printer.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a tape storage cassette.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a flow of operations of the tape printer.

FIG. 6 is a top view showing a printing example of a recording tape created by a tape printing device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Tape Printing Device 5 Keyboard 6 Dial 6a Confirm Button 36 Thermal Head 100 Controller 101 CPU 102 ROM 103 RAM 104 Interface Circuit 105 Common Bus

Claims (1)

Claims for utility model registration: Claims: 1. A printing apparatus for printing character information input from input means on a transparent print medium by the printing means, wherein the character information input from the input means is normal image information. ,
And, a storage means for horizontally reversing the character array of the normal image information and storing as horizontal reversal information in a state where the respective character patterns are horizontally reversed, and at least one of the normal image information and the horizontal reversal information. A printing device comprising: a supply unit that reads out from the storage unit and supplies the print unit.