JPH06143694A - Printing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a desired printing result based on the width of a tape or the designated number of printing lines, etc., even when a user does not set the printing condition minutely in a printing apparatus which can print a plurality of lines in a tape. CONSTITUTION:When the number of printing lines is designated, the size of the font of each line is defined by the attribute of 'large, middle, small' or the like. A tape writer discriminates the kind of a loaded tape cartridge 10 by a cartridge discrimination switch 102, so that a suitable font is selected for printing. In the case where no printing data is present at the second line although printing of two lines is designated, it is determined as printing of one line and printing is carried out according to the determination. When the printing data stored temporarily as a file in a memory means is to be read out in the connected state with the already-input printing data, and if the attributes of the data are different from each other, a dividing mark is displayed at the boundary, so that the data can be distinguished from each other.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer for printing print data such as a desired character string on a tape, and more particularly to a printer having a function of printing a character string extending over a plurality of lines on the tape.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known a printing apparatus for printing a desired character string on the surface of an adhesive tape, the back surface of which is previously coated with an adhesive. This type of printing device makes it easy to print titles and titles on the surface of the tape on the spot and cleanly, and then easily attach it to the spine of document files or the back of video tapes. Widely used for both business and home use.

Further, in order to further increase the added value, a high-performance printing device capable of editing a character string over a plurality of lines has been developed, and along with this, a tape cartridge having tapes of various widths and colors built therein. Is being supplied.

[0004]

However, the diversification of tape types and printing styles, on the other hand, leads to complicated operation and control, resulting in the loss of the advantage of easily obtaining a printing tape. There is. In other words, if you try to print with a large number of points even though a tape cartridge containing a narrow tape is installed in the printing device, the character string of the normal font is changed to a wide emphasized font. In such a case, the printing may fail because the printing may not be completed within the width or the desired length of the tape.
For this reason, the user manages a plurality of types of tape cartridges having different widths and colors, and at the time of printing, it is necessary to perform not only the mounting of the tape but also various confirmation work such as the size and balance of characters.

In addition to this, if plural lines can be printed, for example, two lines are designated, but the number of lines to be printed is forgotten, and the print data is printed only in one line to obtain the desired print. There may be cases where no results are obtained. In such a case, it should be unreasonable for all of them to be misoperated by the user in view of the product characteristics of such a printing device used in a wide range of applications and situations.

The printing apparatus of the present invention solves these problems and improves the usability in that a desired printing tape can be easily obtained without the need for complicated management and complicated control for the replaceable tape cartridge. It was made for the purpose and adopted the following composition.

[0007]

According to the first printing apparatus of the present invention, a plurality of types of tape cartridges containing printing tapes having different printable widths can be exchanged, and when the tape cartridges are mounted, In a printing device for printing a plurality of lines on the tape drawn out from the tape cartridge, a print data input means for inputting print data such as characters, symbols or figures, and a cartridge discriminating means for discriminating the type of the mounted tape cartridge. When,
The line number designating means for designating the number of lines for printing the print data, the attribute defining means for defining attributes relating to the printing of the input print data, and the designated cartridge type for the discriminated cartridge type. A print status determining means for determining a print status on the printing tape based on the number of print lines and the defined attribute; and a print control means for performing a predetermined operation based on the print status. To do.

A second printing device of the present invention is a printing device in which a tape cartridge accommodating a printing tape is replaceable, and printing is performed on the tape pulled out from the tape cartridge with the tape cartridge mounted. In, a print data input means for inputting print data such as characters, symbols or figures, a line number designating means for designating the number of lines for printing the print data, and a plurality of lines are designated by the line number designating means. In this case, a print position determining means for determining a print position on the print tape based on the presence or absence of print data in each line, and a print means for printing the print data on the print tape according to the determined print position. And is provided.

In the third printing apparatus of the present invention, the tape cartridge accommodating the printing tape is replaceable, and printing is performed on the tape pulled out from the tape cartridge with the tape cartridge mounted. In a printing device, print data input means for inputting print data such as characters, symbols or figures, display means for displaying the input print data, and a printing mode given to the input print data are set in advance. The print mode setting means for setting, the print data storage means for storing the print data for each print mode in the storage means, and the stored print data for the print data input by the print data input means are deleted. A print data reading unit that reads the print data without reading, a print mode of the read print data, and the print data input unit. When the print mode of the input print data is different, the display control means for displaying both print data in different forms on the display means, and the print data in the print mode designated for each of the print data A printing means for printing on a tape is provided.

[0010]

According to the first printing apparatus of the present invention, the line number designating unit designates the number of lines of the character string to be printed on the printing tape, while the attribute defining unit sets the characters to be printed on each line. Defines the character attributes of the column. On the other hand, the type of the tape cartridge mounted in the printing device is determined by the cartridge determination means, and the printing status on the printing tape is determined based on the specified number of print lines and attributes for the cartridge type. The means judge. The print control means performs a predetermined operation in response to the judgment of the print status judgment means.

That is, according to the first printing apparatus of the present invention, when there is a tape cartridge accommodating printing tapes having different printable widths, a predetermined operation required for printing is performed based on the number of printing lines and printing attributes. Can be done. Here, various operations can be considered as the predetermined operation performed by the print control means. For example, a combination of fonts having printable sizes is selected, or the print range extends beyond the print tape. To inform you of this, to print by deleting the protruding portion, to reduce the printing so that it does not protrude, to specify the number of printing lines or to print when the printing range is outside the printing tape It is also preferable to modify the attribute or prompt the modification.

On the other hand, the attribute defined by the attribute defining means can include at least one of the character size, the font, the line spacing, and the character spacing for the print data to be printed on each line. Since the printing range such as the printing height and the printing width is determined by these attributes, it is possible to appropriately judge the printing status.

Further, the relative magnitude relation of the print data printed on each line of the number of lines designated by the number of lines designating means,
It is possible to select from pre-prepared options, and the attribute defining means defines the number of dots of characters to be printed on each line based on the relative size relationship designated by the magnitude specifying means. It is suitable for improvement.

The second printing apparatus of the present invention determines the print position based on the presence or absence of print data in each line when the number of print lines is designated. Therefore, for example, if printing of two lines is designated, but there is no print data on the second line, printing is performed in the same manner as when printing of one line is designated.

The third printing device of the present invention stores the print data once input by the print data input means for each printing mode, and reads the stored print data without erasing the input print data. be able to. Further, when the print modes of both print data are different at the time of reading, both print data are displayed in different forms on the display means. Therefore, even when the user reads print data in a print mode different from the print mode of the print data being input,
It is possible to clearly know the difference between the two printing modes.

Here, the display of the two print data in different forms is not limited to the normal display and the reverse display, and a predetermined code may be displayed at the boundary of the print data having different print forms. . Further, it is preferable that the number of lines on which the input print data is printed is designated and the order of the lines to which the print data is assigned is displayed by a code at the line end of the print data.

[0017]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In order to further clarify the configuration and operation of the present invention described above, a tape writer which is a preferred embodiment of the present invention and which has a plurality of types of tape cartridges detachably incorporated therein and which performs printing on a tape. explain.

<Hardware Configuration> FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the appearance of the tape writer 1, and FIG. 2 is a right side view of the same. 3 is a plan view showing an assembled state of the tape cartridge 10 mounted on the tape writer 1, and FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the same. In this embodiment,
Since the ink ribbon and the tape to be printed using this ink ribbon are housed in the same cartridge, this cartridge which is also an ink ribbon cartridge is hereinafter referred to as a tape cartridge.

As shown in the drawing, the tape writer 1 includes a main body case 50H for accommodating various parts, an input section 50C having 63 input keys, a main body cover 50K which can be opened and closed,
Display unit 50D visibly provided under the body cover 50K for displaying character strings and other information, body cover 50K
Tape cartridge 1 provided at the upper left of the main body
Cartridge mounting part 50A to which 0 is detachably mounted
(Not shown in FIG. 1). A window 50L for confirming the mounting of the tape cartridge 10 on the main body cover 50K
And a window 50M capable of directly looking at the display section 50D are provided, and a transparent plastic plate material is fitted into both windows 50L and 50M.

When using this tape writer 1,
First, open the main body cover 50K to open the cartridge mounting portion 5
Attach the tape cartridge 10 to 0A and cover the main body 5
Close 0K. After that, the power switch 50J provided on the right side of the main body is operated to turn on the power, and the input unit 50C
Enter the character you want to print from. When the input character string is converted into kana-kanji characters or the like as necessary and a predetermined key is operated to instruct printing, the tape T supplied by the tape cartridge 10 is printed by the thermal transfer type printer unit 50B. . The printed tape T is ejected from the tape ejection port 10A provided on the left side surface of the tape writer 1. The tape T used in this example has a printing surface processed to improve the placement of the ink by thermal transfer, and a peelable peeling tape is attached to the adhesive back surface. Therefore, by cutting the printed tape with the built-in cutter and peeling off the peeling tape on the back surface, the tape T on which characters and symbols are printed can be attached to a desired place.

Next, the structure and function of the tape cartridge 10 will be described with reference to FIGS. Note that FIG.
Is a sectional view taken along line AA. This tape cartridge 1
0 can accommodate tapes of different widths with the same assembly configuration. In the embodiment, five types of tape cartridges in which the widths of the accommodated tapes are 6 mm, 9 mm, 12 mm, 18 mm, and 24 mm are provided. Figure 6
Of these 5 types of tape cartridges, the tape width is 6m
7 is a sectional view of the tape with a width of 24 mm.
It is sectional drawing which drew the thing. In order to simplify the drawing, the reference numerals of the respective members in FIG. 7 are omitted. Further, in FIGS. 6 and 7, a part of the print head is drawn in the cross-sectional view of the tape cartridge in order to explain the attachment state to the tape writer 1.

The platen 12 used for printing is a hollow cylindrical member, and the five types of tapes T and ink ribbons R having different widths and the print head are brought into good contact with each other to enable high quality printing. Therefore, the platen rubber 14 is wound around the outer peripheral surface according to the tape width. In this embodiment, two types of platen rubber are used: a platen rubber having a width of 12 mm (see FIG. 6) for tapes of 6 mm, 9 mm, and 12 mm, and a platen rubber having a width of 18 mm (see FIG. 7) for tapes of 18 mm and 24 mm.

The outer circumferences of the upper and lower end portions of the platen 12 are
The diameter of the platen 12 is slightly smaller than the shaft diameter of the platen 12, and the small diameter portion is rotatably loosely fitted into the fitting holes 16A and 18A formed in the top wall 16 and the bottom wall 18 of the tape cartridge 10. The platen 12 is rotatable. The fitting holes 16A and 18A have a substantially oval shape, as shown in FIG. In this manner, the platen 12 erected on the tape cartridge 10 is detachable from a platen drive shaft, which will be described later, provided on the tape writer 1, and when the platen drive shaft is engaged with the platen drive shaft. The rotational drive force must be transferable. For this reason, the inner peripheral surface of the hollow portion of the platen 12 has
And, as shown in FIG. 6, six engaging strips 1 are provided in the rotational axis direction.
2A are formed at equal intervals.

In addition to the tape cartridge 10, a tape core 20, an ink ribbon core 22 and a ribbon winding core 24 are provided upright in order to compactly wind and store the long tape T and the ink ribbon R. Further, the tape cartridge 10 is provided with an entry hole 32 into which a print head described later enters. This entrance hole 3
The outer periphery 28 and the guide wall 34 are formed.

The tape core 20 is a large-diameter hollow-cylindrical reel, and is designed so that the long tape T can be wound up and stored thinly. Therefore, when the tape T located at the outermost circumference (reference numeral A in FIG. 3) is pulled out, the rotational angular velocity of the tape core 20 and the tape T located at the innermost circumference (reference numeral B in FIG. 3) are pulled out at the same speed. The rotational angular velocity of the tape core 20 is not so different from that of the tape core 20. Further, even if the tape T made of a material having a small curvature at the time of winding and storing is weak against bending stress, it can be stored without difficulty.

As shown in FIG. 5, the tape core 20 includes
A shaft hole 20B is formed at the center thereof and is rotatably fitted in a shaft body 18B provided upright from the bottom wall 18 of the tape cartridge 10. A circular thin film 20A is attached to the upper and lower ends of the tape core 20 in the axial direction, and the surface on the tape T side is an adhesive layer. This film 20A acts as a flange portion for the tape T,
Since the adhesive layer is provided on the surface of the tape T side,
The edge of the tape T is lightly attached to this film 20A.
Therefore, even if the tape T is pulled out by the rotation of the platen 12 and the tape core 20 is driven to rotate, the tape T does not come apart. A curved washer 23 in the shape of a thin plate is interposed between the lid constituting the top wall 16 of the tape cartridge 10 and the film 20A on the upper surface of the tape core 20, and the tape core 20 is deformed by the deformation of the washer 23. Is pressed toward the bottom wall 18 to restrict free rotation of the tape core 20.

The tape T wound and stored on the tape core 20.
From the bottom wall 18 of the tape cartridge 10 to the platen 12 via the tape guide pins 26 provided upright,
It is guided to the tape discharge port 10A of the tape cartridge 10.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the ink ribbon core 22 is composed of a hollow cylindrical member having a small diameter.
The outer circumferences of the upper and lower end portions are formed to have a slightly smaller diameter.
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, on the end surface of the lower end portion having the small diameter, six grooves are formed at equal intervals in the axial direction to form an engaging portion 22A. The small diameter portion on the lower end side is loosely fitted in a circular fitting hole portion 18C formed in the bottom wall 18 of the tape cartridge 10. The hollow portion at the upper end of the ink ribbon core 22 is the tape cartridge 1
It is loosely fitted in a cylindrical guide projection 16C provided on the top wall 16 of No. 0. Therefore, in this state, the ink ribbon core 22 is rotatably held by the ink ribbon R as it is pulled out.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the bottom wall 18 of the tape cartridge 10 near the bottom of the ink ribbon core 22 and the ribbon winding core 24, which will be described later, is
A thin substantially L-shaped engagement piece 18D is formed. The engagement piece 18D is formed by hollowing out a part (hatched portion X in FIG. 3) of the bottom wall 18 of the tape cartridge 10. Therefore, the tip of this engagement piece 18D is
Due to the elasticity of the members constituting the above, the base end portion 18E which is continuous with the bottom wall 18 is used as a fulcrum to move along the plane direction of the bottom wall 18. In the state where no force is applied to the engagement piece 18D, the movable end of the engagement piece 18D is located inside the outer periphery of the fitting hole portion 18C, so that the engagement hole portion 18C is free from play as described above. Engages with any of the six engaging portions 22A formed at the end of the fitted ink ribbon core 22;
The rotation of the ink ribbon core 22 is blocked.

The ink ribbon R, which is wound and stored around the ink ribbon core 22, is guided by the ribbon guide roller 30 and overlaps with the above-mentioned tape T to reach the platen 12, and the print head further enters. Entry hole 3
The ribbon take-up core 24 is reached via the guide wall 34 formed on the peripheral surface of the second winding. When the tape cartridge 10 is in an unused state, that is, when only the starting end of the ink ribbon R is attached to the ribbon take-up core 24, the drawing state of the ink ribbon R is indicated by reference numeral C in FIG. R
The same state when all of the tapes are wound around the ribbon winding core 24 is shown by reference numeral D.

The ribbon take-up core 24 is composed of a hollow cylindrical member having substantially the same shape as the ink ribbon core 22, as shown in the figure. The outer circumferences of the upper and lower end portions are also formed to have a slightly smaller diameter, like the ink ribbon core 22. Six engaging portions 24A are provided at regular intervals on the end surface of the lower end portion having the small diameter. On the other hand, this ribbon winding core 24
6 engages with a ribbon take-up core drive shaft, which will be described later, provided in the tape writer 1 similarly to the platen 12 so that it can be rotationally driven. Therefore, the inner peripheral surface of the hollow portion has six engagement lines 24B in the axial direction. It is formed at intervals. The ribbon winding core 24 configured as described above is loosely fitted into the circular fitting holes 16G, 18G formed in the bottom wall 18 and the top wall 16 of the tape cartridge 10 at the small diameter portions formed at the upper and lower ends. It stands upright.

Further, in order to prevent the ribbon winding core 24 from rotating unexpectedly, the bottom wall 18 of the tape cartridge 10 has a thin substantially L shape whose end is located inside the outer periphery of the fitting hole 18G as described above. A letter-shaped engaging piece 18H is formed. That is, a part of the bottom wall 18 of the tape cartridge 10 (hatched portion Y in FIG. 3) is hollowed out, and the engaging piece 18
It is said to be H. With the cartridge 10 alone,
The end of the engaging piece 18H is engaged with any of the six engaging portions 24A formed at the end of the ribbon winding core 24, and the rotation of the ribbon winding core 24 is blocked. . The tips of the engaging pieces 18D and 18H are engaged with the engaging portions 22A and 24H.
The ink ribbon core 22 and the ribbon take-up core 24 are opposed to A at an angle, not at a right angle.
It is possible to rotate counterclockwise.

The engaging portion 2 of the ink ribbon core 22 as described above
Engagement of 2A and engagement piece 18D and ribbon winding core 24
The engagement between the engaging portion 24A and the engaging piece 18H is released by mounting the cartridge 10 on the cartridge mounting portion 50A, and the configuration thereof will be described later together with the structure of the cartridge mounting portion 50A. To do.

The ink ribbon R wound around the ribbon winding core 24 is a thermal transfer type ribbon, and a plurality of widths thereof are prepared according to the width of the tape T on the printed side. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, the tape width 6,
An ink ribbon having a width of 12 mm for 9, 12 mm, an ink ribbon having a width of 18 mm for a tape width of 18 mm (not shown), and an ink ribbon having a width of 24 mm having the same width for a tape width of 24 mm as shown in FIG. Three kinds of ink ribbons R are prepared in total.

When the ribbon width is equal to the height of the tape cartridge 10 (see FIG. 7), the ink ribbon R is guided by the top wall 16 and the bottom wall 18, so that the ribbon winding Although the flange portion is not formed on the outer periphery of the core 24, in the case of the tape cartridge 10 having a narrow ribbon width, the tape ribbon 10 is provided on the outer periphery of the ribbon winding core 24 so that the ink ribbon R can be stably supplied to the platen 12. Is formed with a flange portion 24C conforming to the width of the ink ribbon R which is wound and stored.
To guide the ink ribbon R (see FIG. 6).

As described above, there are five types of tape cartridges 10 according to the present embodiment, depending on the width of the stored tape T. Since the printable area and the like differ depending on the width of the tape T, it is necessary to detect the type of the tape cartridge 10. In the tape cartridge 10 of the embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, three detection holes 18Ka, 18Kb, 18Kc are provided in the bottom wall 18 of the cartridge so that the type of the tape cartridge 10 can be discriminated. That is, the detection holes 18Ka, 18Kb, 18Kc are formed to have different depths depending on the width of the tape T that is wound and stored.

Type of tape cartridge 10 and detection hole 1
The relationship with 8Ka, Kb, and Kc is shown in FIG. As shown, the three detection holes 18Ka, 18Kb, 18Kc of the tape cartridge 10 accommodating the tape width of 6 mm
Are all shallowly drilled. Further, in the tape cartridge 10 having a tape width of 9 mm, only one of the detection hole 18Ka, the detection hole 18Kb in the tape width 12mm, and the detection hole 18Kc in the tape width 18mm is deeply formed. When the tape width is 24 mm, the two detection holes 18Ka, 18Ka
The Kb is deeply drilled.

The tape cartridge 1 described in detail above.
0 is the tape cartridge mounting portion 50 of the tape writer 1.
It is attached to A. Inside the tape writer 1, FIG.
9, which is an end view taken along the line AA-AA in FIG. 9, an expansion section 50E for connecting various packs optionally supplied as an external storage element, an input section 50C, and a display section 50.
Control circuit unit 50F that controls the D and printer unit 50B
Equipped with.

On the back surface of the tape writer 1, a battery storage section 50 is provided.
I is provided, and six AA batteries that can be the power source for the entire device can be installed. A power switch 50J is provided on the right side surface of the main body. The power can also be supplied from an AC adapter (not shown) from a plug 50N provided on the right side of the main body.

Hereinafter, each of the mechanical components of the tape writer 1 will be sequentially described. FIG. 10 is an explanatory view showing the configuration of the tape cartridge mounting portion 50A in plan view, FIG.
1 is the platen 12 by the power of the stepping motor 80.
A perspective view showing a main configuration of a drive mechanism 50P for driving the
Is.

The cartridge mounting portion 50A is arranged on the left rear side of the main body of the tape writer 1 and, as shown in FIG. 10, is formed as a mounting space conforming to the shape of the tape cartridge 10 described above. As shown in FIG. 11, shafts and print heads 60 that engage with the hollow portions of the ribbon winding core 24 and the platen 12 are erected in the mounting space. In addition, the rotation of the stepping motor 80 is mounted on the platen 12 below the tape cartridge mounting portion 50A.
Although the drive mechanism 50P for transmitting to the drive is provided, the drive mechanism 5P is partitioned by the case of the tape cartridge mounting portion 50A.
You cannot directly see 0P. FIG. 11 shows a state in which this case is removed. Note that this mounting space is normally covered with the main body cover 50K when the tape cartridge 10 is mounted.

When mounting or replacing the tape cartridge 10 in the cartridge mounting portion 50A, the main body cover 5 is used.
Open at 0K. When the slide button 52 provided in front of the cartridge mounting portion 50A is slid to the right, the engagement between the main body cover 50K and the main body is released, and the main body cover 50K rotates around the cover hinge 54 at the rear of the main body as a fulcrum to open it. be able to. The slide button 52 is constantly biased to the left in the figure by the integrally provided spring arm 52A being locked by the locking portion on the main body side.

When the main body cover 50K is opened by operating the slide button 52, the print head 60 for printing on the tape T of the tape cartridge 10 can attach and detach the tape cartridge 10. About this operation
explain. As shown in FIG. 11, the print head 60 is rotatably mounted on a head rotation shaft 64 provided upright from a base board 61, and a head body 65 in which a plurality of heating elements are arranged is provided with an insulator 65a. Heat sink 6 to attach
5b, a frame 67 that supports the heat dissipation plate 65b by a connecting plate 67a, a coil spring 66 that biases the print head 60 toward an initial position, and a flexible cable 68 that is an electrical wiring to the head main body 65. With. In addition,
The frame 67 and the connecting plate 67a are connected by driving a pin 67b into the opening of the connecting plate 67a, and the heat dissipation plate 65b having the head main body 65 mounted thereon is rotatable about the pin 67b. . As a result, the print head 60
When pushing out to the platen 12 side, the head body 65
Will uniformly hit the tape T sandwiched between it and the platen 12.

The lower end of the frame 67 is largely extended to form a link plate 62. This link board 62
Are sewn between gear trains described later, and their ends are located near the boundary with the display unit 50D (see FIG. 10).
reference). A coil spring 69 is hooked on an end portion of the link plate 62 to connect the drive member 63 and the link plate 62. The drive member 63 has a substantially triangular shape, and the end 63a opposite to the end 63a to which the coil spring 69 is coupled has an end 63b as shown in FIG.
It is arranged at a position opposite to. An operation arm 50S extends downwardly and is formed at a position facing the end 63b of the body cover 50K, and the end 63b is pushed down by the operation of closing the body cover 50K.

This movement is schematically shown in FIG. 12, which is an end view taken along the line BB of FIG. As illustrated, as the body cover 50K is pushed down, the operation arm 50S pushes down the end portion 63b of the drive member 63,
Along with this, the link plate 62 via the coil spring 69.
, But rotates in the right direction in FIG. This movement of the link plate 62 causes the print head 60 to rotate against the biasing force of the coil spring 66. As a result, the print head 60 moves from the retracted position to the print position facing the platen 12 of the mounted tape cartridge 10. That is, when the operation of closing the main body cover 50K is performed, the print head 60 is set to a printable position. On the other hand, when the operation of opening the main body cover 50K is performed, the operation of moving the print head 60 to the retracted position, which is required when the tape cartridge 10 is removed or attached, which is a normally executed action, is performed at the same time. Will be realized. The print head 60 once moved to the retracted position stays in that position by the coil spring 66 while the main body cover 50K is opened, and when the main body cover 50K is closed, the print head 60 moves to the platen 1.
Return to the position where 2 is pressed.

In this way, the bottom wall 18 of the tape cartridge 10 mounted in the cartridge mounting portion 50A is engaged with the engaging portions 22A and 24A for preventing the ink ribbon core 22 and the ribbon winding core 24 from rotating. It has already been described that the mating engagement pieces 18D and 18H are provided. The engagement pieces 18D, 18H are formed by hollowing out a part of the bottom wall 18 (FIGS. 3, 4, hatch portions X and Y),
As shown in FIG. 10, two wedge-shaped contact projections 70A and 70B are provided upright on the portion of the cartridge mounting portion 50A corresponding to the middle position of the hatch portion X and the hatch portion Y. Therefore, when the tape cartridge 10 is mounted in the tape cartridge mounting portion 50A, the contact protrusions 70A, 70B are fitted in the hatch portions X, Y, and the engaging pieces 18D, 18H are attached to the ink ribbon core 22 and the ribbon take-up core. The engaging portions 22A and 24A of 24 are pushed and separated from each other. Thereby, the engagement pieces 18D, 1
The engagement by 8H is released, and the ink ribbon core 22 and the ribbon winding core 24 are in a rotatable state.

Next, a transmission mechanism for transmitting the rotation of the stepping motor 80 to the platen drive shaft 72 of the platen 12 will be described. As shown in FIG. 11, a first gear 81 is attached to a rotary shaft 80A of the stepping motor 80, and a clutch arm 80B is fitted to the rotary shaft 80A with a predetermined friction. . The clutch arm 80B includes a second gear 82 and a third gear 8
Together with 3, it constitutes a one-way clutch. That is,
When the stepping motor 80 rotates in the direction of arrow C in the figure, the clutch arm 80B rotates in the direction of arrow C together with the second gear 82 due to the friction between the rotating shaft 80A and the clutch arm 80B, and engages with the third gear 83. To do. As a result, the rotation of the stepping motor 80 is transmitted to the third gear 83. Regarding the function of the one-way clutch,
It will be described later.

The rotation of the third gear 83 is transmitted to the fifth gear 85 and the sixth gear 86 via the fourth gear 84 while repeating gear down. Fifth gear 8
The rotating shaft of the winding No. 5 is coupled to the winding core drive shaft 74, and the ink ribbon R is wound up by the rotation of the stepping motor 80. In addition, the ribbon winding core 24 is actually
The rim 74A that drives the winding core drive shaft 74 is attached to the take-up core drive shaft 74 with a predetermined friction.
However, if the ribbon take-up core 24 becomes unrotatable due to reaching the end of the ink ribbon R or the like, it is assumed that the ribbon take-up core 24 slips with respect to the rotation of the take-up core drive shaft 74. ing.

The rotation of the sixth gear 86 is further transmitted to the seventh gear 87 to rotate the platen drive shaft 72. Below the platen drive shaft 72, a rim 72 </ b> A that fits into the irregularities on the inner peripheral surface of the platen 12 and drives it is provided. Therefore, when the stepping motor 80 rotates and its rotation is transmitted to the third gear 83 by the one-way clutch, finally the platen drive shaft 72 and the winding core drive shaft 74 rotate, and the platen 12 rotates. The tape T sandwiched between the platen rubber 14 provided on the outer periphery and the head main body 65 of the print head 60 is conveyed in accordance with printing, and the ink ribbon R is wound in synchronization with the conveyance of the tape T. Go on.

The platen 12 and the ribbon take-up core 24 are provided around the platen drive shaft 72 and the take-up core drive shaft 74.
The three protrusions 72B and 74B that engage with the engaging protrusions 12A and 24B formed on the hollow inner peripheral surface are formed at equal intervals. The platen drive shaft 72 and the winding core drive shaft 7
When 4 is rotationally driven at a predetermined rotation speed by the stepping motor 80, the tape T and the ink ribbon R are pulled out from the tape core 20 and the ink ribbon core 22 by a predetermined amount to be in a superposed state with each other, so that the platen rubber 14 and the print head 60 are separated from each other. Let it pass. At this time, the print head 60
If the amount of heat generated in dot units is controlled by energizing, the ink of the ink ribbon R can be thermally transferred to the tape T and printed on the tape T. After printing, tape cartridge 1
From 0, only the tape T on which printing has been completed is ejected, and the ink ribbon R used for printing is wound and collected on the ribbon winding core 24.

When the tape T is conveyed along with printing in this way, the tape T is sent out from the tape discharge port 10A on the left side surface of the main body. The tape T is essentially cut by a cutting mechanism described later, but some users may try to pull out the tape T before cutting.
When the main body cover 50K is closed, the print head 60 presses the tape T against the platen rubber 14 of the platen 12. Therefore, if the tape T is forcibly pulled out, the platen drive shaft 72 also tries to rotate. However, since the gear is down and the holding torque of the stepping motor 80 is to some extent, the platen drive shaft 72 cannot be rotated by a normal drive mechanism. Naturally, the winding core drive shaft 74 also does not rotate. Therefore, when the tape T is pulled out, the ink ribbon R is pulled out together with the tape T. When the tape T is cut by using the cutting mechanism in this state, the ink ribbon R is also cut, so such a situation should not occur.

In this embodiment, the described clutch arm 8 is used.
This problem is avoided by the one-way clutch composed of 0B and the second and third gears 82 and 83.
That is, when pulling out the tape T, the platen drive shaft 72 rotates together with the platen 12. The rotation of the platen drive shaft 72 is transmitted through the gear train to the third gear 83.
Transmitted to and rotate it clockwise. At this time, the second gear 82 tries to rotate, but since the rotation shaft 80A of the stepping motor 80 does not rotate, the third gear 8 does not rotate.
The rotational force of 3 pushes away the clutch arm 80B that pivotally supports the second gear 82, and releases the engagement between the second gear 82 and the third gear 83. As a result, the third gear 83 to the seventh gear
The gear 87 is separated from the stepping motor 80, and the rotation of the platen drive shaft 72 accompanying the pulling out of the tape T causes the take-up core drive shaft 74 to rotate. Therefore, the ink ribbon R is also wound up when the tape T is pulled out, and is not pulled out together with the tape T. When the stepping motor 80 rotates, the rotation causes the clutch arm 80B to move to the third gear 83 side again, and the second gear 82 and the third gear 83 engage with each other. Such movement of the clutch arm 80B is temporarily restricted by the opening 80C provided in the base 61 and into which the tip of the clutch arm 80B is fitted.

By the above printing operation, the tape cartridge 1
The printed tape T ejected from 0 to the left is shown in FIG.
Using the cutting mechanism whose detailed structure is shown in FIG. 0 and FIG. 13, it can be easily cut as follows. Note that FIG. 13 is a C-C end view in FIG. 10. Cutter support shaft 9 protruding from the bottom of the cartridge mounting portion 50A
2 is a tape cutter 9 having a substantially "L" shape that is rotatable.
0 and the spring 94 are fitted, and the elastic force of the spring 94 maintains the tape cutter 90 in the state shown by the solid line in FIG. 13, that is, in the state in which the rotational force in the clockwise direction in the figure is applied. By this rotating force, the tape cutter 90
The left end portion 90A pushes up the cutter button 96 from its back surface. Left end 90A of tape cutter 90
Is formed in a bifurcated shape, and a pin 96A provided on the back surface of the cutter button 96 is inserted therein. Therefore,
When the cutter button 96 is pushed downward, the left end 90A of the tape cutter 90 is moved downward along with this.

Further, the right end portion 90B of the tape cutter 90
Is formed with a moving blade 98 for cutting the tape T, and is separated from the fixed blade 91 attached to the side surface of the cartridge mounting portion 50A at a constant angle. On the back surface of the right end portion 90B, the shoulder portion 93 of the tape retainer 93 is provided.
A is in contact (see FIG. 10). This tape restraint 93
As shown in FIG. 10, when the tape cutter 90 rotates and the moving blade 98 moves toward the fixed blade 91, the tape 95 is urged by the spring 95 toward the running path of the tape T. Move in the T direction. Since the fixed wall 97 is provided on the opposite side of the running path of the tape T, the tape retainer 93 includes the movable blade 98 and the fixed blade 9.
Prior to the cutting of the tape T by the method 1, the tape T is fixed to the fixing wall 97. The movement of the tape retainer 93 is detected by the detection switch 99. The detection switch 99 is for preventing printing while the tape T is being cut, as will be described later.

The cutting of the tape T is achieved by pushing down the cutter button 96 against the elastic force of the spring 94. Depress the cutter button 96 and press the tape cutter 9
When 0 is rotated counterclockwise in FIG. 13, the right end 90
The moving blade 98 formed on B also rotates in the same direction. As a result, the tape retainer 93 first restrains the tape T between itself and the fixed wall 97, and then the moving blade 98 gradually overlaps with the fixed blade 91 from its lower portion and passes through the print head 60 to the outside of the print head 60. The tape T located is cut.

Next, the details of the input section 50C, the display section 50D, the printer section 50B and the like incorporated in the tape writer 1 will be described. For convenience of understanding the whole, the control circuit section 50F will be mainly described. The outline of the electrical configuration of each unit will be described. Immediately below the main body cover 50K, a control circuit unit 50F assembled on a printed circuit board is provided.
Is incorporated together with the printer unit 50B and the like. The overall electrical schematic configuration is shown in FIG. That is, the control circuit section 50F of the tape writer 1 includes ROM, RAM,
1-chip microcomputer (hereinafter referred to as CPU) 110 and mask R in which an input / output port is integrated
In addition to the OM 118, various circuits for interfacing the CPU 110 with the input section 50C, the display section 50D, the printer section 50B, etc. are incorporated. The CPU 110 is connected to the input unit 50C, the display unit 50D, or the like via an interface circuit or directly and controls these.

As shown in FIG. 15, the input section 50C has four inputs.
Equipped with 8 character input keys and 15 function keys, 63 keys in total. The character input key has a so-called full key structure based on the JIS arrangement, and is similar to a general word processor including a known shift key in order to suppress an increase in the number of operated keys. The function key is used to execute frequently used functions such as character input, editing, and printing with one touch, and enhances the functionality of the tape writer 1.

Each of these keys is assigned to an 8 × 8 matrix. That is, as seen from the CPU 110, as shown in FIG. 14, the 16 input ports PA1 to PA8 and PC1 to 8 are grouped as shown in the figure, and 63 kinds of keys of the input section 50C are arranged at each intersection. ing. The power switch 50J is provided independently of this matrix key and is connected to the non-maskable interrupt NMI of the CPU 110. C
When the power switch 50J is operated, the PU 110 activates an interrupt that cannot be masked, and performs each process of turning the power on or off.

The detection output from the opening / closing detection switch 55 for detecting the opening / closing of the body cover 50K is input to the port PB5, and the CPU 110 monitors the opened / closed state of the body cover 50K by interruption. The open / close detection switch 55 is
The movement of the main body cover 50K is detected by the movement of the opening / closing detection switch engagement protrusion 55L (see FIG. 12) provided at the end of the main body cover 50K. When the open state of the main body cover 50K is detected during the driving of the print head 60, a predetermined error display is displayed on the main display portion 50Da and the power supply to the printer portion 50B is turned off.

Ports PH, PM, PL of CPU 110
Is connected to the head rank determination unit 112. The head rank determination unit 112 is divided into several ranks based on the measurement result of the resistance value of the print head 60 having a large variation due to the manufacturing process, and the three jumper units 112A of the head rank determination unit 112 are classified according to the measurement results. , 112
B and 112C are set. Therefore, CPU11
0 reads the state of the head rank determination unit 112, and according to the input result, the drive time of the print head 60,
That is, the calorific value is corrected to prevent variations in print density.

Since printing by the printer unit 50B is performed by thermal transfer, the density of printing varies not only with the energization time of the print head 60, which is a thermal head, but also with the outside air temperature and drive voltage. These are detected by the temperature detection circuit 60A and the voltage detection circuit 60B. These circuits 60A and 60B are integrally incorporated in the print head 60, and the outputs thereof are the 2-channel analog-digital conversion input ports AD1 and AD2 of the CPU 110.
It is connected to the. The CPU 110 uses this port AD
The energization time of the print head 60 is corrected by converting the voltages of 1 and 2 into digital signals and reading them.

The discrimination switch 102 is connected to the ports PB1 to PB3 of the CPU 110. The determination switch 102 is provided in the lower right corner of the cartridge mounting portion 50A, as shown in FIG. The discriminating switch 102 is formed by integrally forming three cartridge discriminating switches 102A, 102B, 102C which respectively enter the three detection holes 18K formed in the tape cartridge 10. This cartridge discrimination switch 102
The protruding lengths of A, 102B, and 102C are designed according to the depth of the detection hole 18K formed in the tape cartridge 10 described above, and the cartridge determination switch 102 that has entered the shallow detection hole 18K has the detection hole 18K. The switch is turned on by abutting against and being pressed. Further, the cartridge determination switch 102 that has entered the deeply formed detection hole 18K is gently fitted into the detection hole 18K as it is, and the switch is turned off. Therefore, the three cartridge discrimination switches 10 of the discrimination switch 102
By detecting the states of 2A, 102B, and 102C, the type of the tape cartridge 10 currently mounted in the cartridge mounting unit 50A, that is, the tape cartridge 1
The width of the tape T stored in 0 can be determined. The information on the width of the tape T is used not only for controlling the size of characters to be printed but also for controlling the printer unit 50B described later.

A signal from the contact of the plug 50N is input to the port PB7 of the CPU 110. Plug 50
N is a DC power supply from the AC adapter 113 for jack 1
15 is accepted by being inserted, but at this time,
From the battery BT to the power supply unit 11 by the function of the break contact.
The power supply to 4 is cut off, and the power consumption of the battery BT is avoided. At the same time, the signal of the other contact provided on the plug 50N is input to the port PB7 of the CPU 110. Therefore, the CPU 110 can determine whether the main power source of the tape writer 1 is the AC adapter 113 or the battery BT by discriminating this signal and perform different control. In the present embodiment, the printing speed by the printer unit 50B is maximized when the power is supplied from the AC adapter 113, while the printing speed by the printer unit 50B is supplied when the power is supplied from the battery BT. Is reduced, the peak of the current flowing to the print head 60 is suppressed, and the power consumption of the battery BT is reduced.

The mask ROM 118 connected to the address bus and data bus of the CPU 110 is a Mincho type 16 × 1.
It is a 16-megabit mask ROM that stores a set of kana, kanji, and special characters of four types of fonts of 5, 24 × 24, 32 × 32, and 48 × 48. The 24-bit address bus AD, the 8-bit data bus DA, the chip select signal CS, and the output enable signal OE are the CPU 110.
Are connected to the ports PD0 to PD33. Since these signals are also directly connected to the external input / output connector 50Ea, the extension section 50E attached to the external input / output connector 50Ea can also be accessed like the mask ROM 118.

The extension section 50E provided so as to be directly connectable to the control circuit section 50F serves as an insertion portion of a ROM pack or a RAM pack which is optionally supplied as an external storage element. By inserting the ROM pack or the RAM pack into this insertion port, the electrical connection with the external input / output connector 50Ea of the control circuit section 50F is completed, and the CPU 110
It becomes possible to exchange information with. With this configuration, a ROM pack that stores special characters and symbols for various drawings, maps, chemistry, and mathematics or language fonts other than Japanese, Gothic, Mincho, typeface, etc. is installed in the expansion section, It is possible to edit a desired character string. Similarly, a RAM pack, in which information can be written freely, is attached to the expansion part to store more information than the amount of information that can be stored in the RAM area inside the tape writer body, and to create a library of print character strings, etc. It can be used for exchanging information with the tape writer 1.

Mask ROM 118 or expansion section 50E
The dot data of the character read from the CPU 110
Together with the LCD controller 11 of the display control circuit 116
It is also input to 6A.

CPU 11 via display control circuit 116
The display unit 50D controlled by 0 is arranged below the main body cover 50K having a transparent corresponding portion, and the user visually recognizes it through the main body cover 50K. In the display unit 50D, two kinds of electrode patterns are formed on the liquid crystal panel, one of which is a dot matrix pattern of height 32 × width 96, and the other is this dot, as shown in FIG. It is a pattern of 28 pentagonal electrodes arranged so as to surround the area of the matrix. The area in which the electrodes of the dot matrix pattern are formed is the main display portion 50Da for displaying a print image.
The area in which the pentagonal electrode pattern is formed is referred to as an indicator portion 50Db.

The main display portion 50Da is used as a liquid crystal display panel capable of displaying 32 dots in height × 96 dots in width. In the present embodiment, each character used for inputting and editing characters is displayed on the main display unit using a character font of width 16 × height 15 dots, so 6 characters × 2
Lines can be displayed. Further, when displaying each character, the processing state of the tape writer 1 can be visually displayed by selectively using positive display, negative display, blinking display, etc. according to the editing state.

Further, since the main display unit 50Da is of the dot matrix type and its display contents can be freely controlled, it is possible to display the current print image layout when a predetermined key input is made. When the layout display is instructed, as shown in FIG. 17, the 4 × 4 dots at the time of printing correspond to one dot on the main display portion, the tape width is displayed negatively, and a white character string is printed in it. Is displayed. At this time, the total length of the tape is displayed numerically as information that assists the print image. Further, when the layout of the print image is of a size that cannot be displayed on the main display portion 50Da at one time, the entire print layout can be confirmed by scrolling left and right with the cursor keys.

The indicator section 50Db is for displaying the function being executed by the tape writer 1 at the present stage, and is arranged around the main display section 50Da. Each display body t obtained corresponding to the pentagonal electrode pattern in the indicator portion 50Db is
It is provided so as to correspond to characters representing the function printed around D. Character input mode status such as "Romaji input" or "Lower case input", style specification status such as "number of lines" or "box rule" for print editing, format specification status such as "equal allocation" or "justification", etc. When the state setting is executed or selected, the display body t at the portion of the character indicating the state is made visible.

The printer section 50B of the tape writer 1 is
A print head 60 and a stepping motor 80 are provided as mechanical components, and a printer controller 120 and a motor driver 122 for controlling the print head 60 and the stepping motor 80 are provided as electrical components. The print head 60 is a thermal head in which 96 heating points are arranged in a vertical line at a pitch of 1/180 inch, and the temperature detection circuit 60A for detecting the outside air temperature and the voltage detection for detecting the supply voltage described above. The circuit 60B is incorporated. Stepping motor 80
Is a known configuration in which the rotation angle is controlled by appropriately controlling the phases of the four-phase drive signals. Stepping motor 8
The tape feed amount for one step of 0 is designed to be 1/360 inch by the configuration of the gear train that is the reduction mechanism. Further, a two-step rotation signal is output to the stepping motor 80 in synchronization with the dot-by-dot printing executed by the print head 60. As a result, the printer unit 50B
Printing at 180 dots / inch is performed not only in the width direction of the tape but also in the length direction thereof.

The above-mentioned detection switch 99 is provided in the printer controller 120 and the motor driver 122 as CP.
It is inserted in the common line connected from U110. Since this detection switch 99 detects the use state of the cutting mechanism, if the cutting mechanism is about to be used during printing, this detection switch 99 will be used.
And the operation of the printer unit 50B is immediately stopped. In this case, signals are continuously sent from the CPU 110 to the printer controller 120 and the motor driver 122. Therefore, if the use of the cutting mechanism is stopped, printing is continued.

In this embodiment, since the use of the cutting mechanism during printing interferes with the conveyance of the tape T, the printing operation (particularly the tape feeding operation) is immediately stopped. Therefore, the detection switch 99 is directly connected to the motor driver 122. Although the power is forcibly cut off by inserting it into the common line of FIG. 3, it is possible to take the output of the detection switch 99 into the CPU 110 once and perform the same process as when the main body cover 50K is opened. Further, instead of the detection switch 99, the clutch arm 80 is moved by the movement of the moving blade 98 as a mechanical structure.
It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which B is pushed away and the rotation of the stepping motor 80 is not transmitted to the platen drive shaft 72.

In addition to the above-described components, the tape writer 1 has a power source 114 incorporated therein, and the battery BT is provided by the RCC method using an IC and a transformer.
Obtained stable 5V power supply for backup and logic circuit. The port PV is applied to the CPU 110 for controlling its voltage.

The tape writer 1 of this embodiment is similar to that shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 8, it has a margin function to secure a tape margin by a specified distance before and after the character string to be printed. This margin function includes a tape feed phase control signal for the front margin output before transmitting the 96-bit serial print data as described above, and a rear margin component output after transmitting all the serial print data. And the tape feed phase control signal. On the other hand, if the specified distance of such a margin is smaller than the distance between the printing position and the tape cutting position (less than 8 mm in this embodiment), the specified front margin cannot be realized. In this case, after the printing is completed, the tape T is sent out by the rear margin and the print head 6
This is handled by printing a line of cut mark PCM when 0 is at the tape position before the next print position by the designated front margin. If the ejected tape T is cut at the position of the cut mark PCM, it is possible to easily obtain a printing tape having a required front margin.

CPU 1 for controlling the peripheral circuits as described above
The internal ROM 10 stores various programs for executing the above-described operations. Also, its internal RA
Part of M is a system reserved area used when executing various programs stored in the internal ROM, and the other is a text area for editing characters and a file area for storing the contents of the text. It has been released as user use area.

The text area is assigned with an area for accepting a fixed input of a maximum of 125 characters, and stores style data and mode data for editing the character as well as the character code. Therefore, the stored contents are appropriately added or updated by the character input or the editing operation from the input unit. This text area prepared on the internal RAM of the CPU 110 is also called a print data buffer.

The file area is 150 in the internal RAM.
0 character, 2000 in the optional RAM pack
The area where characters can be registered is allocated. Also, internal R
The file management program stored in the OM can store and manage 1 to 99 variable length files in this file area, and provides a basic operating environment such as file registration and call deletion.

<Description of Software> Next, the processing executed by the tape writer 1 of this embodiment will be described. Figure 1
9 is a flowchart showing a main part of a processing routine executed by the tape writer 1. In this tape writer 1,
There are various operation modes, and when a specific function key or the like in the input unit 50C is operated, the mode shifts to various modes such as a line number specifying mode and a layout display mode, which will be described later. When the key corresponding to the character is operated without specifying the mode, the character data to be finally printed is input.

When this processing routine is started, the processing mode is first discriminated (step S200). If no specific mode is designated, the character input mode is determined and print data is input (step S200). S21
0). The print data is input by directly inputting a key for alphanumeric characters or the like, and for a kana / kanji character, a result obtained by converting a kana / kanji character input from the input unit 50C into a kana / kanji character is stored in a print data buffer.

The print data input from the input section 50C is normally added to the end of the print data buffer, but it is also possible to operate the cursor key to place the insertion point in the middle of the already input character string. It is possible. In the present embodiment, the print data is added to the existing input data, but it may be overwritten.

Since the maximum number of characters in the print data buffer is 125, overflow processing is performed when more characters are input from the input section 50C (step S220). This is a process that cuts the part exceeding 125 characters when the input data is added at the end of the character string and the kana-kanji conversion is completed and the character string to be input is confirmed. Yes, if the input data is inserted in the middle of the character string, when the insertion is done, the characters with more than 125 characters can be deleted from the end of the character string stored in the print data buffer. is there.

After performing such overflow processing,
A process of displaying the confirmed character string on display unit 50D is performed (step S230). The display section 50D has a maximum of 2 rows ×
Although 6 characters are displayed, a line head mark indicating the number of lines is added to the beginning of each line. The line head mark also occupies one character in the print data buffer, and a flag (2 bits) indicating that it is a line head mark in one character 16 bits, the number of lines (up to 4 lines are enough for 2 bits), typeface Information (3 bits for 7 typefaces), font designation (5 bits including classification of internal font and external font), designation of line spacing and character spacing (4 bits), and the like are provided. The line head mark is usually shown in a black-and-white inverted form indicating the line number, and its display will be described later. After performing the display process, the process exits to "NEXT", and this process routine is once ended.

Next, the mode for designating the number of lines and the like will be described. When the line number designation mode is designated, various designation processes such as designation of the number of print lines and automatic / manual designation are first performed (step S240). The specified objects are typeface (highlighted characters, italicized characters, underlined, bag characters, reverse characters, etc.), character spacing (narrow, normal, wide), line spacing (same on the left), font in internal font or font in external ROM. There is something like that. The process of performing these designations is performed by selecting a desired designation from the options prepared in advance. That is, since the maximum number of lines to be printed is four in the embodiment, it is selected from "1", "2", "3", and "4". Choose one. To select one of these, press the cursor key or space key
Confirm by operating the key.

In the present embodiment, if print data has already been input over a plurality of lines, it is not possible to specify a smaller number of lines. Even if a plurality of lines are specified, if there is no print data, it is possible to specify a small number of print lines. For example, as shown in FIG. 20A, even if the printing of three lines has already been specified, if there is print data in only one line, 1 to 4 lines can be specified. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 20 (B), when print data exists in two lines, only 2 to 4 lines can be designated. Among these designations, in the tape writer 1 of the present embodiment, the designation of the number of print lines and vertical writing and horizontal writing is called "style", and other designations (character spacing, etc.) are called "modes". Different.

If the printing of a plurality of lines is selected, then a process for designating a combination of fonts is performed (step S250). The designation of the combination of fonts is performed as follows. As shown in FIG. 21, the tape writer 1 of this embodiment uses the mask ROM 11 with four font data from 16 × 16 to 48 × 48 dots as basic fonts.
8 fonts, and those of the fonts that do not have the same number of dots can be expanded vertically up to 2 times and horizontally up to 4 times. Therefore, the maximum font is 96 x 19
The number of dots that can be printed is 2 dots.
As shown in FIG. 21, there are 10 types. Therefore,
When editing the print character string over multiple lines, in addition to the normal character input operation to input the character string to be printed on each line,
It is necessary to specify the print font of the character string to be printed on each line.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, instead of the designation of the character font, the relative size relationship of the character strings to be printed on each line (for example, in the case of printing three lines, the first line is large and the second line is large). (Large and small on the third line) are input by operating the keys on the input unit. Further, in order to make this key operation simpler, options are prepared in advance as illustrated in the case of three-line printing in FIG. 22 (in this embodiment, the same x3, small / small
5) (large, small / large / large, large / small / small, large / large / small) are selected to replace the input. This is realized as a simple setting mode, and a mode for setting the number of dots for each row is also prepared. In this case, the total number of dots in the vertical direction in a plurality of lines must be set so as not to exceed 96. The font size may be specified by the layout display shown in FIG.

In the character display after completion of these designations (step S230), as shown in FIG. 24, if two or more lines are designated, "1" or "2" is displayed at the beginning of the line. Done. Also, if "manual" is specified, all the bullet marks are displayed in reverse video,
If "automatic" is specified, the line head mark is displayed normally with a frame for the second and subsequent lines and no print data is input. When a character is input (steps S210 and 220) and a character is input to the second and subsequent lines, the line head mark is changed to the reverse display state (see the bottom column in FIG. 24).

In step S240, the number of lines newly designated may be different from the number of lines designated so far. In this embodiment, these cases are handled as follows. When the designation of the number of print lines is increased,
As shown in (A), a line having no print data is added to the end. When the designation of the number of print lines is reduced, as described above, there is a line where print data does not exist, and this line is deleted. When there are a plurality of lines in which print data does not exist, as shown in FIG. 25 (B), the lower lines in which print data do not exist are deleted. When adding a new line, add it to the top line,
Modifications such as deletion of a row from the upper row are possible.

Next, the layout display will be described.
When the layout display mode is designated, first, the process of reading the output of the cartridge determination switch 102 is performed (step S260). By this processing, the CPU 110
It is possible to determine the type of the tape cartridge 10 currently mounted in the tape writer 1, particularly the width of the printable tape T. After determining the width of the tape T, the layout display is performed based on the currently designated number of print lines, the designation of the font, etc. (step S270).
An example of the layout display has already been shown in FIG. Furthermore,
An example of a layout display when the tape cartridge 10 is not mounted and when the currently specified style and mode (number of lines and font, etc.) do not match the tape width of the mounted tape cartridge 10 26.

As shown in FIG. 17, when the width of the tape T is normal, the tape T is displayed in black and characters are displayed in white, whereas when the tape T is not mounted, , The tape T is not displayed and the characters are displayed in black. That is, when the tape T is not mounted, the display of characters is opposite to the normal display, so it can be seen at a glance that the tape T is not mounted. If a frame line is specified, this is also displayed.

On the other hand, in the case where the width of the tape T is insufficient, with respect to the protruding portion (the portion where the tape width is insufficient), the protruding portion is displayed in reverse. In these cases, another warning is displayed,
There is no problem in notifying by voice. When the layout display is completed, the display returns to the normal character display state (step S230).

Next, the print mode will be described. When the print mode is designated, first, the detection signal of the cartridge determination switch 102 is read (step S280), and then the width of the currently mounted tape T is determined from the detection result of the cartridge determination switch 102, and the determination result is obtained. Based on the size relation between each row and the character string in each row, a process for developing the dot pattern of each row is performed by referring to the font map stored in advance in the internal ROM (step S290).
The dot pattern of each line is expanded as follows.

First, the font of each line is determined. As shown in FIGS. 21 and 22, the print font of each line is uniquely determined when the size relation of the character strings in each line and the tape width are determined. For example, when the tape width is 12 mm and the size relationship of the character strings in each line is "size", the print font used to print each line is the font S character on the first line, the font P character on the second line, and the font P character on the third line. The font is determined to be P-shaped.
It should be noted that the same determination is made when the number of print lines is two, but the description is omitted here.

In this way, when the print font to be used for printing each line is determined, the print font corresponding to the character code of the character string to be printed is sequentially read from the mask ROM 118 and developed into a dot pattern to be printed. The above is the dot pattern development processing (step S290).
When the development of the dot pattern is completed, the printing process is executed next (step S300). The printing process is performed by cutting out the developed dot pattern for each vertical column to create 96-bit serial data and transferring it to the printer unit.

The character string stored in the print data buffer is printed in this way, but the printing mode differs depending on the automatic / manual setting. The "manual" is a mode in which the print data stored in the print data buffer is printed as specified by the number of print lines. By the way, in the case of designating printing of a plurality of lines, for example, in the case of designating the printing of two lines, it is often practiced to input the print data over two lines and then delete the print data of the second line. Be done. In this case, since the user has deleted the print data on the second line, it is easy to think that the printing will be performed on one line. Therefore, when “automatic” is designated, as shown in FIG. 27A, if there is no print data in the second line, it is regarded as one line and a dot pattern is formed using a font with a large number of dots. Unfold and print. On the other hand,
If print data exists for both lines, it is regarded as printing for two lines and printing is performed using a font with a smaller dot number, as shown in FIG. On the other hand, when “manual” is designated, as shown in FIG. 27C, even if there is no print data in the second line, printing is performed in two lines. Although the above description assumes that two-line printing is designated, the same applies when three-line printing, four-line printing, etc. are designated.

Next, the recording / calling mode will be described. As described above, the tape writer 1 of the present embodiment uses the internal RA for the print data input from the input unit 50C.
Maximum of 1500 characters for M and maximum of 200 for extension 50E
Up to 0 characters can be recorded as a file. Therefore, when the mode for performing this recording / calling is designated, it is first determined whether the file is accessible. (Step S310). Here, "accessible" means that when recording is selected, the internal RAM or the extension unit 50E is used.
In this case, there is a free space in which a new file can be stored, and when the call is selected, there is a recorded file. If access is not possible, nothing is displayed and characters are displayed (step S230).
Return to. On the other hand, if it is possible to access, either the process of recording the character string currently in the print data buffer as a file or the process of calling the already recorded character string to the print data buffer is requested. Perform (step S320).

When the character string existing in the print data buffer is recorded as a file, the attribute information (mode and style) of the character is also saved. That is, character spacing, line spacing, typeface (emphasis character, bag character, underline, italic character, etc.) as well as the number of lines to be printed, font specification, etc.
Information such as is also recorded together. When calling, the print data is also called to the print data buffer together with these pieces of information. At this time, if the print data input from the input unit 50C exists in the print data buffer, the called print data is added to the end of the print data that already exists. Therefore, when the attributes of both print data are different, a process of adding a division mark is performed (step S330).

28. As shown in FIG. 28, the division mark is given by placing a rightward triangular mark immediately after the beginning mark. This division mark is a mark that has information such as a typeface and character spacing, similar to the line head mark. In other words, the print data that is called in the form of being linked to the print data existing in the print data buffer is recorded as a file by the division mark inserted immediately after the current attribute information setting is set in the line head mark. The attribute at the time of being set will be set. As a result, if these print data are printed, the input print data will be printed with the designation, while the called print data will be printed with the designation when it was recorded. Moreover, if a new paragraph is generated after the called print data and the print data is input, there is an advantage that the attribute of the print data is not affected by the attribute of the called print data. Further, after calling, it is often experienced that the attribute of the called print data should be matched with the attribute of the print data input from the input unit 50C, but in this case, it is only necessary to delete the division mark. good.

The handling and operation of the tape writer 1 of this embodiment have been described with reference to typical usage modes. The tape writer 1 has various usage modes other than this,
Descriptions thereof are omitted.

According to the tape writer 1 of the embodiment configured as described above, the tape writer 1 is used for printing each line by the processing of the above-mentioned processing program, based on the size relation of each line character string designated before printing and the tape width. The print font to be used is determined, and desired print output can be obtained without requiring complicated management or complicated control for the tapes T having various widths.

That is, the user of the tape writer 1 draws an image of the printing tape, which is the result of printing the character string, on his mind, and executes various operations in order to make it a reality. There are almost no cases where it is desired to specify whether or not the font. This is because it is enough to vaguely determine the size relationship of the character strings printed on each line. Therefore, in the conventional printing apparatus, the user has to specify the size of the printed characters and the like by referring to the printing sample or the like. On the other hand, the tape writer 1 of the present embodiment enables the input of the size relation of each line character string according to this vague image of the user, and automatically determines the print font for embodying this. is doing. Therefore, the troublesome work such as managing the width of the tape T to be printed can be omitted, and the desired printing can be performed without any calculation of the number of fonts or complicated operation for obtaining the desired printing result. The applied printing tape can be easily obtained.

The printing apparatus of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it goes without saying that it can be embodied in various forms. For example, in the above-mentioned embodiment, as the attribute defining means for defining the attributes of the characters printed on each line, the size relation of the character strings on each line has been described as an example. It is also possible to selectively define a specific processing or the like or to define it in a composite manner. According to the printing device having such an attribute defining means, it becomes possible to instruct even a printing image having a higher degree of freedom as it is,
A desired printing tape excellent in design can be easily obtained.

Further, if "automatic" is designated, for example, two-line printing is designated, and the printing result can be made different depending on whether the data on the second line exists or not. The tape writer 1 automatically avoids the mistake of the user who is likely to delete the second line itself by deleting the print data of the second line. As a result, the usability of the tape writer 1 is significantly improved. Since "automatic" is designated or "manual" is designated, it is possible to distinguish at a glance by the display form of the bullet mark.

In addition to this, according to the present embodiment, the layout is performed when the tape T is not mounted, or when the tape cartridge 10 having a tape width insufficient for the designated style mode is mounted. You can know this at a glance by the display. In the present embodiment, these defects are displayed in an easy-to-understand manner, and it is assumed that the printing process cannot be performed.However, when the printing process is selected, a configuration is adopted in which the printing is automatically reduced, and a warning is issued to prevent it from protruding. , Various options such as a configuration for displaying options that do not overflow are possible.

Further, according to the tape writer 1 of the present embodiment, the print data can be recorded as a file together with its attributes, and it is also possible to call the print data already linked to the print data buffer. In addition, at this time, when the attributes of the two are different, a division mark is added to the boundary between the two, so that this can be clearly displayed. Moreover, the style and mode of both can be made the same by only deleting the division mark, and the usability is extremely good.

[0107]

As described above with reference to the embodiments, the first printing device of the present invention specifies the number of printing lines to be printed on the printing tape, defines the attribute of the printing data, and mounts the data. It is possible to determine the type of cartridge that has been ejected, determine the printing status, and perform a predetermined operation. For example, the number of print lines and the width of the tape can be used to determine the number of dots in the print data, whether printing can be enabled or disabled, and reduction printing and attribute changes can be taken automatically. Is. As described above, the first printing apparatus of the present invention is excellent in that it can determine the printing status and take various operations from the type of tape cartridge, the designated number of printing lines, and the attributes defined in the printing data. Produce the effect. This idea is completely absent in the conventional printing apparatus, and the "predetermined operation" in the first printing apparatus of the present invention is not limited to the description of the embodiment and extends widely.

According to the second printing device of the present invention,
After specifying the number of print lines, the print status on the print tape is determined by the presence or absence of print data in each line.
Therefore, even if the number of lines to be printed is specified, if there is a line that does not have print data, it is possible to print by packing that line, and printing that deviates from the state that the user imagined. Absent. Therefore, wasteful consumption of the tape due to a printing error can be prevented.

Furthermore, according to the third printing apparatus of the present invention,
The input print data can be stored in the storage means together with the print mode, and the print data can be read out without erasing another print data that has already been input. The display of both print data is different. Therefore, it is not necessary to set a new print mode such as the number of print lines or typeface each time print data is saved or read, and the user is aware that the print modes of the two are different. It has an excellent effect that it can be easily known.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a tape writer 1 that is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a right side view of the tape writer 1 of the same.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the assembly configuration of the tape cartridge 10 in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the same.

5 is a view of the tape cartridge 10 shown in FIG.
It is an arrow end view.

FIG. 6 is an end view showing the internal structure of a tape cartridge having a tape width of 6 mm among five types of tape cartridges.

FIG. 7 is an end view showing the internal structure of a tape having a width of 24 mm.

FIG. 8 shows the tape T stored in the tape cartridge 10.
It is explanatory drawing which shows the relationship between the width | variety and the depth of three detection holes 18K.

9 is an end view of the tape writer 1 taken along the line AA-AA in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a plan view showing the configuration of a tape cartridge mounting portion 50A.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of a gear train and a mechanism for moving the print head 60 between a retracted position and a print position.

FIG. 12 is a BB end view showing a mechanism for moving the print head 60 in FIG.

FIG. 13 is an end view taken along the line CC of FIG. 10 for explaining the cutting mechanism.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing a configuration centered on a CPU 110.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram of a key layout of the input section 50C.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration of a display unit 50D.

FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram of a layout display performed on the display section 50D.

FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a printing state on a margin.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing an outline of processing performed by the tape writer 1.

FIG. 20 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a case where print data does not exist in some of a plurality of lines.

FIG. 21 is an explanatory diagram of print fonts prepared in the mask ROM 118.

FIG. 22 is an explanatory diagram of a font map used when printing three lines.

FIG. 23 is an explanatory diagram showing a layout of combinations of large and small characters on the second, third, and fourth lines.

FIG. 24 is an explanatory diagram showing a display state of a bullet mark when “automatic” is designated.

FIG. 25 is an explanatory diagram showing how lines are increased or decreased when the designation of the number of print lines is changed.

FIG. 26 is an explanatory diagram showing a layout display when the tape T is not mounted and when the tape width is insufficient.

FIG. 27 is an explanatory diagram showing a printing state when “automatic” is designated.

FIG. 28 is an explanatory diagram showing a display state when the print data saved as a file is called.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Tape writer 10 ... Tape cartridge 10A ... Tape discharge port 12 ... Platen 12A ... Engagement strip 14 ... Platen rubber 16 ... Top wall 16A, 18A ... Fitting holes 16B, 18B ... Guide projection 16C ... Guide projection 16G ... Fitting Joint hole 18 ... Bottom wall 18C ... Fitting hole 18D ... Engaging piece 18E ... Base end 18G ... Fitting hole 18H ... Engaging piece 18K ... Detecting hole 18Ka, 18Kb, 18Kc ... Detecting hole 20 ... Tape core 20A ... Flange 22 ... Ink ribbon core 22A ... Engagement section 24 ... Ribbon winding core 24A ... Engagement section 24B ... Engagement section 24C ... Flange section 26 ... Tape guide pin 28 ... Outer periphery 30 ... Ribbon guide roller 32 ... Entry hole 34 ... Guide wall 50A ... Tape cartridge mounting section 50B ... Printer section 50C ... Input section 50D ... Display section 50Da ... Main table Part 50Db ... Indicator part 50E ... Expansion part 50Ea ... External input / output connector 50F ... Control circuit part 50H ... Main body case 50I ... Battery storage part 50J ... Power switch 50K ... Main body cover 50L ... Window 50M ... Window 50N ... Plug 50P ... Drive mechanism 50S ... Operation arm 52 ... Slide button 52A ... Spring arm 54 ... Cover hinge 55 ... Opening / closing detection switch 55L ... Opening / closing detection switch engaging projection 60 ... Print head 60A ... Temperature detection circuit 60B ... Voltage detection circuit 61 ... Base board 62 ... Link plate 63 ... Driving member 63a ... End part 63b ... End part 64 ... Head rotating shaft 65 ... Head main body 65a ... Insulator 65b ... Heat sink 66 ... Coil spring 67 ... Frame body 67a ... Connecting plate 67b ... Pin 68 ... Flexible cable 69 ... Coil spring 70A, 70B ... Contact Start 72 ... Platen drive shaft 72A ... Rim 72B, 74B ... Ridge 74 ... Winding core drive shaft 74 ... Naturally winding core drive shaft 74A ... Rim 80 ... Stepping motor 80A ... Rotating shaft 80B ... Clutch arm 80C ... Opening 81 ... 1st gear 82 ... 2nd gear 82 ... 3rd gear 83 ... 3rd gear 84 ... 4th gear 85 ... 5th gear 86 ... 6th gear 87 ... 7th gear 90 ... Tape cutter 90A ... Left end 90B ... Right end 91 ... Fixed blade 92 ... Cutter support shaft 93A ... Shoulder 94 ... Spring 95 ... Spring 96 ... Cutter button 96A ... Pin 97 ... Fixed wall 98 ... Moving blade 99 ... Detection switch 102 ... Cartridge discrimination Switch 102 ... Discrimination switch 102A, 102B, 102C ... Cartridge discrimination switch 110 ... CPU 112 ... Head rank discrimination 112A, 112B, 112C ... jumper section 113 ... AC adapter 114 ... power supply unit 115 ... jack 116 ... display unit control circuit 116A ... LCD controller 118 ... mask ROM 120 ... printer controller 122 ... motor driver R ... ink ribbon T ... Tape

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of types of tape cartridges containing printing tapes having different printable widths are replaceable,
In a printing device capable of printing a plurality of lines on the tape pulled out from the tape cartridge with the tape cartridge mounted, print data input means for inputting print data such as characters, symbols or figures Cartridge discriminating means for discriminating the type of tape cartridge, line number designating means for designating the number of lines for printing the print data, attribute defining means for defining attributes relating to the printing of the input print data, A print status determining means for determining the print status on the printing tape from the specified number of print lines and the defined attributes, and a predetermined operation based on the print status. And a printing control means for performing the printing. 2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print control means is means for notifying that the print range is sticking out of the printing tape, and means for printing by deleting the sticking part. At least one of a means for reducing and printing so that it does not overflow, a means for specifying the number of print lines or correcting the print attribute when the print range extends over the print tape, or a means for prompting the correction A printing device equipped. 3. The attribute defined by the attribute definition means is
The printer according to claim 1 or 2, which includes at least one of a character size, a font, a line interval, and a character interval for print data to be printed on each line. 4. The attribute defining means is provided with a magnitude designating means capable of selecting a relative magnitude relation of print data to be printed on each line of the number of rows designated by the row number designating means from among prepared options. 3. The printing device according to claim 1, wherein the number of dots of characters to be printed in each line is defined based on the relative size relationship designated by the size designating means. 5. A tape cartridge accommodating a printing tape is replaceable, and in a printing device for printing on the tape pulled out from the tape cartridge with the tape cartridge mounted, characters, symbols, figures, etc. Print data input means for inputting print data, line number designating means for designating the number of lines for printing the print data, and when a plurality of lines are designated by the line number designating means,
Print position determining means for determining a print position on the print tape based on the presence or absence of print data in each line, and print means for printing the print data on the print tape according to the determined print position. A printing device comprising: 6. A tape cartridge accommodating a printing tape is replaceable, and in a printing device for printing on the tape pulled out from the tape cartridge with the tape cartridge mounted, characters, symbols, figures, etc. Print data input means for inputting the print data of, print means for displaying the input print data, print mode setting means for presetting a print mode to be applied to the input print data, Print data storage means for storing data in the storage means for each printing mode; print data reading means for reading the stored print data without erasing the print data input by the print data input means; Print mode of the read print data and print of the print data input from the print data input means Aspect is
When different, display control means for displaying both print data in different forms on the display means, and printing means for printing the print data on the printing tape in a printing mode designated for each, Characteristic printing device. 7. The printing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the display control means is a means for displaying a predetermined code at a boundary of print data having different printing modes. 8. The printing device according to claim 6, wherein a print line number designating unit for designating the print line number of the input print data, and an order of the lines to which the print data are assigned are provided. A printer provided with a line number display means for displaying a code at the end of a line.