JPH068530A - Label printing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable labels to be printed with best suited character string by providing a means for detecting a position which detects whether a label sheet is set to a reference position, a means for controlling characters and a means for controlling a supply. CONSTITUTION:A message to press a printing key, if entering characters is completed and prompt a user to introduce a label sheet, if various setting operations are through, is indicated in a liquid crystal display part (No. 302). If setting the label sheet is completed and an execution key is pressed (means No. 304, YES), a motor is driven to supply the label sheet to a printing part. Further, if a sheet sensor detects the label sheet while feeding the sheet over a specified distance using a sheet feed roller, CPU interprets that the label sheet has been fed correctly (means No. 308, NO; means No. 310, YES). A message to indicate 'printing underway' is indicated in the liquid crystal display part after the label sheet thus fed is set to a specified position right beneath the printing part, and data are printed as specified.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a label printing apparatus for printing an input character string on a heading label of a document or the like via a printing means, and in particular, a large number of labels having standardized arrangements and shapes are attached. The present invention relates to a label printing device that suitably prints on each label on a label sheet regardless of the type of the label sheet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an exhibition or the like, for example, the same heading label is often attached to many samples. In addition, with the diversification of information, there is an increasing demand for suitable filing using heading labels according to the type of information, and the same information may be owned and stored by a plurality of people at a plurality of places. Conventionally, this type of label is created by handwriting, and there are problems such as the complexity of creation and the appearance.

In order to solve such a problem, conventionally, there has been proposed a printing device for efficiently printing the same content on both upper and lower positions of a lined label by appropriately selecting the printing direction (Actual Publication No. 1-178948). Gazette).

Further, there has been proposed a label printing apparatus which stores the number of characters and lines input in one label and calculates the number of labels so that an integer number of sheets can be set on one sheet (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-61). No. 175722).

Further, there is provided a label printing apparatus which detects a label length and an arrangement interval of labels which are regularly arranged on a belt-like sheet by using a label sensor and accurately prints the labels based on the detection result. Proposed (JP-A-1-
288469).

Further, a label printer has been proposed in which automatic calculation is performed to change the characters to full-width or half-width so that printing can be appropriately performed within a predetermined label width (JP-A-63-189).
276 publication).

Further, there has been proposed a label printer capable of inputting a print format of a cut paper label and printing on labels of various sizes (JP-A-62-1).
58072).

[0008]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention
According to the invention described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 948, the processing for suitably printing on one heading label is described in detail, but the position and size of a plurality of heading labels arranged and the size of each heading label or each label is detected. There is no description about control of how to print.

Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-175722,
JP-A-63-189276 and JP-A-62-15
The one described in Japanese Patent No. 8072 relates to how to appropriately print on one label, and does not relate to a printing process for a large number of arranged labels.

Further, in the one disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-288469, a label sensor is used to directly detect the label length and the label interval, so that the label position control is complicated.

Furthermore, in such a conventional label printing apparatus, each label is printed with a character size designated in advance, but since there are several hundred kinds of labels, each label is printed. I had to choose the character size one by one according to the size of. Moreover, it is necessary to change the character size depending on the number of characters you want to print and the number of lines, and in order to print with the layout you want,
The setting operation was extremely complicated.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and the purpose thereof is to identify and store the label type in advance, and to select and instruct from among them,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a label printing device in which a label shape and position information are automatically set and a character string suitable for a large number of labels attached to a label sheet can be printed.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a label printing apparatus which eliminates a troublesome setting operation of a character size for appropriately printing a desired label and prevents erroneous insertion of a label sheet to be printed. To provide.

[0014]

A printer according to the present invention is a label printer for inputting a desired character string and printing the input character string for each label arranged on a label sheet. In this label printing device, a printing means for printing on each label, a display means for displaying a message corresponding to the input character string and each operation step,
A storage unit that stores label information for specifying the size and arrangement position of each label arranged on this label sheet, and character size information that defines a plurality of character sizes as a character size to be printed, and a printing process At this time, the feeding means for feeding the inserted label sheet to the printing position and the label sheet fed by the feeding means are detected whether or not the label sheet is set at the reference position for the printing process. The position detecting unit and the control unit having the print control unit and the feeding control unit are provided. This print control means determines the print area from the designated label information, and determines the maximum character size that can be stored in the print area of each label based on the number of input characters and the number of characters in each line. A first control means selected from the above, and a printing means is controlled based on the character size and label information selected by the first control means to print the input character string on each label. And a feeding control means for displaying a message prompting the user to enter a key to start printing on the display means after finishing the setting operation for printing. Means and a fourth control means for receiving the key input for starting the printing to start the feeding of the label sheet by the feeding means, and the time when the label sheet is fed for a predetermined distance by the feeding means. so, If the 置検 out the label sheet by means not detected, characterized in that it comprises a fifth control means for inverting the feeding direction of the label sheet by the feeding means.

Further, the feeding control means further comprises a sixth control means for causing the display means to display a message prompting reinsertion of the label sheet after the feeding direction of the label sheet by the feeding means is reversed. It can also be configured as having.

[0016]

The label sheet used in the label printing apparatus of the present invention is basically a standardized sheet in which the longitudinal and lateral dimensions of the arranged label and the arrangement position on the sheet are fixed according to the type of the label sheet. It is used for the purpose.

In the first control means of the print control means, the maximum printable character size in the print area of the designated label is selected in consideration of all the input characters, lines, etc. The control means causes each label arranged according to the selected character size to print a predetermined character string.

Further, the fourth control means in the feeding control means receives the key input for starting the printing and starts feeding the label sheet. When the label sheet is not detected by the detecting means, it is determined that the label sheet is erroneously inserted, and the feeding direction is reversed.
As a result, the label sheet is fed in the reverse direction, ejected, and inserted again.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A label printing apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 to 4 show the external appearance and internal mechanism of the label printing apparatus 1. A label printing device (hereinafter referred to as a device) 1 is a device that prints on each of a large number of labels 4a arranged regularly on a label sheet 4, and is composed of an upper half body 2 and a lower half body 3. An insertion port 5 for the label sheet 4 is formed in the middle.

A large number of keys 6 for inputting characters and the like are arranged on the upper half 2 of the device 1, and a liquid crystal panel for displaying a predetermined number of characters, a number of lines, or input characters is arranged above the keys 6. A liquid crystal display unit 7 is provided. When the number of characters and the number of lines more than that are input, the screen is adapted to be scrolled left and right and up and down by the cursor keys. As shown in FIG. 4, the arranged keys 6 include character keys such as alphabets, “function”,
Function keys for performing processes such as “cancel”, “convert”, “execute”, and “print”, and cursor keys with arrows on all four sides are provided. The contents of each key are written on the head of the key.

The lower half 3 has an insertion port 5 and this insertion port 5
A feeding path 11 extending rearward from the above is formed, and a guide roller 9 for guiding the inserted label sheet 4 is provided on the upper surface of the feeding path 11. In addition, the guide roller 9
A sheet feeding roller 8 that is driven to rotate by a sheet feeding motor 16 and feeds the inserted label sheet 4 is provided at a total of three places behind the sheet feeding device, and a printing unit 20 that prints is provided behind the sheet feeding roller 8. There is.

A side wall 18 for guiding is formed on one side, for example, the left side, of the insertion port 5 and the feeding path 11, and the left side of the label sheet 4 is inserted while abutting against the side wall 18. Is. The apparatus 1 has a mechanism in which the printing process is executed with reference to the front end of the left side of the inserted label sheet 4 (the front left corner portion), and thus the left side of the label sheet 4 is brought into contact with the side wall 18. As a result, the label sheet 4 is positioned.

Further, in order to detect whether the label sheet 4 has been inserted and fed correctly, the side wall 18 of the paper feed roller 8 on the downstream side of the feeding path is, for example, as shown in FIG. A sheet sensor 19 such as a photointerrupter having a paired structure of a light emitting element 19a and a light receiving element 19b is arranged on the lower surface. That is, the sheet sensor 19 has a left side of the label sheet while the feeding sheet is interposed between the light emitting element 19a and the light receiving element 19b and the light receiving element 19b does not receive the light emitted from the light emitting element 19a. Side wall 1
8 is considered to be in contact with the sheet 8, and it is determined that the sheet is in the proper feeding state.

The printing unit 20 has a label sheet 4 at the bottom thereof.
Helical shaft 1 arranged in a direction orthogonal to the insertion direction of
2, the rotation of the carriage motor 14 is transmitted to the spiral shaft 12 via the gear train 15, and the printing unit 20 reciprocates along the rotating spiral shaft 12. . A rack 13 is installed above the printing unit 20 in parallel with the spiral shaft 12. The teeth of the rack 13 are formed in the lower part so as to face the printing unit 20,
The gear inside the printing unit 20 is in mesh with the rack 13. Further, from the bottom of the printing unit 20, for example, the thermal head 2 including a dot array capable of printing one character
A rubber platen 17 is arranged on the lower half 3 of the lower part of the thermal head 28. In addition,
The printing unit 20 also functions as a cassette holder for mounting a ribbon cassette (not shown) of the ink ribbon, and includes a winding shaft 25 for winding the ink ribbon.

The liquid crystal display unit 7 displays the input character string or the edited character string, the identification code, the character label read from the character string storage unit 34, and other selection screens. The character label means a character string created for level printing or a character string already created.

Next, a control block diagram of the label printing apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. The device 1 includes a central processing unit (hereinafter, referred to as CPU) 30 that controls the entire device, and a storage unit 31 configured by a ROM, a RAM, and the like.

The CPU 30 is synchronized with a head drive unit 36 for driving the thermal head 28 in and out and outputting a character signal, a carriage motor drive unit 37 for controlling the drive of the carriage motor 14, the paper feed roller 8 and the paper discharge roller 23. A sheet feed motor drive unit 38 that controls the drive of the driven sheet feed motor 16 and a display drive unit 39 that drives the liquid crystal display unit 7 are respectively connected.

The CPU 30 is internally provided with a counter for counting the number of sheets and a timer for synchronizing with sheet feeding, and receives the input information from the key input unit 6'and the detection signal from the sheet sensor 19 respectively. Output a control signal to the required circuit part, input characters, edit processing as described later,
Overall control of label sheet type selection, display control, and print processing control.

Further, the CPU 30 monitors the detection signal from the sheet sensor 19, and the insertion and feeding of the label sheet 4 are accurately performed depending on whether or not the signal for detecting the front end of the left side of the label sheet 4 is input. It is determined whether or not the sheet feed motor 1
The position of the label sheet being fed is indirectly measured by the rotation pulse of 6 or time management.

The storage unit 31 includes a program for controlling the operation of the entire apparatus such as editing and printing, a dictionary memory for converting kana / kanji characters, the array position of labels arranged on various label sheets, and the label positions. Label information in which vertical and horizontal dimensions and the like are registered, a code number as an identification code for specifying the type of label sheet, and a character size table (Table 1) as shown below are stored.

[0032]

[Table 1]

Table 1 shows the character size, and shows SS size to 3L size. In this type of label printing apparatus, there are various types of label sheets that can be printed, and there are several hundreds of label sheets, and a large number of character sizes are desired. Therefore, in addition to square characters, horizontally long characters and vertically long characters can be specified.
In this way, the character size can be selected using the size classification symbols, thereby facilitating the selection work.

Further, there are various kinds of label sheets such as ordinary square label, lined label, tack index label, box label and cassette label, and there are also various sticking positions on the label sheet.
Each is standardized. When an external input / output device such as an expansion cartridge shown as the auxiliary storage unit 40 in FIG. 6 is connected and the number of types of label sheets increases or when it is desired to perform printing on a desired unstandardized label sheet Can also be newly registered.

FIG. 7 shows an example of the label sheet and the label. Labels R ₁ , R ₂ , ... Having the same dimensions are regularly attached on the label sheet 4 at regular intervals. The positions of the labels on the label sheet 4 are designated as 1, 2, 3 ... In the column direction and A, B, C ... In the row direction.

The sheet number is selected by inputting a one-character or two-character (including numeral) identification code. This facilitates the selection work. The table (not shown) storing the sheet numbers in the present embodiment is represented by the label size, which corresponds to the sheet sensor 19
Is stored with the size and the like based on the corner position of the front end of the left side of the label sheet 4 detected by. The dimension type is the data required to identify the label position on the label sheet from the length and width dimensions of the label sheet, the shape of the label, the length and width dimensions of the label, the length and width of the label, and the number of labels on one sheet. Has been adopted. Note that the memory capacity can be reduced by providing only the position data of the print start point with the front end of the left side of the label sheet as a reference, instead of the above dimensions and the like. The size is usually specified in millimeters (mm), but in the present embodiment, the size is coded to reduce the memory capacity. Then, as will be described later, the CPU 30 is adapted to calculate the printing position, that is, the label position, based on the storage size data of the designated sheet number (identification code).

Further, the table storing the sheet number includes a cut dimension. This cut size defines the size of the margin that is not printed on the peripheral portion of the label. This is because, firstly, the present embodiment does not adopt the method of actually measuring and printing the label position, but adopts the simple method of controlling all the positions with reference to the corner positions of the label sheet. This is to ensure printing on the label even with a slight sheet feeding deviation due to 8 or the like. Second, if the label size is stored slightly smaller than the actual size. Although the same effect can be obtained, this is in consideration of the problem that the size of the image character (on the screen) and the actual print character do not match.

Next, each operation for inputting characters in the device 1 will be described. First, the basic procedure for the start screen will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

When the power switch 6a is turned on (#
2) First, initialization of the RAM of the storage unit 31 and the printing unit 20
Initialization of the hardware configuration and battery check of the built-in storage battery such as setting to the initial position of # are performed (# 4).

An initial screen is displayed on the screen of the liquid crystal display unit 7, and a selection menu of "label production" and "address book" is displayed (# 6). When the cursor key is moved to the desired item position and the "execute" key is pressed, the screen is switched to the next work screen. The CPU 30 determines which of the above items has been selected and designated (# 8), and if "label production" is selected, the necessary initialization is executed (# 12).
During this time, a message such as "please wait for a while" is displayed on the screen. On the other hand, if the "address book" is selected, the work screen for registering, changing, and searching for the name, telephone number, address, etc. is displayed (# 10).

When "Create label" is selected and the initialization is completed, a selection menu of "Create new" and "Continue" is displayed on the screen (# 14). The CPU 30 determines which of the above items has been selected and designated (# 16), and if "continue" is selected, the contents of the previous work are displayed on the screen (# 18). If the character label was created just before, display the sheet number, etc.,
If it is a postcard, that fact is displayed. Then, by pressing the "execute" key (# 20), the screen is continuously switched to the previous work screen and the character input can be accepted (# 2).
2). In this way, the content of the previous work is stored in the RA of the storage unit 31.
By storing it in M, it is possible to easily resume the work that was once interrupted.

On the other hand, when "New" is selected (# 1
6 is “YES”), and the screen is switched to the label sheet designation screen to create a new character label (# 24). When the desired sheet number (identification code) is entered (# 2
In step 6, "YES"), it is determined whether or not this sheet number exists in the table in the ROM of the storage unit 31 (# 2).
8). If the corresponding sheet number exists, the screen will switch to the character input screen (# 30), and if it does not exist,
For example, a message such as "This sheet is not registered" is displayed for 3 seconds, and the screen returns to the original designation screen (# 24).

On the other hand, if the registered sheet number is not known, the "execute" key is pressed without inputting (No in # 26 and # 32, "YE" in # 34).
S ”), and the screen switches to the file reading screen (# 3)
6). Then, when the character label to be read is selected, the character label is displayed on the screen and the sheet number is also displayed.

When "postcard" is selected on the screen of # 24 ("YES" at # 32), the screen is switched to the screen of "designation of text direction", and the "press" key is pressed. Then, the screen is switched to the normal character input screen (# 38). Since the character input method after # 22, # 30, # 36 and # 38 is almost the same as that of a normal word processor, description thereof will be omitted.

After setting the initial conditions in this way, a desired character label is created on the character input screen. In this device 1, the character size is automatically set according to the number of characters and the number of lines of the input character string. This automatic setting of the character size is to automatically set the character size according to the character string entered on the character input screen so that it can be printed appropriately in the label. It is selected from 1.

The process of automatically setting the character size will be described below with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 9 and 10.

First, the initial value of the character size is set.
The label to be used is specified in the above-mentioned initial setting (# 10
2) Based on this label information, the print area of the label is determined, and the lengths of the print area in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction are compared (# 104). By this comparison, the shorter length is selected, and if the size in the horizontal direction is short as shown in FIG. 106), and also FIG. 11 (b).
If the size in the vertical direction is short, as shown in (1), a square area A having this length 1 in the vertical direction as one side is assumed (# 10).
8). Then, the largest character size of a square character that can be accommodated in this square area A is selected from Table 1, and this character size is set to the initial value (# 110).

After the initial value of the character size is determined in this way, input of characters (including symbols) is waited, and each time the input character increases or decreases by one character, the created character string is changed. The lateral length is calculated. When a character string is created in a plurality of lines, it is calculated for each line (# 202).
Then, the horizontal length of the character string and the horizontal length of the set print area are compared for each line, and it is determined whether the created character string can be printed within the set horizontal dimension of the label ( # 204). If the horizontal length of the character string is larger than the print area, a character size one size smaller than the set character size will be selected from Table 1, and all character sizes across all lines will be the new character size. The size is changed (# 206). Then, after this, again # 202, # 20
The process of 4 is repeated. In this way, a suitable character size is temporarily determined on the basis of the horizontal length of the character string in each line and the horizontal length of the print area.

Next, the vertical length of the determined character size is added over all lines to obtain the total vertical length (# 20.
8) The total vertical length is compared with the vertical length of the print area. As a result, it is determined whether the created character string can be printed within the set vertical dimension of the label (# 21).
0). If the total vertical length of the created character string is larger, a character size that is one size smaller than the determined character size is selected from Table 1, and all character sizes across all lines are set to this new character size. It is changed (# 212). After this, the processes of # 208 and # 210 are repeated again. In this way, the maximum character size that can be printed in the print area is finally set. In addition, although each of the above-described calculation formulas is stored in the ROM of the storage unit 31 in advance,
You may make it utilize the conversion table which memorize | stored the calculation result.

As described above, in the created character label, the same character size is set in all the lines, and when the number of characters is different in each line, the character size is different in each line. It eliminates the inconvenience of being set.
When the character size is switched from the S size shown in Table 1 to an extremely small SS size, the character size is not switched suddenly, but is switched to a horizontally long SS size character.

Such automatic setting of the character size is performed when one character is input or deleted, when the size of the input character is changed, when the character decoration of the input character is changed, line feed or line. This is always performed when the state of the input character or the state of the input line changes, such as when they are combined.

The character size of each character is
Alternatively, it can be manually set to a specific size as necessary. In this case, in # 202,
The horizontal length of the set character and the horizontal length of each character being automatically set are added to calculate the length of the character string for each line. In # 208, the longest vertical size character is set for each line. After being extracted for each, it is added over all rows.

The character labels thus created are stored in the storage unit 31, and under the control of the CPU 30, printing processing is performed on each of the arranged labels based on the stored data and the already set label information. Is applied.

In executing the printing process, the apparatus 1 detects only the corner portion of the front end of the left side of the label sheet and performs various printing controls based on this position.

Now, the feeding control of the label sheet in the printing process will be described with reference to FIGS. 12 and 13. When the character input is completed or the registered character label is read, the "Print" key is pressed and the setting operation is completed. For example, "Please insert the sheet".
A message prompting the user to insert the label sheet is displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 7 (# 302). The user inserts the label sheet through the insertion port 5 while abutting the left side of the label sheet 4 against the side wall 18 and positioning the label sheet.
As shown as a label sheet A in FIG. 13, insertion is performed until the leading end of the label sheet comes into contact with the pair of paper feed rollers 8, and the setting of the label sheet is completed in this state. After the setting is completed in this way, when the user presses the "execute" key (# 304: "YE"
S]), the sheet feed motor 16 is driven (# 30
6) By this rotation, the paper feed roller 8 rotates, and the set label sheet A starts to be fed to the printing unit 20 side.

On the other hand, the CPU 30 monitors whether or not a label sheet is detected by the sheet sensor 19 immediately after the start of feeding, and if the distance from the sheet feeding roller 8 to the sheet sensor 19 is L ₁ , the sheet feeding roller 8 If a label sheet is detected by the sheet sensor 19 while feeding a distance corresponding to L ₁ by the CPU 30, the CPU 30 determines that the label sheet is correctly fed (“N” in # 308).
"O", "YES" at # 310). After being detected by the sheet sensor 19, the correctly fed label sheet B is
The distance L ₂ from the sheet sensor 19 to the printing unit 20 is further fed, and the label sheet C is set at a predetermined position directly below the printing unit 20. After this, the liquid crystal display 7
A message indicating that printing is in progress is displayed in (# 31
4) The predetermined print processing is executed (# 316).

On the other hand, when the label sheet is fed by the rotation of the paper feed roller 8 over the distance L ₁ but the label sensor is not detected by the sheet sensor 19 (“NO” at # 310, "YES" at # 308),
The CPU 30 determines that the label sheet has not been normally fed, reverses the rotation of the sheet feeding motor 16 (# 318), and ejects the label sheet from the insertion port 5. Then, the liquid crystal display unit 7 displays a message prompting the user to re-insert the label sheet and a message prompting the user to enter a key to start the printing process, and the process from # 304 is repeated.

As described above, in the present apparatus 1, the label information for specifying the shape and arrangement position of the label is stored with the dimension based on the corner position of the front end of the left side of the label sheet,
Since the printing process is executed based on this label information also in the printing process, it is extremely important to detect whether or not the corner position of the label sheet is accurately set at the specified position.

In this embodiment, an example in which the erroneous insertion of the label sheet is determined based on the feeding distance by the sheet feeding roller and the presence or absence of detection by the sheet sensor is shown, but the present invention is not limited to this example. For example, it may be detected by another method such as erroneous insertion when a sheet sensor does not detect the sheet sensor within a certain time from the start of feeding by a timer or the like.

[0060]

As described above, since the label printing apparatus according to the present invention is provided with the printing control means, the printing area of the label to be printed, the number of lines of characters input by the user, and each line. The maximum character size that can be accommodated within the print area of each label is automatically set in consideration of the number of characters in the label. The operation can be simplified.

Further, since the feeding control means is provided, when the label sheet is not fed to the reference position for the printing process, the feeding direction of the label sheet is reversed and the label sheet is ejected. It is possible to prevent it, and it is possible to reliably set the label sheet in the correct position.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an appearance of a label printing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an internal mechanism of the label printing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an internal mechanism of the label printing apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a key arrangement of the label printing apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing an example of a sheet sensor.

FIG. 6 is a control block diagram in the label printing apparatus.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a positional relationship of labels with respect to a label sheet.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure for a start screen.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating setting of an initial value of character size in automatic character size setting.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating automatic setting of character size.

11A and 11B are explanatory diagrams showing a method of setting an initial value of a character size corresponding to a shape of a label.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing label sheet feeding control in a printing process.

FIG. 13 is a schematic perspective view showing a sheet sensor and a paper feed roller portion as an essential part of feeding control.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Label printing device, 4 ... Label sheet, 4a ... Label, 6 '... Key input part, 7 ... Liquid crystal display part, 8 ... Paper feed roller (feeding means), 19 ... Sheet sensor (position detecting means), 30 ... CPU, 31 ... Storage unit.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A label printing device for inputting a desired character string and printing the input character string for each label arranged on a label sheet, wherein the label printing device prints on each label. Printing means for applying, a display means for displaying a message corresponding to the input character string and each operation step, label information for specifying the size and arrangement position of each label arranged on the label sheet, and A storage unit that stores character size information that defines a plurality of character sizes as the character size to be printed, a feeding unit that feeds the inserted label sheet to the printing position during the printing process, and the feeding unit. Position detection means for detecting whether or not the fed label sheet is set at a reference position for print processing, print control means and feed control means The print control means determines the print area from the specified label information, and based on the number of lines of the input characters and the number of characters in each line, the print area of each label. Controlling the printing means based on the character size and the label information selected by the first control means, the first control means selecting the maximum character size contained in the character size information; To print the input character string on each label by
The feeding control means causes the display means to display a message prompting the user to enter a key to start printing after finishing the setting operation for printing. Control means, a fourth control means for receiving a key input for starting the printing and causing the feeding means to start feeding the label sheet, and the feeding means for setting the label sheet to a predetermined position. distance,
Label printing, characterized by comprising: fifth control means for reversing the feeding direction of the label sheet by the feeding means when the label sheet is not detected by the position detecting means at the time of feeding. apparatus. 2. The feeding control means further causes the display means to display a message prompting reinsertion of the label sheet after the feeding direction of the label sheet by the feeding means is reversed. The label printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising control means.