JPH0699622A - Thermal printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a handy thermal printer which does not generate paper jam even after the printer has not been used for a long time. CONSTITUTION:The title thermal printer is provided with a thermal head 3 printing paper 2 for a long-sized label, a platen roller 9 arranged facing the thermal head 3 and carries the paper 2 for the label in a forward and reverse directions while pinching and holding the same together with the thermal head 3 and the second RAM 25 backed up by a battery 24 storing that the paper 2 for the label is carried unidirectionally by a fixed length by transmission data from a host computer showing an unused state. This is a label printer provided further with a CPU 20 which carries the paper 2 for the label unidirectionally by a fixed length by the transmission data and performs control of carrying of the paper for the label by the fixed length by the platen roller 9 in one direction and reverse direction stored in the second RAM 2 through making of an electric power source of the printer of a usage starting signal.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thermal printer that prints on paper using a thermal head.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, label paper wound in a roll shape is held behind a label printer body, and the label paper is nipped and conveyed by a thermal head and a platen roller facing the thermal head. While printing on the label paper with the thermal head, pull out this printed label paper from the label outlet located on the front surface of the main body, and cut with the cutter provided on the front side of the thermal head inside the label outlet. There are some that take out the label and issue it. Then, in order to eliminate waste of the label paper, after cutting the label with the cutter, the label paper in the printer is conveyed in the direction opposite to the above-described conveyance direction by the distance between the cutter and the thermal head, and one sheet of paper is cut. Label printing ends. In this way, the leading edge of the label paper to be printed next is set to the first print position on the thermal head.

[0003]

In this label printer, when the printer portion is not used for a long time,
For example, when the power of the device is turned off, or when the power is turned on but label printing is not performed for a long time, the leading edge of the label paper remains stationary for a long time and the thermal head and platen roller are Since it is sandwiched between the label sheets, the sandwiched label sheet has a curling tendency at the leading end portion of the label sheet and the vicinity of the leading edge. If the label is printed after the label has not been printed for a long time, the leading edge of the label paper may be wrapped around the surface of the platen roller during printout of the thermal head because the leading edge of the label paper has a curl. This has a drawback in handling the apparatus, such as a jam occurring in the printer due to a gap entering between the guide members.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a thermal printer which does not cause paper jam even after the printer is not used for a long time and which is easy to handle.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided a thermal head for printing on a sheet, a platen roller arranged to face the thermal head so as to sandwich the sheet, and between the thermal head and the platen roller. Transporting means for transporting the sheet sandwiched in the forward and reverse directions, a memory for storing that the sheet has been transported for a predetermined length in one direction by a signal indicating a non-use state, and a transporting means for the transporting means by the signal. The control is performed to convey the paper in the one direction for the predetermined length, and the paper is conveyed in the one direction for the predetermined length in the opposite direction to the one direction stored in the memory by the use start signal. The printer is provided with a conveyance control unit for performing control.

[0006]

With this structure, the sheet is sandwiched between the thermal head and the platen roller, and the sheet is printed by the thermal head while being conveyed by the conveying means. Then, the next sheet is set to the print position of the thermal head and the platen roller, which is the print start position, and the sheets are sequentially printed. And
When the use of the printer is completed and a signal indicating the non-use state is generated, the signal is conveyed by the conveying means in the forward and reverse directions by a predetermined length under the control of the conveying control means. The fact that the paper has been transported by the device is stored in the memory. Then, when the printer is used, when the use start signal is input, the sheet is conveyed by the conveying unit in the direction opposite to the one direction by the predetermined length under the control of the conveying control unit,
The leading edge of the paper is the print start position where it is sandwiched between the thermal head and the platen roller. Therefore, the non-use state of the printer is detected, and the leading end of the paper is automatically positioned by the conveying means beyond the nipping position between the thermal head and the platen roller. As a result, even if the printer is not used for a long period of time, the curl of the leading edge of the sheet does not occur.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the label printer of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of the label printer 1. In this label printer 1, a label paper 2 wound in a roll is conveyed from the rear of the device (right side in FIG. 1) and printed by a thermal head 3. The label sheet 2 cut is cut by a cutter 4 to issue a label (not shown). The label sheet 2 is guided by the pair of sheet guides 5 and 6 provided in the rear of the thermal head 3 and facing each other, and is guided by the pair of sheet guides 7 provided in the front of the thermal head 3 to cut the cutter 4. Be led to.

A transmissive sensor 10 for positioning printing of the label paper 2 is attached to the paper guide 5 so as to face the paper conveyance path, and the paper guide path is sandwiched between the upper guide 5a of the paper guide 5. Opposing conveying rollers 8 are provided. A platen roller 9 as a conveying means is provided so as to face the thermal head 3, and a position where the platen roller 9 and the thermal head 3 face each other is a printing position, and the platen roller 9 rotates forward (counterclockwise).
Alternatively, the label paper 2 can be rotated by rotating it in the reverse direction (rotating right).
Are conveyed in the forward direction (right to left direction) or in the reverse direction (left to right direction).

A ribbon supply section 11 and a ribbon winding section 12 are provided above the label printer 1, and an ink ribbon 13 hung between the ribbon supply section 11 and the ribbon winding section 12 has a thermal head. 3 and the platen roller 9 are supplied.

The ink ribbon 13 is wound around the ink supply unit 11 in a roll shape.
1 is guided by the ribbon guides 14 and 15 to pass between the thermal head 3 and the platen roller 9, and is guided by the ribbon guide 16 to be wound up by the ribbon winding section 12. A ribbon sensor 17 for detecting the ribbon end is provided between the ribbon guide 14 and the ribbon guide 15.
Is provided.

Further, in FIG. 1, reference numeral 18 is a label peeling plate, which is provided with a mount take-up unit (not shown) which is optionally attached, and the label is continuously attached to the long mount. It is used to bend the mount paper at an acute angle when the label paper is peeled off from the mount paper while pulling the mount paper downward by the mount paper winding unit.

FIG. 2 is an electrical block diagram of the label printer 1, in which a CPU 20 as a conveyance control means and a bus 21 are provided.
A ROM 22 in which a program for the CPU 20 to perform processing via the CPU 20 is stored, a reception buffer storage area transmitted from a host computer, a drawing storage area in which image data is expanded and drawn so as to be printed by the thermal head 3, and the like. First RAM 2 provided with various memory storage areas
3. A second RAM 25 is connected as a non-volatile memory, which is backed up by the battery 24 and retains stored contents even when the power is turned off.

Subsequently, the print head driver 26 and the motor driver 2 are connected to the CPU 20 via the bus 21.
7, cutter driver 28, sensor driver 29, and communication interface 30 (shown as communication I / F in FIG. 2)
Are connected. Here, the operation of the above-mentioned thermal head 3 is controlled by the print head driver 26, and the cutter 4
Is controlled by the cutter driver 28, the motor 31 for rotating the platen roller 9 and the ribbon winding unit 12 is controlled by the motor driver 27, and the cutter 4 is controlled by the cutter driver 28, and the outputs of the label sensor 10 and the ribbon sensor 17 are controlled by the sensor. This label printer 1 is input through the driver 29 and transmitted from a host computer (not shown).
Communication data for controlling the communication interface 3
Input through 0.

As shown in FIG. 3, the above-mentioned second RAM 25 stores a flag storing a flag indicating whether the transfer is in the forward direction or the reverse direction, which is included in the data input from the keyboard of the host computer and sent. Region 25a,
Similarly, a feed amount storage area 25b for storing the feed amount included in the data sent from the host computer is provided.

Next, the label printer 1 executes the processing shown in FIGS. 4 to 6.

When the power is turned on, step 1 (in the figure,
Initialization is performed in step 2).
In step 3, the data stored in these storage areas are read from the flag storage area 25a and the feed amount storage area 25b of the second RAM 25. It is determined whether the flag read in step 4 is 1, and if this flag is 1, step 5
Then, the motor 31 is reversely rotated by the feed amount read from the feed amount storage area 25b, the label paper 2 is conveyed in the reverse direction and adjusted to the print position, and in step 6, the second RAM
The flag storage area 25a and the feed amount storage area 25b of 25 are cleared, and the processing such as drawing and printing shown in FIG. 5 is executed. Here, power-on is the use start signal.

If the flag is not 1 in step 4, it is determined in step 7 whether the flag is 2 and this flag is 2
If it is, the motor 31 is moved in the step 8 in the feed amount storage area 2
The label paper 2 is rotated forward by the feed amount read from 5b.
Is carried in the forward direction to align it with the printing position, and in step 6, the flag storage area 25a and the feed amount storage area 25b of the second RAM 25 are cleared. Also, step 7
If the flag is not 2, the process shown in FIG. 5 is executed.

In the process shown in FIG. 5, it is determined in step 9 whether or not the data transmitted from the host computer (not shown) is received. When the data is received, in step 10, whether or not the received data is the data of the drawing command. If it is a drawing command, the data to be printed is drawn as an image in the drawing storage area of the first RAM 23 based on the data received in step 11, and the process returns to step 9. If it is determined in step 10 that the data received in step 9 is not a drawing command, it is determined in step 12 whether it is a print command. If it is a print command, in step 13, the motor 3
1. The thermal head 3 is driven to print the image drawn in the drawing storage area on the label paper 2 while the label paper 2 is being conveyed, and in step 14, the label is cut from the label paper 2 by the cutter 4 and issued. In step 15, the label paper 2 is conveyed in the reverse direction and the leading end of the label paper 2 is aligned with the print position. If it is determined in step 12 that the command is not a print command, it is determined in step 16 whether or not it is a stop position change command. If it is not this stop position change command, another process is executed according to the data received in step 17. Return to step 9.

When it is determined in step 16 that the received data is a stop position change command as a predetermined signal indicating non-use, a stop position change process is executed in step 18.
As shown in detail in FIG. 6, the processing in step 18 first determines whether or not the flag included in the data received in step 19 is 1, and if this flag is 1, then step 2
The platen roller 9 is rotated in the forward direction by rotating the motor 31 so as to convey the label paper 2 by a feed amount as a predetermined length included in the data received at 0, and the label paper 2 is conveyed forward. Also, in step 19, the flag is 1
If not, the flag is determined to be 2, the motor 31 is reversely rotated by the feed amount included in the data received in step 21, and the label sheet 2 is conveyed backward. After the processing of either step 20 or step 21, the flag included in the data received in step 22 is set in the second RAM.
25 in the flag storage area 25a, and step 23
The feed amount is stored in the feed amount storage area 25b of the second RAM 25. After this, as shown in FIG. 5, no other processing is performed except that the power is turned off in step 24.

As described above, the label printer 1 expands and stores the data of the drawing command transmitted from the host computer as an image in the drawing storage area (not shown) provided in the first RAM 23, and when the print command is received, the memory is stored. The image is printed by driving the thermal head 3. At this time, the platen roller 9 is controlled by the motor 31 to be rotated and conveyed on the label sheet 2, and the label take-up unit 12
Is rotated by the motor 31 to transfer the ink of the ink ribbon 13 onto the label paper 2. After printing, the label sheet 2 is further conveyed, and when the printed portion reaches the cutting position by the cutter 4, the conveyance is stopped, and the label sheet 2 is cut by the cutter 4.
Is cut and a label is issued. Then, the motor 31 is rotated in the direction opposite to the rotation at the time of printing the label paper 2 and the platen roller 9 is rotated in the reverse direction so that the label paper 2 is conveyed in the reverse direction, and the leading end of the label paper 2 is moved to the printing position. Stop the transportation so that

When the stop position changing command of the label sheet 2 transmitted by the operator by the keyboard of the host computer is received before the label printer 1 is turned off, the feeding direction included in this command is received. Depending on the feed amount, the label sheet 2 is conveyed forward or backward by the feed amount and stopped. For example, if the flag is 1 and the feed amount is 3
When the data of 0 mm is received, the platen roller 9 rotates forward so that the label paper 2 is conveyed in the normal direction by 30 mm, and the flag 1 and the feed amount 30 mm are stored in the flag storage area 25a of the second RAM and the feed amount storage. The areas 25b and 25b are stored respectively. After that, no other processing is performed other than turning off the power.

When the power is turned on again, the second R
The feed amount stored in the AM 25 is the label paper 2 in the direction opposite to the direction in which the instruction is received, that is, in the opposite direction.
Is conveyed by 30 mm and the print position of the label paper 2 is automatically adjusted. In this way, printing can be performed from the position of the leading edge of the next label sheet 2, and the waste of the label sheet 2 is prevented. While the power is off, the leading edge of the label sheet 2 is not sandwiched between the thermal head 3 and the platen roller 9, and therefore the leading edge of the label sheet 2 has a curling tendency. No jam occurs, and the leading end of the label sheet 2 does not enter between the cutter 4 and the sheet guide 7, for example, and the occurrence of jam is prevented. Even after the power is turned off, the label sheet 2 is held between the thermal head 3 and the platen roller 9, and the leading end portion of the label sheet 2 is held 30 mm ahead of the printing position.

As described above, since the leading end portion of the label sheet 2 does not have a curling tendency, the label sheet 2 does not enter the gap such as the sheet guide 7 during the printing and conveying of the label sheet 2 and the occurrence of a jam is prevented. Further, since the leading end of the label sheet 2 and the platen roller 9 are not in contact with each other, static electricity generated between the label sheet 2 and the platen roller 9 causes the label sheet 2 to rotate when the platen roller 9 rotates. The tip does not get caught.

In this embodiment, in a label printer that cuts the label sheet 2 by using the cutter 4 and issues a label, the label sheet 2 is conveyed forward when not in use, and the tip of the label sheet has a curl. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to, for example, a printer that conveys a label sheet backward when not in use, a receipt printer that issues a receipt, or another printer that uses a thermal head. is there. Also, for example, the printer itself is provided with a key for instructing the change of the stop position, and when this key is operated, the stop position of the paper is changed as the input of the signal indicating the non-use state and the key is pressed again. In the printer that returns the paper to the print position as an input of the use start signal, or in the place where the printer is not used between 5 pm and 9 am the next morning, set the time when the printer is not used in the printer, At 5 pm set by the timer, the printer automatically changes the stop position of the paper and then turns off the power, and at 9 am, the printer is turned on to return the paper to the print position, or the power switch is turned off. A means for detecting the operation is provided, and when it is detected that the power switch is cut off, another control means continues the power supply for a predetermined time, and the power is supplied within the time when the power is supplied. Also of the printer so as to change the stop position can be implemented. The nonvolatile memory may be another memory such as a hard disk device built in the printer, and the feed direction stored in advance when the stop position change command is received,
The stop position of the paper may be changed according to the feed amount, and only the change of the stop position may be stored upon receiving this command.

[0026]

According to the present invention, when the printer is not used,
The signal conveys the paper so that the leading edge of the paper does not get pinched by the thermal head and the platen roller, and the use start signal causes the leading edge of the paper to reach the printing position where it is nipped by the thermal head and the platen roller. Since the conveyance is controlled, it is possible to provide a printer that is easy to handle without curling the leading end of the sheet when not in use, and does not cause a sheet jam.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a storage area set in a second RAM according to the embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Label Printer (Thermal Printer) 2 Label Paper (Paper) 3 Thermal Head 4 Cutter 9 Platen Roller (Conveying Means) 13 Ink Ribbon 20 CPU (Conveying Control Means) 24 Battery 25 Second RAM (Nonvolatile Memory) 25a Flag Storage Area 25b Feed amount storage area 31 Motor

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A thermal head for printing on a sheet, a platen roller arranged to face the thermal head so as to sandwich the sheet, and the sheet sandwiched between the thermal head and the platen roller in a forward direction. And a conveyance means for conveying the paper in the opposite direction, a memory for storing that the paper has been conveyed by a predetermined length in one direction by a signal indicating a non-use state, and a signal for the predetermined length of the paper by the conveyance means by the signal. Conveyance control means for controlling the conveyance of the sheet in the direction, and for controlling the conveyance of the sheet in a direction opposite to the one direction stored in the memory by the use start signal by the conveyance means for a predetermined length. A thermal printer characterized by having.