JPH0732662A - Printing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a printing device equipped with a means with which a user can easily print characters on a plurality of faces of an article. CONSTITUTION:When a floppy disk 50 is inserted into an insert opening and characters to be written on a label 52 of the floppy disk 50 are decided by operating a keyboard and a print start button is pressed, a control circuit outputs a control signal to a motor driver so as to drive a carriage motor 13. In accordance with printing information inputted from the keyboard, a control signal is outputted to a head driver so as to selectively operate heat generating sections of a print head 18 and a print head 20, so that the characters are printed in a printing range on the top face of the label 52 or in a printing range of the back face of the label.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to multiple surfaces of an article, including:
The present invention relates to a printing device that allows a user to selectively print characters and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when writing characters on a cartridge such as a floppy disk or video tape,
Directly handwritten in the designated entry field, or handwritten on the label paper, or set the label paper in the printer and use the computer to determine the layout of the characters,
The printed characters were attached to the text boxes on the label paper so that the printing positions would match.

Here, as shown in FIGS. 5 (a) and 5 (b), when characters are to be printed in the surface printing range 53 of the label 52 located on the surface 51 of the floppy disk 50 when it is pasted, printing is performed. Since the possible range is wide, the allowable amount of misalignment of the character entry position is large, but in the case of printing characters in the back print range 55 of the label 52 corresponding to the back 54 of the floppy disk 50, the printable range (Fig. Since the middle l) is only about 3 mm, the allowable amount of displacement of the character writing position is extremely small.

Therefore, when writing characters on the back printing area 55 by hand, small characters are written in a narrow width of about 3 mm.

[0005]

However, when a floppy disk or the like is used by an individual, there is no particular problem even if it is filled in by handwriting, but it is possible to share it with others or use it to create a program or the like. When data is stored and stored together with other floppy disks, handwriting makes it unattractive and the written characters are often difficult to read.

On the other hand, when the label paper is set in the printer and the title or name is printed on it,
In some cases, trial and error may have to be repeated many times to adjust the printing position to the desired position, and in addition, when attaching to a floppy disk, it is necessary to pay close attention to the position adjustment. Often it fails and wastes labels, which is time consuming and
It was very troublesome.

Further, in the case of handwriting, since the writing position may vary depending on the individual, it is very difficult to find the desired floppy disk from the state in which a plurality of floppy disks are stored together. there were.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and provides a printing apparatus provided with a means that allows a user to easily print characters and the like on a plurality of surfaces of an article. It is intended to be provided.

[0009]

In order to achieve this object, a printing apparatus of the present invention is one in which a user can selectively print characters and the like on a plurality of surfaces of an article. The mounting means to be mounted, the first printing means for printing characters and the like on the first surface of the article mounted on the mounting means, and the surface other than the first surface of the article , Second printing means for printing characters and the like.

[0010]

In the printing apparatus of the present invention having the above-mentioned structure, when the user mounts the article on the mounting means, the first printing means prints characters or the like on the first surface of the article. The second printing means prints characters or the like on a surface other than the first surface of the article.

[0011]

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

First, the configuration of the printing apparatus of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5.

The printer 1 is provided with a keyboard 2 for an operator to input characters on the upper surface, and a liquid crystal display device 3 behind the keyboard 2 for displaying the input characters and the like. Further, further behind the liquid crystal display device 3, there is provided an insertion opening 4 for mounting the floppy disk 50, so that the floppy disk 50 can be inserted in the direction shown by the arrow in the figure.

In addition, inside the printer 1, a mechanism mainly as shown in FIG. 3 is incorporated. The carriage 10 is supported by an upper slide shaft 11 and a lower slide shaft 12 so as to be movable in the axial direction, and includes a carriage motor 13 and an R pulley 1.
4, the L pulley 15, and the timing belt 16 are movable. A print head 18 having a heat generating portion 17, which is a well-known thermal head, and a print head 20 having a heat generating portion 19 are fixed to the carriage 10. The print head 18 is arranged so that it can print on the front surface printing area 53 of the floppy disk 50, and the print head 20 can print on the back surface printing area 55. Here, the illustration of the thermal transfer ribbon corresponding to the print head is omitted.

In front of them, an R guide 21, an L guide 22 for holding the floppy disk 50 inserted from the insertion slot 4, and a vertical direction of the inserted floppy disk 50 (direction of arrow D in the figure). Is provided with a stopper 23 for fixing. The stopper 23 is rotatable around the stopper shaft 24, and the solenoid shaft 26 of the fixed solenoid 25 is driven to keep the floppy disk 50 in a fixed state, and when the drive is released, it is not fixed by the force of the return spring 27. It is configured to be in a state. Also, the floppy disk 50 is at the bottom.
A set sensor 28 is arranged to detect that the has been set.

A circuit as shown in FIG. 2 is built in the printer 1. The structure of this circuit will be described. The control circuit 30 is mainly composed of a microcomputer including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM and the like. The control circuit 30 includes a keyboard 2, a display device 3, and a head driver 31 that drives the heating portion of the print head 18, a head driver 32 that drives the print head 20, a motor driver 33 that drives the carriage motor 13, and a fixed solenoid 25. A solenoid driver 34 for driving and a set sensor 28 are connected.

The insertion port 4, the R guide 21, and the L guide 2
2. The stopper 23 serves as the mounting means of the present invention for the print head 1.
Reference numeral 8 constitutes a first printing means, and print head 20 constitutes a second printing means.

Next, the operation of the printing apparatus thus configured will be described. First, when the floppy disk 50 is not set, that is, when the set sensor 28 is off, the fixed solenoid 25 operates in the control circuit 3
Turned off by 0. When the operator inserts the floppy disk 50 to which a label with no characters is attached is inserted from the insertion slot 4, the set sensor 28 detects that the floppy disk 50 has been set and sends the information to the control circuit 30. Tell. The control circuit 30 outputs an ON signal to the solenoid driver 34 to drive the fixed solenoid 25. Then, the tip of the stopper 23 comes into contact with the upper end of the floppy disk 50, and the movement of the floppy disk 50 in the vertical direction (D direction in the drawing) is restricted.

The movement of the floppy disk 50 in the front-back direction (E direction in the figure) is restricted by the R guide 21 and the L guide 22, and the label 52 of the floppy disk 50 is controlled.
The heat generating portions of the print head 18 and the print head 20 are pressed against the front surface printing area 53 and the back surface printing area 55 via the thermal transfer ribbons (not shown) to enable printing.

Next, the operator operates the keyboard 2 while looking at the display device 3 and operates the label 5 on the floppy disk 50.
When the characters to be written in the front surface printing range 53 and the back surface printing range 55 of 2 are determined and the print start button is pressed, the control circuit 30 outputs a control signal to the motor driver 33 to drive the carriage motor 13, and According to the print information input from the keyboard 2, the print head 18,
By outputting a control signal to the head drivers 31 and 32 to selectively operate the heat generating portion of the print head 20, characters or the like are printed on the front surface print range 53 or the back surface print range 55 of the label 52. .

Here, as a control method for selectively operating the print head 18 and the print head 20,
Information relating to them is added to the input print information, and a program for controlling to selectively operate the print head based on the information is stored in the ROM of the control circuit 30. The keyboard 2 may be configured, or the keyboard 2 may be provided with a dedicated key such as a selection key.

After printing is completed, the operator operates the keyboard 2
When the upper eject button is pressed, the fixed solenoid 25 is turned off and the floppy disk 50 can be ejected from the printing device.

In this way, the floppy disk 50
The operator can easily write characters in desired positions on the front surface printing area 53 and the back surface printing area 55 of the label 52 attached to the label.

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

For example, in the present embodiment, the label attached to the floppy disk was printed, but the label may be directly printed on the floppy disk without attaching the label, and the printing means is not thermal transfer but other printing such as ink jet printing. It may be a method. Further, although the front surface and the back surface are printed at the same time, the print heads may be mounted on different carriages to print separately, or a line head or a serial head may be used.

Further, in this embodiment, the floppy disk is fixed and the print head side is moved for printing. However, the print head may be fixed and the mounted floppy disk may be moved for printing. However, both the head and the floppy disk may be moved for printing.

Further, the print head 18 and the print head 2
0 and 0 may be integrally configured.

In the present embodiment, the floppy disk has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this, and various storage media such as a mini disk, a magneto-optical disk, a video tape, and other articles can be used. It can also be applied to.

[0029]

As is apparent from the above description, the printing apparatus of the present invention allows a user to selectively print characters and the like on a plurality of surfaces of an article, and the article can be mounted on the article. The mounting means for performing the first printing means for printing characters and the like on the first surface of the article mounted on the mounting means, and the surface other than the first surface of the article, By providing the second printing unit for printing characters and the like, the user can easily print characters and the like on a predetermined surface of the article.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment embodying the configuration of a printing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of a main part of the printing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a main part of the printing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a side view of a printing unit of the printing apparatus of the present invention.

5A is a front view of a label sheet, and FIG. 5B is a perspective view showing a state in which the label sheet is attached to a floppy disk.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Printing Device 4 Insertion Port 18 Print Head 20 Print Head 21 R Guide 22 L Guide 23 Stopper 50 Floppy Disk

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A printing apparatus which allows a user to selectively print characters and the like on a plurality of surfaces of an article, wherein the article has a mounting means for mounting the article, and a mounting device for mounting the article. A first printing means for printing characters and the like on one surface, and a second printing means for printing characters and the like on surfaces other than the first surface of the article. A printing device characterized by.