JPH08267849A - Tapelike label manufacturing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To improve the positional precision of a printing start position by a method in which when printing is conducted more than one time on the same part of a tape, at the beginning of tape feeding for the final printing, a tape is transferred until a tape cutting position reaches a tape cutting mechanism before the tape feeding being stopped. CONSTITUTION: In an apparatus in which multicolor printing of characters and signals on a printing tape 22 is performed by changing a ribbon cassette 30 of different ribbon colors, printing is carried out by a print head 12 under the control by CPU. When the printing tape 22 is rewound after printing, and printing is conducted more than one time on the same area, at the beginning of tape feeding for final printing, the printing tape 22 is transferred until the tape cutting position of the printing tape 22, which is set by a cutting position setting means, reaches a tape cutting mechanism 80 by a tape transfer mechanism including a tape driving motor 44, and then the tape feeding is stopped. Next, a knob 85 for cutting is pushed to cut the printing tape 22 manually.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tape-shaped label producing apparatus, and more particularly to printing for repetitive printing when the same printing range is repeatedly printed by rewinding a printed printing tape. The present invention relates to a device for improving start position accuracy.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, the applicant of the present application has disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No.
As described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 94, a tape-like label suitable for producing a label suitable for printing characters or symbols of characters or symbols on a printing tape which is a printing medium and attaching it to a spine of a file. A device was proposed and put into practical use. This label producing apparatus is equipped with a keyboard, a display, and a thermal printing type printing mechanism, and has a printing tape as a printing medium (for example, tape width 6, 9, 12, 18, 24 m).
In m), characters and marks can be printed in various character sizes and fonts.

Further, in this label producing apparatus, a tape cutting mechanism for cutting the print tape is provided on the downstream side of the thermal head in the tape transfer direction, and the front margin amount and the rear end are provided at the front end of the print tape. It is possible to set the amount of rear margin provided in the section.When printing starts, when the distance between the cutting position of the tape cutting mechanism and the print start position reaches the front margin amount, the feeding of the print tape is stopped. After being disconnected, the printing process is continued.

By the way, after the characters and symbols are printed on the printing tape for the first time, the printing tape is rewound to the printing start position for the first time, and the characters and symbols are further overlapped for the second printing. It is possible to create a label on which synthetic characters and design patterns are printed by executing. In addition, the tape-shaped label created by printing text is not limited to the spine of a file, and is suitable for being attached to, for example, a cassette tape or its cassette tape case, or even a video tape or its video tape case. By repeating the printing process and the rewinding of the printing tape, it is conceivable to create a tape-shaped label in which a printing character string is colorfully printed according to the recorded content and genre.

Therefore, the inventors of the present application constructed the printing tape so that it can be transported not only in the feeding direction but also in the rewinding direction, and the ribbon color of the ink ribbon is not only "black" but also
Multiple types of ribbon cassettes with multiple colors such as "red", "green", and "blue" ... are prepared separately from the tape cassette, and these ribbon cassettes can be selectively attached to and detached from the tape cassette. In addition to the above, the print colors used for multicolor printing are sequentially set in the printing order, while the input text is printed in the set multiple colors. The print target range for each print color is set. Perform the range setting process, install the ribbon cassette of the first print color, and cut the front end of the print tape by setting the amount of front margin during the first print and print each print after the second print. At that time, by replacing the ribbon cassettes of different ribbon colors one by one for printing, and rewinding the printing tape by the feeding amount of the printing tape in the previous printing, synthetic characters and design patterns can be created. Label was shaped, or was inspired to create a label that was multicolor printed on colorful.

[0006]

As is conceived by the inventors of the present application, by performing printing a plurality of times in the same printing area, a label on which synthetic characters or design patterns are printed or a label on which multiple colors are printed can be used. When creating, cut the front end of the printing tape during the first printing to set the amount of front margin, and use the printing tape for the second printing and subsequent printing for the amount of printing tape feeding in the previous printing. Since it rewinds at high speed, the platen roller and the printing tape slip at the time of rewinding, causing an error in the rewinding amount, and printing resumes immediately from the rewound state. Due to backlash of a plurality of gears and the like, there is a problem in that the print start positions in a plurality of prints become uneven.

An object of the present invention is to rewind the printing tape for each printing, so that when printing is performed a plurality of times in the same printing area of the tape, a set margin portion can be provided at the front end portion of the tape and cut. An object of the present invention is to provide a tape-shaped label producing apparatus capable of improving the positional accuracy of the printing start position in each printing.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a tape-shaped label producing apparatus, wherein a tape as a printing medium can be selectively moved in a feeding direction and a rewinding direction, and a tape feeding mechanism. In a tape-shaped label producing apparatus including a printing means including a print head for printing characters, symbols, etc. on a tape in the middle of the tape transfer path by the A tape cutting mechanism for cutting the tape in the vicinity, a cutting position setting means for setting a cutting position located on the downstream side in the tape feeding direction from the printing start position of the tape, and a case where the same portion of the tape is printed a plurality of times , At the beginning of tape feeding for the final printing, the tape cutting position set by the cutting position setting means reaches the tape cutting mechanism in the tape transfer mechanism. After transferring the until tape, in which a tape feed control means for stopping the tape transport.

A tape-shaped label producing apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention accommodates a tape transfer mechanism capable of selectively transferring a tape, which is a print medium, in a feeding direction and a rewinding direction, and an ink ribbon of a plurality of colors. In addition, a plurality of ribbon cassettes that are selectively mounted in a detachable manner for printing sequentially in a plurality of colors, and a print head that prints characters and symbols on the tape in the middle of the tape transfer path by the tape transfer mechanism are provided. In a tape-shaped label producing apparatus equipped with a printing means including the above, and a control means for controlling the printing, a tape cutting mechanism for cutting the tape near the end of the tape transfer path, and a tape feeding from the tape printing start position. Cutting position setting means for setting the cutting position located on the downstream side in the direction of the tape and tape feeding for the final printing when printing multiple colors on the same portion of the tape. During the period, the tape transfer mechanism is provided with tape feed control means for stopping the tape feed after transferring the tape until the cutting position of the tape set by the cutting position setting means reaches the tape cutting mechanism. Is.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the tape label producing apparatus according to the first or second aspect of the invention, a tape detecting means for detecting the presence / absence of a tape is provided near the end of the tape transfer path, and a tape feeding control means is provided. Is configured to start the tape feeding at the time when the tape front end is detected from the detection signal of the tape detection means. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the tape label producing apparatus according to the first or second aspect of the invention, the cutting position setting means sets a front margin amount on the downstream side in the tape feeding direction from the print start position of the tape. is there. According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the tape label producing apparatus of the first or second aspect, the tape cutting mechanism operates when the tape feeding is stopped by the tape feeding control means. According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in a tape-shaped label producing apparatus according to the first or second aspect of the present invention, input means for inputting characters and symbols and various commands, and text data including the input characters and symbols. And a display means including a display.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the tape label producing apparatus according to the sixth aspect, the display means prompts the display to operate the tape cutting mechanism when the tape feeding is stopped by the tape feeding control means. The message is displayed. According to an eighth aspect of the invention, in the tape label producing apparatus of the seventh aspect, the tape cutting mechanism is manually operated.

[0012]

In the tape-shaped label producing apparatus according to the first aspect, the tape transfer mechanism and the printing means are controlled by the control means, and the tape is printed by the print head while the tape is being transferred. When the tape feeding control means performs printing a plurality of times on the same portion of the tape, the tape set by the cutting position setting means in the tape transport mechanism at the beginning of the tape feeding for the final printing. The tape is transported until the cutting position reaches the tape cutting mechanism, and then the tape feeding is stopped. At this time, the tape cutting mechanism cuts the tape at the cutting position.

That is, when the tape transfer mechanism and the printing means are controlled so that the printing by the print head and the rewinding of the tape are repeated to perform printing a plurality of times on the same portion of the tape, the final printing is performed. At the time when the set tape cutting position reaches the tape cutting mechanism, the tape feed is stopped and the tape can be cut. Therefore, each printing start position for starting multiple printing from the first time to the last time Is set, for example, with the tape tip as the reference position, and the tape cutting position is set downstream of the print start position in the tape feed direction.Therefore, when the print tape is rewound, an error occurs in the rewind amount. Even if the print start position does not depend on the rewind amount, the margin can be provided at the front edge of the tape depending on the setting of the cutting position, and the position accuracy of each print start position can be improved. It is possible to improve.

The tape-shaped label producing apparatus according to the second aspect of the invention has substantially the same operation as the first aspect. That is, when the tape transfer mechanism and the printing means are controlled, the printing by the print head and the rewinding of the tape are repeated, and when plural colors are printed on the same portion of the tape, the setting in the final printing is performed. When the tape cutting position thus reached reaches the tape cutting mechanism, the tape feeding is stopped and the tape can be cut. Therefore, the respective print start positions for starting the printing of a plurality of colors from the first time to the last time are, for example, the tape. Since the front end is set as the reference position and the tape cutting position is set downstream of the print start position in the tape feed direction, even if there is an error in the rewind amount when the print tape is rewound. Since the print start position does not depend on the rewind amount, the margin part can be provided at the front end of the tape depending on the setting of the cutting position, and the position accuracy of each print start position is improved. It is possible.

In the tape-shaped label producing apparatus according to the third aspect of the present invention, the same operation as that of the first or second aspect is achieved, but the tape detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of the tape is provided near the end of the tape transfer path. Since the tape feeding control means starts the tape feeding from the time when the tape front end is detected from the detection signal of the tape detecting means, the size of the margin and the accuracy of the print start position can be further improved.

In the tape-shaped label producing apparatus according to the fourth aspect, the same operation as that of the first or second aspect is achieved, but the cutting position setting means is located on the downstream side in the tape feeding direction from the print start position of the tape. Since the amount of the front margin is set, it is possible to create a clean tape-shaped label having the front margin portion at the front end portion of the tape. In the tape-shaped label producing apparatus according to claim 5, the same action as that of claim 1 or 2 is achieved, but the tape cutting mechanism operates when the tape feeding is stopped by the tape feeding control means. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent the tape from being cut due to an erroneous operation during printing or during the tape feeding operation. The tape-shaped label producing apparatus according to claim 6 has the same operation as that of claim 1 or 2, but since it is provided with the input means, the data storage means, and the display means, it is possible to input a desired text. , The entered text can be stored or displayed. In the tape-shaped label producing apparatus according to claim 7, the same operation as in claim 6 is achieved, but the display means displays the tape cutting mechanism on the display when the tape feeding is stopped by the tape feeding control means. Since the message prompting the operation is displayed, the necessity of cutting the tape can be recognized through the display. In the tape-shaped label producing apparatus according to claim 8, the same action as that of claim 7 is achieved, but since the tape cutting mechanism is manually operated, it is not necessary to separately provide a drive mechanism for cutting the tape, The label producing apparatus can be downsized and the cost can be reduced.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, the present invention is applied to a tape-shaped label producing apparatus capable of multicolor printing by replacing a plurality of ribbon cassettes having different ribbon colors with a printing tape which is a printing medium for a large number of characters such as characters and symbols. If you do. As shown in FIG. 1, at the front part of the main body cover 2 of the tape-shaped label producing apparatus 1, a keyboard 4 provided with various function keys and the like in addition to character keys such as letters, symbols and numbers is provided. Immediately behind the keyboard 4, there is provided a liquid crystal display 5 capable of displaying input characters and symbols, and inside the main body cover 2 corresponding to the cassette cover 3 opened and closed when the ribbon cassette 30 is replaced. Is provided with a thermal printing mechanism 10 having a thermal head 12. Here, you can slide the slide knob 6 to open the cassette cover 3,
Further, by pressing the cutting knob 85 downward, the printed printing tape 22 can be manually cut.

Next, the thermal printing mechanism 10 including the thermal head 12 will be described with reference to FIGS. First, the tape cassette 20 which is detachably mounted on the thermal printing mechanism 10 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 5. A tape spool 23, around which a print tape 22 made of a thin film is wound, is rotatably provided inside a tape case 21 of the tape cassette 20, and a plurality of print tapes 22 fed from the tape spool 23 are provided. It is configured such that it is guided in a curved shape by the guide portion, passes immediately before the thermal head 12, is transported in the tape feeding direction by the tape feeding roller 24, and is discharged to the outside of the tape cassette 20.

Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the tape case 2
A pair of guide shafts 21a for guiding and supporting the ribbon cassette 30 in the vertical direction at the time of attaching and detaching the ribbon cassette 30, which will be described below, at two positions separated from each other on the outer peripheral wall of 1.
The lower ends of 21b are integrally formed. Further, the tape case 21 is formed with a pair of lower end wall portions 21c and 21d that abut and support the lower side of the ribbon cassette 30, respectively.

Next, the ribbon cassette 30 which is detachably attached to the tape cassette 20 will be described with reference to FIGS. Ribbon cassette 3 ribbon case 3
1, an upper wall portion 31a that abuts against a part of the tape case 21 from above is horizontally extended and integrally formed. At an end portion of the upper wall portion 31a, a pair of guide shafts 21a and 21b of the tape case 21 are provided. A pair of engaging legs 31b and 31c having through holes, which are externally fitted to the tape case 21, are formed, and a vertical wall 31d that abuts the notch 21e of the tape case 21 is formed. Further, the ribbon cassette 30 is formed with a head housing portion 37 for housing the thermal head 12 which is inserted from below through the tape cassette 20.

Further, inside the ribbon case 31, a ribbon spool 33 around which the ink ribbon 32 is wound, and a ribbon take-up spool 34 around which the ink ribbon 32 is wound are rotatably provided and wound around the ribbon spool 33. The mounted ink ribbon 32 temporarily approaches the printing tape 22 in parallel when facing the thermal head 12, and the separating portion 35 of the separating member 35 integrally formed with the ribbon case 31.
It is configured to be bent at a substantially acute angle at a, separated from the printing tape 22, and wound up by the ribbon winding spool 34. That is, the separating member 35 of the ribbon case 31
Is located downstream of the thermal head 12 in the tape feeding direction. The ribbon case 31 is provided with a lid member 31e that supports the ribbon spool 33, the take-up spool 34, the separating member 35, and the like from above.

On the other hand, the tape case 21 has a ribbon cassette housing portion 21f for housing the ribbon cassette 30.
(See FIG. 7) is formed, and the lid member 3 of the ribbon case 31 is formed.
On the upper surfaces of 1e and the upper wall portion 31a, knob pieces 31f, 3
Since each 1 g is formed, at the time of printing, first, the tape case 21 is mounted in a mounting recess (not shown) provided in the main body cover 2, and then the ribbon cassette 30 having the ink ribbon 32 of a desired printing color is formed. The tape case 21
It can be attached to the ribbon cassette housing portion 21f. At this time, first, with two fingers, a pair of knob pieces 31
With the f and 31g gripped, the pair of engagement legs 31b.3
The ribbon cassette 30 is moved downward and housed in the ribbon cassette housing portion 21f while the 1c is fitted onto the corresponding guide shafts 21a and 21b through the through holes, respectively. At this time, the upper wall portion 31a of the ribbon case 31 overlaps with the upper surface of the tape cassette 20, and the lower end portion of the ribbon cassette 30 has a pair of lower end wall portions 21c.
The ribbon cassette 30 is held in a predetermined position with respect to the tape case 21 by coming into contact with 21d from above.

By the way, a plurality of types are prepared in the ribbon cassette 30 depending on the ribbon color (red, green, yellow, black, ...) Of the ink ribbon 32 and the ribbon width (12, 18, 24, 32 mm). At the lower end of the vertical wall portion 31d of the ribbon case 31, a detection hole group 36 (FIG. 6) in which a maximum of six detection holes 36a are combined in order to detect any of the plurality of types of ribbon cassettes 30 is provided. , One detection hole 36
a is formed) is formed.

Next, the printing tape 22 and the ink ribbon 32
A tape / ribbon transfer mechanism 40 capable of transferring and in the feeding direction, which is the printing direction, and the rewinding direction, which is the anti-printing direction, will be described with reference to FIG. On the main body frame 11, a tape take-up cam 41 that can be engaged with the center of the tape spool 23, a ribbon take-up cam 42 that can be engaged with the center of the ribbon take-up spool 34, and the center of the tape feed roller 24. The tape drive cam 43 engaging with the section is rotatably supported, the thermal head 12 is erected, and in order to detect the presence or absence of the six detection holes 36a of the detection hole group 36, the first A ribbon detection switch group 103 including a sixth detection switch is provided, and a ribbon detection signal RS is output by a combination of switch signals from these six detection switches.

Further, at the right end of the front end of the main body frame 11, the tape drive motor 4 composed of a stepping motor is provided.
4 is attached to the drive gear 45 of the tape drive motor 44, and gears 46 to 53 rotatably supported by the body frame 11 are sequentially meshed with the tape fixed to the tape drive cam 43. The drive gear 54 and the gear 55 mesh with each other. Here, the gear 48 and the gear 4
9 is integrally formed and fixed to the lower end of the ribbon winding cam 42, the gear 50 and the gear 51 are integrally formed, and the tape winding gear 52 is the lower end of the tape winding cam 41. It is fixed to the part. That is, the rotation of the tape drive motor 44 is transmitted to the tape drive cam 43 fixed to the tape drive gear 54 via the gears 45 to 54, and the print tape 22 is transferred by the rotation of the tape feed roller 24.

On the other hand, in the gap between the gears 50, 51 formed integrally, the base end portion of the swing lever 56 is provided with the gears 50, 51.
It is supported with a proper frictional resistance between
A planetary gear 57 that constantly meshes with the gear 51 is rotatably supported by the swing lever 56. Also, the gear 53
On the pivot shaft 58, the winding spring 59 is arranged such that the base end portion of the cutting prohibition lever 84 sandwiches the pivot shaft 58 between one end and the base end portion of the winding spring 59 supported by the cutting prohibition lever 84. It is pressed and supported by the urging force of. Then, as shown in FIG. 9, when the tape drive motor 44 is driven in the clockwise direction (normal rotation drive) for normal printing and the gear 50 rotates in the clockwise direction, the frictional force between them causes The swing lever 56 also rotates in the clockwise direction so that the planet gear 57 does not mesh with the tape winding gear 52.
Since the tape winding cam 41 becomes free, the print tape 22 wound around the tape spool 23 is fed out, and at the same time, the gear 53 rotates in the counterclockwise direction and the cut prohibiting lever 84 rotates in the counterclockwise direction. When the ribbon drive gear 45 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction, the ribbon drive gear 45 is rotated in the counterclockwise direction while the cutting operation is prohibited and the tip of the cutting prohibition lever 84 is located below the cutting lever 82 described later. The take-up cam 42 rotates counterclockwise through the clutch spring 60, and the ink ribbon 32 moves to the ribbon take-up spool 3.
It is wound up in 4.

A roller holder 67, which rotatably supports the rubber platen roller 65 and the tape feed sub-roller 66, is rotatably supported by a pivot shaft 68 erected on the main body frame 11, and the cassette. The release lever 71 moves in the left-right direction in conjunction with the opening and closing of the cover 3, and the position is switched between the print position shown in FIG. 9 and the release position shown in FIG. Here, the roller holder 67
Is always elastically biased to the release position by a winding spring (not shown). That is, the roller 72 pivotally attached to the release lever 71 comes into contact with the standing wall 11a of the main body frame 11, and one end of the release lever 71 is attached to the roller holder 6.
7, the release lever 71 is moved from the retracted position shown in FIG. 11 to the actuated position shown in FIG. 9 to the left, so that the left end of the release lever 71 has the roller holder 67 and the standing wall 11a. The roller holder 67 is switched from the release position to the printing position by penetrating in a wedge shape between and. At this time, the platen roller 65 causes the thermal head 1 to pass through the print tape 22 and the ink ribbon 32.
The tape feed sub-roller 66 presses the tape feed roller 24 via the printing tape 22 while pressing the tape feed roller 2.

Here, when the roller holder 67 is switched to the printing position, a platen gear (not shown) fixed to the lower end of the platen roller 65 meshes with the gear 55 and also fixed to the lower end of the tape feed sub-roller 66. The sub roller gear (not shown) meshes with the tape drive gear 54.

Next, the head release mechanism 70 for driving the release lever 71 to the right in association with the opening of the cassette cover 3 to switch the roller holder 67 to the release position with respect to the thermal head 12 and release it.
This will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 and 11 to 13. The rear end portion of the cassette cover 3 is, as shown in FIGS.
A pivotal pin 7 attached to the main body cover 2 is openably and closably supported at a plurality of places, and a curved groove cam 3b is formed on a right side wall 3a of the cassette cover 3. The operating plate 74 disposed below the right end of the body frame 11
An engaging pin 75 that engages with the groove cam 3b is provided at the rear end portion.
Is stuck. By the way, the right end portion of the release lever 71 is rotatably supported by one lever of a forked lever 76 pivotally attached to the body frame 11, and the other lever of the forked lever 76 is Operating plate 7
4 are connected to each other via a pin 77 fixed to the front end thereof.

Then, as shown in FIG. 12, when the cassette cover 3 is closed, that is, the roller holder 67 is shown in FIG.
When the cassette cover 3 is opened at the printing position shown in FIG. 13, the movement of the groove cam 3b causes the engagement pin 75 that engages with the groove cam 3b to move rearward. The plate 74 moves backward, and the forked lever 7
6 rotates in the counterclockwise direction, and in response to the release lever 71 moving to the right, the roller holder 67 is switched to the release position. At this time, when the operating plate 74 moves rearward, the cover opening / closing detection switch 102 outputs the “H” level cover opening / closing signal VS. Further, when the cassette cover 3 is opened as shown in FIG. 13, that is, when the roller holder 67 is at the release position shown in FIG. 11, when the cassette cover 3 is closed as shown in FIG. By the movement of 3b, the engagement pin 75 moves forward, so that the operating plate 74 moves forward, the bifurcated lever 76 rotates clockwise from the position shown in FIG. 11, and the release lever 71 moves leftward. In response to the movement, the roller holder 67 is switched to the print position, that is, the non-release state.

Then, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 9, when printing is performed, the tape cassette 20 is first mounted on the thermal printing mechanism 10, and then the ribbon cassette 30 is mounted on the tape cassette 20. When the cassette cover 3 is closed, the roller holder 67 is switched to the print position. Then, in this state, the tape drive motor 44
Is driven in the normal printing direction, the gears 45 to 55 are driven in respective predetermined rotation directions, the platen roller 65 and the tape feed sub-roller 66 are rotated counterclockwise, and the tape feed is performed. Since the sub roller 66 and the tape feeding roller 24 rotate in synchronization with each other, the printing tape 22 is discharged by passing through the tape cutting mechanism 80 and the tape detection mechanism 90 while being printed by the thermal head 12. At this time, the tape winding cam 41 is freed, so that the print tape 22 wound around the tape spool 23 is sequentially fed out without resistance.
At the same time, the ink ribbon 32 moves to the platen roller 6
5 is fed from the ribbon spool 33 in synchronism with the print tape 22, and the ribbon take-up cam 42 is rotated by the rotation of the ribbon take-up gear 48, and the ribbon take-up cam 42 is engaged and rotated. It is wound around the spool 34.

On the other hand, when the printing of the first color is completed and the printing of the second color is executed, first the cassette cover 3 is opened,
When the ribbon cassette 30 is removed, the roller holder 67 is switched to the release position by the head release mechanism 70. Then, when the tape drive motor 44 is reversely rotated in the counterclockwise direction (rewinding direction), as shown in FIGS.
55 are each driven in a predetermined rotation direction. At this time, the rotation of the gear 50 in the counterclockwise direction causes the swing lever 5 to rotate.
6 also rotates in the counterclockwise direction, the planetary gear 57 comes into mesh with the tape winding gear 52, the tape winding cam 41 rotates in the counterclockwise direction, and the printed printing tape 22 is printed. It is wound up on the tape spool 23. here,
Although the ribbon take-up gear 48 is driven to rotate in the clockwise direction, the ribbon cassette 30 is removed, so that the ink ribbon 32 wound around the ribbon take-up spool 34 is not fed out.

Next, a tape cutting mechanism 80 for cutting the printed printing tape 22 will be described with reference to FIGS. 9, 14 and 15.
It will be described based on. The lower end portion of the fixed blade 81 is fixed to the left end wall 11b in which the left end portion of the main body frame 11 is partially bent downward, and the cutting lever 82 has a substantially L-shape in side view.
A base end portion of is rotatably supported by a screw 83, and a cutting blade 82 thereof has a movable blade 82a. Here, during printing, as shown in FIG. 9, the gear 53 rotates in the counterclockwise direction, the tip of the cutting prohibiting lever 84 moves to the lower side of the cutting lever 82, and the cutting operation is performed. prohibited.

However, when the tape drive motor 44 is slightly rotated in the rewinding direction at the end of printing, as shown in FIG. 15, the gear 53 is rotated slightly in the clockwise direction to cause the cut prohibiting lever 84 to move. When the tip end comes off from the lower side of the cutting lever 82 to enable the cutting operation,
As shown in FIG. 14, when the cutting knob 85 at the tip of the cutting lever 82 is pressed downward, the movable blade 8
2a rotates to the cutting position indicated by the chain double-dashed line, and the printing tape 22 located between the fixed blade 81 and the movable blade 82a is cut by the cooperation of these two blades 81, 82a. At this time, the disconnection detection switch 101 attached to the main body frame 11 is operated by the operation member 86 attached to the disconnection lever 82 to output the disconnection detection signal CS. When the pressing operation of the cutting lever 82 is stopped, the cutting lever 82 is returned to the original predetermined position shown by the solid line and rotated by the biasing force of the spring (not shown).

Next, a tape detecting mechanism 90 provided outside the tape cutting mechanism 80 and for detecting the presence or absence of the print tape 22 will be described with reference to FIG. Guide members 94 and 95 are integrally formed on the main body cover 2 outside the tape cutting mechanism 80 in order to form a pair of sensor accommodating chambers 96 and 97 in an airtight manner.
A light emitting element 92 is attached to 6 and a light receiving element 93 is attached to the other sensor accommodating chamber 97.
A slit 98 through which the print tape 22 can pass is formed between the pair of guide members 94 and 95, and
Small-diameter light passage holes 94a and 95a are formed in the opposing portions of the pair of guide members 94 and 95, and inclined guide portions 99 are formed in the respective portions, so that the tape cutting mechanism 8 can be formed.
The leading end of the printing tape 22 that has passed 0
By guiding with 9, it is possible to reliably pass through the slit 98 for detection.

Then, the sensor light emitted from the light emitting element 92 passes through the light passage holes 94a and 95a formed in the sensor accommodating chambers 96 and 97 and is projected on the light receiving element 93. That is, the sensor light is blocked only when the print tape 22 enters the tape detection sensor 91 and is present between the light emitting element 92 and the light receiving element 93. The L-level tape detection signal TS is output.

Next, the control system of the tape-shaped label producing apparatus 1 is constructed as shown in the block diagram of FIG.
The input / output interface 113 of the control device CD includes a keyboard 4, a tape detection sensor 91, a disconnection detection switch 101, a cover open / closed detection switch 102, a ribbon detection switch group 103, and a liquid crystal display (LC).
D) A display controller (LCDC) 104 having a video RAM for outputting display data to 5, a drive circuit 106 for a warning buzzer 105, a drive circuit 107 for driving the thermal head 12, and a tape drive. A drive circuit 108 for the motor 44 is connected to each.

The control device CD includes a CPU 110 and this C
An input / output interface 113 connected to the PU 110 via a bus 114 such as a data bus, and a font RO
It is composed of an M111, a ROM 112 and a RAM 120. The font ROM 111 stores display dot pattern data for each of a large number of characters such as characters and symbols, and print dot pattern data for a plurality of print character sizes.

In the ROM 112, the display controller 104 is made to correspond to code data of characters such as characters, symbols and numbers inputted from the keyboard 4.
Display drive control program for controlling the text memory 1
A printing control program for creating dot pattern data to be used for printing the characters and symbols stored in 21;
With respect to the created dot pattern data, a print drive control program that sequentially outputs dot pattern data for each dot row to the thermal head 12 or the tape drive motor 44, a control program for the multicolor print control described later, which is unique to the present application, etc. Is stored. In addition, in the ROM 112,
Based on the ribbon detection signal RS output from the ribbon detection switch group 103 including the first to sixth detection switches,
A ribbon cassette detection table for detecting the ribbon color and ribbon width of the ink ribbon 32 is stored.

Text memory 121 of the RAM 120
The text data consisting of characters and symbols input from the keyboard 4 is stored in the table in association with the set print color data. The color number memory 122 stores color number data of the set print color. Print color sequence memory 1
The data of the color order of the set print color is stored in 23. The margin amount memory 124 stores the margin amount data relating to the same set front margin amount and rear margin amount.
In the print data buffer 125, the text memory 1
The dot pattern data corresponding to the character code stored in 21 is expanded and stored. Furthermore, RAM12
0 is provided with a memory for temporarily storing the calculation result calculated by the CPU 110.

Next, a multicolor printing control routine executed by the control device CD of the tape-shaped label producing apparatus 1 will be described with reference to the flow charts of FIGS. In the figure, reference numeral Si (i = 10, 11, 12, ...)
Is each step. Prior to multicolor printing control, the positional relationship between the tape detection position by the tape detection sensor 91, the tape cutting position by the tape cutting mechanism 80, and the printing position by the thermal head 12 will be described with reference to FIG. In the feeding direction T of the print tape 22, the printing position (P position) from the upstream side of the feeding direction T,
The tape cutting position (C position) and the tape detection position (S position) are arranged in this order, and the print / cut distance Dcp between the printing position and the tape cutting position is about 25 mm. The distance Dsc is about 15 mm. In addition, the separation position (position B) of the separation member 35 by the separation portion 35a is about 6 in the feeding direction T as compared with the printing position.
It is located mm downstream.

When the tape-shaped label producing apparatus 1 is powered on, first, the thermal printing mechanism 10 and the controller CD
An initialization process for initializing is executed (S10). Then, since the text input screen is displayed on the display 5, after the print format is set, the input processing for inputting the text data and the display processing for displaying the input text are executed to input the input text. The data is stored in the text memory 121 (S11). For example, as shown in FIG. 27, input text data “Akamidori
“Black” is stored in the text memory 121.

Next, the print color order setting process control (see FIG. 18) is executed (S12). When this control is started,
Since the message “What is the number of print colors?” Is displayed on the display 5, the color number setting process of setting the color number N by operating the number keys is executed, and the set color number N is stored in the color number memory 122. It is stored (S30). Next, since the names of a plurality of colors are displayed on the display 5, a color order setting process for sequentially setting the order of colors used for printing is executed, and the data of the set color order is stored in the print color order memory 123. Then, the control is terminated (S31), and the process returns to S13 of the multicolor printing control.

Next, in the multicolor printing control, the print target range setting processing control for each color (see FIG. 19) is executed (S).
13). When this control is started, first, the color number N is set to the count value I of the color number counter (S33), and when "1" is subtracted from this color number count value I and it is not "0", that is, the final value. If the target character string for the print color is not set (S34: No), the cursor is used to select the character or symbol to be printed for the first print color in the print color order among the unset colors based on the color order data. A print target character string setting process which is designated and set is executed (S35).

That is, in the print target character string setting process, since the text data is displayed on the display 5, the four cursor movement keys arranged at the right end of the keyboard 4 are operated to obtain a color other than the final print color. For each print color, specify the character or symbol to be printed with the cursor by operating the cursor movement keys, operate the color confirmation key each time, and press the confirmation key at the end of setting the character string to be printed. Operated. By this operation of the confirm key, the set color data is stored in the text memory 121 along with the character data of the character designated by the operation of the cursor movement key and the color confirm key.

Then, the color number count value I is decremented by 1 (S36), and until (I-1) becomes "0", S
34 to S36 are repeatedly executed. And (I-1)
Becomes "0" and the setting of the print target character string is completed for each print color other than the final print color (S34:
Yes), and for the final print color, a character string setting process for setting the remaining characters of the text data except the already set characters and symbols is executed (S37).

The character string setting process will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 20. First, the character data stored in the text memory 121 is read from the beginning (S371).
), It is determined whether or not the color data is attached (S3).
72). If the read character data is accompanied by color data (S372: Yes) and the character data is not the last character data (S373: No), the next data is read (S374), and the S372 is executed. The process of is executed again. On the other hand, if the read character data is not accompanied by color data (S372: No), the color data corresponding to the final print color is additionally stored with respect to the character data (S37).
5), the process of S373 is executed. Each of the above processes
When the last character data stored in the text memory 121 is repeatedly executed and it is determined in S373 that the character data is the last character data (S373: Yes), the process returns to S38 in FIG.

For example, when the character data "Akamidorikuro" is stored in the text memory 121, and the number of colors is 3 and the color order is "red", "green", and "black", the print target character string setting process of S35 is performed. 27. First, for the printing color "red", the character string "red" is set by operating the cursor key and the color confirmation key, and as shown in FIG. When the color data “red” is stored in association with each of them and the character string “green” is set next for the printing color “green”, the text memory 12 is displayed.
The color data "green" is stored in association with each of the character data "1", "do", and "ri".

When the setting of the printing color "green" is completed, the color number count value (I-1) becomes "0".
In the character string setting process of 37, the character data is sequentially read from the beginning of the text memory 121, and the final print color "black" is automatically set for the character string "black" for which the print color of the text data is not set. The color data “black” is set in association with the character data “ku” and “ro” in the text memory 121. Next, a message “What is the margin amount of the printing tape?” Is displayed on the display 5. Therefore, when the desired margin amount is set by operating the number keys, the set margin amount is stored in the margin amount memory 124. It is stored (S38), the control is terminated, and the process returns to S14 of the multicolor printing control.

In the multicolor printing control, when the print key is operated (S14 / S15: Yes), the print start processing control (see FIG. 21) is executed (S16). When this control is started, first, the ribbon color R of the mounted ribbon cassette 30 is read based on the ribbon detection signal RS from the ribbon detection switch group 103 (S40), and the first printing color C in the printing color order is read. It is read (S41), and if the ribbon color R and the leading print color C do not match (S42: No),
An error message notifying that the print colors do not match is displayed on the display 5 (S43).

Next, based on the cover open / close signal VS of the cover open / close detection switch 102, when the cassette cover 3 is opened and the ribbon cassette 30 is replaced, the cassette cover 3 is closed again (S44: Yes), S40. ~ S41
Is executed. When the ribbon color R and the leading print color C match (S42: Yes), the character string in which the data of the leading print color C is stored together is read from the text memory 121, and the dots of the character string are further read. The pattern data is expanded in the print data buffer 125 (S45). Next, when the tape detection signal TS from the tape detection sensor 91 is read, the tape detection signal TS is at the “L” level, and the print tape 22 is positioned corresponding to the tape detection sensor 91 (S46: Yes). ), A message prompting the cutting of the print tape is displayed on the display 5 (S
47).

Next, the cutting knob 85 is pressed to cut the printing tape 22, the cutting detection signal CS from the cutting detection switch 101 becomes "H" level (S48), and the tape detection signal TS becomes "H". When the tape break is detected (S46: No), the tape drive motor 44 rotates forward by one step (clockwise direction) in order to cause the front end of the print tape 22 to enter the tape detection sensor 91.
When the printing tape 22 is driven and moved by a minute distance in the feeding direction T (S49), and the tape detection signal TS is at "H" level (S50: No), S49 to S50 are repeatedly executed.

Then, the tape detection signal TS becomes the "L" level, and the print tape 22 as shown in FIG.
When it enters the front end tape detection sensor 91 (S5
0: Yes), this control is terminated, and multicolor printing control in S17
Return to At this time, the print position of the thermal head 12 on the print tape 22 when the leading end of the tape is detected is set to the print start reference origin position. Here, when the printing tape 22 is transported in the feeding direction T, the printing tape 2
Even when the front end of the second tape is curled, the front end of the print tape 22 can be reliably guided to the slit 98 by the guide portion 99 formed on the pair of guide members 94 and 95.

Next, in the multi-color printing control, when the number of colors N is not "1", that is, when the printing is not the final printing (S17: No), the set color printing processing control for printing with each set printing color (Fig. 22) is executed (S18). When this control is started, as shown in FIG. 28B, first, the print tape 2 is printed by the front margin amount L corresponding to the set margin amount L.
In order to transfer 2, the tape drive motor 44 is driven to rotate normally (S60). Next, when the print start position of the character to be printed with the current print color is located upstream of the print start reference origin position of label printing in the feeding direction T, that is, as shown in FIG. 28C, for example. When there is an idle feed amount (S61: Yes), as in the case of printing the character "green" in the print color of "green" (S61: Yes), the tape drive motor 44
Is driven to rotate in the normal direction, and the printing tape 22 is transported in the feeding direction T by the idling amount (S62). However, when the idle feed amount does not exist (S6: No), S62 is skipped and the process proceeds to S63. Then, the print data buffer 125
The dot pattern data developed in is read out, the thermal head 12 or the tape drive motor 44 is driven to execute the printing process for printing (S63), this control is ended, and S19 of the multicolor printing control is executed. Return to.

Next, in the multicolor printing control, the print tape rewinding process control (see 23) is executed (S19).
When this control is started, first, the tape drive motor 44 is driven to rotate forward, and the print position (P position) and the separation position (B
The print tape 22 and the ink ribbon 32 are moved in the feed direction T by the separation feed amount Dbp corresponding to the distance Dbp from the position) (S70). That is, at the final printing position printed by the thermal head 12, the ink of the ink ribbon 32 is fused to the printing tape 22. However, the printing tape 22 and the ink ribbon 3 are separated by the separated feed amount Dbp.
When the ink ribbon 32 is transferred to the separating section 3
Since the print tape 22 is forcibly separated from the print tape 22 by 5a, the print tape 22 and the ink ribbon 32 are reliably separated.

Next, in order to replace the ribbon cassette 30 with the ink ribbon 32 of the same ribbon color as the next print color, a message prompting the removal of the ribbon cassette 30 is displayed on the display 5 (S71). Then, first, the cassette cover 3 is opened to move the operating plate 74 rearward, and the cover open / close detection switch 102 outputs the “H” level cover open / close signal VS (S72: Yes).
Further, as the ribbon detection signal RS from the ribbon detection switch group 103, when all of the six detection switch signals become "H" level signals and the ribbon cassette 30 is removed (S73: Yes), the ribbon cassette 30 is not mounted. A message prompting the user to display is displayed on the display 5 (S74).

Next, in order to rewind the print tape 22, the tape drive motor 44 is driven in the reverse rotation (counterclockwise direction) by one step to move the print tape 22 in the rewind direction by a minute distance (S75). When the tape detection signal TS is at "H" level (S76: No), S74 to S76 are repeatedly executed. When the front end of the print tape 22 is rewound slightly inside the tape detection sensor 91 (S76: Yes), the reverse rotation drive of the tape drive motor 44 is stopped (S77), and this control is ended, The process returns to S20 for multicolor printing control.

Next, in the multicolor printing control, the printing start position alignment processing control (see FIG. 24) is executed (S20).
When this control is started, first, an error message prompting the mounting of the ribbon cassette 30 having the ink ribbon 32 of the same ribbon color as the next print color is displayed on the display 5 (S80). Then, as the ribbon detection signal RS, 6
When all the two switch signals are not "H" level signals and the ribbon cassette 30 is loaded (S81: Yes
), The ribbon color R of the attached ribbon cassette 30 is read based on the ribbon detection signal RS (S82), the next print color C in the print color order is read (S83), and the ribbon color R and the next print are read. If color C does not match (S84: N
o), S80 to S84 are repeatedly executed.

Next, when the ribbon color R and the next print color C match (S84: Yes), the character string in which the data of the next print color C is stored together is read from the text memory 121, Further, the dot pattern data of the character string is expanded in the print data buffer 125 (S85). next,
When the cassette cover 3 is not closed (S86: N
o), a message to close the cassette cover 3 is displayed on the display 5 (S89). Then, when the cassette cover 3 is closed (S86: Yes), until the tip of the print tape 22 corresponds to the tape detection sensor 91,
The tape drive motor 44 is driven to rotate forward by one step (S87 / S88: No), the tape detection signal TS becomes the "L" level, and the leading end of the printing tape 22 is the tape detection sensor 9
When it corresponds to 1, the print start reference origin position on the print tape 22 corresponds to the print position of the thermal head 12 (S88: Yes), the control is terminated, and the process returns to S21 of the multicolor print control.

Next, in multicolor printing control, the number of colors N is 1
Is decremented (S21), and when the number of colors N is not "1" and it is not the last print (S17: No), S18 to S21 are repeatedly executed. When the number of colors N becomes "1" and the final printing is performed (S17: Yes), final color printing processing / cutting processing control (see FIG. 25) is executed (S).
twenty two). In this control, in the first case where the front margin amount L is larger than the printing / cutting distance Dcp, and when the front margin amount L is smaller than the printing / cutting distance Dcp, there is the second feeding amount in which there is no blank feed amount. In the third case, in which the blank feed amount is present and the blank margin amount L is added to the front margin amount L is equal to or greater than the print / cut distance Dcp, and the fourth, which is smaller than the print / cut distance Dcp.
In this case, the tape cutting is executed while printing.

First, the first case will be described. When the front margin amount L is not less than the print / cut distance Dcp (S
90: Yes), by the normal rotation drive of the tape drive motor 44, the print tape 22 is moved in the feeding direction T by the distance Dcp between printing and cutting (S91), the drive of the tape drive motor 44 is stopped, and the tape transfer is stopped. (S92). Next, when the tape drive motor 44 is slightly rotated in the rewinding direction and the tip end of the cutting prohibiting lever 84 is disengaged from the lower side of the cutting lever 82 to enable the cutting operation (see FIG. 15). A message prompting the cutting of the print tape 22 is displayed on the display 5 (S93). Then, when the print tape 22 is cut, the cut detection signal CS becomes "H" level, and the tape cut is detected (S94: Ye
s) Further, the printing tape 22 is moved in the feeding direction T by the shortage of the front margin amount L (front margin amount L-distance between printing and cutting Dcp) (S95).

Next, when the print start position of the print with the final print color this time is upstream of the print start reference origin position of the label print in the feed direction T, and there is an idle feed amount (S
96: Yes), drive the tape drive motor 44 forward,
The printing tape 22 is transported in the feeding direction T by the idle feed amount (S97). Next, the characters and symbols are printed in the final print color based on the read dot image as in S63 (S98). Next, in order to provide the rear margin amount L on the rear side of the print character string, the tape tape drive motor 44 is driven in the forward rotation to feed the printing tape 22 by the value obtained by adding the rear margin amount L to the distance between printing and cutting Dcp. Transferred in direction T (S9
9) After that, when the tape drive motor 44 is slightly rotated in the rewinding direction and the tip of the cutting prohibiting lever 84 is disengaged from the lower side of the cutting lever 82 to enable the cutting operation, the printing tape 22 The message for prompting disconnection is displayed again on the display 5 (S100). Then, when the print tape 22 is cut, the cut detection signal CS becomes "H" level, and the cut of the tape is detected (S101:
Yes), terminates this control and returns to S10 of the multicolor printing control.

The second case will be described. When the front margin amount L is smaller than the print / cut distance Dcp and there is no idle feed amount (S90 / S102: No), the tape drive motor 44 is rotated forward. By driving, the printing tape 22 is moved by the front margin amount L in the feeding direction T (S103). Then, in the next step S104 and subsequent steps, the print tape 22 is cut during the final print processing. That is, the dot pattern data for one dot row is read from the print data buffer 125 and the printing process is performed (S104), and the tape drive motor 4 is driven by the minute feed amount corresponding to the one dot row.
The printing tape 22 is transported by the forward rotation drive of the No. 4 (S
105). Next, when the tape transfer amount after the start of the final printing is smaller than the value obtained by subtracting the front margin amount L from the print-cut distance Dcp, that is, the cutting position (P position) is the head of the front margin amount L. When the position has not been reached (S106: N
o), S104 93 to S106 are repeatedly executed.

When the leading position of the front margin amount L reaches the cutting position (S106: Yes), printing and tape transfer are stopped (S107), and then the tape drive motor 44 is used.
Is rotated in the rewinding direction a little, and the tip of the cut prohibiting lever 84 is disengaged from the lower side of the cutting lever 82 to enable the cutting operation, a message prompting the cutting of the print tape 22 is displayed. Is displayed on the screen (S108
). Next, when the printing tape 22 is cut by pressing the cutting knob 85, the cutting detection signal CS becomes "H" level, and the tape cutting is detected (S109: Yes).
), The remaining printing process for printing the remaining dot pattern data is executed (S110), the rear margin amount L is provided and the tape is cut by S99 to S101, the control is ended, and the process similarly returns to S10. .

Next, the front margin amount L is the distance between printing and cutting Dc.
If it is smaller than p, and there is a blank feed amount, and the value of the blank feed amount plus the front margin amount L is the third distance Dcp or more between the printing and cutting (S90: No, S102, S111:
Yes), the tape is cut after the tape is transferred (S112 to S115) in the same manner as S91 to S94, and the shortage of the front margin amount L (front margin amount L + idle feed amount-printing / cutting distance Dcp) is applied to the printing tape 22 Are transferred in the feed direction T (S116
). Then, S98 and the subsequent steps are executed, the printing process is executed with the final color, the rear margin amount L is provided and the tape is cut, the control is ended, and the process similarly returns to S10.

On the other hand, the front margin amount L is the distance between printing and cutting Dc.
If it is smaller than p and there is an idle feed amount and the value obtained by adding the front margin amount L to the idle feed amount is smaller than the print / cut distance Dcp (S90: No, S102: Yes, S11).
1: No), the print tape 22 is moved in the feed direction T by the feed amount obtained by adding the blank feed amount to the front margin amount L (S117).
Then, the dot pattern data for one dot row is read from the print data buffer 125 and the print processing is performed (S
118), only the minute feed corresponding to that one dot row,
The printing tape 2 is driven by the forward rotation of the tape drive motor 44.
2 is transferred (S119).

Next, when the tape transfer amount after the start of the final printing is smaller than the value obtained by subtracting the feed amount obtained by adding the blank feed amount to the front margin amount L from the print-cut distance Dcp, that is, When the cutting position (P position) has not reached the leading position of the front margin amount L (S120: No), S118 to S12.
0 is executed repeatedly. When the leading position of the front margin amount L reaches the cutting position (S120: Yes), S
After step 107, the front margin amount L and the rear margin amount L are respectively provided and the tape is cut, the control is ended, and the process similarly returns to S10. For example, as shown in FIG.
For the entered text "Akamidorikuro", the front and back margins L are provided, and the character string "Aka" is red, the character string "Green" is green, and the character string "Black" is black. Label 22A is obtained.

Next, the operation of multicolor printing control will be described. After the text is input, a print color order setting process for setting the number N of print colors and a color order, and a print target range setting process for each print color are executed. In the print target range setting process, the print target range for each print color to be printed with a plurality of colors is set, and the front margin amount that is the distance from the leading end of the print tape 22 to the print start position is set. Then, the first color printing process is executed after the first color printing start process. After that, multi-color ribbon cassette 3
One ribbon cassette 30 according to the color order from 0
The print tape rewinding process and the print start position aligning process are executed each time the print process is completed by selectively mounting the.

That is, in the print start process and the print start position adjustment process, the distance between the tape detection position of the tape detection sensor 91 and the print position of the thermal head 12 is cut / detected at the print / cut distance Dcp (about 25 mm). Distance Ds
The print start position can be easily set because each print is started from the time when the tape tip is detected from the tape detection signal TS of the tape detection sensor 91, since the print is always separated by a constant distance added with c (about 15 mm). Each printing start position for starting the printing process of a plurality of colors from the first time to the last time can be set at a position separated from the tape front end by a predetermined distance with the tape front end as a reference position. Even if an error occurs in the rewinding amount during rewinding, the print start position does not depend on the rewinding amount, so the positional accuracy of each print start position can be improved.

Further, at the time of the final printing, the final color printing process / cutting process is executed, and when the distance from the cutting position of the tape cutting mechanism 80 to the printing start position reaches the set margin amount L, Since the feeding of the print tape 22 is stopped, the cutting knob 85 can be operated to cut the print tape 22 from the leading end of the print tape to the print start position with the set margin L. Here, only when the feeding of the print tape 22 is stopped, the cutting prohibition lever 84 is disengaged from the lower side of the cutting lever 82, so that the print tape 22 can be cut.

As described above, when printing with a plurality of colors in the same printing area of the tape, when the printing by the thermal head 12 and the rewinding of the printing tape 22 are repeated,
In the final printing, when the distance from the cutting position of the tape cutting mechanism 80 to the printing start position reaches the set margin amount L, the feeding of the printing tape 22 is stopped.
Margin amount L set from the tape tip to the print start position
Each of the printing start positions for starting the printing of a plurality of colors from the first time to the final time can be cut with the tape tip as a reference position and a predetermined distance from the tape tip to the printing position of the thermal head 12. Since the print start position does not depend on the rewind amount even when an error occurs in the rewind amount when the print tape 22 is rewound, the position accuracy of each print start position is improved. Can be made.

Further, the tape cutting mechanism 80 is constructed so as to be manually cut by operating the cutting knob 85, and can be cut only when the tape feeding is stopped. It is possible to reduce the size and cost of the label producing apparatus 1 without separately providing a mechanism, and reliably prevent the printing tape 22 from being cut by an erroneous operation during printing or during the feeding operation of the printing tape 22. be able to. Further, when the tape feeding is stopped, a message prompting the cutting of the tape is displayed on the display 5, so that the necessity of cutting the tape can be recognized through the display.

The tape cutting mechanism 80 is configured to cut a pair of movable blades close to each other, and the tape detection sensor 91 is composed of various detection means such as a detection switch. Within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention, various modifications may be made to the above-described embodiments based on existing technology or technology obvious to those skilled in the art. Various tapes, such as a printer-type tape-shaped label producing device, which receives text print data from an external device such as a computer connected online and sequentially replaces a plurality of ribbon cassettes 30 having different ribbon colors to perform multicolor printing It goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to a label producing apparatus.

[0074]

According to the tape label producing apparatus of the first aspect of the present invention, it is provided with a tape transfer mechanism, a printing means including a print head, and a control means, and further, a tape cutting mechanism, a cutting position setting means, When tape feeding control means is provided, the tape transport mechanism and the printing means are controlled, printing by the print head and rewinding of the tape are repeated, and when the printing is performed a plurality of times on the same portion of the tape, the final In the one-time printing, when the set tape cutting position reaches the tape cutting mechanism, the tape feeding is stopped and the tape can be cut. Therefore, it is possible to start the printing a plurality of times from the first time to the last time. Each print start position is set with the tip of the tape as a reference position, and the cutting position of the tape is set downstream of the print start position in the tape feeding direction.
Even if an error occurs in the rewind amount when rewinding the printing tape, the print start position does not depend on the rewind amount, and a blank part can be provided at the front end of the tape depending on the setting of the cutting position. The position accuracy of each print start position can be improved.

According to the tape label producing apparatus of the second aspect, the tape moving mechanism, the plurality of ribbon cassettes,
A means including a print head and a control means are further provided, and further a tape cutting mechanism, a cutting position setting means and a tape feed control means are provided, and the tape transfer mechanism and the printing means are controlled to perform printing by the print head. When multiple colors are printed on the same part of the tape by repeating the rewinding of the tape, the tape is fed when the set tape cutting position reaches the tape cutting mechanism in the final printing. Since the tape can be stopped and cut, each printing start position for starting printing of multiple colors from the first printing to the last printing is set with the tape tip as the reference position, and the cutting position of the tape is relative to the printing start position. Since it is set to the downstream side in the tape feed direction, even if there is an error in the rewind amount when the print tape is rewound, the print start position does not depend on the rewind amount. Nde position setting whether on a blank portion may be provided at the front end of the tape, it is possible to improve the positional accuracy of the print start position.

According to the tape-shaped label producing apparatus of the third aspect, the same effect as that of the first or second aspect is obtained, but the tape detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of the tape near the end of the tape transfer path is provided. Since the tape feeding control means starts the tape feeding at the time when the tape leading edge is detected from the detection signal of the tape detecting means, the size of the margin and the accuracy of the print start position can be further improved.

According to the tape-shaped label producing apparatus of the fourth aspect, the same effect as that of the first or second aspect is obtained, but the cutting position setting means is located downstream from the print start position of the tape in the tape feeding direction. Since the front margin amount is set, it is possible to create a clean tape-shaped label having a front margin portion at the front end portion of the tape. According to the tape-shaped label producing apparatus of the fifth aspect, the same effect as that of the first or second aspect can be obtained, but the tape cutting mechanism operates when the tape feeding is stopped by the tape feeding control means. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent the tape from being cut due to an erroneous operation during printing or during the tape feeding operation. According to the tape-shaped label producing apparatus of the sixth aspect, the same effect as that of the first or second aspect is obtained, but since the tape-shaped label producing apparatus includes the input means, the data storage means, and the display means, a desired text can be input. At the same time, the entered text can be stored or displayed. According to the tape-shaped label producing apparatus of claim 7, the same effect as that of claim 6 is obtained, but the display means displays the tape cutting mechanism on the display when the tape feeding is stopped by the tape feeding control means. Since a message prompting the operation of is displayed, the necessity of cutting the tape can be recognized through the display. According to the tape-shaped label producing apparatus of the eighth aspect, the same effect as that of the seventh aspect is obtained, but since the tape cutting mechanism is manually operated, a drive mechanism for cutting the tape is not separately provided. It is possible to reduce the size and cost of the label producing apparatus.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a tape-shaped label producing apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the thermal printing mechanism in a printing state.

FIG. 3 is a view corresponding to FIG. 2 in a tape rewinding state.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a tape cassette equipped with a ribbon cassette.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the tape cassette.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the inside of the ribbon cassette.

FIG. 7 is a rear perspective view of a ribbon cassette and a tape cassette.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a ribbon cassette.

FIG. 9 is a plan view of a drive system in a printing state of the thermal printing mechanism.

FIG. 10 is a vertical sectional front view of a main part of FIG. 9, showing a meshing relationship of gears.

FIG. 11 is a plan view of a drive system in a tape rewinding state of the thermal printing mechanism.

FIG. 12 is a vertical cross-sectional side view of essential parts when the cassette cover is closed.

FIG. 13 is a view corresponding to FIG. 12 when the cassette cover is opened.

FIG. 14 is a side view of the thermal printing mechanism showing the tape cutting mechanism.

FIG. 15 is a plan view of a drive system of the thermal printing mechanism in a tape cutting permission state.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram of a control system of the tape label producing apparatus.

FIG. 17 is a schematic flowchart of a multicolor printing control routine.

FIG. 18 is a schematic flowchart of a print color sequence setting process control routine.

FIG. 19 is a schematic flowchart of a routine of print target range setting processing control for each color.

FIG. 20 is a schematic flowchart of a remaining character string setting process control routine for the final print color.

FIG. 21 is a schematic flowchart of a print start processing control routine.

FIG. 22 is a schematic flowchart of a routine for setting color printing processing control.

FIG. 23 is a schematic flowchart of a print tape rewinding process control routine.

FIG. 24 is a schematic flowchart of a print start position adjustment process control routine.

FIG. 25 is a schematic flowchart of a final color printing process / cutting process control routine.

FIG. 26 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a positional relationship among a print position (P position), a tape cutting position (C position), and a tape detection position (S position).

FIG. 27 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a data structure in a text memory.

28A is an explanatory diagram of a print start reference origin position on a tape, FIG. 28B is an explanatory diagram when a tape is fed by a front margin amount, and FIG. It is explanatory drawing when the tape feeding is carried out by the amount.

FIG. 29 is a plan view of a tape-shaped label in which three colors are printed in red, green, and black.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Tape-shaped label producing device 4 Keyboard 5 Liquid crystal display 10 Thermal printing mechanism 12 Thermal head 20 Tape cassette 22 Printing tape 30 Ribbon cassette 32 Ink ribbon 44 Tape drive motor 80 Tape cutting mechanism 82 Cutting lever 81 Fixed blade 82a Movable blade 91 Tape Detection sensor 110 CPU 112 ROM 120 RAM 121 Text memory CD controller

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Reference number within the agency FI Technical indication location B65H 35/04 B65H 35/04 (72) Inventor Jun Sugimoto 15-1 Naeshiro-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya-shi Brother Industries, Ltd. (72) Inventor Yoshifumi Horiuchi 15-1 Naeshiro-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya City Brother Industries, Ltd.

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A tape transfer mechanism capable of selectively transferring a tape, which is a print medium, in a feeding direction and a rewinding direction, and characters and symbols are printed on the tape in the middle of a tape transfer path by the tape transferring mechanism. A tape-shaped label producing apparatus comprising a printing means including a print head for controlling the printing and a control means for controlling the printing, and a tape cutting mechanism for cutting the tape near the end of the tape transfer path; Cutting position setting means for setting a cutting position located on the downstream side in the tape feeding direction from the start position, and when performing printing a plurality of times on the same portion of the tape, at the beginning of the tape feeding for the final printing After transferring the tape to the tape transfer mechanism until the cutting position of the tape set by the cutting position setting means reaches the tape cutting mechanism, A tape-shaped label producing apparatus comprising: a tape feeding control means for stopping tape feeding. 2. A tape transport mechanism capable of selectively transporting a tape, which is a print medium, in a feeding direction and a rewinding direction, and for accommodating ink ribbons of a plurality of colors and sequentially printing in a plurality of colors. A plurality of ribbon cassettes which are detachably and removably mounted on the tape, a printing means including a print head for printing characters and symbols on the tape in the middle of the tape transfer path by the tape transfer mechanism, and a control for printing. In a tape-shaped label producing apparatus provided with a control means for controlling the tape, a tape cutting mechanism for cutting the tape in the vicinity of the end of the tape transfer path, and a cutting position located on the downstream side in the tape feeding direction from the print start position of the tape. The cutting position setting means to be set and the tape transfer mechanism at the beginning of the tape feeding for the final printing when printing a plurality of colors on the same portion of the tape. A tape feeding control unit that stops the tape feeding after the tape is moved until the cutting position of the tape set by the cutting position setting unit reaches the tape cutting mechanism. Tape-shaped label making device. 3. A tape detecting means for detecting the presence / absence of a tape is provided in the vicinity of the end of the tape transfer path, and the tape feeding control means starts the tape feeding from the time when the tape leading end is detected from the detection signal of the tape detecting means. The tape-shaped label producing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the tape-shaped label producing apparatus is configured as described above. 4. The cutting position setting means sets the amount of front margin on the downstream side in the tape feeding direction from the printing start position of the tape.
The tape-shaped label producing apparatus described in. 5. The tape-shaped label producing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the tape cutting mechanism operates when the tape feeding is stopped by the tape feeding control means. 6. An input means for inputting characters and symbols and various commands, a data storage means for storing text data of the inputted characters and symbols, and a display means including a display. The tape-shaped label producing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that. 7. The display unit displays a message prompting the operation of the tape cutting mechanism on the display when the tape feeding is stopped by the tape feeding control unit. Tape-shaped label making device. 8. The tape-shaped label producing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the tape cutting mechanism is manually operated.