JPH08332749A - Tape like label producing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To improve workability by collectively printing one set of printing data set at every colors by the printing number of times at once when one set of printing data is printed two or more times and subsequently unwinding a printing tape to replace a ribbon cassette to perform printing by the next color in the same way. CONSTITUTION: A control device CD inputs the respective detection signals from a keyboard 3 or a tape detection sensor 78 through an input/output interface 93 and outputs a control signal to the respective drive circuits 84, 85 of a thermal head 12 or a tape driving motor 44. Printing data, number-of-color data, printing color order data, printing number-of-time data and printable number-of-time data are respectively stored in the text memory 101 and memories 102-105 of an RAM 100. Further, a CPU 90 controls the drive circuits 84, 85 so that printing color data is set to printing data and a character or mark is printed by the set printing number of times at every set printing color and a tape is subsequently unwound to a printing position to perform printing by the next printing color in the same way.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tape label producing apparatus, and more particularly to a tape label producing apparatus for printing characters or symbols in a plurality of printing colors.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as this type, as shown in the specification of Japanese Patent Application No. 7-100059 filed by the applicant of the present application, a ribbon cassette can be attached to and detached from a tape cassette. In this way, a tape-shaped label producing apparatus for multicolor printing is proposed by rewinding the printing tape for each color printing and sequentially replacing the ribbon cassette with a ribbon cassette of another color.

[0003]

However, in this tape-shaped label producing apparatus, a plurality of labels for one sheet consisting of a set of printing information in which an arbitrary printing color is set for each character or symbol are produced. In this case, it is necessary to replace the ribbon cassette and rewind the printing tape in the same order every time one label is produced, which complicates the operation and takes a lot of time.

The present invention has been made to solve this drawback, and an operation of printing a set of print information of a plurality of print colors a plurality of times can be performed with a minimum number of ribbon cassette replacements. Moreover, it is an object of the present invention to provide a tape-shaped label producing apparatus capable of shortening the printing operation time.

[0005]

A tape-shaped label producing apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention includes a plurality of removable labels for sequentially printing in a plurality of printing colors, including a print head for printing on a tape as a print medium. A tape-shaped label producing apparatus provided with a printing means having a ribbon cassette, wherein a transfer means for transferring the tape in a longitudinal direction of the tape relative to the print head, characters and symbols, and various commands. Input means for inputting, print color setting means for setting print color information for each character symbol to a set of print information consisting of characters and symbols input by the input means, and the set of print information A print count setting means for setting the print count for repeatedly printing, a data storage means for storing the set of print information, print color information, and the print count, and a mark set by the print color setting means. After printing the characters or symbols set to the print color for each color for the number of prints set by the print count setting means, the tape is rewound to the first print position side and the next print color is similarly used. A multi-color printing control unit for controlling the printing unit and the transfer unit to print is provided.

A tape-shaped label producing apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention includes a printing means having a plurality of detachable ribbon cassettes for sequentially printing with a plurality of printing colors, including a printing head for printing on a tape which is a printing medium. And a transfer means for transferring the tape in the longitudinal direction of the tape relative to the print head, and an input means for inputting characters, symbols and various commands. And a print color setting means for setting print color information for each character and symbol to a set of print information consisting of characters and symbols input from the input means, and the number of prints for repeatedly printing the set of print information. A print count setting means for setting the number of prints, a data storage means for storing the set of print information, print color information, and the print count, and a maximum print length for printing at one time according to the accuracy of the transfer means. Incidentally, the printable number setting means for calculating the printable number of times that the one set of print information can be repeatedly printed within the range of the maximum print length, and the printable number for each print color set by the print color setting means After the characters or symbols set in the print color are printed by the printable number of times set by the printable number setting means, the tape is rewound to the first print position side and similarly printed in the next print color. And a multicolor printing control unit for controlling the printing unit and the transfer unit so that the printing is repeated up to the number of printings set by the printing number setting unit.

[0007]

In the tape-shaped label producing apparatus according to the first aspect, when a set of print information consisting of characters and symbols is repeatedly printed a plurality of times, the print information set for each color is set by the print number setting means. Printing is performed collectively for the number of times of printing performed, then the printed tape is rewound to the first printing position side, and printing is performed with the next printing color.

In the tape-like label producing apparatus according to the second aspect, when a set of print information consisting of characters and symbols is repeatedly printed a plurality of times, the maximum printing length is printed at one time according to the feeding accuracy of the transfer means. The printable number of times at which a set of print information can be repeatedly printed is obtained by the printable number setting means. After that, the print information set for each color is collectively printed as many times as the printable number of times, the tape printed next is rewound to the first print position side, and the next print color is printed. In this way, after the printing of one set of print information is completed by the number of printable times, the printing is repeated by the number of printable times again, and the number of print times set by the print number setting means is printed.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The details will be described below with reference to the drawings showing an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, at the front portion (the lower side of FIG. 1) of the main body cover 2 of the tape-shaped label producing apparatus 1, in addition to character keys such as characters, symbols and numbers, various function keys are provided. A keyboard 3 provided with, for example, is provided, and on the rear side (upper side in FIG. 1) immediately behind the keyboard 3, a liquid crystal display 4 and a cassette cover 5 capable of displaying input characters and symbols.
Is provided. The cassette cover 5 is opened and closed by operating the slide knob 6 when replacing the ribbon cassette 30. A cutting knob 8 for cutting the tape is provided on the left side of the cassette cover 5, and the cutting knob 8 is provided.
Is pressed downward, the printed printing tape 22 is cut. A thermal printing mechanism 10 having a thermal head 12 is provided inside the main body cover 2 corresponding to the cassette cover 5, and the thermal head 12 prints in a line in a direction orthogonal to a transfer direction of a printing tape 22 described later. It has a plurality of thermal parts (not shown) for printing dots.

Next, the tape cassette 20 detachably attached to the thermal printing mechanism 10 will be described with reference to FIGS.
It will be described based on. Inside the tape cassette 20,
A tape spool 23 around which the print tape 22 is wound is rotatably provided. The printing tape 22 fed from the tape spool 23 is curvedly guided by a plurality of guide portions and passes immediately in front of the thermal head 12,
The tape is fed by the tape feeding roller 24 in the tape feeding direction and ejected to the outside of the tape cassette 20.

A ribbon cassette 30 is removably mounted inside the tape cassette 20. Inside the ribbon cassette 30, a ribbon spool 33 around which an ink ribbon 32 is wound and a ribbon take-up spool 34 around which the ink ribbon 32 is wound are rotatably provided. Ink ribbon 32 wound around ribbon spool 33
Print tape 2 when facing the thermal head 12.
2 is temporarily approached in parallel with the sheet 2, is bent at a substantially acute angle by the separating member 35, is separated from the printing tape 22, and is wound by the ribbon winding spool 34.

The ribbon cassette 30 has a ribbon color (black, red, blue, ...) And a ribbon width (1) of the ink ribbon 32.
2, 18, 24, 32 mm), a plurality of types are prepared on the bottom surface of the ribbon cassette 30 in order to detect any one of the plurality of types of ribbon cassettes 30. Detection hole group 36
(In FIG. 4, one detection hole 36a is shown).

Next, the printing tape 22 and the ink ribbon 32
A transport mechanism 40 capable of transporting and in the feeding direction, which is the printing direction, and in 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. A tape drive cam 43 that is engageable with the rotatably rotatable portion, and the thermal head 12 is erected so as to detect the presence or absence of six detection holes in the detection hole group 36. A detection switch group 82 including six detection switches is provided. A ribbon detection signal based on a combination of switch signals is output from these six detection switches.

A tape drive motor 44 consisting of a step motor is attached to the right end of the body frame 11, and the drive gear 45 of the tape drive motor 44 is attached to the body frame 1.
Gears 46, 47, 48, which are rotatably supported by 1 respectively,
49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54 are successively meshed. Here, the gear 46 and the gear 47 are integrally formed. Further, the gear 49 and the gear 50 are integrally formed and fixed to the lower end portion of the ribbon winding cam 42. Further, the gear 51 is formed integrally with the gear 55 located above it. The tape drive gear 53 is fixed to the tape drive cam 43. That is, the rotation of the tape drive motor 44 is generated by the gears 45, 46, 47, 48, 4 and
The print tape 22 is transferred by rotation of the tape feed roller 24 which is transmitted to the tape drive cam 43 and attached to the tape cassette 20 via 9, 50, 51, 52 and 53.

On the other hand, in the gap between the integrally formed gears 51, 55, the base end portion of the swing lever 56 is provided with the gears 51, 55.
It is supported with a proper frictional resistance between
A planetary gear 57, which constantly meshes with the gear 55, is rotatably supported by the swing lever 56. A tape winding gear 58 is fixed to the lower end of the tape winding cam 41.

As shown by the arrow in FIG. 5, when the tape drive motor 44 is driven clockwise for normal printing and the gear 51 is rotated clockwise, the swing lever 56 also rotates clockwise. The planetary gear 57
Does not mesh with the tape winding gear 58 and the tape winding cam 41 is free, so that the print tape 22 wound around the tape spool 23 is fed. At the same time, the ribbon winding cam 42 is rotated counterclockwise, and the ink ribbon 32 is wound around the ribbon winding spool 34.

A platen roller 60 is arranged facing the thermal head 12, and a tape feed sub-roller 61 is arranged facing the tape drive cam 43.
The rollers 0 and 61 are rotatably supported by the roller holder 62. The roller holder 62 is pivotally supported by a pivot shaft 63 provided upright on the body frame 11. The roller holder 62 is interlocked with the opening and closing of the cassette cover 5, and is switched to the printing position shown in FIG. 5 when the cassette cover 5 is closed, and to the release position shown in FIG. 6 when the cassette cover 5 is open. When the roller holder 62 is switched to the print position, the platen roller 60 presses the thermal head 12 via the print tape 22 and the ink ribbon 32, and the tape feed sub-roller 61.
Presses the tape feed roller 24 via the print tape 22. At this time, a platen gear (not shown) fixed to the lower end of the platen roller 61 meshes with the gear 54, and a sub-roller gear (not shown) fixed to the lower end of the tape feed sub-roller 66 meshes with the tape drive gear 54. .

As shown in FIG. 2, when printing is performed, first, the tape cassette 20 is mounted on the thermal printing mechanism 10, and the ribbon cassette 30 is attached to the tape cassette 20.
And then close the cassette cover 3. At this time, the roller holder 62 is switched to the printing position. When the tape drive motor 44 is driven in the normal printing direction in this state, the gears 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 5
2, 53, 54 are each rotated in a predetermined rotation direction. Since the platen roller 60 and the tape feed sub-roller 61 are rotated counterclockwise, respectively, and the tape feed sub-roller 61 and the tape feed roller 24 are rotated in synchronization with each other, the print tape 22 is not heated by the thermal head 12.
While being printed by, it is discharged to the outside through the tape cutting mechanism 80 and the tape detection device 70 arranged at the left end of the main body frame 11.

At this time, since the tape winding cam 41 can freely rotate, the printing tape 22 wound on the tape spool 23 can be delivered without resistance. At the same time, the ink ribbon 32 is moved by the rotation of the platen roller 60 to the printing tape 2
The ribbon take-up cam 42 is fed out from the ribbon spool 33 in synchronism with 2, and the ribbon take-up cam 42 is rotated by the rotation of the ribbon take-up gear 49. To be

On the other hand, when the print tape 22 is rewound,
First, the cassette cover 5 is opened and the ribbon cassette 30 is removed. At this time, the roller holder 62 is switched to the release position. When the tape drive motor 44 is driven in the rewinding direction, the gears 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, as shown by the arrows in FIG.
53, 54 and 55 are each rotated in a predetermined rotation direction.
At this time, the rotation of the gear 51 in the counterclockwise direction causes the swing lever 56 to rotate in the counterclockwise direction, so that the planetary gear 5 is rotated.
7 comes into mesh with the tape winding gear 58, the tape winding cam 41 rotates counterclockwise, and the print tape 22 is wound around the tape spool 23. Here, the ribbon take-up gear 49 rotates clockwise, but since the ribbon cassette 30 is removed, the ink ribbon 32
Is not rolled up.

Next, the tape detecting device 70 provided at the left end of the main body frame 11 will be described with reference to FIG.
Guide members 73 and 74 are integrally formed in the main body cover 2 to form a pair of sensor accommodating chambers 71 and 72 in a hermetically sealed manner, and a light emitting element 75 is attached to one of the sensor accommodating chambers 71. A light receiving element 76 is attached to the other sensor housing chamber 72. A slit 77 through which the print tape 22 can pass is formed between the guide members 73 and 74. Small-diameter light passage holes 73a and 74a are formed in the opposing portions of the guide members 73 and 74. Light emitting element 7
The sensor light emitted from the sensor sensor chambers 71, 72
The light passes through the light passage holes 73 a and 74 a formed in the light receiving element 76 and is projected onto the light receiving element 76. That is, whether or not the print tape 22 is present at the position of the tape detection sensor 78 can be detected by whether or not the sensor light is blocked.

Next, the control system of the tape label producing apparatus is
It is configured as shown in the block diagram of FIG. The keyboard 3 is provided on the input / output interface 93 of the control device CD.
A tape detection sensor 78 and a cutting detection switch 81 for detecting that the cutting knob 8 has been moved to the cutting position.
, A ribbon detection switch group 82, and a video RAM for outputting display data to the liquid crystal display (LCD) 4.
Display Controller (LCDC) 83 with
And a drive circuit 84 for driving the thermal head 12.
And a drive circuit 85 for the tape drive motor 44, respectively.

The control device CD includes a CPU 90 and this CP.
An input / output interface 93 connected to the U90 via a bus 94 such as a data bus; a font ROM 91;
It is composed of a ROM 92 and a RAM 100. The font ROM 91 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 92, a display drive control program for controlling the display controller 83 corresponding to character code data such as characters and symbols input from the keyboard 3, and characters and symbols stored in the text memory 101 are printed. A print control program for creating dot pattern data for use in printing, a print drive control program for sequentially outputting dot pattern data for each dot row of the created dot pattern data to the thermal head 12 and outputting a drive pulse to the tape drive motor 44. The maximum print length set in advance is stored. Further, the ROM 92 stores a ribbon cassette detection table for detecting the ribbon color and the ribbon width of the ink ribbon 32 based on the ribbon detection signal output from the ribbon detection switch group 82 including the first to sixth detection switches. ing.

Text memory 101 of the RAM 100
In, a set of print information including characters and symbols input from the keyboard 3 is stored in association with the set print color data. The color number memory 102 stores color number data of the set print color. Print color sequence memory 1
In 03, color order data of the set print color is stored. The set print count data is stored in the print count memory 104. The printable number memory 105 stores the set printable number data.

Next, the flow of multicolor printing control performed by the controller CD of the tape label producing apparatus will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Incidentally, reference numeral Si in the drawing
(I = 10, 11, 12, ...) Is each step.

First, the thermal printing mechanism 10 and the controller C
An initialization process for initializing D is executed (S10). Then, the input screen is displayed on the display 4, and the user is instructed to input the printing format, the front and back margins, and any characters or symbols for printing. A set of printing information including a printing format, a margin amount, characters and symbols input according to the instruction is stored in the text memory 101 (S11).
For example, here, as shown in FIG. 10, “red_green_
It is assumed that "black" is input as a set of print information.

Next, a print color setting process is executed (S1).
2). Here, the number of colors, color order, and target range are set.
For example, if the number of colors is 3, the color order is red, green, and black, and the target range is set to "red" for green and "green" for green, the remaining "black" of the set of print information is automatically set. The final color is set to black. Next, a print count setting process is executed (S1
3). Here, how many times a set of print information is printed is set by inputting from the keyboard 3. For example, print count P
It is assumed that N is set to 10 times.

Next, the printable number setting process is executed (S14). Here, the number of times a set of print information can be printed within the range of the maximum print length limited by the accuracy of the print tape transfer means is calculated. This is because if the print length at one time becomes long, the error of the tape transfer means accumulates when the print tape is rewound and printed every time one color is printed, and the deviation of the print position for each color at the end portion may increase. Because. In the tape-shaped label producing apparatus of this embodiment, the maximum print length is preset to 200 mm in order to secure the print position accuracy. In this setting example, the print length of one set of print information is 25
mm and the front and rear margins are 5 mm each, the total length is 3
The number of printable times LN is 5 at 5 mm.

Next, a print start process is executed (S1).
5). This process is started by pressing the print start key in the keyboard 3, and the tape drive motor 44 is driven in the normal printing direction until the tape detection signal from the tape detection device 70 changes from the absence of tape to the presence of tape.
2 is transferred in the printing direction. That is, the tip of the print tape 22 is aligned with the tape detection sensor 78. The print position of the thermal head 12 on the print tape 22 at this time is set to the print start reference position. In the tape-shaped label producing apparatus of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 12, the tape detection unit P1 and the tape cutting mechanism 8 by the tape detection sensor 78 are used.
The distance from 0 to the tape cutting position P2 is 15 mm, and the distance from the tape cutting position P2 by the tape cutting mechanism 80 to the printing position P3 of the thermal head 12 is 25 mm.

Next, ribbon color confirmation processing is executed (S1).
6). Here, it is judged from the ribbon detection signal whether or not the ribbon cassette 30 of the printing color corresponding to the color order is attached. When the correct ribbon cassette 30 is not installed, a message indicating the ribbon cassette 30 of the color to be installed is displayed on the display 4.

Next, it is determined whether the printing color is the final color (S17). If it is not the final color here (S17: No)
A set color printing process (S18) is executed. Here, the print count PN and the printable count LN are compared. If the print count PN is equal to or larger than the printable count LN, the print count PN is the printable count LN and the print count PN is the printable count LN.
If it is smaller than N, the characters and symbols set in the set color are printed by the number of printing times PN.

Next, a ribbon cassette take-out confirmation process is executed (S19). Here, whether or not the ribbon cassette 30 has been taken out is determined by the ribbon detection signal.
When the ribbon cassette 30 is attached, a message instructing to remove the ribbon cassette 30 is displayed on the display 4.

Next, a tape rewinding process is executed (S2).
0). Here, the tape drive motor is driven in the tape winding direction and the print tape 22 is rewound until the tape detection signal from the tape detection device 70 changes from the presence of the tape to the absence of the tape. That is, the front end of the print tape is aligned with the tape detection sensor 78. As a result, the second and subsequent colors are also 1
Printing can be performed from the same print start reference position as the color. Then, as the next color processing, ribbon color confirmation processing (S1
It returns to 6) and is executed again.

In the next judgment process (S17), if the final color is selected (S17: Yes), the final color printing process and the printing tape cutting process are executed (S21). Here, the number of prints P
N is compared with the number of printable times LN, and if the number of printable times PN is equal to or greater than the number of printable times LN, only the number of printable times LN, and if the number of printable times PN is less than the number of printable times LN, only the number of printable times PN , The character or symbol set to the final color is printed, and when a predetermined cutting point reaches the tape cutting mechanism 80, the printing is interrupted and the printing tape 22
The cutting process is performed, and the same number of labels as the designated print count PN is created.

The details of this process will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, the printing of one dot row and the feeding of the printing tape 22 are performed (S210). The printing here includes a blank, that is, a case where only tape feeding is performed. Next, it is determined whether or not the cut portion has reached the cut portion (S211).

As shown in FIG. 12, the cutting point is first 1
At the front end of the first label, that is, at the print start position, the print tape 22 is attached to the thermal head 1 from the first print start position.
When a distance between the print position P3 of 2 and the tape cutting position P2 of the tape cutting mechanism 80 is fed, the portion to be cut reaches the tape cutting mechanism 80. The subsequent cutting point is the rear end of each label, and when the printing tape 22 is fed by the length of one label from the first cutting point, the cut portion reaches the tape cutting mechanism 80.

The feed amount of the print tape 22 can be measured by counting the drive pulses sent to the tape drive motor 44.

If the portion to be cut has reached the cutting portion (S
211: Yes), and tape cutting processing (S213) is performed. Here, a message prompting the cutting of the tape is displayed on the display 4, the tape cutting knob 8 is manually operated, and it is confirmed that the printing tape 22 has been cut by the cutting detection switch 81, and then the next determination process (S212). )
Proceed to.

If the portion to be cut has not reached the cutting portion in the previous judgment processing (S211: No), printing of a predetermined number of times
It is determined whether or not the disconnection processing is completed (S21).
2). Here, the predetermined number of times means that the printable number PN and the printable number LN are compared and are not large.
If not completed (S212: No), printing for one dot row and tape feeding (S210) are returned to and executed again. If it is completed (S212: Yes), the process returns to the determination process (S22) in FIG.

Next, it is determined whether or not the number of prints has been achieved (S22). Here, it is determined whether the print count PN is smaller than or equal to the printable count LN,
It is determined whether the number of prints has been achieved. If the print count has not been reached (S22: Yes), the print count reset process (S23) is executed. Here, the number of prints P
A process of resetting the print count PN by subtracting the printable count LN from N is performed. After that, the print start process (S1
5) is executed again.

In this way, the set print count PN
Each process is executed so that the multi-color printing process is executed only, and when it is determined that the printing number PN is achieved (S22: No), the multi-color printing control is ended.

According to the previous setting example, as shown in FIG. 11, the red "Aka_______" is 5 on the print tape 22.
After being printed twice, the printing tape 22 is rewound, and after printing "_____green____" five times in green, the printing tape 22 is rewound again and in black "_____________".
Is printed 5 times, and when the 25 mm printing tape is sent from the printing start position, the printing is interrupted and the printing tape is cut. After that, printing is continued every 35 mm of the printing tape while continuing printing. The printing tape is cut off after interruption. These processes are repeated once more to produce a total of 10 print labels.

When such a process is performed, the ribbon cassette is exchanged a total of 6 times, and the printing tape is rewound a total of 4 times. In this way, the number of times the ribbon cassette is replaced and the number of times the print tape is rewound can be reduced as compared with the prior art, so that a plurality of multicolor printed labels can be efficiently produced in a short time.

In this embodiment, step S11 corresponds to the input means, step S12 corresponds to the print color setting means, step S13 corresponds to the print number setting means, and steps S15, S16, and S17, S18,
S19, S20, S21, S22 and S23 correspond to the multicolor printing control means, and step S14 corresponds to the printable number setting means of claim 2.

[0047]

In the tape-shaped label producing apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the number of printing times setting means and the multicolor printing control means set one set of printing information for each color when printing a plurality of times. After printing a group of print information for the number of prints at one time, rewind the print tape, replace it with the next ribbon cassette, and print with the next color in the same way. The number of rewinds can be reduced and workability can be improved.

In the tape label producing apparatus according to the second aspect, one set of print information is printed a plurality of times by the print count setting means, the maximum print length setting means, the printable count setting means, and the multicolor print control means. When printing, a set of print information set for each color is printed collectively by the number of printable times, then the print tape is rewound, replaced with the next ribbon cassette, and the next color is printed, and the specified print is performed. Since the process is repeated until the number of times is reached, it is possible to prevent the print position deviation due to the feed error, reduce the number of times the ribbon cassette is replaced and the number of times the print tape is rewound, and improve the workability.

[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 plan view of a tape cassette.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a ribbon cassette.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a drive system in a printing state of a thermal printing mechanism.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a drive system of the thermal printing mechanism in a tape rewinding state.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a control system of the tape label producing apparatus.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of multicolor printing control.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a final color printing process and a printing tape cutting process.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a set of print information that has been set.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing a printing state.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between a first print start position and a cutting position.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 tape-shaped label producing device 3 keyboard 4 display 10 thermal printing mechanism 12 thermal head 20 tape cassette 22 printing tape 30 ribbon cassette 32 ink ribbon 44 tape drive motor 90 CPU 92 ROM 100 RAM 101 text memory 102 color number memory 103 printing color order Memory 104 Print count memory 105 Printable count memory

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A tape-shaped label producing apparatus comprising a printing means including a print head for printing on a tape which is a print medium and having a plurality of detachable ribbon cassettes for sequentially printing in a plurality of printing colors, Transfer means for transferring the tape in the longitudinal direction relative to the print head, input means for inputting characters and symbols and various commands, and characters and symbols input by the input means. A print color setting means for setting print color information for each character symbol with respect to a set of print information, and a print count setting means for setting the print count for repeatedly printing the set of print information, Data storage means for storing a set of print information, print color information and the number of prints, and for each print color set by the print color setting means, the characters and symbols set in the print color After printing the number of times of printing set by the setting means, the tape is rewound to the first printing position side and multicolor printing for controlling the printing means and the transfer means so that the same printing is performed with the next printing color. A tape-shaped label producing apparatus comprising: a control unit. 2. A tape-shaped label producing apparatus comprising a printing means including a print head for printing on a tape as a print medium and having a plurality of detachable ribbon cassettes for sequentially printing in a plurality of printing colors, Transfer means for transferring the tape in the longitudinal direction relative to the print head, input means for inputting characters and symbols and various commands, and characters and symbols input by the input means. A print color setting means for setting print color information for each character symbol with respect to a set of print information, and a print count setting means for setting the print count for repeatedly printing the set of print information, Data storage means for storing a set of print information, print color information, and the number of prints, and a maximum print length for printing at one time according to the accuracy of the transfer means are set, and within the range of the maximum print length, A printable number setting means for calculating the number of printable times at which one set of print information can be repeatedly printed, and the characters or symbols set in the print color for each print color set by the print color setting means are printed. After printing the number of printable times set by the possible number setting means,
To control the printing means and the transfer means so that the tape is rewound to the first printing position side, printed in the same manner with the next printing color, and repeatedly printed up to the printing number set by the printing number setting means. A tape-shaped label producing apparatus comprising: