JPH092441A - Label printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To repeatedly cut a label roll paper without requiring cuter replacement or cutter-blade cleaning, in a label printer using as printing paper the label roll formed by wrapping a mountless label around itself. CONSTITUTION: A label printer uses, as label paper 1, a roll of mountless label whose one side is a printing side and other side is an adhesive side and which is provided with perforations 101 for making it easy to cut the mountless label each specific length longitudinally. In front in the direction where the label paper 1 is drawn out, two pairs of paper-carrying means, which draw out and carry the paper 1 by holding it between a drivable roller and a pressing member opposite the roller, are arranged with a particular amount of distance between them. A pressing member 12 for pressing the printing side of the paper 1 to cut along the perforations 101 is arranged between the two pairs of paper- carrying means.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a label printer for printing data such as price and weight of products on a label paper, and more specifically, a mountless label roll having an adhesive surface on the back side of the printing surface is used as the printing paper. Label printers.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a printing paper used in a label printer is a label roll in which a label having a predetermined size is attached to a strip-shaped release sheet (mounting sheet) and wound in a roll shape. The release sheet attached to the adhesive surface is uneconomical because it remains and is discarded when the label is attached, and there is a problem in that labor is required to attach the label to the release sheet. Therefore, recently, one surface of the web is used as an adhesive surface provided with a pressure-sensitive adhesive,
A label roll has been developed in which the other side is the peeling surface and the adhesive surface is in direct contact with the peeling surface, and the label roll is wrapped around the label-less label. Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-2493 proposes to cut the length of one sheet with a sharp cutter and issue a label after performing the above.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional method, the pressure-sensitive adhesive feels a pressure when it is cut by the cutter and becomes sticky, which is the tip (blade edge) of the cutter.
Adheres to If such cutting work is repeated, the blade edge of the cutter loses its sharpness and the label roll cannot be cut, and it is necessary to replace the cutter or remove the adhesive adhering to the blade edge of the cutter for cleaning. Have.

[0004] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and has as its object the following.
In a label printer that uses a label roll wound with a mountless label as printing paper, it is possible to repeatedly cut the label roll without replacing the cutter or cleaning the blade edge of the cutter.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the technical means taken by the present invention is to provide a printed surface on one side, an adhesive surface on the other side, and a predetermined length direction. A label printer using a mountless label roll provided with perforations for facilitating cutting for each length, as a label sheet, wherein a roller that is driven to rotate is disposed at a front position in the feeding direction of the label sheet, and a roller that faces the roller. Two sets of sheet conveying means for sandwiching and feeding the sheet with the pressed contact member are arranged at a predetermined interval, and between the two sets of sheet conveying means,
It is characterized in that a pressing member for pressing the printing surface of the paper and cutting the paper at the perforations is arranged. The printing means for printing a predetermined matter on the label paper may be arranged on the downstream side of the paper carrying means.

Since the pressing member presses a sheet sandwiched and supported between two sets of sheet conveying means spaced by a predetermined distance, it tears perforations made on the sheet. The cross-sectional shape of the contact surface with the label in the pressing member may not be an acute angle like the cutting edge of the cutter, and may be, for example, a flat surface, an arc surface, or a shape in which both corners of the flat surface are rounded and chamfered, and the like. The lower the coefficient of friction, the better the material of the pressing member.

The two sets of sheet conveying means may have the same conveying speed, or the conveying speed of the downstream sheet conveying means may be higher than that of the upstream sheet conveying means near the label roll. Further, among the two sets of sheet conveying means, the roller that drives and rotates constituting the upstream sheet conveying means may be a platen roller, and the pressure contact member may be a thermal head. Furthermore, the label printer may be provided with control means for returning the leading end of the sheet on the label roll side to the position of the upstream sheet conveying means for the next label printing after cutting the sheet by the pressing member.

[0008]

According to the above-mentioned structure of the present invention, the sheets perforated at predetermined intervals in the length direction are sandwiched between the front and rear portions of the perforations by the two sets of sheet conveying means. When the sheet horizontally supported between the sheet conveying means is pressed by the pressing member, the weak perforation portion is torn and the label is cut and formed. Therefore, the label is cut without adhering the adhesive provided on the back side of the sheet to the contact surface of the pressing member with the sheet. Further, in the case of the configuration described in claim 2, since the transport speed of the paper transport means arranged on the downstream side of the perforations is faster than the transport speed of the paper transport means for nipping and transporting the upstream side of the perforations, The front and rear parts of the are pulled, and the cutting by pressing the pressing member can be performed more easily. Further, in the case of the structure described in claim 3, the sheet conveying means arranged on the upstream side not only conveys the sheet but also serves as the printing section. Further, in the case of the constitution as set forth in claim 4, after the upstream side sheet conveying means also serves as the printing section and the predetermined printing is completed, the one printed sheet is torn from the perforation by the pressing member. Then, the upstream side sheet conveying means is driven in the direction for rewinding the sheet by the control means, whereby the leading edge of the sheet continuous to the roll side is returned to the position of the upstream side sheet conveying means, and the next label is printed. Is performed near the leading edge of the paper.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an outline of a label printer according to the present invention,
A roll-shaped label sheet 1 is rotatably supported in the case A, and a feeding / conveying means 3 for the sheet 1 and a printing section 4 are arranged at a front position in the feeding direction of the label sheet 1. The label paper 1 mounted on the label printer is formed of a band-shaped thermal paper having one side having a printing surface and the other side having an adhesive surface, and if it is easy to cut the label sheet one by one along its length direction. In the mountless label roll provided with the perforations 101, the U-shaped cutouts 102 having a substantially planar shape are formed on the left and right sides of the perforations 101 in the sheet, and the cutouts 102 are conveyed by the conveying means 3 A first sensor including a transmissive sensor located on the upstream side so as to face the paper 1 so as to sandwich the paper 1.
The feeding of the sheet 1 is controlled by the detection by the sensor 9.

The conveying means for feeding out the above-mentioned sheet 1 is a downstream side sheet conveying means 3 composed of a pair of upper and lower rollers 301, 302 arranged in the vicinity of the label issuing port formed on the peripheral wall of the case A, and the sheet conveying means 3 It comprises an upstream sheet conveying means which also functions as a printing section 4 which is arranged at a more upstream side with a predetermined interval. The upstream printing section 4 is located above the sheet 1 with a platen roller 401 located below the sheet 1. The thermal head 402 and the roller 302 arranged below the sheet 1 in the downstream sheet conveying means 3 and the platen roller 401 of the printing section 4 are driven and rotated by the motor 5. Further, the roller 301 arranged above the sheet 1 in the sheet conveying means 3 is urged by the plate spring 6 toward the lower roller 302 side, whereby the sheet 1 is rotated by the roller 3.
The sheet 1 is conveyed by the frictional force with the roller 302 which is nipped by 02 and which is driven and rotated. Similarly, the thermal head 402 in the printing unit 4 is configured to be biased toward the platen roller 401 side by the spring 7 so that printing and conveyance of the sheet 1 are stably performed.

The surface of each of the lower roller 302 of the sheet conveying means 3 and the platen roller 401 of the printing section 4 is coated with a release agent, and the adhesive coated on the back side of the sheet 1 is used. Are prevented from adhering to each other so that the sheet 1 can be conveyed smoothly. The prevention of the adhesion of the roller 302 and the platen roller 401 to the paper is not limited to the above-described form, and for example, the roller 302 and the platen roller 401 itself or the outermost peripheral portion may be made of an easily peelable member.

The lower roller 302 in the sheet conveying means 3
The driving mechanism 8 for driving the platen roller 401 of the printing section 4 causes the rotation of the pulley 801 attached to the rotation shaft of the stepping motor 5 to pass through the belt 804 to the large pulley 803 coaxial with the small pulley 802 as shown in FIG. The rotation of the large pulley 803 is transmitted to the pulley 805 fixed to the roller 302 and the pulley 806 fixed to the platen roller 401 to the belts 807, 8
It is configured to be transmitted via 08. Further, the roller 301 in the sheet conveying means 3 and the thermal head 402 of the printing unit 4 are attached to the device frame 11 configured to be capable of vertically oscillating about the shaft 10, and the device frame 11 is mounted around the shaft 10. Rotating upward causes roller 301 to
From 302, the thermal head 402 is separated from the platen roller 401, respectively, so that the sheet 1 can be easily set. By setting the outer diameter of the pulley 805 fixed to the roller 302 smaller than the outer diameter of the pulley 806 fixed to the platen roller 401, the sheet conveying speed of the roller 302 in the sheet conveying means 3 is set to the platen roller 401 of the printing unit 4. It is possible to make the sheet 1 faster than the sheet conveying speed and effectively tear the sheet 1.

A pressing member 12 for cutting the sheet 1 horizontally supported by the sheet conveying means 3 and the printing section 4 at the perforations 101 is vertically movable between the sheet conveying means 3 and the printing section 4 described above. It is installed in. (See FIG. 2) The pressing member 12 is formed of a rigid metal or synthetic resin band plate, and the lower end surface of the band plate that comes into contact with the printing surface of the paper 1 is flat as shown in FIG. 5 (a). It is formed in a dull shape such as a surface shape, an arc surface shape shown in (b), or a shape in which both corners of a flat surface shown in (c) are rounded. The mechanism for moving the pressing member 12 up and down is the pressing member.
The base end side of 12 is rotatably supported by a pin 13 on a fixing member,
Further, the base end is connected to the connecting piece 15 connected to the plunger 14 'of the electromagnetic solenoid 14, and the spring 16 is elastically attached to the plunger 14' of the electromagnetic solenoid 14 so that the solenoid is OFF. When the pressing member 12 is held at a position separated from the sheet 1 by the elastic force of the spring 16 and the solenoid 14 is turned on, the plunger 14 'is springed.
16 is retracted while being compressed, and the base end of the pressing member 12 is pulled up, so that the portion of the pin 1 that is in contact with the sheet 1 in front of the pin 13 is rotated downward to push out the perforations 101 of the sheet 1. ing.

When the pressing member 12 is linear as shown in FIG. 2, the pressing member 12 is actuated by the operation of the solenoid 14.
Although the contact position of 12 with respect to the sheet 1 moves from the front end side to the base side, when the pressing member 12 is brought into contact with the sheet 1 over the entire width of the sheet 1 at the same time, the pressing member 12
Is formed as shown in FIG. That is, the position rotated by the solenoid (power point) and the position for cutting by contacting the sheet 1 (action point) are not on a straight line, and a step is provided between the two, and the action of the solenoid 14 causes the pressing member 12 to move. Make sure that the cut part moves vertically in parallel. When configured in this way, the pressing member 12 simultaneously abuts the entire width of the perforations made on the paper, so when the paper itself is easy to tear, a pulling force acts uniformly on the entire perforations and the direction of tearing Therefore, the risk that the portion other than the perforations is torn is reduced. Further, in the figure, 17 is a label holding roller for holding the printed label 1'conveyed by the paper conveying means 1, 18 is a second sensor for detecting whether or not the holding roller 17 has the label 1 ', 19 Is a guide roller.

Next, the operation of the above-mentioned label printer will be described. The container frame 11 is rotated upward to rotate the sheet conveying means 3.
Also, the member arranged above the paper 1 in the printing unit 4 is separated from the member below and the leading end of the label paper 1 loaded in the case 1 is pulled out and the guide roller 19 and the first sensor are bonded via 9 The surface of the sheet 1 is placed on the platen roller 401, and then the device frame 11 is rotated downward to sandwich the leading edge of the sheet 1 between the platen roller 401 and the thermal head 402. When the operation unit (not shown) is instructed to feed the sheet 1, the central processing unit (CP
U) starts the motor 5 and drives the printing mechanism 4 via the drive mechanism 8.
When the first sensor 9 detects the notch 102 of the sheet 1, the platen roller 401 is driven and the sheet 1 is pulled out and conveyed. Then, the sheet is conveyed for a predetermined length and the motor 5 is stopped at the print start position. With this, the setting of the label paper 1 is completed, and the printing becomes possible.

Next, when an instruction to print the predetermined data on the label paper 1 is issued, the second sensor 18 confirms that the label holding roller 17 does not have the label 1'and the motor 5
Is activated, print data is output to the thermal head 402, and printing is performed on the paper 1 for one label. Then, after the printing is completed, a predetermined amount of paper is conveyed so that the perforations 101 provided on the rear side for the one printed sheet are located immediately below the pressing member 12, and the motor 5 is stopped. It (See FIG. 7) When the perforation 101 of the sheet 1 is positioned directly below the pressing member 12 and the conveyance of the sheet is stopped, the electromagnetic solenoid 14 is turned on and the plunger 14 'is retracted, whereby the connecting piece 12 is pulled.
Is pulled up and connected to the connecting piece 12, the pressing member 12 is rotated around the pin 13, and
Press on 101. Since the pressing member 12 contacts the sheet 1 from the front end side toward the base end side, the pressing force is concentrated on a part of the perforation 101 (the right end of the sheet in FIG. 4) when cutting the sheet 1. It is performed by sequentially moving the cutting points.
Therefore, even if the pressing force is relatively weak, the perforation 101 can be sufficiently cut. Then, when the solenoid 14 is turned on for a predetermined time and then turned off, the pressing member 12 is returned to the initial position by the elastic force of the spring 16 mounted on the plunger 14 '(solid line in FIG. 2).

By the operation of the pressing member 12 described above, the sheet 1
The label 1 ′ cut from is activated by the motor 5 so that the label 1 ′ is held by the label holding roller 17, and the label feeding means 3 is driven to convey the label 1 ′ by a predetermined amount. At this time, when the motor 5 is activated, the platen roller 401 of the printing unit 4 is simultaneously operated.
Paper 1 from which label 1'is cut off because it is also driven and rotated
Is also fed and conveyed to the sheet conveying means 3 side. (Refer to FIG. 8) When the printed label 1'is conveyed and the paper 1 is fed forward, the motor 5 is moved in the reverse direction by a predetermined amount in order to align the head of the printable portion of the paper 1 with the print position of the thermal head 402. The sheet 1 is rotated to position the leading end of the sheet 1 at the printing position, and the printing operation for one sheet is completed. (See Fig. 9)

10 to 12 show another modified example of the sheet conveying means and the printing section, and FIG. 10 shows the upstream side sheet conveying means including the platen roller 401 and the thermal head 402.
However, the transporting means 3'comprising a pair of upper and lower rollers similar to that shown in the previous embodiment is arranged on the downstream side of the printing section 4 without being shared. In this case, the gripping force of the paper by the upper and lower rollers can be set regardless of the print quality. Further, FIG. 11 is a further modification of the above-mentioned FIG. 10, in which the printing unit 4 is arranged on the downstream side of the sheet conveying means 3,
The predetermined printing is performed after cutting one label 1'from the paper 1. Further, FIG. 12 is a further modification of FIG. 11, in which the belt 20 is wound around the lower roller 302 that constitutes the downstream sheet conveying means 3 and the platen roller 401 that constitutes the printing unit 4. The label 1 ′ for one sheet cut from the paper 1 is placed on a belt 20 having a surface coated with a release material, conveyed, and printed. In this case, (a) the non-printable area can be eliminated. (b)
Since it is not necessary to return the next label to the print position after printing,
The processing speed of label printing is fast. (c) It is possible to reliably convey from the cutting position to the printing section, it is possible to handle labels with dimensions within the length of the belt, and it is not necessary to cut and print at the same time, so the print quality is degraded. Label can be issued without (d) Since the belt can be rotated only by driving the platen roller, the drive mechanism is not required in the downstream sheet conveying means. (e) Since the dispenser 21 can be provided inside the belt on the downstream side of the platen roller, the belt can be folded back at an acute angle to reliably peel off the label. The advantage is obtained.
Incidentally, in the case where the lower roller 302 constituting the downstream side sheet conveying means 3 in the above-mentioned first embodiment is structured to be freely rotatable only in the discharging direction of the label 1'by the force from the outside, it has been described above. It is possible to omit the operation of ejecting the label by driving the sheet conveying means by starting the motor in the operation description, and the label can be pulled out by hand. Further, when the print start position of the paper is performed with some space left from the front end of the paper, it is preferable to return the print start position of the paper to the print position of the printing unit after cutting the paper.

[0019]

According to the structure of the label printer of the present invention, the label paper is cut from the perforations by the pressing force of the pressing member. Therefore, the adhesive applied to the label paper is cut by the cutter. There is no inconvenience that the blade adheres to the cutting edge and the cutting becomes poor, and the cutting ability can be maintained for a long time. Further, since the pressing member does not have a blade, even if the position of the perforations made on the label paper is slightly deviated from the pressing member in the front-rear direction, the paper is not cut at portions other than the perforations. .

When the speeds of the sheet conveying means on the upstream and downstream sides are configured as in the second aspect, both sides of the perforation can be pulled to easily cut by the pressing member. Further, in the case of the structure described in claim 3, since the printing unit composed of the platen roller and the thermal head also serves as the upstream sheet conveying means, the structure can be simplified. In addition, the printing start position of the next label and the leading end position of the paper are close to each other, and there is an advantage that the unprintable area of the paper can be reduced without returning the paper. Further, in the case of the construction as claimed in claim 4, it is possible to completely eliminate the unprintable area.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an enlarged cutaway side view showing a main part of a label printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken along line (2)-(2) of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing driving of a sheet conveying unit and a printing unit.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state in which a pressing member cuts perforations on a label sheet.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a tip shape of a pressing member.

FIG. 6 is a front view showing a modified example of the pressing member.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which a label is cut by a pressing member after printing.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which a cut label is conveyed.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which the front end of the paper is returned to the printing unit.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a modified example of a sheet conveying unit and a printing unit.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram illustrating another modified example of the sheet conveying unit and the printing unit.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing still another modified example of the sheet conveying unit and the printing unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... Label paper 3, 3 '... Paper conveying means 4 ... Printing unit 401 ... Platen roller 402 ... Thermal head 5 ... Motor 12 ... Pressing member

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A label paper for a label roll without a backing sheet, one side of which is a printing surface and the other side of which is an adhesive surface, and which is provided with perforations for facilitating cutting at a predetermined length along the length direction. In a label printer used as a sheet feeding device, a sheet conveying means for nipping and conveying a sheet by a drivable roller and a pressure contact member arranged to face the roller at a front position in the sheet feeding direction at predetermined intervals is provided. The label printer is characterized in that two sets are arranged, and a pressing member that presses the printing surface of the paper and cuts the paper at the perforations is arranged between the two sets of paper conveying means. 2. The carrying speed of the two sets of paper carrying means is
2. The label printer according to claim 1, wherein the transport speed of the downstream paper transport means is higher than that of the upstream paper transport means near the label roll. 3. The platen roller is a drivable roller that constitutes the upstream sheet conveying means of the two sets of sheet conveying means, and the pressure contact member is a thermal head. The label printer according to claim 1 or claim 2. 4. A control means for returning the leading edge of the sheet on the label roll side to the position of the upstream sheet conveying means for the next label printing after the sheet is cut by the pressing member. The label printer according to claim 3.