JPH10181110A - Tape printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To restart a printing operation without making an erroneous blank even when a tape is slightly conveyed by rotating inertia of a DC motor in the case where the printing operation is interrupted because of, for example, making a margin having an arbitrary length on the top of the tape in terms of a tape printer. SOLUTION: A position of a tape to be cut is advanced to a cutting operation position in a cutter mechanism, since an unnecessary blank portion is cut to be separated by the cutter mechanism by remaining a set margin having a length Y on the top of a printing region on the tape after starting the printing of print data on the tape. At the time, even when the controlling of conveying of the tape is stopped by interrupting supplying of a motor driving voltage VM to a DC motor 43, the controlling of driving for a printing head section 17 in synchronism with encoder pulses S generated by an encoder 45 corresponding to a conveying quantity in one dot line is maintained in a condition wherein the tape is continuously conveyed by rotating inertia of a platen roller 22 connected to the DC motor 43 via a gear chain 44.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tape printing apparatus for performing printing using a long strip of recording paper (tape) as a medium to be printed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an apparatus for creating an index label attached to an audio cassette or a video cassette and describing the contents thereof, or a name label affixed to various belongings and describing an owner thereof, etc., as one of original devices, for example, A tape printing device is provided.

This tape printer has a document creation function provided with a large number of character input keys. By operating the print key, text data or the like consisting of a character string arbitrarily created by the document creation function is converted to a text. Thermal transfer printing is performed on a long tape as a data through a thermal print head and output, and the printed tape is sequentially conveyed and discharged to the outside through a tape discharge port on a side of the apparatus main body. It is cut and separated by a manually or automatically driven cutter disposed between the tape and the tape outlet.

Here, since there is a certain structural interval between the printing position of the thermal print head and the tape cutting position of the cutter in the above-mentioned tape printing apparatus, the head of the printed tape has an interval corresponding to the interval. After the data is printed on the tape, the tape is fed at a predetermined interval or more and then cut and separated by a cutter so that the tape is not cut in the middle of the printed area.

When an arbitrary margin is set at the leading end of the tape, after the start of printing, the interval between the printed leading position of the tape conveyed toward the tape discharge port and the tape cutting position by the cutter is set. However, when the set margin length is reached, the printing operation is temporarily interrupted to cut and separate the tape in the unnecessary margin portion, and the interrupted printing operation is resumed.

[0006]

However, in the above-described conventional tape printing apparatus, when a DC motor is used as a power source for transporting the tape, the DC motor and the print head are not involved in the interruption of the printing operation. Even if the supply of the driving voltage to is stopped, the tape is slightly transported as it is and stops completely due to the inertial rotation of the DC motor, so that when the printing operation is restarted thereafter, there is a problem that printing is lost during that time. .

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems. For example, when a printing operation is interrupted to provide a margin at an arbitrary setting at the leading end of the tape, the tape is slightly conveyed by inertia rotation of a DC motor. Even if
An object of the present invention is to provide a tape printer capable of restarting a printing operation without causing a printing omission.

[0008]

That is, a tape printing apparatus according to claim 1 of the present invention is a tape printing apparatus for interrupting a printing operation during printing on a tape for a predetermined process, Transport means for transporting the tape in the length direction by using a motor as a drive source, signal generating means for generating a reference signal each time the tape is transported by a predetermined distance by the transport means, and printing in the width direction of the tape A print head for arranging elements, printing means for driving the print head in synchronization with a reference signal generated by the signal generation means, and printing print data on the tape sequentially one line at a time, the DC motor and Power supply means for supplying a drive voltage to the print head; and a power supply means for interrupting a printing operation in the middle of printing on the tape for the predetermined processing. Even after the supply of the drive voltage to the DC motor is stopped, the supply of the drive voltage to the print head by the power supply means is continued, and the tape is printed by the printing means in synchronization with a reference signal generated by the signal generation means. And control means for printing print data.

That is, in the tape printing apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, when the printing operation is interrupted during the printing on the tape for the predetermined processing, the D by the power supply means.
Even after the supply of the drive voltage to the C motor is stopped, the supply of the drive voltage to the print head by the power supply unit is continued,
Since print data is printed on the tape by the printing means in synchronization with the reference signal generated by the signal generating means every time the tape is transported by a predetermined distance,
Corresponding printing is performed even when the tape is transported by the inertial rotation of the motor.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a tape printing apparatus comprising: a margin setting means for setting a margin at an end of a tape; a print pattern data storage means for storing pattern data to be printed; Transport means for transporting the tape in the length direction as a drive source; signal generating means for generating a reference signal each time the tape is transported by a predetermined distance by the transport means; and a reference generated by the signal generating means. Counting means for counting signals; and a print head having printing elements arranged in the width direction of the tape, wherein the print head is driven in synchronization with a reference signal generated by the signal generation means, and A printing means for printing the pattern data stored in the storage means on the tape sequentially one line at a time, and a drive voltage to the DC motor and the print head. Power supply means, a cutter means disposed in the tape discharge direction with respect to the printing means, and a cutter means for cutting an end of the tape to provide a margin set by the margin setting means, In the middle of printing, when the count value of the counting means becomes a value that can secure the margin set by the margin setting means, the cutter means cuts off the end of the tape by the cutter means. A reference generated by the signal generating means until the supply of the drive voltage by the power supply means is stopped, and the supply of the drive voltage to the print head by the power supply means is continued and the conveyance of the tape is stopped. A print interrupting means for performing printing by the printing means in synchronization with a signal; and a count value of the counting means after completion of the tape cutting process by the cutter means. Characterized by comprising a resuming print resuming means for printing on the tape by the printing means.

In other words, in the tape printing apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention, the count value of the reference signal generated by the signal generating means every time the tape is conveyed by a predetermined distance during printing by the printing means is set to a margin value. When the value of the margin set by the setting means is obtained, the supply of the driving voltage to the DC motor by the power supply means is stopped in order to cut the end of the tape by the cutter means, and the power supply means The printing by the printing unit is performed in synchronization with the reference signal generated by the signal generation unit until the supply of the driving voltage to the print head is continued and the conveyance of the tape is stopped, and the printing is performed. After the end of the tape cutting process by the cutter unit, the printing on the tape by the printing unit is restarted based on the count value of the reference signal. Accompanied by DC to the printing interruption for cutting
Corresponding printing is performed even when the tape is conveyed by the inertial rotation of the motor, and printing is restarted.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an external configuration of a tape printer according to an embodiment of the tape printer of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, a keyboard (key input section) 12 and a liquid crystal display section 13 are provided on the upper surface of the apparatus main body 11, and a cassette accommodating section 15 covered by a lid 14 which can be opened and closed is provided. .

The keyboard 12 is provided with character input keys 12a for inputting text data, such as alphabetic character keys, numeric keys, and symbol keys, and further includes a power key 12b and a cursor displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 13. , A shift key 12d for switching between uppercase and lowercase letters of the alphabet, a return (execute) key 12e operated when a user confirms various input data and selection data, gives an instruction to start a predetermined function, and the like. A print (print) key 12f operated when executing printing processing of text data, a stop (print stop) key 12g operated when stopping printing processing of text data, and the like are provided.

Reference numeral 16 denotes a device in which the printed tape 30 is the main body 1 of the apparatus.
Reference numeral 16a denotes a tape discharge port which is discharged outside the cutter operation lever, and is a cutter operation lever for cutting and separating a leading portion of the tape discharged from the tape discharge port 16.

FIG. 2 shows an apparatus main body 11 of the tape printer.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of the cassette accommodating portion 15 when a lid 14 on an upper surface of the cassette is opened. Inside the cassette accommodating section 15, a print head section 17 composed of a thermal printer is provided.

A tape cassette 24 containing a printing tape 30 and a thermal transfer ink ribbon 31 is mounted in the cassette housing section 15. The print head unit 17
Are a thermal print head 18 driven to generate heat based on text data, a platen roller 22 and an ink ribbon take-up shaft 23 which are driven to rotate when the thermal print head 18 is driven to convey the tape 30 and the ink ribbon 31, and the like. Prepare.

The thermal print head 18 has a plurality of heating elements 19 arranged in a row along the width direction of the tape 30.
And is attached to a support 21 that can rotate about a support shaft 20. The thermal print head 18 is rotated about a support shaft 20 in conjunction with opening and closing of the lid 14 by a mechanism (not shown) to come into contact with and separate from the platen roller 22.

That is, at the time of printing with the lid 14 closed, the thermal print head 18 is pressed by the platen roller 22 with the tape 30 and the ink ribbon 31 interposed therebetween, as shown in FIG. When the lid 14 is opened, for example, when the tape cassette 24 is replaced, the thermal print head 18 separates from the platen roller 22 and moves away from the tape cassette 2.
4 can be exchanged.

The platen roller 22 is rotated in one counterclockwise direction. The platen roller 22 is rotated by a driving unit (not shown) in accordance with a printing operation, and the tape 30 and the ink ribbon 3 are rotated.
1 is transported at a constant speed. With the rotation of the platen roller 22, the ink ribbon take-up shaft 23 is also driven to rotate in the clockwise direction by the driving unit, and the used ink ribbon 3 thermally transferred by the thermal print head 18 is used.
1 is wound up.

The drive section (see FIG. 3) of the platen roller 22 and the ink ribbon take-up shaft 23 has the same configuration as that of a known tape printer, and includes a DC motor 43 as a drive source and a drive circuit (driver 47). ), DC motor 4
3 is provided with a gear train 44 which is a rotation transmission mechanism for transmitting the rotation of No. 3 to the platen roller 22 and the ink ribbon take-up shaft 23.

The tape cassette 24 mounted in the cassette accommodating portion 15 includes a cassette case 25, a tape supply reel 26 on which a printing tape 30 is wound, and an ink ribbon supply reel on which an ink ribbon 31 for thermal transfer is wound. 27
And an ink ribbon take-up reel 28 that is rotationally driven by a take-up drive shaft 23. Further, a concave portion 29 for accommodating the thermal print head 18 is provided in a part of the cassette case 25, and the tape 30 and the ink ribbon 31 are pulled out from the cassette case 25 into the concave portion 29 so that the thermal print head 18 and the platen roller 22
Set between

The printing tape 30 is composed of a synthetic resin sheet having an adhesive applied to the back surface and a printing surface on the front surface, and a release paper adhered to the back surface of the synthetic resin sheet. Further, the cassette accommodating portion 15 has a tape discharge port 16.
A cutter mechanism 32 is provided adjacent to.

The cutter mechanism 32 includes a fixed blade 33 fixed to the apparatus main body 11 and a movable blade that is rotated by operating the cutter operating lever 16a that is rotatably mounted on the fixed blade 33 by an axis. 35 is formed.

That is, in the print head unit 17, during the printing operation of the text data, the tape 30 and the ink ribbon 31 are conveyed at the same speed by the rotation of the ribbon take-up reel 28 and the platen roller 22, respectively.
Text data is sequentially printed on the tape 30 by the thermal print head 18 performing a thermal transfer operation with the tape 30 and the ink ribbon 31 sandwiched between the platen roller 22 and the thermal print head 18. The printed tape 30 is discharged to the outside of the apparatus main body 11 from the tape discharge port 16. Then, the tape 30 of the printed portion is cut and separated by the cutter mechanism 32.

If a margin is set at the leading end of the tape 30 when printing the text data, after the printing operation is started, the printed leading position of the tape 30 conveyed in the direction of the tape discharge port 16 and When the interval from the tape cutting position by the cutter mechanism 32 reaches the set margin length, the printing operation is temporarily interrupted. Then, when the execution key 12e is operated after cutting and separating the unnecessary marginal portion of the tape, the interrupted printing operation is resumed.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the electronic circuit of the tape printer. The electronic circuit of the tape printer includes a control unit (CPU) 40. The control unit 40 activates a system program stored in the ROM 41 in advance in response to a key operation signal from the keyboard (key input unit) 12, and controls the operation of each circuit unit.

The control unit 40 includes the key input unit 1
2. In addition to the ROM 41, the RAM 42, the liquid crystal display unit 13, and the print head unit 17 are connected.
The driver 47 of the DC motor 43, which is the second drive source, is connected via a power supply circuit 46.

The print head unit 17 includes a heating element 19 of the thermal print head 18 and a shift register or latch circuit for storing the one-line print data DATA sent from the control unit 40, and a straw unit signal STB from the control unit 40. A driver or the like for driving the heating element 19 in response is provided.

A gear train 44, which is a rotation transmitting mechanism of a drive unit for driving the platen roller 22, has an encoder 45
Is attached, and from the encoder 45, the DC
With the rotation of the motor 43, the encoder pulse S becomes 1 in synchronization with the rotation amount of the gear train 44 corresponding to the operation of transporting one dot line of the tape 30 by the platen roller 22.
The signals are output one by one and supplied to the control unit 40.

That is, the tape 30 and the ink ribbon 31 are conveyed one dot line at a time by the rotation of the platen roller 22, and the heating element 19 of one line of the thermal print head 18 is synchronized with the output of the encoder pulse S.
Is driven to generate heat.

The drive voltage VM of the DC motor 43 by the DC motor driver 47 and the drive voltage VH of the thermal print head 18 by the head driver of the print head unit 17.
Is supplied by the power supply circuit 46 in response to the motor control signal CM and the head control signal CH from the control unit 40, and the motor drive voltage VM is changed from the period from the start to the interruption of the printing operation and from the restart. The head drive voltage VH is supplied during the period until the end, and is supplied during the period in which the one-line print data DATA is sequentially output and the encoder pulse S is sequentially output.

In the ROM 41, a system control program such as a text data input control program and a print control program in various data input modes by the control unit 40 is stored in advance, and all characters that can be input by the key input unit 12 are stored. -Character pattern data corresponding to the symbol code is stored in advance.

As shown in FIG. 2, the ROM 41 stores in advance structural distance data L between the printing position of the thermal print head 18 on the tape 30 and the cutting position of the tape 30 by the cutter mechanism 32. A head-to-cutter distance memory 41a is provided.

The RAM 42 has an input buffer 42a in which key input data from the key input unit 12 is stored in the form of a character code or a control code. In order to display keyed text data on the liquid crystal display unit 13, The character pattern corresponding to the text data is stored in ROM4.
A display buffer 42b which is read and stored from the memory 1; a print buffer 42c where text data to be printed is expanded into bitmap data and stored; and a line for each line from the start of print processing to the end of print data output. The first tape transport amount counter 42d counts and stores the number n of encoder pulses S generated by the tape transport, the number m of encoder pulses S generated by tape transport for each line after the end of print data output And a second tape transport counter 42e for counting and storing the count.

The RAM 42 has a margin data register for storing margin length data Y arbitrarily set by the operation of the key input unit 12.
Head 18 stored in cutter distance memory 41a
An initial transport line number register for storing a transport line number A of the tape 30 corresponding to a tape leading edge unnecessary length (LY) obtained by subtracting the margin length data Y from the separation distance data L between the cutter 32 and the cutter 32; The blank feed length at the end of printing, which is obtained by adding the margin length data Y to the separation distance data L (L +
An end conveyance line number register for storing the number B of conveyance lines of the tape 30 corresponding to Y) is provided.

The control unit 40 is provided with a timer 40a.
A certain time is measured when no encoder pulse S is generated for determining that the transport operation of 0 has completely stopped.

Next, the operation of the tape printer having the above configuration will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a printing process (part 1) in the tape printer.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a printing process (part 2) in the tape printer. FIG. 6 is a timing chart showing an operation at the time of interrupting a printing operation accompanying the printing process of the tape printer.

Character input key 12 in key input section 12
With the operation a, text data to be printed is created, and the character pattern data corresponding to the individual character data is read out and stored in the print data memory in the RAM 42 as bitmap data. When the print (print) key 12f is operated to print the image, the print processing in FIGS. 4 and 5 is started.

First, the count data n and m in the first tape transport amount counter 42d and the second tape transport counter 42e in the RAM 42 are reset and an initial process is performed (step S1).

When the motor drive control signal CM is output from the control section 40 to the power supply circuit 46, the motor drive voltage VM is supplied to the motor driver 47, and the DC
The motor 43 is driven to rotate (step S2).

Then, the rotation operation of the DC motor 43 is transmitted to the platen roller 22 via the gear train 44, and the tape 30 and the ink ribbon 31 sandwiched between the thermal print head 18 and the line type heating element 19 are conveyed. Is started.

Here, every time the tape 30 and the ink ribbon 31 are conveyed by one line, an encoder pulse (reference signal) S is generated by an encoder 45 provided in the gear train 44 and output to the control unit 40. What is done
Each time this encoder pulse S is generated, the count value n of the first tape transport amount counter 42d in the RAM 42 is incremented by (+1), and one line is sequentially read from the print data memory and stored in the print buffer 42c. The print data DATA is transferred to the print head unit 17 and latched, a strobe signal STB is supplied to the print head unit 17, and the head drive voltage VH is supplied from the power supply circuit 46 by the head control signal CH to the print head unit 17.
, And print data of one line is sequentially printed on the tape 30 (steps S3 → S4, S4).
5).

Then, every time the tape 30 is conveyed one line at a time after the one-line printing process is performed, the RA
The set margin length data Y is subtracted from the count value n in the first tape transport amount counter 42d in M42 and the separation distance data L between the head 18 and the cutter 32 set in the initial transport line number register in the RAM 42. Whether or not the number of transport lines A of the tape 30 corresponding to the unnecessary length of the tape tip (LY) matches, that is, the position to be cut with respect to the tape 30 leaving only the set margin at the beginning of the print area is determined by the cutter mechanism 32. Is determined (step S6).

Here, the tape cutting target position leaving only the set margin length Y at the leading end of the tape 30 conveyed from the start of the one-line printing operation has advanced to the cutting processing position in the cutter mechanism 32. It is determined that the count value n in the first tape transport amount counter 42d matches the transport line number A of the tape 30 corresponding to the tape leading edge unnecessary length (LY) set in the initial transport line number register. When the output of the motor drive control signal to the power supply circuit 46 is stopped, the DC motor 43
Supply of the motor drive voltage VM is stopped, and the conveyance control of the tape 30 and the ink ribbon 31 is stopped (steps S6 → S7).

At this time, the power supply circuit 46 supplies the print head 1
7, the head drive voltage VH is continuously supplied.
Here, the tape 30 and the ink ribbon 31 are slightly conveyed in accordance with the rotation operation by inertia transmitted from the DC motor 43 to the platen roller 22 via the gear train 44, and the When the pulse S is output, each time the encoder pulse S is generated, the count value n in the first tape transport amount counter 42d in the RAM 42 is incremented (+1), and
The one-line print data DATA is transferred to the print head unit 17 and latched, and the strobe signal STB is supplied to the print head unit 17 so that the print data of one line is sequentially printed on the tape 30 sequentially ( Step S
8 → S9, S10).

The gear train 4 from the DC motor 43
The rotation operation due to inertia transmitted to the platen roller 22 via the roller 4 is eliminated, and the tape 30 and the ink ribbon 31 are removed.
With the stop of the transport of the
Is stopped, the output of the head drive control signal CH to the power supply circuit 46 is stopped and the print head unit is stopped. 17
Supply of the head drive voltage VH to the tape 30 is stopped.
And the printing operation by driving the thermal print head 18 is completely interrupted (steps S11 → S12).

Then, request message data urging the user to cut the tape 30 is displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 13 (step S13). Thus, when the user operates the cutter operation lever 16a, the cutter mechanism 32 is operated.
Is operated, while the margin length (Y) set at the head of the print area on the tape 30 remains, an unnecessary portion corresponding to (LY) is cut off and separated.

Thus, the printing operation is interrupted and the tape 30 is stopped.
When the execution key 12e is operated to restart the printing operation after cutting and separating the unnecessary margin length portion (LY) at the front end of the control unit 40, the control unit 40 outputs the motor drive control signal CM again to the power supply circuit 46. The motor driver 4
7, the motor drive voltage VM is supplied, and the DC motor 43 is driven to rotate (step S14 → S15).

Then, the rotating operation of the DC motor 43 is transmitted to the platen roller 22 via the gear train 44, and the tape 30 and the ink ribbon 31 sandwiched between the thermal print head 18 and the line heating element 19 are conveyed. Is resumed.

Then, every time the tape 30 and the ink ribbon 31 are conveyed by one line, an encoder pulse (reference signal) S is generated again by the encoder 45 provided in the gear train 44 and output to the control unit 40. Each time the encoder pulse S is generated, the RAM
42, the count value n of the first tape transport amount counter 42d is incremented by (+1), and the print buffer 42c
1 is sequentially read from the print data memory and stored
The line print data DATA is transferred and latched to the print head unit 17, a strobe signal STB is supplied to the print head unit 17, and the head drive voltage VH is supplied from the power supply circuit 46 by the head control signal CH to the print head unit 17. And the remaining print data is sequentially printed line by line on the tape 30 (step S16 →
S17, S18).

When it is determined that the print output of all the print data stored in the print data memory in the RAM 42 has been completed, the output of the head drive control signal CH to the power supply circuit 46 is stopped and the print head unit is stopped. The supply of the head drive voltage VH to the head 17 is stopped, and the printing operation by the drive of the thermal print head 18 is stopped while the tape 30 is in the carrying state (steps S19 → S20).

In accordance with the operation of transporting the tape 30 after the end of the print output of the print data, the encoder 45
Is generated, the count value m of the second tape transport amount counter 42e in the RAM 42 is incremented (+1) every time the encoder pulse S is generated (steps S21 → S22).

Each time the tape 30 is conveyed line by line, the count value m in the second tape conveyance amount counter 42e in the RAM 42 and the head 1 set in the end conveyance line number register in the RAM 42 are set.
Whether the number B of transport lines of the tape 30 corresponding to the idle feed length (L + Y) at the end of printing obtained by adding the set margin length data Y to the separation distance data L between 8 and the cutter 32, ie, Then, it is determined whether or not the cutting target position for the tape 30 with the set margin added to the rear end of the printing area has advanced to the cutting processing position by the cutter mechanism 32 (step S2).
3).

Here, the tape cutting target position obtained by adding the set margin length Y to the rear end of the printing area of the tape 30 conveyed after the end of the printing output has advanced to the cutting processing position by the cutter mechanism 32, that is, The number m of transport lines of the tape 30 corresponding to the count value m in the second tape transport amount counter 42e and the idle feed length (L + Y) at the end of printing set in the end transport line number register.
Is determined, the output of the motor drive control signal CM to the power supply circuit 46 is also stopped, the supply of the motor drive voltage VM to the DC motor 43 is stopped, and the supply of power to the entire printing unit is stopped. Then, the text data tape printing process ends (step S24).

Then, message data indicating the end of the tape printing is displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 13 (step S25). Therefore, according to the tape printer having the above-described configuration, after the printing of the print data on the tape 30 is started, the unnecessary margin portion beyond the set margin length Y is cut and separated by the cutter mechanism 32 at the beginning of the print area on the tape 30. When the cutting target position of the tape 30 advances to the cutting position by the cutter mechanism 32, the DC
Even if the supply of the motor drive voltage VM to the motor 43 is interrupted and the transport control of the tape 30 is stopped, the D
Platen roller 2 from C motor 43 via gear train 44
In a state where the tape 30 is transported as it is due to the rotation due to the inertia of 2, the drive control of the print head unit 17 synchronized with the encoder pulse S generated from the encoder 45 in accordance with the transport amount of one dot line is continued. Therefore, even when the tape cutting operation is performed in accordance with the complete stoppage of the tape conveyance and the remaining printing operation is restarted, a good tape printing result can be obtained without any print omission.

In the above embodiment, the cutter mechanism 32 of the tape 30 is manually operated by operating the cutter operation lever 16a. However, the cutting mechanism is automatically controlled by a driving means such as a motor. It may be.

[0059]

As described above, according to the tape printer according to the first aspect of the present invention, for the predetermined processing,
When the printing operation is interrupted in the middle of printing on the tape, even after the supply of the driving voltage to the DC motor by the power supply unit is stopped, the supply of the driving voltage to the print head by the power supply unit is continued. The print data is printed on the tape by the printing means in synchronization with the reference signal generated by the signal generating means every time the tape is transported by a predetermined distance, so that the tape can be transported by the inertial rotation of the DC motor. Will be printed.

Further, according to the tape printer according to the second aspect of the present invention, the count value of the reference signal generated by the signal generating means every time the tape is conveyed by a predetermined distance during printing by the printing means. When the value of the margin set by the margin setting means has become a value that can be secured, the supply of the driving voltage to the DC motor by the power supply means is stopped in order to cut the end of the tape by the cutter means, and Printing by the printing means is performed in synchronization with the reference signal generated by the signal generation means until the supply of the driving voltage to the print head by the power supply means is continued and the conveyance of the tape is stopped. After the cutting of the tape by the cutter means is completed, the printing on the tape by the printing means is restarted based on the count value of the reference signal. Accompanied D to printing interruption for the white cutting
Corresponding printing is performed even when the tape is transported by the inertial rotation of the C motor, and printing is restarted.

Therefore, for example, when the printing operation is interrupted to provide a margin at an arbitrary setting at the leading end of the tape, even if the tape is slightly transported as it is due to the inertial rotation of the DC motor, the printing operation does not occur and the printing operation does not occur. Can be resumed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an external configuration of a tape printer according to an embodiment of a tape printer of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of a cassette accommodating portion when a lid on an upper surface of an apparatus main body of the tape printer is opened.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an electronic circuit of the tape printer.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a printing process (part 1) in the tape printer.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a printing process (2) in the tape printer.

FIG. 6 is a timing chart showing an operation when a printing operation is interrupted in a printing process of the tape printer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Device body, 12 ... Keyboard (key input part), 12a ... Character input key, 12b ... Power key, 12e ... Return (execute) key, 12f ... Print (print) key, 13 ... Liquid crystal display part, 15 ... Cassette Housing section, 16: Tape discharge port, 16a: Cutter operation lever, 17: Print head section, 18: Thermal print head, 19: Head heating element, 22: Platen roller, 23: Ink ribbon take-up shaft, 24: Tape cassette , 25 ... cassette case, 26 ... tape supply reel, 27 ... ink ribbon supply reel, 28 ... ink ribbon take-up reel, 30 ... tape, 31 ... ink ribbon, 32 ... cutter mechanism, 33 ... cutter fixed blade, 35 ... cutter Movable blade, 40 ... Control unit (CPU), 40a ... Timer, 41 ... ROM, 1a: Head-to-cutter distance memory (L), 42: RAM, 42a: Input buffer, 42b: Display buffer, 42c: Print buffer, 42d: First tape transport amount counter (n), 42e: Second tape transport amount Counter (n), 43: DC motor, 44: Gear train, 45: Encoder, 46: Power supply circuit, 47: Motor driver, S: Encoder pulse, CH: Head drive control signal, CM: Motor drive control signal, VH: Head drive voltage, VM: Motor drive voltage, DATA: 1-line print data, STB: Strobe signal.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A tape printer for interrupting a printing operation in the middle of printing on a tape for a predetermined process, comprising: a transport means for transporting the tape in a length direction by using a DC motor as a drive source; A signal generating means for generating a reference signal every time the tape is conveyed by a predetermined distance by a conveying means, and a print head in which printing elements are arranged in a width direction of the tape, and the print head is controlled by the signal generating means. A printing unit that drives in synchronization with the generated reference signal and prints print data on the tape sequentially one line at a time; a power supply unit that supplies a drive voltage to the DC motor and the print head; Therefore, when the printing operation is interrupted during printing on the tape,
Even after the supply of the drive voltage to the C motor is stopped, the supply of the drive voltage to the print head by the power supply unit is continued, and the tape is printed by the printing unit in synchronization with a reference signal generated by the signal generation unit. And a control means for printing print data. 2. A margin setting means for setting a margin at an end of a tape; a print pattern data storage means for storing pattern data to be printed; and a transport for transporting the tape in a length direction using a DC motor as a drive source. Means, signal generating means for generating a reference signal each time the tape is conveyed by a predetermined distance by the conveying means, counting means for counting the reference signal generated by the signal generating means, width direction of the tape A print head in which print elements are arranged, and the print head is driven in synchronization with a reference signal generated by the signal generation means, and the pattern data stored in the print pattern data storage means is sequentially written to the tape. Printing means for printing one line at a time; power supply means for supplying a drive voltage to the DC motor and the print head; Disposed in the discharge direction of the tape, cutter means for cutting the end of the tape in order to provide the margin set by the margin setting means, and during the printing of the printing means, the count value of the counting means When the margin set by the margin setting unit becomes a value that can secure the margin, the supply of the drive voltage by the power supply unit to the DC motor is stopped to cut the end of the tape by the cutter unit. At the same time, the supply of the drive voltage to the print head by the power supply means is continued and the printing by the printing means is synchronized with the reference signal generated by the signal generation means until the conveyance of the tape is stopped. Means for interrupting printing, and after the cutting of the tape by the cutter, the printing on the tape by the printing means is restarted based on the count value of the counting means. Tape printing apparatus characterized by comprising a print resuming means for. 3. The transporting means includes: a platen roller for holding the tape between the print head and the rotation transmitting mechanism for transmitting a rotation drive of the DC motor to the platen roller; 3. The tape printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an encoder provided in the rotation transmission mechanism and configured to detect rotation of the DC motor and generate a reference signal. 4. The tape printing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising cutter control means for operating said cutter means.