JP2003181791A - Cutting-off mechanism and printing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To securely perform full cutting-off for tubes, which are difficult to cut off, without increasing cutting-off torque. <P>SOLUTION: When a medium is identified to be a tube, a notch is first formed by carrying out half cutting-off by means of half cutting-off means for a position to be fully cut, and after the medium has been carried until the notched position has arrived at full cutting-off means, full cutting-off is carried out for the notched position by means of full cutting-off means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cutting mechanism for selectively performing a half cut or a full cut on a predetermined portion of a long medium in the form of a tube or label tape, and a printer provided with the cutting mechanism.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a printer provided with such a cutting mechanism, a printer disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-227276 has been known. The cutting mechanism provided in the printing apparatus described in the publication includes a print medium conveying unit,
It is composed of scissors-like full cutting means consisting of a movable blade and a fixed blade, and push-cutting-like half cutting means consisting of a movable blade and a pedestal. These conveying means and cutting means have a drive source such as a step motor, and convey a predetermined portion of the medium to the position where each cutting means is arranged to automatically perform the cutting operation.

[0003]

However, in the conventional cutting mechanism, when the medium is a vinyl chloride tube, the medium is caught between the fixed blade and the movable blade during the complete cutting. It happened.

There are various diameters and thicknesses of vinyl chloride tubes, and there are also tubes with a non-slip shape such as a fold shape, and the hardness changes with temperature. , It may be difficult to cut under some conditions. If not completely cut, the remaining portion that is not cut is sandwiched between the fixed blade and the movable blade.
At this time, the tube is pinched, so that the gap between the fixed blade and the movable blade is widened and the meshing of all the cutting means is deteriorated.

If the meshing is poor, the cutting ability of the entire cutting means is reduced, which further increases the occurrence rate of defects and eventually causes the durability of the entire cutting means to be reduced.

If the tube is extremely hard due to a decrease in outside temperature, the cutting force may be insufficient and the entire cutting means may stop in the middle of cutting. At this time, if the drive source of all the cutting means is a motor, a problem such as step out of the motor may occur.

It is possible to increase the cutting force and reduce the occurrence rate of defects by increasing the torque of the drive source of all cutting means, but for that purpose, it is necessary to enlarge the drive source and, in turn, the printer. However, it is not preferable because the power required for driving also increases.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the cutting mechanism of the present invention comprises a push-cut semi-cutting means for half-cutting a tube-shaped or label tape-shaped long medium, and the medium. Scissor-type full cutting means for performing a full cut, a conveying means for selectively conveying the medium to any position of the half-cutting means or the full-cutting means, and control of the medium conveying and cutting operations In the cutting mechanism that includes a control mechanism that performs a cutting operation at a predetermined position of the medium, a determination unit that determines the type of the medium is provided, and when the medium is determined to be tubular, a full cut of the medium is performed. When doing, first perform a half cut by the above-mentioned half cutting means to the place to perform a full cut,
After the medium is conveyed until the position comes to a position where the full cutting means is arranged, full cutting is performed by the full cutting means, and further, the full cutting means with respect to the semi-cutting means. It is desirable to be located on the downstream side in the medium transport direction.

Further, the printing apparatus of the present invention comprises a printing means for printing on a tube-shaped or label-tape-shaped long medium and an input means for inputting the content of the printing, and performs half-cutting on the medium. Push-cut half-cutting means, scissor-shaped full-cutting means for performing a full cut on the medium, and conveying means for selectively conveying the medium to any position of the half-cutting means or the full-cutting means, In a printing apparatus including a cutting mechanism that performs a cutting operation at a predetermined position of the medium, which comprises a control mechanism that controls the conveyance and cutting operations of the medium, the medium includes a determination unit that determines the type of the medium, When it is determined that the medium is a tubular shape, when performing a full cut of the medium, first, a half cut is performed by the half-cutting means on the place where the full cut is performed, After the medium is conveyed until it reaches the position where the full cutting means is arranged, a cutting mechanism for performing full cutting by the full cutting means is provided, and further, the full cutting means is the half cutting means. On the other hand, it is desirable to be located on the downstream side in the medium transport direction.

[0010]

[Function] By cutting the relevant part in half and making a notch before performing all cutting, the load on all cutting means is greatly reduced without increasing the torque of the drive source, thus making the device large. It is possible to surely cut the medium that is hard to cut without breaking and to improve the durability of the whole cutting means.

Further, since the full cutting means is located on the downstream side of the half cutting means in the medium conveying direction, the medium is conveyed without being fed backward between the half cutting operation and the full cutting operation, so that backlash or the like is prevented. It is possible to prevent the displacement of the cutting position due to the factor.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of a printer having a cutting mechanism of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an enlarged plan view of a printing section and a cutting mechanism section of a thermal printer that also serves as a tube and a label tape, FIG. 2 is an overall plan view of the printer, and FIG. 3 is a detailed mechanism diagram of all cutting means.

The printer 1 has a display unit 2, an input unit 3 using a keyboard, and a printing unit 4 for printing and cutting characters and the like on a medium T such as a tube and a label tape. It is what Further, the label tape cassette 5 is also removable, and by removing the label tape cassette 5 and inserting a tube instead, it is possible to selectively print on both the label tape and the tube.

The printer 1 uses a thermal transfer system. The thermal head 7 is provided on the head angle 8,
The head angle 8 is attached so that one end 8a thereof is swingable about the axis of the drive roller 9 and is biased toward the platen roller 11 by a spring 10. Further, the convex portion 8c of the other end portion 8b of the head angle 8 is adapted to be engaged with a first cam 14 described later by the bias of the spring 10.

The cam member 12 is a cam having a structure in which a first cam 14 and a second cam 15 are integrated with each other, which are driven by a head pressing motor 16 to rotate about a shaft 13 in both left and right directions.

The semi-cutting means 17 is for cutting while leaving a part of the medium T, is located near the cam member 12, and has a cutter holder 17b holding a cutter 17a.
This is a push-cut cutting means constituted by a cutter holder 17d located on the opposite side of the cutter holder 17b with the medium conveyance path interposed therebetween.

The cutter holder 17b is biased in the direction of the cam member 12 by a spring (not shown), and slides in the direction of coming into contact with and separating from the cam member 12 in association with the rotation of the second cam 15 by the guide of the guide portion 17c. The cutting operation is performed by freely moving back and forth.

The whole cutting means 18 is for completely cutting the medium T, is located in the vicinity of the downstream side of the half cutting means 17 in the medium conveying direction, and is rotatable with respect to the fixed blade 18a and the fixed blade 18a. It is a scissor-like cutting means composed of the movable blade 18b provided.

The movable blade 18b is provided with a convex portion 8 of the head angle 8 via a first swing rod 19, a second swing rod 20 and an interlocking rod 21.
It is connected to c and is urged by the spring 22 via the first swing rod 19 in a direction away from the fixed blade 18a. Therefore, the movable blade 18b is attached to the first cam 14
The cutting operation is performed by swinging the head holder 8 with respect to the fixed blade 18a in conjunction with the rotation of the.

The drive roller 9 is rotated by the drive of the carry motor 33, and the first driven roller 23 and the carry roller 9 located on the opposite side of the carry roller 9 with the medium carrying path interposed therebetween.
The medium is conveyed toward the thermal head 7 by and.

The platen 11 is located on the opposite side of the thermal head 7 with the medium carrying path interposed therebetween, and the carrying motor 33 is provided.
The medium driven by the second driven roller 24 and the platen 11 which rotates in response to the drive of the thermal head 7 in the vicinity of the downstream side of the thermal head 7 in the medium transport direction and which holds the medium T in pair with the platen 11 is a half-cutting means. Transport to.

The transport motor 33 can rotate in both forward and reverse directions, and when the medium T is transported in the reverse direction, the transport motor 33 rotates in the reverse direction.

When the medium T is a tube, the tube insertion port 25 is an opening for inserting the medium T from the outside of the printer 1 and guiding it to the conveying roller 9 and the first driven roller 23.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the printer 1. The CPU 26 includes an input unit 3, a display unit 2 and an RA.
M27, ROM 28, character generator (hereinafter,
(Referred to as CG) 29, an output interface 30 and an input interface 34, and print data including characters and formats input from the input unit 3 and a ROM.
Printer 1 based on the control program stored in 28.
Take overall control.

The RAM 27 stores the type of the input medium T, the input print data, the image data developed based on the print data and the character data stored in the CG 29, and the print data. Each length of the medium T for one block divided by the half cut calculated from the data is stored. The length of the medium T is converted and stored in the number of pulses of the conveyance motor 33 corresponding to the conveyance distance of the medium T for the length.

The distance from the thermal head 7 to the half-cutting means 17 and the distance from the half-cutting means 17 to the full-cutting means 18 are stored in the ROM 28 as the number of pulses of the carry motor 33 corresponding to each medium carrying distance. There is.

The output interface 30 is connected to the motor drive control circuit 31 and the head control circuit 32. The motor drive control circuit 31 is a conveyance motor 33 that drives the conveyance roller 9, the platen roller 11, and an ink ribbon conveyance mechanism (not shown), and the movement of the thermal head 7 via the cam member 12 and the half-cutting means 17 and the full-cutting means. 1
The head pressing motor 16 for driving 8 is controlled. The head control circuit 32 controls the thermal head 7. Further, the input interface 34 is connected to various sensors 35.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described based on the print processing flowcharts of FIGS. 7 and 8 and the print examples of FIGS. 1, 4 and 5. Note that FIG. 1 shows a state in which all cutting means are closed in a non-printing operation state after completion of printing, and FIG. 4 shows a state in printing.

First, after the user sets the medium T on the printer 1, the input unit 3 sets whether the medium T is a label tape or a tube according to the instruction of the display unit 2.

Next, from the input section 3, character data to be printed, format data such as character size, character spacing, number of lines, and margins, and delimiter data for half-cutting for each block, etc. When print data is input and then a print start instruction for this print data is issued, print processing is started. Here, it is assumed that the print data for one line consisting of 6 blocks for creating the medium T divided into 6 blocks by half cut as shown in FIG. 5 is input.

When the printing process is started, first, the type of the medium T is discriminated according to the input settings, and the operation method of the printer 1 is determined accordingly (S1). First, the operation when the medium T is a label tape will be described.

The input print data for one line is stored in the RAM 2
7 is expanded and stored as image data for printing,
Further, in another area of the RAM 27, the medium length 1 for one block obtained from the number of characters, the character size, the line spacing, and the margin.
The pulse number of the carry motor 33 corresponding to is calculated and stored for each block (S2). Transport printing is performed on the medium T based on the image data and the pulse number data obtained from the print data (S3, S4).

In this conveyance printing, first, the front end of the medium T in the state shown in FIG. 1 is rewound between the thermal head 7 and the platen roller 11, and then the cam member 12 is moved to the position shown in FIG. Rotate in the direction. As a result, the head angle 8 swings, the thermal head 7 moves so as to contact the platen roller 11, and the moving blade 18 passes through the interlocking rod 21, the second swinging rod 20, and the first swinging rod 19.
b swings to open all cutting means 18 and the medium T can be conveyed. Then, the medium T is conveyed in the direction of arrow A, and
The developed image data of the print is supplied to the thermal head 7 to print a predetermined character.

In this conveyance printing, the position of the half cut 5b at the front end of the medium shown in FIG. 5 is conveyed to the half cutting means 17 (S5), or the position of the half cut delimiter which is the end of one block is half cut. Until it is transported to the means 17 (S
6) It is performed continuously. This conveyance is based on the number of pulses corresponding to the distance from the thermal head 7 to the half-cutting means 17 stored in the ROM 28, and the number of pulses corresponding to the length of each block and the margin amount stored in the RAM 27. It is done by calculating the number. Here, when the position of the half cut 5b at the front end of the medium is conveyed to the half cutting means 17, the half cut processing is subsequently performed (S7).

In the half cut process, first, the conveyance of the medium T is stopped and the cam member 12 is rotated in the direction of arrow B.
As a result, the holder 17b of the half-cutting means 17 in contact with the second cam 15 is moved, and the medium T is half-cut.
Subsequently, the cam member 12 is rotated in the reverse direction until it reaches the position shown in FIG. 4, the holder 17b of the half-cutting means 17 is returned to the non-cutting position, the half-cut processing is completed, and the transport printing is performed again (S4).

Since 6 blocks of data have been input as the print data, transport printing is continuously performed until one line is printed (S3, S4, S5, S).
6) During this period, the half cut processing is executed every time the end of each block of the medium T divided into 6 blocks is conveyed to the half cutting means 17 (S6, S8).

After all the print data is printed after the transport printing and the half cut processing are repeated (S2),
The end of one medium T, which is the last of the print data, is conveyed until it reaches all cutting positions (S9, S10, S).
Repeat 11). If the end of the preceding one block reaches the half-cutting position during this conveyance, half-cut processing (S
11, S12) is performed.

When the end of one medium T has been conveyed to the full cutting position (S10), full cut processing is executed (S13). In the full cut process, first, the conveyance of the medium T is stopped, and the cam member 12 is rotated in the opposite direction of the arrow B from the position shown in FIG. 4 to the position shown in FIG. Then, the head angle 8 is swung to separate the thermal head 7 from the platen roller 11, and the movable blade 18b is swung to cut the medium T with the fixed blade 18a. After this full cut processing is completed, the movable blade 18b
The print processing ends with the closed state.

Next, the operation when the medium T is a tube will be described. In addition, the expansion of the print data and the print mechanism,
Details of each processing operation of the half-cutting means 17 and the full-cutting means 18 are the same as in the case where the medium T is a label tape, and therefore description thereof is omitted.

Transport printing is performed on the medium T based on the image data obtained from the print data and the pulse number data corresponding to the medium length (S23, S24).

In this conveyance printing, the position of the half cut 5b at the front end of the medium shown in FIG. 5 is conveyed to the half cutting means 17 (S25) or the position of the half cut delimiter which is the end of one block is half cut. The process is continuously performed until it is conveyed to the means 17 (S26). Here, when the position of the half cut at the front end of the medium is conveyed to the half cutting means 17, the half cut processing is subsequently performed (S27).

Here, since data of 6 blocks has been input to the RAM 27 as print data, transport printing is continuously performed until printing of one line (S23,
(S24, S25, S26) During this, the half cut processing is executed every time the end of each one block of the medium T divided into six blocks is conveyed to the half cutting means 17 (S2).
6, S28).

After all the printing data stored in the RAM 27 is printed after the conveyance printing and the half-cut processing are repeated (S22), the distance between the thermal head 7 and the half-cutting means 17 stored in the ROM 28 is set. According to the corresponding number of pulses, the end of one medium T, which is the end of the print data, is conveyed until it reaches the half-cut position (S
29, S30, and S31 are repeated). It should be noted that when the end of the preceding one block reaches the half-cutting position during this conveyance, half-cut processing (S31, S32) is performed.

When the end of one medium T is conveyed to the half-cutting position (S30), the half-cut processing is first executed (S33). After that, the trailing end is transported to the full cutting position by driving the transport motor 33 for the number of pulses corresponding to the distance from the half cutting means 17 to the full cutting means 18 stored in the ROM 28 (S34). At this time, all cutting means 1
Since 8 is located on the downstream side in the medium transport direction with respect to the half-cutting means 17, it is not necessary to change the rotation direction of the transport motor 33.
Therefore, accurate transportation can be performed without being affected by the positional deviation caused by factors such as backlash accompanying reverse transportation. Then, the full-cut processing is performed on the end portion which is notched by the half-cut processing (S35). Since the portion where the cut is already formed is cut, reliable total cutting can be performed even if the medium T is difficult to cut and the cutting torque is not increased. The full cutting process is completed, the movable blade 18b is closed, and the printing process is completed.

The present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and as long as the cutting mechanism performs half-cutting and full-cutting according to the input data, the content of the input data, the length and the method of dividing the data. Are diverse. In the present embodiment, after a series of print data is printed, the full cut is performed only at the delimiter at the end. However, the input is performed so that the half cut and the full cut are mixed in the delimiter of each block, and the cut according to the input. It may be processing.
Further, the input means, procedure, and method are not limited to those in this embodiment.

Further, in this embodiment, the drive source for the full cutting means, the drive source for the half cutting means, and the drive source for moving the thermal head are driven by a common motor to reduce the cost.
Separate drive sources may be used, and the transmission means are not limited to those in this embodiment, and other mechanisms such as gears and clutches may be used.

In this embodiment, the label tape or the tube is set as the medium by manual input.
For example, it is possible to automatically discriminate the thickness of the medium by a known sensor or the like, or to discriminate the presence or absence of the label tape cassette and the type of the label tape cassette by the known sensor. It may be.

Further, in the printer according to the present invention,
In the present embodiment, the thermal transfer method is used for printing on the print medium, but the ink jet method, magnetic printing and the like are not limiting.

[0049]

According to the present invention, in a cutting mechanism provided with means for automatically performing full-cutting and half-cutting of a long medium, respectively, before performing the full-cutting, the relevant portion is cut into half to make a notch. By setting it, the load on all cutting means is significantly reduced without increasing the torque of the drive source.
It is possible to surely cut the medium that is difficult to cut without increasing the size of the device, and also improve the durability of the whole cutting means.

Further, since the full cutting means is located on the downstream side of the half cutting means in the medium conveying direction, the medium is conveyed without being fed back between the half cutting operation and the full cutting operation, so that backlash or the like occurs. It is possible to prevent the displacement of the cutting position due to the factor.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an enlarged plan view of a printing unit and a cutting mechanism unit of a printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an overall plan view of the printer

FIG. 3 is a detailed mechanism diagram of all cutting means.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan view of a printing unit and a cutting mechanism unit showing a state during printing.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a print example.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the printer.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a printing process when printing a label tape.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a printing process when printing a tube.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 printer 4 Printing section 7 thermal head 9 Conveyor rollers 11 Platen roller 12 Cam member 17 Half cutting means 18 All cutting means 33 Conveyor motor T medium

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) B41J 11/70 B41J 11/70 B65H 35/06 B65H 35/06 F term (reference) 2C055 CC00 CC01 CC05 2C058 AB04 AC06 AC07 AE04 AE07 AE14 AF06 AF51 LA03 LA24 LA26 LB17 LB35 3C027 JJ14

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A push-cut semi-cutting means for half-cutting a tube-shaped or label-tape-shaped long medium, scissor-shaped full cutting means for full-cutting the medium, and the half-cutting medium. A cutting mechanism that includes a conveying unit that selectively conveys the medium to either the cutting unit or the entire cutting unit and a control mechanism that controls the medium conveyance and the cutting operation, and performs the cutting operation at a predetermined position of the medium. In, a discriminating means for discriminating the type of the medium is provided,
When it is determined that the medium is tubular, when performing a full cut of the medium, a half cut is first performed by the half-cutting means for the location where the full cut is performed, and the location is provided with the full-cutting means. A cutting mechanism characterized in that after the medium is conveyed to a position, full cutting is performed by the all cutting means. 2. The cutting mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the full cutting means is located downstream of the half cutting means in the medium transport direction. 3. A push-cut semi-cutting means for half-cutting the medium, comprising printing means for printing on a tube-shaped or label tape-shaped long medium and input means for inputting the content of the printing. Scissors-like full cutting means for performing a full cut on the medium, conveying means for selectively conveying the medium to either the half-cutting means or the full-cutting means, and the medium conveying and cutting operation In a printing apparatus including a cutting mechanism that performs a cutting operation at a predetermined position of the medium, which includes a control mechanism that controls the above-described case, and includes a determination unit that determines the type of the medium, and the medium is determined to be tubular. When performing a full cut of the medium, a half cut is first performed by the half-cutting means to a place where the full cut is performed, and the place is provided with the full-cutting means. A printing apparatus comprising a cutting mechanism for carrying out full cutting by the all cutting means after the medium is conveyed to a position. 4. The printer according to claim 3, wherein the full cutting unit is located downstream of the half cutting unit in the medium transport direction.