JPH07164680A - Tape printer and printing tape cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent up-and-down or left-and-right turning-over at the time of printing by providing the printing mode judging member set by a printing mode setting member to automatically changing over the printing mode of a mirror image or a positive image by a mounted printing tape cassette. CONSTITUTION:At the time of printing operation, the printing tape 5 of a printing tape roll 4 is drawn out of a printing tape cassette 1 at the time of printing but the thermal transfer ribbon 7 of a thermal transfer ribbon roll 6 is taken up by the take-up core separately provided in the same printing tape cassette 1. When the printing tape cassette 1 is mounted on a tape printer 10, the printing tape 5 is moved along with the ribbon 7 while guided through the gap between the platen roll 11 and thermal head 12 of the printer 10 to be mounted so as to be opposed to the ribbon 7. The printing mode setting member 2 corresponding to the printing mode judging member 14 on the side of the printer 10 is provided to the cassette 1 and the printer 10 can judge the printing mode shown by a mode setting member 2 by the judging member 14.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tape printer having a function of switching between normal image printing and mirror image printing depending on the type of a printing tape cassette, and a printing tape cassette mounted and used in such a printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a printing tape cassette used in a tape printer for printing characters on a label tape,
Either a laminated label printing tape or a lettering transfer printing tape can be stored, and it can be attached to a tape printer without any special measures, and any printing tape can be used correctly (when using labels, etc. There has been proposed a printing tape cassette for a label printer, which can print characters printed on the right and left sides or upside down (see Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 2-56666).

As shown in FIG. 6, the printing tape cassette 1 is manufactured as a laminated label tape 36 (a transparent tape 31 for surface protection having characters or the like printed on the back surface and a double-sided adhesive tape 32 laminated and bonded). In this case, the thermal transfer ribbon 7 is stored in the print tape cassette 1 and the cassette A
Double-sided adhesive tape 32 on part, transparent tape 31 on part B
To store. Printing is performed by first printing characters or the like on the back surface of the transparent tape 31 in a mirror image printing mode (a mode in which characters or the like are printed upside down or upside down). Then, the transparent tape 31 and the double-sided adhesive tape 32 are laminated and adhered to each other to produce a laminated label tape 36. Since printing is performed on the back surface of the transparent tape 31 in the mirror image printing mode, when viewed from the front side of the manufactured laminated label tape 36, characters and the like can be read as a normal image without being turned upside down or left and right.

On the other hand, when printing on a lettering transfer printing tape, as shown in FIG. 7, the printing tape cassette 1 is used.
Then, the thermal transfer ribbon 7 is stored, and the lettering transfer printing tape 33 (transparent tape having releasability for the thermal transfer ink) is further stored in the portion B of the cassette. In this case, nothing is stored in the portion A where the double-sided adhesive tape was stored when the laminated label tape was manufactured. Similarly, the printing is performed by printing in the mirror image printing mode on the back surface of the lettering transfer printing tape 33. After printing, the lettering transfer printing tape 33 is placed on the printing destination paper or the like with the printed back side facing downward, and rubbed with a stick such as a ballpoint pen pattern from the unprinted front side of the lettering transfer printing tape 33, The ink previously printed is transferred from the back surface of the lettering transfer printing tape 33 to the surface of the transfer destination paper or the like. When printing on the lettering transfer printing tape 33, since the printing is performed in the mirror image printing mode, when the transfer destination paper or the like is viewed from above, the characters and the like can still be read as a normal image.

When such a printing tape cassette is used, the tape printer can always print in the mirror image printing mode as described above. Therefore, depending on the type of the printing tape cassette mounted, the normal image printing mode and the mirror image printing mode can be used. There is no need to switch modes with and.

[0006]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] The laminated label tape is
Since characters and the like are printed on the back surface of the transparent tape, the durability against friction and the like is high, but at the same time the cost is inevitably high. Therefore, depending on the use of the label, it is desirable that it is possible to print directly on the front side of an opaque tape such as paper without using a protective transparent tape. That is, when durability is required for the label,
This makes it possible to select an expensive but highly durable laminated label from a type that is directly printed on an opaque tape which is low in durability but is inexpensive when the label is not particularly required to be durable.

Also, by printing on a tape made of cloth,
It is also conceivable to use this as a label to be attached as a name tag of clothes or the like. The transparent tape made of plastic used for the laminated label tape lacks "suppleness" and impairs the wearing feeling of the clothes and the like, and is not suitable for such applications.

From this point of view, the tape printer, which can selectively use both the laminated label tape printing tape cassette and the opaque tape printing tape cassette, is of great importance.

However, when it is desired to directly print on an opaque printing tape such as ordinary paper or cloth tape with the tape printer as described above, the normal image printing mode ( Printing must be done in the up / down or left / right print mode. In this case, as shown in FIG. 8, the thermal transfer ribbon 7 is stored in the printing tape cassette, and the opaque printing tape 35 is further stored in the portion B of the cassette. Since printing is performed on the front surface (not the back surface) of the opaque printing tape 35, printing must be performed in the normal image printing mode.

That is, in a tape printer that prints on both a laminated label tape or a lettering transfer printing tape and a normal opaque printing tape, either a normal image printing mode or a mirror image printing mode is inevitably selected. I needed to be able to. In such a case, the user of the tape printer must always be aware of which print mode the current print tape cassette should be used in, and use it every time the print tape cassette is replaced. It was considered necessary to operate the print mode changeover switch of the tape printer. Therefore, it is expected that the user may perform upside-down or left-right upside-down printing with respect to the required printing due to user error or switch operation error.

In view of the above, a tape printer capable of printing correctly on a laminated label tape, a lettering transfer printing tape, and an ordinary opaque printing tape,
There was no printing tape cassette for such tape printers.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to automatically switch between a mirror image printing mode and a normal image printing mode depending on a printing tape cassette to be mounted, and a tape printer which is not turned upside down or left and right with respect to a required printing. And to provide a printing tape cassette for such a tape printer.

[0013]

The tape printer of the present invention which achieves the above object is a tape printer which prints by mounting a printing tape cassette equipped with a printing mode setting member for setting normal image printing or mirror image printing. It is characterized by comprising a print mode determination member for determining the print mode set by the print mode setting member.

The printing tape cassette of the present invention is a printing tape cassette containing a printing tape roll in which a printing tape is wound around a core, and is a printing mode setting member for determining normal image printing or mirror image printing. It is characterized by being provided.

[0015]

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the tape printer of the present invention. The tape printer 10 is provided with a cassette insertion portion 13 so that the printing tape cassette can be attached / detached with one touch. The cassette insertion portion 13 has a print mode determination member 14 which will be described in detail later.
Is provided.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the printing tape cassette 1 used in the tape printer 10 of FIG. In the print tape cassette 1, a print tape roll 4 and a thermal transfer ribbon roll 6 are rotatably supported in the cassette. In the printing operation, the printing tape 5 of the printing tape roll 4 is pulled out from the printing tape cassette 1 together with the printing, but the thermal transfer ribbon 7 of the thermal transfer ribbon roll 6 is wound separately in the same printing tape cassette 1. It is designed to be wound around the core. When the printing tape cassette 1 is mounted on the tape printer 10, the printing tape 5 is attached to the platen roll 1 of the tape printer 10.
While being guided between the thermal transfer ribbon 1 and the thermal head 12, it moves together with the thermal transfer ribbon 7, and the printing tape 5 is mounted so as to face the thermal transfer ribbon 7. Further, the printing tape cassette 1 includes a tape printer 10
The print mode setting member 2 corresponding to the print mode determining member 14 on the side is provided, and the tape printer 10 uses the print mode determining member 14 to indicate the print mode (normal image printing or mirror image printing) indicated by the print mode setting member 2. Can be determined.

The method for determining the print mode is not limited, but an optical method, a mechanical method, a magnetic method, or the like is preferably used. Hereinafter, examples of embodiments of the print mode determination member 14 and the print mode setting member 2 according to these three methods will be described in detail.

FIG. 3 shows a print mode determination member 14a and a print mode setting member 2a according to the optical print mode determination method.
An example of one embodiment of is shown.

In this case, the cutout 8 is provided on one side of the print tape cassette 1, and the print mode is set by providing or not providing the print mode setting projection 3 in the cut 8 depending on the type of the print tape. .

Reading by the tape printer 10 in the print mode is performed as follows. When such a printing tape cassette 1 is attached to the tape printer 10, the photosensor 20, which is a component of the optical printing mode determination member 14a of the tape printer 10, fits into the slit 8. Photo sensor 20
Is further composed of a light emitting portion 20a and a light receiving portion 20b. The print mode setting protrusion 3 is adapted to be fitted between the light emitting portion 20a and the light receiving portion 20b when present. Therefore, the photo sensor 20 can detect whether the light receiving unit 20b can receive the light from the light emitting unit 20a.

The tape printer 10 uses the optical print mode determination member 1 based on the detection result of the photo sensor 20.
It is possible to determine the print mode of the attached print tape cassette 1 through an electronic circuit (not shown) constituting 4a.

FIG. 4 shows a print mode determination member 14b and a print mode setting member 2b according to the mechanical print mode determination method.
An example of one embodiment of is shown.

Also in this case, the cutout 8 is provided on one side of the print tape cassette 1, and the print mode is set by providing or not providing the print mode setting protrusion 3 in the cut 8 depending on the type of the print tape. .

Reading by the tape printer 10 in the print mode is performed as follows. When such a printing tape cassette 1 is mounted on the tape printer 10, the limit switch 21, which is a component of the mechanical print mode determination member 14b of the tape printer 10, is just fitted into the notch 8, and the print mode is set. The contact of the limit switch 21 is opened and closed depending on the presence or absence of the setting protrusion 3. That is, the print mode setting protrusion 3
If there is, the contact of the limit switch 21 is closed, and if there is no print mode setting protrusion 3, the contact of the limit switch 21 is opened. The tape printer 10 uses the mechanical print mode determination member 1 based on the open / closed state of the limit switch 21.
It is possible to determine the print mode of the attached print tape cassette 1 through an electronic circuit (not shown) constituting 4b.

FIG. 5 shows a print mode determination member 14c and a print mode setting member 2c according to the magnetic print mode determination method.
An example of one embodiment of is shown.

Also in this case, the notch 8 is provided on one side of the tape cassette 1. Depending on the type of printing tape cassette,
The print mode is set depending on whether the print mode setting magnet 26 is placed on the surface of the notch 8 with the N pole outside or the S pole outside.

Reading by the tape printer 10 in the print mode is performed as follows. When such a printing tape cassette 1 is attached to the tape printer 10, the magnetic sensor switch 22 which is a component of the magnetic printing mode determination member 14c of the tape printer 10 is formed in the notch 8.
The magnetic sensor switch 22 due to the magnetic polarity of the print mode setting magnet 26.
The contacts are configured to open and close. That is, a holding force is applied to the magnetic sensor switch 22 by the spring 25, and if the N pole of the print mode setting magnet 26 is placed outside, the contact of the magnetic sensor switch 22 is opened and the S pole is placed outside. If so, the contact of the magnetic sensor switch 22 is closed. The tape printer 10 is based on the open / closed state of the magnetic sensor switch 22 through an electronic circuit (not shown) that constitutes the magnetic printing mode determination member 14c,
The print mode of the attached print tape cassette 1 can be determined.

In addition to the above method, the cassette is provided with a plurality of holes, the presence or absence of the holes is read by an optical sensor or a mechanical sensor, the code pattern is printed on the cassette by a bar code, etc. A method of reading with a physical sensor or a method of reading a code by electromagnetically coupling the data carrier provided in the cassette may be used. Further, as long as the printing mode can be surely transmitted from the print tape cassette to the tape printer, any method may be used without being limited to these examples.

Whichever of these print mode setting methods is used, it becomes unnecessary to manually switch the print modes when loading cassettes having different print modes, and the operability is greatly improved. Moreover, it is possible to prevent a printing failure due to a user forgetting to switch the printing mode due to a mistake.

In each of these embodiments, the notch 8 is provided in the print tape cassette 1 and the print mode setting member 2 is provided therein. However, the notch 8 in this case is for protecting the print mode setting member 2. However, it is not always necessary.

Further, in order to prevent deterioration of the platen roll, a platen roll may be provided in the cassette.

In the present invention, as the printing tape, a tape made of paper or film is used.
A sheet-like cloth tape composed of fibers such as a non-woven fabric is also preferably used. More preferably, it is a polyester-based synthetic fiber, and it is preferable that an ultrafine fiber (filament) having a single fiber fineness of 0.001 to 1 denier is contained as a main component. Alternatively, the cloth tape may be subjected to high-speed fluid treatment (water jet punch) so that the fibers are randomly entangled with each other.

[0034]

【Example】

Example 1 A tape printer 10 having the structure shown in FIG. 1 and a printing tape cassette 1 having the structure shown in FIG. 2 were manufactured. The printing mode determination method uses the optical system shown in FIG. 3, the tape printer 10 is provided with an optical printing mode determination member 14a, and the printing tape cassette 1 is provided with an optical printing mode setting member 2a. The tape printer 10 was programmed to print in the normal image mode when the print mode setting protrusion 3 was present, and in the mirror image mode when it was not present. As the printing tape 5, a cloth tape (normal image printing mode) and a lettering transfer printing tape (mirror image printing mode) were prepared.

First, the cloth tape and the dye-containing thermal transfer ribbon 7 were housed in the printing tape cassette 1 and the printing mode setting protrusions 3 were provided. When the printing tape cassette 1 was attached to the tape printer 10 and printing was performed, it was possible to print on the cloth tape in the normal image printing mode.

Next, the lettering transfer printing tape and the thermal transfer ribbon 7 were housed in the same printing tape cassette 1 and the printing mode setting protrusions 3 were removed. When the printing tape cassette 1 was attached to the tape printer 10 and printing was performed, printing could be performed on the printing tape for lettering transfer in the mirror image printing mode.

Example 2 The same tape printer and printing tape cassette as in Example 1 were manufactured except that the mechanical method shown in FIG. 4 was used as the printing mode determination method. That is, the tape printer 10 is provided with the mechanical printing mode determination member 14b, and the printing tape cassette 1 is provided with the mechanical printing mode setting member 2b. The tape printer 10 was programmed to print in the normal image mode when the print mode setting protrusion 3 was present, and in the mirror image mode when it was not present. As the printing tape 5, a cloth tape (normal image printing mode) and a lettering transfer printing tape (mirror image printing mode) were prepared.

First, the cloth tape and the dye-containing thermal transfer ribbon 7 were housed in the printing tape cassette 1 and the printing mode setting protrusions 3 were provided. When the printing tape cassette 1 was mounted on the tape printer 10 and printing was performed, it was possible to print on the cloth tape in the normal image mode.

Next, the lettering transfer printing tape and the thermal transfer ribbon 7 were housed in the same printing tape cassette 1, and the printing mode setting protrusions 3 were removed. When the printing tape cassette 1 was mounted on the tape printer 10 and printing was performed, it was possible to print on the printing tape for lettering transfer in the mirror image mode.

Example 3 The same tape printer and printing tape cassette as in Example 1 were manufactured except that the magnetic type shown in FIG. 5 was used as the print mode determination method. That is, the tape printer 10 is provided with the magnetic printing mode determination member 14c, and the printing tape cassette 1 is provided with the magnetic printing mode setting member 2c. The tape printer 10 was programmed to print in the normal image mode when the south pole of the print mode setting magnet is placed outside and in the mirror image mode when the north pole is placed outside. As the printing tape 5, a cloth tape (normal image printing mode) and a lettering transfer printing tape (mirror image printing mode) were prepared.

First, the cloth tape and the dye-containing thermal transfer ribbon 7 were stored in the printing tape cassette 1, and the S pole of the printing mode setting magnet 26 was placed outside. When the printing tape cassette 1 was mounted on the tape printer 10 and printing was performed, it was possible to print on the cloth tape in the normal image mode.

Next, the lettering transfer printing tape and the thermal transfer ribbon 7 were housed in the same printing tape cassette 1 and the N pole of the printing mode setting magnet 26 was placed outside. When the printing tape cassette 1 was mounted on the tape printer 10 and printing was performed, it was possible to print on the printing tape for lettering transfer in the mirror image mode.

[0043]

As described above, according to the tape printer and the printing tape cassette of the present invention, the printing mode setting member for determining whether the image printing is the normal image printing or the mirror image printing is provided in the printing tape cassette. Since the print mode determination member is provided in the above, the print mode is automatically determined, and it is not necessary to manually switch the print mode, which greatly improves the operability.

Further, it is possible to eliminate the risk of performing upside-down or left-right upside-down printing with respect to the required printing due to a user's error or a switch operation error. Therefore, (1) printing tape for laminated label tape, (2) printing tape for lettering transfer, (3) opaque printing tape using paper or opaque film, (4) printing tape for fabric label, etc. have not been considered so far. A tape printer that can handle a wide range of applications has been realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a model diagram showing an example of an embodiment of a tape printer of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a model diagram showing an embodiment of a printing tape cassette according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a model diagram showing an embodiment example of a print mode determination member and a print mode setting member of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a model diagram showing an example of an embodiment of a print mode determination member and a print mode setting member of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a model diagram showing an example of an embodiment of a print mode determination member and a print mode setting member of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a view showing a conventional laminated label printing tape cassette.

FIG. 7 is a view showing a conventional lettering transfer printing tape cassette.

FIG. 8 is a view showing a conventional opaque printing tape cassette.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: Printing tape cassette 2: Printing mode setting member 2a: Optical printing mode setting member 2b: Mechanical printing mode setting member 2c: Magnetic printing mode setting member 4: Printing tape roll 5: Printing tape 6: Thermal transfer ribbon roll 7 : Thermal transfer ribbon 8: Cut 10: Tape printer 11: Platen roll 12: Thermal head 13: Cassette insertion part 14: Print mode determination member 14a: Optical print mode determination member 14b: Mechanical print mode determination member 14c: Magnetic printing Mode determination member 20: Photo sensor 20a: Light emitting portion 20b: Light receiving portion 21: Limit switch 22: Magnetic sensor switch 25: Spring 26: Printing mode setting magnet 27: Printing mode determination magnet 31: Transparent tape 32: Double-sided adhesive tape 33: Printing tape for lettering transfer 5: opaque print tape

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A tape printer which prints by mounting a printing tape cassette having a print mode setting member for setting normal image printing or mirror image printing, wherein a print mode set by the print mode setting member is determined. A tape printer including a print mode determination member. 2. A printing tape cassette containing a printing tape roll formed by winding a printing tape around a core, comprising:
A printing tape cassette provided with a printing mode setting member for determining whether to print a normal image or a mirror image.