JPH0443788B2 - - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent printing from being blurred and disappeared by neither rubbing a printing surface, nor touching drugs, by a method wherein the printing surface is not exposed by fixing a second tape by pressure to the printing surface wherein reversed printing of an inside out pattern is performed on a first tape having transparency. CONSTITUTION:A transparent tape 70 drawn out from a supply spool 90 is overlapped with an ink ribbon 74, and is supplied between a thermal head 72 and a platen roller 76. The tape 70 on which reversed printing 174 is performed is sent to a downstream, and is pinched between rollers 99, 100. Pressure sensitive adhesive layer 108, 110 are respectively formed on both sides of a base tape 107, and a supply spool 104 holding a double faced tape 102 wherein released paper 111 is adhered to the one side layer 110 in a winding state is fitted in an on-off-free manner into a spool axis 106. A tape 102 drawn out from the spool 104 is supplied between the rollers 99 and 100, and the transparent tape 70 is stuck on the layer 108.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to a tape printing device that prints on a printing tape, and particularly relates to a printing device that performs reverse printing of a reverse pattern.

<Prior art and its problems> Tape printing devices that print on tape instead of printing paper are already known. It is usually used by pasting it on objects.

Since the printing surface of tapes with normal image printing is exposed, there is a problem that the printing may fade or disappear if the printing surface is rubbed or comes into contact with chemicals. Ta.

<Means for Solving the Problems> The present invention has been made in order to solve such problems, and the tape printing device according to the present invention has a first tape having transparency, which has a reverse pattern. A printing mechanism that performs printing, a tape base material that becomes the background of the first tape, and an adhesive layer provided on both sides of the tape base material on the printing surface of the first tape on which reverse printing has been performed. , and a tape pressure bonding device for pressure bonding a second tape composed of a release paper pasted in advance on one side of the adhesive layer.

<Functions and Effects> According to the tape printing device as described above, the printing itself is reversely printed with a reversed pattern, but from the side opposite to the reversed printing surface of the first tape, the first tape When looking through the tape, the inverted print area is visually recognized as the normal image print. Therefore, as long as it is visually recognized, the obtained tape can be used in the same way as one with normal image printing, and the first tape having transparency is not only used as a printing medium; Since it also acts as a protective film to protect the printed area, the problem of printed characters disappearing or becoming blurred can be solved.

Furthermore, since the second tape is attached to the reverse printed surface of the first tape, the added value of the tape is increased. That is, since an adhesive layer with a release paper is added by the second tape, the laminated tape, which can be recognized as a normal image, can be easily attached to an object by peeling off the release paper, making it convenient. It is. Moreover, since the tape base material of the second tape serves as the background of the first tape, by using the second tape of a desired color, it is possible to freely set the background color of the printed portion.

<Example> Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows the overall configuration of a tape printing device that is an embodiment of the present invention. This tape printing device includes an input section 10 for inputting printing data, and a printing section (printer section) 14 for printing on a printing tape according to the printing data. Input section 10
is provided with a rotatable character selection (input) dial 16 that functions as an input member. This character selection dial 16 has a circular shape, and on its circular dial surface 17, a large number of characters such as letters (kana, alphabets, numbers), symbols, codes, etc. are displayed in two rows at equal intervals. Hereinafter, to avoid complexity, these characters will be typically referred to as characters.

The input unit 10 is also provided with a positioning point 18 adjacent to the character selection dial 16 for defining the origin and character selection position of the character selection dial 16. Inside the character selection dial 16, a confirmation key 20 that is operated to confirm the character to be printed is provided concentrically with the character selection dial 16. After the character selection operation using the character selection dial 16, the confirmation key 20 is pressed, thereby confirming the character located at the alignment point 18 as the input character. In addition, alignment point 1
The characters that match the number 8 are sequentially displayed on a liquid crystal display 22 provided in the input section 10.

The input unit 10 further includes keys 24 and 26 located next to the character selection dial 16 for specifying character spacing and character size, respectively, an insert key 28 and a delete key 30, a kana/kanji conversion key 32, and kanji candidate keys. A plurality of necessary function keys 36 are provided, such as a search key 34 for searching and a print key 35 for printing.

Next, the character selection dial 16 and the confirmation key 20 will be explained in more detail.

As shown in FIG. 3, the selection dial 16 is rotatably held within a cylindrical portion 40 formed on the cover 38 of the input section 10, and the dial portion to be rotated protrudes from the cover 38, while the selection dial 16 is A slit disk 42 is fixed concentrically to the lower end of the letter dial 16.

As shown in FIG. 4, optical gratings are formed on this slit disk 42 by black silk printing at equal angular intervals. 45 is a light transmitting portion. This optical grating has a group of slits 46 on the outer circumferential side for detecting the rotational phase of the selection dial 16, as shown in a linearly developed form in FIG.
and a group of slits 48 on the inner circumference side for determining the rotational direction of the selection dial. In this embodiment, the group of slits 46 on the outer circumference side are formed with a pitch of 7.5 degrees, Side slit group 48
is clockwise with respect to the slit group 46 on the outer circumference side.
The phase is shifted by 2.5°. A photosensor 50 optically detects the inner and outer slit groups 46 and 48 (see FIG. 3).
It is provided at a position sandwiching the slit disk 42.

This photosensor 50 is equipped with a light source on one side and a photoelectric element on the other side, and the grating section 44 receives a "1" signal and the slit section 45 receives a "0" signal.
It is connected to a microcomputer as will be explained in detail later. As shown in FIG. 2, at the dial phase where "A/A" matches the positioning point 18, the reading of the photosensor 50 becomes "1, 1" as shown in FIG. Only one position, “A・A”, has such a reading, and this position is taken as the origin of the character selection dial 16, and the next output of the photosensor 50 is determined by rotation of the character selection dial 16 from this origin. If it is "0,0", it is determined that the rotation direction of the selection dial 16 is clockwise in FIG. 2, and if it is "0,1", it is determined that it is counterclockwise. In this way, the direction of rotation is determined, and by counting the pulses detected by the grating portion 44 and the slit portion 45 of the slit disk 42, the rotational phase of the character selection dial 16 and, by extension, the character located at the alignment point 18 can be read. It's getting old.

As shown in FIG. 3, the confirmation key 20 is fitted inside the ring-shaped character selection dial 16 so as to be slidable in the axial direction, and is attached by a spring 54 so as to protrude from the character selection dial 16. However, the protrusion 56 engages with the lower end of the character selection dial 16 to prevent it from coming off. A contact plate 58 made of elastically deformable rubber is provided at the lower end of the confirmation key 20, and a contact 62 is configured between this contact plate 58 and the substrate 60 of the input section 10. It also serves as a dust boot to protect the contacts 62 from dust, and is designed to be able to rotate while in contact with the substrate 60. The function key 36 has the same structure as the confirmation key 20, and a contact point 66 is formed between a rubber contact plate 64 and a substrate 60 to generate a key signal.

Returning to FIG. 2, in the printing section 14, a first tape, a transparent film tape 70 (hereinafter referred to as transparent tape), is fed in the longitudinal direction, and a thermal head 72 functioning as a printing head prints on this transparent tape 70. I do. The thermal head 72 includes a row of heating elements in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the transparent tape 70 is fed, and the ink ribbon 74 and the transparent tape 70
0 to the platen roller 76. Then, the heat generating element array generates heat in a predetermined pattern, and the ink of the ink ribbon 74 is transferred to the transparent tape 70 by the heat, thereby performing reverse printing of the reverse pattern. . The platen roller 76 is rotatably supported around an axis parallel to the heating element array, and the thermal head 72 is urged toward it by an unillustrated urging device. The ink ribbon 74 is stored in a ribbon cassette 78 and drawn out from a supply spool 80 shown in FIG.

The transparent tape 70 is held wound around a supply spool 90. The supply spool 90 is the sixth
As is clear from the figure, it is removably fitted into the spool shaft 92 and can rotate integrally therewith. A spring washer 94 is provided between the spool shaft 92 and the substrate 60 of the printing section 14 to provide appropriate rotational resistance to the rotation of the spool 90 and to prevent the transparent tape 70 from being pulled out more than necessary. There is.

Note that as another means for preventing the transparent tape 70 from being pulled out more than necessary, for example, a spiral spring 95 as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 may be used. One end of the spiral spring 95 is fixed to a non-rotating member 96, and the other end is brought into contact with the inner circumferential surface of a cylindrical portion 97 integrally formed with the spool shaft 92 with a certain preload. has been
When the cylindrical portion 97 rotates, rotational resistance is applied to the spool 90 due to the frictional force generated at the sliding contact portion with the spiral spring 95.

In any case, as shown in FIG. 1, the transparent tape 70 pulled out from the supply spool 90 is fed between the thermal head 72 and the platen roller 76 while being directed by a guide roller 98. The transparent tape 70 printed with this thermal head 72 is sent further downstream, where a pair of rollers 99 and 100 are provided adjacent to each other. A tape 70 is sandwiched therebetween.

On the opposite side of the ribbon cassette 78 from the supply spool 90 of the transparent tape 70, a supply spool 104 holding a second tape, double-sided tape with release paper 102 wound therein, is removably fitted onto the spool shaft 106. The spool shaft 106
It is said that it can be rotated integrally with the Similar to the supply spool 90 that holds the transparent tape 70 shown in FIGS. The double-sided tape 102 with release paper is supplied between rollers 99 and 100, and is attached to the transparent tape 70 after printing.

As shown in FIG. 9, this double-sided tape with release paper 102 has a base tape 1 as a tape base material.
07 (opaque paper or film, etc.), adhesive layers 108 and 110 are formed on both sides, and a release paper 111 is formed on the adhesive layer 110 on one side.
is pasted, and the adhesive layer 10 on the opposite side
8, the roller 9 is placed on the printed surface of the transparent tape 70.
9 and 100. Note that the double-sided tape with release paper 102 is wound around the spool 104 so that the release paper 111 side is on the inner circumference side and the adhesive layer 108 side is on the outer circumference side.

As shown in FIG. 10, the roller 99 has a gear 1.
12 and a gear 114 are provided integrally and concentrically with the roller 100, and both gears 112
and 114 are intermeshed with each other. The gear 112 is always engaged with an intermediate gear 116, and a pinion 124 fixed to the output shaft of a tape feed motor 123 serving as a drive source is always engaged with this gear 116. Therefore, the rotation of the motor 123 causes the rollers 99 and 100 to rotate in opposite directions while being in pressure contact with each other, thereby feeding the transparent tape 70 to the left in FIG. It plays the role of pasting. In this embodiment, rollers 99,1
00, the tape feed motor 123, and the intermediate gear train constitute a tape feed device,
It also serves as a tape pressure bonding device for the second tape 102.

The pinion 124 of the motor 123 is also engaged with an intermediate gear 126 via a gear train (not shown), and this gear 126 is engaged with a take-up gear 128 for the ribbon cassette. Winding gear 12
8 is arranged concentrically with the spool drive shaft 84 to drive it, and the spool drive shaft 8
A take-up spool 82 of the ribbon cassette 78 is fitted into the ribbon cassette 4. Note that the winding gear 128 and the spool drive shaft 84 are allowed to rotate relative to each other with a torque above a certain level.

Next, the printing section 14 and input section 1 as described above are installed.
A control device for controlling 0 will be explained based on the block diagram shown in FIG.

A photo sensor 50 that detects the rotational phase of the character selection dial 16 is connected to a microcomputer (hereinafter abbreviated as microcomputer) 144 along with a confirmation key 20 and various function keys 36 that confirm the character selected by the character selection dial 16. is connected to the input interface 146 of. Input interface 146 is connected by bus line 148.
CPU150, ROM152, RAM154, character generator (hereinafter referred to as CG-ROM)
156, 158 and output interface 160
It is connected to the.

The ROM 152 includes a program memory 162 that stores programs that control the overall operation of the tape printing device, and a dictionary memory 164 that is used for kana/kanji conversion, etc., and the RAM 154 includes various counters, registers, and buffers. .
The CG-ROM 156 generates a dot matrix character pattern for printing based on the input character code data, and the CG-ROM 158
generates a dot pattern of characters to be displayed on the liquid crystal display 22. The output interface 160 includes a head drive circuit 168, a motor drive circuit 170, and a display drive circuit 1.
72 are connected, and each has a thermal head 72, a tape feed motor 123, and a liquid crystal display 2.
2 are connected.

Note that the thermal head 72 performs left-right reversal printing of a reversed pattern when viewed from the printing surface side of the transparent tape 70, but in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. The transparent tape 70 is located at the rear of the transparent tape 70, and its heating element array (not shown) is provided on the front side, and the transparent tape 70 is fed from the right to the left in FIG. Therefore, while reading the dot pattern data in the same order as in the case of a general thermal printer, in other words, the column data is read in order from the leftmost column of the dot matrix that makes up the character.
By driving the heating element array while reading data from the CG-ROM 156, reverse printing is performed on the printing surface (the rear surface in FIG. 2) of the transparent tape 70.

In this embodiment, the printing mechanism includes a thermal head 72 having an array of heating elements, a platen roller 76, a microcomputer 144 that controls the driving of the thermal head 72, and the like.

Next, the operation of the tape printing device as described above will be explained.

After the power is turned on, the origin is set by aligning "A/A" on the selection dial 16 with the positioning point 18 and pressing the enter key 20. From then on, the CPU 150 performs various signal processing. conduct.

Then, by rotating the character selection dial 16 to select a character to be input, and pressing the enter key 20, print data is supplied to the microcomputer 144. The characters aligned to alignment point 18 are CG-
It is displayed on the liquid crystal display 22 via the ROM 158. Also, the dot pattern of characters to be printed is generated via the CG-ROM 156,
The data is stored in a print buffer (not shown) of the RAM 154. When the print key 35 is pressed, the dot pattern is read out, and the thermal head 72 prints the reverse pattern horizontally on the transparent tape 70.

At this time, the rollers 99, 100 are attached to the transparent tape 70.
and the double-sided tape with release paper 102 sandwiched therebetween, are rotated in opposite directions by the aforementioned motor 123. As a result, the transparent tape 70 is pulled out from the supply spool 90 and sent to the thermal head 72 in accordance with the printing timing, and the double-sided tape 10 with release paper is transferred from the supply spool 104.
2 is drawn out. Further, the take-up spool 82 is also driven by the motor 123, and takes up the ink ribbon 74 in accordance with the tape feeding. platen roller 76
is rotated by the frictional force generated between the tape 70 and the running tape 70.

Furthermore, as is clear from FIG. 2, the roller 99
has flanges at both ends for tape positioning, and both ends of the tapes 70 and 102 contact these to define the widthwise position, and the roller surface between the flanges cooperates with the roller 100 to position both tapes 70 and 102. and 102 in between.

As the rollers 99 and 100 rotate while overlapping the transparent tape 70 and the double-sided tape with release paper 102, as shown in FIG. A double-sided tape 102 with a release paper is attached to the adhesive layer 108 (on the reversed printed surface). By this application, tapes 70 and 102
is integrated into a laminated tape, which is a normal image adhesive tape 1.
76 is formed. That is, although originally printed in reverse, the reverse printed portion 174 can be seen through the transparent tape 70 from the direction of arrow XII in FIG. 9 and is visually recognized as a normal image print as shown in FIG. It will be done. This normal image adhesive tape 176
is cut into a predetermined length by a cutting device (not shown) provided at the lower end in the tape feeding direction, and is pasted onto a predetermined object using the adhesive layer 110 by peeling off the release paper 111 shown in FIG. used with In this sense, the present tape 176 can be called a lettering tape.

On the other hand, the double-sided tape 10 with release paper shown in FIG.
This tape printing device can be used even when the second supply spool 104 is removed from the spool shaft 106 as shown in FIG. In this case, although the rollers 99 and 100 feed the tape, since the double-sided tape with release paper 102 is not supplied between them, the transparent tape 70 on which reverse printing has been performed in the thermal head 72 is transferred to the roller 99, 100.
9,100 and then discharged as a single tape.

Such a transparent tape 70 is cut into an appropriate length by the above-mentioned cutting device and is normally used as a pressure transfer tape 178 (see FIG. 14). That is, if the inverted printed part 174 of the tape 178 is transferred to the object by rubbing the surface of the tape with the inverted printed part 174 in close contact with the object, applying a transfer force, the inverted printed part 174 can be transferred to the object. is visually recognized as a normal image print. So to speak, lettering can be done easily, and in this sense, lettering tape 1
76 can be called an instant lettering tape.

Note that when a single tape with reverse printing performed on the transparent tape 70 is used as an instant lettering tape as described above, it is preferable that the releasability and the transferability of the reverse print portion 174 from the transparent tape 70 to the object are good. Because of this requirement, an ink ribbon 74 and transparent tape 70 suitable for this purpose are usually used.

As is clear from the above description, in this embodiment, when the spool 104 holding the double-sided tape 102 with release paper is attached to the spool shaft 106, the laminated tape 176 is guided out of the printing device and removed. In this state, a single tape 178 is directed out of the printing device, and passages, spaces, rollers 99, 100, etc. for discharging such tapes 176, 178 are provided for selecting different tapes as described above. This corresponds to a means for guiding the air out of the device.

Next, FIG. 15 shows another embodiment. In this embodiment, ribbon separating member (separator) 1
80 is the tape 70 against the thermal head 72.
It is provided adjacent to the downstream side in the feeding direction. This ribbon separating member 180 is located at the branching point between the transparent tape 70 and the ink ribbon 74, and has a wedge shape that is pointed at an acute angle toward the thermal head 72 side.
4 from the tape 70.

This ribbon separating member 180 reliably separates the transferred ink ribbon 74 heated by the thermal head 72 from the transparent tape 70, so that the ink ribbon 74 is not transported while being stuck to the transparent tape 70. is prevented.

Yet another embodiment is shown in FIG. In this embodiment, the feeding direction of the transparent tape 70 is to the right in the figure, which is opposite to the side shown in FIG.
In this case, supply spools 90 and 104,
The rollers 76, 98, 99 and 100, as well as the ribbon cassette 78, are arranged in opposite directions with respect to the thermal head 72. Further, in the thermal head 72, reverse printing of a pattern reversed horizontally and vertically is performed. As a result, as illustrated in FIG. 17, from the side of the transparent tape 70, the printed characters are visually recognized as being upside down. In this embodiment as well, the same normal image adhesive tape 176 and pressure transfer tape 1 as in the first embodiment are used.
78 can be created by attaching and detaching the supply spool 104, respectively, and it is also possible to use the ribbon separating member 180 in the second embodiment.

In the embodiment described above, the transparent tape 70 is used as the first tape on which reverse printing is performed.
However, as long as it has transparency, for example, a colored translucent tape or the like may also be used.

Furthermore, as a second tape used in the above embodiment, a tape obtained by removing the base tape 107 and the adhesive layer 110 from the double-sided tape 102 shown in FIG. 9, that is, a transparent adhesive layer as shown in FIG. 108 and release paper 111 is used, and the adhesive layer 1
08, it may be attached to the reverse printed surface of the transparent tape 70.

Further, the rollers 99 and 100 may be used exclusively for the tape pressing device, and a roller functioning as a tape feeding roller may be provided further downstream.

Additionally, when attaching the second tape to the first tape, instead of applying pressure to the entire width of the tape, the roller does not come into contact with the reverse printed part at the center of the tape. For example, one of the rollers 99 and 100 may be a medium-thin roller so that the pressing force acts only near both ends in the width direction of the tape.

In addition, it goes without saying that the present invention can be implemented with various modifications and improvements based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the main parts of a tape printing device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an external view of the tape printing device. Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view of the selection dial and its vicinity in Figure 2;
This figure is a plan view showing the main part of FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing the slit pattern of FIG. 4 developed linearly and in relation to the signal form to be detected. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 1. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a modification of FIG. 6, and FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line -- in FIG. 9th
The figure is a sectional view of the laminated tape produced in the state shown in Fig. 1, Fig. 10 is a vertical sectional view showing the drive system of Fig. 1, and Fig. 11 is a block diagram showing the control circuit of the tape printing device of Fig. 2. Figure 12 is the 9th
It is a view taken along arrow XII in the figure. FIG. 13 is a plan view showing the tape printing apparatus of FIG. 2 producing a single tape, and FIG. 14 is a sectional view of the single tape produced thereby. FIG. 15 is a plan view showing the main parts of a tape printing device according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 16 is a plan view showing the main parts of still another embodiment. FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of printing on a laminated or single tape produced by the tape printing apparatus shown in FIG. 16. FIG. 18 is a sectional view showing a different example of the laminated tape. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10... Input section, 14... Printing section, 16... Character selection dial, 18... Positioning point, 20... Confirmation key, 22... Liquid crystal display, 36... Function key, 42... Slit disc, 50... Photo sensor, 70... Transparent tape, 72...Thermal head,
74... Ink ribbon, 76... Platen roller, 7
8... Ribbon cassette, 80... Supply spool, 82
...Take-up spool, 84...Spool drive shaft, 90...
Supply spool, 92... Spool shaft, 98... Guide roller, 99, 100... Roller, 102... Double-sided tape with release paper, 1104... Supply spool, 11
2,114...gear, 116,126...intermediate gear,
123...Tape feed motor, 124...Pinion,
128... Winding gear, 144... Microcomputer, 176... Normal image adhesive tape (laminated tape), 1
78...Pressure transfer tape (single tape), 180...
Ribbon separation member.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A printing mechanism that performs reverse printing of a reverse pattern on a first tape having transparency, and a background of the first tape on the printed surface of the first tape on which reverse printing has been performed. Tape crimping involves crimping a second tape consisting of a tape base material, an adhesive layer provided on both sides of the tape base material, and a release paper pasted on one side of the adhesive layer in advance. What is claimed is: 1. A tape printing device that performs reverse printing, comprising: