JPH08230244A - Label printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To enhance label printing efficiency by dispensing with paper feed operation. CONSTITUTION: This label printer 10 housing labels 11 prepared as printing exclusive ones in a roll form to continuously execute printing is provided so that a printing form can be set automatically or manually corresponding to the kind of the labels and preliminarily inputted character data can be printed through a printing means. A definite space is formed in a case in which the printing means is housed and the roll-shaped labels 11 are housed in this space. The printed label 11 is discharged from the slit hole 22 formed to one side surface of the case 12 and cut from the labels 11 left in the case 12 by a cutter 23.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a label printer,
More specifically, the present invention relates to a label printer in which labels wound in a roll shape are stored in advance and continuous printing can be performed without performing a special paper feeding operation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known a label which can be adhered to an edge of various documents using a loose leaf or the like. By writing a predetermined character or the like on this label, it is used as a file with a heading. There are modes. In general, most of the characters written on this kind of label are written by hand, and there are individual differences in obtaining beautiful character display, so it cannot be said that the appearance is good, and handwriting work is not possible. There was the inconvenience of spending a lot of time.

Therefore, the applicant of the present invention has proposed a label printer capable of simply and quickly printing a label of the above type or the like as a main print object (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-25418).
(See Japanese Patent Publication No. 3). This label printer is provided with a label information storage means for encoding and storing label information related to the size and arrangement of a label which is a print object arranged on a label sheet, and a label sheet designating means provided side by side with a liquid crystal display. The user can specify the number of characters to be printed by simply specifying the print target via the label sheet designating means prior to the initial input work of the character information.
The printing arrangement and the like can be automatically determined, and desired printing corresponding to various purposes of use can be performed.

According to the already proposed label printer, uniform and accurate display can be performed, and in the case where the same content is printed on a large number of labels, the work time can be dramatically increased as compared with handwriting work. There is a remarkable advantage that it can be shortened.

[0005]

However, the already proposed label printer feeds the label, which is an object to be printed, manually for each sheet, and continuously prints on a large number of labels. In this case, there is an inconvenience that it takes a lot of paper feeding work time. In other words, even when trying to print on the same type of label, it is not suitable for mass-produced label printing, because each label sheet to which the label is attached requires one sheet feeding operation. .

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been devised by paying attention to the inconvenience of the conventional example, and an object of the present invention is to eliminate the necessity of the paper feeding work which has been conventionally required and to make the same type of label. An object of the present invention is to provide a label printer capable of performing predetermined printing while dramatically improving the label printing efficiency in the case of printing.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention is provided with a printing format or the like that can be automatically set corresponding to the type of label, and prints out pre-input character information. In a label printer provided so as to be able to print through, a label wound in a roll shape is stored in a case that houses the printing means, and a printed label is provided from a slit hole formed on one side of the case. The structure is such that it is provided so that it can be discharged.

In the label printer, it is preferable that a cutter is provided near the slit hole for separating the label discharged from the slit hole from the next label left in the case. .

[0009]

In the present invention, the label wound in a roll is stored in the case before printing on the label. The type of the stored label is identified or selected by detecting the inner shape of the roll or by inputting the identification number attached to each label, and the print format etc. consisting of a plurality of predetermined modes is arbitrarily selected. And set. After that, the character information to be printed is performed through the input means to start the printing operation. The printed label is
It is sequentially fed out through the slit hole formed in the case. When the printing is completed, the label fed out from the slit hole may be separated from the label left in the case.

In the structure provided with the cutter, the printed label and the next label can be separated more easily by operating the cutter in a predetermined manner.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic perspective view of a label printer according to this embodiment, and FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of a dedicated label wound in a roll and printed by the label printer. There is. In these figures, the label printer 1
For 0, the circuit configuration disclosed in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-254183 is adopted as a basic configuration. The label printer 10 is provided with a label 11 that can be housed therein and a substantially box-shaped case 12 in which printing means such as a fixed head (not shown) is housed.

The case 12 is formed in a so-called palm size as a whole, and is divided into an upper case 12A and a lower case 12B into upper and lower parts so as to have a fixed space therein, and the illustration thereof is omitted. In addition to the above substrate, a feeding device for the label 11 and the like are provided. Also,
A cap (not shown) is detachably provided on the back side of the case 12 in FIG. 1, and the label 11 can be loaded into the internal space by removing the cap.

On the upper case 12A side, a liquid crystal display 15, a variety of function selection buttons 17 provided adjacent to the liquid crystal display 15 for inputting function selection and character space, and the label 1 are provided.
Dial key 18 to enter character information to be printed on 1
And a mark 19 provided on the outside of the dial key 18 for indicating a character selection position, and an execution key 20 for selecting and executing various operation modes. Although not shown here, the dial keys 18 in the present embodiment are provided with letters such as alphabets in the circumferential direction of the upper surface, and the character at the position of the mark 19 is selected by the execution key 20. While inputting text information.

A slit hole 22 for discharging the printed label 11 is formed in a side wall portion of the case 12 close to the liquid crystal display 15, and is parallel to the slit extending direction of the slit hole 22. A cutter 23 that can move in any direction is provided. The cutter 23 is configured with a blade (not shown) at the tip of the operation button 24, and pushes the operation button 24 downward to separate the printed label 11 from the next label 11 left in the case. You can do it.

On the side wall of the lower case 12, an IC card 25 composed of RAM, ROM, etc. is removably mounted. The IC card 25 stores various programs such as a print format and a dictionary, and is capable of arbitrarily performing writing such as dictionary registration.

The label 11 in this embodiment is wound around a core 26 as shown in FIG. 2, and the shape of the core 26 is changed in various ways according to the type of the label 11. In addition, a configuration is adopted that can automatically identify the type of the label 11 when set in the case 12. As an identification method, although not shown here, an appropriate groove or protrusion that is different for each type of the label 11 is provided on the side end of the core 26, and a switch for detecting this groove or the like is provided on the case 12 side. An example is a method performed by providing the above. Further, it is possible to adopt a configuration in which an identification number or the like is attached to the label 11 and a desired print format is automatically selected from a plurality of print formats by inputting this identification number. Correspondingly, it is also possible to manually set individual print formats. Also, label 1
The label feed hole 27 is provided on the sheet between the labels 11 at a position along the extending direction of the label 11. You can do it. In addition, a means for detecting the label feed hole 27 by utilizing the label feed hole 27 is provided inside the case 12,
It is also possible to determine whether or not the label 11 is present at a predetermined print start position.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

First, the label 11 to be printed is case 1
Set it in position 2 With this set, the type of the stored label 11 is automatically identified on condition that the power is turned on, and a predetermined print format is arbitrarily selected from a plurality of predetermined print formats via the function selection button 17. be able to. That is, a plurality of print formats are displayed on the display 15 and the cursor can be moved to any of the displayed formats to select it. After this,
The dial key 18 is appropriately rotated to store the character information while sequentially inputting the character information.

Then, when the printing start operation is selected, the label feeding hole 27 is engaged with and disengaged from the label feeding mechanism (not shown) provided in the case 12, and the label 11 is sequentially fed out by the printing means including the fixed head. Predetermined characters are printed. The label 11 after printing is sequentially discharged from the slit hole 22 of the case 12, and the printed label 11 is separated from the next label 11 by operating the operation button 24 of the cutter 23 in a predetermined manner at the end of the printing operation. be able to.

Therefore, according to such an embodiment, it becomes possible to perform printing in a state where the label 11 wound in a roll shape is stored in the case 12, and the consumption of the stored label 11 is completed. Up to this point, no paper feeding operation is required, so that there is an effect that printing can be performed continuously and quickly unless the type of the label 11 used as a printing target is changed.

Further, since the cutter 23 is provided in the vicinity of the slit hole 22, the printed label 11 can be cut by the operation of the cutter 23 without applying any pulling force, and is housed in the case 12. There is no fear that the label 11 is inadvertently pulled out. Furthermore, since the structure for inputting characters using the dial keys 18 is adopted, JIS
Compared to the standard key layout, the number of keys can be significantly reduced, and the case 12 can be downsized.
It can be provided as a handy type label printer.

Although two types of labels 11 are shown in the above embodiment, the label used in the label printer 10 of the present invention may be any label having a width that can be stored in the case 12. Therefore, not only those such as index labels whose unit size is relatively small, but also those whose labels are considerably long, such as labels used for the spine of files and title labels for videotapes, etc. It becomes possible to make it a print target.

Further, the label 11 may have a structure in which an appropriate perforation is provided on a sheet between adjacent labels,
In this case, the cutter 23 can be easily separated without providing the cutter 23, and the structure can be simplified.

Further, although the label printer 10 in the above-described embodiment is of a type in which characters are input by using the dial keys 18, it is possible to input characters by a key arrangement such as JIS standard in some cases. However, the dial key system is advantageous for miniaturization.

[0026]

Since the present invention is constructed and operates as described above, the need for paper feeding work can be eliminated, and label printing when the same type of label is targeted for printing. It is possible to provide a label printer exhibiting an unprecedented excellent effect that predetermined printing can be performed while dramatically improving efficiency.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a label printer showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B are perspective views showing an example of a label used in the label printer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Label Printer 11 Label 12 Case 22 Slit Hole 23 Cutter

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A label printer in which a print format and the like can be automatically set in accordance with the type of label and character information input in advance can be printed through the printing means, A label printer, in which a label wound in a roll shape is housed in a case in which the printed label is ejected from a slit hole formed on one side of the case. 2. A cutter for separating a label discharged from the slit hole from a next label left in the case is provided in the vicinity of the slit hole. Label printer as described.