Abstract:
The disclosure discloses a printer including a first memory that stores computer-executable instructions that cause the printer to perform a terminal searching process, a job receiving process, and a coordination control process. In the terminal searching process, it is searched whether any of the operation terminals retains the printing job conforming to an accepting condition or not, by performing the mutually-recognized communication triggered by reception of a signal of an action-starting operation in a starting operation accepting process. In the job receiving process, in the case that some of the operation terminals retain the printing job conforming to the accepting condition, the printing job from the operation terminal is received. In the coordination control process, the printing head and the feeder are controlled in coordination with each other in the manner that the printed matter in accordance with print data in the printing job is produced.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    The present application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2016-37505, which was filed on Feb. 29, 2016, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    Field 
         [0003]    The present disclosure relates to a printer performing a desired print on a print-receiving medium. 
         [0004]    Description of the Related Art 
         [0005]    A printer is known that receives a printing job from an operation terminal (information terminal) to perform printing. This printer is capable of mutually-recognized communication with an operation terminal connected through a network and receives a printing job produced by the operation terminal so as to produce a corresponding printed matter by using print data included in the print job. 
         [0006]    In the configuration of the prior art, for example, a printing job produced by an operation terminal may have contents unacceptable for (not conforming to an accepting condition of) the printer. For example, this accepting condition may be a tape attribute when the print-receiving medium is a tape (print-receiving tape). Specifically, a tape attribute (e.g., tape width) assumed in a printing job produced by the operation terminal may not match the tape attribute (for example, the tape width) of the print-receiving tape to be actually printed by the printer. 
         [0007]    In such a case, if a user produces a printing job on the assumption of a certain tape attribute on the operation terminal and then transmits the printing job to the printer, a predetermined error display is normally displayed on the operation terminal due to a difference in the tape attribute of the printer. As a result, in this state, the user must go to the printer to replace the print-receiving tape to be printed by the printer to conform to the tape attribute of the printing job (in other words, to match the tape attribute) before transmitting the printing job again to the printer, which leads to large burdens of movement and operation. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0008]    It is therefore an object of the present disclosure to provide a printer capable of generating a corresponding printed matter without forcing large burdens of movement and operation even if a printing job from an operation terminal does not satisfy an accepting condition of a printer. 
         [0009]    In order to achieve the above-described object, according to an aspect of the present application, there is provided a printer comprising a feeder, a printing head, a communicating device, a processor, and a first memory. The feeder is configured to feed a print-receiving medium. The printing head is configured to perform a print on the print-receiving medium fed by the feeder. The communicating device is configured to execute mutually-recognized communication with at least one operation terminal that retains a printing job for requesting production of a printed matter in an unsent state. The detecting device is configured to detect an accepting condition of the print-receiving medium fed by the feeder, the accepting condition being related to whether print data from the operation terminal is acceptable or not. The first memory stores computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the printer to perform a starting operation accepting process, a terminal searching process, a job receiving process, and a coordination control process. In the starting operation accepting process, a signal of a predetermined action-starting operation is received. In the terminal searching process, it is searched whether any of the operation terminals retains the printing job conforming to the accepting condition detected by the detecting device or not, by means of performing the mutually-recognized communication via the communicating device triggered by reception of the signal of the action-starting operation in the starting operation accepting process. In the job receiving process, in the case that some of the operation terminals retain the printing job conforming to the accepting condition in the terminal searching process, the printing job from the operation terminal by the mutually-recognized communication via the communicating device is received. In the coordination control process, the printing head and the feeder are controlled in coordination with each other in the manner that the printed matter in accordance with print data included in the printing job received in the job receiving process is produced. 
         [0010]    In the printer of the present disclosure, a feeder feeds a print-receiving medium and a printing head performs a desired print on the fed printing-receiving medium, thereby producing a printed matter. In this case, the printer is capable of mutually-recognized communication with at least one operation terminal via a communicating device and can receive a printing job produced by the operation terminal so as to produce a corresponding printed mater by using print data included in the printing job. 
         [0011]    In the present disclosure, the printer executes a terminal searching process and a job receiving processing. The operation terminal is configured to retain the printing job in an unsent state. In the printer, first, a detecting device detects the accepting condition (a tape width defined as a tape attribute in the example) for the print-receiving medium to be printed. Subsequently, reception of an action-starting operational signal in a starting operation accepting process triggers mutually-recognized communication via the communicating device in the terminal searching process so as to search whether any operation terminal retains a printing job conforming to the accepting condition detected by the detecting device (the printing job with the tape attribute matching the attribute of the tape actually mounted on the printer in the example) in the unsent state. If any operation terminal has the printing job conforming to the accepting condition, the print job is received from the operation terminal through the mutually-recognized communication in the job receiving process. Subsequently, in a coordination control process, a printed matter is produced by the printing head and the feeder in accordance with the print data included in the received printing job. 
         [0012]    As described above, in the present disclosure, the operation terminal retains the printing job in the unsent state and, in this state, the printer searches for an operation terminal having a printing job conforming to the accepting condition of the printer (the tape attribute in the example) and receives the printing job only from the conforming operation terminal to produce the corresponding printed matter. Therefore, even if the tape attribute of the printing job produced by the operation terminal as described above does not match that of the printer, a user only requires to go to the printer and replace the print-receiving tape to conform to the tape attribute of the printing job (in other words, to match the tape attribute) for producing the printed matter corresponding to the printing job without operating the operation terminal again to transmit the printing job. As a result, the burdens of movement and operation as described above can be reduced and the convenience can therefore be improved. 
         [0013]    Particularly in this case, the search in the terminal searching process is triggered by reception of the signal of the action-starting operation in the starting operation process. This eliminates the need to always keep the printer in a state of being capable of communication with the operation terminal before the operation starting operation is performed and, for example, the printer can be kept in a power-off state. As a result, electric power saving can be achieved and the effect is made larger particularly when a battery supplies a power source voltage to operation mechanisms such as the feeder and the printing head. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0014]      FIG. 1  is a view showing a tape printing device to which an embodiment of the present disclosure is applied, along with an operation terminal 
           [0015]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of an exterior appearance of the tape printing device with a cartridge cover opened. 
           [0016]      FIG. 3  is a conceptual plane view of an internal structure of a cartridge. 
           [0017]      FIG. 4  is a block diagram of functional configurations of the tape printing device and the operation terminal. 
           [0018]      FIG. 5  is a view of a display example of an input operation screen displayed on a display part when a print data editing application is activated on the operation terminal. 
           [0019]      FIGS. 6A-6C  are illustrative views for explaining a printing-job transmission and acquisition behavior in a comparative example. 
           [0020]      FIGS. 7A-7B  are illustrative views for explaining an example of the printing-job transmission and acquisition behavior in an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
           [0021]      FIG. 8A-8C  are illustrative views for explaining another example of the printing-job transmission and acquisition behavior in the embodiment of the present disclosure. 
           [0022]      FIG. 9  is a flowchart showing control procedures executed by a control circuit of the tape printing device. 
           [0023]      FIG. 10  is a view showing a modification example of allowing a user to select one operation terminal at the time of confliction of a plurality of operation terminals. 
           [0024]      FIG. 11  is a view showing a modification example in which all the labels are produced as labels with terminal information at the time of confliction of a plurality of operation terminals. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0025]    An embodiment of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to the drawings. 
       &lt;System Configuration&gt; 
       [0026]      FIG. 1  shows a tape printing device of this embodiment along with an operation terminal capable of operating the tape printing device. In  FIG. 1 , a tape printing device  1  and at least one operation terminal  300  (shown as only one terminal in  FIG. 1 ) are connected through well-known mutually-recognized communication (which may be wired communication as in this example or wireless communication) such that information can be transmitted and received. 
         [0027]    The operation terminal  300  is, for example, a personal computer (or may be an information terminal such as a smartphone and a PDA). The operation terminal  300  has a display part  301  and an operation part  302 , for example. The display part  301  has a display function of displaying various pieces of information and messages. The operation part  302  enables a user to input desired instructions and information. In this example, the operation terminal  300  can transmit a printing job including desired print data through the mutually-apparent communication to the tape printing device  1  to cause the tape printing device  1  to perform printing corresponding to the print data (described in detail later). 
       &lt;Configuration of Tape Printing Device&gt; 
       [0028]    The tape printing device  1  will be described. As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the tape printing device  1  includes a housing  2  constituting the outer contour thereof. The housing  2  includes a resin lower cover  15  constituting a device lower surface and integrated with device side surfaces as well as a resin upper cover  17  constituting a device upper surface. 
         [0029]    A side surface of the lower cover  15  includes a recess  15   b  and a discharging exit  15   a  formed at the center of an innermost part inside the recess to discharge a label tape  109  with print (see  FIG. 3  described later). 
         [0030]    The upper cover  17  is disposed with, from the front side toward the rear side, a keyboard  3  for performing various operations such as character input, functional keys  4  such as a print button and a power button for causing the tape printing device  1  to perform various functions, and a transparent panel  7  mounted to close an opening portion like a rectangular opening, for example. 
         [0031]    The upper cover  17  includes a lid-like cartridge cover  17   a  that is configured to be openable for mounting a tape cassette-like cartridge  8  on the upper surface rear part side and that opens and closes a cartridge holder  9 . A cutout part  17   b  is provided to an end portion of the cartridge cover  17   a . A cut lever  50  is an operation lever for cutting the label tape  109  with print and is provided to be received in the cutout part  17   b.    
         [0032]    The tape printing device  1  has the cartridge holder  9  provided on the upper surface rear part side thereof such that the cartridge  8  can be attached and detached. This cartridge holder  9  is always closed by the cartridge cover  17   a  (see  FIG. 1 ) and, when the cartridge cover  17   a  is opened, the cartridge holder  9  is exposed (see  FIG. 2 ). 
         [0033]    Detailed structures of the cartridge  8  and the cartridge holder  9  will be described with reference to  FIG. 3 . The cartridge  8  has a housing  8 A, a first roll  102  (actually having a spiral shape and simplified into a concentrically circular shape in  FIG. 3 ) having a wound belt-shaped base tape  101  located in the housing  8 A, a second roll  104  (actually having a spiral shape and simplified into a concentrically circular shape in  FIG. 3 ) having a wound transparent print-receiving tape  103  with substantially the same width as the base tape  101 , a ribbon supply side roll  111  feeding out an ink ribbon  105  (not necessary if the print-receiving tape is a thermal tape), a ribbon take-up roller  106  taking up the ink ribbon  105  after print, and a feeding roller  27  rotatably supported in the vicinity of a tape discharging part of the cartridge  8 . 
         [0034]    The first roll  102  has the base tape  101  wound around a reel member  102   a . The base tape  101  includes, for example, a bonding adhesive layer, a base film, an affixing adhesive layer, and a separation sheet laminated in this order from the inner wound side toward the opposite side. The second roll  104  has the print-receiving tape  103  wound around a reel member  104   a.    
         [0035]    The feeding roller  27  feeds the base tape  101  and the print-receiving tape  103  while pressing and bonding the tapes into the label tape  109  with print. 
         [0036]    On the downstream side of the feeding roller  27  and a pressure roller  28  along the transport path of the label tape  109  with print (i.e., on the downstream side of a printing head  23  described later), a fixed blade  40  is provided along with a movable blade  41  advancing toward the fixed blade  40  in accordance with a manual operation of the cut lever  50  to cut the label tape  109  with print in a thickness direction in cooperation with the fixed blade  40 . 
         [0037]    On the other hand, the cartridge holder  9  is disposed with a ribbon take-up roller driving shaft  107  for taking up the ink ribbon  105  used in the cartridge  8 , and a feeding roller driving shaft  108  for transporting the label tape  109  with print. The ribbon take-up roller  106  and the feeding roller  27  described above are rotationally driven in conjunction with each other by transmitting a drive force of a transport roller motor  34  (see  FIG. 4  described later) to the ribbon take-up roller driving shaft  107  and the feeding roller driving shaft  108 . The printing head  23  performing desired printing on the transported print-receiving tape  103  is provided in the cartridge holder  9  and is positioned at an opening portion of the mounted cartridge  8 . The printing head  23  is located away from the movable blade  41  and the fixed blade  40  at a predetermined separation distance along the tape transport path. 
       &lt;General Operation of Producing Print Tape&gt; 
       [0038]    When the cartridge  8  is mounted on the cartridge holder  9  in the configuration described above, the print-receiving tape  103  and the ink ribbon  105  are interposed between the printing head  23  and a platen roller  26  facing thereto. The base tape  101  and the print-receiving tape  103  are interposed between the feeding roller  27  and the pressure roller  28  facing thereto. The ribbon take-up roller  106  and the feeding roller  27  are then rotationally driven in a synchronized manner in respective directions indicated by arrows B and C in  FIG. 3 . As a result, the feeding roller  27 , the pressure roller  28 , and the platen roller  26  are rotated, and the base tape  101  is fed out from the first roll  102  and supplied to the feeding roller  27 . On the other hand, the print-receiving tape  103  is fed out from the second roll  104  and a print-head driving circuit  31  (see  FIG. 4  described later) energizes a plurality of heat generation elements of the printing head  23 . As a result, a print is printed on a back surface of the print-receiving tape  103 . 
         [0039]    The base tape  101  and the print-receiving tape  103  after the printing are bonded and integrated by the feeding roller  27  and the pressure roller  28  into the label tape  109  with print, which is transported outside the cartridge  8  from the tape discharging part. The ink ribbon  105  after printing to the print-receiving tape  103  is taken up by the ribbon take-up roller  106  driven by the ribbon take-up roller driving shaft  107 . 
         [0040]    The label tape  109  with print transported outside the cartridge  8  as described above is cut by the fixed blade  40  and the movable blade  41  cooperating with each other base on a manual operation of the cut lever  50 , and a print label L (see  FIGS. 6A-6C  described later) is generated. Since the label tape  109  with print includes the print-receiving tape  103  after printing as described above, the fixed blade  40  and the movable blade  41  fulfill a function of cutting the print-receiving tape  103  after printing. As described above, the cutting in this case is achieved by transmitting the manual operation of the cut lever  50  by a user via a mechanism not shown to the movable blade  41  and causing the movable blade  41  to advance toward the fixed blade  40  so that the movable blade  41  and the fixed blade  40  are closed like scissors. 
       &lt;Functional Configurations of Tape Printing Device and Operation Terminal&gt; 
       [0041]    Functional configurations of the tape printing device  1  and the operation terminal  300  will be described with reference to  FIG. 4 . 
         [0042]    In  FIG. 4 , the tape printing device  1  includes the printing head  23  performing desired printing on the print-receiving tape  103 , the print-head driving circuit  31  controlling and causing the printing head  23  to perform a print operation of desired print contents for the print-receiving tape  103 , a transport roller motor  34  driving the ribbon take-up roller driving shaft  107  and the feeding roller driving shaft  108 , a transport roller driving circuit  35  controlling the transport roller motor  34 , a movable blade sensor  36  detecting a state of completion of cutting of the label tape  109  with print including the print-receiving tape  103  by the movable blade  41 , a cartridge sensor  32  detecting a type of the cartridge  8  mounted on the cartridge holder (in other words, various tape attributes such as tape width of the print-receiving tape  103 ) with a known technique, a control circuit  140  controlling the overall operation of the tape printing device  1  via the print-head driving circuit  31 , the transport roller driving circuit  35 , etc., an operation part  141  such as the keyboard  3  and the functional keys  4 , a display part  143 , a memory  144  consisting of a RAM and a ROM, for example, and a communication control part  142  performing the mutually-recognized communication including connection authentication through a known technique with the operation terminal  300 . 
         [0043]    The memory  144  includes a communication history storage part  144   a . The communication history storage part  144   a  stores identification information (such as names and IDs) of a plurality of the operation terminals  300 , operation terminals  300 A,  300 B, etc. (see  FIGS. 10 and 11  described later) with which communications were performed via the communication control part  142  in the past (in other words, of which communication history exists). It is noted that a print processing program for executing procedures of a flow of  FIG. 9  described later is stored in the ROM of the memory  144 . 
         [0044]    The operation terminal  300  includes a CPU  303 , a memory  304  consisting of, for example, a RAM and a ROM, the operation part  302 , the display part  301 , a mass storage device  305  consisting of a hard disk device etc. and storing various pieces of information, and a communication control part  306  transmitting and receiving information to/from the at least one tape printing device  1  through the mutually-recognized communication. 
         [0045]    The CPU  303  executes a signal process in accordance with a program stored in advance in the ROM while using a temporary storage function of the RAM, thereby transmitting and receiving various instruction and information signals to/from the tape printing device  1 . 
       &lt;Specific Example of Editing Process&gt; 
       [0046]    An example of an editing operation for producing the printing job described above on the above operation terminal  300  will be described with reference to  FIG. 5 .  FIG. 5  shows a display example of an input operation screen displayed on the display part  301  when a print data editing application is activated on the operation terminal  300 . A shown input operation screen  200  of the print data editing application displays, for example, a print data image R 1  produced by using a template etc. The template is data stored in the memory  304 , for example, and is data having a graphic image, a character entry field, and arrangement information thereof integrated in an area defined by a tape width and a tape length. A user can use this template to process an appropriate graphic image and input arbitrary text character information into the character entry field with the keyboard  3  etc., thereby easily producing the print data. In this example, the tape width can selectively be set from respective tape widths corresponding to a plurality of types of the cartridges  8  by using a pull-down menu  201 . The tape width of the already produced print data can be changed as described above to scale up/down the print data image R 1  in the width direction. In the shown example, the print data with the tape length (label length) of 58 mm, the tape width of 24 mm, and the text “ABCD” is produced. 
         [0047]    A search wait instruction button  202  will be described later. 
       Background of Technique of Embodiment 
       [0048]    A feature of this embodiment is to search for the operation terminal  300  retaining a printing job in an unsent state from the tape printing device  1  (described in detail later) and will be described after describing the background of the necessity of such a configuration with reference to a comparative example shown in  FIGS. 6A-6C . 
         [0049]    As described above, the tape printing device  1  according to this embodiment can receive a printing job produced by the operation terminal  300  to generate a corresponding print label L by using the print data included in the printing job. In this case, the printing job produced by the operation terminal  300  may have contents unacceptable for (not conforming to an accepting condition of) the tape printing device  1 . For example, this accepting condition may be a tape attribute etc. of the print-receiving tape  103 . Specifically, a tape attribute (e.g., tape width) assumed in the printing job produced by the operation terminal  300  may not match the tape attribute (for example, the tape width) of the print-receiving tape  103  in the cartridge  8  actually mounted on the tape printing device  1 . 
         [0050]    For example, as shown in  FIG. 6A , it is assumed that the print-receiving tape  103  having the tape width of 12 mm is included in the cartridge  8  mounted on the tape printing device  1 . It is also assumed that a user uses the operation terminal  300  without knowing it to produce a printing job (including print data of text characters “ABCD” in the example of  FIG. 5 ) on the assumption of the print-receiving tape  103  having the tape width of 24 mm (on the input operation screen  200  described above) and then transmits the printing job to the tape printing device  1 . 
         [0051]    In this case, due to a difference between the width of 12 mm of the print-receiving tape  103  in the tape printing device  1  and the width of 24 mm in the printing job, the operation terminal  300  normally displays an error display, for example, “unable to produce label due to tape width error.” 
         [0052]    As a result, as shown in  FIG. 6B , the user has to go to the place at which the tape printing device  1  is located, and replaces the print-receiving tape  103  of tape printing device  1  (in other words, the cartridge  8 ) to conform to the tape width (24 mm) of the print job. 
         [0053]    Subsequently, as shown in  FIG. 6C , the user returns to the operation terminal  300  and sends the printing job again to the tape printing device  1 . As a result, since the tape width (24 mm) related to the printing job matches the actual tape width (24 mm) in the tape printing device  1 , the error display is no longer performed, and the corresponding print label L is finally produced. 
         [0054]    As described above, in the shown comparative example, after once going from the operation terminal  300  to the tape printing device  1 , the user must take trouble to return to the operation terminal  300  and transmit the printing job to the tape printing device  1  again, which leads to large burdens of movement and operation. 
       Feature of Embodiment 
       [0055]    A technique of this embodiment for avoiding the disadvantage described above will hereinafter be described in detail in order. In this embodiment, when a printing job is produced in the operation terminal  300  as described above, the operation terminal  300  retains the printing job in an unsent state rather than immediately transmitting to the tape printing device  1 . Therefore, as shown in  FIG. 5 , the input operation screen  200  of the operation terminal  300  has a search wait instruction button  202  (that may also be used as a so-called “print” instruction button) for entering a state of waiting for a search from the tape printing device  1  (described in detail later). By operating the search wait instruction button  202 , the operation terminal  300  enters a standby state of waiting for a search from the tape printing device  1 . 
         [0056]    For example, when the print-receiving tape  103  having the tape width of 12 mm is mounted on the tape printing device  1  as described above and a user uses the operation terminal  300  to produce a printing job (including print data of text characters “ABCD” in  FIG. 5 ) of the tape width of 24 mm and then operates the search wait instruction button  202 , the produced printing job is once retained in the operation terminal  300  as shown in  FIG. 7A . 
         [0057]    In this case, although the actual tape width (12 mm in this example) of the print-receiving tape  103  is detected by the cartridge sensor  32  in the tape printing device  1 , the printing job (24 mm in tape width) is not transmitted to the tape printing device  1  and is retained in the operation terminal  300  as described above, so that the “error display” as in the comparative example is not performed. 
         [0058]    In this state, as shown in  FIG. 7B , the user goes to the tape printing device  1 . The user then notices that the width (12 mm) of the print-receiving tape  103  actually mounted on the tape printing device  1  does not conform to the tape width (24 mm) of the printing job produced by the user, and replaces the print-receiving tape  103  of tape printing device  1  with another print-receiving tape  103  having the tape width of 24 mm. 
         [0059]    Subsequently, when the user presses the print button included in the functional keys  4  of the tape printing device  1 , the tape printing device  1  starts searching whether any operation terminal retains a printing job with the tape width of 24 mm (this searching is performed for all the operation terminals having the identification information stored in the communication history storage part  144   a  as described above). In this example, since the operation terminal  300  already retaining the print job of 24 mm in tape width is hit in the search, the printing job retained in the operation terminal  300  is transmitted to the tape printing device  1  and acquired by the tape printing device  1 . As a result, the tape printing device  1  produces the 24-mm-wide print label L including the text “ABCD” in accordance with the print data included in the received printing job. Therefore, after pressing the print button, the user does not have to return to the operation terminal  300  and the production of the print label L is executed on site. 
         [0060]      FIGS. 8A-8C  show the case that the user presses the print button before replacing the print-receiving tape  103  as described above. Specifically, while the printing job with the tape width of 24 mm produced by the user is retained in the operation terminal  300  as shown in  FIG. 8A  similar to  FIG. 7A  described above, the user goes to the tape printing device  1  (with the print-receiving tape  103  having the tape width of 12 mm mounted) and presses the print button without noticing the difference in tape width as shown in  FIG. 8B . 
         [0061]    In this case, as is the case with  FIGS. 7A-7B , the tape printing device  1  starts searching whether any operation terminal retains a printing job with the tape width of 12 mm. However, since the tape width of the printing job retained in the operation terminal  300  is 24 mm and does not match, the operation terminal  300  is not hit in this search. Therefore, the printing job retained in the operation terminal  300  is not transmitted to the tape printing device  1 . 
         [0062]    At this point, the user recognizes a mismatch of tape width as shown in  FIG. 8C  (e.g., from a result of no hit in the search appropriately displayed on the display part  143 ) and replaces the print-receiving tape  103  of the tape printing device  1  with another print-receiving tape  103  having the tape width of 24 mm. Subsequently, when the user presses the print button again, the search is started for an operation terminal retaining the printing job with the tape width of 24 mm and the operation terminal  300  is hit in the search as is the case with  FIGS. 7A-7B . As a result, the printing job retained in the operation terminal  300  is transmitted to the tape printing device  1  and the 24-mm-wide print label L including the text “ABCD” is produced. Also in this case, the user does not have to return to the operation terminal  300  and the production of the print label L is executed on site as in the above description. 
       &lt;Control Procedures Executed by Control Circuit&gt; 
       [0063]    A flowchart of  FIG. 9  shows control procedures executed by the control circuit  140  of the tape printing device  1  for achieving the technique described above. 
         [0064]    First, at step S 10  of  FIG. 9 , the control circuit  140  determines whether the print button in the functional keys  4  of the tape printing device  1  is pressed by a user. If the print button is not pressed by a user, the determination of step S 10  is negative (S 10 :NO), and the control circuit  140  waits in a loop. If the print button is pressed by a user, the determination of step S 10  is affirmative (S 10 :YES), and the control circuit  140  goes to step S 15 . 
         [0065]    At step S 15 , the control circuit  140  acquires a tape attribute (tape width in this example) corresponding to a type of the mounted cartridge  8  based on the detection result of the cartridge sensor  32 . 
         [0066]    Subsequently, at step S 20 , the control circuit  140  searches whether any of the operation terminals  300  retains the printing job conforming to the tape width detected at step S 15 . Specifically, the control circuit  140  communicates via the communication control part  142  with all the operation terminals  300  etc. having a communication history stored in the communication history storage part  144   a  and determines whether any of the operation terminals  300  retains a printing job conforming to the tape width acquired at step S 15 . 
         [0067]    Subsequently, at step S 25 , the control circuit  140  determines whether an operation terminal is hit in the search at step  20 . If no operation terminal is hit in the search, the determination of step S 25  is negative (S 25 :NO), and the control circuit  140  returns to the step S 15  and repeat the subsequent procedures. If at least one operation terminal is hit in the search (in other words, if at least one printing job conforms to the tape width acquired at the step S 15 ), the determination of step S 25  is affirmative (S 25 :YES), and the control circuit  140  goes to step S 30 . 
         [0068]    At step S 30 , the control circuit  140  outputs, for example, a job transmission request to the operation terminal  300  etc. hit at the step S 25  and receives (acquires) the printing job retained by the operation terminal. 
         [0069]    Subsequently, at step S 35 , the control circuit  140  starts transporting the print-receiving tape  103 . Specifically, the control circuit  140  outputs a command signal instructing the transport roller driving circuit  35  to start driving so as to rotate the feeding roller driving shaft  108  via the transport roller motor  34 , thereby starting the transport of the print-receiving tape  103 , the base tape  101 , and the label tape  109  with print. 
         [0070]    At step S 40 , the control circuit  140  determines based on the print data in the print job acquired at step S 30  whether the tapes started being transported as described above arrive at a print start position of the print-receiving tape  103 . Specifically, the control circuit  140  determines with a known technique whether the downstream tip end portion of the print area described above faces the position facing the printing head  23 . If not arriving at the print start position, the determination is negative (S 40 :NO) and the control circuit  140  returns to step S 35  to transport the tapes to the print start position. If arriving at the print start position, the determination is affirmative (S 40 :YES) and the control circuit  140  goes to step S 45 . 
         [0071]    At step S 45 , the control circuit  140  carries out energization control of the heat generation elements (not shown) of the printing head  23  via the print-head driving circuit  31  to form the print (“ABCD” in the example described above) corresponding to the print data in the print job acquired at step S 30  on the print-receiving tape  103 . 
         [0072]    Subsequently, at step S 50 , the control circuit  140  further performs the tape feeding after completion of the print formation process of step S 45  and determines whether the printing head  23  is faced by a boundary position corresponding to a print end position on the print-receiving tape  103 . If the printing head  23  is not faced by the boundary position, the determination is negative (S 50 :NO) and the control circuit  140  returns to step S 45  to repeat the same procedure. On the other hand, if the printing head  23  is faced by the boundary position, the determination is affirmative (S 50 :YES) and the control circuit  140  goes to step S 55 . 
         [0073]    At step S 55 , the control circuit  140  stops energizing the heat generation elements of the print head  23  via the print drive circuit  31  and stops printing on the print-receiving tape  103 . 
         [0074]    Subsequently, at step S 60 , the control circuit  140  outputs a command signal instructing the transport roller driving circuit  35  to perform driving so as to start the transport roller motor  34  to rotate the feeding roller driving shaft  108 , thereby performing the tape feeding by a distance corresponding to a separation distance between the printing head  23  and the movable blade  41 . 
         [0075]    Subsequently, going to step S 65 , the control circuit  140  outputs a command signal instructing the transport roller driving circuit  35  to stop driving so as to stop the feeding roller driving shaft  108  rotated by the transport roller motor  34  and terminate the tape feeding, thereby achieving the standby state of waiting for cutting by the movable blade  41 . 
         [0076]    At step S 70 , the control circuit  140  determines based on the detection result of the movable blade sensor  36  described above whether the movable blade  41  cuts the boundary position in accordance with a manual operation of the cut lever  50 . If the user does not perform the manual operation as described above, the determination of step S 70  is negative (S 70 :NO) and the control circuit  140  continues waiting in a loop until the determination of step S 70  becomes affirmative. If the movable blade  41  cuts the boundary position in accordance with a manual operation of the cut lever  50 , the determination of step S 70  is affirmative (S 70 :YES) and this flow is then terminated. 
       Advantages of this Embodiment 
       [0077]    As described above, in this embodiment, the operation terminal  300  retains the printing job in the unsent state and, in this state, the tape printing device  1  searches for an operation terminal having a printing job conforming to the accepting condition (the tape width defined as the tape attribute in the example) of the tape printing device  1  and receives the printing job only from the conforming operation terminal  300  to generate the corresponding print label L. Therefore, even if the tape attribute of the printing job produced in the operation terminal  300  does not match that of the tape printing device  1 , the user only requires to go to the tape printing device  1  and replace the print-receiving tape  130  (replace the cartridge  9  in the example) to conform to the tape attribute of the printing job for producing the print label L corresponding to the printing job without operating the operation terminal  300  again to transmit the printing job (see  FIGS. 7B and 8C ). As a result, for example, the burdens of movement and operation described in the comparative example of  FIGS. 6A-6C  can be reduced and the convenience can therefore be improved. 
         [0078]    Particularly in this case, the search at step S 20  is triggered by the operation of the print button (or the power button) in the functional keys  4  (in other words, input of an action-starting operation). This eliminates the need to always keep the tape printing device  1  in a state of being capable of communication with the operation terminal  300  before the operation is performed and, for example, the tape printing device  1  can be kept in a power-off state. As a result, electric power saving can be achieved. The effect is made larger particularly when a battery supplies a power source voltage to operation mechanisms such as a feeding system (the transport roller motor  34  in the above description) and the printing head  23  (see a modification example described later). 
         [0079]    Particularly in this embodiment, at step S 20  of the flow shown in  FIG. 9 , the control circuit  140  searches for an operation terminal based on the communication history stored in the communication history storage part  144   a . As a result, the control circuit  140  can sequentially access and search a plurality of the operation terminals having communicated with the tape printing device  1  in the past and can smoothly and reliably determine the conformity of the printing job to the accepting condition. 
         [0080]    The present disclosure is not limited to the embodiment and can variously be modified without departing from the spirit and the technical ideas thereof. Such modification examples will hereinafter be described in order. In the modification examples, the parts equivalent to those of the embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals and will not be described or will be described in a simplified manner as needed. 
       (1) When User is Allowed to Select One Terminal at Time of Conflict of Multiple Operation Terminals 
       [0081]    For example, as shown in  FIG. 10 , the tape printing device  1  and two operation terminals  300 A,  300 B may be connected such that mutual communication can be performed via a communication network NW. In such a case, if the tape attribute of the printing jobs produced and retained on the operation terminals  300 A,  300 B matches the tape attribute of the printing-receiving tape  103  of the tape printing device  1  (i.e., if the two operation terminals  300 A,  300 B are hit at step S 25  of  FIG. 9 ), the printing jobs of these two operation terminals  300 A,  300 B conflict with each other. 
         [0082]    This modification example corresponds to such a case, and the display part  143  of the tape printing device  1  displays “which job is executed?” and, at the same time, displays contents of the printing job on the operation terminal  300 A (text characters “ABCD” in the shown example) and contents of the printing job on the operation terminal  300 B (text characters “EFGH” in the shown example) in a selectable state. When the operator operates, for example, the keyboard  3  to selects either one, the printing job is acquired from the selected operation terminal as described above and the corresponding print label L is produced. 
         [0083]    The same advantage as above is acquired also in this modification example. 
         [0000]    (2) When all Labels are Produced as Labels with Terminal Information at Time of Conflict of Multiple Operation Terminals 
         [0084]    In this modification example, when a plurality of the operation terminals  300 A,  300 B, etc. conflicts, the printing jobs of all the operation terminals  300 A,  300 B are sequentially executed to produce the print labels L instead of selecting any one operation terminal as in (1) described above. In this case, the terminal information is added to the print labels L. In particular, as shown in  FIG. 11 , both a print label L 1  of “ABCD” corresponding to the printing job retained by the operation terminal  300 A and a printing label L 2  of “EFGH” corresponding to the printing job retained by the operation terminal  300 B are sequentially produced. In this case, terminal information PCA (character representation “terminal A” in this example) corresponding to the operation terminal  300 A is added to the printing label L 1 , and terminal information PCA (character representation “terminal B” in this example) corresponding to the operation terminal  300 B is added to the print label L 2 . 
         [0085]    In addition to the same advantage as the embodiment, this modification example has the advantage that the print labels L corresponding to the respective printing jobs of a plurality of operation terminals can be produced and that the correspondence relationship of the print labels L 1 , L 2  and the operation terminals  300 A,  300 B can easily be identified in such a case. 
       (3) Other 
       [0086]    Although the operation terminals  300 ,  300 A,  300 B enter the standby state of waiting for the search from the tape printing device  1  in the above description when the search wait instruction button  202  of the input operation screen  200  is operated after a printing job is produced (see  FIG. 5 ), this operation may be eliminated and the operation terminals may enter the standby state immediately after completion of the production of the print job. In this case, the search wait instruction button  202  is eliminated. 
         [0087]    If the tape printing device  1  includes a battery storage part and a battery stored in the battery storage part supplies a power supply voltage to a plurality of operation mechanisms such as the feeding roller driving shaft  108  and the printing head  23  (in the case of a so-called battery-driven machine), the search from the tape printing device  1  may be started when the power button (not shown) giving a power-on instruction is turned on, instead of the operation of the print button. 
         [0088]    Also in the modification example, the same advantage as the embodiment can be acquired. 
         [0089]    In the above description, the arrows shown in  FIG. 4  indicate an example of signal flow and are not intended to limit the signal flow directions. 
         [0090]    The flowchart shown in  FIG. 9  is not intended to limit the present disclosure to the procedures shown in the flow and the procedures may be added/deleted or may be executed in different order without departing from the spirit and the technical ideas of the disclosure. 
         [0091]    The techniques of the embodiment and modification examples may appropriately be utilized in combination other than those described above.