APPARATUS FOR RECORDING IMAGE COVERED BY PROTECTIVE MEDIUM

Abstract: A tape printer including: a recording tape (220); a tape feeding device (236, 238, 240, 24, 244, 246) for feeding said recording tape in a longitudinal direction of said tape; a recording head (72) for recording an image on one of the opposite surfaces of said recording tape (220); a substantially transparent covering tape (23) for covering said surface of said recording tape on which said image is recorded; and guide and presser means (98, 99, 100) for guiding said recording tape and said covering tape such that a recorded portion of said recording tape having said image recorded thereon is covered by said covering tape and said tapes are pressed together.

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates in general to a recording apparatus for printing an image such that the printed image is protected by a protective layer, and more particularly to a printer capable of printing an image such that the image printed on a recording medium such as a tape is covered by a protective covering tape. Discussion of the Prior Art A tape printer for printing on a tape rather than on an ordinary recording sheet is known. The tape printer usually has a tape feeding device for feeding the tape in its longitudinal direction, and a printing mechanism for effecting printing on the tape. However, this type of tape printer does not have a function of protecting the printed surface of the tape. The printed image on the tape therefore tends to be subject to partial or complete erasure due to rubbing or frequent contact of the printed surface. Further, the printed image may be blurred or erased due to exposure to some chemical materials. For example, the printed tape segments are stuck on bottles which contain pharmaceuticals, in order to identify the contents of the bottles. In this case, the printed surface of the tape segments used as such labels may be exposed to the pharmaceuticals. In any event, the image printed on the exposed surface of the tape may be partially or totally erased, blurred or otherwise influenced by the environments. Laid-open publications Nos. 60-13551, 61-31260 and 61-148064 of unexamined Japanese Patent Applications show recording apparatus in which a desired image is printed by recording means such as a thermal print head, on a transparent recording medium such as a transparent film sheet, by means of an inking material such as an ink ribbon, such that the printed image as viewed in the direction toward the printed surface is laterally reversed with respect to the corresponding nominal image normally viewed by the reader. The laterally reversed image printed on one surface of the recording medium is seen as the nominal image when viewed through the thickness of the medium, in the direction toward the other surface of the medium. US-A-4564411 shows a label producing apparatus which is an accessory to a typewriter or printer having a platen. Labelling tape is fed with its longitudinal direction wound round the platen to be printed thereon, with the printing being very limited in that it extends transverse of the labelling tape. According to the invention, there is provided a tape printer including: a recording tape; a tape feeding device for feeding said recording tape in a longitudinal direction of said tape; a recording head for recording an image on one of the opposite surfaces of said recording tape; a substantially transparent covering tape for covering said surface of said recording tape on which said image is recorded; and guide and presser means for guiding said recording tape and said covering tape such that a recorded portion of said recording tape having said image recorded thereon is covered by said covering tape and said tapes are pressed together, characterised in that the recording head is at a fixed position on said printer and in that the tape feeding device passes the tape longitudinally past said recording head so that in use the head prints longitudinally along the tape. In the above recording apparatus constructed according to the invention, the printed surface of the recording tape is protected by the covering layer which has a sufficient degree of transparency. Therefore, the printed image can be viewed by the unaided eye through the transparent covering layer. Further, the image is protected by the covering layer against rubbing or contact, or exposure to pharmaceuticals or other chemical substances, and is consequently free of partial or complete erasure. Thus, the instant recording apparatus assures comparatively improved life expectancy of the printed image, and permits wider use of the recorded tape. The covering tape may have an adhesive layer by which it is to be bonded to the recording tape. There may be a pair of presser rollers disposed downstream of said recording head as viewed in a direction of feed of said recording tape by said tape feeding device, said presser rollers defining therebetween a pressure nip. The recording tape may have an adhesive layer on the other of said opposite surfaces thereof, and a release layer covering said first adhesive layer. In one form of the invention, the recording head is adapted to record the image on the recording tape by superposing an ink ribbon on the recording tape and transferring an inking material from the ink ribbon to the above-indicated one surface of the recording tape. The apparatus may further include one or more of recording tape supply means for supplying the recording tape, covering tape supply means for supplying the covering tape, ink ribbon supply means for supplying the ink ribbon, and ink ribbon feeding means for feeding the ink ribbon past the recording head. The recording tape supply means may include a rotatably supported supply spool having a roll of the recording tape mounted thereon, and be adapted to apply a resistance to a feeding movement of the recording tape by the tape feeding device. The covering tape supply means may include a rotatably supported supply spool having a roll of the covering tape mounted thereon, and be adapted to apply a resistance to a feeding movement of the covering tape. The ink ribbon supply means may include a rotatably supported supply spool having a roll of the ink ribbon mounted thereon, and be adapted to apply a resistance to a movement of the ink ribbon. The ink ribbon feeding means may include a rotatably supported take-up spool for taking up the ink ribbon. As mentioned, the guide and presser means can comprise a pair of presser rollers disposed downstream of the recording head as viewed in a direction of feed of the recording tape by the tape feeding device, for superposing a covering tape on a recorded portion of the recording tape on which the image has been recorded. The presser rollers define therebetween a pressure nip through which are passed the recorded portion of the recording tape and the covering tape which have been superposed, whereby the recorded portion and the covering tape are secured to each other. The tape feeding device can comprise a drive source for rotating at least one of the presser rollers for feeding the recording tape and the covering tape whereby the presser rollers serve as part of the tape feeding device. The invention will be more clearly understood from the following description which is given by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:- Fig. 1 is a partly cut-away view in perspective of an embodiment of the tape printer of the invention; Fig. 2 is a fragmentary plan view of the tape printer of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an elevational view in cross section of a printed tape covered by a protective tape, which is produced by the tape printer of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is an elevational view in cross section of a tape feeding and ink ribbon take-up drive mechanism of the tape printer of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a view taken in a direction of arrow XXIII of Fig. 3; Fig. 6 is a fragmentary plan view of a further embodiment of the tape printer of the invention; Fig. 7 is an elevational view in cross section of a printed tape covered by a protective tape, which is produced by the tape printer of Fig. 6; and Fig. 8 is a view taken in a direction of arrow XXVI of Fig. 7. Referring now to Figs. 1 to 8, an embodiment of the present invention will be described. Fig. 1 there is shown a general arrangement of the tape printer, which has an apparatus body 12 which consists of a front section incorporating a data input section 10, and a rear section incorporating a printing section 14 adapted to effect printing according to input data entered through the data input section 10. The data input section 10 has a data entry member in the form of a character entry dial 16 which is rotatable to enter desired characters to be printed. The character entry dial 16 assumes an annular shape, and has an annular indicator surface 17 on which are provided two circular rows of indicia such that the indicia of each row are equally spaced apart from each other along the annulus of the indicator surface 17. The indicia represent a multiplicity of characters such as letters (Japanese "kana" letters, English alphabetic letters and numerals), symbols and graphic representations. The data input section 10 further has a pointer 18 disposed adjacent to the outer circumference of the character entry dial 16. The pointer 18 is used to zero the dial 16, and position the dial 16 for selecting the desired character. Inside the character entry dial 16, there is concentrically disposed a CONFIRMATION key 20 which is operated to enter the selected character. When one of the two characters of the outer and inner rows of indicia which are aligned with the pointer 18 is desired, the CONFIRMATION key 20 is operated, together with an OUT/IN selector key 25 (which will be described). As a result, the character of the outer or inner row of indicia selected by the OUT/IN selector key 25 is selected and entered as the desired character. The currently designated characters aligned with the pointer 18 are sequentially indicated on a liquid crystal display 22 provided on the data input section 10. The data input section 10 further has various function keys 36 disposed adjacent to the character entry dial 16. The function keys 36 include a SPACING selector key 24 for designating the spacing between successive characters to be printed, a SIZE selector key 26 for designating the size of the character, the above-indicated OUT/IN selector key 25, an INSERT key 28, a DELETE key 30, a KANA/CHINESE CHARACTER conversion key 32 for converting an entered "kana" word into a Chinese character word, a SEARCH key 34 for searching and designating a desired Chinese character or word, and a PRINT key 35 for effecting the printing of the entered data. In the present embodiment, a recording medium in the form of a tape 220 with a release layer (hereinafter referred to as "recording tape") is supplied from a supply spool 90 on a spool shaft 92. It is turned by a guide roller 98 and is fed in its longitudinal direction, past a recording thermal head 72, along a predetermined feed path defined through the printing section 14, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. In the instant tape printer, the thermal head 72 which normal to the direction of feed of the tape 220 is positioned such that its row of heat-generating elements faces the front surface of the recording tape 220. Further details of operation may be appreciated from study of our application 88310116.4 (EP-A-0315369, published 10.5.89) which concerns apparatus having many similarities to that of the present invention. A roll of the ink ribbon 74 is accommodated in a ribbon cassette 78. More specifically, the ink ribbon 74 is supplied from the roll mounted on a supply spool 80 in the ribbon cassette 78 as shown in Fig. 2, and is fed between the thermal head 72 and the platen roller 76. The used length of the ink ribbon 74 is rewound on a take-up spool 82 in the ribbon cassette 78. The thermal head 72 prints a normally oriented (non-laterally-reversed) image on the front surface of the recording tape 220, as in an ordinary printer. The instant tape printer uses a platen roller 218 which functions solely as a platen for supporting the recording tape 220. The platen roller 218 is freely rotatably supported and is biased by a suitable biasing device (not shown) toward the thermal head 72, so that the ink ribbon 74 and the recording tape 70 are forced by the platen roller 218 against the head-generating elements of the thermal head 72. As shown in the cross sectional view of Fig. 3, the recording tape 220 consists of a paper-based substrate 222, an adhesive layer 224 formed on the substrate 222, and a release layer 226 covering the adhesive layer 224. In Fig. 3, the thicknesses of the individual layers of the tape 220 are enlarged for easy understanding. A roll of a transparent covering tape 230 is supported by a supply spool 104 on a shaft 106 which is disposed on the side of the ribbon cassette 78 remote from the supply spool 90 for the recording tape 220. This covering tape 230 consists of a transparent film layer 232, and a transparent adhesive layer 234 formed on the film layer 232, as shown in Fig. 3. The covering tape 230 is bonded at its adhesive layer 234 to the printed front surface of the recording tape 220, by means of rollers 236, 238. The rollers 236, 238 are biased toward each other, and are rotated in the opposite directions. A drive system for driving these rollers 236, 238 is illustrated in Fig. 4. The drive system includes a gear 240 rotated with the roller 236, and a gear (not shown) rotated with the roller 238. The gear 240 is connected through an intermediate gear 242 to a pinion 246 fixed to the output shaft of a tape feeding motor 244. The pinion 246 is connected through an intermediate gear 248 to a take-up gear 250. The take-up gear 250 is formed concentrically and integrally with a spool drive shaft 252. The take-up spool 82 of the ribbon cassette 78 is fixedly fit on the spool drive shaft 252. A spring washer 256 and a felt member 258 are disposed between the spool drive shaft 252 and a baseplate 254 of the apparatus body 12. The take-up gear 250 may slip on the spool drive shaft 252 when a torque exceeding a given value is applied to the take-up gear 250. An operation of the instant tape printer to print characters on the recording tape 220 as indicated in Fig. 5 will be described. Initially, the character entry dial 16 is rotated until the indicia on the indicator surface 17 is aligned with the pointer 18. The microcomputer 174 receives a signal from the photoelectric sensor 50, and determines the character aligned with the pointer 18, based on the rotating direction and amount of the dial 16 which are determined based on the received signal. The determined character is displayed on the liquid crystal display 22. The dot-matrix pattern data representative of the Japanese "kana" letter is temporarily stored in the input buffer of the RAM 184, when the CONFIRMATION key 20 is pressed while the indicia is aligned with the pointer 18. At the same time, the cursor on the display 22 is moved one position to the right from under the displayed letter . Similarly, the next Japanese "kana" letter is selected and entered. Then, the data representative of the entered Japanese "kana" word is converted into the data representative of the corresponding Chinese character by operating the KANA/CHINESE CHARACTER conversion key 32. The data of the Chinese character is stored in the print buffer of the RAM 184. Similar procedure is used for the Chinese character . With the PRINT key 35 operated, the Chinese characters are printed in this order on the recording tape 220. More specifically, the heat-generating elements of the thermal head 72 are selectively energized according to the data stored in the print buffer, in timed relation with the feeding movement of the tape 220 by the rollers 236, 238. Consequently, the ink material is transferred from the local portions of the ink ribbon 74 corresponding to the energized heat-generating elements, to the substrate 222 of the recording tape 220, whereby an image 260 is produced as indicated in Figs. 3 and 5. While the tape 220 is fed by the rollers 236, 238, the protective covering tape 230 is superposed on the printed portion of the tape 220 and passed through the pressure nip of the rollers 236, 238, together with the tape 220. The protective covering tape 230 is wound as a roll on the supply spool 104 such that the transparent film layer 232 is on the inner side of the roll while the adhesive layer 234 is on the outer side. Therefore, the protective covering tape 230 is delivered so that the adhesive layer 234 comes into contact with the printed front surface of the recording tape 220, i.e., the surface of the substrate 222 which bears the printed image 260. With the thus superposed tapes 220, 230 passed through the pressure nip of the rollers 236, 238, these tapes 220, 230 are bonded together into a printed multi-layered tape 262, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2. The prepared multi-layered tape 262 is cut into segments by a suitable cutting device disposed downstream of the rollers 236, 238. In the present embodiment, the rollers 236, 238 and tape feeding motor 244 for feeding the tape 220 also serve as covering means for covering the printed surface of the recording tape 220 by the transparent protective covering tape 230. The multi-layered tape 262 having the printed tape 220 protected by the covering tape 230 may be easily stuck at its adhesive layer 224, on the surface of a desired object, by removing the release layer 226. However, the adhesive layer 224 and release layer 226 are not essential elements of the recording tape 220. In the present embodiment, the recording tape 220 is fed to the left as viewed in the direction from the thermal head 72 toward the front surface of the tape 220, and the characters are normally printed by the thermal head 72, as normally seen by the reader, in the order of entry of the characters. In this arrangement, the operator of the printer can easily confirm the printed characters on the tape 220. However, the recording tape 220 may be fed to the right as viewed in the direction from the head 72 toward the tape surface, as in a modified embodiment of Fig. 6. In this instance, the positions of the supply spools 90, 104, rollers 98, 218, 236, 238 and ribbon cassette 78 are laterally reversed with respect to the arrangement of Fig. 2. Further, the image printed on the recording tape 220 is vertically inverted as indicated at 260a in Figs. 7 and 8, with respect to the image 260 produced according to the preceding embodiment of Figs. 1 - 5. The inversion is effected by the character generator CG-ROM 186. In the embodiments of Figs. 1 - 8, the transparent protective covering tape 230 is bonded to the recording tape 220 by an adhesive of the adhesive layer 234. However, the protective covering tape 230 may be replaced by a covering tape which is softened by heat and secured to the tape 220 under pressure. While the rollers 236, 238 serve not only as the tape feeding device but also as the device for applying the covering tape 230 to the tape 220, it is possible that the rollers 236, 238 are freely rotatably supported and serve solely for applying the tape 230 to the tape 220, and an exclusive pair of feed rollers are provided downstream of the rollers 236, 238, such that the feed rollers are positively driven for feeding the tapes 220, 230. Further, the protective covering tape need not be transparent and may be a semi-transparent tape or other suitable material which has a sufficient degree of transparency. Furthermore, the paper-based substrate 222 of the recording tape 220 may be replaced by a transparent film layer or other transparent layer. While the present invention has been described in its presently preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention may be embodied with various changes, modifications and improvements, within the scope of the claims.

Claims: A tape printer including: a recording tape (220); a tape feeding device (236, 238, 240, 24, 244, 246) for feeding said recording tape in a longitudinal direction of said tape; a recording head (72) for recording an image on one of the opposite surfaces of said recording tape (220); a substantially transparent covering tape (230) for covering said surface of said recording tape on which said image is recorded; and guide and presser means (98, 99, 100) for guiding said recording tape and said covering tape such that a recorded portion of said recording tape having said image recorded thereon is covered by said covering tape and said tapes are pressed together, characterised in that the recording head (72) is at a fixed position on said printer and in that the tape feeding device (236,238,240,24,244,246) passes the tape longitudinally past said recording head so that in use the head prints longitudinally along the tape. A tape printer according to claim 1, wherein the covering tape (230) has an adhesive layer (234) by which it is to be bonded to the recording tape (220). A tape printer according to claim 1 or 2 including a pair of presser rollers (236, 238) disposed downstream of said recording head (72) as viewed in a direction of feed of said recording tape by said tape feeding device, said presser rollers defining therebetween a pressure nip. A tape printer according to claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein said recording tape has an adhesive layer (234) on the other of said opposite surfaces thereof, and a release layer (226) covering said first adhesive layer. A tape printer according to any preceding claim further comprising an ink ribbon (74) carrying an ink material, and ink ribbon supply means (80, 82) for supplying said ink ribbon such that said ink ribbon is superposed on said recording tape so that said recording head (72) records said image on said recording tape by transferring said ink material from said ink ribbon to said other surface of said recording tape. A tape printer according to claim 5 wherein said inking ribbon extends in the same direction as the tape. A tape printer according to claim 5 or 6, wherein said ink ribbon supply means includes a supply spool (80) having a roll of said ink ribbon (74) mounted thereon, said apparatus further comprising ink ribbon feeding means having a take-up spool (82) for feeding said ink ribbon from said supply spool of said ink ribbon supply means to said take-up spool, past said recording head. A tape printer according to claim 5, 6 or 7, wherein said ink ribbon supply means includes means for applying a resistance to a movement of said ink ribbon. A tape printer according to claim 7 or 8, wherein said tape feeding device and said ink ribbon feeding means comprises a common drive motor for rotating at least one of said presser rollers, and said take-up spool. A tape printer according to claim 5, 6, 7,8, or 9, wherein the ink ribbon supply means includes a cassette containing a or the supply spool (80) and a or the take-up spool (82). A tape printer according to any preceding claim, wherein the recording head is on a thermal printer. A tape printer according to any preceding claim, further comprising covering tape supply means including a supply spool (104) having a roll of said covering tape (230) mounted thereon, said covering tape supply means in use feeding said covering tape from said supply spool to said guide and presser means. A tape printer according to claim 12, wherein said covering tape supply means includes means for applying a resistance to movement of said covering tape. A tape printer according to any preceding claim, further comprising recording tape supply means including a supply spool (90) having a roll of said recording tape (220) mounted thereon, said recording tape supply means in use feeding said recording tape from said supply spool thereof to said guide and presser rollers. A tape printer according to claim 14, wherein said recording tape supply means includes means for applying a resistance to a movement of said recording tape. A tape printer according to any preceding claim wherein said guide and presser means includes a guide roll. A tape printer according to any preceding claim, wherein the recording head is located between the tape and an operator's normal position and the tape passes from right to left as viewed by the operator.

Inventors: ISHIKAWA, YUJIRO, KATO, MIKIO, KUZUYA, SUSUMU, SAKAI, TAKASHI, SHIMIZU, SEIJI, YUKI, EIJI, Ishikawa, Yujiro, c/o Brother Kogyo Kabushiki K., Kato, Mikio, c/o Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha, KUZUYA, SUSUMU, C/O BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA, Sakai, Takashi, c/o Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha, Shimizu, Seiji, c/o Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha, Yuki, Eiji, c/o Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
Applicants: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Application year: 1988
Main classification: B41J2
IPC codes: B41J2