Abstract:
Roll printing paper is provided at a high security level and a lower cost by accepting roll paper only corresponding to a printer. When printing paper is used by mounting it in a printer, a photosensor scans and reads an information code on the end face of a paper pipe while it is rotating, and a photosensor scans and reads an information code of roll paper, thereby determining whether or not they correspond to each other. If they correspond to each other, it is determined that the paper pipe is loaded with predetermined rotor. If they do not correspond to each other, it is determined that the paper pipe is loaded with wrong roll paper.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention relates to printing paper for use on a printer, and more specifically to long printing paper rolled around a core pipe.  
           [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art  
           [0004]    In a photoprinter and a thermal printer, roll paper is used. The roll paper is produced by rolling long printing paper or thermal paper around a core pipe (also referred to as a paper pipe) cylindrically formed by used corrugated paper, and cut in a predetermined size after printing. These printing paper and thermal paper are set on a printer and drawn as necessary each time printing is performed.  
           [0005]    Recently, a Print Club machine is mounted in a game arcade, a spa, a supermarket, etc. In the Print Club machine, a taken image is printed on roll paper, cut in a predetermined size, and presented to a user.  
           [0006]    Roll paper corresponding to the Print Club machine can output a high-quality print based on the congeniality between the Print Club machine and the roll paper in color amendment and portability.  
           [0007]    However, there are various types of roll paper distributed in the market, and there can be the case in which roll paper not appropriate for the Print Club machine is mounted in the Print Club machine. In this case, a standard roll paper core pipe can carry an identification mark for the Print Club machine. However, the identification mark does not work when the standard core pipe is rolled by roll paper of other vendors.  
           [0008]    Although Japanese Patent Application Publication Nos. 5-181884 and 6-325344 suggest methods of identifying roll paper, they require exclusive ink and readers, and it is hard to realize inexpensive systems in these methods.  
           [0009]    In the method of Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 5-71965, it is easy to apply a copied security mark to the paper, resulting in a wrong application.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0010]    The present invention has been developed to solve the above-mentioned problems, and aims at providing cheap and high-security-level roll printing paper which can be used only on the applicable Print Club machine.  
           [0011]    The present invention according to first aspect is printing paper for use on a printer, and includes: roll paper having an information code configured by arranging data marks in a scanning direction, and read by a first read sensor for scanning the information code on the printer; and a rotor rolled by the roll paper and has an information code arranged and configured circularly on a perimeter or an end face, and read by a second read sensor for scanning the information code on the printer when the rotor rotates.  
           [0012]    According to the present invention of the first aspect, when the printing paper is set on a printer, the second read sensor scans and reads the information code on the perimeter or the end face when the rotor rotates, and the first read sensor scans and reads the information code on the roll paper, thereby determining whether or not they correspond to each other. If they correspond to each other, it is determined that the rotor is rolled by designated roll paper. If they do not correspond to each other, it is determined that the rotor is rolled by wrong roll paper. According to the present invention of the first aspect, since wrong roll paper rolled around a rotor can be detected, a correct rotor loaded with wrong roll paper can be detected and rejected.  
           [0013]    The present invention according to second aspect comprises printing paper of the first aspect wherein the information code of the roll paper includes a unique security code assigned to a printer which uses the printing paper.  
           [0014]    According to the present invention of the second aspect, since the information code of the roll paper includes a unique security code assigned to a printer on which the printing paper is used, it is determined whether or not the information code of the roll paper corresponds to the information code of the rotor, and it is also determined whether or not the security code of the information code of the roll paper corresponds to the security code stored or held in, or transferred to the printer, etc., thereby double checking the codes. Since the security code is uniquely assigned to a printer on which the printing paper is used, it can be determined whether or not the user is using designated roll paper on the printer by determining whether or not the security code stored or held in, or transferred to the printer corresponds to the security code of the roll paper. According to the present invention of the second aspect, it is determined whether or not a user uses designated roll paper, and wrong roll paper can be more strictly rejected.  
           [0015]    The present invention according to third aspect comprises printing paper of the first aspect or the second aspect wherein the information code of the rotor includes a unique security code assigned to a printer which uses the printing paper.  
           [0016]    According to the present invention of the third aspect depending the first aspect, since the information code of the rotor includes a unique security code assigned to a printer on which the printing paper is used, it is determined whether or not the information code of the roll paper corresponds to the information code of the rotor, and it is also determined whether or not the security code of the information code of the rotor corresponds to the security code stored or held in, or transferred to the printer, etc., thereby double checking the codes. Since the security code is uniquely assigned to a printer on which the printing paper is used, it can be determined whether or not the user is using a designated rotor on the printer by determining whether or not the security code stored or held in, or transferred to the printer corresponds to the security code of the rotor. According to the present invention of the third aspect depending the first aspect, since it is determined whether or not a user uses a predetermined rotor on a printer, wrong roll paper can be more strictly rejected.  
           [0017]    According to the present invention of the third aspect depending the second aspect, since the information code of the roll paper and the information code of the rotor include a unique security code assigned to a printer on which the printing paper is used, it is determined whether or not the information code of the roll paper corresponds to the information code of the rotor, or without determining whether or not the information code of the roll paper corresponds to the information code of the rotor, and it is also determined whether or not the security code of the information code of the roll paper and the security code of the information code of the rotor correspond to the security code stored or held in, or transferred to the printer, etc., thereby double checking the codes. Since the security code is uniquely assigned to a printer on which the printing paper is used, it can be determined whether or not the user is using designated roll paper and rotor on the printer by determining whether or not the security code stored or held in, or transferred to the printer corresponds to the security code of the roll paper and the security code of the rotor. According to the present invention of the third aspect depending the second aspect, since it is determined whether or not a user uses predetermined roll paper and rotor on a printer, wrong roll paper can be more strictly rejected.  
           [0018]    The invention according to fourth aspect is printing paper, and includes: roll paper having an information code configured by arranging data marks in a scanning direction; and a rotor rolled by the roll paper and has an information code arranged and configured circularly on a peripheral face or an end face. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0019]    The nature of this invention, as well as other objects and advantages thereof, will be explained in the following with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the figures and wherein:  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 1 shows the outline of the printer for use on the Print Club machine;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the state of drawing a small amount of roll paper;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the information code of roll paper and the information code of a paper pipe;  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 4 shows the information recorded on the information code of roll paper and the information code of a paper pipe; and  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the procedure of comparing the security information portions contained in the read information code of roll paper and a paper pipe with the security code of the comparator. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0025]    The preferred embodiments of the printing paper according to the present invention are described below by referring to the attached drawings.  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 1 shows the outline of a printer  8  for use on the Print Club machine. The printer  8  is a sublimation printer which is a type of thermal transfer printer, sublimates ink by heating an ink ribbon to which solid ink is applied using a print head, and makes the ink adhere to the exclusive paper coated with polyester resin.  
         [0027]    In FIG. 1, a paper feed magazine  10  stores printing paper  11  which is the exclusive paper for the printing. The printing paper  11  is configured by rolling roll paper  12  around a paper pipe  13 . The paper pipe  13  is configured by a paper or plastic cylinder, and an information code  14  is recorded on an end face  13   a  of the paper pipe  13 . A paper holder  15  is embedded on both ends of the paper pipe  13 . The paper holder  15  has a rotation axis  15   a . The roll paper  12  is held such that it can freely rotate in the paper feed magazine  10  using the rotation axis  15   a.    
         [0028]    The paper feed magazine  10  is configured by a magazine body  10   a  and a magazine cover  10   b . A paper feed roller  16  and a roll paper bearing  17  are provided in the paper feed magazine  10 . The paper feed roller  16  feeds the roll paper  12  from the paper feed magazine  10  by touching the roll paper  12  and rotating in the direction indicated by the arrow A. By rotating in the direction indicated by the arrow B, the roll paper  12  can be rolled into the paper feed magazine  10 .  
         [0029]    The roll paper bearing  17  holds the rotation axis  15   a  of the paper holder  15  such that it can freely rotate. The roll paper bearing  17  is configured such that it freely travels in the direction of the paper feed roller, and the roll paper  12  can constantly touch the paper feed roller  16  although the diameter of the roll becomes smaller as the roll paper  12  is used. The paper feed roller  16  is driven by a paper feed motor  20 . The paper feed motor  20  is rotation-controlled by a system controller  22  through a driver  21 .  
         [0030]    During printing, the paper feed motor  20  turns the paper feed roller  16  in the paper feed direction (A direction) to feed the roll paper  12  to a printing unit  23 . A control signal is transmitted from the system controller  22  to the printing unit  23 , and the printing unit  23  heats using a print head an ink ribbon to which solid ink is applied, thereby sublimating the ink, and makes the sublimated ink adhere onto the roll paper  12 . After the adhesion, a control signal is transmitted from the system controller  22  to a driver  24 , and a cutter  25  operates through the driver  24 .  
         [0031]    The cutter  25  cuts the printed portion of the roll paper  12  off the unprinted portion. An output roller  26  sets the roll paper  12  in the cutting position. A roll paper  12   a  cut by the cutter  25  is ejected into a tray  27 .  
         [0032]    As shown in FIG. 1, the information code  14  is formed by arranging the data marks on the end face of the paper pipe  13 . When the printer  8  is powered up, the paper pipe  13  makes substantially one turn, and the information code  14  is read by a photosensor  30 , and a read signal is transmitted to an A/D converter  32 .  
         [0033]    [0033]FIG. 2 is an oblique view showing the state of drawing a small amount of roll paper  12 . As shown in FIG. 2, the roll paper  12  has an information code  42  configured by arranging data marks in the scanning direction. When the printing process is started, the paper feed roller  16  rotates in the A direction, one print page of the roll paper  12  is drawn, and the information code  42  of the roll paper  12  is read by a photosensor  40 , and a read signal is transmitted to the A/D converter  32 .  
         [0034]    A keyboard  28  which is an information input device and a display  29  which is an information display device are connected to the system controller  22 . An information read controller  31  is also connected to the system controller  22 , and the printer control information obtained by the information read controller  31  is transmitted to the system controller  22   
         [0035]    The information read controller  31  comprises the A/D converter  32 , a CPU  33 , ROM  34 , RAM  35  having data memory  35   a , and a comparator  38 . These A/D converter  32 , CPU  33 , ROM  34 , RAM  35 , and comparator  38  are connected through a bus  36 . The ROM  34  stores a unique security code provided for the printer  8 .  
         [0036]    The information code  42  of the roll paper  12  and the information code  14  of the paper pipe  13  are configured as shown in FIG. 3, and the information recorded respectively in the information codes  42  and  14  is shown in FIG. 4.  
         [0037]    The information code  42  and  14  has 11 data marks  0  to  10 , and only the data mark “1” is twice as wide as the others. The 11 data marks are repeatedly assigned as the information codes  42  and  14  in the longitudinal direction of the roll paper  12  and circularly about the paper pipe  13 .  
         [0038]    The data marks “0” and “1” indicate the types of paper, that is, standard paper and sticker respectively. The data mark “1” is also an indicator indicative of a print starting position.  
         [0039]    The data marks “2”, “3”, “4”, “5”, and “6” indicate security codes. The security codes are configured to correspond to designated printers.  
         [0040]    The data marks “7” and “8” indicate the paper sizes for the information code  42  of the roll paper  12 , and the paper amendment value for the information code  14  of the paper pipe  13 . The paper amendment value indicates the sensitivity of paper. The data marks “7” and “8” are also configured to correspond to designated printers.  
         [0041]    The data marks “9” and “10” indicate the class of paper. That is, for example, the Print Club machine output ¼ stickers or ⅛ stickers. The data marks “9” and “10” are also configured to correspond to designated printers.  
         [0042]    Described below is how the information code  42  of the roll paper  12  and the information code  14  of the paper pipe  13  are actually read and operate the printer  8 .  
         [0043]    When the printer  8  is powered up, the paper pipe  13  makes substantially one turn, the information code  14  is read by the photosensor  30 , and the read signal is transmitted to the A/D converter  32 . The printer  8  is powered up when, for example, a shop or an arcade of the Print Club machine opens its doors. The read signal transmitted to the A/D converter  32  is stored in the data memory  35   a  of the RAM  35 .  
         [0044]    Before starting printing, the security codes stored in the ROM  34  are sequentially transmitted to the comparator  38 .  
         [0045]    When the printing operation is started, roll paper of one print page of the paper feed roller  16  is drawn as it rotates in the A direction. While it is drawn, the information code  42  of the roll paper  12  is read by the photosensor  40 , and the read signal is transmitted to the A/D converter  32 . The read signal transmitted to the A/D converter  32  is stored in the data memory  35   a  of the RAM  35 .  
         [0046]    The security information portions contained in the information codes  14  and  42  are sequentially transmitted to the comparator  38 , and compared with the security codes of the comparator  38 . FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the comparison.  
         [0047]    First, the security information portion of the information code  42  of the roll paper  12  is compared with the security code of the printer  8  of the comparator  38  (step  50 ). If the comparison result is “non-matching”, it is determined that the printer  8  is not loaded with designated roll paper, and printing is not performed (step  56 ). If the comparison result is “matching”, control is passed to the next step  52 .  
         [0048]    In step  52 , the security information portion of the information code  14  of the paper pipe  13  is compared with the security code of the printer  8  of the comparator  38 . If the comparison result is “non-matching”, it is determined that the printer  8  is not loaded with a designated paper pipe, and printing is not performed (step  56 ). If the comparison result is “matching”, it is determined that the printer  8  is loaded with designated roll paper and paper pipe, and printing is performed (step  54 ).  
         [0049]    The procedure shown in FIG. 5 is controlled by the CPU  33 .  
         [0050]    As described above, in the printing paper  11 , a higher level of security can be guaranteed at a lower cost by providing the roll paper  12  and the paper pipe  13  respectively with the information codes  42  and  14 .  
         [0051]    That is, only assigning an information code to a paper pipe is not sufficient to protect the security because wrong roll paper can be loaded on the paper pipe. However, according to the present embodiment, it is necessary for a user to correctly prepare both roll paper and a paper pipe. As a result, wrong printing paper cannot be used.  
         [0052]    Furthermore, although the paper amendment value cannot be recorded due to the restriction on the number of data marks by using only the information code  42  of the roll paper  12 , the value can be recorded using the information code  14  of the paper pipe  13  according to the present embodiment, thereby enhancing the quality of the printed image.  
         [0053]    Additionally, according to the present embodiment, a security code is assigned to the comparator  38 , and it is determined whether or not the security code corresponds to the information code  42  of the roll paper  12 , and whether of not the security code corresponds to the information code  14  of the paper pipe  13 . It is also possible to directly determine whether or not the information code  42  of the roll paper  12  corresponds to the information code  14  of the paper pipe  13 .  
         [0054]    It should be understood, however, that there is no intention to limit the invention to the specific forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the invention is to cover all modifications, alternate constructions and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.