Patent Publication Number: US-2022227148-A1

Title: Printer

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to a printer. 
     BACKGROUND ART 
     JP6403966B discloses a printer that performs printing on a label attached temporally to one surface of a label continuous body, and has a transmissive sensor provided on an upstream side of a printing unit. The transmissive sensor includes a light emitting element that emits detection light for detecting the label, and a light receiving element that is arranged to face the light emitting element with the label interposed in between and receives the detection light. 
     In the printer described above, the transmissive sensor is configured to be a sensor unit having the light emitting element and the light receiving element respectively provided to an upper sensor attachment holder and a lower sensor attachment holder. The sensor unit is arranged to make the label continuous body inserted between the upper sensor attachment holder and the lower sensor attachment holder. 
     With this configuration, the label can be detected when the label continuous body conveyed passes between the upper sensor attachment holder and the lower sensor attachment holder. 
     SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
     The printer as described above may be provided with a communication unit for communicating with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), so that a printing medium having an RFID can be used. 
     In this context, the communication unit has been demanded to have the position adjustable so that an excellent communication state can be maintained in accordance with various shapes and sizes of the printing medium as well as the position of an IC chip which varies depending on the arrangement of the RFID. 
     The printer disclosed in JP6403966B, however, has a substrate, on which the light emitting element or the light receiving element are formed, provided to the upper sensor attachment holder and the lower sensor attachment holder, meaning that the sensor unit is structured to be thick on the back surface side of the surface facing the label continuous body. Thus, there has been a problem in that a desirable movable area of the communication unit is difficult to secure. 
     In view of this, an object of the present invention is to enable the movable area of the communication unit to be secured, without hindering communications. 
     According to an aspect of the present invention, a printer is provided that is configured to perform printing on a printing medium having an RFID, and includes: a communication unit that includes a communicator provided to be movable in a predetermined area along a conveyance surface of the printing medium, and is configured to communicate with an IC chip of the RFID; and a detection unit configured to detect the printing medium using detection light, wherein the detection unit includes: a light emitter configured to emit the detection light; a light guiding member configured to guide the detection light, emitted from the light emitter, to the printing medium; and a light receiver configured to receive the detection light through the printing medium. 
     According to an aspect of the present invention, the light guiding member configured to guide the detection light, emitted from the light emitter, to the printing medium is provided. With this configuration, the light emitter can be arranged with a higher degree of freedom, and thus can be arranged at a position not hindering the movement of the communication unit. Thus, the movable area of the communication unit can be secured without hindering the communications. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic view illustrating a configuration of a printer according to a first embodiment of the present invention, 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic view illustrating a communication unit and a detection unit of the printer according to the first embodiment, 
         FIG. 3  is a side view as viewed in an arrow III illustrated in  FIG. 2 , 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic view illustrating a communication unit and a detection unit according to a second embodiment of the present invention, 
         FIG. 5  is a side view as viewed in an arrow V in  FIG. 4 , 
         FIG. 6  is a flowchart illustrating adjustment processing executed by the communication unit of the printer according to the first embodiment and the printer according to the second embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
     First Embodiment 
     A printer  1  according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings.  FIG. 1  is a schematic view illustrating a configuration of the printer  1  according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 
     The printer  1  is of a thermal transfer type, and performs printing by transferring ink on an ink ribbon R onto a printing medium M by heating the ink ribbon R. The printing medium M is formed as a continuous body ML that has a strip shaped mount on which a plurality of labels are sequentially and detachably attached at a predetermined pitch and is rolled into a roll shape, for example. 
     The printing medium M incorporates a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)  110 . Note that the printer  1  can also perform printing on a printing medium not having the RFID  110 . This RFID is an RFID inlet including an IC chip C and an antenna A. 
     The printer  1  prints, on a printing region of the printing medium M, variable information such as product information such as a price, a barcode, and management information on items and services as appropriate, and also writes information corresponding to the variable information to the IC chip C of the RFID  110  as electronic data. 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 1 , the printer  1  includes, for example, a printing mechanism  10 , a ribbon supply shaft  20 , a ribbon winding shaft  30 , a medium supply shaft  40 , a detection unit  50  for detecting the printing medium M, and a communication unit  60  that communicates with the IC chip C of the RFID  110 . The printing medium M is printed and conveyed in the printer  1 , under the control of an unillustrated controller. 
     The printing mechanism  10  includes a head unit  11  and a platen roller  12 , and performs printing on the printing medium M and conveyance of the continuous body ML and the ink ribbon R. 
     The thermal head  13  is held by the head unit  11  while having a heating element exposed on the lower surface. The platen roller  12  is disposed immediately below the thermal head  13 , and forms, with the thermal head  13 , the printing unit  15  that performs printing on the printing medium M. 
     The head unit  11  is supported by the supporting shaft  14  to be slidable in a direction indicated by an arrow in  FIG. 1 . The head unit  11  can be moved between a head open position at which the thermal head  13  is separated from the platen roller  12 , and a head close position at which the thermal head  13  is in contact with the platen roller  12 . In  FIG. 1 , the head unit  11  is at the head close position. 
     The ribbon supply shaft  20  holds the ink ribbon R, supplied to the printing unit  15 , in a roll shape. The ink ribbon R supplied from the ribbon supply shaft  20  to the printing unit  15  is clamped between the thermal head  13  and the platen roller  12 . 
     The medium supply shaft  40  holds the continuous body ML, supplied to the printing unit  15 , in a roll shape. The continuous body ML supplied from the medium supply shaft  40  to the printing unit  15  is clamped between the thermal head  13  and the platen roller  12  together with the ink ribbon R. 
     When the heating emitting element of the thermal head  13  is supplied with power in the state where the printing medium M and the ink ribbon R are clamped between thermal head  13  and the platen roller  12 , the heat of the heating element causes transfer of the ink on the ink ribbon R onto the printing medium M, and thus printing on the printing medium M is performed. When a platen drive motor (not illustrated) makes the platen roller  12  rotate in the positive direction, the continuous body ML and the ink ribbon R are conveyed toward the downstream side. 
     The ink ribbon R after the use is wound on the outer circumference of the ribbon winding shaft  30  rotating due to the gear coupling with the platen drive motor. When the head unit  11  is at the head open position, only the ink ribbon R can be fed by rotating the ribbon winding shaft  30 . 
     The detection unit  50  is a sensor that detects the position of the printing medium M in the continuous body ML, and detects a gap between the printing medium M and the printing medium M in the continuous body ML and the like in the present embodiment. The printer  1  can detect a relative position of the printing medium M with respect to the printing unit  15 , based on the gap between the printing media M detected by the detection unit  50 . 
     The communication unit  60  includes a communicator  61  and a moving mechanism  62 . The communicator  61  includes an antenna that transmits a signal to the IC chip C of the RFID  110  and receives a response to the signal. The moving mechanism  62  is a mechanism that makes the communicator  61  movable in a predetermined area (hereinafter, referred to as an area S) along the conveyance surface of the printing medium M. The communicator  61  and the moving mechanism  62  are covered by a cover  63 . The detection unit  50  and the communication unit  60  will be described in detail later. 
     The printer  1  further includes an upstream side position detection sensor  71  and a downstream side position detection sensor  72  for detecting the printing medium M. 
     The continuous body ML has eye marks for position detection, provided at a predetermined pitch corresponding to the printing medium M. The upstream side position detection sensor  71  detects the eye marks. The printer  1  can detect the relative position of the printing medium M with respect to the printing unit  15 , with the upstream side position detection sensor  71  detecting the eye marks. In present embodiment, a reflective photoelectric sensor is used as the upstream side position detection sensor  71 . 
     The downstream side position detection sensor  72  is a sensor for detecting a leading edge position of the continuous body ML. 
     In the present embodiment, a transmissive photo electric sensor is used as the downstream side position detection sensor  72 . 
     Relative positions of the upstream side position detection sensor  71  and the downstream side position detection sensor  72  with respect to the position of the printing unit  15  are predetermined. The position of the printing unit  15  is a position where the thermal head  13  performs printing on the printing medium M, and a position where the platen roller  12  and the thermal head  13  clamp the continuous body ML. With this configuration, the printer  1  can detect the relative position of the printing medium M with respect to the printing unit  15 , using the upstream side position detection sensor  71  and the downstream side position detection sensor  72 . 
     The eye mark and the gap between the printing media M detected by the upstream side position detection sensor  71  and the detection unit  50  serve as a reference for setting the position (printing start position) at which the printing on the printing medium M starts. 
     Next, the detection unit  50  and the communication unit  60  of the present embodiment will be described. 
       FIG. 2  is a plan view of the detection unit  50  and the communication unit  60  of the present embodiment.  FIG. 3  is a side view as viewed in an arrow III in  FIG. 2 . 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 3 , the detection unit  50  includes a light emitter  51  that emits detection light for detecting the printing medium M, a light guiding member  52  that guides the detection light emitted from the light emitter  51  to the printing medium M, a light receiver  53  that receives the detection light through the printing medium M. 
     The detection unit  50  includes a lower side unit  50 A and an upper side unit  50 B. The lower side unit  50 A is provided with the light emitter  51  and the light guiding member  52 . The upper side unit  50 B is provided with the light receiver  53 . The detection unit  50  forms what is known as a transmissive photo electric sensor. 
     The light emitter  51  and the light guiding member  52  are arranged on one surface side of the printing medium M (continuous body ML), and the light receiver  53  is arranged on the other surface side. Thus, the detection unit  50  is arranged adjacent to the communication unit  60 , with the continuous body ML sandwiched between the lower side unit  50 A and the upper side unit  50 B. In  FIG. 2 , the continuous body ML is indicated by a two dot chain line. 
     With the detection unit  50 , the printer  1  can detect the gap between the printing media M based on a difference in light intensity between the detection light that has reached the light receiver  53  through the mount, and the detection light that has reached the light receiver  53  through the mount and the printing medium M. 
     The light emitter  51  is arranged outside the area S in which the communicator  61  is movable (see  FIG. 2 ), in the width direction of the printing medium M (W direction in  FIG. 2 ). 
     The light emitter  51  includes a light emitter substrate  55  provided with a light emitting element  54  emitting the detection light. The mounting surface of the light emitter substrate  55  is arranged to be orthogonal to the conveyance surface of the printing medium M and to be parallel to the conveyance direction of the printing medium M. 
     The light guiding member  52  is provided between the light receiver  53  and the communication unit  60  in the width direction of the printing medium M. The light guiding member  52  is provided at a position close to the communication unit  60 . 
     The light guiding member  52  has one end portion  521  facing the light emitting element  54  and has the other end portion  522  inclined to change the traveling direction of the detection light, emitted from the light emitter  51 , to a direction toward the light receiver  53 . 
     Thus, in the present embodiment, the end portion  521  of the light guiding member  52  may be in a shape of a column with a cross section, orthogonal to the traveling direction of the detection light, shaped and sized to be capable of receiving the detection light. Specifically, the light guiding member  52  may have a rectangular parallelepiped or cylindrical shape. In the present embodiment, the end portion  522  positioned on the light receiver  53  side of the light guiding member  52  is inclined by 45° relative to the conveyance surface. Thus, the detection light guided to the light guiding member  52  from the light emitting element  54  can have the direction changed to the vertical direction by this inclined surface, to enter the light receiver  53 . 
     The light receiver  53  includes a light receiver substrate  57  provided with a light receiving element  56  receiving the detection light, with the light receiving element  56  arranged to face the end portion  522  (emission port) of the light guiding member  52 . With this configuration, the light receiver  53  can receive the detection light guided by the light guiding member  52  and transmitted through the continuous body ML. 
     The detection unit  50  is configured to be movable in the width direction of the printing medium M indicated by an arrow D in  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3 , without changing the positional relationship between the light receiving element  56  and the end portion  522  (emission port) of the light guiding member  52 . 
     As described above, the lower side unit  50 A of the detection unit  50  is configured in such a manner that the light emitter  51  is arranged outside the area S and the detection light from the light emitter  51  is guided by the light guiding member  52 . Thus, as illustrated in  FIG. 3 , a thickness d 1  of the lower side unit  50 A in an H direction, orthogonal to the conveyance surface of the printing medium M, is smaller than a thickness d 2  of the upper side unit  50 B in the H direction. 
     Next, the communication unit  60  will be described. As illustrated in  FIG. 2 , in the communication unit  60 , the upper surface of the cover  63 , that is, the surface of the cover  63  facing the printing medium M forms a media guard. 
     In  FIG. 2 , the upper surface (media guard) of the cover  63  is illustrated to be partially notched for the sake of description. The upper surface (media guard) of the cover  63  may be detachably configured. 
     The moving mechanism  62  includes an X axis moving unit  62 X and a Y axis moving unit  62 Y formed by ball screws and the like provided respectively in the conveyance direction of the printing medium M (also referred to as “Y axis direction”) and a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction (also referred to as “X axis direction”). 
     With this configuration, the communicator  61  can move in the area S with a rectangular shape, with the sides defined by the conveyance direction (Y axis direction) and the width direction (X axis direction) of the printing medium M. 
     The X axis moving unit  62 X of the moving mechanism  62  is configured to be movable by 25 steps at 1 mm interval in the X axis direction, and the Y axis moving unit  62 Y is configured to be movable by 29 steps at 1 mm interval in the Y axis direction, for example. Thus, the communicator  61  can move to each of the points forming a grid comprising 25×29 steps in the area S. 
     Here, as described above, in the printer  1  according to the present embodiment, the detection unit  50  includes the light guiding member  52  that guides the detection light emitted from the light emitter  51  to the printing medium M. Thus, the light emitter  51  can be arranged with a higher degree of freedom. The light emitter  51  can be arranged at a position not hindering the movement of the communication unit  60 , whereby the area S in which the communication unit  60  moves can be arranged within a desired range. 
     As a result, the printer  1  according to the present embodiment can have the communication unit  60 , with the communicator  61  being movable within the area S, arranged below and adjacent to the detection unit  50 . 
     As described above, the thickness d 1  of the lower side unit  50 A is smaller than the thickness d 2  of the upper side unit  50 B. Thus, the communicator  61  can move in the area S in the X axis direction and the Y axis direction, without interfering with the detection unit  50 . Furthermore, as illustrated in  FIG. 2 , even when the area S in which the communication unit  60  is movable is at a position overlapping with the lower side unit  50 A of the detection unit  50 , communications with the RFID can be established without being hindered. 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 2 , the upstream side position detection sensor  71  is provided more on the downstream side than the moving mechanism  62  in the conveyance direction, and is positioned so as not to hinder the communicator  61 . The upstream side position detection sensor  71  is configured separately from the detection unit  50 , so that the detection unit  50  can have a simple configuration. 
     In the continuous body ML, the position of the RFID  110  incorporated in the printing medium M slightly varies, due to a tolerable manufacturing error in the factory or a difference in the product specification. In view of this, the printer  1  according to the present embodiment has the communication unit  60  including the moving mechanism  62  so that the communicator  61  can move in the area S. 
     Thus, when the printing medium M includes the RFID  110 , the position of the communicator  61  can be adjusted to correspond to the IC chip C of the RFID  110  in the area S, to achieve favorable communications with the IC chip C of the RFID  110 . 
     &lt;Effect&gt; 
     According the printer  1 , the detection unit  50  includes the light guiding member  52  that guides the detection light, emitted from the light emitter  51 , to the printing medium M. Thus, the light emitter  51  can be arranged with a higher degree of freedom, and thus can be arranged at a position not hindering the movement of the communication unit  60 . Thus, the area in which the communication unit  60  is movable can be secured, without the detection unit hindering the communications between the RFID  110  and the communication unit  60 . 
     The light emitter  51  is arranged outside the area S in which the communicator  61  is movable in the width direction of the printing medium M. The detection light is configured to be guided by the light guiding member  52  extending over the printing medium M in the width direction, between the light receiver  53  and the communication unit  60 . Thus, the thickness d 1  of the lower side unit  50 A of the detection unit  50  in the H direction can be made small. Thus, an even wider movable area can be secured for the communication unit  60 . 
     The light emitter substrate  55  of the light emitter  51  is arranged to be orthogonal to the conveyance surface of the printing medium M, and with the emission direction of the detection light from the light emitting element  54  being parallel to the width direction of the printing medium M. Thus, the thickness d 1  of the lower side unit  50 A of the detection unit  50  in the H direction can be reduced, and the space saving in the width direction can be achieved compared with a case where the substrate plane of the light emitter substrate  55  is arranged in parallel with the conveyance surface in the width direction. 
     The light guiding member  52  may have the cross section, orthogonal to the traveling direction of the detection light, with any cross sectional shape shaped and sized to be capable of receiving the redetection light from the light emitting element  54 . The end portion  522  facing the light receiver  53  is inclined to change the traveling direction of the detection light to a direction toward the light receiver  53 . With such a light guiding member  52 , the light guide path from the light emitter  51  can be easily designed in the lower side unit  50 A. 
     The detection unit  50  is movable in the width direction of the printing medium M so that printing media M with different width sizes can be used. 
     The detection unit  50  has the thickness d 1  of the lower side unit  50 A being smaller than the thickness d 2  of the upper side unit  50 B. Thus, the area S in which the communication unit  60  is movable can be provided at a position below and adjacent to the lower side unit  50 A. 
     The lower side unit  50 A is not provided with the light emitter substrate  55  or the like, and thus the sensitivity of the communications by the communication unit  60 , arranged in an overlapping manner in the vertical direction of the detection unit  50 , with the RFID can be prevented from being compromised. 
     Second Embodiment 
     A printer  2  according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the attached drawings.  FIG. 4  is a plan view of a detection unit  50  and a communication unit  60  according to the printer  2 .  FIG. 5  is a side view as viewed in an arrow V in  FIG. 4 . In the printer  2  illustrated in  FIG. 4  and  FIG. 5 , the components having the same functions as those in the printer  1  illustrated in  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3  will be denoted by the same reference numerals and the detailed description thereof will be omitted. 
     The printer  2  further includes a frame  80  arranged outside a predetermined area S in the width direction W of the printing medium M. 
     The frame  80  is a member for shielding electromagnetic noise radiated from the light emitter substrate  55 . In the present embodiment, the frame  80  is a part of the printer  2 . The frame  80  may also serve as a supporting member that supports the upper side unit  50 B from the communication unit  60  side. 
     The light emitter  51  is arranged outside the frame  80  in the width direction W of the printing medium M (see  FIG. 4 ). The mounting surface of the light emitter substrate  55  is arranged to be orthogonal to the conveyance surface of the printing medium M and to be parallel to the conveyance direction of the printing medium M. The light guiding member  52  is inserted in a hole formed in the frame  80 . 
     &lt;Effect&gt; 
     The printer  2  according to the second embodiment has the frame  80  so that the electromagnetic noise radiated from the light emitter substrate  55  can be shielded. Thus, the communication sensitivity of the RFID can be prevented from being compromised by the influence of the electromagnetic noise radiated from the light emitter substrate  55 . 
     The frame  80  may be made of resin or may be made of metal. In the case of the metal, the electromagnetic noise can be more effectively shielded than in the case of resin. 
     [Adjustment Processing by Communication Unit] 
     In the printer  1  and the printer  2  described above, the communication unit  60  executes adjustment processing for position adjustment of the communicator  61  in the area S, to correspond to various shapes and sizes of the printing medium M and the position of the IC chip differing depending on the arranged position of the RFID  110  in the printing medium, and for adjusting the sensitivity of communications with the RFID  110 . 
       FIG. 6  is a flowchart for describing the adjustment processing for the communication unit  60  executed in the printer  1  and the printer  2 . 
     The communication unit  60  turns OFF the power supplied to the detection unit  50  in step S 1  before the adjustment processing is executed. 
     Then, in step S 2 , the communication unit  60  adjusts the position of the communicator  61  in the area S, the communication radio wave output of the communicator  61  and the like, so that favorable communications with the RFID  110  incorporated in the printed medium M can be achieved. 
     When the adjustment processing ends, the communication unit  60  turns ON the power supply to the detection unit  50  in step S 3 . 
     As described above, in the printer  1  and the printer  2 , when the communication unit  60  executes the adjustment processing, the power supply to the detection unit  50  is turned OFF, and thus the operation of the detection unit  50  stops. 
     Thus, no electromagnetic noise is generated from circuits of the light emitter substrate  55  mounted on the detection unit  50  and the like, when the communication unit  60  executes the adjustment processing. 
     Thus, the communication unit  60  can appropriately adjust the communication radio wave output, when adjusting the position of the communicator  61  in accordance with the type of the printing medium M, whereby the printing medium M (RFID  110 ) can be read more accurately. 
     OTHER EMBODIMENTS 
     Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the embodiments are merely an example of application of the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention is not intended to be limited to the specific configuration of the embodiments described above. 
     In the present embodiment, a label having a back surface provided with an adhesive enabling the label to be attached to a target object is described as an example of the printing medium M. However, this should not be construed in a limiting sense. The label may be fixed on a target object, such as a tag or a wrist band, using a fixing part. 
     The moving mechanism  62  may be a combination of a stepping motor and a ball screw and the like. The communicator  61  may be movable to any position on the printing medium M, by driving each of the stepping motors of the X axis moving unit  62 X and the Y axis moving unit  62 Y, based on an instruction from an unillustrated controller. 
     The cross section of the end portion  521  of the light guiding member  52 , orthogonal to the traveling direction of the detection light, may be in any shape as long as the detection light from the light emitting element  54  can be received. Thus, the light guiding member  52  may be of a plate shape, in addition to the rectangular parallelepiped and cylindrical shapes. 
     In the present embodiment, a case where the light guiding member  52  is applied to the light emitter  51  is described. In addition, the light guiding member may also be applied to the light receiver  53 . In this case, the light receiver substrate  57  provided with the light receiving element  56  is arranged outside the region facing the area S, in the width direction (the W direction in  FIG. 2 ) of the printing medium M, and the light guiding member for light reception is arranged over a section from the position facing the end portion  522  of the light guiding member  52  on the light emission side to the light receiving element  56 . With this configuration, the upper side unit  50 B can have a small thickness d 2 . 
     In the present embodiment, the adjustment processing may be adjusting only the position of the communicator  61  in the area S or may be adjusting only the radio wave output. Furthermore, other parameters affecting the communication sensitivity may be adjusted. 
     The present application claims a priority of Japanese Patent Application No. 2019-121975 filed with the Japan Patent Office on Jun. 28, 2019, and Japanese Patent Application No. 2020-106334 filed with the Japan Patent Office on Jun. 19, 2020 and all the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.