Patent Publication Number: US-2017361623-A1

Title: Printer and ribbon roll

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a Division of application Ser. No. 15/258,211 filed on Sep. 7, 2016, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. P2015-224034, filed Nov. 16, 2015, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD 
     Embodiments described herein relate generally to a printer, a ribbon roll, and associated methods. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Conventionally, a printer which prints with an ink ribbon is used. Among such printers, for example, there is a barcode printer. 
     There are various categories of ink ribbons. The printer prints according to a setting corresponding to the category of the ink ribbon to obtain appropriate printing quality. The category of the ink ribbon is even classified according to manufacture company or lot (unit of manufacture) number in addition to color and width. 
     Technologies in which the printer automatically recognizes the category of the ink ribbon to automatically select the setting corresponding to the ink ribbon are diversely proposed. Among these technologies, for example, there is a technology which reads information displayed on an end surface of the ink ribbon set in a holding section with a reading device. 
     It is necessary for such a printer to rotate the ink ribbon once or more while the information displayed on the end surface of the ink ribbon is read. This is because a configuration in which an operator sets an information display position in accordance with the reading device or a configuration for enabling the printer to grasp an information display range is not proposed yet. 
     Generally, the ink ribbon is conveyed as in printing process in order to rotate a roll of the ink ribbon. Thus, if the foregoing operation is executed, many ink ribbons and sheets are consumed and wasted without being used for their intended purpose (printing), which is not favorable. 
    
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view schematically illustrating the appearance of a printer according to an embodiment; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view schematically illustrating a state in which a cover is opened; 
         FIG. 3  is a longitudinal section right side view schematically illustrating the inner structure of the printer; 
         FIG. 4  is a side view illustrating the appearance of a core; 
         FIG. 5  is a block diagram illustrating the electrical connection of the printer; 
         FIG. 6  is a diagram illustrating an example of record contents in a memory, which is obtained by summing up a dimension of each portion of the ribbon roll in a form of a table; 
         FIG. 7  is a diagram illustrating an arrangement state of an optical sensor; 
         FIG. 8  is a block diagram illustrating functional sections included in a control section; 
         FIG. 9  is flowchart illustrating the flow of a processing executed by a rotation control section and a reading control section at the time of automatically recognizing a category of the ink ribbon; 
         FIG. 10  is a diagram illustrating one control method by the rotation control section and the reading control section; and 
         FIG. 11  is a diagram illustrating another control method by the rotation control section and the reading control section. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In accordance with an embodiment, a printer comprises a ribbon holder or ribbon holding section, a driver or driving section, a detector or detection section, a rotation controller or rotation control section and a reading controller or reading control section. The ribbon holding section holds a ribbon roll. The ribbon roll is equipped with a cylindrical member, an ink ribbon wound around the cylindrical member and a data holding section. The data holding section which is arranged on one or both of two end surfaces of the cylindrical member has a plurality of areas in which identification codes indicating information relating to the ink ribbon are recorded and has marks indicating boundaries at the boundaries of the areas. The driving section rotates the cylindrical member held by the ribbon holding section. The detection section detects components of the identification code and the mark from a position facing the data holding section of the ribbon roll held by the ribbon holding section. The rotation control section enables the driving section to rotate the cylindrical member to an extent to which the detection section can detect the identification code. The reading control section carries out reading of the identification code by taking the mark as a reference from the components detected by the detection section in synchronization with the rotation by the rotation control section. 
     In accordance with another embodiment, a printing method using the ribbon roll involves rotating the cylindrical member to an extent to enable detection of components of the identification code and the mark; and reading the identification code by taking the mark as a reference from the components in synchronization with the rotation. 
     Hereinafter, embodiments are described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Furthermore, in the drawings described later, the same mark is assigned to the component having the same function, and the repeated description thereof is omitted. 
     First Embodiment 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view schematically illustrating the appearance of a printer  1  according to the embodiment;  FIG. 2  is a perspective view schematically illustrating a state in which a cover is opened;  FIG. 3  is a longitudinal section right side view schematically illustrating the inner structure of the printer  1 . The printer  1  according to the present embodiment is a thermal printer. 
     The printer  1  is equipped with a housing  11 , a display section  12 , an operation section  13 , a sheet holding section  14 , a ribbon holding section  15 , a printing section  16 , and a sheet discharge section  17 . 
     The housing  11  is a box type which can be generally divided right and left into two parts including a left side part  11   a  and a right side part  11   b . The display section  12  and the operation section  13  are arranged at the front side of the left side part  11   a  of the housing  11 . Other sections (the sheet holding section  14 , the ribbon holding section  15 , the printing section  16  and the sheet discharge section  17 ) are arranged inside the housing  11 . 
     The left side part  11   a  serving as a main body includes a bottom.  111  of the housing  11 . The right side part  11   b  is a cover. At an upper surface  112  of the housing  11 , one of the left side part  11   a  and the right side part  11   b  is rotatable to the other, and the left side part  11   a  and the right side part  11   b  are connected with each other through a hinge  113 . 
     The housing  11  has a vertical wall  114 . The vertical wall  114  is arranged by standing on the bottom  111 . The vertical wall  114  holds the foregoing sections (the sheet holding section  14 , the ribbon holding section  15  and the printing section  16 ) mounted on the vertical wall  114 . 
     The display section  12  notifies an operator of an operation state of the printer  1  and an operation reception state by the operation section  13  through displaying characters or marks. The operation section  13  receives various operation input by the operator to the printer  1 . 
     The sheet holding section  14  holds a sheet (print material). In the present embodiment, a rolled paper  20  obtained by winding a belt-like paper  21  is applied as the sheet. The sheet holding section  14  is equipped with a holding shaft  141  arranged in the vertical wall  114  to keep substantially horizontal. The holding shaft  141  holds the rolled paper  20  in a rotatable manner and supports the paper  21  in a drawable manner through being inserted into a hollow part in the center of the winding of the rolled paper  20 . 
     The ribbon holding section  15  holds the ribbon roll  30 . The ribbon roll  30  is formed by winding an ink ribbon  31  around an outer peripheral surface of a core (also referred to as a core, or a paper tube)  32  which is a cylindrical member. The ink ribbon  31  is a belt-like medium for holding ink supplied to the paper  21 . 
     The ribbon holding section  15  is equipped with a feeding shaft  151  and a winding shaft  152  which are arranged in the vertical wall  114  and keep substantially horizontal. The feeding shaft  151  rotatably holds the ribbon roll  30  in a state of being inserted into a hollow part of the core  32 . The feeding shaft  151  rotates the core  32  to feed the ink ribbon  31  through being rotationally driven by the driving section (described later). The winding shaft  152  is inserted into the hollow part of a winding core  33  which winds the ink ribbon  31  passing through the printing section  16 . The winding core  33  is substantially the same as the core  32 . The winding shaft  152  rotates the winding core  33  through being rotationally driven by the driving section. One end of the ink ribbon  31  is fixed to the winding core  33 , and the winding shaft  152  rotates to wind the ink ribbon  31  around the winding core  33 . 
       FIG. 4  is a side view illustrating the appearance of the core  32 . The data holding sections  40  are arranged on two end surfaces of the core  32  including end surfaces  321  and  322 . The data holding section  40  has a plurality of areas in which identification codes indicating information relating to the ink are recorded, and has marks indicating boundaries at the boundaries of the areas.  FIG. 4( a )  shows an example of a case in which the data holding section  40  has four areas  41  and four marks  51 , and  FIG. 4 ( b )  shows an example of a case in which the data holding section  40  has three areas  42  and three marks  52 . The identification codes recorded in the areas  41  and  42  are, for example, digital codes of which the black ones and the white ones are alternatively arranged in a circumferential direction. The marks  51  and  52  are, for example, notches. 
     The number of the arranged areas and marks is not limited to 4 or 3 exemplified above, and may be 2 or 5 as long as the number thereof is determined according to the length of the identification code displayed in the area. In other words, if the identification code is short, the data holding section  40  is divided into short areas (to a degree to which the identification code is settled), and if the number of the arranged areas and marks is large, the convenience is improved (described later in detail). Contrarily, if the identification code is long, the number of the arranged areas and marks becomes small correspondingly. 
     The printing section  16  carries out printing on the paper  21  with the ink ribbon  31 . The printing section  16  is equipped with a thermal head  161  and a platen roller  162 . The printing section  16  sandwiches the ink ribbon  31  and the paper  21  between the thermal head  161  and the platen roller  162 , and conveys the ink ribbon  31  and the paper  21  through rotation of the platen roller  162 . The thermal head  161  heats the ink ribbon  31 . The ink contained in the heated part of the ink ribbon  31  is supplied to the paper  21  to carry out the printing operation. 
     The sheet discharge section  17  discharges the paper  21  after the printing from a sheet discharge port  171  arranged at the front surface of the housing  11 . 
     The printer  1  is further equipped with a control circuit  60 .  FIG. 5  is a block diagram illustrating the electrical connection of the printer  1 . The control circuit  60  is stored in the back side of the vertical wall  114  in the view of  FIG. 3  in the housing  11 . The control circuit  60  is equipped with a CPU  61 , a ROM  62 , a RAM  63 , a nonvolatile memory  64 , a display section controller  65 , an operation processing section  66 , a conveyance controller  67 , a ribbon controller  68 , a printing controller  69  and a detection section  70 . 
     The CPU (Central Processing Unit)  61 , the ROM (Read Only Memory)  62  and the RAM (Random Access Memory)  63  constitute the control section  600  (refer to  FIG. 8 ). 
     The ROM  62  fixedly stores fixed data (for example, a program executed by the CPU  61  and the like). The RAM  63  stores variable data in a rewritable manner and is used as a working area. Through copying or decompressing a program stored in the ROM  62  on the RAM  63  to execute various arithmetic processing, the CPU  61  collectively controls the foregoing sections (the nonvolatile memory  64 , the display section controller  65 , the operation processing section  66 , the conveyance controller  67 , the ribbon controller  68 , the printing controller  69  and the detection section  70 ). 
     The nonvolatile memory (hereinafter, simply referred to a memory)  64  which is a readable/writable nonvolatile storage medium stores various programs executed by the CPU  61  and various data. As the data stored in the memory  64 , for example, there is a dimension of the ribbon roll  30  used by the printer  1  and the like.  FIG. 6  is a diagram illustrating an example of record contents in the memory  64 , which is obtained by summing up a dimension of each portion of the ribbon roll  30  in a form of a table. 
     The memory  64  stores an inner diameter and maximum value and minimum value of an outer diameter of the ribbon roll  30  and a sensor detection position (indicated by the dotted line with a mark  50  in  FIG. 4 ). The inner diameter of the ribbon roll  30  is the inner diameter of the core  32 . The maximum value of the outer diameter of the ribbon roll  30  is the value of the outer diameter of the ink ribbon  31  wound around the core  32  of the ribbon roll  30  in an unused state. The minimum value of the outer diameter of the ribbon roll  30  is the outer diameter of the core  32 . 
     Further, the memory  64  records various lengths of peripheries (one periphery, half periphery, one third periphery and one fourth periphery) corresponding to the foregoing each dimension. 
     The display section controller  65  controls display content of the display section  12  under the control of the control section  600 . The operation processing section  66  transmits the display content to the control section  600  in response to the signal output by the operation section  13 . 
     The printing section  16  is further equipped with a stepping motor  163  for rotating the platen roller  162 . The stepping motor  163  and the platen roller  162  constitute a conveyance section (not shown) for conveying the paper  21  and the ink ribbon  31 . 
     The stepping motor  163  receives input of a pulse signal output by the conveyance controller  67  to rotate only by a rotation angle corresponding to the pulse number. Resolution of the printing section  16  is, for example, 200 dot/inch. The stepping motor  163  rotates corresponding to one pulse to convey the paper  21  and the ink ribbon  31  only at a length corresponding to 1 dot. Thus, the stepping motor  163  receives  200  pluses to convey the paper  21  and the ink ribbon  31  by one inch. 
     Under the control of the control section  600 , the conveyance controller  67  manages the driving of the stepping motor  163  so as to manage conveyance amount of the paper  21  and the ink ribbon  31 . More specifically, the conveyance controller  67  sends the pulse signal to the stepping motor  163  based on the control of the control section  600 . 
     Furthermore, the ribbon holding section  15  is further equipped with a motor  153  for rotating the feeding shaft  151  and a motor  154  for rotating the winding shaft  152 . The motors  153  and  154  are, for example, DC motors. The motors  153  and  154  and the foregoing conveyance section function as a driving section (symbol of which is not shown) for rotating the core  32  of the ribbon roll  30 . 
     The ribbon controller  68  controls the driving of the motors  153  and  154 . The motor  153  and the motor  154  rotate the feeding shaft  151  and the winding shaft  152  based on the control of the ribbon controller  68  in such a manner that the ink ribbon  31  conveyed by the conveyance section is stretched at a proper tension. 
     A slit sensor (not shown) is used in the control of the foregoing motors  153  and  154 . The slit sensor detects a slit of a rotary disk (not shown) which rotates along with the feeding shaft  151  (the winding shaft  152 ). The slit is arranged in a radiation direction from a rotation center of the rotary disk. The ribbon controller  68  stops the motor  153  ( 154 ) if the slit sensor changes from a state of regularly detecting the slit to a state of not detecting the slit. 
     The printing controller  69  controls the energization to the thermal head  161  based on the instruction of the control section  600 . 
     The detection section  70  which is equipped with an optical sensor  71  and a reading processing section  72  detects components of the identification code and the marks  51  and  52 . The components of the identification code according to the present embodiment are black color and white color alternatively arranged. Further, the components of the marks  51  and  52  are notches. 
     The optical sensor  71  is arranged at a position facing the data holding section  40  to irradiate the identification code and the mark  51  and  52  with light and outputs a signal based on the reflected light to the reading processing section  72 . The levels of the signals output by the optical sensor  71  are different according to the notch, the black color and the white color. 
     The reading processing section  72  outputs a detection instruction to the optical sensor  71  according to the control of the control section  600 . Further, the reading processing section  72  generates (A/D converts) a digital signal based on an analog signal input from the optical sensor  71  to output the digital signal to the control section  600 . 
       FIG. 7  is a diagram illustrating an arrangement state of the optical sensor  71 . In general, even though there is a variety of the widths of the ribbon rolls  30  determined to be used in one printer  1 , the diameters of the cores  32  thereof are the same. In a case of centering the mounting position of the ribbon roll  30 , the suitable position of the optical sensor  71  changes depending on the category of the width. In  FIG. 7 , the positions of the optical sensor  71  corresponding to two categories including widths W 1  and W 2  are shown as an example. 
     In order to read the identification code recorded on the end surfaces  321  and  322  of the core  32  of each of various kinds of the ribbon rolls  30 , it is desirable that the optical sensor  71  can move along a width direction of the ribbon roll  30 . Thus, the detection section  70  is equipped with a sensor supporting section (supporting section)  73  for movably supporting the optical sensor  71  along the width direction of the ribbon roll  30 . 
     The sensor supporting section  73  is equipped with a slide shaft  731  and a supporting member  732 . The slide shaft  731  is arranged in such a manner that the longitudinal direction thereof is coincident with the width direction of the ribbon roll  30 , and the optical sensor  71  is arranged at one end of the slide shaft  731 . The supporting member  732  is used to support the slide shaft  731 . The supporting member  732  which is a sheet metal folded into a crank shape includes a shaft supporting surface  732   a , amounting surface  732   b  and a connecting surface  732   c.    
     The shaft supporting surface  732   a  is substantially parallel to the vertical wall  114 , and has a hole (not shown) penetrating the slide shaft  731 . The mounting surfaces  732   b  are located at two end parts of the supporting member  732  and are mounted in the vertical wall  114  in parallel with the shaft supporting surface  732   a . The connecting surface  732   c  is arranged between the shaft supporting surface  732   a  and the mounting surface  732   b  to connect them. 
     The other end part of the slide shaft  731  slidably penetrates the shaft supporting surface  732   a  and the vertical wall  114 . In this way, the position of the optical sensor  71  arranged at one end of the slide shaft  731  can be changed corresponding to positions of the end surfaces  321  and  322  of each of various cores  32 . 
       FIG. 8  is a block diagram illustrating functional sections included in the control section  100 . The CPU  61  copies or decompresses the program stored in the ROM  62  on the RAM  63  to execute the program so that the control section  600  functions as a rotation control section  601  and a reading control section  602 . 
     The rotation control section  601  rotates the core  32  with the driving section only to an extent to which the identification code can be detected by the detection section  70 . The extent to which the detection section  70  can detect the identification code refers to an angle equal to or greater than an angle equivalent to that between the two marks  51  sandwiching one area  41  and is smaller than one revolution. 
     The reading control section  602  carries out the reading of the identification code in synchronization with the foregoing rotation. More specifically, the reading control section  602  enables the detection section  70  to detect the components of the identification code and the mark  51  in synchronization with the foregoing rotation. Then, the reading control section  602  takes the mark  51  as a reference to read the identification code from the digital signal input from the detection section  70 . 
       FIG. 9  is flowchart illustrating the flow of a processing executed by the rotation control section  601  and the reading control section  602  at the time of automatically recognizing the category of the ink ribbon  31 . The rotation control section  601  instructs the stepping motor  163  to convey the ink ribbon  31  via the conveyance controller  67  (ACT S 1 ). Along with that, the control section  600  instructs the motors  153  and  154  to rotate the feeding shaft  151  and the winding shaft  152  via the ribbon controller  68 . In this way, the core  32  and the winding core  33  rotate. In synchronization with the rotation, the reading control section  602  instructs the reading processing section  72  to detect the components of the identification code and the mark  51  in the data holding section  40  (ACT S 2 ). 
       FIG. 10  is a diagram illustrating one control method by the rotation control section  601  and the reading control section  602 . Herein, a case in which the rolled paper  20  used in the printer  1  has four areas  41  in the data holding section  40  is exemplified. 
     The rotation control section  601  enables the driving section to rotate the ribbon roll  30  until the detection section  70  detects the two marks  51 . If the rotation from a point A in the data holding section  40  of the ribbon roll  30  is started, the rotation control section  601  continues the rotation until a point B. As a result, one area  41  is necessarily contained in the rotation range. 
     According to such a method, even the maximum length of the ink ribbon  31  consumed for the automatic recognition of the category is equivalent to half periphery at the time of the maximum outer diameter of the ribbon roll  30 . Thus, for example, in the case of the ribbon roll  30  with a dimension shown in  FIG. 6 , compared with a conventional method of rotating one revolution or more, the ink ribbon  31  of 141.3 mm or more can be saved. 
       FIG. 11  is a diagram illustrating another control method by the rotation control section  601  and the reading control section  602 . Herein, a case in which the rolled paper  20  used in the printer  1  has four areas  41  in the data holding section  40  is exemplified. 
     The rotation control section  601  refers to the memory  64  to grasp the length of the ink ribbon  31  equivalent to one fourth periphery at the time of the maximum outer diameter of the ribbon roll  30  to calculate the pulse number equivalent to the length. 
     The pulse number refers to the number of pulse signals delivered to the stepping motor  163 . The value is obtained when the lengths of the ink ribbon  31  and the paper  21  conveyed by the platen roller  162  become substantially identical to one fourth periphery at the time of the maximum outer diameter of the ribbon roll  30 . 
     Next, the rotation control section  601  applies the pulse signal the number of which is only identical to the calculated pulse number to the stepping motor  163  to convey the ink ribbon  31  and rotates the ribbon roll  30 . If the rotation from a point C in the data holding section  40  of the ribbon roll  30  is started, the rotation control section  601  continues the rotation until a point D (refer to  FIG. 11 ( a ) ). 
     Supposedly, if the point C is located on the mark  51 , as the point D is located on the next mark  51 , just one identification code exists between the two points C and D. 
     As shown in  FIG. 11 ( a ) , if the point C is located in the identification code, the point D is located in the next identification code passing through the mark  51 . In this case, the point C and the point D are located at the same positions of the identification codes recorded in different locations of the data holding section  40 . 
     In this case, the reading control section  602  first identifies the location equivalent to the mark  51  from the output of the detection section  70 . Next, the reading control section  602  cuts (refer to  FIG. 11 ( b ) ) the output at the location equivalent to the mark  51  to bisect the output (refer to  FIG. 11 ( c ) ). Then, the front one and rear one are switched in such a manner that the one formerly read (detected) is placed back so that the two are connected (synthetized) to be one (refer to  FIG. 11 ( d ) ). In other words, the two parts are connected in such a manner that the bisected mark  51  is located outside and the point C and the point D are combined. In this way, one identification code is obtained. 
     According to such a method, even the maximum length of the ink ribbon  31  consumed for the automatic recognition of the category is equivalent to one fourth periphery at the time of the maximum outer diameter of the ribbon roll  30 . Thus, for example, in the case of the ribbon roll  30  with a dimension shown in  FIG. 6 , compared with a conventional method of rotating one revolution or more, the ink ribbon  31  of 212.0 mm or more can be saved. 
     Through the above, according to the present embodiment, the automatic recognition of the category of the ink ribbon  31  can be realized while the consumption of the ink ribbon  31  is suppressed. 
     Further, in the present embodiment, the data holding sections  40  are arranged on the two end surfaces  321  and  322 ; however, in the implementation, the arrangement of the data holding section  40  is not limited to this. For example, the data holding section  40  may be arranged on either of the end surfaces ( 321  and  322 ) located at a side at which the data holding section  40  can be detected by the optical sensor  71 . 
     Further, in the present embodiment, the motors  153  and  154  are described as the DC motors, for example. However, in the implementation, the motors  153  and  154  may be stepping motors. Further, if the ribbon roll  30  is light enough to be sent through only force by the conveyance section, the motors  153  and  154  may not be arranged. 
     Further, in the implementation, the marks  51  and  52  are not limited to notches. In the present embodiment, the marks  51  and  52  are set as notches, when the black part of the identification code is detected, a voltage level difference occurs in the output of the optical sensor  71 . In this way, the distinction by the optical sensor  71  between the marks  51  and  52  and the black part of the identification code is clear. However, in the implementation, for example, the marks  51  and  52  may be represented through being set to the black color (or white color) with the lengths which are not contained in the identification code other than the notches. In this case, whether the black color is the marks  51  and  52  or the identification code is distinguished according to the time spent in detection executed by the optical sensor  71 . 
     In the foregoing embodiment, the identification code is represented by color (intensity); however, in the implementation, it is not limited to this. For example, the identification code and the marks  51  and  52  may be represented according to unevenness formed on the end surfaces  321  and  322  of the core  32 . 
     Further, in the implementation, the detection section  70  may also use other devices than the optical sensor  71  as long as the components of the identification code and the marks  51  and  52  can be detected. 
     In the present embodiment, the paper  21  is exemplified as the print material; however, in the implementation, the print material may be a sheet made from other materials such as plastic other than the paper. 
     (First Modification) 
     In the present modification, the control method by the rotation control section  601  and the reading control section  602  in a case in which at least the motor  153  between the motors  153  and  154  in the foregoing embodiment is the stepping motor is described. In the present modification, the rotation control section  601  rotates the core  32  by the motor  153  without carrying out conveyance by the conveyance section. Along with rotation, the reading control section  602  carries out the reading of the identification code with the method described with reference to  FIG. 11 . 
     The rotation control section  601  reversely rotates the core  32  to an extent to which the core  32  rotates in the detection after the detection section  70  completes the detection of the components of the identification code. In other words, the core  32  is rotated in a reverse direction of the rotation direction in the detection. 
     In the present modification, in a case in which the ribbon roll  30  has the dimension shown in  FIG. 6 , the ink ribbon  31  of 70.7 mm slackens in the front of the printing section  16 . However, as the slackened ink ribbon  31  is very short, even though the part slackened once is utilized in the printing by reversely rotating the motor  153  to rewind the ink ribbon  31 , the probability that the bad influence is applied to the printing quality is low. In this way, the waste of the ink ribbon  31  and the paper  21  can be further eliminated. 
     (Second Modification) 
     In the present modification, a case in which the motor  153  in the first modification is the DC motor is described. In the present modification, similar to the first modification, based on the premise that the slackening of the ink ribbon  31  is rewound, it is possible to carry out the reading by rotating the core  32  with the motor  153 . In this case, the reading of the identification code can be realized with the method described with reference to  FIG. 10 . In other words, the rotation control section  601  stops the motor  153  and reverses the motor  153  to rewind the ink ribbon  31  although the optical sensor  71  detects a plurality of the marks  51 . 
     (Third Modification) 
     In the foregoing embodiment and the modifications, the motors  153  and  154  are arranged separate from the stepping motor  163 ; however, in the implementation, it is not limited to this. Various motors may be standardized through transmitting the driving of the stepping motor  163  constituting the conveyance section via a gear and the like. 
     In other words, each part may be driven by the single stepping motor  163 . In this way, without using other stepping motors in the rotation of the feeding shaft  151 , the rotation angle of the core  32  can be accurate. Thus, through the configuration, the reading of the identification code can be executed with the method described with reference to the  FIG. 11 . 
     With respect to any figure or numerical range for a given characteristic, a figure or a parameter from one range may be combined with another figure or a parameter from a different range for the same characteristic to generate a numerical range. 
     Other than in the operating examples, or where otherwise indicated, all numbers, values and/or expressions referring to quantities used in the specification and claims are to be understood as modified in all instances by the term “about.” 
     While certain embodiments have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. Indeed, the novel embodiments described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the embodiments described herein may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the invention.