Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US7726893?ie=ISO-8859-1
Timestamp: 2014-12-19 12:30:13
Document Index: 330478945

Matched Legal Cases: ['art.\n2', 'art.\n5', 'art 8', 'art 8', 'art 8', 'art 8', 'art 40', 'art 8', 'art 40', 'art 8', 'art 40', 'art 40', 'art 40', 'art 9', 'art 9', 'art 8', 'art 52', 'art 8', 'art 40', 'art 8', 'art 52']

Patent US7726893 - Tape printing device and tape cassette - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign inAdvanced Patent SearchPatentsWhen a label tape 36 after the printing on a label 39 has been fed to a tape cutting position, heating elements R1-Rn of a thermal head 9 is situated to face a position slightly on the upstream side of a label front end position (at the downstream end in the feeding direction) of the next label 39 which...http://www.google.com/patents/US7726893?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US7726893 - Tape printing device and tape cassetteAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS7726893 B2Publication typeGrantApplication numberUS 11/518,144Publication dateJun 1, 2010Filing dateSep 11, 2006Priority dateJun 25, 2002Fee statusPaidAlso published asCN1662382A, CN100354139C, CN100594136C, CN101157308A, EP1516739A1, EP1516739A4, US7121751, US7686527, US20060013634, US20070009306, US20070041772, WO2004000564A1Publication number11518144, 518144, US 7726893 B2, US 7726893B2, US-B2-7726893, US7726893 B2, US7726893B2InventorsHironori Harada, Yoshihito NonomuraOriginal AssigneeBrother Kogyo Kabushiki KaishaExport CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (16), Referenced by (3), Classifications (29), Legal Events (1) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetTape printing device and tape cassetteUS 7726893 B2Abstract When a label tape 36 after the printing on a label 39 has been fed to a tape cutting position, heating elements R1-Rn of a thermal head 9 is situated to face a position slightly on the upstream side of a label front end position (at the downstream end in the feeding direction) of the next label 39 which will be printed on next and to face a position on the downstream side of a print start position of the next label 39 (a<b in FIG. 7), and a mark sensor 12 is situated on the upstream side of the heating elements R1-Rn and to face a position slightly on the downstream side of a position indication mark 39B (c<e in FIG. 7).
1. A tape cassette which is used for a tape printing device,
the tape printing device comprising a tape feed unit for feeding a long tape, a printing unit for printing on the tape, a cutter member being placed on the downstream side of the printing unit for cutting the tape, a mark sensor which detects position indication marks formed at prescribed positions in a tape feeding direction on a back side of the tape opposed to corresponding labels respectively, and a control unit which controls the tape feed unit based on an output signal outputted by the mark sensor,
the printing elements being situated on the downstream side of a print start position of a next label which will be printed on next at a point when the tape after the printing on a label has been fed to a tape cutting position to be cut by the cutter member,
the mark sensor being situated on the downstream side of a position indication mark opposed to the next label and on the upstream side of the printing elements at the point when the tape after the printing on a label has been fed to the tape cutting position to be cut by the cutter member,
the tape having been rolled up in the tape cassette which is detachably loaded in the tape printing device,
a tape spool around which the tape is rolled up with the back side of the tape facing outward, wherein the tape includes a sheet and a plurality of labels on the sheet, wherein only one position indication mark is provided for each label;
a first opening part facing the printing elements, through which the tape pulled out from the tape spool passes; and
wherein the second opening part is formed at a position facing the position indication mark of the label when a printable front end position of the label is exposed at the first opening part.
2. The tape cassette according to claim 1, wherein the printable front end position is a downstream edge part of the label in regard to the feeding direction.
3. The tape cassette according to claim 1, further comprising a tape identification part which is formed at a prescribed position of the tape cassette for identifying the type of the tape stored in the tape cassette in cooperation with a tape type detecting unit.
4. A tape cassette containing a print tape rolled up around a tape spool to be printed with data while being pulled out from the tape spool,
wherein the print tape includes a label tape in which a plurality of labels are temporarily stuck on a front side of a long strippable sheet being aligned along the length of the strippable sheet and position indication marks are formed at prescribed positions in a tape feeding direction on a back side of the strippable sheet opposed to corresponding labels respectively, and only one position mark is provided for each label,
a printable front end position of the label being exposed to the first opening part when the position indication mark of the label is situated at the second opening part.
5. The tape cassette according to claim 4, wherein the printable front end position is a downstream edge part of the label in regard to the feeding direction.
6. The tape cassette according to claim 4, further comprising a tape identification part which is formed at a prescribed position of the tape cassette for identifying the type of the tape stored in the tape cassette. Description
TECHNICAL FIELD This is a Continuation of application Ser. No. 10/519,503 filed Aug. 29, 2005, which is a Nations Stage of PCT Application No. PCT/JP03/08009 filed Jun. 24, 2003. The entire disclosure of the prior applications are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Tape printing devices for printing letters, etc. on a label tape (having a plurality of labels temporarily stuck on the front side of a long strippable sheet being aligned along its length) are well known today. In regard to such tape printing devices, a variety of configurations, for detecting marks (position indication marks) formed on the back side of the label tape by use of a mark sensor and carrying out feeding control of the label tape based on the detection of the position indication marks, have been proposed (e.g. Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No.2000-168181).
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION However, in the aforementioned conventional printing devices capable of printing on label tapes, if the mark sensor is placed far from a thermal head, restarting the tape printing device after shutting off the power might result in feeding the first label without printing and starting the printing from the second label in cases where the space (interval) between adjacent labels is short.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic top view of a tape printing device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention with its storage cover removed;
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Referring now to the drawings, a description will be given in detail of an embodiment of a tape printing device and a tape cassette in accordance with the present invention. First, a brief outline of the composition of the tape printing device of the embodiment will be described referring to FIGS. 1 through 4.
FIG. 1 is a schematic top view of the tape printing device in accordance with the embodiment with its storage cover removed. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the tape printing device of the embodiment taken along the line A-A shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a brief outline of the composition of a thermal head of the tape printing device of the embodiment, in which (A) is a plan view and (B) is a front view. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the composition of a control system of the tape printing device of the embodiment.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the tape printing device 1 includes a keyboard 6 on which various key boards are arranged and a cassette storage part 8 for storing a tape cassette 35 which will be explained later (see FIG. 5). The cassette storage part 8 is covered with an unshown storage cover. On the keyboard 6 are arranged a character input keys 2 used for generating document data (text), a print key 3 used for ordering the printing of the text, a return key 4 used for ordering a line feed, various processes, selections, etc., cursor keys C, and so forth. By operating the cursor keys C, a cursor can be moved vertically and horizontally on a liquid crystal display 7 (hereinafter referred to as an �LCD 7�) which displays characters such as letters across a plurality of lines.
In the cassette storage part 8, tape type sensors S1, S2, S3, S4 and S5 implemented by push microswitches, etc. are provided. These sensors S1-S5 are provided to a part of the cassette storage part 8 that will face a tape identification part 40 of the tape cassette 35 (for identifying the type of the tape stored in the tape cassette 35, see FIG. 5) when the tape cassette 35 (explained later) is loaded in the cassette storage part 8. Each tape type sensor S1-S5 is implemented by a well-known mechanical switch including a plunger, microswitch, etc. Each tape type sensor S1-S5 detects whether or not the tape identification part 40 has a through hole that has been formed corresponding to the sensor. Thus, the type of the tape stored in the tape cassette 35 can be detected based on ON/OFF signals outputted by the sensors S1-S5.
In this embodiment, the plunger of each tape type sensor S1-S5 constantly protrudes from the bottom of the cassette storage part 8 and the microswitch stays OFF. When a through hole (explained later) of the tape identification part 40 is situated at a position facing a tape type sensor S1-S5, the plunger is not pressed down and the microswitch remains OFF, by which an OFF signal is outputted by the sensor. On the other hand, when no through hole (explained later) of the tape identification part 40 is situated at the position facing the tape type sensor S1-S5, the plunger is pressed down and the microswitch turns ON, by which an ON signal is outputted by the sensor.
The type of the tape is identified by �tape type�, �tape width�, etc. The tape types include �receptor tape� (in which the surface of the printed tape is covered with no protective film), �laminate tape� (in which the surface of the printed tape is covered with a protective film), �label tape� (in which a plurality of labels are temporarily stuck on the surface (front side) of the strippable sheet along its lengthwise direction), etc. The tape widths include �6 mm�, �9 mm�, �12 mm�, �18 mm�, �24 mm�, etc.
In this embodiment, when the �tape type� is �label tape� and the �tape width� is �24 mm�, the signals outputted by the tape type sensors S1-S5 (the presence/absence of a sensor hole (through hole) corresponding to each tape type sensor S1-S5) are as follows (see FIG. 5): �S1� is �OFF signal, i.e., a sensor hole exists�, �S2� is �OFF signal, i.e., a sensor hole exists�, �S3� is �ON signal, i.e., no sensor hole�, �S4� is �ON signal, i.e., no sensor hole�, �S5� is �OFF signal, i.e., a sensor hole exists�.
Also for other tape types, the relationship between the ON/OFF signal outputted by each tape type sensor S1-S5 and the presence/absence of the corresponding through hole formed in the tape identification part 40 is the same (ON signal when there is no sensor hole, OFF signal when there is a sensor hole) and thus repeated explanation thereof is omitted.
As shown in FIG. 3, along a left edge part of the front face of the thermal head 9 in a flat and vertical rectangular shape, a prescribed number (128 in this embodiment) of heating elements R1-Rn (n: prescribed number) are arranged in a line. To a right edge part of the front face of the thermal head 9, an end of a flexible cable F (which is connected to a connector (unshown) formed on the unshown control circuit board) is electrically connected by soldering, etc.
The thermal head 9 is fixed by adhesives, etc. on a left edge part of the front face of a radiator plate 9A (plated steel plate, stainless steel plate, etc.) substantially in a rectangular shape so that the alignment direction of the heating elements R1-Rn will be in parallel with the left edge of the radiator plate 9A. The upper right corner of the flexible cable F is fixed on the front face of the radiator plate 9A with a double-faced adhesive tape, etc. The other end of the flexible cable F is inserted into a through hole 9D (substantially in the shape of a long rectangle stretching horizontally, formed in a bottom part of the radiator plate 9A) and is led to the rear of the radiator plate 9A.
At the bottom of the radiator plate 9A, an extension part 9B substantially in a rectangular shape is formed to extend forward from the radiator plate 9A by a prescribed width. The extension part 9B is provided with two through holes 9C and 9C. The radiator plate 9A is attached on the bottom of the cassette storage part 8 by screws, etc. via the through holes 9C and 9C so that the alignment direction of the heating elements R1-Rn will be substantially orthogonal to the feeding direction of the label tape 36 (see FIG. 5) at an opening part 52 (see FIG. 5) of the tape cassette 35.
(1) display drive control program for controlling an LCDC 28 according to code data of characters (letters, numbers, etc.) inputted through the keyboard 6 (2) print drive control program for reading data from a print buffer 27B and thereby controlling the thermal head 9 and the tape feed motor 30 (3) pulse number determination program for determining a pulse number corresponding to the amount of formation energy of each print dot (4) label tape feed control program for detecting the position indication mark formed on the back of the label tape 36 by the mark sensor 12 and thereby driving the tape feed motor 30 up to a print start position of each label (see FIG. 8) (5) cutting drive control program for feeding the label tape 36 to a cutting position by driving the tape feed motor 30 and cutting the label tape 36 by driving the cutter motor 32 when printing is finished (see FIG. 8) (6) various other programs necessary for the control of the tape printing device 1 The CPU 21 executes various calculations according to the programs stored in the ROM 26.
Connected to the I/O interface 23 are the keyboard 6, the mark sensor 12, the tape type sensors S1-S5, the display controller 28 (LCDC 28) including a video RAM 28A for outputting display data to the liquid crystal display (LCD) 7, a drive circuit 29 for driving the thermal head 9, a drive circuit 31 for driving the tape feed motor 30, and a drive circuit 33 for driving the cutter motor 32.
By the above configuration, when letters, etc. are inputted through letter keys of the keyboard 6, the inputted text (document data) is successively stored in the text memory 27A, and a dot pattern corresponding to the letters, etc. inputted through the keyboard 6 is displayed on the LCD 7 by a dot pattern generation control program and the display drive control program. The CPU 21 drives the thermal head 9 through the drive circuit 29, by which the printing of the dot pattern data stored in the print buffer 27B is carried out. In sync with the printing operation, the tape feed motor 30 is driven by the drive circuit 31 and thereby the tape feed control is executed. The heating elements R1-Rn of the thermal head 9 (corresponding to a line of print dots) are selectively driven and heated by the drive circuit 29, by which the letters, etc. are printed on the tape.
In a corner part of the bottom of the cassette body 38 (upper right part in FIG. 5) facing the tape type sensors S1-S5 when the tape cassette 35 is loaded in the cassette storage part 8, the tape identification part 40 having through holes 41A, 41B and 41C is provided. The through holes 41A, 41B and 41C are formed at positions facing the tape type sensors S1, S2 and S5, respectively. By this configuration, OFF signals are outputted by the tape type sensors S1, S2 and S5 while ON signals are outputted by the tape type sensors S3 and S4, by which the type of the print tape stored in the tape cassette 35 is identified as a prescribed label tape 36 having a tape width of 24 mm.
In the following, positional relationship between a next label 39 (which will be printed on next) and each part of the tape printing device 1, at the point when printing on a label 39 of the label tape 36 has been finished and the label tape 36 has been fed to the tape cutting position to be cut by the fixed blade 13A and the movable blade 13B, will be explained referring to FIG. 7. Specifically, FIG. 7 depicts positional relationships among the next label 39, a position indication mark 39B opposed to (i.e. facing via the strippable sheet) the next label 39, the heating elements R1-Rn, and the mark sensor 12.
In FIG. 7, P0 denotes the position of the heating elements R1-Rn of the thermal head 9 at the point when printing on a label 39 of the label tape 36 has been finished and the label tape 36 has been fed to the tape cutting position P2 to be cut by the fixed blade 13A and the movable blade 13B. The position P0 is slightly on the upstream side of a label front end position P1 of the next label 39 (an end on the downstream side in the feeding direction) and on the downstream side of a print start position P3 of the next label 39 (that is, a<b in FIG. 7).
P10 in FIG. 7 denotes the position of the mark sensor 12. The mark sensor 12 is situated on the upstream side of the heating elements R1-Rn and slightly on the downstream side of the position P4 of the position indication mark 39B (that is, c<e in FIG. 7).
The distance from the position P0 of the heating elements (at the point when printing on a label 39 of the label tape 36 has been finished and the label tape 36 has been fed to the tape cutting position to be cut by the fixed blade 13A and the movable blade 13B) to the print start position P3 of the next label 39 measured in the feeding direction is assumed to be L1 (L1=b−a in FIG. 7), and the distance from the position P10 of the mark sensor 12 to the position P4 of the position indication mark 39B measured in the feeding direction is assumed to be L2 (L2=e−c in FIG. 7). In this case, the heating elements R1-Rn and the mark sensor 12 are situated so that L1≧L2 will be satisfied.
By this configuration, after detecting a position indication mark 39B on the label tape 36 by the mark sensor 12, the print start position of the label 39 corresponding to the position indication mark 39B can surely be conveyed to the position facing the heating elements R1-Rn.
As shown in FIG. 8, in step (hereinafter abbreviated as �S�) 1, the CPU 21 executes a judgment process for judging whether a tape stored in a tape cassette loaded in the cassette storage part 8 is a label tape or not by use of tape type sensors S1-S5.
In S4, with the heating elements R1-Rn of the thermal head 9 facing the print start position of the label 39, the CPU 21 lets the heating elements R1-Rn print part of the letters, etc. stored in the print buffer 27B for a line (corresponding to a line of heating elements R1-Rn) on the label 39.
If the printing of all the letters, etc. for one label stored in the print buffer 27B of the RAM 27 has not been completed yet (S5: NO), the CPU 21 lets the heating elements R1-Rn print part of the letters, etc. for the next line on the label 39 while feeding the label tape 36 by the tape drive roller 53.
As explained above in detail, in the tape printing device 1 in accordance with the embodiment of the present invention, at the point when the printing on a label 39 of the label tape 36 has been finished and the label tape 36 has been fed to the tape cutting position, the position (P0) of the heating elements R1-Rn is slightly on the upstream side of the label front end position (P1) of the next label 39 (an end on the downstream side in the feeding direction) and on the downstream side of the print start position (P3) of the next label 39 (that is, a<b in FIG. 7). Meanwhile, the mark sensor 12 is situated on the upstream side of the heating elements R1-Rn and slightly on the downstream side of the position (P4) of the position indication mark 39B (that is, c<e in FIG. 7). At the point when the printing on the label 39 of the label tape 36 has been finished and the label tape 36 has been fed to the tape cutting position to be cut by the fixed blade 13A and the movable blade 13B, the heating elements R1-Rn and the mark sensor 12 are situated so that the distance L1 from the position (P0) of the heating elements to the print start position (P3) of the next label 39 measured in the feeding direction (L1=b−a in FIG. 7) will be longer than or equal to the distance L2 from the position (P10) of the mark sensor 12 to the position (P4) of the position indication mark 39B measured in the feeding direction (L2=e−c in FIG. 7), that is, L1>L2.
In the case where the tape stored in the tape cassette 35 is identified by the tape type sensors S1-S5 as a prescribed label tape 36, the label tape 36 is fed forward by driving the tape feed motor 30 and the position indication mark 39B formed on the back side of the label tape 36 is detected by the mark sensor 12 (S1-S2). Subsequently, the print start position of the label 39 is placed to face the heating elements R1-Rn of the thermal head 9 by driving the tape feed motor 30 by a prescribed number of steps and then the letters, etc. stored in the print buffer 27B are printed on the label 39 while driving the tape feed motor 30 in sync with the printing (S3-S5: NO). When the printing on the label 39 is finished, the CPU 21 feeds the label tape 36 to the tape cutting position by driving and rotating the tape feed motor 30 by a prescribed angle and then cuts the label tape 36 by the movable blade 13B by driving the cutter motor 32, by which part of the label tape 36 which has been cut off is ejected from the label outlet hole 16 (S5: YES-S8: NO).
Since the heating elements R1-Rn of the thermal head 9 are placed at the position on the downstream side of the print start position of the next label 39 at the point when the label tape 36 after the printing on the previous label 39 has been fed to the tape cutting position to be cut by the fixed blade 13A and the movable blade 13B, even when the next label 39 is the last label 39 of the label tape 36, the printing can be carried out by the heating elements R1-Rn surely from the print start position of the label 39. Further, at the point when the label tape 36 after the printing on the previous label 39 has been fed to the tape cutting position of the fixed blade 13A and the movable blade 13B, the mark sensor 12 is situated at the position on the downstream side of the position indication mark 39B opposed to the next label 39 and on the upstream side of the heating elements R1-Rn. Therefore, even if the power is shut down after the cutting of the label tape 36, the position indication mark 39B of the first label 39 can surely be detected by the mark sensor 12 on the restart of the tape printing device 1 and the label tape 36 can correctly be fed to the print start position of the first label 39 based on the output signal of the mark sensor 12.
Since the label tape 36 is surely fed to the print start position of each label 39 in the case where the tape cassette 35 is identified by the tape type sensors S1-S5 to contain the label tape 36, the printing on the labels 39 can be carried out correctly even when a variety of tape cassettes are used. Incidentally, in the case where a tape cassette storing a tape that is not a label tape 36 is loaded in the tape printing device 1, the tape feeding is carried out not based on the output signal of the mark sensor 12, therefore, the letters, etc. can certainly be printed on the intended tape.
By loading the tape cassette 35 in the tape printing device 1, the printing on each label 39 can be carried out by the heating elements R1-Rn while feeding the label tape 36 in the opening part 52, as well as surely feeding the label tape 36 to the print start position of each label 39 by the detection of the position indication mark 39B of each label 39 by the mark sensor 12 through the mark detection opening 42.
(c) While the heating elements R1-Rn in the above embodiment are placed so that they will be situated slightly on the print-start-position side of the front end position of the next label 39 (which will be printed on next) at the point when the label tape 36 has been fed to the tape cutting position, the heating elements R1-Rn may also be placed so that they will be situated at a position substantially corresponding to the front end position of the next label 39 or at a position in the vicinity of the front end position on the upstream side or downstream side of the front end position in the feeding direction. By this configuration, after the position indication mark 39B is detected by the mark sensor 12, the print start position of the label 39 (opposed to the position indication mark 39B) can be fed by the feeding control to the position facing the heating elements R1-Rn more correctly.
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