JP4070441B2 - Printer device and heating unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem of disability to preferably print on the surface of a tube-like matter to be printed with the tube-like matter to be printed deformed into a flat shape, due to difficulty in deforming the tube-like matter to be printed hardened by temperature drop. SOLUTION: A heater 31 for continuously heating the tube-like matter to be printed is mounted on a guide unit 3 provided detachably with respect to a printer unit for guiding a tube-like matter to be printed to a printing mechanism.

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a printer device that prints characters, symbols, and the like on a tubular substrate, and a heating unit that is detachable from the printer device.
[0002]
[Prior art]
With this type of conventional printer device, when printing on a tube-shaped substrate, the tube-shaped substrate is strongly sandwiched between the print head and the platen roller, and the tube-shaped substrate is deformed so as to be crushed. Is going.
[0003]
On the other hand, when the outside air temperature decreases and the tube-shaped printed material becomes cold, the tube-shaped printed material becomes hard and is not easily deformed. If the tube-shaped printed material is not sufficiently deformed, the surface of the tube-shaped printed material does not come into contact with the print head, so that normal printing cannot be performed.
[0004]
In order to solve such problems, a heating unit for heating the tube-shaped substrate is attached to the side of the printer device, and the tube-shaped substrate is heated and warmed before the tube-shaped substrate is supplied to the print head. Thus, the tube-shaped printed material is softened.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
When the heating unit is used, the tube-shaped printed material is heated. However, since the heating unit is attached to the side surface of the printer device, the heating unit and the print head are separated from each other, and the heated tube-shaped printed material becomes the print head. The problem of being cooled by the outside air before it reaches is caused.
[0006]
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-168156 describes a printer device dedicated to a tube-shaped printed material, in which a heater for heating the tube-shaped printed material is fixed in the vicinity of a feed roller.
[0007]
However, if the heater is fixed in the vicinity of the feed roller in the same manner as the printer device described in the above publication, the device itself becomes large, and there is no need to heat the tube-shaped printed material because the outside temperature is high. Even in such a case, it is necessary to supply the tube-shaped printed material to the feed roller through the heater.
[0008]
In addition, the heater is obstructive when printing on long printed materials other than tubes such as labels and tapes, which are flattened with a tube made of a strong plastic material, rolled and stored in a cassette. Problems arise.
[0009]
Accordingly, in view of the above problems, the present invention is a printer device that prints a tape-shaped printed material and a tube-shaped printed material, and the heated tube-shaped printed material is not cooled in the print head. It is an object to provide a printer device that can be supplied and a heating unit that is detachable from the printer device.
[0010]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above problems, a printer device according to the present invention is a printer device having a printing mechanism for printing on a tube-shaped printed material, and heating means for heating the tube-shaped printed material in the vicinity of the upstream side of the printing mechanism. Is detachably provided.
[0011]
If the heating unit is attached in the vicinity of the upstream side of the printing mechanism, the tube-shaped printing material heated by the heating unit is prevented from being cooled before reaching the print head. By making the heating means detachable, the heating means can be removed at a time when the outside air temperature is not low except during winter, so that the apparatus can be miniaturized.
[0012]
By the way, a guide unit for guiding the tube-shaped printed material may be detachably provided in the vicinity of the upstream side of the printing mechanism, and the heating means may be incorporated in the guide unit.
[0013]
At that time, if the guide unit is formed with a ridge that covers the tube-shaped printed material heated by the heating means until it is supplied to the print head, the heated tube-shaped printed material is cooled. Can be further prevented.
[0014]
The setting of the heating temperature by the heating means may be changeable according to various conditions such as the temperature and the material of the tube-shaped printed material.
[0015]
Further, in the vicinity of the upstream side of the printing mechanism, a plurality of types of guide units for guiding a long printed material other than a tube shape such as a tape are detachable, and the long printed material guided by these guide units. Alternatively, printing may be performed by the printing mechanism.
[0016]
Alternatively, in the vicinity of the upstream side of the printing mechanism, a plurality of types of cassettes incorporating a long printed material are attached and detached, and printing is performed on the long printed material drawn from these cassettes by the printing mechanism. May be.
[0017]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring to FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a printer apparatus according to the present invention, and either one of a cassette 2 and a guide unit 3 is detachably set at a set position 11 provided on an upper surface. The cassette 2 stores a tape-shaped printed material TP wound in a roll shape. When the cassette 2 is set at the set position 11, the tape-shaped printed material TP is sandwiched between the pair of transport rollers 12 and is sent to the print head 14 at a constant speed.
[0018]
The platen roller 13 and the print head 14 facing the print head 14 perform printing on the tape-like printing material TP.
[0019]
On the other hand, when printing is performed by pulling out the tube-shaped substrate T from a reel wound in a roll shape having a diameter of about 50 cm, the guide unit 3 is set at the set position 11 and the tube-shaped substrate T is removed. One end was pulled out and passed through the guide unit 3 so as to be sandwiched between the transport rollers 12. Reference numeral 15 denotes a temperature sensor, which detects the outside air temperature and changes the amount of heat applied by the print head 14 in accordance with the air temperature.
[0020]
Referring to FIG. 2, a pipe-shaped heater 31 serving as a heating unit is provided in the guide unit 3. When the tubular print substrate T is passed through the guide unit 3, the tubular print substrate T passes through the heater 31. The switch 32 is turned off in a state where the tube-shaped substrate T is soft and printing is performed well because the temperature is high. When the switch 32 is OFF, the heater 31 is not energized, and therefore the tube-shaped substrate T is not heated. By the way, when a long printed material other than a tube is wound on a reel, a guide unit having the same configuration as the above guide unit may be used when printing on the long printed material. However, it is not necessary to incorporate a heater in the guide unit for a long printed material.
[0021]
When the temperature drops and the tube-shaped substrate T is cooled and hardened and printing is not performed satisfactorily, the switch 32 is turned on. The switch 32 can select two locations, “L” for heating at a low temperature and “H” for heating at a high temperature, so that the heating temperature can be switched in two stages according to the outside air temperature. That is, when the outside air temperature is very low and the tubular substrate T is very hard, the switch 32 is set to “H” and heated at a high temperature, and when the outside air temperature is not so low, the switch 32 is turned on. Is set to “L” and heated at a low temperature. In addition, the switch 32 is set to “L” when it is easily heated or stretched due to various conditions such as the material and thickness of the tube-shaped substrate T, as well as the high and low outside air temperature. 32 is switched to “H”.
[0022]
In the present embodiment, when “L” is selected, the tubular substrate T is heated at approximately 60 ° C., and when “H” is selected, the tubular substrate T is heated at approximately 80 ° C. Is set to Reference numeral 34 denotes a thermistor for detecting the temperature of the heater 31, and the energization state of the heater 31 is controlled based on the detected temperature. Reference numeral 33 denotes a light emitting diode, which is in one of “lighted”, “flashing”, and “off” depending on the energized state. In this embodiment, the heating temperature is switched to two stages of “L” and “H”, but the set temperature may be changed continuously.
[0023]
Incidentally, the guide unit 3 incorporates a metal fitting 4 shown in FIG. The arm 41 of the metal fitting 4 presses the tube-shaped printed material T and prevents the tube-shaped printed material T from being displaced up and down in the guide unit 3. Further, static electricity generated by rubbing the tube-shaped substrate T and the arm 41 is grounded from the tongue piece 42 to the rotating shaft of the transport roller 12.
[0024]
As shown in FIG. 4, the guide unit 3 is provided with a flange 35 that covers the tube-shaped printed material T until the tube-shaped printed material T heated by the heater 31 reaches the print head 14. ing. By covering the tube-shaped printed material T with the collar 35 in this way, it is possible to prevent the tube-shaped printed material T heated by the heater 31 from being cooled before reaching the print head 14.
[0025]
By the way, in the present embodiment, if the switch 32 is in the OFF state, the light emitting diode 33 is turned off, and the temperature detected by the thermistor 34 is the state in which the switch 32 is set to “L” or “H”. Flashes when the temperature is not within the preset range, and lights up as being printable when the detected temperature is within the predetermined range.
[0026]
Specifically, referring to FIG. 5, when switch 32 is first set to “L”, energization to heater 31 is started and light emitting diode 33 blinks. The light emitting diode 33 is switched from blinking to lighting because it is possible to print when the lower limit temperature of 55 ° C. when the switch 32 is “L” is exceeded.
[0027]
When it exceeds 65 ° C., which is the upper limit temperature of “L”, energization to the heater 31 is stopped. Then, the temperature of the heater 31 is lowered, and the light emitting diode 33 is continuously turned on until the temperature reaches 55 ° C. which is the lower limit temperature again.
[0028]
Next, when the switch 32 is switched to “H”, even if the detected temperature is between 55 ° C. and 65 ° C., the light emitting diode 33 is switched to blinking, and energization to the heater 31 is resumed. The lower limit temperature in the state where the switch 32 was set to “H” was 75 ° C., and the upper limit temperature was set to 83 ° C.
[0029]
When the detection temperature is between 75 ° C. and 83 ° C. and the light emitting diode 33 is lit, the switch 32 is switched to “L” again to stop energization of the heater 31 and the detection temperature becomes 65 ° C. or less. The light emitting diode 33 is blinked until it becomes. When the switch 32 is returned to the OFF state shown in FIG. 2, the energization to the heater 31 is stopped and the light emitting diode 33 is turned off. Therefore, the operator may observe the lighting state of the light emitting diode 33, determine that printing is possible when the blinking state is switched to the lighting state, and perform the printing operation.
[0030]
By the way, in order to energize the heater 31 of the guide unit 3 and heat the tube-shaped printed material T, it is necessary to supply a large amount of power to the guide unit 3. Therefore, a separate power source for the guide unit 3 may be used, but the power source unit 5 of the printer apparatus 1 may be shared as shown in FIG. A relay plug 61 in which one end is inserted into the power supply port of the printer apparatus 1 and the plug 51 of the power supply unit 5 is inserted into the other end of the power cord 6 of the guide unit 3 may be provided. Then, a part of the power supplied from the power supply unit 5 to the printer device 1 may be branched from the relay plug 61 to the guide unit 3.
[0031]
Alternatively, an engagement piece 3 a that engages the guide unit 3 with the printer device 1 is formed on the guide unit 3, an electrode is attached to the engagement piece 3 a, and the guide unit 3 is attached to the printer device 1, the engagement piece 3 a Electric power may be supplied from the electrodes. It should be noted that when the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 15 falls below a predetermined set temperature, power may be automatically supplied from the printer device 1 to the guide unit 3. The switch 32 may be abolished.
[0032]
【The invention's effect】
As is apparent from the above description, the present invention is suitable for a printing device capable of printing on a tube-shaped printed material, in the vicinity of the upstream side of the printing mechanism, detachably by a heating means or a long printed material other than a tube-shaped material. Since a guide unit and a cassette with a long printed material are attached, it is possible to stably print on a tubular printed material even when the outside air temperature is low. It can also be printed on a scale print.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing details of a guide unit. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a shape of a metal fitting built in the guide unit. Fig. 5 shows the state up to the head. Fig. 5 shows the energized state of the heater and the lighting state of the light emitting diode. Fig. 6 is a block diagram showing an example of power supply.
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printer apparatus 2 Cassette 3 Guide unit 4 Metal fitting 5 Power supply unit 31 Heater 35 Buttocks

Claims (10)

A printer apparatus comprising a printing mechanism for printing on a tubular printed material, wherein a heating means for heating the tubular printed material is detachably provided in the vicinity of the upstream side of the printing mechanism. 2. The guide unit for guiding the tube-shaped printed material with respect to the printing mechanism is detachably provided in the vicinity of the upstream side of the printing mechanism, and heating means is built in the guide unit. Printer device. 3. The printer device according to claim 2, wherein a ridge that covers the tube-shaped printed material heated by the heating means until it is supplied to the print head is formed on the guide unit. The printer printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the setting of the heating temperature by the heating unit can be changed. In the vicinity of the upstream side of the printing mechanism, a plurality of types of guide units for guiding a non-tube-like long printed material such as tape can be attached and detached, and the long printed material guided by these guide units can be attached and detached. 5. The printer according to claim 1, wherein printing is performed by the printing mechanism. In the vicinity of the upstream side of the printing mechanism, a plurality of types of cassettes containing a long printed material are attached and detached, and printing is performed on the long printed material drawn from these cassettes by the printing mechanism. The printer device according to any one of claims 1 to 4. It is detachable from a printer device having a printing mechanism for printing a tube-shaped substrate, and the tube-shaped substrate to be supplied to the print head of the printer device is attached to the printer device while the printing mechanism is installed. A heating unit comprising heating means for heating in the vicinity of the upstream side . 8. The heating unit according to claim 7, further comprising a guide mechanism for guiding conveyance of the tube-shaped substrate to the print head. 9. The heating unit according to claim 7, wherein a ridge that covers the tube-shaped printed material heated by the heating means until it is supplied to the print head is formed. The heating unit according to any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein the setting of the heating temperature by the heating means can be changed.

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