JP7760852B2 - program - Google Patents

Description

The technical field disclosed in this specification relates to a program for controlling a printer that has the function of cutting sheets after printing.

Conventionally, printers capable of printing on long sheets such as labels are known to have an automatic cutting function that automatically cuts the sheet after printing. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a configuration in which, when set to cut-on mode, the sheet is automatically cut after printing.

Patent No. 4404094

In recent years, printers that print on sheets that require cutting have been considering a manual cutting configuration, in which the transport of the printed sheet is temporarily stopped and the user can manually cut the sheet. By enabling this manual cutting, the printer itself can be expected to be less expensive than configurations equipped with an automatic cutting function, which requires a mechanism to operate the cutter. However, with this configuration, the next printing operation begins after the user has manually cut the sheet, creating a waiting state for cutting. If print data is continuously sent from the information processing device while the printer is waiting for cutting, the print data will accumulate in the printer, easily causing a memory shortage. As a result, the information processing device is prone to not completing the transmission of the print data, resulting in a communication error.

This specification discloses technology for reducing communication errors when sending print data in a printer that has a configuration in which sheets are cut manually.

A program made for the purpose of solving the above-mentioned problems is a program that can be executed by a computer of an information processing device and is used to control a printer having a cutting function for cutting a sheet that is a print medium and a detection function for detecting that the sheet has been cut,
The computer,
a transmission process is executed using a communication interface of the information processing device to transmit one page of print data, which is print data for one cut in the printer, and when the printer receives the one page of print data, it feeds the sheet and performs printing on the sheet based on the print data, and thereafter, if the received one page of print data is not print data for the final page, it waits for the sheet to be cut, and in response to detecting that the sheet has been cut, it transmits cutting information to the information processing device;
Furthermore, the computer
After completing the transmission of the one page of print data by the transmission process, the transmission of the next one page of print data is put on hold, and while the transmission of the next one page of print data is on hold, in response to receiving the cut information from the printer via the communication interface, the transmission process is executed to transmit the next one page of print data.

With the above-described configuration, an information processing device incorporating the above-described program sends print data for one page (one cut), then waits for cutting information from the printer before sending print data for the next page. The printer then sends the cutting information after the sheet has been cut, i.e., it sends the cutting information after it is ready to print the next page. This makes it less likely that the printer will run out of memory, and as a result, reduces the possibility of communication errors caused by a memory shortage in the printer.

This invention provides technology for reducing communication errors when sending print data in a printer that requires manual sheet cutting.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of a printing system embodying the present invention. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a basic setting screen. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a print medium on which characters are printed using a printing device. 1A is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a guidance message screen, FIG. 1B is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a guidance message screen, and FIG. 1C is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a guidance message screen. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a printing device. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the procedure of a printing process in the printing system. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the procedure of a printing process in a printing system according to a second embodiment.

(First embodiment)
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A printing system embodying the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Fig. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the schematic configuration of a printing system according to this embodiment.

In the figure, the printing system 1 is composed of a personal computer 10 (hereinafter referred to as "PC") and a printing device 30. The PC 10 is an example of an information processing device and an example of a device. Instead of the PC 10, for example, a smartphone or tablet computer may be used. The printing device 30 is connected to the PC 10. The printing device 30 is an example of a printer.

PC 10 has a control unit 11. Control unit 11 is responsible for central control of PC 10. Control unit 11 includes a CPU 12, ROM 13, and RAM 14. CPU 12 is a central processing unit that executes various control programs. ROM 13 stores various control programs executed by CPU 12 and permanent data. RAM 23 temporarily stores the results of calculations of control programs performed by CPU 12. Note that control unit 11 in Figure 1 is a general term that collectively refers to the hardware and software used to control PC 10, and does not necessarily represent a single piece of hardware that actually exists on PC 10.

The PC 10 has an output interface (hereinafter referred to as "output IF") 15, a display 16, an input interface (hereinafter referred to as "input IF") 17, a mouse 18, and a keyboard 19. The display 16 is connected to the control unit 11 via the output IF 15. The display 16 displays various content on the screen based on the control of the control unit 11. The mouse 18 and keyboard 19 are connected to the control unit 11 via the input IF 17. Therefore, the PC 10 accepts user operations via the mouse 18 and keyboard 19. The display 16, mouse 18, and keyboard 19 may be configured as touch panels with display and operation acceptance functions.

The PC 10 also has a LAN interface (hereinafter referred to as "LANIF") 20 and a USB interface (hereinafter referred to as "USBIF") 21. The PC 10 is connected to a local area network N via the LANIF 20. The PC 10 is also connected to a printing device 30 via the USBIF 21. The communication standard of the LANIF 20 may be an interface conforming to a wired LAN communication standard, or an interface conforming to a wireless LAN communication standard such as Wi-Fi (registered trademark). The USBIF 21 may also be an interface conforming to a short-range wireless communication standard such as Bluetooth (registered trademark).

The PC 10 also has a storage device 22. The storage device 22 may be, for example, a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid state drive (SSD). The storage device 22 stores an operating system (hereinafter referred to as "OS") 23, application programs 24, a print spooler 25, a printer driver 26, and a language monitor 27.

The OS 23 may be, for example, Windows (registered trademark), MacOS (registered trademark), Linux (registered trademark), iOS (registered trademark), or Android (registered trademark).

The application program 24 is a program for executing processing for a specific purpose. Specifically, it is a program that accepts print data via the mouse 18 and keyboard 19, accepts edits to that print data, specifies the device to print on, and accepts user instructions such as instructions to execute printing. The application program 24 may also include various application programs such as a word processing program, a spreadsheet program, and a web browser program.

The print spooler 25, printer driver 26, and language monitor 27 are programs related to printing using the printing system 1. In other words, when the user issues an instruction to print print data via the keyboard 19 or the like while the application program 24 is running, the print spooler 25, printer driver 26, and language monitor 27 are started.

Then, the activated printer driver 26 accepts a print instruction based on the print execution instruction operation. At this time, the print spooler 25 manages the print job based on the print instruction. Then, the printer driver 26 controls the printing device 30 corresponding to the printer driver 26 based on the control of the print spooler 25.

The printer driver 26 also accepts various settings related to the printing device 30. The printer driver 26 is a program that corresponds to the model of the printing device 30. The printing device 30 controlled by the printer driver 26 is a print label production device that can print on a long print medium T, as described below, and cut the print medium T to produce labels.

Figure 2 shows an example of a basic settings screen 50 displayed on the display 16 by the printer driver 26. The basic settings screen 50 includes a sheet width selection field 51 for selecting the sheet width of the print medium T (the width perpendicular to the transport direction of the print medium T), a copy number selection field 52 for selecting the number of copies, a cut pause function selection field 53 for selecting whether to enable or disable the cut pause function at the cut position per copy number, a cut unit selection field 54 for selecting the cut position per copy number, an OK button 55, and a cancel button 56.

In this embodiment, as shown on the basic setting screen 50, for example, the user sets three copies in the copy count selection field 52, and two copies as the cutting unit in the cutting unit selection field 54. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, for example, if the user inputs the three characters "ABC" via keyboard 19 or the like and then prints the three characters "ABC" on the print medium T using the printing device 30, because three copies is set as the number of copies in the copy count selection field 52, the three characters "ABC" are printed in three places on the print medium T. Because two sheets is set as the cutting unit in the cutting unit selection field 54, cutting position C2 is set between the second and third positions of the three characters "ABC" printed on the print medium T.

Therefore, in this embodiment, if the user selects "Enable cut pause function" in the cut pause function selection field 53, two sheets of print data for the three characters "ABC" are first sent from PC 10 to printing device 30 as one cut (one page) of print data. Next, one sheet of print data for the three characters "ABC" is sent from PC 10 to printing device 30 as one cut (one page) of print data. When the cut pause function is enabled, a state occurs in which printing is not performed while waiting for cutting, and in this state, the print data is not erased, placing a load on the memory.

Furthermore, if the user selects "Disable cut pause function" in the cut pause function selection field 53, three pages of print data for the three characters "ABC" are sent together from PC 10 to printing device 30. If the cut pause function is disabled, three pages of print data are sent together from PC 10 to printing device 30, but since there is no wait for cutting, printing is performed immediately and the printed print data is erased, so memory shortages are unlikely to occur.

In this embodiment, in Figure 3, cutting position C1 is the cutting position of the leading margin, and cutting position C3 is the final cutting position. The leading margin is set to align the overlap of the cover film 403, ink ribbon 404, and base tape 402 (described below) to stably produce the print medium T.

Returning to Figure 1, the language monitor 27 sends and receives data to the printing device 30 under the control of the print spooler 25. The language monitor 27 also monitors the status of the printing device 30 when print data is output, and receives status information from the printing device 30 to control the transmission of print data. The print data is sent to the locally connected printing device 30 via a port monitor (not shown) and USBIF 21.

The language monitor 27 also receives status information from the printing device 30 and displays the guidance message screen 60 shown in Figures 4(A) to (C) on the display 16. The guidance message screen 60 includes a guidance field 61 that provides information about the progress of printing on the printing device 30, a message field 62 that prompts the user to cut the printing medium T, and a cancel button 63.

Figure 5 is an explanatory diagram that shows a schematic diagram of an example printing device. In Figure 5, the printing device 30 generally comprises a cartridge holder 31 that stores the cartridge 40, a printing unit 32 that has a print head (e.g., a thermal head) 321, a cutting unit 33, a control unit 34, a memory unit 35, a LANIF 36, and a USBIF 37. The printing device 30 is connected to the PC 10 via the USBIF 37. The USBIF 37 may also be an interface that complies with a short-range wireless communication standard, such as Bluetooth (registered trademark).

In this embodiment, the printing device 30 is a print label production device capable of printing on a long film wound and stored in a cartridge 40.

The print head 321 is equipped with numerous heating elements and is attached to a head mounting portion (not shown) erected on the cartridge holder 31.

The cartridge holder 31 is formed in the housing of the printing device and removably houses the cartridge 40.

The cartridge 40 comprises a cartridge housing 401, a long base tape 402 wound on a first roll, a long transparent cover film 403 of approximately the same width as the base tape 402 and wound on a second roll, an ink ribbon 404 of approximately the same width as the base tape 402, wound around a ribbon supply roll, and wound around a ribbon take-up roller, and a tape feed roller 405 rotatably supported near the tape discharge section of the cartridge 40.

The print medium T is formed by laminating a base tape 402 to a cover film 403. A thermal transfer ribbon or the like is used for the ink ribbon 404, but this is not necessary if the print tape is a heat-sensitive tape. The base tape 402, although not shown in detail, has a four-layer structure, for example. For example, from the side that is wrapped around the inside to the opposite side, an adhesive layer made of an appropriate adhesive material, a colored base film (base layer) made of PEL (polyethylene terephthalate) or the like, an adhesive layer for attachment made of an appropriate adhesive material, and release paper are layered in this order. The print medium T is an example of a sheet.

Meanwhile, a roller holder (not shown) is rotatably supported by a support shaft on the printing device housing near the cartridge holder 31, and can be switched between a print position (contact position) and a release position (detached position) by a switching mechanism. A platen roller 38 and a tape pressure roller 39 are rotatably disposed on this roller holder. When the roller holder is switched to the print position, the platen roller 38 and tape pressure roller 39 are pressed against the print head 321 and tape feed roller 405.

The platen roller 38 and tape pressure roller 39 are driven to rotate by a drive device (not shown) such as a motor whose rotation is controlled by the control unit 34.

Therefore, when the roller holder is positioned in the printing position (contact position) by the switching mechanism and the platen roller 38 is driven to rotate, the cover film 403 and ink ribbon 404 are supplied, together, between the platen roller 38 and the print head 321 as the platen roller 38 rotates. In this state, the control unit 34 sequentially energizes the multiple heating elements (corresponding to dots) of the print head 321 to generate heat. As a result, printing based on the print data is sequentially performed on the back surface of the cover film 403 along the transport direction. The cover film 403 is then transported toward the tape pressure roller 39.

The printed cover film 403 is then fed between the tape pressure roller 39 and tape feed roller 405 while overlapping with the base tape 402. Next, as the tape pressure roller 39 rotates, the tape pressure roller 39 and tape feed roller 405 press the base tape 402 and the printed cover film 403 together to bond them together and form the print medium T, while feeding the print medium T in the direction indicated by the arrow in Figure 5 (leftward in Figure 5).

The cutting unit 33 is located near the tape discharge portion of the cartridge 40 and has the function of fully cutting the print medium T. The cutting unit 33 also includes a fixed blade 331 and a movable blade 332, and the movable blade 332 also includes an operating unit 333 that extends outside the housing of the printing device. Therefore, when the user operates the operating unit 333 to move the movable blade 332 toward the fixed blade 331, the movable blade 332 works in cooperation with the fixed blade 331 to cut all layers of the print medium T (the cover film 403 and base tape 402 described above) in the thickness direction to create the label L.

The cut label L is then ejected from the housing of the printing device 30 through an ejection port (not shown) formed in the housing.

A sensor 334 is located on the housing of the printing device near the movable blade 332 and is capable of detecting the movement of the movable blade 332. The sensor 334 may be a mechanical sensor, optical sensor, magnetic sensor, or the like. The detection signal output from the sensor 334 is input to the control unit 34. This enables the control unit 34 to determine whether the movable blade 332 has been operated by the user based on the detection signal output from the sensor 334. The sensor 334 is an example of a detection function.

The control unit 34 acquires print data from the PC 10 and stores the print data in a memory unit 35 such as RAM. The memory unit 35 also stores a print production program according to this embodiment, which is processed by the control unit 34.

Next, the printing process steps by the printing system 1 will be described with reference to the chart shown in FIG. 6. In the chart shown in FIG. 6, the printing process on the PC 10 side is handled by the printer driver 26 and language monitor 27 programs. The printing process on the PC 10 side is mainly handled by the printer driver 26 program, but may also be handled by the language monitor 27 program, in which case this will be noted. In other words, the printer driver 26 is an example of a program, but the program set by the printer driver 26 and language monitor 27 is also an example of a program. The chart shown in FIG. 6 is a chart based on the assumption that the user has set three copies in the copy number selection field 52 and two cut units in the cut unit selection field 54 on the basic settings screen 50 shown in FIG. 2.

That is, before using the printing device 30 to print characters on the print medium T, the user first launches the application program 24 on the PC 10 and inputs three characters, for example, "ABC," via the mouse 18 and keyboard 19.

Next, the user issues a print command to print the three characters "ABC" that they entered on the application program 24 of the PC 10 (step 10) (hereafter referred to as T10).

Then, in the PC 10, the print spooler 25, printer driver 26, and language monitor 27 programs are started based on the user's operation to instruct printing. Then, as the printer driver 26 starts, the PC 10 sends a print instruction command to the printing device 30 (T11).

Next, the PC 10 sends the three-character print data consisting of "ABC" output from the application program 24 to the printing device 30 (T12).

In this case, in this embodiment, two sheets are set as the cutting unit in the cutting unit selection field 54, so two sheets of print data for the three characters "ABC" are sent as one cut (one page) of print data. Note that step T12 is an example of the sending process.

Meanwhile, the printing device 30 that receives the print data stores the print data for two pages for the three characters "ABC" in the memory unit 35.

In this embodiment, for example, if two sheets are set as the cutting unit in the cutting unit selection field 54, two sheets of print data for the three characters "ABC" will be sent as one cut (one page) of print data.

Next, after PC 10 transmits two sheets of print data (one cut (one page) of print data) to printing device 30, it transmits a transmission end command to printing device 30 (T13). After that, PC 10 does not start transmitting the print data for the next page, which is the remaining one sheet, and enters a state of waiting for transmission.

On the other hand, when the printing device 30 receives a print instruction command, it rotates the platen roller 38 and tape pressure roller 39 to transport the printing medium T so that the cutting position C1 (see Figure 3) of the leading margin of the printing medium T is located at the cutting section 33. The amount of transport of the printing medium T at this time is approximately equal to the distance between the tape pressure roller 39 and the cutting section 33 of the printing device 30, but it may be greater than the distance between the tape pressure roller 39 and the cutting section 33.

Furthermore, when the leading margin cutting position C1 is located in the cutting section 33, the printing device 30 stops the rotational drive of the platen roller 38 and tape pressure roller 39, thereby stopping the transport of the print medium T. Next, the printing device 30 sends status information (cut pause started) to the PC 10 (T14), and then the printing device 30 enters a state where it waits for the user to cut the print medium T, i.e., cut the leading margin (T15).

In this manner, in this embodiment, while waiting for the leading margin to be cut, the printing device 30 has already received the print data for the first page and is waiting to print the first page. Therefore, the printing device 30 can start printing immediately after cutting, and printing can be expected to be completed quickly. Furthermore, the PC 10 has not yet started sending the print data for the second page, making it less likely that a communication error will occur while waiting for the leading margin to be cut.

Meanwhile, upon receiving the status information (cut pause started), the language monitor 27 of the PC 10 detects the status information (cut pause started), and the language monitor 27 then displays the guidance message screen 60 shown in Figure 4 (A) on the display 16 (T16).

In this embodiment, the guidance message screen 60 is displayed on the display 16, allowing the user to know on the PC 10 that the printing device 30 is waiting for cutting. Note that the guidance message screen 60 may also be displayed on the printing device 30.

Here, when the user operates the cancel button 63 via the mouse 18, the PC 10 sends a print cancel command (not shown) to the printing device 30. Consequently, the printing device 30 suspends printing processes T19 and T28 (described below), and erases the print data stored in the memory unit 35. The PC 10 also erases the print data stored in the memory device 22 and ends the printing process. Note that printing processes T19 and T28 are examples of print jobs, and sending the print cancel command is an example of a cancellation process.

In this embodiment, the PC 10 is configured to display the guidance message screen 60 until it receives the status information (printing) described below. However, it is also acceptable to display the guidance message screen 60 on the display 16 for either a fixed period of time, or until it receives the status information (printing) described below, whichever is shorter.

When the user operates the operation unit 333 of the printing device 30 to move the movable blade 332 toward the fixed blade 331 (T17), the printing medium T is cut by the cutting unit 33 at the cutting position C1 of the leading margin. When the control unit 34 determines, based on the detection signal from the sensor 334, that the user has moved the movable blade 332, the printing device 30 sends status information (printing) to the PC 10 (T18).

The printing device 30 also prints the three characters "ABC" in two places on the print medium T using the printing unit 32 based on the print data received in T12 (T19). Specifically, as the printing unit 32 prints on the print medium T, the printing device 30 rotates the platen roller 38 and tape pressure roller 39 to transport the print medium T toward the outside of the housing of the printing device 30. Thereafter, when the print medium T is transported until cut position C2 (see Figure 3) is located in the cutting section 33, the printing device 30 stops the rotation of the platen roller 38 and tape pressure roller 39 to stop the transport of the print medium T.

When the transport of the print medium T is stopped, the printing device 30 sends status information (cut pause started) to the PC 10 (T20), and upon completion of printing (T19), deletes the print data for two sheets of the three characters "ABC" from the storage unit 35. The printing device 30 then enters a state where it waits for the user to cut the print medium T (T21).

Meanwhile, upon receiving the status information (cut pause started), the language monitor 27 of the PC 10 detects the status information (cut pause started), and the language monitor 27 displays the guidance message screen 60 shown in Figure 4 (B) on the display 16 (T22).

In this embodiment, the PC 10 is configured to display the guidance message screen 60 until it receives the status information (printing) described below. However, it is also acceptable to display the guidance message screen 60 on the display 16 for either a fixed period of time, or until it receives the status information (printing) described below, whichever is shorter.

Here, when the user operates the cancel button 63 via the mouse 18, the PC 10 sends a print cancel command (not shown) to the printing device 30. Consequently, the printing device 30 interrupts the printing process T28 (described below), and erases the print data stored in the memory unit 35. The PC 10 also erases the print data stored in the memory device 22 and ends the printing process. Note that the printing process T28 is an example of a print job, and the sending of the print cancel command is an example of a cancellation process.

When the user operates the operation unit 333 to move the movable blade 332 toward the fixed blade 331 (T23), the print medium T is cut at the cutting position C2 by the cutting unit 33. When the control unit 34 determines, based on the detection signal from the sensor 334, that the user has moved the movable blade 332, the printing device 30 sends status information (cut pause completed) to the PC 10 (T24). Note that the status information in T24 (cut pause completed) is an example of cut information.

Meanwhile, upon receiving the status information (cut pause completed), the PC 10 sends the remaining print data for one page for the three characters "ABC" output from the application program 24 to the printing device 30 (T25).

Meanwhile, the printing device 30 that received the print data stores the remaining print data for one page for the three characters "ABC" in the memory unit 35. At this time, the print data for two pages for the three characters "ABC" has already been deleted from the memory unit 35, so the memory unit 35 is unlikely to run out of capacity.

In this manner, in this embodiment, the PC 10 sends print data to the printing device 30 after receiving status information (cut pause completed), making it less likely that the storage unit 35 of the printing device 30 will run out of capacity. As a result, the possibility of a communication error occurring due to memory shortage on the printing device 30 can be reduced.

Next, after sending one page of print data to the printing device 30, the PC 10 sends a transmission end command to the printing device 30 (T26).

Meanwhile, upon receiving the transmission end command, the printing device 30 sends status information (printing) to the PC 10 (T27). The printing device 30 also prints the three characters "ABC" on the print medium T using the printing unit 32 (T28). Specifically, as the printing unit 32 prints on the print medium T, the printing device 30 rotates the platen roller 38 and tape pressure roller 39 to transport the print medium T toward the outside of the housing of the printing device 30. Thereafter, when the print medium T is transported until cut position C3 (see Figure 3) is located in the cutting unit 33, the printing device 30 stops the rotation of the platen roller 38 and tape pressure roller 39 to stop the transport of the print medium T.

Upon receiving the notice that the transport of the print medium T has stopped, the printing device 30 sends status information (cut pause initiated) to the PC 10 (T29), and upon completion of printing (T28), erases one sheet of print data for the three characters "ABC" from the storage unit 35. The printing device 30 then enters a state in which it waits for the user to cut the print medium T (T30).

Meanwhile, when the PC 10 receives the status information (cut pause started), the language monitor 27 detects the status information (cut pause started), and the language monitor 27 displays the guidance message screen 60 shown in FIG. 4(C) on the display 16 (T31). Note that if the PC 10 receives status information (cut pause ended), which will be described later, it will stop displaying the guidance message screen 60.

When the user operates the operation unit 333 to move the movable blade 332 toward the fixed blade 331 (T32), the print medium T is cut at the cutting position C3 by the cutting unit 33. When the control unit 34 determines, based on the detection signal from the sensor 334, that the user has moved the movable blade 332, the printing device 30 sends status information (cut pause completed) to the PC 10 (T33).

Next, the printing device 30 detects the final page information attached to the print data for one page, sends status information (printing completed) to the PC 10 (T34), and ends the printing process.

Meanwhile, the PC 10 that receives the status information (printing completed) also ends the printing process.

As explained in detail above, in the printing system 1 of this embodiment, the printing device 30 transmits status information (cut pause completed) after the print medium T has been cut. In other words, the printing device 30 transmits status information (cut pause completed) after it is ready to print the next page. Then, after transmitting one page (one cut) of print data, the PC 10 waits to receive status information (cut pause completed) from the printing device 30 before transmitting the next page of print data. This makes it less likely that the printing device 30 will run out of memory, and as a result, the PC 10 can reduce the possibility of a communication error occurring due to a memory shortage in the printing device 30.

Second Embodiment
Next, the procedure of the printing process according to the second embodiment of the printing system 1 will be described with reference to the chart shown in Fig. 7. That is, in the first embodiment, when the user operates the operation unit 333 in the printing device 30 to move the movable blade 332 toward the fixed blade 331 (T23) and the printing medium T is cut at the cutting position C2 by the cutting unit 33, the printing device 30 sends status information (cut pause completed) to the PC 10 (T24). Then, upon receiving the status information (cut pause completed), the PC 10 sends the remaining print data for one page for the three characters "ABC" to the printing device 30 (T25).

In contrast, in the second embodiment, when the printing process (T19) is completed, the printing device 30 sends status information (cut pause initiated) to the PC 10 (T20) and waits for the user to cut the print medium T (T21). Then, upon receiving the status information (cut pause initiated) (T20), the PC 10 is configured to send the remaining print data for one sheet of the three characters "ABC" to the printing device 30 (T40), which is a major difference between the first and second embodiments. Note that, in this explanation, the same reference numerals will be used to designate elements that achieve the same effects as those in the first embodiment.

In other words, in this embodiment, when the user operates the operation unit 333 of the printing device 30 to move the movable blade 332 toward the fixed blade 331 (T17), the printing medium T is cut by the cutting unit 33 at the cutting position C1 of the leading margin. When the control unit 34 determines, based on the detection signal from the sensor 334, that the user has moved the movable blade 332, the printing device 30 sends status information (printing) to the PC 10 (T18).

The printing device 30 also prints the three characters "ABC" in two places on the print medium T using the printing unit 32 based on the print data received in T12 (T19). Specifically, as the printing unit 32 prints on the print medium T, the printing device 30 rotates the platen roller 38 and tape pressure roller 39 to transport the print medium T toward the outside of the housing of the printing device 30. Thereafter, when the print medium T is transported until cut position C2 (see Figure 3) is located in the cutting section 33, the printing device 30 stops the rotation of the platen roller 38 and tape pressure roller 39 to stop the transport of the print medium T.

When the transport of the print medium T is stopped, the printing device 30 sends status information (cut pause started) to the PC 10 (T20), and upon completion of printing (T19), deletes the print data for two sheets of the three characters "ABC" from the storage unit 35. The printing device 30 then enters a state where it waits for the user to cut the print medium T (T21).

Meanwhile, upon receiving the status information (cut pause commenced), the PC 10 transmits the remaining one page of print data for the three characters "ABC" output from the application program 24 to the printing device 30 (T40). Next, once the PC 10 has transmitted one page of print data to the printing device 30, it transmits a transmission end command to the printing device 30 (T41). Note that the status information (cut pause commenced) is an example of cut information.

Meanwhile, the printing device 30 that received the print data stores the remaining print data for one page for the three characters "ABC" in the memory unit 35. At this time, the print data for two pages for the three characters "ABC" has already been deleted from the memory unit 35, so the memory unit 35 is unlikely to run out of capacity.

In this manner, in this embodiment, the PC 10 transmits print data to the printing device 30 after receiving the status information (cut pause started) at T20, i.e., when the printing device 30 is waiting for the user to cut the print medium T (T21). Specifically, the PC 10 transmits print data to the printing device 30 after the printing device 30 has deleted the print data for two sheets from the memory unit 35. This makes it less likely that the printing device 30 will run out of memory, and as a result, reduces the possibility of a communication error occurring due to a memory shortage at the printing device 30.

In addition, in this embodiment, when the user operates the operation unit 333 to cut the print medium T at the cutting position C2 (T23), the printing device 30 can immediately start printing the remaining one sheet of the three characters consisting of "ABC" based on the print data stored in the memory unit 35 (T28). Therefore, the time required to print three sheets can be shortened compared to the first embodiment.

In this embodiment, the PC 10 is configured to send print data to the printing device 30 after receiving the status information (cut pause started), i.e., when the printing device 30 is waiting for the user to cut the print medium T (T21). However, the PC 10 may also be configured to send print data to the printing device 30 after receiving the status information (printing) at T18, i.e., while the printing device 30 is printing (T19). In this case, the status information (printing) is an example of cutting information.

In this case, if the printing device 30 is configured to sequentially erase two sheets of print data for the three characters "ABC" from the memory unit 35 as printing (T19) progresses, the memory unit 35 is less likely to run out of capacity.

Note that this embodiment is merely an example and does not limit the present invention in any way. Naturally, therefore, the present invention can be improved and modified in various ways without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, the number of PCs 10 and printing devices 30 that make up the printing system 1 of this embodiment is not limited to one, and there may be multiple PCs 10 and printing devices 30.

In addition, in this embodiment, when the PC 10 receives the status information (cut pause started), the language monitor 27 detects the status information (cut pause started), and the language monitor 27 is configured to display the guidance message screen 60 on the display 16, but a voice message may also be displayed instead of the guidance message screen 60.

In addition, in this embodiment, the language monitor 27 detects the status information (cut pause start), and the language monitor 27 is configured to display the guidance message screen 60 on the display 16. However, it is also possible to configure the printer driver 26 to detect the status information (cut pause start) and display the guidance message screen 60 on the display 16.

In addition, in this embodiment, the PC 10 is configured to display the guidance message screen 60 on the display 16 immediately after receiving the status information (cut pause start), but it may also be configured to display it after a predetermined time has elapsed since receiving the status information (cut pause start).

In addition, in this embodiment, the printing device 30 is a print label creation device capable of printing on a long film wound and stored in the cartridge 40, but the printing device 30 may also be capable of printing on materials other than plain paper, such as roll paper, laminated paper, labels, cardboard, and cloth.

In addition, in this embodiment, the printing device 30 is configured to detect cutting by using the sensor 334 to detect the movement of the movable blade 332, but it is also possible to have the user input the fact that a cut has been made by operating a button, for example.

In addition, in this embodiment, the printing device 30 is configured to cut the leading margin of the print medium T, but cutting the leading margin is not necessarily required. In this case, after the PC 10 has sent two sheets of print data to the printing device 30, it sends a transmission end command to the printing device 30 (T13). However, the printing device 30 may be configured to immediately print the three characters "ABC" in two places upon receiving the transmission end command (T19). Note that even in this case, after receiving status information (cut pause completed), the PC 10 sends the remaining one sheet of print data to the printing device 30 (T25).

Furthermore, in any processing procedure disclosed in the embodiments, the execution order of multiple processes in any multiple steps can be arbitrarily changed or can be executed in parallel, as long as no contradictions occur in the processing content.

Furthermore, the processing procedures disclosed in the embodiments may be executed by hardware such as a single CPU, multiple CPUs, or an ASIC, or a combination of these. Furthermore, the processing procedures disclosed in the embodiments may be realized in various ways, such as a recording medium on which a program for executing the processing is recorded, or a method.

10 PCs
30 Printing device 12 CPU
22 Storage device 15 Output IF
16 Display 17 User IF
27 Language Monitor T Printed Media

Claims (3)

A program that can be executed by a computer of an information processing device and is used to control a printer having a cutting function for cutting a sheet that is a print medium and a detection function for detecting that the sheet has been cut,
The computer,
a transmission process is executed using a communication interface of the information processing device to transmit one page of print data, which is print data for one cut in the printer; when the printer receives the one page of print data from the information processing device, it feeds the sheet and performs printing on the sheet based on the print data, and then, if the received one page of print data is not print data for the final page, it transmits a state of waiting for sheet cutting to the information processing device , and transmits cutting information to the information processing device in response to detection of sheet cutting;
Furthermore, the computer
After completing the transmission of the print data for one page by the transmission process, the transmission of the print data for the next one page is put on hold, and in a state where the transmission of the print data for the next one page is put on hold, in response to reception of the cut information from the printer via the communication interface, the transmission process is executed to transmit the print data for the next one page;
while the printer is waiting for the sheet to be cut, a notification process is executed using a user interface of the information processing apparatus to notify the printer that the printer is waiting for the sheet to be cut;
A program characterized by:
The program according to claim 1,
The computer,
When a cancel instruction is received during the state of waiting for transmission of the next page of print data, a cancel process is executed to cancel the print job.
A program characterized by:
The program according to claim 2,
In the cancellation process,
while waiting for transmission of the next page of print data, the information processing apparatus receives an input of the cancellation instruction using a user interface thereof, and cancels the print job when the cancellation instruction is input.
A program characterized by: