JP6930516B2 - Printing equipment, programs, and control methods - Google Patents

Description

This specification relates to a printing device, a program, and a control method.

Conventionally, in a reversible label printer, when printing a plurality of labels, the amount of return to the first printing position of the next label after printing the first label is calculated, and the first printing position of the next label is calculated. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7-89139

However, in the above technique, it is necessary to reverse-transfer the second label to the printing start position (thermal head position) after cutting the first label, so that when printing a plurality of labels, until all printing is completed. In some cases, the time was long.

Based on the above circumstances, an object of one aspect of the present invention is to provide a technique capable of shortening the time required to complete all printing when printing a plurality of labels in succession. be.

The printing apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention includes a transport roller that conveys a medium to be printed, a print head that continuously prints the medium to be printed for each of a plurality of labels, and the plurality of labels on the medium to be printed. A second printing device that prints after the first label while the printing medium is being conveyed to the cutting position of the first label after printing the first label among the plurality of labels. A control means for printing the print content of the label by the print head is provided, the print head prints a plurality of lines on the print medium, and the control means recognizes the print content of the second label. Then, among the plurality of lines, a line in which the number of dots printed by the print head per line is a predetermined number or less has little effect on the print quality of the print content of the second label. identified as Do virtual lines, during said conveyance of the printing medium to the cutting position of the first label, characterized in that the printing by said print head while conveying the print medium to a position where there is the imaginary line And.
The printing apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention includes a transport roller that conveys a medium to be printed, a print head that continuously prints the medium to be printed for each of a plurality of labels, and the plurality of labels on the medium to be printed. A second printing device that prints after the first label while the printing medium is being conveyed to the cutting position of the first label after printing the first label among the plurality of labels. A control means for printing the print content of the label by the print head is provided, the print head prints a plurality of lines on the print medium, and the control means recognizes the print content of the second label. Then, among the plurality of lines, the line including the object having the lower priority from among the plurality of objects to which the priority included in the print content of the second label is associated is printed on the second label. It is specified as a virtual virtual line that has little effect on the print quality of the content, and while the print medium is being conveyed to the cut position of the first label, the print medium is conveyed to a position where the virtual line is located. However, it is characterized in that printing is performed by the print head.

A program according to one aspect of the present invention includes a transport roller that conveys a print medium, a print head that prints the print medium continuously for each of a plurality of labels, and the print medium on the plurality of labels. A computer of a printing apparatus provided with a cutting apparatus for cutting prints a plurality of lines on the printing medium by the printing head , and after printing the first label among the plurality of labels, the printing medium is printed on the printing medium. During the transfer to the cut position of the first label, the print content of the second label to be printed next to the first label is recognized, and the number of dots printed per one of the plurality of lines is A predetermined number or less of lines are specified as virtual virtual lines having little effect on the print quality of the print content of the second label, and the print content of the second label is printed up to a position of the virtual line. It is characterized in that a process of printing is executed by the print head while carrying a medium.
A program according to one aspect of the present invention includes a transport roller that conveys a print medium, a print head that prints the print medium continuously for each of a plurality of labels, and the print medium on the plurality of labels. A computer of a printing apparatus provided with a cutting apparatus for cutting prints a plurality of lines on the printing medium by the printing head, and after printing the first label among the plurality of labels, the printing medium is printed on the printing medium. During the transfer to the cut position of the first label, the print content of the second label to be printed next to the first label is recognized, and among the plurality of lines, the priority included in the print content of the second label. Among the plurality of objects associated with, the line containing the low priority object is specified as a virtual virtual line having little effect on the print quality of the print content of the second label, and the second label is specified. The print content is printed by the print head while carrying the print medium to a certain position of the virtual line.

A control method according to one aspect of the present invention includes a transport roller that conveys a print medium, a print head that prints the print medium continuously for each of a plurality of labels, and the print medium on the plurality of labels. A method for controlling a printing device including a cutting device for cutting into a printing medium, in which a plurality of lines are printed on the printing medium by the printing head , and among the plurality of labels, after printing the first label, the printing device is printed. While the print medium is being conveyed to the cut position of the first label, the print content of the second label to be printed next to the first label is recognized, and one of the plurality of lines is printed. A line having a predetermined number of dots or less is specified as a virtual virtual line having little effect on the print quality of the print content of the second label, and the print content of the second label is defined as a position where the virtual line is located. It is characterized in that printing is performed by the printing head while carrying the printing medium up to.
A control method according to one aspect of the present invention includes a transport roller that conveys a print medium, a print head that prints the print medium continuously for each of a plurality of labels, and the print medium on the plurality of labels. A method for controlling a printing device including a cutting device for cutting into a printing medium, in which a plurality of lines are printed on the printing medium by the printing head, and among the plurality of labels, after printing the first label, the printing device is printed. While the print medium is being conveyed to the cut position of the first label, the print content of the second label to be printed next to the first label is recognized, and the print content of the second label among the plurality of lines is used. Among a plurality of objects to which the included priorities are associated, a line containing the object having the lower priority is specified as a virtual virtual line having little effect on the print quality of the print content of the second label. The print content of the second label is printed by the print head while carrying the print medium to a position where the virtual line is located.

According to the above aspect, when printing a plurality of labels in succession, it is possible to shorten the time until all printing is completed.

It is a figure which illustrated the relationship in the case where the printing medium is continuously printed for each of a plurality of labels by a conventional printing apparatus. It is a figure which illustrated the relationship in the case where the printing medium is continuously printed for each of a plurality of labels by a conventional printing apparatus. It is a figure which illustrated the relationship in the case where the printing medium is continuously printed for each of a plurality of labels by a conventional printing apparatus. It is a figure which showed the structure of the printing apparatus 1 which concerns on this embodiment. It is a perspective view of the tape cartridge 30 housed in a printing apparatus 1. FIG. It is a perspective view of the cartridge accommodating part 19 of a printing apparatus 1. FIG. It is sectional drawing of the printing apparatus 1. It is a block diagram which shows the hardware structure of the printing apparatus 1. It is a flowchart which shows the outline of the process performed by the printing apparatus 1 of 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example which specifies the virtual line La. It is a figure which shows the example which prints the print medium M continuously for each of a plurality of labels. It is a figure which shows the example which prints the print medium M continuously for each of a plurality of labels. It is a figure which shows the example which prints the print medium M continuously for each of a plurality of labels. It is a flowchart of another printing process performed by the printing apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example which specifies the virtual line La. It is a figure which shows the example which prints the print medium M continuously for each of a plurality of labels. It is a figure which shows the example which prints the print medium M continuously for each of a plurality of labels. It is a figure which shows the example which prints the print medium M continuously for each of a plurality of labels. It is a figure which shows the example which prints the print medium M continuously for each of a plurality of labels.

First, a case where the printing medium is continuously printed for each of a plurality of labels by a conventional printing apparatus will be described. 1 to 3 are diagrams illustrating a relationship in a case where a printing medium is continuously printed for each of a plurality of labels by a conventional printing apparatus. For example, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, when printing of the printing medium for each of a plurality of labels is started continuously by such a printing apparatus, the printing apparatus starts printing one sheet at the start of printing the first label. The print area of the eye label is positively conveyed (feed) (S11) to the half-cut position (position of the half-cut mechanism), and half-cut is performed (S12). Then, the first label is reversely conveyed to the printing start position (position of the thermal head) (S13), and printing of the first label is started (S14). After that, when the printing of the first label is completed (S15), the second label is positively conveyed (feed) to the half-cut position (the position of the half-cut mechanism) at the start of printing the second label again (S15). S16) and half-cut (S17). Then, the second label is reversely conveyed to the printing start position (position of the thermal head) (S18), and printing of the second label is started (S19). Then, printing of the second label is completed (S20). After that, in printing the second and subsequent labels, the processes S16 to S20 are repeatedly executed.

However, in the above-mentioned conventional printing apparatus technology, as shown in S16 and S17 of FIG. 2, when the second label is positively conveyed (feeded) to the second label cut position, the portion to be originally printed (w1). It will be unnecessarily forward-transported (feeded) without printing. Then, as in S18, after cutting the first label, it is necessary to reverse-transport the second label to the printing start position (position of the thermal head), and wasteful time is required during that time. As a result, when printing a plurality of labels, it may take a long time to complete all printing. Therefore, in the printing apparatus of the present embodiment, in order to shorten the time until all printing is completed when printing a plurality of labels continuously, after printing the first label, the printing medium is moved to the cut position. It was decided to print the print contents of the second label to be printed next to the first label during the transportation. The details of the printing apparatus of this embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. 4 to 19.

[First Embodiment]
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the configuration of the printing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4, the printing device 1 is provided with a lid 3 and a plurality of buttons (button 4, button 5, button 6, button 7, button 8) on the upper surface of the cube-shaped device housing 2. ing. The button 4 is an open / close button for the lid 3. Buttons 5 to 8 are a cut button, a feed button, a wireless communication button, and a power button, respectively.

The lid 3 is arranged so as to be openable and closable. The lid 3 is opened by pressing the button 4, and the cartridge accommodating portion accommodating the tape cartridge is exposed to the outside. A window 9 is formed on the lid 3 so that it can be visually confirmed whether or not the tape cartridge is accommodated in the cartridge accommodating portion even when the lid 3 is closed. Further, a discharge port 2a is formed on the side surface of the device housing 2. The printable medium printed in the printing device 1 is discharged to the outside of the device from the discharge port 2a.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the tape cartridge 30 housed in the printing apparatus 1. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the cartridge accommodating portion 19 of the printing apparatus 1. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the printing apparatus 1. The tape cartridge 30 shown in FIG. 5 is detachably stored in the cartridge accommodating portion 19 shown in FIG. FIG. 7 shows a state in which the tape cartridge 30 is housed in the cartridge storage unit 19.

As shown in FIG. 5, the tape cartridge 30 has a cartridge case 31 for accommodating the printing medium M and the ink ribbon R on which the thermal head insertion portion 36 and the engagement portion 37 are formed. The cartridge case 31 is provided with a tape core 32, an ink ribbon supply core 34, and an ink ribbon winding core 35.

The print medium M is wound around the tape core 32 inside the cartridge case 31 in a roll shape. The print medium M is, for example, a tape having a base material having an adhesive layer and a release paper removably attached to the base material so as to cover the adhesive layer. However, the printing medium M may be a tape without a release paper. The tip of the ink ribbon R for thermal transfer is wound around the ink ribbon winding core 35, and is wound around the ink ribbon supply core 34 inside the cartridge case 31 in a roll shape.

As shown in FIG. 6, the cartridge accommodating portion 19 of the apparatus housing 2 is provided with a plurality of cartridge receiving portions 20 for supporting the tape cartridge 30 at a predetermined position. Further, the cartridge receiving unit 20 is provided with a tape width detection switch 24 for detecting the width of the tape (printed medium M) accommodated in the tape cartridge 30.

The tape width detection switch 24 is a switch for detecting the width of the print medium M based on the shape of the tape cartridge. A plurality of tape width detection switches 24 are provided in the cartridge accommodating portion 19. Tape cartridges having different tape widths are configured to press a plurality of tape width detection switches 24 in different combinations. As a result, the control circuit 25 (see FIG. 8), which will be described later, identifies the type of tape cartridge from the combination of the pressed tape width detection switches 24, and detects the width (tape width) of the print medium M.

The cartridge accommodating portion 19 further has a plurality of heat generating elements, a thermal head 10 that prints on the printing medium M, a platen roller 21 that conveys the printing medium M, a tape core engaging shaft 22, and ink. A ribbon winding drive shaft 23 is provided. Further, a thermistor 13 is embedded in the thermal head 10. The thermistor 13 measures the temperature of the thermal head 10.

In a state where the tape cartridge 30 is housed in the cartridge housing part 19, as shown in FIG. 7, the engaging part 37 provided in the cartridge case 31 is supported by the cartridge receiving part 20 provided in the cartridge housing part 19. .. Further, the thermal head 10 is inserted into the thermal head insertion portion 36 formed in the cartridge case 31. Further, the tape core 32 of the tape cartridge 30 is engaged with the tape core engaging shaft 22, and the ink ribbon winding core 35 is further engaged with the ink ribbon winding drive shaft 23.

When a printing instruction is input to the printing device 1 from an information processing device (not shown), the printing medium M is fed out from the tape core 32 by the rotation of the platen roller 21. At this time, the ink ribbon winding drive shaft 23 rotates in synchronization with the platen roller 21, so that the ink ribbon R is fed out from the ink ribbon supply core 34 together with the printing medium M. As a result, the print medium M and the ink ribbon R are conveyed in an overlapping state. Then, when the ink ribbon R is heated by the thermal head 10 when passing between the thermal head 10 and the platen roller 21, the ink is transferred to the printing medium M and printing is performed.

The used ink ribbon R that has passed between the thermal head 10 and the platen roller 21 is wound around the ink ribbon winding core 35. On the other hand, the printed medium M to be printed that has passed between the thermal head 10 and the platen roller 21 is cut by the half-cut mechanism 16 and the full-cut mechanism 17 and discharged from the discharge port 2a.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the printing device 1. In addition to the above-described configuration, the printing device 1 includes a control circuit 25, a communication interface 26, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 27, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 28, a photo sensor 29, and a head drive circuit, as shown in FIG. 18. The transport motor drive circuit 11, the transport motor 12, the cutter motor drive circuit 14, the cutter motor 15, the half-cut mechanism 16, and the full-cut mechanism 17 are provided.

The control circuit 25 includes an arbitrary processing circuit such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The control circuit 25 is a control means that controls the operation of each part of the printing apparatus 1 by expanding and executing the program stored in the ROM 27 in the RAM 28.

The communication interface 26 exchanges data with and from the information processing device. The communication interface 26 is a communication module including an antenna, an RF (Radio Frequency) unit, and a baseband unit, and is, for example, a Wi-Fi module, a Bluetooth (registered trademark) module, and a BLE module. The communication IF 26 is not limited to the wireless communication module, and may be an interface for performing wired communication.

The ROM 27 stores a print program for printing on the print medium M and various data (for example, fonts and the like) necessary for executing the print program. The RAM 28 is a work memory used for executing a program. The computer-readable recording medium that stores the programs and data used for processing in the printing apparatus 1 includes physical (non-temporary) recording media such as ROM 27 and RAM 28.

The head drive circuit 18 energizes the heat generating element 10a of the thermal head 10 based on the print data and the control signal under the control of the control circuit 25. The thermal head 10 is a print head having a plurality of heat generating elements 10a arranged in the main scanning direction. The thermal head 10 heats the ink ribbon with the heat generating element 10a and prints one line at a time on the printing medium M by thermal transfer.

The transport motor drive circuit 11 drives the transport motor 12 under the control of the control circuit 25. The transport motor 12 is, for example, a stepping motor, which rotates the platen roller 21. The platen roller 21 is rotated (forward rotation) by the power of the transfer motor 12, and positively conveys (feeds) the print medium M in the longitudinal direction (sub-scanning direction, transfer direction) of the print medium M. In this case, the print medium M is conveyed from the platen roller 21 in the forward transfer direction toward the discharge port 2a (see FIG. 7). Under the control of the transfer motor drive circuit 11, the transfer motor 12 rotates (reverse rotation) not only in the direction in which the print medium M is fed out but also in the direction in which the print medium M is rewound (reverse direction). , The print medium M is reversely conveyed. In this case, the print medium M is conveyed in the reverse transfer direction from the discharge port 2a toward the platen roller 21 (see FIG. 7). The platen roller 21 is a transport roller that transports and reverse-transports the print medium M.

The cutter motor drive circuit 14 drives the cutter motor 15. The full-cut mechanism 17 is operated by the power of the cutter motor 15 to fully cut the printing medium M at the full-cut position. The full cut is an operation of cutting the base material of the printing medium M together with the release paper along the width direction of the printing medium M. The half-cut mechanism 16 operates by the power of the cutter motor 15 and half-cuts the print medium M at the half-cut position. The half-cut is an operation of cutting a part of the print medium M, more specifically, only the base material along the width direction. For example, the cutter motor drive circuit 14 may drive the cutter motor 15 when the button 5 is pressed so that the full-cut mechanism 17 fully cuts the printing medium M.

The photo sensor 29 includes, for example, a photo reflector and the like, and detects information printed on the print surface of the print medium M. The photo sensor 29 irradiates the print surface of the print medium with light to detect the reflected light. The photo sensor 29 may be provided at a position closer to the discharge port 2a than the thermal head 10. For example, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, between the full cut mechanism 17 and the half cut mechanism 16. It may be provided.

The printing process of the printing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 to 13. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an outline of the processing performed by the printing apparatus 1 of the first embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of specifying a virtual line La corresponding to the flowchart of FIG. 11 to 13 are diagrams showing an example in which the print medium M is continuously printed for each of a plurality of labels in accordance with the flowchart of FIG. 9. In the present embodiment, the label represents one unit of the print area constituting the print medium M.

In the printing device 1 described above, when a printing command for continuously printing the print medium M for each of a plurality of labels is input, the control circuit 25 executes the application program of the printing device 1 and shows FIG. The processing according to the control method shown is started. At the start of printing, the first label is the first label L1 and the second label is the second label L2. As shown in FIG. 10, the label L2 is located behind the label L1 in the forward transport direction. As a result, when printing a plurality of labels continuously, it becomes easy to perform printing control in the order of transport. In FIGS. 10 to 13, in order to make it easy to distinguish between the print content printed on the label L1 and the print content printed on the label L2, the print content of the label L2 is compared with the print content of the label L1. It is displayed in bold.

As shown in FIG. 11 (1), the control circuit 25 rotates the platen roller 21 in the forward direction to forward (feed) the print medium M to the half-cut position of the label L1 (step S31). As shown in FIG. 11 (2), when the print medium M is conveyed to the half-cut position of the label L1, half-cut is performed (step S32).

As shown in FIG. 11 (3), the control circuit 25 reversely rotates the platen roller 21 to transport the print medium M back to the print start position of the label L1 (step S33). As shown in FIG. 11 (4), when the print medium M is reversely conveyed to the print start position of the label L1, printing of the label L1 is started (step S34), and the platen roller 21 is rotated in the forward direction to rotate the platen roller 21 in the forward direction to print the label L1. (Step S35).

The control circuit 25 determines whether or not the printing of the label L1 is completed (step S36). As shown in FIG. 12 (5), when the control circuit 25 finishes printing the label L1 (S36: YES), the control circuit 25 recognizes the print content of the label L2 next to the label L1 and recognizes the print content of the label L1. A line having little effect on the print quality of the print content included in the print data of the label L2 next to the label L2 is specified as a virtual virtual line La (step S37). The control circuit 25 recognizes the print content included in the print data of the label L2 next to the label L1 and identifies a virtual virtual line La that has little effect on the print quality of the print content of the next label L2.

The virtual line La is a line virtually arranged along the width direction of the printed medium M orthogonal to the conveying direction of the printed medium M (printing tape). The width of the virtual line La may be 1 dot or more, and the width of the virtual line La may be formed from a plurality of dots. The control circuit 25 specifies as a virtual line La a line in which the number of dots printed by the thermal head 10 per line is a predetermined number or less among the plurality of lines constituting the print content. That is, the control circuit 25 specifies a line with a small amount of printing as a virtual line La. More preferably, for example, as shown in FIG. 10, the control circuit 25 specifies a line in which dots printed by the thermal head 10 are blank as a virtual line La among a plurality of lines constituting the print content. A line with blank dots is a line in which there are no dots on the lines constituting the print content.

As shown in FIG. 10, the control circuit 25 recognizes the print content included in the print data of the label L2 next to the label L1 and calculates the distance d1 from the half-cut position of the label L1 to the position of the virtual line La. (Step S38). When calculating the distance d1 from the half-cut position of the label L1 to the position of the virtual line La of the next label L2, the control circuit 25 is the maximum distance among the distances from the half-cut position of the label L1 to the thermal head 10. Is set as the distance d1 from the cut position of the label L1 to the position of the virtual line La. For example, in the control circuit 25, among the lines in which the number of dots printed by the thermal head 10 per line is a predetermined number or less, the line in which the distance from the half-cut position of the label L1 to the thermal head 10 is the maximum. Is set as the virtual line La. Then, the control circuit 25 is set as the distance d1 from the half-cut position of the label L1 to the position of the set virtual line La.

The control circuit 25 starts printing the next label L2 (step S39), rotates the platen roller 21 in the forward direction, and conveys the printing medium M (step S40). The control circuit 25 determines whether or not the virtual line La has been printed (step S41). In this process, the control circuit 25 determines whether or not printing has been performed up to the distance d1 from the half-cut position of the label L1 calculated in step S38 to the position of the virtual line La. As shown in FIG. 12 (6), when printing up to the virtual line La (S41: YES), the control circuit 25 interrupts printing (step S42).

As shown in FIG. 12 (7), the control circuit 25 rotates the platen roller 21 in the forward direction to forward the print medium M to the half-cut position of the next label L2 (step S43). As shown in FIG. 12 (8), the control circuit 25 performs a half cut when the print medium M is conveyed to the half cut position of the label L1 (step S44).

The control circuit 25 reversely rotates the platen roller 21 to transport the print medium M in the reverse direction (step S45). The control circuit 25 determines whether or not the virtual line La of the label L2 of the print medium M is reversely conveyed to the print start position (step S46). In this process, the control circuit 25 reversely conveys the print medium M to a position in the middle of printing on the label L2. As shown in FIG. 13 (9), when the virtual line La of the label L2 of the print medium M is reversely conveyed to the print start position (S46: YES), the control circuit 25 is shown in FIG. 13 (10). As shown, printing of the label L2 is restarted (step S47), the platen roller 21 is rotated in the forward direction, and the printing medium M is positively conveyed (step S48).

The control circuit 25 determines whether or not the printing of the label L2 is completed (step S49). As shown in FIG. 13 (11), when the printing of the label L2 is completed (S49: YES), the control circuit 25 determines whether or not all the labels have been printed (step S50). If all the labels have not been printed (S50: NO), that is, if there are labels for which printing has not been completed, half-cutting is performed (step S51), the process returns to step S37, and steps S37 to S37. The process of step S51 is repeatedly executed. When all the labels are printed (S50: YES), the platen roller 21 is rotated in the forward direction to forward the printable medium M to the full cut position (step S52), and the full cut is performed (step S53). When this process is completed, the print process is completed.

As described above, the printing apparatus 1 performs the printing process shown in FIG. 9 to print the next label L2 while transporting the print medium M to the half-cut position of the label L1 after printing the label L1. The print content included in the data can be printed by the thermal head 10. Therefore, after printing the label L1, the print contents of the next label L2 can be printed while being conveyed (fed) to the half-cut position of the label L1 to eliminate wasted time required for printing. When printing a plurality of labels in succession, it is possible to shorten the time until all printing is completed.

Further, while the print medium M is being conveyed to the half-cut position of the label L1, the thermal print medium M is being conveyed to a position where there is a virtual line La that has little effect on the print quality of the print content of the next label L2. Printing can be performed by the head 10. Therefore, by performing printing with the thermal head 10 while transporting the printed matter M to a position where the virtual line La is located, even if printing is interrupted at the virtual line La, the influence of printing misalignment can be minimized. This makes it possible to avoid deterioration of print quality.

Further, the control circuit 25 recognizes the print content included in the print data of the label L2 next to the label L1, and among the plurality of lines, the dots printed by the thermal head 10 affect the print quality. It is specified as a virtual line La with little action. Therefore, by performing printing with the thermal head 10 while transporting the printing medium M to a position where the virtual line La is located, it is possible to prevent printing misalignment even if printing is interrupted by the virtual line La. It is possible to avoid deterioration of print quality.

Further, the control circuit 25 recognizes the print content included in the print data of the label L2 next to the label L1 and calculates the distance d1 from the half-cut position of the label L1 to the position of the virtual line La. Therefore, by printing the print content of the next label L2 while being conveyed (feeded) from the half-cut position to the virtual line La, it is possible to eliminate wasted time required for printing, and a plurality of labels can be continuously printed. It is possible to shorten the time until all printing is completed when printing.

Further, when calculating the distance d1 from the half-cut position of the label L1 to the position of the virtual line La of the label L2, the control circuit 25 is the maximum distance among the distances from the half-cut position of the label L1 to the thermal head 10. Is set as the distance d1 from the cut position of the label L1 to the position of the virtual line La. Therefore, it is useless to print by printing more print contents of the next label L2 while being conveyed (feeded) from the half-cut position of the label L1 to the position of the virtual line La of the next label L2. More time can be saved, and the time required to complete all printing when printing a plurality of labels in succession can be shortened.

Further, the control circuit 25 conveys the printable medium M to the position where the virtual line La of the label L2 next to the label L1 exists while the printable medium M is being conveyed to the half-cut position of the label L1 while the thermal head 10 is conveyed. Print with. Then, after the printing is interrupted by the thermal head 10, the control circuit 25 conveys the printing medium M and cuts at the half-cut position of the label L1 until the virtual line La reaches the position where printing is started by the thermal head 10. The print medium M is reversely conveyed. After that, the control circuit 25 conveys the printing medium M and restarts printing by the thermal head 10. Therefore, even when the virtual line La reversely conveys the printed matter M to the position where printing is started by the thermal head 10 and restarts printing by the thermal head 10, it is possible to prevent printing misalignment. , It is possible to avoid deterioration of print quality.

[Second Embodiment]
FIG. 14 is a flowchart of another printing process performed by the printing apparatus of the second embodiment. FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of specifying a virtual line La corresponding to the flowchart of FIG. 16 to 19 are diagrams showing an example in which the print medium M is continuously printed for each of a plurality of labels in accordance with the flowchart of FIG. Hereinafter, a control method of a printing apparatus (hereinafter, simply referred to as a printing apparatus) in the case of performing a full cut for each printing of each label will be specifically described with reference to FIGS. 14 to 19.

In the printing device 1 described above, when printing commands for a plurality of sheets of printed media M are continuously input, the control circuit 25 executes the application program of the printing device 1 and starts the process shown in FIG.

At the start of printing, the first label is the first label L1 and the second label is the second label L2. As shown in FIG. 15, the label L2 is located behind the label L1 in the forward transport direction. As a result, when printing a plurality of labels continuously, it becomes easy to perform printing control in the order of transport. In addition, in FIGS. 15 to 19, in order to make it easy to distinguish between the print content printed on the label L1 and the print content printed on the label L2, the print content of the label L2 is compared with the print content of the label L1. It is displayed in bold.

As shown in FIG. 16 (1), the control circuit 25 rotates the platen roller 21 in the forward direction to forward (feed) the print medium M to the half-cut position of the label L1 (step S61). As shown in FIG. 16 (2), when the print medium M is conveyed to the half-cut position of the label L1, half-cut is performed (step S62).

As shown in FIG. 16 (3), the control circuit 25 reversely rotates the platen roller 21 to transport the print medium M back to the print start position of the label L1 (step S63). As shown in FIG. 16 (4), when the print medium M is reversely conveyed to the print start position of the label L1, printing of the label L1 is started (step S64), and the platen roller 21 is rotated in the forward direction to rotate the platen roller 21 in the forward direction to print the label L1. (Step S65).

The control circuit 25 determines whether or not the printing of the label L1 is completed (step S66). When the control circuit 25 finishes printing the label L1 as shown in FIG. 17 (5) (S66: YES), the control circuit 25 rotates the platen roller 21 in the forward direction as shown in FIG. 17 (6). The print medium M is conveyed by the distance (w2) from the full cut position to the half cut position (step S67).

The control circuit 25 recognizes the print content of the label L2 next to the label L1 and creates a virtual virtual line that has little effect on the print quality of the print content contained in the print data of the label L2 next to the label L1. It is specified as La (step S68).

The control circuit 25 recognizes the print content included in the print data of the label L2 next to the label L1 and identifies a virtual virtual line La that has little effect on the print quality of the print content of the next label L2.

As shown in FIG. 15, the control circuit 25 recognizes the print content included in the print data of the label L2 next to the label L1 and calculates the distance d2 from the full cut position of the label L1 to the position of the virtual line La. (Step S69). When calculating the distance d2 from the full cut position of the label L1 to the position of the virtual line La, the control circuit 25 sets the maximum distance among the distances from the full cut position of the label L1 to the thermal head 10 as the distance d2 of the label L1. It is set as the distance d1 from the full cut position to the position of the virtual line La. For example, in the control circuit 25, among the lines in which the number of dots printed by the thermal head 10 per line is a predetermined number or less, the line in which the distance from the full cut position of the label L1 to the thermal head 10 is the maximum. Is set as the virtual line La. Then, the control circuit 25 is set as the distance d1 from the cut position of the label L1 to the position of the set virtual line La.

As shown in FIG. 17 (6), the control circuit 25 starts printing the next label L2 (step S70), rotates the platen roller 21 in the forward direction, and conveys the printing medium M (step S71). The control circuit 25 determines whether or not the virtual line La has been printed (step S72). In this process, the control circuit 25 determines whether or not printing has been performed up to the distance d2 from the full cut position of the label L1 calculated in step S62 to the position of the virtual line La. As shown in FIG. 17 (7), when printing up to the virtual line La (S72: YES), the control circuit 25 interrupts printing (step S73).

As shown in FIG. 17 (8), the control circuit 25 rotates the platen roller 21 in the forward direction to forward the print medium M to the full cut position of the next label L2 (step S74). When the print medium M is conveyed to the full cut position of the label L1, the control circuit 25 performs a full cut as shown in FIG. 18 (9) (step S75).

As shown in FIG. 18 (10), the control circuit 25 rotates the platen roller 21 in the forward direction to positively convey the print medium M to the half-cut position of the next label L2 (step S76). As shown in FIG. 18 (11), the control circuit 25 performs a half cut when the print medium M is conveyed to the half cut position of the label L1 (step S77).

The control circuit 25 reversely rotates the platen roller 21 to transport the print medium M in the reverse direction (step S78). The control circuit 25 determines whether or not the virtual line La of the label L2 of the print medium M is reversely conveyed to the print start position (step S79). In this process, the control circuit 25 reversely conveys the print medium M to a position in the middle of printing on the label L2. As shown in FIG. 18 (12), when the print medium M is reverse-conveyed to the print start position of the virtual line La of the label L2 (S79: YES), the control circuit 25 is shown in FIG. 19 (13). As shown, printing of the label L2 is restarted (step S80), the platen roller 21 is rotated in the forward direction, and the printing medium M is positively conveyed (step S81).

The control circuit 25 determines whether or not the printing of the label L2 is completed (step S82). As shown in FIG. 19 (14), when the printing of the label L2 is completed (S82: YES), the control circuit 25 determines whether or not all the labels have been printed (step S83). If all the labels have not been printed (S83: NO), that is, if there are labels for which printing has not been completed, a full cut is performed (step S84), the process returns to step S68, and steps S68 to S68 to The process of step S83 is repeatedly executed. When all the labels are printed (S83: YES), the platen roller 21 is rotated in the forward direction to forward the printable medium M to the full cut position (step S85) and perform full cut (step S86). When this process is completed, the print process is completed.

As described above, by performing the printing process shown in FIG. 14, the printing apparatus 1 prints the next label L2 while transporting the printing medium M to the full cut position of the label L1 after printing the label L1. The print content included in the data can be printed by the thermal head 10. Therefore, after printing the label L1, the print contents of the next label L2 can be printed while being conveyed (fed) to the full cut position of the label L1 to eliminate wasted time required for printing. When printing a plurality of labels in succession, it is possible to shorten the time until all printing is completed.

Further, while the print medium M is being conveyed to the full cut position of the label L1, the thermal print medium M is being conveyed to a position where there is a virtual line La that has little effect on the print quality of the print content of the next label L2. Printing can be performed by the head 10. Therefore, by performing printing with the thermal head 10 while transporting the printed matter M to a position where the virtual line La is located, even if printing is interrupted at the virtual line La, the influence of printing misalignment can be minimized. This makes it possible to avoid deterioration of print quality.

Further, the control circuit 25 recognizes the print content included in the print data of the label L2 next to the label L1 and calculates the distance d2 from the full cut position of the label L1 to the position of the virtual line La. Therefore, by printing the print content of the next label L2 while being conveyed (feeded) from the full cut position to the virtual line La, it is possible to eliminate wasted time required for printing, and a plurality of labels can be continuously printed. It is possible to shorten the time until all printing is completed when printing.

Further, when calculating the distance d2 from the full cut position of the label L1 to the position of the virtual line La, the control circuit 25 sets the maximum distance among the distances from the half cut position of the label L1 to the thermal head 10 as the label. It is set as the distance d1 from the cut position of L1 to the virtual line La. Therefore, it is useless to print by printing more print contents of the next label L2 while being conveyed (feeded) from the full cut position of the label L1 to the position of the virtual line La of the next label L2. More time can be saved, and the time required to complete all printing when printing a plurality of labels in succession can be shortened.

Further, the control circuit 25 conveys the printable medium M to the position where the virtual line La of the label L2 next to the label L1 exists while the printable medium M is being conveyed to the full cut position of the label L1 while the thermal head 10 is conveyed. Print with. Then, after the printing is interrupted by the thermal head 10, the control circuit 25 conveys the printing medium M and cuts at the full cut position of the label L1 until the virtual line La reaches the position where printing is started by the thermal head 10. The print medium M is reversely conveyed. After that, the control circuit 25 conveys the printing medium M and restarts printing by the thermal head 10. Therefore, even when the virtual line La reversely conveys the printed matter M to the position where printing is started by the thermal head 10 and restarts printing by the thermal head 10, it is possible to prevent printing misalignment. , It is possible to avoid deterioration of print quality.

Further, the control circuit 25 conveys the printable medium M to the position where the virtual line La of the label L2 next to the label L1 exists while the printable medium M is being conveyed to the full cut position of the label L1 while the thermal head 10 is conveyed. Print with. Then, after the printing is interrupted by the thermal head 10, the control circuit 25 conveys the printing medium M and cuts at the full cut position of the label L1 until the virtual line La reaches the position where printing is started by the thermal head 10. The print medium M is reversely conveyed. After that, the control circuit 25 conveys the printing medium M and restarts printing by the thermal head 10. Therefore, even when the virtual line La reversely conveys the printed matter M to the position where printing is started by the thermal head 10 and restarts printing by the thermal head 10, it is possible to prevent printing misalignment. , It is possible to avoid deterioration of print quality.

In the above-described embodiment, the control circuit 25 recognizes the print content included in the print data of the label L2 next to the label L1, and the dots printed by the thermal head 10 per one of the plurality of lines. Lines whose number is less than or equal to a predetermined number are specified as virtual lines La having little effect on print quality, but this is not the case. For example, the control circuit 25 recognizes the print content included in the print data of the label L2 next to the label L1, and among the plurality of lines, the priority included in the print content of the next label L1 is associated. A line including an object having a low priority from a plurality of objects may be specified as a virtual line La having a small effect on the print quality. For example, the control circuit 25 has a high priority even when the number of dots printed by the thermal head 10 per line is less than or equal to a predetermined number among a plurality of lines. If an object in which is set is included, the line is not specified as a virtual line La. In that case, the control circuit 25 specifies the line having the lowest number of dots per line as the virtual line La among the lines including objects other than the objects for which the high priority is set.

For example, a case where there are characters and marks as objects to which the priorities included in the print contents are associated will be described. In this case, it is assumed that the mark has the highest priority and the character has the lowest priority. The priority setting for the object may be set in advance, or the priority setting for each object may be accepted based on the input operation of the user. For example, the control circuit 25 includes a mark object in which a high priority is set for a line having a predetermined number or less of dots printed by the thermal head 10 per line among a plurality of lines. In this case, the line is not specified as a virtual line La. In that case, the control circuit 25 specifies the line having the lowest number of dots per line as the virtual line La among the lines including the object of the character other than the object of the mark on which the high priority is set. Therefore, even if printing is interrupted at the virtual line La, it is possible to minimize the influence of print misalignment based on the priority for the object, and it is possible to avoid deterioration of print quality.

The above-described embodiments show specific examples for facilitating the understanding of the invention, and the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. The printing apparatus, program, and control method can be variously modified and changed without departing from the description of the claims.

Hereinafter, the inventions described in the claims at the time of filing the application of the present application will be added.

[Appendix 1]
A transport roller that transports the medium to be printed and
A print head that continuously prints the printable medium for each of a plurality of labels,
A cutting device that cuts the printable medium into the plurality of labels, and
Of the plurality of labels, after printing the first label, while the printing medium is being conveyed to the cut position of the first label, the print content of the second label to be printed next to the first label is printed. Control means for printing with the head and
A printing apparatus comprising.

[Appendix 2]
The printing apparatus according to Appendix 1.
The print head prints a plurality of lines on the print medium, and the print head prints a plurality of lines.
While the control means conveys the printable medium to the cut position of the first label, the control means prints up to a position where there is a virtual virtual line that has little effect on the print quality of the print content of the second label. A printing apparatus characterized in that printing is performed by the printing head while carrying a medium.

[Appendix 3]
The printing apparatus according to Appendix 2.
The control means
A printing apparatus characterized in that it recognizes the print content of the second label and calculates the distance from the cut position of the first label to the position of the virtual line.

[Appendix 4]
The printing apparatus according to Appendix 3.
The control means
When calculating the distance from the cut position of the first label to the position of the virtual line, the maximum distance among the distances from the cut position of the first label to the print head is set to the cut position of the first label. A printing apparatus characterized in that it is set as a distance from the position of the virtual line to the position of the virtual line.

[Appendix 5]
The printing apparatus according to any one of Supplementary note 2 to 4.
The control means
Recognizing the print content of the second label, the line having a predetermined number or less of dots printed by the print head per line among the plurality of lines has little effect on the print quality. A printing device characterized by being identified as a virtual line.

[Appendix 6]
The printing apparatus according to Appendix 5.
The control means
A printing apparatus comprising recognizing the printed content of the second label and identifying a line in which the dots are blank among the plurality of lines as the virtual line having less effect on the print quality.

[Appendix 7]
The printing apparatus according to any one of Supplementary note 2 to 4.
The control means
Recognizing the print content of the second label, among the plurality of lines, the object having the lower priority is included from the plurality of objects to which the priority included in the print content of the second label is associated. A printing apparatus characterized in that a line to be printed is specified as the virtual line having little effect on print quality.

[Appendix 8]
The printing apparatus according to any one of Supplementary note 2 to 6.
The control means
While the printing medium is being conveyed to the cut position of the first label, printing is performed by the printing head while the printing medium is being conveyed to a position where the virtual line of the second label is located, and the printing head is used. After the printing is interrupted, the printable medium is conveyed and cut at the cut position of the first label, and the printable medium is reversely conveyed to a position where the virtual line starts printing by the print head. A printing apparatus characterized in that the printing medium is conveyed and printing by the printing head is restarted.

[Appendix 9]
The printing apparatus according to any one of Supplementary note 1 to 8.
A printing apparatus characterized in that the cut position of the first label is a half cut position or a full cut position.

[Appendix 10]
The printing apparatus according to any one of Supplementary note 1 to 9.
The printing apparatus is characterized in that the second label is located behind the first label in the forward transport direction.

[Appendix 11]
A printing apparatus including a conveying roller that conveys a printing medium, a printing head that continuously prints the printing medium for each of a plurality of labels, and a cutting device that cuts the printing medium into the plurality of labels. Printing of the second label to be printed next to the first label while the printing medium is being conveyed to the cut position of the first label after printing the first label among the plurality of labels. A program characterized in that a process of printing the contents by the print head is executed.

[Appendix 12]
A printing apparatus including a conveying roller that conveys a printing medium, a printing head that continuously prints the printing medium for each of a plurality of labels, and a cutting device that cuts the printing medium into the plurality of labels. It is a control method of
Of the plurality of labels, after printing the first label, while the printing medium is being conveyed to the cut position of the first label, the print content of the second label to be printed next to the first label is printed. A method for controlling a printing device, which comprises printing with a head.

1 Printing device 2 Device housing 2a Discharge port 3 Lid 4 to 8 Button 9 Window 10 Thermal head 10a Heat generating element 11 Transport motor drive circuit 12 Transport motor 13 Thermistor 14 Cutter motor drive circuit 15 Cutter motor 16 Half-cut mechanism 17 Full Cut mechanism 18 Head drive circuit 19 Cartridge accommodating part 20 Cartridge receiving part 21 Platen roller 22 Tape core engaging shaft 23 Ink ribbon winding drive shaft 24 Tape width detection switch 25 Control circuit 26 Communication IF
27 ROM
28 RAM
29 Photosensor 30 Tape cartridge 31 Cartridge case 32 Tape core 34 Ink ribbon supply core 35 Ink ribbon take-up core 36 Thermal head Inserted part 37 Engagement part L1, L2 Label M Printed medium R Ink ribbon T1, T2 Table

Claims (12)

A transport roller that transports the medium to be printed and
A print head that continuously prints the printable medium for each of a plurality of labels,
A cutting device that cuts the printable medium into the plurality of labels, and
Of the plurality of labels, after printing the first label, while the printing medium is being conveyed to the cut position of the first label, the print content of the second label to be printed next to the first label is printed. Control means for printing with the head and
With
The print head
A plurality of lines are printed on the printing medium, and the lines are printed.
The control means
Recognizing the print content of the second label, among the plurality of lines, a line in which the number of dots printed by the print head per line is a predetermined number or less is the print content of the second label. Identified as a virtual virtual line that has little effect on print quality,
A printing apparatus characterized in that printing is performed by the print head while transporting the printable medium to a position where the virtual line is located while transporting the printable medium to the cut position of the first label. A transport roller that transports the medium to be printed and
A print head that continuously prints the printable medium for each of a plurality of labels,
A cutting device that cuts the printable medium into the plurality of labels, and
Of the plurality of labels, after printing the first label, while the printing medium is being conveyed to the cut position of the first label, the print content of the second label to be printed next to the first label is printed. Control means for printing with the head and
With
The print head
A plurality of lines are printed on the printing medium, and the lines are printed.
The control means
Recognizing the print content of the second label, among the plurality of lines, the object having the lower priority is included from the plurality of objects to which the priority included in the print content of the second label is associated. The line is specified as a virtual virtual line that has little effect on the print quality of the printed content of the second label.
While the print medium is being conveyed to the cut position of the first label, printing is performed by the print head while the print medium is being conveyed to a position where the virtual line is located.
A printing device characterized by that. The printing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2.
The control means
A printing apparatus characterized in that it recognizes the print content of the second label and calculates the distance from the cut position of the first label to the position of the virtual line. The printing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2.
The control means
When calculating the distance from the cut position of the first label to the position of the virtual line, the maximum distance among the distances from the cut position of the first label to the print head is set to the cut position of the first label. A printing apparatus characterized in that it is set as a distance from the position of the virtual line to the position of the virtual line. The printing apparatus according to claim 1.
The control means
A printing apparatus comprising recognizing the printed content of the second label and identifying a line in which the dots are blank among the plurality of lines as the virtual line having less effect on the print quality. The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5.
The control means
While the printing medium is being conveyed to the cut position of the first label, printing is performed by the printing head while the printing medium is being conveyed to a position where the virtual line of the second label is located, and the printing head is used. After the printing is interrupted, the printable medium is conveyed and cut at the cut position of the first label, and the printable medium is reversely conveyed to a position where the virtual line starts printing by the print head. A printing apparatus characterized in that the printing medium is conveyed and printing by the printing head is restarted. The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6.
A printing apparatus characterized in that the cut position of the first label is a half cut position or a full cut position. The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7.
The printing apparatus is characterized in that the second label is located behind the first label in the forward transport direction. A printing apparatus including a conveying roller that conveys a printing medium, a printing head that continuously prints the printing medium for each of a plurality of labels, and a cutting device that cuts the printing medium into the plurality of labels. A plurality of lines are printed on the printing medium by the printing head , and the printing medium is being conveyed to the cut position of the first label after printing the first label among the plurality of labels. In addition, the second label recognizes the print content of the second label to be printed next to the first label, and among the plurality of lines, the line in which the number of printed dots per line is a predetermined number or less is the second line. The print content of the label is specified as a virtual virtual line that has little effect on the print quality, and the print content of the second label is printed by the print head while transporting the print medium to a position where the virtual line is located. A program characterized by executing a process of performing. A printing apparatus including a conveying roller that conveys a printing medium, a printing head that continuously prints the printing medium for each of a plurality of labels, and a cutting device that cuts the printing medium into the plurality of labels. A plurality of lines are printed on the printing medium by the print head, and the printing medium is being conveyed to the cut position of the first label after printing the first label among the plurality of labels. The print contents of the second label to be printed next to the first label are recognized, and among the plurality of lines, among a plurality of objects to which the priority included in the print contents of the second label is associated. The line containing the low priority object is specified as a virtual virtual line having little effect on the print quality of the print content of the second label, and the print content of the second label is defined as the virtual line. A program characterized in that a process of performing printing by the print head is executed while the print medium is conveyed to a position. A printing apparatus including a conveying roller that conveys a printing medium, a printing head that continuously prints the printing medium for each of a plurality of labels, and a cutting device that cuts the printing medium into the plurality of labels. It is a control method of
A plurality of lines are printed on the printing medium by the printing head, and the printing head is used to print a plurality of lines.
Of the plurality of labels, after printing the first label, while the printing medium is being conveyed to the cut position of the first label, the print content of the second label to be printed next to the first label is recognized. , Of the plurality of lines, a line in which the number of printed dots per line is a predetermined number or less is specified as a virtual virtual line having little effect on the print quality of the print content of the second label. A method for controlling a printing apparatus, wherein the print content of the second label is printed by the print head while carrying the print medium to a position where the virtual line is located. A printing apparatus including a conveying roller that conveys a printing medium, a printing head that continuously prints the printing medium for each of a plurality of labels, and a cutting device that cuts the printing medium into the plurality of labels. It is a control method of
A plurality of lines are printed on the printing medium by the printing head, and the printing head is used to print a plurality of lines.
Of the plurality of labels, after printing the first label, while the printing medium is being conveyed to the cut position of the first label, the print content of the second label to be printed next to the first label is recognized. Of the plurality of lines, the line including the object having the lower priority from among the plurality of objects to which the priority included in the print content of the second label is associated is the print content of the second label. It is characterized in that it is specified as a virtual virtual line that has little effect on print quality, and the print content of the second label is printed by the print head while carrying the print medium to a position where the virtual line is located. Control method of the printing device.

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