JPH0637205B2 - Portable labeler - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates generally to printing devices, and more particularly to control circuits for accurately determining the position of a printing web and printing heads in response to position signals. (Thermal print head is preferable)
The present invention relates to a portable labeler for accurately controlling the movement of the above and accurately positioning the mark on the web.

2. Description of the Related Art Portable labelers using a thermal printer are already known. An example of such a portable labeler is US Pat.
4,396, 4,407,692, and British Patent 2,138,190
No. Although the device disclosed in the above patent document provides a method for printing on a heat-sensitive web,
It does not have some of the features that are obtainable with the device according to the invention. For example, when printing with a thermal printer, especially with the high density print density disclosed in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. It requires precise control as a function of position. For example,
In devices where the web is fed continuously, the appropriate print element must be energized at the exact time that the portion of the web that needs to be printed is placed adjacent to the printhead. Each print element has a length and width of only a few mils, further increasing the difficulty of the problem. As a result, especially when the speed of the web changes as it passes through the print head, for example, in the case of a labeler having a hand-fed web, in addition to changes in the shape of characters, changes in print density and To prevent print breaks, the timing of applying the voltage to the print element, ie the position of the web, must be precisely controlled.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In the conventional portable labeler, it is not enough to accurately control the position of the web. For example, JP-A-57-
In the 204848 publication, the control of detecting the position of the label and directly printing is performed, but since the control is not performed due to the change of the web feed speed, the printed characters may not be normal. In the conventional mechanical portable labeler, the print may even stick out from the label due to backlash of gears. Further, it is also required to appropriately stop the feeding of the label web for printing on the next label.

Therefore, it is a first object of the present invention to provide a portable labeler capable of precisely detecting the position of a label so that the label can be fed and accurately controlled when printing on the label.

Further, a second object of the present invention is to accurately control the feeding of the label and the feeding of the label when printing on the label, even if there is a backlash which is observed when the feeding of the label is performed by a mechanical structure such as a gear. Therefore, it is to provide a portable labeler capable of accurately detecting the position of the label.

Further, a third object of the present invention is to precisely detect the position of the label so that the label feeding and the printing can be accurately controlled when printing on the label, and detect the boundary portion of each label to perform the next printing. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a web advancing device that can be used in a portable labeler that stops a label at a predetermined position.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above first object, according to the first invention of the present application, a means for holding a label supply roll of a composite web attached to a supporting web so that a label can be peeled off, and A housing having a handle portion to be held by hand, a printing means having a thermal print head having a plurality of individually selectable printing elements for printing a thermal label at a printing position, and a means for peeling a printed label from a supporting web. And a label sticking means arranged next to this peeling means, and a printed label is peeled from the support web at the peeling means, and then a printed label is stuck so as to be stuck at the sticking means. A means for advancing the composite web for advancing and advancing the next label to the printing position, a means for inputting data selected to be printed, and a connection to the data inputting means Portable labeler having electronically processing selected data and applying voltage to individual printing elements to print the data on the label in a predetermined order determined by the selected data. Which further comprises an instruction means which is operated by the composite web advancing means and is connected to the processing means to generate a signal indicating the position of the label with respect to the printing position, the instructing means comprising a plurality of A home position marker and a plurality of position markers adjacent to each home position, the markers being disposed on the disc as optically contrasting marks formed by the holes on the disc, A portable labeler is provided, wherein the home position mark is larger than the position mark.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned second object, according to the second invention of the present application, a means for holding the label supply roll of the composite web attached to the supporting web so that the label can be peeled off, and a handle portion to be gripped by the hand. And a printing means having a heat-sensitive print head having a plurality of individually selectable printing elements for printing a heat-sensitive label at a printing position, a means for peeling a printed label from a support web, and a peeling means. And a label sticking means arranged next to the printed label is peeled from the support web at the peeling means,
Next, a means for advancing a preprinted label so as to be affixed at the affixing means and a means for advancing a composite web for advancing a next label to a printing position, a means for inputting data selected for printing, and the data Processing means connected to the input means for electrically processing the selected data and applying voltage to the individual printing elements to print the data on the label in a predetermined sequence determined by the selected data. The composite web advancing means is a portable labeler having a predetermined amount of backlash, and further, the composite web advancing means is provided with an indicating means having one home position mark and a plurality of position mark, Means are provided for detecting these landmarks, said landmarks may be selectively aligned with said detection means, and said home position landmarks are said positions. Larger than the mark and has a predetermined dimension selected such that at least a portion of the home position mark remains aligned with the detecting means during backlash of the composite web advancing means. A portable labeler is provided which is characterized by:

Furthermore, in order to achieve the above-mentioned third object, according to the third invention of the present application, there is provided a device for controlling the forward movement of a web provided with a plurality of labels in the longitudinal direction, wherein the label is printed at the printing position. Means for advancing the web through the printing position, means for inputting the data selected to be printed, and means for electrically processing the selected data connected to the data input means. And a processing means for urging the printing means so as to print the selected data on the label, the apparatus being applicable to a portable labeler, electrically connected to the processing means, to the printing means. An instruction means for supplying a signal indicating the position of the label to the processing means is provided, and the instruction means includes at least one home position mark, a plurality of positioning marks adjacent to the home position mark, and the plurality of positioning marks. A rotation instruction device provided with a warning track adjacent to the placement mark, and a detection means arranged to be close to the indication device and detecting the mark or the warning track, wherein the indication device is: A home position mark, a positioning mark and a warning track are mechanically connected to the web advancing means so as to be advanced in sequence through the detecting means, and the processing means includes a printing means for setting a predetermined position on the web. Responsive to the positioning mark to print the selected data at the position, the processing means further comprising:
In response to the warning track, there is provided a web advancing control device characterized by terminating the web advancing by the web advancing means in a state where the home position mark is aligned with the detecting means after the web feeding.

Examples Next, the drawings will be described. FIG. 1 is a microprocessor controlled thermal portable labeler 10 according to the present invention.
Indicates. The labeler 10 has a housing 12 which holds a roll 14 of adhesive label 16 supported on a support web 18. On the key board 20 arranged on the housing 12, a plurality of individually operable key switches 22 for inputting data to the labeler are arranged. Further, a display device 24 is arranged on the housing 12 so that the user can see the input data and the command issued by the microprocessor. The display device 24 may be a liquid crystal display device or a light emitting diode display device. The battery container 12 that can be fitted into the removable battery container / handle 25 contains a battery 26 having an internal resistance 27.
Supply power to zero.

A trigger 28 is provided to start the labeler's printing operation. Labeling roller 30 is used to apply pressure to label 16 when adhesive label 16 is applied to the product. Support web 18 to label 1
A label peeler (not shown) is contained in the housing 12 for peeling off 6. In order to guide the peeled label 16 to the front of the housing under the roller 30 and to guide the support web to the rear of the housing under the roll 14,
A plurality of guide rollers are provided.

As mentioned previously, the labeler according to the present invention is extremely versatile, in addition to alphanumeric characters, the International Commodity Code (VPC).
It is possible to print bar codes including the European Article Number (EAN). The type of format, alphanumeric or bar code is easily selected by entering the appropriate format and font that make up the data through the keyboard 20. Data to be printed, for example price, data identifying the item, and other information about the item, such as size and color, is also entered through the key board 20.

Further, the number of labels to be printed can be input. Also, a data input / output connector 32 can be provided in the housing so that data can be input from an external source, for example, a remotely located computer, or the battery 26 can be charged.

Referring to FIG. 2, the key board 20 includes a peripheral interface adapter (PIA) 40 that provides an interface between various input / output devices and a microprocessor.
It is connected to the. Also connected to the peripheral interface adapter 40 is a trigger switch 44 operated by the trigger 28 and a control circuit 46 for operating the drive motor 48 of the web advance wheel 49. Detector 5
Detects the markings on the timing disc 51 that are connected to and rotate with the web advance wheel 49. The mark may be formed directly on the web advancing wheel 49. In the present invention, the position of the label is not accurately controlled by detecting the mark. Control circuit 46
Controls the operation of web advance motor 48 in response to data received from microprocessor 42. The motor 48 is preferably a DC motor. Further, a audible alarm 52 is connected to the peripheral interface adapter 40, and is used for instructing the user of a troubled situation or a possibility thereof. For example, the audible alarm 5
2 is discharge or failure of battery, failure of print head,
It can be used to indicate a label run-out, jam, or simply to indicate that the data entered into the device has been received. In the latter case, use the audible alarm to
Each time the switch 22 is pressed, an audible instruction can be given.

The display device 24 is connected to the microprocessor 42 through a display device driver 54. Display device 24
Is used to display data entered into the microprocessor as well as other messages, such as prompts and diagnostics issued by the microprocessor. A read only memory (ROM) 56 is provided for storing permanent data such as programs that define the operation of the device. The read-only memory 56 is a labeler 1.
0 may be permanently installed, or memory 5
It may be removably mounted in a socket or the like so that the font and / or format can be changed by replacing 6. Further, a non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM) 60 suitable for storing data such as form data, as well as the key board 20.
Random access memory (RA that can be used to store short data such as data input through
M) 58 is provided. An input / output connector 32 is connected between the device and the external computer. The printing operation is
Print head 66 and peripheral interface adapter 40
By means of a printhead assembly 64 comprising a printhead driver 68 connected to the. An analog-to-digital converter 70 connected to the peripheral interface adapter 40 senses the battery voltage, ie the voltage applied to the printhead assembly 64, and provides the peripheral interface adapter 40 with a digital indication of that voltage, This allows the microprocessor to adjust the time to energize the battery, ie the printhead, to compensate for changes in the printhead voltage.

An example of the printhead assembly 64 is shown briefly in FIG.
In the illustrated embodiment, the printhead assembly 64 comprises a printhead driver 68 and a printhead 66 located on a thin film substrate. The print head 66 has print elements arranged in a row across the direction of movement of the web 18, and particularly when printing both alphanumeric characters and bar codes, the print head 66 comprises. The high density of the elements makes them particularly suitable for use in portable labelers. In particular, one printhead assembly that can be used as printhead assembly 64 uses 224 print elements, each 10 mils long and 4.4 mils wide, spaced 5.2 mils apart. . The structure described above is capable of printing virtually continuous lines.

Each print element has a heater
5 is a resistive heating element 80 (FIG. 4) that can be individually energized by a printhead driver circuit having a driver transistor 82. Gate 84
Controls each heater driver transistor 82, and input register 86 and data register 88 control the operation of gate 84. Therefore, if a 224 element head is used as the print head 66, 224 driver transistors 82 and 224 will be used.
The individual gates 84 must be prepared. The input register 86 and the data register 88 must each have at least 224 stages.

The input register 86 receives the clock signal applied to the clock line 92 and sequentially receives data from the data input line 90. When input register 86 is full, data is transferred in parallel to data register 88 under the control of a latch signal applied to data register 88 by line 94. The input register 86 is then reset by the reset pulse applied to the reset line 96 and the new data is sent to the input register 86.

The resistive heating element 80 requires a significant amount of current, eg about 50 mA per element, and the density of the elements is very high, eg about 200 per inch.
There are also elements, so if all 80
If both are turned on at the same time, the current requirement on the battery 26 will be excessive. For this reason, the heater driver transistor 82 is strobed by the gate 84 so that no more than 1/4 of the heater driver transistor 82 is energized at one time.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, three A gates 84 are provided.
Strobing is accomplished by using the ND gate and enabling the gate 84 in the block. This includes two block enable signals BE1, BE2 on lines 100, 102 and lines 104, 106, respectively.
This is done by applying strobes ST1 and ST2, respectively. Gate 8 when BE1 signal is high
When half of 4 is enabled and the BE2 signal is high,
Each blockable signal is connected to one half gate 84 so that the other half is enabled. ST1
The signal is applied to half gate 84 which receives the BE1 signal and to half gate 84 which receives the BE2 signal. Similarly, the ST2 signal is applied to gate 84 which does not receive the ST1 signal. Therefore, only one quarter gate 84 is enabled at any given time because each gate needs to receive one block enable signal and one strobe signal to be fully enabled. Thus, the data from the data register 88 is applied to the heater driver transistor 82 in four steps, resulting in the transistor 82 at a fixed time.
No voltage is applied to more than 1/4.

FIG. 5 shows an alternative embodiment of the printhead drive mechanism. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the input register 86 is
Same as the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 except that it is partitioned into a plurality of smaller registers, for example seven 32-stage shift registers 86 '. The configuration described above has the advantage that the printing speed can be increased because data can be input to the device more quickly. The reason is that data can be sent in parallel from each of the seven separate data lines 90 'to each of the seven shift registers 86'. Therefore, loading the input register 86 requires 224 shifts, while loading the register 86 'requires only 32 shifts of data. However, the shift register 8
When loading 6 ', the 224 bits forming each row are not sent sequentially to the shift register 86', but the bits must be sorted so that they can be added to the appropriate registers. I won't. This is 1
This is done by taking each 32nd bit from the data forming the row and adding it to the appropriate one of the shift registers 86 '. For example, if 224 bits were used to form one row, then 32
Th, 64th, 96th, 128th, 160th,
The 192nd and 224th bits are selected and 7
Is added to the buffer memory 108 of the stage (FIG. 5). These bits are then added in parallel to shift register 86 '. Then, the 31st, 63rd, 95th,
The 127th, 159th, 191st and 223nd bits are added to the buffer memory 108 and shifted into the register 86 '. 1st, 33rd, 65
Th, 97th, 129th, 161st and 193th
The above process is repeated until the th bit is loaded into buffer memory 108 and sent to register 86 '. At this point, the seven registers 86 'have bits 1 to 3
2, 33-64, 65-96, 97-128, 129-
160, 161-192, and 193-224 are included. Since this data forms one complete line,
The data from register 86 'can be transferred to a data register, such as data register 88 (Fig. 4), or to multiple independent data registers 88' (Fig. 5). The output of the data register 88 'can be applied to multiple 3-input AND gates 84, or any suitable device that limits the number of individual elements that can be energized at the same time.

In FIG. 5, the strobe function for limiting the number of elements to which a voltage can be applied at the same time has a plurality of circuits 8
Given in 3. Each circuit 83 has 32 2-input A
It consists of an ND gate and a suitable driver circuit that applies voltage to the printhead 66. This device is somewhat simpler than the device of FIG. 4, since only a 2-input AND gate is needed instead of a 3-input AND gate. Three
By providing one strobe signal S1, S2, S3, the number of print elements that can be simultaneously energized is limited to 1/3 of the total number of print elements.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the strobe signal S1 is supplied to the circuit 83.
, The strobe signal S2 is added to the third and fourth positions of the circuit 83, and the strobe signal S3 is added to the fifth and sixth positions of the circuit 83. Therefore, when either strobe signal S2 or S3 is present, no more than two of the seven print elements can be energized at the same time.
In the presence of the strobe signal S1, theoretically, three or more of the seven elements could be energized, but in reality, the line of print is the print head 66.
Is rarely the same as the width of, so that in the first circuit 83 and the last circuit 83, all elements
It is unlikely that a voltage of more than 1/2 will be applied.

The control circuit 46 (FIG. 6) includes a read-only memory (RO
M) 132 is included in the control processor 130. RO
M132 can be located in the same integrated circuit as control processor 130, or in a separate package. For clarity, the various components required to perform the print control function are not shown in FIG. 6, but the microprocessor 42 of FIG. 6 is shown in FIG. 2 to perform the print function. It should be understood that it must be connected to the same or similar components as those described above. Control processor 130
Selects the excitation current or the generated braking current and the motor 4
8 to control the motor drive / braking circuit 134.
The analog-digital converter 136 is the control processor 1
To indicate the speed of the motor 48 to 30, the back emf of the motor 48 when coasting is measured and a digital representation of the back emf is added to the control processor 130. The detector 50 comprises a light source, for example a light emitting diode 138, and a light receiving element, for example a photodetector 140 provided on the opposite side of the timing disc 51. In the present invention, the detector 50 detects a mark provided on the timing disc 51 according to the present invention. The mark of the timing disc 51 is a series of light contrast marks such as an opaque portion and a transparent portion. The markings used to indicate the position of the disc 51 to the device, and thus the position of the web 18 advanced on the advance wheel 49, are preferably made as a series of openings around the outer circumference of the disc 51. Although an optical device is used to detect the position of the disk 51, other devices may be used.

FIG. 7 shows the timing disc 51 according to the present invention in detail. The disc of FIG. 7 is made of an opaque material.
Since the disk 51 is relatively small (for example, about 1.25 inches in diameter) and requires close tolerances, it is convenient to make the disk using electrodeposited nickel. The nominal thickness of disk 51 is 3 mils, but 2-4
It should be in the mil range.

As shown in FIG. 6, the disk 51 is mounted on the same shaft (shaft 141) as the web advancing wheel 49 and forms a shaft encoder that rotates with it. In the illustrated embodiment, each time a label is fed, the wheel 49
After three rotations, the disc 51 has three openings 142, 14
There are three home position markers in the form of 4,146. In the illustrated embodiment, the disc 51 rotates 1/3 each time one label is fed, so three home position markers are provided. However, if the disc 51 rotates at different ratios, the advance mechanism is used. It is to be understood that the number of home position landmarks would have to be changed accordingly if modified. For example, if the disc 51 is rotated 1/4 turn each time one label is fed, a disc having four home position markers is used.

Following each opening 142, 144, 146 is
A plurality of openings, or slots 148, 150, 152 (seventh, seventh) that precisely position the label relative to the printhead.
Figure). The position definition marks 148, 150, 152 are
In the following description, the home position openings 142, 14 will be referred to as openings, slots, and other terms.
In order to distinguish them from 4, 146, they are called slots. Further, in the present invention, a wide area is formed in front of each home position mark 144 and the like (that is, adjacent to the rear portion of the slot 148 as a position definition mark).
Warning track for warning the proximity of label boundaries 1
54, 156 and 158 are provided. These warning tracks are formed of opaque areas as shown.

Further, in the present invention, one of the wider home position openings 142, 144, or 146 is aligned with the detection device 50 when no label is printed. Each opening 142, 144, so that the web and drive gear train can experience some backlash without the opaque areas of the disk 51 being detected by the detection device 50.
146 is wide enough. This is the motor 48
Is to prevent hunting in order to align one of the home position openings with the detection device 50. Also, the apertures 142, 144, 146 are dimensioned to allow the slack in the web 18 to be removed before one of the alignment marks is aligned with the detection device 50.

The width of the locating slots 148, 150, 152 and the width of the area between the locating slots are
The distance between the detection of consecutive edges of 0, 152 is the print element 8
It is chosen to correspond to a web displacement equal to an integer multiple of zero length. For example, if a printhead such as printhead 66 described above is used, slots 148, 15
The distance at which 0,152 adjacent edges are detected corresponds to a web travel equal to an integral multiple of 10 mils (the length of print element 80). In the disk 51 shown in FIG. 7,
Since the integer multiple was chosen to be equal to 2, the distance over which successive edges of slots 148, 150, 152 are detected corresponds to a web travel of 20 mils. As a result, the position of the web 18 is defined in 20 mil increments.

The width of each warning track defined by wide areas 154, 156, 158 must be wide enough to distinguish the warning track from the area between the locating slots. In the embodiment of FIG. 7, area 154,
The width of 156, 158 is such that slots 148, 150, 15
It is defined to be about twice the width of the area separating the two. This causes the warning track to be printed by the print element 80.
Would have a width corresponding to about 4 times the length of, i.e., about 40 mils. The widths of the zones 154, 156, 158 are defined so that the narrower zones separating the slots 148, 150, 152 and the zones 148, 150, 152 can be easily distinguished. In the embodiment of FIG. 7, the width of wide areas 154, 156, 158 is
It is defined to be approximately twice the width of the area separating the 8, 150, 152, but other widths are possible.

The operation of detecting each mark, feeding the label supporting web, and printing according to the present invention will be described. When the label is not printed, one of the home position marks, for example, the opening 1 is used.
42 is aligned with the detection device 50. When the trigger switch 44 (or other manually operated switch) is pressed,
The microprocessor 42 (FIG. 6) is the control processor 1
A motor start command is issued to 30, and its control processor 1
30 is a motor drive to apply voltage to the motor 48
The braking circuit 34 is activated, and further, the light emitting diode 138
To enable. When a voltage is applied to the motor 48, the timing disc 51 rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIGS. 6 and 7. Rotation of the motor removes any slack present in the web 18 and backlash present in any web advancement mechanism, but some of the openings 142 are still aligned with the detector 50. The motor 48 continues to rotate until the trailing edge of the opening 142 is detected by the detection device 50. At this point, the slack in the device has completely disappeared and the motor 48 has reached operating speed.

When the trailing edge of aperture 142 is detected by detector 50, the amplitude of the signal applied to control processor 130 by photodetector 140 changes. The control processor 130
In response to this change, a print start command is issued to the microprocessor 42. The print start signal indicates to the microprocessor 42 that the motor has reached operating speed and that the web has been positioned to receive a print at the print position defined by the selected print format.

As the motor 48 continues to rotate, the transition between the slot 148 and the opaque area between them is detected by the photodetector 140 and a signal representative of the transition is generated by the control processor 1.
Added to 30. The control processor 130 generates a position pulse signal in response to the transition and adds it to the microprocessor 42 each time the transition occurs. The position signal is counted by the microprocessor 42 to determine the position of the label relative to the print head 66. When the print head 66 is placed over the print area on the label defined by, for example, the print format, the entered data is transferred to the label 16
Is printed on top of. The printing process continues and microprocessor 42 receives position pulse signals from control processor 130 until the input data is printed in one or more print areas on label 16.

The printing process continues and the timing disc 51 continues to rotate until a warning track, as evidenced by the wide area 154, is detected. The wide area 154 is detected by the control processor 130 when the length of time that the opaque area is being detected by the photodetector 140 exceeds the length of time between transition pulses produced by the slot 148 by a predetermined amount. As soon as it is determined that a warning track, eg area 154, has been detected, the microprocessor causes the motor drive / braking circuit 134 to brake the motor 48.
Is adjusted to respond to the next transition. Therefore, when the leading edge of the opening 144 is detected,
A control signal is applied to the motor drive / braking circuit 134, which dynamically brakes the motor 48 by shunting the armature windings of the motor 48. The motor 48 continues to coast for a short distance until the opening 144 is aligned with the detector 50, ending the printing process. If more labels need to be printed, pressing the trigger switch 44 again advances the disk 51 until the aperture 146 is aligned with the detector 50 and prints the next label.

Also, the timing disc 51 is shown with a motor driven advancement mechanism, but can also be used with a manually operated advancement mechanism. In that case, the position signal provided by the timing disk 51 is not used to control the motor, but the position signal still indicates that the printable area is below the printhead. And to start printing when the area is present.

As mentioned previously, the timing disc 51 provides very accurate information that identifies the position of the web. However, in order to use the accurate position signal provided by the timing disc 51, it is necessary to compensate for manufacturing tolerances that exist in the positioning of the web advance mechanism and printhead 66. To this end, this example provides means for changing the angular position of the timing disc 51 relative to the angular position of the web advance wheel 49. Various other fixing means could be used to fix the disc 51 to the shaft. For example, the shaft could be provided with one slot and the disc could be provided with a member that fits in the slot. Also, alternatively, the shaft could be provided with a plurality of keys or keyways, the disc could be provided with a single keyway or key, and other variations could be used. In the illustrated embodiment, the disc 51 is provided with a plurality of offset key grooves, and the disc is mounted on a shaft with a key to achieve the above-mentioned object.

Each of the displaced keyways has a home position mark 142, 14
4 and 146, and deviates from that by the necessary adjustment amount. Therefore, the required adjustment can be made by positioning the appropriate groove in the key of the shaft.

For example, the timing disc of FIG. 7 shows three keyways labeled 1, 2, and 3.
The angular displacement between keyways 1 and 3 is nominally 122 °, while the angular displacement between keyways 1 and 2 is nominally 119 °. 120 ° angular displacement between this and the leading edges of the openings 142, 144, 146
By comparison with, the disk 51 can be adjusted ± 1 ° with respect to the web advance wheel 49 and the detector 50.

For example, if the keyway 1 were fixed to the shaft 141 with the key 160, the trailing edge of the opening 142 would lead (advance) about 2 ° from the centerline of the key 160. A 2 ° offset can be referred to as a −1 ° position. If the keyway 3 is fixed to the key 160, the keyways 1 and 3 are 122 ° apart and the trailing edge of the opening 144 leads 4 ° from the center of the key 160, resulting in a -1 ° position. There will be a + 2 ° movement in the positioning groove position. -1 ° to 2 °
Since it becomes + 1 °, it can be regarded as the position of this position + 1 °. If the keyway 2 is fixed to the key 160, the disk 51 is 122 ° + 119 ° in total with respect to the position when the keyway 1 is fixed, that is, 241 °.
It should rotate, resulting in a + 1 ° movement in the position of the locating groove relative to the -1 ° position. Therefore,
This position is the 0 ° position, and the disk 51 can be easily adjusted to ± 1 ° with respect to the 0 ° position. Other adjustments are possible by changing the offset between the keyways 1, 2, and 3. For example, the keyway 3 may be arranged 124 ° away from the keyway 4 and the keyway 2 may be placed 1
If they are placed 18 ° apart, it is possible to adjust ± °. In general, any offset can be made by properly locating the keyways 1 and 3 at 120 ° plus all required positive and negative offsets. if,
If equal positive and negative offsets are required, the equal positive and negative offsets described above can be obtained by equally dividing the remaining 360 ° between the keyway 2 and the keyways 1,3.

Various types of motors can be used as the web advancing motor 48, including step motors, but a DC motor has been found to be particularly useful as the web advancing motor 48. Part of the reason is that the low speed torque characteristic is good. However, when using a DC motor, it is necessary to provide a circuit for controlling the rotation speed of the motor shaft. In this embodiment, the control processor 1
30 controls the speed of the motor. As discussed previously, the control processor 130 receives a signal representative of the back emf that occurs when the motor coasts, and adjusts the drive signal applied to the motor 48 to maintain a substantially constant rotational speed of the motor 48. To maintain.

Next, FIG. 8 will be described. The motor 48 is a motor drive /
It is driven by the braking circuit 134. When the circuit 134 receives the execution signal from the control processor 130, the transistor driving circuit 170 applies an excitation voltage to the motor 48.
have. The interlock circuit prevents the execution signal and the braking signal from being applied to the driving / braking circuit 134 at the same time when the microprocessor or the like fails. The motor drive / braking circuit 134 also includes a dynamic braking circuit 172 that shunts the armature of the motor 48 to provide dynamic braking when a control signal is received from the control processor 130. The comparator 174 is connected to the motor 48 and serves to compare the counter electromotive force generated when the motor coasts with the reference voltage. Sampling gate 176 connects the output of comparator 174 to control processor 130.

The run signal applied to the drive circuit 170 consists of a series of pulses that cause the drive circuit 170 to energize the motor 48 at periodic intervals. The counter electromotive force generated by the motor 48 during the driving pulse is calculated by the comparator 17
4 and the sampling gate 176 acting as an analog-to-digital converter, indicates to the control processor 130 whether the back emf generated by the motor 48 is greater or less than the reference voltage applied to the comparator 174. To be done. If the back emf is less than the reference voltage, the control processor 130 again generates the next run pulse to energize the motor 48. If the back emf generated by the motor 48 is greater than the reference voltage, it indicates that the motor is running too fast, the next run pulse is canceled and the motor is allowed to coast. During the coasting period, the back emf is measured at periodic intervals and when the voltage drops below the reference voltage, the next run pulse is generated. The rotation speed of the motor can be adjusted by adjusting the reference voltage.

FIG. 9 shows the generation of the execution pulse and the sampling of the back electromotive force in detail. Referring to FIG. 9, the counter electromotive force is
It is sampled during the first sampling period 179 that occurs in part of the time interval from O to T. If the back EMF is less than or equal to the reference voltage, a run pulse is produced during the time interval between T and 2T, as shown by pulse 180. The duration of the pulse is controlled by a clock (not shown) in the control processor 130, preferably on the order of 500 microseconds to 1 millisecond. During the time interval T-2T, no sampling is performed, since all that is measured is the amplitude of the pulse 180, sampling is meaningless.

After the execution pulse 180 ends at time 2T, the drive of the motor 48 ends, but the drive of the motor 48 ends, so that a transient voltage is generated across the armature winding of the motor 48. Therefore, the voltage across motor 48 is not immediately sampled because it does not represent the back emf generated by the motor. Sampling is delayed enough until the sampling period 182 following time 2T, with sufficient time intervals for the transients to settle. Sampling period 1 after the end of the execution pulse
It has been found that delaying 82 for approximately 300 milliseconds will settle the transient sufficiently to allow an accurate reading of the back emf of the motor 48. However, the delay time depends on the size of the motor, inductance, and other factors, and
Other values may be used, depending on the particular component used. Sampling is performed in the sampling period 182.
This is done under the control of sampling gate 176, which is enabled by control processor 130 for the other sampling periods.

If the back emf measured during the sampling period 182 is too low, another execute pulse 184 is generated during the time interval 3T-4T and again during the sampling period 186 that occurs before the time 5T. The electromotive force is sampled. If the back EMF during this sampling period 186 is too low again, the next run pulse is created at time 5T. But if the back EMF is higher than the reference voltage,
As shown in FIG. 9, no execution pulse is generated at time 5T. Of course, next sampling period 18 before time 6T
During 8, the back electromotive force is sampled, and if the back electromotive force falls below the reference voltage, the next execution pulse is made at time 6T. The above process is repeated at periodic intervals to keep the speed of the motor 48 approximately constant, thus omitting execution pulses, if desired.

Next, FIG. 10 will be described. First, when the labeler is energized, the microprocessor 42 and control processor 4
The parameters in 6 are initialized and the control processor 46 is ready to start feeding the web as soon as it receives a start pulse from the microprocessor 42. Upon receiving the start pulse, the clock in control processor 46 is reset to zero. Subsequently, a separate timer is updated to indicate how many times the control processor clock has been reset. This indicates how long the motor 48 has been running. If the time exceeds a predetermined limit, the run timer is interrupted, the motor is de-energized and braked, and the control processor 46 is placed in a state of waiting for the next start pulse. Also, a signal can be sent to the audible alarm 52 to indicate a jam. If no interruption occurs, the detector 50 samples to determine if the print start edge (the first opaque edge after the home position opening of the timing disc 51 according to the invention, FIG. 7) has been encountered. To be done. If an edge is detected, a print start pulse is sent to the microprocessor 42 to check the condition of the motor, as described below. If the edge has already passed, the position indicator of the timing disc is checked. If the location mark is detected,
Position pulses are sent to the microprocessor 42. If no landmarks are detected, the timing disc is checked for warning tracks (wide opaque areas, FIG. 7). The wide area can be easily determined by the length of time that the area and the detection device 50 are aligned. When the end of the warning track is detected, the motor is de-energized, braked for a predetermined time, and the control processor is awaited for the next motor start command.

The purpose of the above procedure is to determine the position of the timing disc, and thus the position of the label in the print cycle. In addition to determining the position of the label, the speed of rotation of the motor must be determined. In the logic diagram shown in FIG. 10, the inspection of the rotational speed of the motor is performed following the inspection of each position. Therefore, if the run timer is not interrupted and the end of the warning track is not yet detected, a check of the motor speed is performed. This is done by first examining the motor to see if it is on or off. If the motor is off, the device will wait until the sampling period is reached. When the sampling period is reached, the back emf is examined to determine the speed of the motor. The test result indicating whether the motor speed is too fast or too slow is stored. If the motor is on, the speed test cannot be performed, so the motor is turned off.

After the back emf has been checked or the motor has been turned off, the device waits until the processor clock reaches time T, the next time the run pulse can be generated. When time T is reached, the previously stored result is examined to determine if the motor speed was too slow. If the motor speed is too slow, the motor is turned on, the control processor clock is reset to zero, and the run time is updated to include the time accumulated by the clock in the last cycle. The cycle is repeated. If the motor spins too fast, the motor will not turn on until the control processor clock is reset to zero and the run timer is updated. The motor is already on
And the back electromotive force check was not performed, it is assumed that the motor speed is not too slow and the processor clock is reset to zero without turning the motor on. At this time, since the motor is off, the speed inspection can be easily performed in the next cycle.

As previously discussed, the illustrated labeler is a battery powered portable labeler. As with all battery-powered devices, the voltage applied to various circuits is reduced by the use of the battery and can be zero when the battery is completely discharged or removed. obtain. Such voltage changes cause serious problems. For example, if the voltage applied to the microprocessor drops below a predetermined level, the operation of the microprocessor becomes uncertain. When this state occurs, an abnormal signal from the microprocessor may change or erase the data stored in various storage devices. Also,
It is possible for the processor to continue to apply voltage to, for example, one or more print elements, damaging the printhead. Furthermore, when a non-volatile RAM such as NVRAM 60 is used, the data stored in NVRAM may be lost due to a low battery voltage or removal of the battery.

Therefore, in this example, a circuit for monitoring the voltage generated by the main battery, for example, the battery 26, and protecting various storage devices and the print head in the low battery voltage state or when the battery is removed. (Fig. 11)
Is provided. This is done by the comparator 200, which compares the voltage of the battery 26 with a low battery voltage reference. If the voltage generated by the battery 26 drops below the low battery reference potential, the comparator 200 signals the microprocessor 42 and the control processor 46,
Both processors are placed in reset state to prevent uncertain operation of both. Further, the comparator 200 has RAM 58 and N
A use prohibition signal is sent to the VRAM 60 to prevent data from being written to or erased from both RAMs. The use prohibition signal is also sent to the print head 64, and the print head driver 68 is clamped to prevent a voltage from being applied to the print head 66.

A spare battery, such as a lithium battery 210 (FIG. 12), is provided to prevent data loss from non-volatile random access memory such as NVRAM. The particular advantage of using lithium batteries for this purpose is that they have a relatively long shelf life, of the order of about 10 years. However, if a lithium battery is used to power the NVRAM for a long period of time, it will discharge relatively quickly and some measures must be taken to prevent the reserve battery 210 from being discharged too quickly. . Therefore, when the labeler is turned on, the NVRAM 60 is supplied with electric power from the main battery, for example, the battery 26, but when the labeler is stored in the off state for a long time, the NVRAM 60 is supplied with electric power, so any means is required. I have to take it.

In the illustrated portable labeler, the circuit of the labeler is ON
Electric power is supplied from the battery 26 connected to the voltage regulator 212 (both not shown in FIG. 2) via the -OFF switch 214. Regulator 212 applies a regulated voltage, eg, 5.6 volts, to the labeler's circuit whenever ON-OFF switch 214 is closed. Under the above conditions, the NVRAM 60 has a blocking diode 2
The output voltage of regulator 212 is applied by 16 and NVRAM 60 is powered from battery 26 via switch 214, regulator 212, and diode 216 whenever the labeler is operating. NV
Since the voltage applied to the RAM 60 is higher than the voltage of the battery 210, the diode 211 isolates the battery 210 from other circuits under the above conditions, and the diode 2
11 is reverse biased.

When the labeler is opened, the regulator 212 output voltage is zero. Therefore, if the labeler is stored for a significant amount of time, the reserve battery 210 will eventually be discharged, even if the regulator 212 powers the NVRAM 60. Therefore, an auxiliary circuit that supplies power to the NVRAM 60 is provided even when the labeler is turned off. The auxiliary circuit has a Zener diode 218 connected to the battery side of the switch 214 by a resistor 220, the junction of the resistor 220 and the Zener diode 218 being another blocking diode 222 at NV.
It is connected to the RAM 60. Therefore, switch 2
When the switch 14 is turned off, the NVRAM 60 is supplied with power from the auxiliary circuit. As when switch 214 is ON, diode 211 isolates battery 210 from other circuits while battery 26 is present and active. Adjust the voltage of the Zener diode 218 to the regulator 2
By lowering the output voltage below 12 eg 4.2 volts, the interaction between the two circuits is eliminated. For example, when switch 214 is closed, the voltage appearing at the cathode of blocking diode 222 is higher than the voltage appearing at the anode. This prevents diode 222 from being reverse biased, resulting in discharge of battery 26 due to current flowing from regulator 212 to Zener diode 218. Further, when the switch 214 is opened, the blocking diode 216 is reverse-biased, which prevents the labeling circuit from discharging the batteries 26 and 210. If the battery 26 is removed or completely discharged, the diode 211 is in a forward bias state, and as a result, the NVRAM 60 is supplied with power from the battery 211. Under the above conditions, diodes 216 and 22
2 isolates the reserve battery 210 from all circuitry except NVRAM 60.

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION As is apparent from the above description, according to the portable labeler of the first invention of the present application, the portable labeler is operated by the composite web advancing means, and is provided as an indicating means for generating a signal indicating the position of the label with respect to the printing position. Includes a plurality of home position marks and a plurality of position marks adjacent to each home position, and the home position mark is larger than the position mark. The feed of the advancing means is directly detected as it is, and the printed characters do not become longer or shorter in the web feed direction even if the web feed speed changes. The print length can be controlled accurately. Also, on the disc,
Since the home position mark is arranged adjacent to each of the plurality of position marks and a plurality of groups of the position mark and the home position mark are formed, it is possible to print on a plurality of (for example, three) labels by one rotation of the disc.

Further, according to the portable labeler of the second aspect of the present invention, the composite web advancing means is provided with an indicating means having one home position mark and a plurality of position marks, and when the mark is detected, the mark is selectively aligned. Since the home position mark is larger than the position mark, the feed of the web advancing means for feeding the label is directly detected as it is when printing on the label, like the labeler of the first aspect of the invention. , Even if the web feed speed changes,
Printed characters do not become longer or shorter in the web feed direction, and the print length can be accurately controlled for small and large characters according to the print feed.
Also, when the composite web advancing means backlashes, a part of the home position mark has a predetermined dimension selected so as to remain aligned with the detecting means, so that the backlash of the gears, etc. Even if there is, it is possible to minimize the influence of the backlash (for example, hunting), and thus it is possible to prevent the print from protruding from the label.

Furthermore, according to the web advancing control device of the third invention of the present application,
The instruction means electrically connected to the processing means such as a portable labeler and supplying the processing means with a signal indicating the position of the label with respect to the printing means includes one home position mark, a plurality of positioning marks and the plurality of positioning marks. A rotation indicator provided with a warning track adjacent to the indicator, and a detection unit arranged close to the indicator to detect a mark and a warning track, and a home position mark, a positioning mark, and a warning track are sequentially detected. Since the printing means prints the selected data at a predetermined position on the web in response to the positioning mark, the label is printed at the same time as the labeler of the first invention. The feed of the web advancing means that feeds is detected as it is, and the printed characters may become longer in the web feed direction due to changes in the web feed speed. The print length of both small and large characters can be accurately controlled according to the print feed, and the home position mark can be detected after the web feed in response to the warning track. Since the web feed is finished in the state of aligning with,
By detecting the boundary of each label and stopping the label at a predetermined position, it is possible to prepare for the proper printing of the next label.

From the above description, it is apparent that many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible. Therefore, it is to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced other than as specifically described.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a portable labeler made according to the principle of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a system block diagram of a logic circuit for controlling a thermal printer according to the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a plan view of a thermal print head that can be used in a printing apparatus, FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of a print head driver circuit, and FIG. 5 is another embodiment of a print head driver circuit. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the position detection and printing device control circuit according to the present invention, FIG. 7 is a detailed view of the timing disc shown in FIG. 6, and FIG. FIG. 9 is a block diagram of the motor speed control portion of the control circuit, FIG. 9 is a timing diagram showing the operation of the motor speed control circuit according to the present invention, and FIG. 10 is a logic flow diagram showing the operation of the control circuit according to the present invention. And twelfth The figure shows a circuit for protecting the data stored in the labeler when the battery is discharged or when the battery is removed. 10 ... Labeler, 12 ... Housing, 14 ... Roll, 16 ... Label with adhesive, 18 ... Supporting web,
20 ... key board, 22 ... key switch, 24
...... Display device, 25 …… Battery container and handle, 26 ……
Battery, 27 ... Internal resistance, 28 ... Trigger, 30 ...
… Labeling roller, 32 …… Data input / output connector, 40 …… Peripheral interface adapter, 42 ……
Microprocessor, 44 ... Trigger switch, 46
...... Control circuit, 48 …… Motor, 49 …… Web advance wheel, 50 …… Detecting device, 51 …… Timing disk,
52 ... Hearing alarm device, 54 ... Display device driver, 5
6 ... Read-only memory (ROM), 58 ... Random access memory (RAM), 60 ... Nonvolatile random access memory (NVRAM), 64 ... Print head assembly, 66 ... Print head, 68 ... Print Head driver, 70 ... Analog / digital converter, 80 ...
Resistance heating element, 82 ... Heater, driver,
Transistor, 83 ... Circuit, 84 ... Gate, 86 ...
... input register, 86 '... shift register, 88 ...
... Data register, 88 '... Data register, 9
0, 90 '... Data input line, 92 ... Clock line, 94 ... Line, 96 ... Reset line, 100, 1
02, 104, 106 ... Line, 108 ... Buffer memory, 130 ... Control processor, 132 ... Read-only memory (ROM), 134 ... Motor drive / braking circuit, 136 ... Analog-digital converter, 141 ......
Shaft, 142, 144, 146 ... Aperture, 148, 15
0,152 ... Slots, 154, 156, 158 ...
Wide area, 160 ... Key, 170 ... Transistor excitation circuit, 172 ... Dynamic braking circuit, 174 ... Comparator,
176 ... Sampling gate, 179 ... Sampling period, 180 ... Execution pulse, 182 ... Sampling period, 184 ... Execution pulse, 186 ... Sampling period, 188 ... Sampling period, 190 ... Execution pulse, 200 …… Comparator, 210 …… Spare battery, 211 …… Diode, 212 …… Adjuster, 214
...... ON-OFF switch, 216 ... Blocking diode, 218 ... Zener diode, 220 ... Resistor, 222 ... Blocking diode, BE1, BE2 ... Block enable signal, ST1, ST2 ... Strobe,
S1, S2, S3 ... Strobe signal.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-57-204848 (JP, A) JP-A-58-171325 (JP, A)

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A housing having means for holding a label supply roll of a composite web attached to a supporting web so that the label can be peeled off and a handle to be gripped by hand, and a plurality of individual units for printing a thermal label at a printing position. A printing means having a thermal print head with selectable printing elements, a means for peeling the printed label from the support web, a label sticking means arranged next to the peeling means, and a printed label. For peeling from the support web at the peeling means, then for advancing the pre-printed label so as to be pasted at the pasting means and for advancing the composite web to advance the next label to the printing position, for printing. Means for inputting selected data, and electrically processing the selected data connected to the data input means, and determining by the selected data The includes a processing means for applying a voltage to the individual printing elements to print the data on the label in a predetermined order, further, is connected to and the processing means are activated by the composite web advancing means,
An instruction means for generating a signal for instructing the position of the label with respect to the printing position is provided, and the instruction means includes a plurality of home position markers and a plurality of position markers adjacent to each home position. A portable labeler characterized in that the indicia are located on the disc as optically contrasting indicia formed by the holes on the disc, the home position indicia being larger than the position indicia. 2. A housing having means for holding a label supply roll of a composite web attached to a support web so that the label can be peeled off and a handle portion to be held by hand, and a plurality of individual units for printing a thermal label at a printing position. A printing means having a thermal print head with selectable printing elements, a means for peeling the printed label from the support web, a label sticking means arranged next to the peeling means, and a printed label. For peeling from the support web at the peeling means, then for advancing the pre-printed label so as to be pasted at the pasting means and for advancing the composite web to advance the next label to the printing position, for printing. Means for inputting selected data, and electrically processing the selected data connected to the data input means, and determining by the selected data Means for applying voltage to the individual printing elements to print data on the label in a predetermined sequence, the composite web advancing means having a predetermined amount of backlash, and the composite web advancing means further comprising: The web advancing means is provided with an indicating means having one home position mark and a plurality of position marks, means for detecting these marks, said mark being able to be selectively aligned with said detecting means. , The home position mark is larger than the position mark, and is selected such that at least part of the home position mark remains aligned with the detection means during backlash of the composite web advancing means. A portable labeler characterized by having predetermined dimensions. 3. A device for controlling the advance of a web provided with a plurality of labels in a longitudinal direction, wherein a means for printing on the label at a print position and a means for advancing the web so as to pass through the print position are printed. Means for inputting the selected data, and an energizing printing means for electrically processing the selected data and printing the selected data on the label, connected to the data input means. Processing means and an instruction means electrically connected to the processing means and supplying a signal indicating the position of the label with respect to the printing means to the processing means, the instruction means including at least one home position mark. A rotation indicating device provided with a plurality of positioning marks adjacent to the home position mark and a warning track adjacent to the plurality of positioning marks; and a rotation indicating device arranged near the indicating device, The indicating device is provided with a detecting means for detecting a marking mark or a warning track, and the pointing device is provided on the web advancing means so that the home position mark, the positioning mark and the warning track are sequentially advanced through the detecting means. Mechanically coupled, said processing means is responsive to said positioning indicia such that said printing means prints the selected data at a predetermined location on the web, said processing means further comprising:
In response to the warning track, the web advancing control device ends the web advancing by the web advancing means in a state where the home position mark is aligned with the detecting means after the web feeding.