Goods-wrapping apparatus including a printer

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6615714
  • Patent Number
    6,615,714
  • Date Filed
    Thursday, December 7, 2000
    24 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, September 9, 2003
    21 years ago
Abstract
According to the present invention, a goods-wrapping apparatus for wrapping a particular article of a plurality of articles, includes: a goods storing section operable to store the plurality of articles; a goods carrying in/out section operable to carry in the articles into the goods storing section and carry out the article from the goods storing section; a printer operable to print a printing content associated with the particular article onto a printing medium based on the particular article; and a wrapping section operable to wrap the particular article carried out from the goods carrying in/out section with the printing medium onto which the printing content associated with the particular article has been printed.
Description




This patent application claims priority from a Japanese patent application No. H11-348122 filed on Dec. 7, 1999, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




1. Field of the Invention




The present invention relates to a printer that prints a printing content onto a printing medium and a goods-wrapping apparatus including such a printer. In particular, the present invention relates to a goods-wrapping apparatus that wraps a particular article of a plurality, a printer included in the goods-wrapping apparatus, and a bag onto which the printer prints a predetermined printing content.




2. Description of the Related Art




There is a known goods-trading apparatus that selects a particular article of a plurality stored therein and carries the selected article out. As the goods-trading apparatus, for example, a canned juice vending machine, a confectionery vending machine, a newspaper vending machine, and a flower vending machine are put into practical use. Such a vending machine can store a plurality of articles and carry out one of the articles selected by a user. Moreover, the goods-trading apparatus allows the user to purchase a desired article even in the middle of the night, early morning, or holidays when shops are closed, because it can automatically carry out the article selected by the user in accordance with the user's instruction.




In many cases, however, the article purchased via the conventional goods-trading apparatus mentioned above is covered only by a package of the article. Thus, the package may be stained while the user carries the purchased article.




On the other hand, there are known plural types of printers for printing a desired printing content onto a printing medium. However, such conventional printers can perform printing only onto a predetermined printing medium, that is, for example, a standard-sized sheet of paper. Thus, it is difficult for the conventional printer to perform the printing onto a given printing medium other than the predetermined printing medium.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a goods-trading apparatus with a printer that can solve the above-mentioned problems. This object is achieved by combinations described in the independent claims. The dependent claims define further advantageous and exemplary combinations of the present invention.




The inventor of the present invention came to appreciate that the known goods-trading apparatus had the following problems. First, the article that is carried out from the goods-trading apparatus is not wrapped with wrapping paper or the like. Thus, it is hard for the user to take the purchased article. Second, since the purchased article is not wrapped, it is difficult for the purchaser to be satisfied even if the article is the same as an article available from a shop.




In order to solve the aforementioned problems, the goods-trading apparatus of the present invention includes a means operable to pack the article selected by the user into a bag and carry it out. Moreover, the goods-trading apparatus of the present invention uses, as the bag for packing the article, a bag onto which a printing content related to the article to be packed is printed. Furthermore, the goods-trading apparatus of the present invention includes a printer operable to print the printing content onto the bag.




According to the first aspect of the present invention, a printing device for printing a printing content onto a bag having an opening and a closed portion opposite to the opening is provided. The printing device includes: a transport mechanism operable to transport the bag; and a printing head operable to print the printing content onto the bag that is being transported by the transport mechanism in such a manner that the closed portion goes at the head of the bag. The bag may be a paper bag or a fabric bag. In addition, the bag may be folded at the bottom thereof. The printing content may be a perceptible content, such as an image or a character.




The printing device may further include: a transport direction determination section operable to determine whether or not the bag is transported in such a manner that the closed portion goes at the head of the bag; and a warning section operable to warn, in a case where the bag cannot be transported in such a manner that the closed portion goes at the head of the bag, that the bag cannot be transported in such a manner that the closed portion goes at the head of the bag. For example, the warning section may produce a display device that presents a display image for warning that the bag is not to be transported in such a manner that the closed portion goes at the head of the bag. Also, the warning section may output, to a functional block of the printing device, a signal indicating that the closed portion does not go at the head of the bag. The transport direction determination section may detect a mark indicating a direction in which the bag is to be transported and determines whether or not the bag can be transported in such a manner that the closed portion goes at the head of the bag, the mark being provided on the bag. For example, the transport direction determination section may include a capturing device such as a CCD or a line sensor and detect the mark based on image data captured by the capturing device. In addition, the mark may be a bar, code while the transport direction determination section may be a bar code reader.




The printing device may further include: a bag size determination section operable to determine a size of the bag; and a print size adjustment section operable to adjust a size of the printing content to be such a size that the printing content is printed onto the bag, based on the size of the bag determined by the bag size determination section. For example, the bag size determination section may include a capturing device such as a CCD or a line sensor and detect the size of the bag based on the size of the bag captured by the capturing device. The bag size determination section may detect a mark indicating the size of the bag provided on the bag and detect the size of the bag based on the determination result. The mark provided on the bag may be a bar code including information regarding the size of the bag. Moreover, the printing device further includes: a plurality of printing heads having different printing characteristics; a material discriminator operable to discriminate a material for the bag; and a head selector operable to one of the printing heads in accordance with the material for the bag.




The material discriminator may detect a mark indicating the material for the bag provided on the bag and discriminate the material for the bag based on the detection result. The mark provided on the bag may be a bar code including information indicating the material for the bag and the material discriminator may detect the information of the material for the bag included in the bar code. In addition, the plurality of printing heads may be a printing head using ink for both paper and fabric.




The printing device further includes a condition adjustment section operable to change a position of the bag with respect to the direction in which the bag is transported so as to allow the bag to be transported in such a manner that the closed portion goes at the head of the bag, in a case where the bag cannot be transported in such a manner that the closed portion goes at the head of the bag. For example, the condition adjustment section may change a position of the bag to such a position that the closed portion of the bag goes at the head of the bag and a surface of the bag onto which the printing content is to be printed faces the printing head. More specifically, in a case where a handle of a paper bag is positioned at the head thereof, the condition adjustment section may rotate the paper bag by 180 degrees so as to make the closed portion of the paper bag positioned at the head of the paper bag. In addition, the mark provided on the bag may be a bar code while at least one of the transport direction determination section, the bag size determination section, and the material discriminator may be a bar code reader. Furthermore, the printing device further includes a bag storing section operable to store the bag, and the transport direction determination section detects whether or not the bag is stored in a direction in which the closed portion can go at the head of the bag and determines whether or not the bag can be transported in such a manner that the closed portion goes at the head of the bag based on the detection result.




According to the second aspect of the present invention, a printing device for printing a printing content onto a bag having an opening and a closed portion opposite to the opening is provided. The printing device includes: a printing head operable to print the printing content onto the bag; and a mark detector operable to make the printing head print the printing content onto the bag when the mark detector detects a mark indicating that the printing content is printable provided on the bag.




In an embodiment of the second aspect of the present invention, the printing device further includes: a printing position detector operable to detect a mark specifying a printable position at which the printing content is printable, the mark being provided on the bag; and a head moving section operable to move the printing head to an escape position at a position different from the printable position.




According to the third aspect of the present invention, a printing device for printing a printing content onto a printing medium is provided. The printing device includes: a thickness detector operable to detect a thickness of the printing medium; a printing head operable to print the printing content onto the printing medium; and a head moving section operable to move the printing head in accordance with the thickness of the printing medium detected by the thickness detector.




The head moving section may move the printing head to an escape position in a case where the thickness of the printing medium is thicker than a predetermined thickness. In addition, the printing device further includes: a transport roller section operable to transport the printing medium while putting the printing medium between a first roller and a second roller which is opposite to the first roller; and a roller-interval adjuster operable to adjust an interval between the first roller and the second roller in accordance with the thickness of the printing medium. Moreover, the printing device further includes a communication section operable to input the printing content via a network.




According to the fourth embodiment of the present invention, a bag onto which a printing content is printed by a printing device is provided. The bag includes a mark for the printing device that indicates that the printing content is printable. The bag may include a mark indicating a material for the bag. The mark may be a bar code. The bag may have a printing layer in accordance with a printing technology adopted to the printing device. As the printing layer, a printing layer for ink-jet printing, a thermal coloring layer, a photo-fixing thermal coloring layer, a printing layer for thermal ink transfer printing, and a printing layer for dye sublimation printing may be used.




According to the fifth embodiment of the present invention, a goods-wrapping apparatus for wrapping a particular article of a plurality of articles is provided. The goods-wrapping apparatus includes: a goods storing section operable to store the articles; a goods carrying in/out section operable to carry the articles into the goods storing section and carry the articles out from the goods storing section; a printer operable to print a printing content associated with the particular article onto a printing medium based on the particular article; and a wrapping section operable to wrap the particular article carried out from the goods carrying in/out section with the printing medium onto which the printing content associated with the particular article has been printed.




In an embodiment of the present invention, the printer includes: a goods database operable to store information related to the articles; a printing contents data base operable to store printing contents respectively associated with the articles; a printing content generator operable to select a printing content from the printing contents database and generate the printing content associated with the particular article to be printed on the printing medium, based on the particular article and the goods database; and a printing section operable to print the printing content associated with the particular article generated by the printing content generator onto the printing medium. In addition, the printing medium may be a bag. In this case, the wrapping section may include a packing mechanism operable to pack the particular article into the bag onto which the printing content associated with the particular article has been printed. The goods-wrapping apparatus may further include a communication section operable to receive/transmit information from/to an external device. In this case, the goods-wrapping apparatus is capable of receiving/transmitting at least one of the printing contents and information regarding the articles that are stored in the external device via the communication section.




This summary of the invention does not necessarily describe all necessary features so that the invention may also be a sub-combination of these described features.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS




While the specification concludes with claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which is regarded as the invention, it is believed that the invention, the object, features and advantages thereof will be better understood from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:





FIG. 1

is a diagram showing functional blocks of a goods-wrapping apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;





FIG. 2

is a flowchart of an operation of the goods-wrapping apparatus of

FIG. 1

;





FIG. 3

is a flow chart of the operation of the goods-wrapping apparatus of

FIG. 1

, following the operation shown in

FIG. 2

;





FIG. 4

is a diagram showing functional blocks of a goods information storing section


15


and a printer


14


;





FIG. 5

shows an example of goods information stored in a goods database


30


;





FIG. 6

shows an example of printing content information stored in a contents database


32


;





FIG. 7

is a diagram showing functional blocks of a printing section


36


;





FIG. 8

shows an exemplary configuration of the goods-wrapping apparatus


200


;





FIG. 9

shows a bag


86


;





FIG. 10

shows an exemplary configuration of a head moving section


58


; and





FIG. 11

is a diagram showing functional blocks of a printing section


130


.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS




The invention will now be described based on preferred embodiments, which do not intend to limit the scope of the present invention, but rather to exemplify the invention. All of the features and the combinations thereof described in the embodiments are not necessarily essential to the invention.





FIG. 1

shows a goods-wrapping apparatus


200


, an order accepting server


24


, an article


26


purchased by a user and an article


28


carried into the goods-wrapping apparatus


200


for replenishment. The goods-wrapping apparatus


200


includes a goods storing section


10


, a goods carrying in/out section


12


, a printer


14


, a goods information storing section


15


, a wrapping section


16


, a user interface (U/I) section


18


, a controller


20


, a communication section


21


, and a charging section


22


. The wrapping section


16


has a packing mechanism


17


therein. The goods storing section


10


stores articles therein. For example, the goods storing section


10


may store the articles on trays provided for the respective articles. The goods carrying in/out section


12


carries out from the goods storing section


10


an article based on information from the controller


22


for specifying the article to be carried. The goods carrying in/out section


12


may be a robot that can pick out the article placed on the tray.




The charging section


22


includes an insertion means into which the user inserts money and a charging means that counts the inserted money and outputs charging information indicating the amount of money counted to the controller


20


. In a case where the user inserts money to the amount of 5,000 yen, for example, the charging information indicating that the user paid 5,000 yen is output to the controller


20


. The charging section


22


may include other charging means that can handle a credit card, electronic money, or some form of available payment other than cash.




The U/I section


18


includes a device used for communication of information between the user and the goods-wrapping apparatus


200


, such as a display like a monitor, an output device like a printer, an input device like a keyboard, and a touch panel or a mouse. Moreover, the U/I section


18


may include a means operable to perform data inputting and/or outputting for a storage medium such as an optical storage medium like a CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD or DVD-RAM, a magneto-optical storage medium like an MO, a magnetic storage medium like a floppy disk, a semiconductor storage medium like a memory card or a non-volatile memory, or a means operable to perform data inputting and/or outputting via a communication circuit such as a telephone line or a network line. The goods-wrapping apparatus


200


can communicate with the user by means of the above-mentioned input/output device provided as the U/I section


18


. For example, the goods-wrapping apparatus


200


can present a display image for allowing the user to select an article to be purchased, so that the user can select the desired article via the touch panel. In addition, information regarding the goods can be stored in an external storage medium such as a memory card.




The goods information storing section


15


stores information regarding the goods stored in the goods storing section


10


. The information regarding the goods, for example, includes a price of each article, the number of goods in stock, the name of the maker, the logo image of the maker, and the content such as an image or character(s) associated with each article.




The controller


20


outputs a message or the information to the user regarding the goods based on the goods information stored in the goods information storing section


15


. Moreover, the controller


20


inputs the user's instruction from the U/I section


18


. For example, the controller


20


makes the U/I section


18


present the goods-selection display image for allowing the user to select a desired article and then obtains information regarding the article specified by the user from the U/I section


18


. The controller


20


outputs information specifying the article selected by the user to the goods carrying in/out section


12


and the printer


14


in accordance with the user's instruction sent from the U/I section


18


. In addition, for each of the articles, the controller


20


can output information indicating that said article is out of stock to the order-accepting server


24


via the communication section


21


based on the information regarding the number of goods in stock stored in the goods information storing section


15


. For example, the controller


20


can output the information indicating that said article is out of stock to the order accepting server


24


via the communication section


21


at a time when said article is actually out of stock or at a time when the number of goods in stock of said article reaches a predetermined number.




The communication section


21


includes a means operable to be connected via the communication circuit to an external device such as the order accepting server


24


, a contents server (not shown) that stores the printing contents, or a goods information server (not shown) that stores the goods information. The communication section


21


, for example, includes a means operable to be connected to the external device such as the order accepting server


24


, the contents server, the goods information server via either a public line like an analog-telephone line or an ISDN line, or a private line. Also, the communication section


21


may receive/transmit information while being directly connected to the order-accepting server


24


or while being connected to the external device such as the order accepting server


24


on the web via the Internet. For example, in the case of receiving/transmitting the information via the Internet, it is preferable that the communication section


21


encrypts the information to be transmitted and outputs the encrypted information to the external device such as the order accepting server


24


. In addition, the communication section


21


can download a new printing content that is not stored in the goods-wrapping apparatus


200


from the external contents server or information regarding a new product from the external goods information server.




The order accepting server


24


includes a means operable to deliver an article to the goods-wrapping apparatus


200


. For example, the order accepting server


24


makes the out of stock article be delivered to the goods-wrapping apparatus


200


in accordance with the information indicating that the article is out of stock, the information being sent from the controller


20


via the communication section


21


. In the case where the order accepting server


24


is an on-line order accepting server provided on the web, the communication section


21


outputs article data regarding the article that is out of stock to the order accepting server


24


via the Internet. The order-accepting server


24


then transmits the article data to, for example, a delivery center computer that is to deliver the article. The delivery center computer makes the requested article be delivered to the goods-wrapping apparatus


200


. The article


28


delivered to the goods-wrapping apparatus


200


is carried into the goods storing section


10


via the goods carrying in/out section


12


. When the article is carried in, information regarding the number of goods in stock, that is stored in the goods information storing section


15


, is updated. Thus, the information of the number of goods in stock is always updated. In an alternative embodiment, the controller


20


may update the information of the number of goods in stock stored in the goods information storing section


15


based on the articles stored in the goods storing section


10


.




The printer


14


prints a, printing content onto a bag used for wrapping the purchased article, and outputs the printed bag to the wrapping section


16


. As the bag, a paper bag or a fabric bag having an opening and a closed portion opposite to the opening can be used, for example. The wrapping section


16


wraps the article supplied from the goods carrying in/out section


12


with the bag supplied from the printer


14


so as to output the article


26


. Thus, the goods-wrapping apparatus


200


can wrap the article selected by the user with the bag onto which the printing content associated with the selected article is printed. Since the article is wrapped, it is possible to prevent the article from being stained while the article is being carried. In addition, after the user selects a certain article, the printer


14


prints the printing content associated with the selected article. Thus, it is enough for the printer


14


to store only one type of bag even in a case where the goods storing section


10


stores products of a plurality of makers. Accordingly, a space for storing the bags can be used efficiently.





FIGS. 2 and 3

are flowcharts of an operation of the goods-wrapping apparatus


200


. The flow shown in

FIG. 2

is followed by the flow shown in

FIG. 3

at a point A. Referring to

FIGS. 2 and 3

, the flow of the operation of the goods-wrapping apparatus


200


is described. The controller


20


makes a display, provided in the U/I section


18


, present a display image for asking the user for using the goods-wrapping apparatus


200


. When the user specifies that the user uses the goods-wrapping apparatus


200


via the U/I section


18


, the controller


20


then makes the display present a display image for requesting the user to insert the charge of using the goods-wrapping apparatus


200


. The charging section


22


determines whether or not the charge is inserted or not (Step S


10


) and notifies the controller


20


the determination result. When the charge is inserted, the operation goes to a next step. The controller


20


makes the display of the U/I section


18


present a display image for allowing the user to select a maker of a desired article based on the goods information stored in the goods information storing section


15


. The user selects one of the maker(s) presented on the display of the U/I section


18


(Step S


12


). For example, in a case where the goods information storing section


15


stores information regarding 30 makers, the user selects one of the 30 makers that manufactures the article the user wishes to purchase. Please note that the user can select only one maker of two or more makers.




The controller


20


makes the U/I section


18


present an item list of the selected maker (Step S


14


). The user then selects the desired item from the items presented on the display (Step S


16


). The controller


20


temporarily stores the item selected by the user in a selected item list (Step S


18


). When the user specifies that there is no item that the user wishes to purchase in Step S


16


, the flow goes back to Step S


12


. Then, the user is requested to select whether or not the user has finished the selection of articles (Step S


24


). In a case where the selection is finished, the controller


20


makes the U/I section


18


present the total purchase amount of money of the article(s). Then, the controller


20


determines whether or not the user has paid (Step S


26


).




When it is determined that the user has paid, a procedure for printing the printing content associated with the selected article onto a bag begins. First, the controller


20


determines whether the user selects the article (s) of a plurality of makers or a single maker based on the selected item list referred to in the description of Step S


18


(Step S


28


). If the user selects the article(s) of the plurality of makers, the controller


20


makes the U/I section


18


present a display image for requesting the user to select whether or not the user wishes to wrap the articles with separate bags (Step S


30


).




When the user specifies that the user wishes to wrap the articles with the same bag, the controller


20


makes the U/I section


18


present a display image for requesting the user to select a maker's logo mark from logo marks of the plurality of makers (Step S


32


). The printer


14


then reads out the logo mark selected by the user in Step S


32


from the goods information storing section


15


(Step S


34


). Also, if it is determined that the user selects the article(s) of a single maker in Step S


28


, the information of the logo mark of this maker is read out from the goods information storing section


15


(Step S


34


). In a case where the selected maker has a plurality of printing contents associated with the selected article, the controller


20


makes the U/I section


18


present a display image for requesting the user to specify which one of the printing contents is to be printed (Step S


36


). For example, in a case of using the user's name and the logo mark of the maker as the printing content, the controller


20


makes the U/I section


18


present a display image for requesting the user to input the user's name.




Then, it is determined whether or not the printing content selected by the user in Step S


36


requires user information such as the name and the sex of the user (Step S


38


). If the user information is required, the controller


20


inputs the user's name sent from the input device of the U/I section


18


(Step S


40


). The controller


20


then performs a stock confirmation by determining whether or not the article selected by the user is stored in the goods storing section


10


based on the article information stored in the U/I section


18


(Step S


42


). In a case where the selected article is in stock, the printer


14


conducts a predetermined operation so as to print the printing content onto a bag (Step S


44


). The predetermined operation may be an operation for adjusting the size of the logo mark in accordance with the size of the bag, for example. Moreover, the printing content to be printed onto the bag may be freely created by the user by means of the input device provided in the U/I section


18


, such as the touch panel, the mouse, or the keyboard. The printer


14


then prints the printing content adjusted or created in Step S


44


onto the bag (Step S


46


). The packing mechanism


17


of the wrapping section


16


wraps the article supplied from the goods carrying in/out section


12


with the bag having the printing content associated with the article that is supplied from the printer


14


(Step S


48


). The wrapping section


16


carries out the wrapped article to the user (Step S


50


).




In the stock confirmation in Step S


42


, if the article selected by the user is out of stock, the controller


20


makes the U/I section


18


present a display image for requesting the user to select whether or not the order of the selected article is placed with the maker (Step S


52


). In a case of placing the order, the controller


20


makes the U/I section


18


present a display image for requesting the user to input customer information that is related to the user, such as the name, the address, the telephone number or the like, and the printing content that the user wishes to print when the selected article is wrapped (Step S


54


). The controller


20


then outputs the customer information input in Step S


54


to the order accepting server


24


(Step S


56


). The order accepting server


24


performs a necessary operation for delivering the article to the user based on the customer information supplied from the controller


20


. Thus, even if the article selected by the user is out of stock, the user can obtain the desired article. When the user specifies that the user does not wish to place the order of the article in Step S


52


, the operation ends.




Therefore, the user can purchase the desired article from the goods-wrapping apparatus


200


. In addition, since the purchased article is wrapped with the bag onto which the printing content associated with the article is printed, the package of the article can be prevented from being stained. Moreover, since the logo mark of the maker is printed onto the bag, the user can feel the same degree of satisfaction as if the user buys the article in the shop. Also, the printing content to be printed on the bag can be freely processed by the user. Thus, a special bag for the user can be created. Furthermore, the logo image of the maker or the like is printed onto the bag for every purchase of the article by the user. Thus, even if the goods-wrapping apparatus


200


deals with articles of various makers, only one type of bag is necessary for wrapping the articles, and it is therefore efficient.





FIG. 4

shows the goods information storing section


15


and the printer


14


. The goods information storing section


15


includes a goods database


30


that stores the goods information and a contents database


32


that stores the printing contents such as image information and/or character information associated with each article. The printer


14


includes a printing content generator


34


and a printing section


36


. The printing content generator


34


reads content from the contents database


32


based on information that specifies the article selected by the user sent from the controller


20


and the goods information stored in the goods database


30


, so as to generate the printing content to be printed onto the bag. The printing content generator


34


outputs the generated printing content to the printing section


36


that prints the printing content onto the bag. Thus, the printing content associated with the article selected by the user can be printed on the bag.





FIG. 5

shows an example of the goods information stored in the goods database


30


. For example, the goods database


30


stores information of the item number, the item name, the maker name of the item, the price, the number of goods in stock, and the content(s) for each article. The item number is, for example, a management number that is uniquely assigned to each article stored in the goods storing section


10


. The item name is a classification of article, such as a camera, a sweater, or trousers. Alternatively, the item name may be a trade name of the article. The maker name of the item is the name of the maker that manufactured the article. The price is a unit price of the article. The number of goods in stock is the number of stocks in the goods storing section


10


. For example, the controller


20


can output the information specifying that there is no stock to the order-accepting server


24


based on the information of the number of goods in stock. The contents information is information specifying the content to be printed onto the bag used for wrapping the article.





FIG. 6

is an example of the information of printing contents stored in the contents database


32


. The contents database


32


stores the printing contents such as the image information and/or the character information associated with the respective articles. For example, the contents database


32


stores the content number, the name of the maker, and the name of the file specifying the printing content, such as Content


1


or Content


2


. The content number is uniquely assigned to the respective maker. The contents store the name of the content files. For example, the file specified in the contents stores the printing content information such as the image information and/or the character information. In a case where the item number is supplied from the controller


20


, the printing content generator


34


, described with reference to

FIG. 4

, reads the information of the maker and the contents from the goods database


30


, and then reads out the file name of the printing content from the contents database


32


based on the information read from the goods database


30


. Then, the printing content specified by the read file name is output to the printing section


36


. In this way, the printing content associated with the article can be printed for the respective articles.





FIG. 7

shows exemplary functional blocks of the printing section


36


. The printing section


36


includes a data input section


40


, a print size adjustment section


42


, a bag size determination section


44


, a thickness measurement section


46


, a transport direction determination section


48


, a warning section


50


, a printing data storing section


52


, a printing mechanism controller


54


, a printing head


56


, a head moving section


58


, a roller-interval adjuster


60


, a transport mechanism


62


, and a bag storing section


63


. The data input section


40


inputs the printing content from the printing content generator


34


and then outputs it to the print size adjustment section


42


. The data input section


40


may be a buffer operable to temporarily store information supplied from the printing content generator


34


, for example.




The bag size determination section


44


determines the size of the bag onto which the printing content is to be printed and outputs the determination result to the print size adjustment section


42


. For example, the bag size determination section


44


may include a capturing device operable to capture an image of the bag, such as a CCD or a line sensor, and determine the size of the bag based on the size of the bag captured by the capturing device. In addition, a mark that is a bar code specifying the size of the bag may be provided with the bag. In this case, the bag size determination section


44


may determine the bag size based on the size information included in the bar code.




The print size adjustment section


42


adjusts the size of the printing content in such a manner that the printing content is able to be printed on the bag, based on the printing content supplied from the data input section


40


and the size of the bag supplied from the bag size determination section


44


. The print size adjustment section


42


outputs the printing content that has been subjected to the size adjustment to the printing data storing section


52


. Since the print size adjustment section


42


adjusts the size of the printing content based on the bag size, it is not necessary for the contents database


32


to store a file of a printing content for each of the bags that have different sizes. Thus, the amount of data stored in the contents database


32


can be reduced. Also, the data can be easily managed. In a case where the printing content supplied from the data input section


40


is large with respect to the bag size, for example, the print size adjustment section


42


reduces the size of the printing content. The printing data storing section


52


then outputs the printing content having the size adjusted depending on the bag size to the printing mechanism controller


54


.




The thickness measurement section


46


measures the thickness of the bag and outputs the measured thickness to the printing mechanism controller


54


. The thickness measurement section


46


measures the thickness of the cross section of the bag. In a case of a bag that is folded at the bottom thereof, for example, the thickness of the bag becomes large at the folded portion; becomes small at the center of the bag; and becomes large at the handle thereof. The thickness measurement section


46


measures the thickness of the bag and outputs the measurement result to the printing mechanism controller


54


.




The transport direction determination section


48


detects the transport direction of the bag and outputs the detection result to the warning section


50


. In a case of transporting a bag having an opening and a closed portion opposite to the opening, it is preferable to transport the bag in a direction in which the closed portion goes at the head of the bag. Such a direction is detected by the transport direction determination section


48


. The transport determination section


48


may detect a predetermined mark provided on the bag and determine whether or not the bag is transported in the direction in which the closed portion goes at the head of the bag based on the detection result. For example, the transport direction determination section


48


may include a capturing device such as a CCD or a line sensor and detect the mark provided on the bag based on an image of the bag captured by the capturing device. In this case, the mark may be a bar code and the transport direction determination section


48


may be a bar code reader.




The warning section


50


outputs warning information to the printing mechanism controller


54


when the bag is not transported in the direction in which the closed portion goes in advance of the opening. The printing mechanism controller


54


controls the printing head


56


, the head moving section


58


, the roller-interval adjuster


60


and the transport mechanism


62


based on the printing content supplied from the printing data storing section


52


, the thickness information of the bag sent from the thickness measurement section


46


and the warning information sent from the warning section


50


, so as to print the printing content onto the bag.




The printing mechanism controller


54


controls the head moving section


58


and the roller-interval adjuster


60


based on the thickness information of the bag sent from the thickness measurement section


46


. In a case where the bag has a thickness such that the bag comes into contact with the printing head


56


, the head moving section


58


moves the printing head


56


to an escape position at which the printing head


56


cannot be in contact with the bag. By moving the printing head


56


to the escape position, the stain that may be caused by the contact of the head with the bag can be prevented in a case of using a printing technology in which the printing head


56


jets ink to a printing medium, such as ink-jet printing or solid-jet printing. Also, in a case of using a printing technology in which the printing head


56


is brought into contact with the printing medium to perform the printing, such as thermal ink transfer printing, thermal printing, dye sublimation printing, thermo-autochrome printing or the like, it is possible to protect the printing head from a load caused by being pressed by the load of larger than necessary magnitude. Moreover, the bag can be protected from damage or stain caused by the contact between the bag and the printing head.




The roller-interval adjuster


60


adjusts an interval between two rollers included in the transport mechanism


62


that transports the bags by means of the two rollers opposite to each other. Since the roller interval is changeable, it is possible to transport the bag while the transport mechanism


62


holds the bag with a constant force irrespective of the bag's thickness. The bag storing section


63


stores bags. For example, the bag storing section


63


may be a tray on which a plurality of bags are placed and carry out the bags on the tray individually to the transport mechanism


62


. In addition, the bag storing section


63


may store a plurality of bags for each different sized bag. Moreover, the bag storing section


63


may pick up one bag and carry it out to the transport mechanism


62


. The transport mechanism


62


transports the bags stored in the bag storing section


62


individually.




The printing head


56


prints the printing content onto the bag. For example, the printing head


56


may perform the printing in accordance with any printing technology, such as ink-jet printing, solid-jet printing, thermal ink transfer printing, thermal printing, dye sublimation printing, thermo-autochrome printing or laser printing. In a case of thermal printing or thermo-autochrome printing, a heat-sensitive layer is provided with the bag. In addition, in a case of thermo-autochrome printing, light rays for fixing are provided. The printing head


56


can overcoat the printing content after printing the printing content onto the bag. The overcoat on the bag can prevent the printing content from smudging even if the bag gets wet because of rain or the like. Also, it is possible to make the bag difficult to be torn even when the bag gets wet.




FIGS.


8


(


a


) and


8


(


b


) are a front view and a side view showing a mechanical configuration of the goods-wrapping apparatus


200


, respectively. The printer


14


includes a bag storing section


70


, a head moving guide


76


, a transport surface


64


, the printing head


56


, a capstan roller


78


, a pinch roller


80


, and the roller-interval adjuster


60


. The bag storing section


70


includes sending rollers


72




a


and


72




b


, a base plate


71


, and springs


73




a


and


73




b


. The goods carrying in/out section


12


includes a pedestal


88


movable along guides


98




a


and


98




b


, a rotation table


90


fixed to the pedestal


88


, suction valves


104




a


,


104




b


,


104




c


and


104




d


connected to a compressor (not shown), and shutters


100


and


102


. Thus, the suction valves


104




a


,


104




b


,


104




c


and


104




d


can attract the bag


86


by a suction force.




The pedestal


88


includes a motor


92


therein and is connected to the center of the rotation of the rotation table


90


via a rotation axis


94


supported by a bearing


96


. The rotation table


90


has a suction opening on its surface and is connected to the compressor (not shown) via a conduit provided in the rotation table


90


and a hose


97


. Thus, the rotation table


90


can attract the bag


86


to the surface of the rotation table


90


. The shutters


100


and


102


are closed until the article is carried out. It is preferable that the hose


97


has a space for allowing the rotation table


90


to rotate by at least 90 degrees.




The bag storing section


70


accommodates the bag


86


. The bag


86


is placed on the upper surface of the base plate


71


. The base plate


71


is urged towards the sending rollers


72




a


and


72




b


by the springs


73




a


and


73




b


. Thus, the bag


86


is pushed onto the sending rollers


72




a


and


72




b


and therefore is sent towards the printing head


57


by the rotation of the sending rollers


72




a


and


72




b


. It is preferable that the sending roller


72




a


has a diameter of 10 mm or more, for example, because the bag


86


has a step between the folded portion and the unfolded portion. In addition, the bag


86


is preferably stored in the bag storing section


70


in such a manner that the closed portion of the bag


86


faces the printing head


56


. Moreover, it is preferable that the sending rollers


72




a


and


72




b


are arranged in such a manner that a plane is obtained by connecting a portion of the contact of the sending roller


72




a


and the bag


86


to a portion of the contact of the sending roller


72




b


and the bag


86


and the transport surface


64


are positioned horizontally.




The printing head


56


can move along the head moving guide


76


in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction of the bag


86


. As for the folded portion at the bottom of the bag


86


and the handle thereof, the printing head


56


moves to the escape position


84


. In an alternative embodiment, the printing head


56


may escape upwards with respect to the surface of the bag


86


. The capstan roller


78


and the pinch roller


80


rotate while putting the bag


86


therebetween, thereby transporting the bag


86


. Since the bag


86


has the step as mentioned above, the diameters of the capstan roller


78


and the pinch roller


80


are preferably 10 mm or more, for example. The roller-interval adjuster


60


moves the center of the rotation of the capstan roller


78


depending on the thickness of the bag


86


, thereby adjusting the interval between the capstan roller


78


and the pinch roller


80


. In addition, it is preferable that the capstan roller


78


and the pinch roller


80


press the bag


86


with a force of 0.4 kgf/cm or more, for example. The bag


86


onto which the printing content has been printed by the printing head


56


is transported in such a manner that the closed portion leads the bag


86


. Thus, the bag


86


is placed on the surface of the rotation table


90


so as to make the closed portion face towards a direction A. Moreover, since the bottom of the bag


86


passes through the printing head


56


first, it is preferable that the printing mechanism controller


54


controls the printing head


56


to start the printing operation from a portion to be positioned at the bottom of the bag


86


when the whole printing content is printed onto the bag


86


.




When the bag


86


is placed on the surface of the rotation table


90


, the rotation table


90


rotates to make the opening of the bag


86


face the goods storing section


10


. In a case where the goods storing section


10


is arranged beside the pedestal


88


, the rotation table


90


rotates by approximately 90 degrees. When the opening of the bag


86


faces the goods storing section


10


, the compressor (not shown) operates to attract the bag


86


to the surface of the rotation table


90


. Also, the suction valves


104




a


,


104




b


,


104




c


and


104




d


go down until the suction valves


104




a


,


104




b


,


104




c


and


104




d


come into contact with the bag


80


placed on the surface of the rotation table


90


. Since the compressor has already started to operate, the bag


86


is attracted by the suction valves


104




a


,


104




b


,


104




c


and


104




d


. The suction valves


104




a


,


104




b


,


104




c


and


104




d


then go up, thereby the bag


86


is made to open. The goods carrying in/out section


12


carries the article


26


stored in the goods storing section


10


into the bag


86


. For example, the goods carrying in/out section


12


may carry the article stored in the goods storing section


10


into the bag


86


by means of a robot (not shown).




When the article


26


is wrapped with the bag


86


, the shutter


100


is opened and the pedestal


88


moves to a goods carrying out position


106


. When the pedestal


88


reaches the goods carrying out position


106


, the shutter


100


is made to close again. When the shutter


100


is made to close, the shutter


102


is made to open, thereby the user can pick up the article


26


wrapped with the bag onto which the printing content associated with the article


26


is printed. Since the shutter


100


is closed when the shutter


102


is made to open, the user cannot insert his/her hand into the goods-wrapping apparatus


200


. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the user from being hurt by inserting his/her hand into the goods-wrapping apparatus


200


. Also, it is possible to prevent mischief by the user.




FIG.


9


(


a


) is a front view of the bag


86


. The bag


86


includes an ink receptor layer


112


within which the printing content can be printed, the mark


110


for making the printing section


36


print the printing content, and the handle


114


. The ink receptor layer


112


corresponds to a region in which the printing head


56


can perform the printing. The ink receptor layer


112


, for example, is a region of the bag


86


having no waterproof coating that uses a transparent ink or the like. When the ink receptor layer


112


is partially provided, the cost for the bag


86


can be reduced as compared with the case where the whole bag


86


is formed from the ink receptor layer


112


. It is preferable that the ink receptor layer


112


has a higher absorption ability to the ink and is more difficult to blur, as compared with the other portion. It should be noted that the ink receptor layer


112


may be a thermal recording layer onto which the thermal type printing head


56


can perform the printing or a thermal recording layer onto which the thermo-autochrome type printing head


56


can perform the printing.




The ink receptor layer


112


is preferably a layer corresponding to the printing method of the printer


14


. In a case of the ink jet printing, for example, the ink receptor layer


112


for the ink jet printing is provided. In a case of the thermal printing or the thermo-autochrome printing, a thermal coloring layer or a photo-fixing type thermal coloring layer is provided as the ink receptor layer


112


. In a case of the thermal ink transfer printing or the dye sublimation printing, the ink receptor layer


112


allowing the ink to be transferred thermally or the ink receptor layer


112


allowing the ink to be transferred while being sublimated is provided. The mark


110


is the bar code, for example. By detecting the mark


110


, the transport direction determination section


48


determines the transport direction of the bag


86


. The mark


110


may include information specifying the region with in which the printing can be performed. In this case, the printing section


36


may move the printing head


56


to the escape position based on the region specified by the information included in the mark


110


. Furthermore, the mark


110


may include information regarding the size of the bag


86


. In this case, the bag size determination section


44


may detect the information regarding the size of the bag


86


.




FIG.


9


(


b


) is a side view of the bag


86


. In a case where the bag


86


is folded at the bottom thereof, it is preferable to transport the bag


86


in such a manner that the folded portion


116


goes at the head of the bag


86


. Such transport reduces the possibility that the bag


86


is obstructed by the component existing in the transport path, such as the printing head


56


, while the bag


86


is being transported. In addition, it is preferable that the ink receptor layer


112


is provided on a surface opposite to the folded portion


116


of the bag


86


. Referring to FIG.


9


(


b


), in a case where the ink receptor layer


112


is provided on the side C of the bag


86


, it is preferable to print the printing content onto the surface on the side C of the bag


86


. Moreover, the bag


86


is preferably transported in the posture in which the folded portion


116


leads the bag


86


. Furthermore, it is preferable that the folded portion


116


faces towards the opposite direction to the printing head


56


.




Accordingly, the apparatus that wraps the article with the bag onto which the printing content associated with the article to be wrapped is printed can be provided. Since the article is wrapped, the package of the article can be prevented from being stained. In addition, since the printing content is printed onto the bag for every article the user selected, it is not necessary for the goods-wrapping apparatus


200


to store a bag unique to each maker.




Although the present invention has been described by way of exemplary embodiments, it should be understood that many changes and substitutions may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and the scope of the present invention which is defined only by the appended claims. The modified examples are described below.




In the first modified example, the printing content generator


34


may print the user's desired image(s) or character(s) onto the bag. In a case where the user wishes to print an image stored in a storage medium such as a memory card, for example, the controller


20


reads out the user's desired image via a memory card reader provided in the U/I section


18


and outputs the read image to the printing content generator


34


. In addition, an image drawn by the user with a touch panel or a mouse provided in the U/I section


18


may be printed as the printing content onto the bag. Also, the U/I section


18


may include a capturing device operable to capture an image of the user, and the captured image of the user may be printed onto the bag. Moreover, the date, time of the purchase, or the address of the place of the purchase may be printed onto the bag. Furthermore, the printing content that is selected from the contents stored in the contents database


32


and is actually printed onto the bag may be changed depending on the time of the purchase, such as the season or month of the purchase.




In the second modified example, the thickness measurement section


46


, the printing head


56


, and the head moving section


58


, that were described with reference to

FIG. 7

, may move the printing head


56


mechanically depending on the thickness of the printing medium.





FIG. 10

shows another embodiment of the thickness measurement section


46


, the printing head


56


, and the head moving section


58


that were described with reference to

FIG. 7. A

thickness detector


134


includes a flat portion that comes in contact with a printing medium


132


horizontally and a curved portion that has a predetermined curvature. The printing head


56


is connected to the thickness detector


134


. There is a predetermined interval between the flat portion of the thickness detector


134


and an ink jet nozzle


145


of the printing head


56


. This interval is a head-printing surface interval


142


in FIG.


10


. Preferably, the head-printing surface interval


142


is appropriately determined in advance so as to be equal to or less than the interval between the ink jet nozzle


146


and the surface of the recording medium


132


.




A slide axis


138


is connected to the printing head


56


and is movable in an upward or downward direction along a slide bearing


140


. The slide axis


138


includes a stopper


148


having a portion of the first diameter and a portion of the second diameter larger than the first diameter. The slide bearing


140


includes an insertion opening


150


for the slide axis that has a diameter larger than the first diameter and smaller than the second diameter of the slide axis


138


. Thus, the slide axis


138


can slide down to such a position that the stopper


148


and the insertion opening


150


are brought into contact with each other. On the other hand, the slide axis


138


is connected to the printing head


56


at one end. In a space sandwiched between the other end of the slide axis


138


and the slide bearing


140


, a spring


136


is provided. The spring


136


is in contact with the end of the slide axis


138


at one end thereof while being in contact with a body of the apparatus


200


at the other end. Thus, when the slide axis


138


moves upwards, the spring


136


generates an opposing force for moving the slide axis


138


downwards. Accordingly, the ink jet nozzle


146


can moved in such a manner that the thickness detector


134


is always in contact with the printing medium


132


.




The printing medium


132


shown in

FIG. 10

has a step


144


. Assuming that the printing medium


132


moves from the right side to the left side in

FIG. 10

, the left end of the step


144


comes into contact with the curved portion of the thickness detector


134


. The curved portion of the thickness detector


134


has the predetermined curvature, as described before. Thus, as the printing medium


132


moves from the right side to the left side in

FIG. 10

, the printing head


56


can move upwards. Therefore, the thickness detector


134


can detect the step


144


and moves the printing head


56


. In addition, when the flat portion of the thickness detector


134


comes into contact with the printing medium


132


, the head-recording surface interval


142


becomes a predetermined interval. Thus, the printing head


56


can perform the printing for recording media having different thicknesses.




In the third modified example, the printing head can be selected depending on the material of the bag. For example, a printing head using ink for both a fabric bag and a paper bag may be provided. In this case, it may be determined whether the bag is made of fabric or paper and then one of the printing heads may be selected in accordance with the determination result.




In the fourth modified example, a position of the bag


86


with respect to the transport direction thereof may be changed in a case where the bag


86


is not transported in such a manner that the closed portion goes at the head of the bag.




In the fifth modified example, the printing mechanism controller


54


may perform an operation for detecting the mark


110


provided on the bag


86


and printing the printing content onto the bag


86


when the mark


110


is detected.





FIG. 11

is a diagram showing functional blocks of a printing section


130


according to the third, fourth and fifth modified examples. Components in

FIG. 11

labeled with the same reference numerals as those in

FIG. 7

operate in the same manner as the components in FIG.


7


and therefore the description thereof is omitted. The printing section


130


includes the arrangement corresponding to the printing section


36


in

FIG. 7 and a

material discriminator


120


, a head selector


122


, printing heads


56




a


and


56




b


, a condition adjustment section


124


, and a mark detector


126


.




The mark detector


126


detects the mark


110


provided on the bag


86


. In a case where there is no mark on the bag


86


, the mark detector


126


does not operate the printing mechanism controller


54


to perform the printing of the printing content. The mark


110


indicates that the bag


86


has a predetermined quality and the printing content can be printed under ideal conditions, for example. The logo mark of the maker to be printed on the bag


86


is precious for the maker. If the logo mark is blurred and is seen as a color different from the predetermined color of the logo mark in the printing of the logo mark, a corporate image of the maker may be degraded. In order to prevent this, the mark certifying the quality of the bag is provided on the, bag.




The condition adjustment section


124


changes the position of the bag


86


with respect to the transport direction in a case where the bag


86


cannot be transported in the direction in which the closed portion of the bag


86


goes at the head of the bag


86


, thereby changing the posture of the bag


86


with respect to the transport direction. For example, the condition adjustment section


124


changes the position of the bag


86


to such a position that the bag


86


is transported in the direction in which the closed portion of the bag


86


goes in advance of any other portion thereof and the surface of the bag


86


onto which the printing content is printed faces the printing head. Therefore, the posture of the bag


86


with respect to the transport direction is such a posture that the bag


86


can be transported in the direction in which the closed portion goes at the head of the bag and the ink receptor layer


112


faces the printing head


56


. In a case where the bag


86


is stored in the bag storing section


63


while the handle


14


shown in

FIG. 9

goes at the head of the bag


86


, for example, the condition adjustment section


124


rotates the bag


86


to the position allowing the bag


86


to be transported in the direction in which the folded portion


116


goes at the head of the bag. Thus, the bag


86


can take the posture allowing the bag


86


to be transported in the direction in which the folded portion


116


goes at the head of the bag. Moreover, in a case where the ink receptor layer


112


does not face the printing head


56


, the condition adjustment section


124


changes the posture of the bag


86


by reversing the bag


86


so as to make the ink receptor layer


112


face the printing head


56


. It is preferable that the bag


86


is transported while holding the above-mentioned posture. The condition adjustment section


124


changes the posture of the bag


86


so that the bag


86


is in the posture described with reference to FIG.


9


.




The material discriminator


120


discriminates the material for the bag


86


. For example, the mark


110


may include information specifying the material for the bag


86


. In this case, the material discriminator


120


may discriminate the material for the bag


86


by detecting the information of the bag material included in the mark


110


. The material discriminator


120


outputs the bag material to the printing mechanism controller


54


that, in turn, outputs the information of the bag material to the head selector


122


. The head selector


122


selects one of the printing heads


52




a


and


52




b


based on the information of the bag material. Thus, the printing head most suitable for the bag material such as paper or fabric can be selected.




In the sixth modified example, the controller


20


may control the U/I section


18


to present a display image for allowing the user to select a desired article based on goods information stored in a goods information server for storing goods information for respective goods that is connected to a network. In this case, the user can purchase not only an article stored in the goods storing section


10


but also an article that is not stored in the goods storing section


10


.




In the seventh modified example, the step for detecting whether or not the charge of using the goods-wrapping apparatus has been inserted (Step S


10


), that was described with reference to

FIG. 2

, can be omitted. This step is provided in order to confirm the user's intention to purchase something. By providing this step, it is expected that mischievous use of the goods-wrapping apparatus


200


can be reduced.




In the eighth modified example, the transport direction determination section


46


described with reference to

FIGS. 7 and 11

may detect a direction of the bag stored in the bag storing section


63


. In a case of using a tray operable to store a plurality of bags as the bag storing section


63


, the transport direction determination section


48


may detect a direction of the uppermost bag. When the direction of the bag is detected to be different from the direction in which the closed portion of the bag goes at the head of the bag, the warning section


50


issues the warning that the bag direction is wrong. For example, the warning section


50


may issue the warning to a clerk of the shop at which the goods-wrapping apparatus is set. In this case, the clerk can see that the bag is stored in the wrong direction by the warning from the warning section


50


. Thus, the clerk can change the bag direction to the correct direction. Alternatively, in the case where the bag direction is wrong, the condition adjustment section


124


described with reference to

FIG. 11

may change the position of the bag so that the closed portion of the bag is transported at the head of the bag. For example, the condition adjustment section


124


may change the position of the bag to such a position that the closed portion of the bag is transported at the head of the bag and the surface of the bag onto which the printing content is to be printed faces the printing head.




In the ninth modified example, the printing section


130


described with reference to

FIG. 11

may include a printing position detector operable to detect a mark specifying the printable region in which the printing content can be printed that is provided on the bag, so as to detect where the printing content can be printed on the bag. For example, the mark specifying the printable region maybe a bar code including information specifying the position on which the printing content is to be printed. Moreover, the head moving section


58


may move the printing head


56


to the escape position at the position different from the position that is detected to be the printable position by the printing position detector.




As described above, according to the present invention, the goods can be wrapped with the bag onto which the printing content associated with the goods to be wrapped is printed.



Claims
  • 1. A method, for printing content onto a bag, comprising:transporting a surface of said bag to a printing head; and printing said content onto said bag using said printing head; wherein: said bag has an opening end, and a closed portion opposite said opening, and said transporting is performed so that at least part of said closed portion of said bag passes said printing head before beginning said printing of said content onto said bag.
  • 2. A printing device for printing a printing content onto a bag having an opening and a closed portion opposed to said opening, comprising:a transport mechanism operable to transport said bag; and a printing head operable to print said printing content onto said bag that is being transported by said transport mechanism in such a manner that said closed portion goes at the head of said bag; a transport direction determination section operable to determine whether said bag is transported in such a manner that said closed portion is a leading side of said bag; and a warning section operable to warn that said bag is unable to be transported in such a manner that said closed portion is a leading side of said bag if such is the case.
  • 3. A printing device according to claim 2, wherein said transport direction determination section detects a mark indicating a direction in which said bag is to be transported and determines whether said bag is able to be transported in such a manner that said closed portion is a leading side of said bag, said mark being provided on said bag.
  • 4. A printing device for printing a printing content onto a bag having an opening and a closed portion opposed to said opening, comprising:a transport mechanism operable to transport said bag; and a printing head operable to print said printing content onto said bag that is being transported by said transport mechanism in such a manner that said closed portion goes at the head of said bag; a bag size determination section operable to determine a size of said bag; and a print size adjustment section operable to adjust a size of said printing content to be such a size that said printing content is printed onto said bag, based on the size of said bag determined by said bag size determination section.
  • 5. A printing device according to claim 4, wherein said bag size determination section detects a mark indicating the size of said bag provided on said bag and detects the size of said bag based on the determination result.
  • 6. A printing device for printing a printing content onto a bag having an opening and a closed portion opposed to said opening, comprising:a transport mechanism operable to transport said bag; and a printing head operable to print said printing content onto said bag that is being transported by said transport mechanism in such a manner that said closed portion goes at the head of said bag; a plurality of printing heads having different printing characteristics; a material discriminator operable to discriminate a material for said bag; and a head selector operable to one of said printing heads in accordance with the material for said bag.
  • 7. A printing device according to claim 6, wherein said material discriminator detects a mark indicating the material for said bag provided on said bag and discriminates the material for said bag based on the detection result.
  • 8. A printing device according to claim 2, further comprising a condition adjustment section operable to change a position of said bag with respect to the direction in which said bag is transported so as to allow said bag to be transported in such a manner that said closed portion is a leading side of said bag, in a case where said bag is unable to be transported in such a manner that said closed portion is a leading side of said bag.
  • 9. A printing device according to claim 3, wherein the mark provided on said bag comprises a bar code and said transport direction determination section comprises a bar code reader.
  • 10. A printing device according to claim 5, wherein the mark provided on said bag comprises a bar code and said bag size determination section comprises a bar code reader.
  • 11. A printing device according to claim 7, wherein the mark provided on said bag comprises a bar code and said material discriminator comprises a bar code reader.
  • 12. A printing device according to claim 2, further comprising a bag storing section operable to storing said bag,wherein said transport direction determination section detects whether said bag is stored in a direction in which said closed portion is able to go at the head of said bag and determines whether said bag is able to be transported in such a manner that said closed portion is a leading side of said bag based on the result of the detection.
  • 13. A printing device for printing a printing content onto a bag having an opening and a closed portion opposed to said opening, comprising:a printing head operable to print said content onto said bag; and a mark detector operable to make said printing head print said printing content onto said bag only when said mark detector detects a mark indicating that said printing content provided on said bag is printable.
  • 14. A printing system according to claim 13, wherein the printing device further comprises:a printing position detector operable to detect a mark on the bag specifying a position of the ink receptor layer; and a head moving section operable to move said printing head to an escape position at a position different from said printable position.
  • 15. A printing device for printing a printing content on to a printing medium, comprising:a thickness detector operable to detect a thickness of said printing medium; a printing head operable to print said printing content onto said printing medium; and a head moving section operable to move said printing head, in accordance with the thickness of said printing medium detected by said thickness detector, without any contact of said printing head with said printing medium.
  • 16. A printing device, for printing content on a printing medium, comprising:a thickness detector operable to detect a thickness of said printing medium; a printing head operable to print said printing content on said printing medium; and a head moving section operable to move said printing head in accordance with the thickness of said printing medium detected by said thickness detector; wherein said head moving section moves said printing head to an escape position when the thickness of said printing medium is thicker than a predetermined thickness.
  • 17. A printing device for printing content on a printing medium, comprising:a thickness detector operable to detect a thickness of said printing medium; a printing head operable to print said content on said printing medium; a head moving section operable to move said printing head in accordance with the thickness of said printing medium detected by said thickness detector; a transport roller section operable to transport said printing medium while putting said printing medium between a first roller and a second roller opposed to said first roller; and a roller-interval adjuster operable to adjust an interval between said first roller and said second roller in accordance with the thickness of said printing medium.
  • 18. A printing device according to claim 1, further comprising a communication section operable to input said printing content via a network.
  • 19. A printing system according to claim 13, wherein the printing device further comprises a communication section operable to input said printing content via a network.
  • 20. A printing device according to claim 15, further comprising a communication section operable to input said printing content via a network.
  • 21. A printing device according to claim 1, wherein said bag passes under said print head.
Priority Claims (1)
Number Date Country Kind
11-348122 Dec 1999 JP
US Referenced Citations (7)
Number Name Date Kind
5474392 Matsuoka Dec 1995 A
5806992 Ju Sep 1998 A
6033114 Grimm et al. Mar 2000 A
6371645 Rusert et al. Apr 2002 B1
6375297 Hayashi et al. Apr 2002 B1
6405869 Whittemore et al. Jun 2002 B1
6421073 Dietel et al. Jul 2002 B1
Foreign Referenced Citations (4)
Number Date Country
04033512 Apr 1992 DE
057006974 Jan 1982 JP
07125728 May 1995 JP
08119237 May 1996 JP