Patent Grant
11267670
The present application is based on, and claims priority from JP Application Serial Number 2019-147218, filed Aug. 9, 2019, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
The present disclosure relates to a label printer.
A label printer is disclosed in which printing is performed with a label sheet including a label attached on a backing sheet as a printing medium, and the printed label is peeled from the backing sheet by a peeling unit downstream of a printing unit (see JP-A-2019-43561). The peeling unit includes a peeling roller that transports the backing sheet to peel the label from the backing sheet.
In the label printer, the peeling roller and a transporting roller that transports the label sheet at a position upstream of the printing unit are rotated by the powers of respective different motors. In such a configuration, the transport force of the backing sheet by the peeling roller may be increased more than expected due to temporary disturbances in the current value supplied to the motor and individual variation among the motors. When the transport force of the peeling roller for the backing sheet excessively increases, slippage occurs between the transporting roller and the label sheet, and the transport accuracy of the label sheet by the transporting roller may be reduced. Such reduction in the transport accuracy degrades the printing quality.
A label printer includes a print head configured to perform printing on a label sheet including a backing sheet to which a label is attached, a transporting roller disposed upstream of the print head in a transport path of the label sheet, and configured to transport the label sheet to downstream in the transport path by rotating in a state where the transporting roller is in contact with the label sheet, a peeling roller disposed downstream of the print head in the transport path, and configured to rotate in a state where the peeling roller is in contact with the backing sheet, the peeling roller being configured to peel the label from the backing sheet by transporting the backing sheet in a direction different from a travelling direction of the label, and a control unit configured to control rotation of the transporting roller and rotation of the peeling roller, wherein the control unit controls a current value to be supplied to a peeling motor configured to rotate the peeling roller such that a transport force of the peeling roller for transporting the backing sheet is equal to or greater than a minimum force required for peeling the label and is greater than a maximum friction force between the peeling roller and the backing sheet, and the maximum friction force and a maximum friction force between the transporting roller and the label sheet are set such that the maximum friction force between the peeling roller and the backing sheet is equal to or smaller than a transport force of the peeling roller that sets a transport error of the label sheet by the transporting roller to be within an acceptable value.
An embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The drawings are merely exemplification for describing this embodiment. The drawings are exemplification, and therefore may not be accurate in ratio, may be inconsistent with one another, and may be partially omitted.
The label sheet P includes a backing sheet Pa and a plurality of labels Pb. The backing sheet Pa is a strip-shaped continuous paper. The surface of the backing sheet Pa is provided with releasability, and the labels Pb each of which is cut in a predetermined size are attached at an equal interval in the longitudinal direction of the backing sheet Pa. The material of the backing sheet Pa and the label Pb may be paper or a material other than paper. The backing sheet Pa may be referred to as a base member. The label sheet P is set in the label printer 1 as a roll sheet R wound in a roll shape.
The label printer 1 includes a printing unit 3 as a main body of the label printer 1, and a peeling unit 4. The peeling unit 4 may be integrally formed with the printing unit 3 on the front surface of the label printer 1, or may be a part that is detachably provided on the front surface of the printing unit 3. The peeling unit 4 is a device that performs a process of peeling the label Pb from the backing sheet Pa for the label sheet P printed by the printing unit 3, and is referred to also as a peeler. At the front surface of the peeling unit 4, an ejection port 4a through which the printed label sheet P or the label Pb that has been peeled from the backing sheet Pa is ejected is open. The label printer 1 can perform a non-peeling mode in which the printed label sheet P with the label Pb attached on the backing sheet Pa is ejected from the ejection port 4a, and a peeling mode in which the printed label Pb peeled from the backing sheet Pa is ejected from the ejection port 4a. In this embodiment, the description will be made based on the peeling mode.
The printing unit 3 has a configuration in which a function unit including a print head 8 is housed in a case 3a having a box-like shape. As illustrated in
The printing unit 3 performs printing on each label Pb of the label sheet P with each function unit including the print head 8 housed in the case 3a on the basis of print data and commands transmitted from a host computer (not illustrated). In addition, the printing unit 3 transports the label sheet P along the transport path of the label sheet P. Hereinafter, the upstream and downstream transporting paths are referred to simply as upstream and downstream.
As illustrated in
The transporting roller 11 is coupled, directly or with a gear, a belt or the like therebetween, to a transport motor 21 described later, and is rotated by the power of the transport motor 21. The feeding roller 10 is coupled to the transport motor 21 together with the transporting roller 11 and is rotated by the power of the transport motor 21. Note that the feeding roller 10 may be configured to be driven by a motor (not illustrated) that is different from the transport motor 21. In addition, the feeding roller 10 is not an essential configuration.
The platen 12 is disposed downstream of the transporting roller 11 in the transport path of the label sheet P. A platen surface 12a, which is the top surface of the platen 12, supports the label sheet P from below by making contact with the backing sheet Pa of the label sheet P. It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which the platen surface 12a includes a plurality of intake holes, and air is sucked from the intake holes into the platen 12 at the timing of printing at the print head 8 such that the label sheet P adheres to the platen surface 12a.
The print head 8 is disposed in such a manner as to face the platen surface 12a. The print head 8 includes a nozzle row (not illustrated) corresponding to one or more ink colors, and discharges ink from nozzles constituting each nozzle row. The ink discharged by the nozzle is also referred to as a dot. The print head 8 performs printing on the label Pb by discharging ink to the label Pb located on the platen surface 12a on the basis of print data. The label sheet P printed by the print head 8 is transported to the downstream peeling unit 4 by the transporting roller 11.
The guide 13 is disposed downstream of the print head 8. The guide 13 supports from below the label sheet P printed by the print head 8 between the platen 12 and the front surface of the printing unit 3. The label sheet P is transported toward the peeling unit 4 through the guide 13.
The peeling unit 4 includes a peeling member 30 and a peeling roller 31. The peeling member 30 is located downstream of the print head 8 of the printing unit 3. The peeling member 30 includes a guide surface 30a that supports the label sheet P from below by making contact with the backing sheet Pa of the label sheet P, and an acute-angled peeling edge 30b formed at the tip of the guide surface 30a. The label sheet P guided by the guide 13 is transported over the guide surface 30a of the peeling member 30.
The peeling roller 31 is composed of a pair of rollers facing each other, and transports the backing sheet Pa in a sandwiching manner. The peeling roller 31 is coupled, directly or with a gear, a belt or the like therebetween, to the peeling motor 34 described later, and is rotated by the power of the peeling motor 34.
In the case where the label printer 1 is operated in the peeling mode, the user performs an operation of sandwiching the backing sheet Pa of the label sheet P by the peeling roller 31 prior to the start of the printing. The peeling roller 31 is disposed below the peeling member 30 and transports the backing sheet Pa downward in a sandwiching manner. The backing sheet Pa of the label sheet P transported through the guide surface 30a is bent at the peeling edge 30b and pulled downward by the peeling roller 31. With the pulling force of the peeling roller 31, the label Pb is separated and peeled from the backing sheet Pa at the peeling edge 30b. The peeled label Pb protrudes out of the ejection port 4a. The label Pb protruding from the ejection port 4a is collected by the user. On the other hand, the backing sheet Pa transported by the peeling roller 31 in a direction different from the label Pb is ejected to the lower side of the peeling roller 31 in the example of
With the above-described configuration, the feeding roller 10, the transporting roller 11, the platen 12, and the guide 13 form the transport path of the label sheet P in the printing unit 3. In addition, it can be said that the guide surface 30a and the peeling edge 30b of the peeling member 30 and the peeling roller 31 also form a part of the transport path.
The label printer 1 includes an input unit 41, a display unit 42, and an interface unit 43, and each of the components is connected to the control unit 40. The control unit 40 is connected to the print head 8, the transport motor 21, and the peeling motor 34 as operating units to be controlled. The print head 8, the transport motor 21, and the peeling motor 34 may each be connected to the control unit 40 through a drive circuit that supplies power for driving. The control unit 40 controls each operating unit to perform transporting and printing of the label sheet P.
The input unit 41 detects operations on the operation button 15 and the touch panel, and outputs a signal corresponding to the details of the detected operation to the control unit 40. The display unit 42 drives the display 16 and the lamp 17 in accordance with the control of the control unit 40 such that the display 16 displays characters and images and that the lamp 17 turns on or blinks. The interface unit 43 is connected to a host computer (not illustrated) in a wired or wireless manner, and communicates with the host computer in accordance with the control of the control unit 40. The interface unit 43 receives commands and print data transmitted by the host computer and outputs the commands and print data to the control unit 40.
For the configuration of the label printer 1, the above-mentioned JP-A-2019-43561 may be appropriately referred to.
The transporting roller 11 includes a first driving roller 11a and a first driven roller 11b that sandwich the label sheet P therebetween. The first driving roller 11a is rotated by the power of the transport motor 21. The first driven roller 11b is supported such that the first driven roller 11b is rotatable along with transport of the label sheet P by the rotation of the first driving roller 11a.
The peeling roller 31 includes a second driving roller 31a and a second driven roller 31b that sandwich the backing sheet Pa of the label sheet P therebetween. The second driving roller 31a is rotated by the power of the peeling motor 34. The second driven roller 31b is supported such that the second driven roller 31b is rotatable along with transport of the backing sheet Pa by the rotation of the second driving roller 31a.
In the transporting roller 11, the first driven roller 11b presses the first driving roller 11a with a force F1 in order to sandwich the label sheet P. Specifically, at the contact point with the label sheet P, the first driving roller 11a is pressed by the force F1 that is substantially perpendicular to the orientation of the label sheet P. The force F1 is described as a force per unit width (1 mm) that is obtained by dividing a pressing force of the first driven roller 11b on the first driving roller 11a by a width [mm] of the label sheet P. The unit of the force F1 is [gf/mm]. Each of forces F2, F3, F4 and Fp described later is also a force per unit width as with the F1, and the unit thereof is [gf/mm]. Note that the unit [gf/mm] is appropriately omitted in the following description. The width of the label sheet P is the width of the label sheet P in the direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the long label sheet P, and is a predetermined value.
The static friction coefficient between the first driving roller 11a in contact with the backing sheet Pa of the label sheet P and the backing sheet Pa is μ1. Accordingly, when the force F1 is assumed as a normal force, the maximum friction force between the transporting roller 11 and the label sheet P can be represented as μ1×F1. The maximum friction force is also referred to as a maximum static friction force.
In this embodiment, a value of a transport force F2 of the peeling roller 31 that sets the transport error of the label sheet P by the transporting roller 11 within an acceptable value is defined. The control unit 40 controls the transport amount of the label sheet P by the transporting roller 11 by controlling the driving of the transport motor 21. In a situation where a force that pulls downstream the label sheet P sandwiched by the transporting roller 11 is generated, slippage occurs between the transporting roller 11 and the label sheet P. This slippage causes an error, i.e., a transport error, in the transport amount of the label sheet P by the transporting roller 11.
The force of pulling downstream the label sheet P sandwiched by the transporting roller 11 is a force of the peeling roller 31 that pulls the label sheet P downstream, i.e., a transport force Fp of the peeling roller 31. When slack or deflection occurs in the backing sheet Pa in the transport path downstream of the transporting roller 11, it becomes difficult to peel the label Pb from the backing sheet Pa at the peeling unit 4. Therefore, the transport force Fp is required for reliably peeling the label Pb from the backing sheet Pa at the peeling unit 4.
When the amount of slippage is slight, almost no degradation of the printing quality, such as deviation of the dot hitting position to the label Pb, is caused. In view of this, in this embodiment, the above-described transport force F2 is defined by multiplying the maximum friction force μ1×F1 by a coefficient α. That is, F2=α×μ1×F1 is defined. When the transport force Fp is equal to or smaller than the transport force F2, the transport error of the label sheet P by the transporting roller 11 is kept to a small amount, or within an acceptable value, which does not affect the printing quality. The coefficient α is a value greater than 0 and smaller than 1, and is, for example, α=0.2. In this embodiment, the coefficient α is appropriately preset on the basis of an experiment and/or an evaluation of the printing quality in accordance with the transport error of the transporting roller 11.
In the peeling roller 31, the second driven roller 31b presses the second driving roller 31a with a force F3 (gf/mm) in order to sandwich the backing sheet Pa. Specifically, at the contact point with the backing sheet Pa, the second driving roller 31a is pressed by the force F3 that is substantially perpendicular to the orientation of the backing sheet Pa. The static friction coefficient between the second driving roller 31a and the backing sheet Pa is μ3. Accordingly, when the force F3 is assumed as a normal force, the maximum friction force between the peeling roller 31 and the backing sheet Pa can be represented as μ3×F3.
The force F1 is set by adjusting an elastic member, such as a spring, that biases the first driven roller 11b toward the first driving roller 11a, for example. Likewise, the force F3 is set by adjusting an elastic member, such as a spring, that biases the second driven roller 31b toward the second driving roller 31a, for example. The static friction coefficient μ1 is set by selecting or adjusting the material, the surface state, and the like of the transporting roller 11. Likewise, the static friction coefficient μ3 is set by selecting or adjusting the material, the surface state, and the like of the peeling roller 31.
In such a situation, in the label printer 1, the maximum friction force μ3×F3 is set to a value equal to or smaller than the transport force F2. In other words, the values of F1, μ1, F3, and μ3 are set such that μ3×F3≤F2 holds in relation to the coefficient α. In this embodiment, μ3<μ1 holds. In addition, preferably, the numerical range of the static friction coefficient μ3 is 0.1≤μ3μ0, for example.
The minimum transport force Fp required for peeling the label Pb by the peeling unit 4 is referred to as a transport force F4. The transport force F4 is smaller than the maximum friction force μ3×F3. That is, F4<μ3×F3≤F2<μ1×F1 holds. In the state where the maximum friction force μ1×F1 is fixed, the transport force F4 is set to an appropriate value on the basis of an experiment in which the peeling roller 31 pulls the backing sheet Pa to peel the label Pb at the peeling unit 4.
The transport force Fp changes in accordance with the current value supplied to the peeling motor 34 by the control unit 40 for driving the peeling motor 34. The peeling motor 34 is, for example, a DC motor. In response to increase in the current value supplied to the peeling motor 34, the torque of the peeling motor 34 increases, and the transport force Fp increases.
Here, when the transport force Fp generated by the peeling motor 34 is greater than the maximum friction force μ3×F3, slippage occurs between the second driving roller 31a and the backing sheet Pa, and the second driving roller 31a, i.e., the peeling roller 31 idles. In this embodiment, the control unit 40 controls the current to the peeling motor 34 such that the peeling roller 31 idles. Specifically, the control unit 40 controls the current value to be supplied to the peeling motor 34 such that the transport force Fp is equal to or greater than the transport force F4 and is greater than the maximum friction force μ3×F3.
In
The processing period for the label sheet P of the label printer 1 that has selected the peeling mode is roughly divided into a printing period A and a transport period B. As illustrated in the lower graph of
In the transport period B, the control unit 40 transports the label sheet P by rotating the feeding roller 10 and the transporting roller 11 by driving the transport motor 21 without driving the print head 8. In the transport period B except for a last transport period B, the control unit 40 performs the transport of the label sheet P by a predetermined distance required for setting, at a position on the platen surface 12a, the label Pb to be printed in the next printing period A. Along with the transport of the label sheet P in the transport period B, the label Pb after printing is peeled from the backing sheet Pa at the peeling unit 4.
The last transport period B is the transport period B after the last printing period A. In the last transport period B, the label sheet P is conveyed until the label Pb printed in the last printing period A is peeled from the backing sheet Pa at the peeling unit 4, for example. The control unit 40 recognizes the start and completion of printing and transporting of the label sheet P in accordance with a command externally input through the interface unit 43. For example, the control unit 40 recognizes the number of labels Pb that should be printed based on the print data from the command. Thus, the control unit 40 can recognize the timing of the last printing period A in accordance with the command, and can achieve transport in the last transport period B after the last printing period A by driving the transport motor 21.
Then, as illustrated in the upper graph in
The control unit 40 controls the driving of the transport motor 21 such that, in the transport period B, the rotational speed of the transporting roller 11 is a predetermined speed for conveying the label sheet P. Although the control method of the transport motor 21 is not described in detail, the control unit 40 achieves the speed of the transporting roller 11 as illustrated by the dot-dash line on the lower side in
When the current value Ia is supplied to the peeling motor 34, the transport force Fp of the peeling roller 31 exceeds the maximum friction force μ3×F3, and the peeling roller 31 idles. Such a rotational speed of the peeling roller 31 is greater than the rotational speed of the transporting roller 11 indicated by the dot-dash line in the transport period B as indicated by the solid line in the lower graph in
The label printer 1 of the embodiment includes the print head 8 configured to perform printing on the label sheet P including the label Pb attached to the backing sheet Pa, the transporting roller 11 disposed upstream of the print head 8 in the transport path of the label sheet P, and configured to transport the label sheet P downstream in the transport path by rotating in a state where the transporting roller 11 is in contact with the label sheet P, the peeling roller 31 disposed downstream of the print head 8 in the transport path, and configured to rotate in a state where the peeling roller 31 is in contact with the backing sheet Pa, the peeling roller 31 being configured to peel the label Pb from the backing sheet Pa by transporting the backing sheet Pa in a direction different from the travelling direction of the label Pb, and the control unit 40 configured to control rotation of the transporting roller 11 and rotation of the peeling roller 31. The control unit 40 controls the current value to be supplied to the peeling motor 34 such that the transport force Fp of the peeling roller 31 for transporting the backing sheet Pa is equal to or greater than the minimum force (the transport force F4) required for peeling the label Pb and is greater than the maximum friction force μ3×F3 between the peeling roller 31 and the backing sheet Pa, the peeling motor 34 being configured to rotate the peeling roller 31. Further, the maximum friction force μ3×F3 between the peeling roller 31 and the backing sheet Pa and the maximum friction force μ1×F1 between the transporting roller 11 and the label sheet P are set such that the maximum friction force μ3×F3 is equal to or smaller than the transport force F2 of the peeling roller 31 that sets a transport error of the label sheet P by the transporting roller 11 within an acceptable value.
With the above-described configuration, the control unit 40 idles the peeling roller 31 with respect to the backing sheet Pa by controlling the current value to be supplied to the peeling motor 34 such that the transport force Fp of the peeling roller 31 exceeds the maximum friction force μ3×F3. As a result, the backing sheet Pa is pulled by the peeling roller 31 with the force required for peeling the label Pb, and is not pulled with a force greater than the maximum friction force μ3×F3. Therefore, according to this embodiment, both reliable peeling of the label Pb and maintenance of the printing quality can be achieved.
In addition, according to this embodiment, the control unit 40 only controls the transporting roller 11 and the print head 8 such that the transport period B and the printing period A alternate, and only supplies the predetermined current value Ia to the peeling motor 34 while the transport period B and the printing period A alternate. In other words, there is no need for a complex control such as a control for acceleration and deceleration of the peeling roller 31 for each transport period B, and thus the rotation control of the peeling roller 31 is simplified. In addition, according to this embodiment, the control unit 40 starts the rotation of the peeling roller 31 prior to the start of the first transport period B. As a result, the label sheet P can be transported in a state where deflection of the backing sheet Pa in the transport path downstream of the transporting roller 11 is eliminated.
In addition, according to this embodiment, the static friction coefficient μ3 between the peeling roller 31 and the backing sheet Pa is smaller than the static friction coefficient μ1 between the transporting roller 11 and the label sheet P. Further, the static friction coefficient μ3 may be set to satisfy 0.1≤μ3≤0.3. In addition, the static friction coefficient μ1 may be 1.0, for example.
With such configurations, the values μ1, F1, μ3, and F3 may be appropriately and easily set to configure the label printer 1.
According to this embodiment, a process achieved by the control unit 40 controlling the label printer 1 may be interpreted as a method and/or a program cooperating with hardware. The method of setting the values μ1, F1, μ3, and F3 disclosed in the embodiment may be interpreted as an invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| JP2019-147218 | Aug 2019 | JP | national |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5718525 | Bruhnke | Feb 1998 | A |
| 5730816 | Murphy | Mar 1998 | A |
| 20180001663 | Takami | Jan 2018 | A1 |
| 20190061388 | Kasai | Feb 2019 | A1 |
| 20210039914 | Takami | Feb 2021 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 2019-043561 | Mar 2019 | JP |
| 100733769 | Jul 2007 | KR |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20210039914 A1 | Feb 2021 | US |
