Patent Grant
7601238
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printer that employs a heat-sensitive adhesive sheet, wherein a heat-sensitive adhesive layer, which normally is not adhesive but becomes adhesive when thermally activated, is deposited on one face of a sheet base material, and produces an adhesive label that has desired characters, symbols, numbers or images recorded on the obverse face and adhesive on the reverse face, and relates to a method for producing such an adhesive label.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 11-79152, a heat-sensitive adhesive sheet having a heat-sensitive adhesive layer that becomes adhesive when heated has been put to practical use. The heat-sensitive adhesive sheet has several advantages, such as that handling the sheet before it is heated is easy and that no industrial waste is generated because release paper is not required. In order to manifest the adhesive property of the heat-sensitive adhesive layer on the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet, heating the sheet may be performed using a thermal head, one such as is commonly used for a thermal printer. Moreover, when the face of the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet opposite the thermal adhesive layer is a heat-sensitive printing enabled layer, the same type of thermal head can be used both for printing and for heating the thermal adhesive layer.
A printer for producing adhesive labels has been developed whereby desired characters, symbols, numbers or images can be printed on a printing enabled layer of a heat-sensitive adhesive sheet, the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet can be cut into predetermined lengths, and the adhesive property of the heat-sensitive adhesive layer can be manifested so that the thus produced labels can be attached to products to provide, for example, unit prices or product names (see
For this printer, before the cutting device 102 begins to perform the cutting operation, the conveying forward of the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 100 must be halted for a period of time (e.g., 0.4 seconds) while a movable blade is moved vertically. That is, while the printing device 101 and the second conveying device of the thermal activation device 103 are halted, the cutting device 102 cuts the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 100. Therefore, when the adhesive label to be produced is longer than the distance from the cut position of the cutting device 102 to the thermal head 106 of the thermal activation device 103, the operation is halted while the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 100 is held between the thermal head 106 and the platen roller 105 used for thermal activation. As a result, the heat-sensitive adhesive layer for which adhesion has now been manifested adheres to the thermal head 106. Thus, when sheet feeding is resumed after the cutting has been completed and a label has been produced, the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 100 is not fed smoothly, and a so-called jam occurs, one which in turn causes a conveying failure. Further, heat generated by the thermal head 106 is transmitted to the printing enabled layer 100b, which causes color development.
An adhesive label that is thus produced and discharged from the printer is not appropriate for use because its appearance is not pleasing. Furthermore, when an adhesive label has become firmly adhered to the thermal head 106 of a printer, all the separate operations being performed must be halted and remedial maintenance must be performed. Thus, as described above, the efficiency with which adhesive labels are produced is deteriorated.
Therefore, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-316265, a configuration is disclosed wherein the speeds of a printing device 101 and the conveying unit of a thermal activation device 103 are limited a heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 100 is deflected and assumes a convex shape between a cutting device 102 and the thermal activation device 103; and while the operation of the conveying means is halted, the cutting device 102 begins the cutting of the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 100 (see
To produce multiple adhesive labels, generally, a roll member 110, around which the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 100 is wound, is prepared in advance, and as the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 100 is progressively unwound from the roll member 110, printing, cutting and thermal activation of the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 100 are performed.
According to the printer described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-316265, a print thermal head 104 for a printing device 101 is located above the path along which the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 100 is conveyed, and located below this path is a thermal head 106 for a thermal activation device 103. Therefore, the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 100 is fed with a printing enabled layer 100b facing upward and a heat-sensitive adhesive layer 100a facing downward. In this case, as shown in
However, the printing enabled layer 100b is the surface on which characters, symbols, numbers or images are represented when an adhesive label is completed, and on this surface, smudging is not desirable. Furthermore, there is a case wherein when the roll member 110 is formed the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 100 is wound with the printing enabled layer 100b inside. In this case, as shown in
Therefore, the objectives of 'the present invention are to provide a printer that can smoothly deflect a heat-sensitive adhesive sheet in a direction that matches a direction in which the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet is wound around a roll member, and can easily cut the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet to predetermined lengths, and a method for manufacturing an adhesive label.
To achieve these objectives, a printer according to the present invention comprises:
a printing device for printing a printing enabled layer of a heat-sensitive sheet obtained by forming the printing enabled layer on one face of a sheet base material and forming a heat-sensitive adhesive layer on the other face;
a cutting device, located downstream of the printing device, for cutting the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet to a predetermined length;
a thermal activation device, located downstream of the cutting device, for activating the heat-sensitive adhesive layer using heat; and
a guide portion, located between the cutting device and the thermal activation device, for deflecting the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet downward in a concave shape,
wherein a guide roof member is provided for the guide portion that is located above a sheet conveying path, extending from the delivery point of the cutting device to the insertion point for the thermal activation device,
wherein, when the leading edge of the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet, which has been delivered to the cutting device from the delivery point, abuts upon the guide roof member, the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet, while in contact with the guide roof member, is slid down and guided to the entrance of the thermal activation device.
According to this arrangement, since the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet can be cut before the sheet enters the thermal activation device, a defect, such as a jam caused by the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet sticking to the thermal activation device, can be prevented, no maintenance is required to remove the jam, and the efficiency for producing adhesive labels can be considerably improved. Furthermore, according to this arrangement, the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet is deflected downward, forming a concave shape, in order for the sheet to be cut to a predetermined length. Therefore, the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet can be easily and smoothly deflected in consequence with the direction in which the sheet is wound.
The printer further comprises:
a roll member storage unit for holding a roll member around which is wound the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet to be supplied to the printing device. According to this arrangement, in addition to the configuration of the conventional printer, a choice is provided for selecting the direction in which the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet is to be deflected, in consonance with the direction in which the roll member is wound.
The printing device includes: a heater, used for printing, for contacting and heating the printing enabled layer; and a first conveying unit for conveying the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet. The thermal activation device includes: a heater, used for thermal activation, for contacting and heating the heat-sensitive adhesive layer, and a second conveying unit for conveying the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet. By controlling the second conveying unit and the first conveying unit speeds, the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet can be deflected downward to form a concave shape at the guide portion. With this arrangement, the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet can be deflected very easily, and a length to be cut can be accurately designated.
An adhesive label manufacturing method according to the invention comprises:
a printing step of a printing device heating and printing a printing enabled layer of a heat-sensitive sheet provided by forming the printing enabled layer on one face of a sheet base material and forming a heat-sensitive adhesive layer on the other face;
a cutting step, following the printing step, of a cutting device cutting the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet to a predetermined length; and
a thermal activation step, following the cutting step, of a thermal activation device heating and, thermally activating the heat-sensitive adhesive layer;
a step, preceding the cutting step, of deflecting the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet downward, so as to form a concave shape between the cutting device and the thermal activation device, until a portion, extending from the leading edge of the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet, which is delivered to the cutting device from a delivery point, to a portion facing the cutting device reaches a desired length for an adhesive label,
whereby the step of deflecting the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet downward into a concave shape includes a step of
According to this method, since the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet can be deflected downward to form a concave shape and be cut to a predetermined length, smooth deflection of the sheet, in consonance with the direction in which the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet is wound, can be easily performed.
The step of deflecting the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet downward to form a concave shape is a step of deflecting the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet by controlling the speed of the first conveying unit, part of the printing device, for conveying the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet and the speed of the second conveying unit, part of the thermal activation device, for conveying the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet.
The heat-sensitive adhesive sheet may be unwound from a roll member around which the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet is wound, with the printing enabled layer inside, and be supplied to the printing device.
According to the present invention, when a heat-sensitive adhesive sheet that is wound in a different direction from the conventional is employed, the sheet can be easily and smoothly deflected. Therefore, a desired adhesive label can be easily produced by adjusting the length of the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet, and the manufacturing efficiency can be increased.
The preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described while referring to the accompanying drawings.
The foil member 11, formed by winding the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 into a roll, is stored in the roll member storage unit 2.
The printing device 3 includes: a thermal head 7 for printing (heating means for printing), which has a plurality of heat generation elements that are constituted by comparatively small resistor members arranged in the widthwise direction (direction perpendicular to the paper plane in
The cutter device 4 cuts, to a predetermined length, the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 printed by the printing device 3 and forms the sheet 1 into label forms. The cutter device 4 includes: a movable blade 4a propelled by a drive source (not shown), such as an electric motor, and a fixed blade 4b located opposite the movable blade 4a.
In the guide portion 6, a guide roof member 6a is arranged above the path along which the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 is conveyed from the cutter device 4 to the thermal activation device 5. As will be described later, the guide roof member 6a is not only used to smoothly introduce the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 to the thermal activation device 5, but also to hold the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 between the delivery point or exit for the cutter device 4 and the insertion point or entrance for the thermal activation device 5, while the sheet 1 is deflected downward and assumes a concave shape (see
The thermal activation device 5 includes: a thermal head 9, used for thermal activation, that has a plurality of heat generation elements (not shown); a platen roller 10, for thermal activation; a pair of insertion rollers 13; and a discharge roller 12. The thermal head 9 is positioned so that it contacts the heat-sensitive adhesive layer 1a of the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1, and the platen roller 10 is pressed against the thermal head 9. In this embodiment, the pair of insertion rollers 13 is specifically called a second conveying unit.
The thermal head 9 has the same structure as the thermal head 7 of the above described printing device 3, i.e., the same structure as the print head of a well known thermal printer, for which a glass ceramics protective film is deposited on the surfaces of multiple heat-generating resistor members mounted on a ceramic substrate. Since the same structure is employed for the thermal head 7 for printing and the thermal head 9 for thermal activation, the parts can be used in common and manufacturing costs can be reduced. Furthermore, since to generate heat multiple small heat generation elements (heat-generating resistor members) are used to constitute the thermal head, an advantage of this structure is that a uniform temperature can be easily distributed across a wide range, compared with a structure wherein a single (or an extremely few) large heat generation element is employed to generate heat. It should be noted 'that unlike the heat generation elements of the thermal head 7, the heat generation elements of the thermal head 9 need not be divided into dot units, and sequential resistor elements may be employed.
The insertion point for the thermal activation device 1, i.e., the nip portion for the paired insertion rollers 13, is lower than the delivery point for the cutter device 4, i.e., the space between the movable blade 4a and the fixed blade 4b. Thus, a flat plate is used to form the guide roof member 6a, which is positioned above the path along which the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 is conveyed and inclines obliquely downward from the delivery point for the cutter device 4 to the insertion point for the thermal activation device 5.
As the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 used for this embodiment, as shown in
The platen roller 8 used for printing, the paired insertion rollers 13, the platen roller 10 used for thermal activation and the discharge roller 12 constitute a conveying mechanism for conveying the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 through the printer.
Furthermore, although not shown, the printer also includes a controller for driving the conveying mechanism, the thermal head 7 for printing and the thermal head 9 for thermal activation, for example, and for controlling the operations of these sections.
While referring to the flowchart in
First, the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 is pulled forward, unwinding it from the roll member 11 in the roll member storage unit 2, and is inserted between the thermal head 7 and the platen roller 8 of the printing device 3. A print signal is supplied by the controller to the thermal head 7, the heat generation elements of the thermal head 7 are selectively driven at an appropriate timing to generate heat, and printing is performed on the printing enabled layer 1d of the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1. Synchronized with the driving of the 'thermal head 7, the platen roller 8 is rotated to convey the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the heat generation elements of the thermal head 7 are arranged, e.g., the direction perpendicular to the array of heat generation elements. Specifically, alternately performed are the printing of one line by the thermal head 7 and the conveying of the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 a predetermined distance (the equivalent of one line) by the platen roller 8 are so that desired characters, numbers, symbols or images are printed on the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 (step S1).
The thus printed heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 is passed between the-movable blade 4a and the fixed blade 4b of the cutter device 4, and reaches the guide roof member 6a. At the guide roof member 6a, the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 is appropriately deflected, so that the length between the leading edge of the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 to the portion positioned between the movable blade 4a and the fixed blade 4b of the cutter device 4 is designated,(step S2). The step of deflecting the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 will be described in detail while referring to
First, the leading edge of the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1, which has been forwarded by the platen roller 8, is passed between the movable blade 4a and the fixed blade 4b of the cutter device 4, and as shown in
Thereafter, the speeds and the operating periods of the platen roller 8 and the insertion rollers 13 are monitored by using a sensor (not shown). When the length from the leading edge of the deflected heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 to the portion located between the movable blade 4a and the fixed blade 4b of the cutter device 4 corresponds to the length of an adhesive label to be produced, the platen roller 8 is temporarily halted and the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 is cut by driving the movable blade 4a.(step S3). In this manner, a label having a predetermined length can be formed from the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1.
Following this, the insertion rollers 13 and the platen roller 10 for thermal activation are rotated, and feed to the thermal activation device 5, the label, on which required printing has been performed in the above described manner, having the predetermined length that has been formed from the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1. In the thermal activation device 5, in the state wherein the label of the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 is sandwiched between the thermal head 9 and the platen roller 10, the controller drives the thermal head 9 so as to thermally activate the heat-sensitive adhesive layer la that contacts the thermal head 9. At the same time, the platen roller 10 is rotated to feed the label of the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1, and while the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 is pressed against the thermal head 9 by the platen roller 10, the thermal head 9 is activated to generate heat, so as to thermally activate the portion of the heat-sensitive adhesive layer la that contacts the thermal head 9 (step S4). At the same time, as the platen roller 10 is rotated, the label formed from the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 is conveyed, while along its entire surface the heat-sensitive adhesive layer la is brought into contact with the thermal head 9. Therefore, adhesion is manifested along the entire heat-sensitive adhesive layer la on one side of the label formed from the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1.
As a result, the processing is completed for the production, from the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1, of an adhesive label having a predetermined length, along one side of which desired printing has been performed and along the other side of which adhesion has been manifested, and the adhesive label is discharged, outside the printer, by the discharge roller 12 (step S5).
When the pair of insertion rollers 13 are to be halted at the time whereat the leading edge of the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 has been guided to the nip portion of the insertion rollers 13, the insertion rollers 13 must be halted before the leading edge of the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 contacts the thermal head 9, e.g., immediately after the leading edge is gripped and held at the nip portion. This is because the contact portion of the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 will be heated excessively if contacting the thermal head 9 when the platen roller 10 and/or the insertion rollers 13 are halted.
Further, when the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 is to be deflected by slowly rotating the insertion rollers 13, for the same reasons as described above, the insertion rollers 13 and the platen roller 10 must be continuously rotated without stopping, at least after the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 contacts the thermal head 9. Since the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 is deflected at the guide portion 6, during the cutting process performed by the cutter device 4, the thermal head 9 and the platen roller 10 can be continuously operated, and the thermal activation process can be performed in parallel.
As described above, according to this embodiment, at the guide portion 6 between the cutter device 4 and the thermal activation device 5, the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 is deflected downward and assumes a concave shape, so that the length of the heat-sensitive adhesive sheet 1 can be adjusted and an adhesive label having a desired length can be easily produced. Further, even when, as in the configuration in
According to the conventional configuration disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-316265, as shown in
On the other hand, according to this invention, as shown in
In order to obtain the smooth deflection shown in
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004-363124 | Dec 2004 | JP | national |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7104713 | Hoshino et al. | Sep 2006 | B2 |
| 7173642 | Nureki | Feb 2007 | B2 |
| 7213993 | Takahashi et al. | May 2007 | B2 |
| 7275880 | Obuchi et al. | Oct 2007 | B2 |
| 20030189631 | Hoshino et al. | Oct 2003 | A1 |
| 20040218961 | Hoshino et al. | Nov 2004 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20060130977 A1 | Jun 2006 | US |
