JP2010221435A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer enabling a user to obtain an appropriate printed result without being conscious of pitches of black marks put on printing media set to a plurality of medium supply parts. <P>SOLUTION: In the printer which controls cutting timing of the printing medium on the basis of detection timing of the black mark by a sensor, the pitches L1 and L2 of the black marks put on the printing media set to the medium supply parts for supplying the printing medium to a printing part before and after switching the medium supply part are specified. The printer adopts a control means to continue printing processing when the specified pitches L1 and L2 coincide with each other (L1=L2), and stop the printing processing when they are different from each other (L1≠L2), whereby the printed results different in length are not stored in a stacker. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printer having a function of selectively switching a medium supply unit that supplies a print medium to a printing unit.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, printers that include a plurality of medium supply units such as feeders and roll paper that store continuous print media and that can selectively switch the medium supply unit used for printing are known. (For example, see Patent Document 1)
A printer having a plurality of medium supply units as described above has a function of continuing printing by receiving supply of a print medium from the other medium supply unit when one of the medium supply units runs out of paper. Is also present.

In addition, in order to perform printing at an accurate position on a print medium having a predetermined form such as a label, the print position and the print medium are cut by detecting a black mark, which is a timing mark attached to the print medium, with a sensor. A printer having a function of adjusting the position or the like is known. (For example, see Patent Document 2)
A print medium used in such a printer is preliminarily marked with a black mark at a predetermined pitch at a predetermined position in the transport direction. Such a black mark is printed in advance at the time of manufacture according to the use of the print medium.

  As described above, in a printer that includes a plurality of medium supply units and adjusts the printing position using black marks, print media having different black mark pitches may be set in the medium supply units.

  In such a case, even if the paper runs out during the printing process involving the output of a large number of sheets and the medium supply unit is switched, the black mark pitch is different and the same length of printing result is obtained. I can't. As a result, in printers with a mechanism that stacks and stacks multiple print media that have been printed, stacking cannot be performed due to different print media lengths, and print media jams may occur. Occurs. For this reason, the user has to set the print medium in consideration of the pitch of the black marks, and management related to replenishment of the print medium is troublesome.

  The present invention has been made based on the above circumstances, and its purpose is to obtain an appropriate print result without being conscious of the pitch of black marks attached to a print medium set in a plurality of medium supply units. It is to provide a printer that can be obtained.

  The present invention includes a printing unit that performs printing on a printing medium, a cutter mechanism that cuts the printing medium that has been printed, and a sensor that detects marks attached to the printing medium at a predetermined pitch. In the printer that controls the cutting timing of the print medium by the cutter mechanism based on the timing when the mark is detected, a plurality of medium supply sections that supply the print medium to the print section, and the print medium that supplies the print section to the print section A switching unit for switching the medium supply unit, a mark pitch L1 attached to the print medium set in the medium supply unit before switching by the switching unit, and a print medium set in the medium supply unit after switching. The pitch specifying means for specifying the pitch L2 of the marked mark matches the pitch L1 and the pitch L2 specified by the pitch specifying means. If you continue printing process for (L1 = L2), it is characterized by comprising a control unit that stops the printing process is different when (L1 ≠ L2).

  According to the present invention in which such measures are taken, it is possible to provide a printer capable of obtaining an appropriate printing result without being conscious of the pitch of the black marks attached to the printing medium set in the plurality of medium supply units. it can.

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of a thermal printer according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The schematic diagram for demonstrating the printing medium in the embodiment. The block diagram which shows the control circuit of the thermal printer in the embodiment. 6 is a flowchart of processing executed by a CPU in the loading processing of the embodiment. 6 is a flowchart of processing executed by a CPU in printing processing according to the embodiment. The flowchart of the process which CPU performs in the loading process of the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. 6 is a flowchart of processing executed by a CPU in printing processing according to the embodiment.

  Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, the present invention is applied to a thermal printer that performs printing on a print medium including a heat-sensitive layer.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a thermal printer according to the present invention. The thermal printer includes feeders 1a and 1b that are medium supply units, conveyance rollers 2a and 2b that are conveyance units, a mark sensor 3, a thermal head 4 that is a printing unit, a platen roller 5, a cutter mechanism 6, and a discharge unit that is a discharge unit. Transport rollers 7 and 8 and a stacker 9 are provided.

  As shown in FIG. 2, each of the feeders 1a and 1b is set with a print medium on which black marks are printed at a constant pitch L on one surface and a heat-sensitive layer is formed on the other surface. In the present embodiment, the pitch of black marks attached to the print medium 10a set in the feeder 1a is La, and the pitch of black marks attached to the print medium 10b set in the feeder 1b is Lb. The print media 10a and 10b have their leading ends positioned at the print standby position P set on the transport path on the thermal head side with respect to the transport rollers 2a and 2b in the loading process described later with reference to FIG. Wait for printing. FIG. 1 shows a state in which the print medium 10a waits for printing and the print medium 10b is used for printing.

  The transport rollers 2a and 2b are each composed of a drive roller and a driven roller that can rotate in the forward and reverse directions, and a printing medium 10a that is supplied from the feeders 1a and 1b via the rollers 11a and 11b to the opposing position of the drive roller and the driven roller. , 10b are conveyed in the front-rear direction.

  The mark sensor 3 is installed upstream of the thermal head 4 in the transport direction of the print media 10a and 10b, and optically detects black marks printed on the print media 10a and 10b transported to the detection position. Therefore, the installation position of the mark sensor 3 in the direction substantially perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the print media 10a and 10b is positioned so as to substantially coincide with the black mark printing position.

  The thermal head 4 includes a plurality of heating elements arranged in a direction substantially perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the print media 10a and 10b. The platen roller 5 is disposed so as to face the outer peripheral surface of the platen roller 5 so as to contact the vicinity of the position where the heat generating element of the thermal head 4 is disposed. Each heating element generates heat according to the applied energy, and colors the heat-sensitive layers of the print media 10a and 10b conveyed to the facing position (printing output position) between the thermal head 4 and the platen roller 5. Thus, patterns such as characters and figures are printed on the print media 10a and 10b.

The cutter mechanism 6 separates the printed portion from the print media 10a and 10b. The separated print medium is stored in the stacker 9.
The discharge transport rollers 7 and 8 are each composed of a drive roller and a driven roller that can rotate in the forward and reverse directions, and the print medium in the stacker 9 is transferred to the thermal printer when a predetermined number of print media are stored in the stacker 9. To the outside.

  A control structure of the thermal printer will be described. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a control circuit of the thermal printer. For a central processing unit (CPU) 20 that plays a central role in control, a read only memory (ROM) 21, a random access memory (RAM) 22, the mark sensor 3, a communication interface (I / F) 23, a display controller 24, an input controller 25, a print controller 26, a discharge transport motor controller 27, and the like are connected via a bus line 30 such as an address bus or a data bus.

  The ROM 21 stores fixed data such as a control program. The RAM 22 forms various working storage areas according to the processing scene. The communication interface 23 controls communication with the host device 40 that transmits a print command and print data to the thermal printer. The display controller 24 controls display output to the display device 31 such as a display or an LED. The input controller 25 processes a signal input from the input device 32 such as an operation button or a keyboard and notifies the CPU 20 of the signal. The print controller 26 controls the operations of the transport motor 31a that drives the transport roller 2a and the transport motor 31b that drives the transport roller 2b to transport the print media 10a and 10b, and supplies the print head 10 to the thermal head 4 based on the print data. The applied energy is controlled, and the cutter mechanism 6 is controlled to separate the printed portion from the print media 10a and 10b. The discharge transport motor controller 27 controls the operation of the discharge transport motor 28 that drives the discharge transport rollers 7 and 8.

Next, the loading process will be described.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart of processing executed by the CPU 20 in loading processing for both the print media 10a and 10b set in the feeders 1a and 1b. This process is executed based on an operation program stored in the ROM 21 due to the instruction for loading by operating the input device 32. The loading process constitutes a pitch specifying unit in the present embodiment.

  First, the CPU 20 controls the transport motor 31a to transport the print medium 10a stored in the feeder 1a toward the print output position (ST101). At this time, the pitch La of the black mark is measured based on the detection result of the black mark attached to the print medium 10a by the mark sensor 3 (ST102). Specifically, the transport distance from when the mark sensor 3 detects the first black mark to when the second black mark is detected is calculated from the feed amount of the transport motor 31a and is defined as the pitch La. The pitch La thus measured is stored in the RAM 22. After the measurement of the pitch La is completed, the transport motor 33a is controlled to transport the print medium 10a, and its leading end is positioned at the print standby position P.

  Next, the transport motor 31b is controlled to transport the print medium 10b stored in the feeder 1b toward the print output position (ST103). At this time, the pitch Lb of the black mark attached to the print medium 10b is measured based on the output of the mark sensor 3 (ST104). Specifically, the transport distance from when the mark sensor 3 detects the first black mark to when the second black mark is detected is calculated from the feed amount of the transport roller 2b and is defined as the pitch Lb. The pitch Lb measured in this way is stored in the RAM 22. After the measurement of the pitch Lb is completed, the transport motor 33b is controlled to transport the print medium 10b, and the leading end thereof is positioned at the print standby position P.

  After measuring the pitches La and Lb of the black marks attached to the print media 10a and 10b in this way, the CPU 20 determines whether or not the pitches La and Lb are equal (ST105). If the pitches La and Lb are equal (Yes in ST105), the value of the flag F formed in the RAM 22 is set to “0” (ST106). On the other hand, when the pitches La and Lb are not equal (No in ST105), the flag F is set to “1”. Thus, after the flag F is set to “0” or “1”, the loading process is terminated.

In the processes of ST101 to ST104, the case where both the print media 10a and 10b are loaded in one process has been described. However, if one of the print media 10a and 10b is already loaded in the print standby position P, Only the other side needs to be loaded. Even in this case, the pitch of the black mark attached to the already loaded print medium is held in the RAM 22, and the pitch of the black mark attached to the newly loaded print medium is also stored in the RAM 22 by this processing. As a result, both the pitches La and Lb are stored in the RAM 22.
The flag F is held in the RAM 22 even after the loading process is completed.

  Next, the printing process of the thermal printer will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of processing executed by the CPU 20 in the printing processing. This process is executed based on the operation program stored in the ROM 21 due to the reception of the print command and the print data from the host device 40 via the communication interface 23. The print command transmitted from the host device 40 includes feeder designation information for designating which one of the feeder 1a and the feeder 1b is used for printing and printed number designation information for designating the number of printed sheets.

  First, the CPU 20 selects which of the feeders 1a and 1b is used for printing based on the feeder designation information included in the print command (ST201). After the selection, the print controller 26 is instructed to print one sheet (ST202).

  When the feeder 1a is selected, the print controller 26 drives the transport motor 31a to transport the print medium 10a toward the print output position. When the feeder 1b is selected, the print controller 26 drives the transport motor 31b. Then, the print medium 10b is conveyed toward the print output position. When the mark sensor 3 detects the black mark of the print medium conveyed at this time, the print controller 26 outputs a pulse corresponding to the feed amount from the detection position of the mark sensor 3 to the cutting position by the cutter mechanism 6 or the conveyance motor 31a. Output to the motor 31b. Based on this pulse, the conveyance motors 31 a and 31 b rotate by a predetermined amount, so that the planned cutting portion of the print medium is sent to the cutting position of the cutter mechanism 6. Then, the conveyance motors 31a and 31b are stopped and the cutter mechanism 6 is operated to cut the print medium. After the cutting, the discharge transport motor controller 27 drives the discharge transport motor 28 to send the cut print medium to the stacker 9.

When printing for one sheet is completed, the CPU 20 determines whether printing for the number of sheets designated by the number-of-prints designation information included in the print command is completed (ST203).
When it is determined that printing for the designated number of pages has been completed (Yes in ST203), the discharge transport motor 28 is driven and the discharge transport rollers 7 and 8 are rotated so that the print medium stored in the stacker 9 is thermal. The process is terminated after the sheet is discharged out of the printer casing.

  When it is determined that printing for the designated number of sheets has not been completed (No in ST203), it is determined whether or not a sheet has run out in the currently used feeder (ST204). For example, it is determined that a sheet has run out when a black mark cannot be detected by the mark sensor 3 even though the print medium is transported by a considerable distance by the transport motors 31a and 31b. In addition, a sensor for detecting the presence or absence of a print medium may be provided in the conveyance path so as to detect the out of paper. Alternatively, a mark on which a paper near end is printed on the print medium is used. It is also possible to detect that the paper has run out by reading through.

When it is determined that no paper has been cut (No in ST204), printing is continued.
On the other hand, when it is determined that the paper has run out (Yes in ST204), the feeder used for printing is the feeder 1b when the feeder 1a is currently used, and the feeder when the feeder 1b is used. Switch to 1a (ST205). Note that the processing of ST205 constitutes a switching unit in the present embodiment.

  Next, CPU 20 determines whether or not “0” is set in flag F (ST206). When “0” is set in the flag F (Yes in ST206), the printing medium is supplied from the feeder after switching and printing is continued (ST202 to ST204). When the flag F is set to “0”, the pitches La and Lb match, so that the lengths of the print results before and after the feeder switching are the same. Therefore, print results having different lengths are not stored in the stacker 9.

  On the other hand, when “1” is set in the flag F (No in ST206), the black mark pitch does not match between the print media before and after the switching, and warning information to that effect is displayed on the display device 31 ( ST207). Thereafter, the discharge transport motor 28 is driven, the discharge transport rollers 7 and 8 are rotated, the print results stored in the stacker 9 are discharged out of the casing of the thermal printer, and the process ends.

  As described above, the thermal printer according to the present embodiment stops the printing process being executed when the pitches La and Lb of the black marks attached to the print media 10a and 10b do not match before and after the switching of the feeders 1a and 1b. Since the warning is displayed, the printing results having different lengths are not stored in the stacker 9 even in the printing process involving the switching of the feeders 1a and 1b. Therefore, even if the user forgets to check whether the pitches of the black marks attached to the print media set in the feeders 1a and 1b are the same, it is possible to prevent an inappropriate print result from being output.

  Further, since the printing results having different lengths are not stored in the stacker 9, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of jamming.

  Further, since the pitch of the black marks attached to the printing media set in the feeders 1a and 1b is measured in advance by the loading process, the printing process proceeds smoothly even when the feeder is switched. .

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
In the present embodiment, when the feeder that supplies the print medium is switched during the printing process, the printing can be stopped even if the pitches of the black marks attached to the print media supplied from the feeder before and after the switching are different. However, it is different from the first embodiment in that the processing is continued. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the same location and description is abbreviate | omitted.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart of processing executed by the CPU 20 in the loading processing according to this embodiment. This process is executed based on an operation program stored in the ROM 21 due to the instruction for loading by operating the input device 32. The loading process constitutes a pitch specifying unit in the present embodiment.

  First, the CPU 20 initializes variables M and N formed in the RAM 22 to “0” (ST301). Next, the transport motor 31a is controlled to transport the print medium 10a stored in the feeder 1a toward the print output position (ST302). At this time, the pitch La of the black mark is measured based on the detection result of the black mark attached to the print medium 10a by the mark sensor 3 (ST303). Specifically, the transport distance from when the mark sensor 3 detects the first black mark to when the second black mark is detected is calculated from the feed amount of the transport motor 31a and is defined as the pitch La. The pitch La thus measured is stored in the RAM 22. After the measurement of the pitch La is completed, the transport motor 33a is controlled to transport the print medium 10a, and its leading end is positioned at the print standby position P.

  Next, the transport motor 31b is controlled to transport the print medium 10b stored in the feeder 1b toward the print output position (ST304). At that time, the pitch Lb of the black mark attached to the print medium 10b is measured based on the output of the mark sensor 3 (ST305). Specifically, the transport distance from when the mark sensor 3 detects the first black mark to when the second black mark is detected is calculated from the feed amount of the transport roller 2b as the pitch Lb. The pitch Lb measured in this way is stored in the RAM 22. After the measurement of the pitch Lb is completed, the transport motor 31b is controlled to transport the print medium 10b, and the leading end thereof is positioned at the print standby position P.

  After measuring the pitches La and Lb of the black marks attached to the print media 10a and 10b in this way, the CPU 20 compares the pitches La and Lb to determine whether the pitch La is a positive integer multiple of the pitch Lb. That is, it is determined whether or not the relationship of “La = nLb” (n ≧ 0: integer) is established (ST306). If this relationship is established (Yes in ST306), the value of the variable N is updated to a positive integer n (ST307).

  Next, the CPU 20 compares the pitches La and Lb to determine whether or not the pitch Lb is a positive integer multiple of the pitch La, that is, whether or not the relationship of “Lb = mLa” (m ≧ 0: integer) is established. Is determined (ST308). If this relationship holds (Yes in ST308), the value of the variable M is updated to a positive integer m (ST309).

  After updating the value of the variable M or when it is determined that the relationship of “Lb = mLa” is not established (No in ST308), the loading process is terminated.

In the processes of ST302 to ST305, the case where both the print media 10a and 10b are loaded in one process has been described. However, if one of the print media 10a and 10b is already loaded at the print standby position P, Only the other side needs to be loaded. Even in this case, the pitch of the black mark attached to the already loaded print medium is held in the RAM 22, and the pitch of the black mark attached to the newly loaded print medium is also stored in the RAM 22 by this processing. As a result, both the pitches La and Lb are stored in the RAM 22.
Note that the variables M and N are held in the RAM 22 even after the loading process is completed.

  The thermal printer according to the present embodiment controls the cutting timing of the print medium by the mark control method for controlling the cutting timing of the printing medium based on the detection timing of the black mark, and the printing medium conveyance distance by the conveyance motors 31a and 31b. The logical length control method can be used.

In the mark control method described above, as described in the first embodiment, the print controller 26 moves from the detection position of the mark sensor 3 to the cutting position of the cutter mechanism 6 in response to the detection of the black mark by the mark sensor 3. A pulse corresponding to the transport distance is output to the transport motor 31a or the transport motor 31b, and the transport motor 31a or the transport motor 31b rotates by a predetermined amount based on the input pulse, so that the planned cutting portion of the print medium is a cutter mechanism. 6 is sent to the cutting position. At this time, the rotation of the transport motor 31a or the transport motor 31b is stopped, and the cutter mechanism 6 is operated to cut the print medium.
Furthermore, in the mark control method in the present embodiment, it can be set not to perform control relating to cutting of the print medium until the mark sensor 3 detects an arbitrary number of black marks.

  In the logical length control method, the cutting distance of the printing medium is set in advance, and when the conveying distance of the printing medium with respect to the rotation amount of the conveying motor 31a or the conveying motor 31b reaches the cutting distance, the conveying motor 31a or the conveying motor 31b The rotation is stopped and the cutter mechanism 6 is operated to cut the print medium.

  The setting that does not control the cutting of the print medium until an arbitrary number of black marks is detected in the mark control method, and the logical length control method constitutes a second cutting timing control means.

  Next, print processing performed using the mark control method and the logical length control method will be described. FIG. 7 is a flowchart of processing executed by the CPU 20 in the printing processing. This process is executed based on the operation program stored in the ROM 21 due to the reception of the print command and the print data from the host device 40 via the communication interface 23. The print command transmitted from the host device 40 includes feeder designation information for designating which one of the feeder 1a and the feeder 1b is used for printing and printed number designation information for designating the number of printed sheets.

  First, the CPU 20 selects which of the feeders 1a and 1b is used for printing based on the feeder designation information included in the print command (ST401). After the selection, the print controller 26 is instructed to print one sheet (ST402).

  When the feeder 1a is selected, the print controller 26 drives the transport motor 31a to transport the print medium 10a toward the print output position. When the feeder 1b is selected, the print controller 26 drives the transport motor 31b. Then, the print medium 10b is conveyed toward the print output position. When the mark sensor 3 detects the black mark of the print medium conveyed at this time, the print controller 26 outputs a pulse corresponding to the feed amount from the detection position of the mark sensor 3 to the cutting position by the cutter mechanism 6 or the conveyance motor 31a. Output to the motor 31b.

  As described above, when the transport motors 31a and 31b rotate by a predetermined amount based on this pulse, the planned cutting portion of the print medium is sent to the cutting position of the cutter mechanism 6, and the cutter mechanism 6 is operated to cut the print medium. To do. The cut print medium is sent to the stacker 9 by the discharge transport roller 7 driven by the discharge transport motor 28.

  When the print job for one sheet is completed, the CPU 20 determines whether printing for the number of sheets designated by the number-of-prints designation information included in the print command is completed (ST403).

  When it is determined that printing for the designated number of sheets has been completed (Yes in ST403), the discharge transport motor 28 is driven, and the discharge transport rollers 7 and 8 are rotated so that the print medium stored in the stacker 9 is thermal. The process is terminated after the sheet is discharged out of the printer casing.

When it is determined that printing for the designated number of pages has not been completed (No in ST403), it is determined whether or not a sheet has run out in the currently used feeder (ST404).
When it is determined that no sheet has run out (No in ST404), printing is continued.
On the other hand, when it is determined that the paper has run out (Yes in ST404), the feeder used for printing is the feeder 1b when the feeder 1a is currently used, and the feeder when the feeder 1b is used. Switch to 1a (ST405). In addition, the process of ST405 comprises the switching means in this embodiment.

After switching the feeder, the feeders before and after the switching are specified (ST406). When switching from feeder 1a to feeder 1b (“feeder 1a → feeder 1b” in ST406), it is determined whether or not the value of variable N is “0” with reference to RAM 22 (ST407). When the variable N is “0” (Yes in ST407), the control method for the cutting timing of the print medium in the printing process after the feeder switching is set to the logical length control method (ST408).
In the printing process after setting to the logical length control method, the black mark detected by the mark sensor 3 is ignored, and the cutting timing of the printing medium 10b is controlled based on the rotation amount of the carry motor 31b.

On the other hand, when the variable N is not “0” (No in ST407), the mark control method is maintained. However, the start timing of the cutting control of the print medium 10b is set to the timing at which the mark sensor 3 detects the Nth black mark (ST409). That is, the cutting timing of the printing medium 10b by the cutter mechanism 6 is controlled based on the timing at which a black mark attached to a position straddling approximately N pitches from the front end in the transport direction of the printing medium 10b is detected.
For example, if the value of the variable N is “2”, even if the first black mark is detected by the mark sensor 3, the operation relating to the cutting of the print medium 10b is not performed, and the second black mark is detected. The printing controller 26 outputs a pulse corresponding to the feed amount up to the cutting position to the carry motor 31b. The print medium 10b thus cut has the same length before and after the feeder switching.

On the other hand, when switching from feeder 1b to feeder 1a ("feeder 1b → feeder 1a" in ST406), it is determined whether or not the value of variable M is "0" with reference to RAM 22 (ST410).
When the variable M is “0” (Yes in ST410), the control method for the cutting timing of the print medium 10a is set to the logical length control method in the printing process after the feeder switching (ST408).

  On the other hand, when the variable M is not “0” (No in ST410), the mark control method is maintained. However, the start timing of the cutting control of the print medium 10a is set to the timing when the mark sensor 3 detects the Mth black mark (ST411). That is, the cutting timing of the printing medium 10a by the cutter mechanism 6 is controlled based on the timing at which the black mark attached to the position straddling approximately M pitches from the front end in the transport direction of the printing medium 10a is detected.

  For example, if the value of the variable M is “2”, even if the first black mark is detected by the mark sensor 3, the operation relating to the cutting of the print medium is not performed, and the second black mark is detected. At this time, the print controller 26 outputs a pulse corresponding to the feed amount up to the cutting position to the transport motor 31a. The cut print medium 10a thus cut has the same length before and after the feeder switching.

  As described above, the printing process is continued even after the cutting timing of the print medium is set to the logical length control method or the mark control method (ST402), and when the number of prints designated by the print command is completed (ST403). Yes), the discharge transport motor 28 is driven, the discharge transport rollers 7 and 8 are rotated, the print medium stored in the stacker 9 is discharged out of the casing of the thermal printer, and the process is terminated.

  As described above, in the thermal printer according to the present embodiment, the black mark pitch attached to the print medium set in the feeder after switching is the black mark attached to the print medium set in the feeder before switching. The cutting timing of the printing medium by the cutter mechanism 6 is controlled based on the timing when the black mark attached to the position across the pitch of the whole number from the leading edge in the conveyance direction of the printing medium is detected. To do. Therefore, even when the pitches of the black marks applied to the print media before and after the switching are different, the same length of the print medium is output before and after the switching by controlling the cutting timing using the black marks under the conditions. Can do.

  Even when the above conditions are not satisfied, the cutting timing of the printing medium after switching the feeder can be controlled based on the conveyance distance of the printing medium. Therefore, it is possible to reliably complete the printing process while outputting a print medium having the same length before and after switching.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment as it is, In an implementation stage, in the range which does not deviate from the summary, each component can be deform | transformed and embodied suitably.

  For example, in each of the above embodiments, the case where the present invention is applied to a thermal printer has been described. However, the present invention can of course be applied to other printers such as an ink jet printer and a laser printer.

  Moreover, although the case where the feeders 1a and 1b are provided as medium supply units has been described, the present invention may be applied to a printer including a larger number of medium supply units. Even in this case, by measuring the pitch of the black marks attached to the print medium supplied before and after switching of the medium supply unit, the same effects as those of the above embodiments can be obtained.

  In addition, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of constituent elements disclosed in the embodiment. For example, some components may be deleted from the overall components shown in the embodiment.

  L: Pitch, P: Print standby position, 1a, 1b ... Feeder, 2a, 2b ... Conveyance roller, 3 ... Mark sensor, 4 ... Thermal head, 5 ... Platen roller, 6 ... Cutter mechanism, 7, 8 ... Conveyance for discharge Roller, 9 ... Stacker, 10 ... Print medium, 20 ... CPU

JP-A-9-277632 JP 2004-276396 A

Claims (5)

A printing unit that performs printing on a print medium, a cutter mechanism that cuts the print medium that has been printed, and a sensor that detects marks attached to the print medium at a predetermined pitch, and the detection timing of the mark by the sensor In the printer for controlling the cutting timing of the print medium by the cutter mechanism based on
A plurality of medium supply units for supplying a print medium to the printing unit;
Switching means for switching the medium supply unit for supplying a print medium to the printing unit;
The mark pitch L1 attached to the print medium set in the medium supply unit before switching by the switching means and the mark pitch L2 attached to the print medium set in the medium supply unit after switching are specified. Pitch identification means;
Control means for continuing the printing process when the pitch L1 and the pitch L2 specified by the pitch specifying means match (L1 = L2), and for stopping the printing process when they are different (L1 ≠ L2);
A printer characterized by comprising: Based on a printing unit that performs printing on a printing medium, a cutter mechanism that cuts the printed medium that has been printed, a sensor that detects marks attached to the printing medium at a predetermined pitch, and a detection timing of the mark by the sensor A printer comprising a first cutting timing control means for controlling the cutting timing of the print medium by the cutter mechanism;
A plurality of medium supply units for supplying a print medium to the printing unit;
Switching means for switching the medium supply unit for supplying a print medium to the printing unit;
The mark pitch L1 attached to the print medium set in the medium supply unit before switching by the switching means and the mark pitch L2 attached to the print medium set in the medium supply unit after switching are specified. Pitch identification means;
When the pitch L1 specified by the pitch specifying means coincides with a value obtained by multiplying the pitch L2 by a positive integer M (L1 = ML2), detection of a mark attached at a position straddling approximately M pitches from the front end in the transport direction of the print medium Second cutting timing control means for controlling the cutting timing of the printing medium by the cutter mechanism based on the timing;
A printer characterized by comprising: Based on a printing unit that performs printing on a print medium, a cutter mechanism that cuts the print medium that has been printed, a sensor that detects marks attached to the print medium at a predetermined pitch, and a detection timing of the mark by the sensor And a first cutting timing control means for controlling the cutting timing of the print medium by the cutter mechanism.
A plurality of medium supply units for supplying a print medium to the printing unit;
Switching means for switching the medium supply unit for supplying a print medium to the printing unit;
The mark pitch L1 attached to the print medium set in the medium supply unit before switching by the switching means and the mark pitch L2 attached to the print medium set in the medium supply unit after switching are specified. Pitch identification means;
When the pitch L1 and the pitch L2 specified by the pitch specifying means are different (L1 ≠ L2), the cutting position of the printing medium is positioned at the position of the pitch L1 from the leading end in the conveying direction based on the conveying distance of the printing medium. Second cutting timing control means for controlling the cutting timing by the cutter mechanism,
A printer characterized by comprising: A stacker for storing a print medium cut by the cutter mechanism;
Discharging means for simultaneously discharging print media stored in the stacker in response to the completion of a series of printing processes;
The printer according to claim 1, further comprising:   The pitch specifying means performs printing from when a mark is detected by the sensor until the next mark is detected when loading the print medium set in the medium supply unit to a print standby position set on a conveyance path. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the pitch is specified by calculating a conveyance distance of the medium.

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