JP2001341339A - Printing method - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] An IC chip is destroyed when a label with a non-contact data carrier is printed by a thermal head. It is known that the cause is due to the applied voltage supplied from the thermal head for printing. However, at present, at the time of printing, a voltage is applied to the thermal head at the portion where the IC chip is buried in the same manner as at the other portions, and printing is performed. When printing is performed by applying a pulse to a heating element of a thermal head on a label-shaped printing medium in which a printing substrate, an adhesive, a non-contact data carrier, an adhesive, and a release paper are laminated in this order. The IC of the contactless data carrier
A printing method is provided, in which an applied pulse supplied to a thermal head is temporarily stopped in a chip area.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a method for printing on a label-like thermal transfer paper or a thermosensitive coloring paper which has a non-contact data carrier (transponder) embedded therein for use in sorting and confirming the location of the package, which is affixed to a package for home delivery. About.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A transportation route for packages such as home delivery is determined when leaving a distribution center. A slip or label on which a machine-readable code such as a bar code is printed is attached to the package. The closest delivery route from the delivery center to the delivery destination is determined by the address of the delivery destination described in the delivery slip, and the route number is described in the delivery slip. The luggage with the delivery slip attached is placed on the sorting belt of the distribution center and flows, and there is a corner where the route number is entered on the way, the route number is manually entered at the terminal of that corner, and it is printed on the slip and label. The printed barcode is read by infrared light or visible light and registered in the terminal. The luggage coded in this way is registered in the center computer. The registered data includes a printed barcode number, a manually entered route number, shipping date, shipping time, scheduled delivery date, delivery time, and the like. Many delivery slips that are actually affixed to packages are in the form of bags, with one or two copy slips on the bag. The sender enters the address of the destination, the name of the recipient, the address of the sender, and the name of the sender using a pressurized writing instrument such as a ballpoint pen from above the copy slip, and the sender's copy is stored and used for inquiry. The remaining one copy of the slip is kept as a copy at the store where it was received, for example, a convenience store, a US store, a supermarket, or the like. When the packages are collected at the distribution center, the slip attached to the packages is in the form of a bag, and the front portion of the bag is visible. The front part of this bag is often made of water-resistant paper so that it will not break if water is attached, such as rain. One or two slips are included in the bag, and are used as a copy for business offices or as a copy for judgement. Although the barcode numbers printed on the delivery slips are all the same for one slip, the barcode numbers change if the slips change.

[0003] In addition to the copy form delivery slip, there is a label form delivery slip. This is a resource-saving type in which a plurality of slips of the copy format are arranged in a plane on a single piece of release paper, and a copy in the case of a bag-shaped slip is omitted as much as possible. There are two types of label-type vouchers: those that are supplied by printing companies in large quantities and are used by an unspecified number of people, and those that are issued by stores and manufacturers using their own special printing devices.
There are different styles. The former is placed in the above-mentioned convenience store, U.S. retail store, supermarket, etc., where the sender fills in his / her own address designation, the address of the recipient, or prints it with a printing device, affixes it to the baggage, and puts it in the above-mentioned depository. This is the type of slip used to bring in. The latter is a slip which is used when the sender knows the address and name of the customer (recipient), outputs it by a printing device and affixes it to a package, and requests a transport company or delivers it by himself. Targets for using the latter are specialty stores, mail-order member stores, manufacturers, and the like. In many cases, the sender's address is fixed. In many cases, the printing apparatus is provided as a printing apparatus for machine-readable codes such as bar codes, and has a function of managing a customer database and laying out a slip on a machine.

[0004] The printing apparatus uses a one-dimensional code (Code).
11, Code39, etc.), two-dimensional code (CODEBL)
OCK, PDF417Code49, etc.) and characters of various fonts can be output. In addition to plain paper and various labels as print media that can be output, labels with non-contact data carriers and the like are also included as targets. Data carriers can be checked inline after printing as an optional specification. Among these optional specifications,
Since there is a risk that the IC chip, which is the information storage means of the non-contact data carrier, is destroyed during printing, it also includes functions such as writing, reading, and erasing to confirm the function of the IC chip after printing. I have.

In the above-described thermal color printing or thermal transfer printing apparatus, the label paper passes between the thermal head and the paper feed roll. At that time, the chip may be broken. Therefore, as described above, the function of the IC chip is confirmed by performing the inspection such as writing, reading, and erasing on the IC chip.

[0006]

The cause of chip breakage does not occur because pressure is applied to the IC chip when the label paper passes between the thermal head and the paper feed roll, but rather for printing. It has been found that this occurs when the function of the chip is destroyed by the applied voltage supplied from the thermal head. However, at present, I
At present, the portion in which the C chip is embedded is printed by applying a voltage to the thermal head in the same manner as the other portions.

[0007]

Accordingly, the printing method of the present invention is directed to a heat-sensitive head for a label-shaped printing medium in which a printing substrate, an adhesive, a non-contact data carrier, an adhesive and a release paper are laminated in this order. When printing by applying a pulse to the heating element, the application pulse to be supplied to the thermal head is temporarily stopped in the area of the IC chip of the non-contact data carrier.

[0008]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a view for explaining that a pulse is not applied on an IC chip of a label-shaped print medium with a non-contact data carrier in the printing method of the present invention, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the types of barcodes.
FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the inside of the printing apparatus, FIG. 5 is a block diagram for explaining the configuration of a control system of the dedicated label printing apparatus, and FIG. FIG. 7 shows another embodiment of the contact data carrier, FIG. 8 shows another embodiment of the non-contact data carrier, FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line CC of FIG. 6, and FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a state in which a thermal color printing medium with a non-contact data carrier passes between a thermal head and a paper feed roll of a thermal printing apparatus.

In FIG. 1, a print medium 1 with a non-contact data carrier passes under a thermal head 4 in the direction of arrow a.
It is printed like a diagonal line. Inside of the printing unit 10, from the tip portion of the non-contact data carrier with the print medium 1, Y _1,
Non-printing portion starts from a position X ₁ from the print travel direction left of the label-like printing medium, wherein Y ₂ from the tip portion of the non-contact data carrier with thermosensitive coloring printing medium 1, the print proceeding direction left of the label-like printing medium X _The non-printing part ends at the position of ₂ . The IC chip of the non-contact data carrier is in this non-printing area. The hatched portions may be printed in advance, but the logo and image portions may all be processed by the printing device. In this case, it is necessary to meet with the designer when deciding the print design so that the company logo, promotional text, advertisement picture, etc. do not enter the non-print area, and to obtain prior consent.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the specifications of the bar code 14 among the font, graphic, and bar code specifications possessed by the dedicated label printing apparatus. 141 is a normal one-dimensional code, and 142 is a two-dimensional code. The one-dimensional code emits from inside by identifying one or more light beams emitted from the scanner to determine the vertically elongated black band and paper white and the black band width and paper white width based on the intensity of the reflected light. In this method, the meaning expressed by the pattern is read by synthesizing it with a clock signal. The two-dimensional code is a method in which white and black dots are read on a surface within a certain area, and a pattern based on the position is quantified to read the meaning. Therefore, the one-dimensional code and the two-dimensional code must be programmed so as not to cover the non-printing area in FIG.

FIG. 3 shows a method in which the printing in the direction perpendicular to the flow direction of the label printing medium in FIG. In this method, a large part of the print area is designated as a non-print area, but the program to be set is simplified. FIGS. 1 and 3 show a case in which variable information is to be printed on the entire surface of a label print medium. However, unless the size of the package is extremely small or the design of the label print medium is special, the preprinted portion is used. What is necessary is just to arrange | position the IC chip part of the said non-contact data carrier.

In FIG. 4, a roll 1 on which a plurality of label-shaped print media with a non-contact data carrier, the printing portion of which is formed of a thermosensitive color paper or a thermal transfer image receiving paper, is attached.
00 is set on the supply spool 203, and the base of the roll paper is paper on which the adhesive surface of the label-shaped print medium has been peeled off (see FIG. 8 described later).
It is. A roll-shaped transfer film 200 coated with heat-sensitive melting type carbon is also set on the supply spool 201 (if the print surface of the label-shaped print medium is heat-sensitive paper, the heat-sensitive transfer film 200 is not used). The print surface of the label print medium 1 with the contact data carrier is aligned so that the print surface and the carbon surface are in contact with each other, and is passed between the thermal head 4 and the paper feed roller 5. The leading end of the transfer film is fixed to the core of a rewind spool 202 for winding the transferred film. The paper feed roll 5 moves in the direction in which the thermal head 4 is pushed, and the label print medium with the non-contact data carrier and the transfer film are fixed.

When the printing apparatus is driven, the label print medium roll 100 with the non-contact data carrier is pulled and rotated by a feed roller (not shown), and is rotated by the label print medium sensor 206 (425 in FIG. 5). Printing starts after a certain period of time after the leading end of the print medium is detected.
The detection of the leading end of the label-shaped print medium by the sensor also serves to transmit the position of the non-contact data carrier around the IC chip to the thermal head. The label print medium sensor 206 is a cutter 2 for cutting the label print medium with a non-contact data carrier on which printing has been completed one by one.
Also, a disconnection command is issued indirectly to the command line 05. Since the precision of the feed roller is extremely accurate, the distance from the label print medium sensor 206 to the thermal head 4 and the distance from the label print medium sensor 206 to the cutter 205 are known. It prints and cuts accurately.

Referring to FIG. The functions of the dedicated label printing apparatus can be roughly divided into a thermal printing section A and a control section B. In addition, when inputting data from a keyboard 415 serving as an input unit or an external terminal, for example, a personal computer (PC) 416,
A liquid crystal display section 413 as a display section, a liquid crystal drive section 414 for driving the liquid crystal display section, and a label-shaped print medium sensor 4
25 and a power supply unit 422.

In the thermal printing section A, first, a keyboard 415 is provided.
When a character or a sentence is created, the sentence data is stored in a text memory in a RAM described later. Next, when the input by the key operation is completed and a print instruction is issued by the thermal head, the document data stored in the text memory is printed based on a print dot pattern stored in a ROM-C described later. Data is created and RA
It is stored in the M print buffer.

Next, the input / output interface 417 of the control section B includes a keyboard 415, a PC 416 liquid crystal drive section 414, a drive circuit for driving a thermal head and a paper feed motor, and a label print medium with a non-contact data carrier. Print media sensor 4 to start printing, avoid printing of IC part, and control cutter timing
25 are respectively connected. In the control section B, a CPU 4 with a timer for controlling each section is provided.
And ROM for supplying data such as print timing, data for controlling the timing of the cutter, and a character pattern to be output to the thermal head and the liquid crystal display unit.
A, ROM-B, and ROM-C are connected to an input / output interface via a bus.

The ROM-A stores dot pattern data for displaying a large number of characters in correspondence with code data. ROM-B contains kanji, numbers,
Dot patterns for printing alphabetic characters, symbols, fonts, and the like are classified according to the fonts and stored in correspondence with code data according to sizes. RO
In the MC, characters, numerals, and symbols input from the keyboard 415 are associated with the code data by the liquid crystal display unit 413.
Display drive control program for controlling the liquid crystal drive unit 414 for displaying on the printer, a print drive program for sequentially reading data from the print buffer and driving the thermal head 410 and the paper feed motor 412, a pulse control program for the thermal head of the present development, etc. Is stored.

The RAM 420 stores a text memory, a counter, a print buffer, an off-time buffer, and the like. The text memory temporarily stores the document data input from the keyboard. The counter stores a count value counted in the print control process. The print buffer stores print dot pattern data of a plurality of characters and symbols as print data. The off-time buffer is used for the thermal head 410 in the print control process.
Of the pulse applied to the heating element is stored.

A power supply section 422 for supplying power to the thermal printing section A and the control section B includes a DC power supply for supplying power to the entire apparatus, a detection section for detecting the voltage of the DC power supply, and a voltage of the DC power supply. Has a stabilized power supply for constant voltage. The DC power is supplied by an AC adapter that rectifies and further steps down the AC. The DC power is connected to and supplied to respective drive circuits 411 of the thermal head 410 and the paper feed motor 412. On the other hand, the aforementioned stabilized power source is
, And is supplied to the liquid crystal driving unit 414 and other parts that require stabilized power.

FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of a non-contact data carrier by an etching method. Usually 12μm ~ 250μ
An aluminum foil or a copper foil is laminated on a plastic base film such as polypropylene or polyester with a thickness of m, a photoresist is coated on it and dried, and then the coil-shaped pattern is exposed to ultraviolet light, acid, etc. , And the width and pitch are about 0.3, such as 33.
An antenna is left except for a 7 mm metal foil portion. The width, pitch, and number of turns of the antenna are determined according to the specifications of the reader. In the antenna, a metal part is masked with an insulating material in a winding part, and a jumping circuit is provided thereon with a conductive material to connect a tip part and a terminal part of the coil to a terminal part of the IC chip 31.

Although not shown, a non-contact data carrier using a winding type antenna in which a thin metal wire is wound in a coil shape is also generally used. In this case, usually, a thermoplastic adhesive or the like is applied on a plastic base film such as polypropylene or polyester, and a thin copper wire whose surface is insulated is usually formed in a coil shape on the base film, and heated. Press and fix to film. Next, the copper wire portion is masked with an insulating material, and a jumping circuit is provided thereon with a conductive material (not necessarily required when the copper wire is insulated). Connect to the terminals using adhesive. If the adhesive strength of the coil is further required, the coil surface is laminated with a thin film.

FIG. 7 shows an embodiment in which the antenna is formed by a printing method. First, as the conditions of the ink used,
Although it is necessary to have conductivity, the printed film has a surface resistivity of 20 MΩ or less, preferably about 10 MΩ. The characteristics of an antenna depend on its area and not on its shape. An antenna 303 is printed with a gap above and below, and the IC chip 301 is printed over the gap.
Are fixed via an adhesive 304 having conductivity. Although not shown in FIG. 7, a portion where the adhesive 304 and the IC chip 301 are in contact is a terminal portion of the IC chip.

6 and 7, the IC chips 31, 3
The circuit portion 01 has a program area and a memory area. In many cases, the memory area is set to about 32 to 256 bits in order to provide versatility and reduce the unit price. Functionally, it can be selected from EEPROM, EPROM, OTPROM and the like. Since the size of the chip also affects the unit price, it is preferable that the size of the chip is as small as possible.
It is preferably about 5 mm to 5 mm, but if the printability of the ink and the expansion and contraction properties of the paper are good as in the embodiment of FIG. 7, the chip size can be further reduced to about 0.5 mm to 2 mm. It is.

Since the two antennas 303 must not be in contact with each other except at the terminals of the chip, the two antennas 303 may be adjacent to each other in a wedge shape (not shown) instead of being arranged in a planar manner as shown in FIG. , Can be linearly adjacent (not shown), and other designs can be devised and selected.

In FIG. 8, the non-contact data carrier 3 has an adhesive 32 on a plastic base film 103.
Is formed, and the above-mentioned metal foil is adhered thereon, and the antenna 33 is formed by etching. Although not shown, the terminal side of the IC chip 31 is on the side of the adhesive 32 and is bonded to the two ends of the antenna with a conductive adhesive.

FIG. 9 shows that the adhesive 102 is formed on both sides of the non-contact data carrier 3 described in FIG.
04 is a cross-sectional view of a heat-sensitive adhesive label print medium with a non-contact data carrier in which a thermosensitive coloring paper or a paper 101 having heat transfer suitability is formed on another side. In this figure, a thermosensitive coloring paper or a paper 10 having thermal transfer suitability
The pressure-sensitive adhesive 102 formed on the lower side of 1 may be a non-tacky adhesive.

FIG. 10 shows a state in which a label-shaped print medium sheet with a non-contact data carrier is sandwiched between the paper feed roll 5 and the thermal head 4 and pressed in the direction of c. At this time, the thermosensitive coloring paper and the base film shown in FIG. 9 and the adhesive under the base film serve as a cushion and often absorb the thin IC chip 31 as shown in FIG. The chip itself does not break even if it is pressurized. From the end of the thermal head, the heating elements of the portion of L ₁ beyond the L ₂ 41 can be protected from destruction by energizing the chips to not energized.

[0029]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Label-only thermal printer: Zebra R-14
0, label print medium: 140 mm × 160 mm × 0.
Thermal color printing medium with 245 mm non-contact data carrier (non-contact data carrier: 50 mm x 80 mm x 0.
125mm, IC chip: 2.5mm × 2.0mm ×
0.15mm), position of chip on label-shaped print medium:
X ₁ = 75 mm, X ₂ = 85 mm, Y ₁ = 90 mm, Y ₂ =
100 mm (see FIG. 1), printing speed 200 mm /
Seconds, printing specifications: Full diagonal pattern, test quantity 1.00
A confirmation test was performed at 0. 10mm around IC chip
As a result of printing with the applied pulse of the portion of 10 mm turned off, the printing state was good and there was no malfunction of the IC chip.

[0030]

According to the present invention, since the function of the chip is destroyed by the voltage supplied from the thermal head, the present invention has been achieved. The system can be operated efficiently and safely without printing.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view for explaining that a pulse is not applied on an IC chip of a label-shaped print medium with a non-contact data carrier in the printing method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining types of barcodes;

FIG. 3 is another embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the inside of a printing apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram for explaining a configuration of a control system of the dedicated label printing apparatus.

FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of a contactless data carrier.

FIG. 7 shows another embodiment of a non-contact data carrier.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along line CC of FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a view for explaining a cross section of a label print medium with a non-contact data carrier.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a state in which a thermal color printing medium with a non-contact data carrier passes between a thermal head and a paper feed roll of the thermal printing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Label printing medium with non-contact data carrier 100 Label printing medium roll with non-contact data carrier 101 Paper 102 Adhesive 104 Release paper 200 Thermal transfer film 201 Supply spool 202 Rewind spool 203 Label printing medium roll spool 205 Cutter 206 Sensor Reference Signs List 3 Non-contact data carrier 30 Base film 31, 301 IC chip 32 Adhesive 33, 303 Antenna 4 Thermal head 41 Heating element 5 Paper feed roll 10, 11, 12 Printing unit 14 Bar code 141 One-dimensional code 142 Two-dimensional code A printing Unit B Control unit a, b, c Print medium advancing direction

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A printing method in which a pulse is applied to a heating element of a thermal head on a label-shaped printing medium in which a printing substrate, an adhesive, a non-contact data carrier, an adhesive, and a release paper are laminated in this order. At this time, the IC of the non-contact data carrier
A printing method characterized by temporarily stopping an applied pulse supplied to a thermal head in a chip area.