JP2005169895A - Printer remaining amount display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To display the remaining amount in real time from the beginning to the end, not completely before the print medium (label 2) is completely exhausted, and to make a prior determination of the replacement time of the print medium 2 more clearly and perform printing. To provide a printing medium remaining amount display device for a printer capable of accurately displaying the remaining amount of the printing medium 2 so that it can be used as a reference for determining the work procedure.
A medium supply unit (label supply) for holding a predetermined amount of print medium 2 is focused on displaying the remaining amount sequentially or always in different colors according to the detected remaining amount of print medium 2. Unit 3) and a printing unit 4 that performs printing using the printing medium 2 supplied from the medium supply unit 3, and the remaining amount for detecting the remaining amount of the printing medium 2 remaining in the medium supply unit 3 It is characterized by having a detection unit 24 and a display unit (remaining amount display 16) that can display the remaining amount in different colors depending on the remaining amount.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a printing medium remaining amount display device of a printer, and more particularly to a printing medium remaining amount display device of a printer using printing paper such as a label or tag, an ink ribbon or other printing medium.

    In conventional printers with various printing methods, printing paper such as labels and tags, and ink ribbons and other printing media are loaded as printing media. The operator is notified in advance by the display means or warning means.

However, since the display means such as a lamp is turned on immediately before the label or ribbon is exhausted, if the preparation for replacement of the label or ribbon is not carried out immediately after lighting, the replacement work takes time and smooth replacement work is performed. There is a problem that it is difficult to do.
In addition, when trying to print a predetermined number of labels or the like, if the remaining number of labels is not known, it may be difficult to determine whether or not it is necessary to prepare a spare label roll. There is also.

JP 2003-72116 A

    SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been considered in view of the above problems, and provides a print medium remaining amount display device for a printer that can display the remaining amount in real time from the beginning to the end rather than before the print medium is completely exhausted. This is the issue.

    Another object of the present invention is to provide a printing medium remaining amount display device for a printer that makes it possible to make a prior determination of a printing medium replacement time more clearly.

    Another object of the present invention is to provide a printing medium remaining amount display device for a printer that can accurately display the remaining amount of a printing medium so that it can be used as a reference for determining a work procedure for printing.

    Another object of the present invention is to provide a printing medium remaining amount display device for a printer that performs multicolor display of the remaining amount of the printing medium with high visual effect and displays the remaining amount in an analog manner by color identification. And

    That is, the present invention focuses on displaying the remaining amount sequentially or always in different colors according to the detected remaining amount of the print medium, and a medium supply unit for holding a predetermined amount of the print medium, and the medium A printing medium remaining amount display device for a printer having a printing unit that performs printing using the printing medium supplied from a supply unit, and detects the remaining amount of the printing medium remaining in the medium supply unit A printing medium remaining amount display device for a printer, comprising: a remaining amount detecting unit; and a display unit capable of displaying the remaining amount in different colors according to the remaining amount.

    The print medium is held in a roll shape by the medium supply unit, and the remaining amount detection unit detects the outer peripheral length of the print medium and can calculate the remaining amount of the print medium. be able to.

    The display unit can use light emitting diodes of the three primary colors of light and can emit different colors depending on the combination of the light emitting diodes.

    The display unit can perform blinking when the remaining amount of the print medium is low.

    The display unit may include a light emitting diode and a matte filter capable of diffusing light from the light emitting diode.

The above-mentioned label and other printing media can be held in a roll shape, or can be held in a fan-hold type or any other manner, and the remaining amount of ink ribbon or the like is not limited to printing paper such as labels and tags. Can be used for display.
In addition to the method of detecting the outer peripheral length of the roll-shaped print medium when the remaining amount of the print medium is detected, the remaining amount detection unit uses any method as long as it detects the remaining amount. It can be adopted.

In the printing medium remaining amount display device of the printer according to the present invention, by sequentially displaying different colors such as blue, green, yellow, and red according to the detected remaining amount of the printing medium, labels, tags, ribbons, etc. Since the remaining amount of the print medium can always be displayed stepwise or continuously, the operator can judge the remaining amount of the print medium according to the degree of color change, and of course the printing work itself The print medium replacement preparation work and other setups can be performed with a sufficient margin in advance.

    The present invention makes it easy to determine when to replace a print medium by displaying the remaining amount of the print medium by color, and eliminates the trouble of opening the printer cover or looking inside the printer to check the remaining amount. A printer that can be used.

Next, a printer 1 equipped with a printing medium remaining amount display device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a printer 1. The printer 1 includes a label supply unit 3 (medium supply unit) for a label 2 (print medium), a print unit 4, a print medium remaining amount display device 5, And a control unit 6.

    The label 2 can be loaded with a configuration in which a label piece of a predetermined pitch is temporarily attached to a mount, or a label without a mount and other arbitrary configurations, and have a predetermined pitch, width, and thickness. The label 2 is wound around the winding core 7 in a roll shape.

    The label supply unit 3 winds and holds the label 2 in a roll shape on the supply shaft 8 via the winding core 7 and allows the label 2 to be fed out in a strip shape in the direction of the printing unit 4.

The printing unit 4 includes a thermal head 9, a platen roller 10, a drive motor 11 for the platen roller 10, a ribbon supply unit 13 and a ribbon winding unit 14 for the thermal transfer ink ribbon 12.
The platen roller 10 is rotationally driven by the drive motor 11 to transfer the label 2 between the thermal head 9 and the platen roller 10 and to print on the label 2 using the thermal transfer ink ribbon 12.

    The print medium remaining amount display device 5 includes a rotary encoder 15 provided on the feeding shaft 8 and a remaining amount display 16 (display unit). The control unit 6 is based on detection values from the rotary encoder 15 and the drive motor 11. Calculates the remaining amount and displays it on the remaining amount display 16.

    The rotary encoder 15 is attached to the feeding shaft 8 and detects the number of rotation pulses of the feeding shaft 8 (the roll of the label 2).

The remaining amount display 16 displays the remaining amount of the label 2 by the printing medium remaining amount display device 5 in different colors.
2 is a cross-sectional explanatory view of the remaining amount display 16. The remaining amount display 16 includes a support substrate 18 attached to the frame 17 of the printer 1, a diode driving circuit 19, a three-color light emitting diode 20, and a filter 21. And a cover 22.

FIG. 3 is a schematic circuit diagram of the diode drive circuit 19 and the three-color light-emitting diode 20, and the three-color light-emitting diode 20 includes a blue diode 20 B, a green diode 20 G, and a red diode 20 R, and a control signal from the control unit 6. Thus, for example, six types of colors can be displayed by combining the blue diode 20B, the green diode 20G, and the red diode 20R by the diode drive circuit 19 (see the chart of FIG. 5 described later).
In addition, by adjusting the driving signals of the blue diode 20B, the green diode 20G, and the red diode 20R, it is possible to add strength and tone differences among the six colors, or to change the colors continuously without being stepwise. Can also be displayed.

The filter 21 is made of plastic with one surface on the cover 22 side being a matte surface, diffuses light from the three-color light emitting diode 20, and any combination of the blue diode 20B, the green diode 20G, and the red diode 20R is simultaneously performed. When light is emitted, the lights are mixed to display a uniform color.
The cover 22 has a through-display window 23 opened so that the three-color light emitting diode 20 that has passed through the filter 21 is visible.

    The control unit 6 controls the label supply unit 3, the printing unit 4, and the print medium remaining amount display device 5, and constitutes a remaining amount detection unit 24 together with the rotary encoder 15 and the drive motor 11 described above.

Any method can be used for detecting or calculating the remaining amount of the label 2 by the remaining amount detection unit 24. For example, the amount of rotation pulses detected by the rotary encoder 15 for the number of rotation pulses of the feed shaft 8 (label 2 roll) can be determined. Can be based.
That is, FIG. 4 is an enlarged schematic side view of the label supply unit 3 and the printing unit 4, where the diameter of the roll of the label 2 is D and the core 7 of the label 2 (the feed shaft 8 when there is no core 7). ) Is the outer diameter diameter d, the pitch of the label 2 is P, the thickness of the label 2 is t, the transfer speed of the label 2 by the platen roller 10 (drive motor 11) is V, and the rotation speed of the feeding shaft 8 Is N, and the remaining amount (remaining number of sheets) of the label 2 on the feeding shaft 8 is Z, the outer peripheral length of the roll of the label 2 is πD, and the label 2 is at the platen roller 10 portion at a constant transfer speed V. If the rotation speed N of the feed shaft 8 (the roll of the label 2) when being transported is detected,
V = πD · N Formula (1)
It is.
Also, from the calculation of the area (cross-sectional area) of the hatched portion in FIG.
Z · P · t = π ( D / 2) 2 -π (d / 2) 2 Equation (2)
It is.
The transfer speed V can be obtained from the rotational speed of the drive motor 11, and the rotational speed N can be obtained from the detection signal of the rotary encoder 15. Further, since the pitch P and the thickness t of the label 2 are given as initial values, the remaining number Z of labels 2 can be calculated from the above formulas (1) and (2).

Further, as another detection method or calculation method for the remaining amount of the label 2, if the transfer distance per step in the rotation of the feeding shaft 8 is F and the number of steps of one rotation of the feeding shaft 8 is S, The outer peripheral length πD of the roll of label 2 is
πD = F · S Formula (3)
It is.
The transfer distance F is set to a predetermined value by the drive motor 11, and the step number S can be obtained from the detection signal of the rotary encoder 15. Therefore, the remaining number of labels 2 can also be obtained from the equations (2) and (3). Z can be calculated.

FIG. 5 is a chart showing the expression color by the three-color light emitting diode 20 according to the remaining amount of the label 2, and a combination of the blue diode 20B, the green diode 20G and the red diode 20R, that is, by turning on and off, for example, a blue diode 20B alone displays “blue”, a combination of blue diode 20B and green diode 20G displays “indigo”, a combination of green diode 20G and red diode 20R displays “yellow”, and blue diode 20B In combination with the red diode 20R, “purple” and the blinking state thereof are displayed, and the red diode 20R alone can display “red”.
In particular, when “purple” is displayed, the blinking state is displayed to clearly indicate the limit that the remaining amount of label 2 becomes small and preparation is necessary, and by displaying “red”, label 2 is displayed. It is possible to display an error or warning that disappears.

    Of course, in addition to this, the remaining amount of the label 2 can be obtained by any detection method or calculation method, and the control unit 6 can perform control display of the remaining amount display 16 based on the chart as shown in FIG.

    Thus, the remaining amount of the label 2 can be displayed by the color difference by the three-color light-emitting diode 20, so that the operator can be clearly informed of the replacement time of the label 2, which can be a convenient preparation.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the label supply unit 3 of the label 2 is equipped with the print medium remaining amount display device 5 according to the present invention has been described. However, in the present invention, for example, the ribbon supply unit 13 of the thermal transfer ink ribbon 12 Can also be provided. The configuration can be designed in substantially the same manner as the printing medium remaining amount display device 5 described above, and will not be described in detail.

1 is a schematic side view of a printer 1 equipped with a print medium remaining amount display device 5 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional explanatory view of the remaining amount display 16. FIG. 2 is a schematic circuit diagram of the diode drive circuit 19 and the three-color light emitting diode 20. FIG. 3 is an enlarged schematic side view of the label supply unit 3 and the printing unit 4. 4 is a chart showing the expression color by the three-color light emitting diode 20 according to the remaining amount of the label 2.

Explanation of symbols

1 Printer 2 Label (Printing medium)
3 Label supply unit (medium supply unit)
4 Printing section 5 Print medium remaining amount display device of printer 1 (Example, FIG. 1)
6 Control unit 7 Core of label 2 8 Feeding shaft 9 Thermal head 10 Platen roller 11 Drive motor 12 Thermal transfer ink ribbon (printing medium)
13 Ribbon supply unit (medium supply unit)
14 Ribbon take-up part 15 Rotary encoder 16 Remaining amount display (display part)
17 Frame 18 of printer 1 Support substrate 19 Diode drive circuit 20 Three-color light-emitting diode 20B Blue diode 20G of three-color light-emitting diode 20 Green diode 20R of three-color light-emitting diode 20 Red diode 21 of three-color light-emitting diode 20 Filter 22 Cover 23 Cover 22 through display windows 24 Remaining amount detection unit

Claims (5)

A medium supply unit for holding a predetermined amount of print medium;
A printing unit remaining amount display device for a printer having a printing unit that performs printing using the printing medium supplied from the medium supply unit,
A remaining amount detection unit for detecting the remaining amount of the print medium remaining in the medium supply unit;
A display unit capable of displaying the remaining amount in different colors according to the remaining amount;
A printing medium remaining amount display device for a printer, comprising: The print medium is held in a roll shape in the medium supply unit,
The printer remaining amount display device for a printer according to claim 1, wherein the remaining amount detecting unit detects an outer peripheral length of the printing medium and calculates the remaining amount of the printing medium. 2. The printer remaining amount display device for a printer according to claim 1, wherein the display unit uses light emitting diodes of three primary colors of light and can emit different colors depending on combinations of the respective light emitting diodes. 2. The printing medium remaining amount display device for a printer according to claim 1, wherein the display unit performs a blinking display when the remaining amount of the printing medium is low. 2. The printer remaining amount display device for a printer according to claim 1, wherein the display section includes a light emitting diode and a matte filter capable of diffusing light from the light emitting diode.

Images