Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture – Methods – Surface bonding and/or assembly therefor
Reexamination Certificate
1999-07-02
2001-09-25
Sells, James (Department: 1734)
Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture
Methods
Surface bonding and/or assembly therefor
C156S378000, C156S555000, C156S582000, C492S047000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06294033
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to a lamination apparatus for laminating an original medium such as a sheet or the like with a sheet(s) such as synthetic resin film or the like, and a sheet roll loaded in the lamination apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
The following methods have been hitherto proposed as a method of detecting the type and the trailing edge of a laminated medium, a print tape or the like which is used for a tape printing device having a laminating mechanism, etc.
For example, in the case of a tape printing device for printing characters or the like on an elongated tape and then laminating a transparent sheet on the print face of the tape to form a character-printed tape, there are prepared various tape cassettes in which tapes having various widths are respectively mounted, and a desired tape cassette is selected from these tape cassettes in accordance with its using purpose to form a character-printed tape.
According to the tape printing device, the detection of the presence or absence of a tape cassette and the detection of the type of a tape cassette are performed as follows. That is, a plurality of micro-switches are arranged in a predetermined detection pattern in a cassette mounting portion of the tape printing device, and a switch operating unit for selectively switching on/off each micro-switch is provided at the tape cassette side. When a tape cassette is mounted in the cassette mount portion, the presence or absence of the tape cassette and the type of the tape cassette are detected on the basis of the signal pattern (on/off pattern) of signals output from the respective micro-switches.
The detection of the trailing edge of the tape mounted in the tape cassette is performed as follows. For example, an end mark is printed in the neighborhood of the trailing edge of the tape, and an end sensor is provided at the cassette mount portion. The end mark of the tape is detected through the end sensor to detect the trailing edge of the tape.
However, in the case of the tape printing device as described above, a plurality of sensors such as detection switches or the like are needed to detect the presence or absence of a tape cassette and the type of the tape cassette. An optical sensor is also needed to detect the trailing edge of the tape.
As described above, in order to perform the detection of various targets (i.e., the presence or absence of a tape cassette, the type of a tape cassette, etc.), the conventional apparatus needs a plurality of sensors whose number corresponds to the number of targets to be detected. Accordingly, the structure of the conventional apparatus is complicated, and the total cost of the apparatus is increased.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, one aspect of the invention is to provide a lamination apparatus and a sheet roll for use in the lamination apparatus, which enable detection of various kinds of characteristics of the sheet roll (the presence or absence of the sheet roll, the type of the sheet roll, the trailing edge portion of the sheet) with only one sensor on the basis of various information obtained by securing an encoder member having a slit pattern to the end face of the sheet roll and detecting the slit pattern at the rotation time of the sheet roll, thereby simplifying the structure of the apparatus and reducing the cost of the apparatus.
In order to attain the above object, according to a first aspect of the invention, a lamination apparatus in which both surfaces of an original medium is laminated by sheets to form a laminated medium, may include: a sheet roll which is obtained by rolling an elongated-band type sheet and provided at one end face thereof with an encoder member having a predetermined slit pattern formed thereon; a driver for rotating the sheet roll; a detector for detecting the slit pattern of the encoder member to output a detection signal while the sheet roll is rotated by the driver; and a controller for identifying two or more characteristics of the sheet roll on the basis of the detection signal output from the detector.
In the above lamination apparatus, when the laminated medium of the original medium is formed, the sheet roll is rotated by the driver, and the slit pattern of the encoder member secured to the end face of the sheet roll is detected by the detector. The two or more characteristics of the sheet roll may be determined on the basis of the detection signal output from the detector by the controller.
Various characteristics are contained as the characteristics of the sheet roll. According to the lamination apparatus of the first aspect of the invention, the two or more characteristics of the sheet roll may be identified through the detector and the controller on the basis of the slit pattern of the encoder member. Therefore, the apparatus can be simplified, and the cost can be reduced.
According to a second aspect of the invention, in the lamination apparatus of the first aspect of the invention, the controller may identify the type of the sheet roll on the basis of the detection signal.
According to the lamination apparatus of the second aspect of the invention, if the slit pattern of the encoder member secured to the end face of the sheet roll is varied in accordance with the type of the sheet roll, the detection signal is varied in accordance with the slit pattern. Accordingly, the type of the sheet roll may be identified.
According to a third aspect of the invention, in the lamination apparatus of the first or second aspect of the invention, the controller identify the trailing edge of the rolled sheet on the basis of the detection signal.
According to the lamination apparatus of the third aspect of the invention, as the use amount of the sheet roll is increased, the inner diameter of the sheet roll is reduced. Therefore, as the use amount of the sheet roll is increased, the rotational speed of the sheet roll is increased during the laminating process because the sheet feeding speed is constant. Accordingly, the rotational speed of the encoder member is increased, and the detection signal output from the detector may be varied. Therefore, the trailing edge of the sheet may be detected on the basis of the variation of the detection signal by the controller.
According to a fourth aspect of the invention, in the lamination apparatus of each of the first to third aspects of the invention, the controller may identify the presence or absence of the sheet roll on the basis of the detection signal.
According to the lamination apparatus of the fourth aspect of the invention, if the slit pattern of the encoder member secured to the end face of the sheet roll is detected, the presence or absence of the sheet roll may be detected on the basis of the detection signal.
According to a fifth aspect of the invention, a sheet roll for use in a lamination apparatus in which both surfaces of an original medium is laminated by a sheet to form a laminated medium, may include an elongated band type sheet rolled in a roll shape and an encoder member having a predetermined slit pattern formed therein and secured to the end face of the sheet roll.
According to the sheet roll of the fifth aspect of the invention, when the sheet roll is rotated during the process of forming the laminated medium from the original medium in the lamination apparatus, the encoder member secured to the end face of the sheet roll is rotated. Therefore, the slit pattern may be detected in association with the rotation of the encoder member, whereby various characteristics on the sheet roll may be identified.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4149925 (1979-04-01), Mintz
patent: 5098507 (1992-03-01), Mao
patent: 5296076 (1994-03-01), Morita
patent: 5368677 (1994-11-01), Ueda et al.
Fukuoka Mutsuo
Iwata Hirokazu
Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
Oliff & Berridg,e PLC
Sells James
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