Typewriting machines – Sheet or web – For feeding web record-medium
Reexamination Certificate
2001-09-21
2004-03-16
Funk, Stephen R. (Department: 2854)
Typewriting machines
Sheet or web
For feeding web record-medium
C083S862000, C101S093070
Reexamination Certificate
active
06705784
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tape printing apparatus for printing on a tape material in the form of a laminate of a printing tape and a peel-off paper, and more particularly to a tape printing apparatus for printing on a tape material in the form of a laminate of a printing tape and a peel-off paper, which is equipped with tape strip-discharging means for forcibly discharging a printed tape strip having been cut off, out of the apparatus.
2. Prior Art
Conventionally, there has been proposed a tape printing apparatus that carries out printing while feeding a tape material in the form of a laminate of a printing tape and a peel-off paper, provides a half-cut portion in the printed portion of the tape material so as to facilitate the peeling of the peel-off paper, and fully cuts the printed portion of the tape material to a predetermined length, thereby producing a label element. The conventional tape printing apparatus has a full-cutting means arranged at a location downstream of a printing means, such a print head, in a tape-feeding direction, a half-cutting means arranged at a location downstream of the full-cutting means, and a tape exit formed at a location further downstream of the half-cutting means (Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Publication (Kokai) No. 5-20893).
As described above, the half-cutting means is located between the full-cutting means and the half-cutting means, and this increases the distance between the full-cutting means and the half-cutting means. Therefore, the tape strip cut off becomes difficult to fall out of the apparatus by its gravity, which can cause the problem of jamming and double cutting of the tape.
Further, the apparatus is configured such that the tape strip cut off is allowed to fall freely from the tape exit. To this end, the tape exit is formed such that it widens toward the outside so as to allow the cut tape strip to be smoothly discharged from the apparatus.
The conventional tape printing apparatus causes the cut tape strip to be discharged from the apparatus by free fall thereof, and hence so long as the tape strip is long, it can be discharged without difficulty, but if the same is short, it may remain within the apparatus e.g. due to the act of static electricity. This also causes the problem of jamming and double cutting of the tape strip.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to provide a tape printing apparatus which is capable of positively discharging a cut tape strip out of the apparatus by forcibly discharging the same, thereby preventing jamming and double cutting of the tape.
To attain the above object, the invention provides a tape printing apparatus a tape printing apparatus comprising:
tape feeding means for feeding a tape material in the form of a laminate of a printing tape and a peel-off paper;
printing means for printing on the tape material being fed by the tape feeding means;
full-cutting means arranged at a location downstream of the printing means in a tape-feeding direction, for cutting off the tape material;
a tape exit for discharging a printed tape strip of the tape material cut off by the full-cutting means; and
tape strip-discharging means for being brought into sliding rotational contact with the tape strip cut off by the full-cutting means, to thereby forcibly discharge the tape strip out of the tape printing apparatus via the tape exit.
This tape printing apparatus is equipped with the tape strip-discharging means for forcibly discharging the printed strip of the tape material cut off by the full-cutting means, out of the apparatus via the tape exit. Therefore, the cut-off strip of the tape material can be positively discharged out of the apparatus, thereby preventing the jamming and double cutting of the printed strip.
Preferably, the tape printing apparatus further includes half-cutting means for cutting off one of the printing tape and the peel-off tape of the tape material.
More preferably, the half-cutting means is arranged at a location downstream of the printing means in the tape-feeding direction, and the tape strip-discharging means is arranged at a location downstream of the half-cutting means in the tape-feeding direction.
According to this preferred embodiment, the distance between the print head and the full-cutting means can be minimized, so that a leading cutting margin of a tape material strip to be printed next can be minimized, enabling reduction of waste of the tape.
Preferably, the tape printing apparatus further includes a operation-synchronizing mechanism for synchronizing a cutting operation of the full-cutting means and a discharging operation of the tape strip-discharging means.
According to this preferred embodiment, the operation of the tape strip-discharging means is synchronized with the operation of the full-cutting means such that the tape discharging operation is carried out only when the full-cutting means performs full-cutting operation. Therefore, a tensile force is not applied to the tape material during printing or half-cutting, thereby preventing the tape strip-discharging means from exerting adverse influence on the printing and half-cutting.
Preferably, the tape printing apparatus further includes control means for causing the half-cutting means to carry out a cutting operation in precedence of the full-cutting means.
According to this preferred embodiment, the tape printing apparatus is capable of carrying out half-cutting desired times before the full-cutting means cuts off the tape material. This makes it possible to obtain a label element having a desired number of half-cut portions of the printed strip.
Preferably, the half-cutting means includes a half cutter that moves in a direction of a width of the tape material to perform a cutting operation, and moves away from the tape printing material when the half cutter does not perform the cutting operation, the half-cutter being covered by a cutter cover when the half-cutter does not perform the cutting operation.
According to this preferred embodiment, the half-cutting means moves in the direction of the width of the tape material to perform the cutting operation. In other words, it cuts off the tape material by its sliding motion, so that the cutting of the tape material can be effected with a much smaller force compared with a case in which the cutting is carried out by the force-cutting method, which makes it possible to attain the energy saving, downsizing of the construction of the apparatus, and reliable cutting. Further, the half cutter is away from the tape material when it does not perform the half-cutting, and hence does not obstruct the feeding of the tape material for printing, or mounting and removal of the tape material.
Preferably, the half-cutting means has a tape reception plate opposed to the half cutter with the tape material interposed therebetween, for receiving the tape printing material, and the tape reception plate is formed with a cut-away portion for allowing the tape strip-discharging means to be brought into the sliding rotational contact with the tape strip.
According to this preferred embodiment, the tape strip-discharging means is configured such that it bites into the cut-away portion formed in the tape reception plate, so that the distance between the half-cutting means and the tape strip-discharging means can be reduced. This makes it possible to reduce the width of a leading discharging margin of the tape material, to thereby reduce waste of the tape material.
Preferably, the tape strip-discharging means is brought into the sliding rotational contact with a peel-off paper side of the tape material, for discharging the tape strip.
According to this preferred embodiment, by arranging the tape strip-discharging means on a peel-off paper side, the printed strip of the tape material can be easily discharged along the acquired curling of the tape material, and further neither stains nor hurts the printed surface since the tape strip-discharging means does not hit the printing tape of the tape material.
Furuya Yoshikiyo
Hashimoto Akira
Kojima Ko
Nakamura Tomoki
Sakano Hideki
Funk Stephen R.
Ghatt Dave A.
Seiko Epson Corporation
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