Medium processing device

Abstract

To provide a medium processing device for performing processing multiple times on a medium, which can perform second processing on the medium without pulling out the medium, on which first processing is finished, from a roll.SOLUTION: A printer 100 with a cutting head includes: a first processing execution unit 81 that performs printing on a medium 5 by a print head 20 based on print data and winds the printed medium 5 by a winding device 70; a rotation processing data generation unit 84 that generates rotation processing data obtained by rotating the cutting data by 180°; and a second processing execution unit 82 that performs cutting on the medium 5 wound by the winding device 70 and attached to a medium supply device 60 by a cutting head 30 based on the rotation processing data.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a media processing apparatus that performs processing such as printing and cutting on sheet-like media.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, for example, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, a media processing apparatus that performs processing on sheet-like media is known. The media processing apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 is a printer with a cutting head, which includes a supply roller that feeds out media, a take-up roller that winds up the media, an ink head that performs printing by discharging ink onto the media, and a cutting head that cuts the media. In this printer, two processes, printing and cutting, are performed on the same area of the media.

[0003] In the above printer, for example, printing can be performed first and then cutting can be performed. In that case, first, a roll-shaped media is set on the supply roller. Next, the media is fed out from the supply roller, printing is performed by the ink head, and the printed media is wound up in a roll shape by the take-up roller. After printing is completed, in the media wound up in a roll shape, the area printed first is located on the center side of the roll, and the area printed last is located on the outer side of the roll. Therefore, the user pulls out the printed media from the roll and resets it to the printer so that the area printed first is at the front. Then, starting from the area printed first, the media is cut by the cutting head in order.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] However, the operation of pulling out the printed media from the roll and resetting it to the printer is a burden on the user. Also, when pulling out the printed media, there is a risk that dust will adhere to the media or the media will become dirty.

[0006] The present invention has been made in view of such points, and an object thereof is to enable a second process to be performed without pulling out the media that has completed the first process from the roll in a media processing apparatus that performs a plurality of processes on the media.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0007] The media processing apparatus disclosed herein includes a media supply device to which a roll-shaped media is attached, a processing head that performs processing on the media supplied from the media supply device, a winding device that winds up the media processed by the processing head in a roll shape, and a control device that controls the processing head and the winding device. The control device includes a processing data acquisition unit that acquires processing data, a rotation processing data generation unit that generates rotation processing data obtained by rotating the processing data 180° in a plan view, a first processing execution unit that performs a first process on the media by the processing head and winds up the processed media by the winding device, and a second processing execution unit that performs a second process on the media attached to the media supply device after being wound up by the winding device by the processing head. One of the first processing execution unit and the second processing execution unit performs processing based on the processing data acquired by the processing data acquisition unit, and the other of the first processing execution unit and the second processing execution unit performs processing based on the rotation processing data generated by the rotation processing data generation unit.

[0008] According to the above media processing apparatus, after winding the media on which the first processing has been performed by the winding device, the second processing can be performed by attaching it to the media supply device. Here, when feeding the wound media from the media supply device, the media is fed out in the order from the portion where the first processing was performed last to the portion where the first processing was performed first. However, according to the above media processing apparatus, either one of the first processing and the second processing is performed based on the rotation processing data obtained by rotating the processing data by 180° in a plan view. Therefore, the second processing can be performed so as to conform to the first processing with respect to the portion of the media where the first processing has been performed. Therefore, according to the above media processing apparatus, after winding the media on which the first processing has been performed, the second processing can be executed without pulling out the wound media from the roll.

Effect of the Invention

[0009] According to the present invention, in a media processing apparatus that performs a plurality of processes on a media, the second process can be performed without pulling out the media on which the first process has been completed from the roll.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0010]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3A

Figure 3B

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0011] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that the embodiments described herein are not intended to particularly limit the present invention. Also, members and parts having the same function are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant descriptions are omitted or simplified as appropriate.

[0012] As shown in FIG. 1, the medium processing apparatus according to the present embodiment is a printer 100 with a cutting head (hereinafter simply referred to as a printer). FIG. 1 is a front view of the printer 100. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the printer 100 taken along the line II-II of FIG. 1. In the following description, the reference signs F, Rr, L, R, U, and D in the drawings mean front, rear, left, right, top, and bottom, respectively, when the printer 100 is viewed from the front. The reference sign Y in the drawings indicates the main scanning direction, and the reference sign X indicates the sub-scanning direction. In the present embodiment, the main scanning direction Y is the left-right direction, and the sub-scanning direction X is the front-rear direction. In a plan view, the main scanning direction Y and the sub-scanning direction X are orthogonal to each other.

[0013] The printer 100 is a so-called cut & print machine capable of cutting and printing on a sheet-like medium 5. Although not shown, the medium 5 according to the present embodiment is a sealing material composed of a base paper and a release paper laminated on the base paper and coated with an adhesive. However, the type or material of the medium 5 is not particularly limited.

[0014] In this specification, "cutting" or "cut" includes both the case of cutting the entire thickness direction of the medium 5 (for example, when cutting both the base paper and the release paper of the sealing material) and the case of cutting a part of the thickness direction of the medium 5 (for example, when not cutting the base paper of the sealing material and only cutting the release paper).

[0015] As shown in FIG. 2, the printer 100 includes a platen 16. The platen 16 is a platform that supports the medium 5 when performing printing and cutting on the medium 5. Above the platen 16, a guide rail 17 extending in the main scanning direction Y is disposed.

[0016] As shown in FIG. 3A, the printer 100 includes a processing head 10. The processing head 10 performs processing on the medium 5. The processing head 10 has a print head 20 that performs printing on the medium 5 and a cutting head 30 that performs cutting on the medium 5. Note that printing and cutting are examples of "first processing" and "second processing", respectively.

[0017] FIGS. 3A and 3B are front views of the print head 20 and the cutting head 30. The print head 20 is configured to be movable in the main scanning direction Y. The print head 20 includes a carriage 21 and a plurality of ink heads 22 having a plurality of nozzles (not shown) that discharge ink. The ink heads 22 discharge ink onto the medium 5 on the platen 16. The number of ink heads 22 is not particularly limited, but here, five ink heads 22 are supported by the carriage 21. The five ink heads 22 discharge inks having different color tones. For example, each ink head 22 discharges any one of process color inks such as cyan ink, magenta ink, yellow ink, and black ink, and special inks such as clear ink and white ink. The carriage 21 is engaged with the guide rail 17 so as to be movable in the main scanning direction Y.

[0018] The cutting head 30 is configured to be movable in the main scanning direction Y. The cutting head 30 includes a carriage 31, a solenoid 32, and a cutter 33. The cutter 33 is attached to the carriage 31 via the solenoid 32. When the solenoid 32 is turned ON / OFF, the cutter 33 moves up and down to contact or separate from the medium 5. The carriage 31 is movably engaged with the guide rail 17 in the main scanning direction Y.

[0019] A sensor 38 is provided on the cutting head 30. The sensor 38 is an example of a "reading device". The sensor 38 detects circular crop marks M1 to M4 and rectangular crop mark M5 (see FIG. 6) described later. The rectangular crop mark M5 is an example of a "mark". The type of the sensor 38 is not particularly limited, and various well-known sensors such as an optical sensor can be preferably used. Also, the position where the sensor 38 is attached is not limited. The sensor 38 may be provided on a member of the printer 100 other than the cutting head 30.

[0020] As shown in FIG. 1, the printer 100 includes a head moving mechanism 40 that moves the print head 20 and the cutting head 30 in the main scanning direction. The head moving mechanism 40 includes a left pulley 41, a right pulley 42, an endless belt 43, and a carriage motor 44. The belt 43 is wound around the pulley 41 and the pulley 42. The carriage 31 is fixed to the belt 43. The carriage motor 44 is connected to the right pulley 42. When the carriage motor 44 is driven, the pulley 42 rotates, and the belt 43 runs between the pulley 41 and the pulley 42. Thereby, the carriage 31 moves in the main scanning direction Y.

[0021] In this embodiment, the print head 20 and the cutting head 30 are detachably connected to each other. As shown in FIG. 3A, a connecting member 24 composed of a magnet is provided on the left side portion of the carriage 21. A connecting member 34 composed of a magnet is provided on the right side portion of the carriage 31. The connecting member 24 is detachably connected to the connecting member 34 of the cutting head 30. On the right side of the carriage 21, a receiving fitting 25 formed in an L shape is provided.

[0022] On the left and right sides of the platen 16, a left side frame 12L and a right side frame 12R are respectively arranged. A locking device 35 for locking the print head 20 in the standby position is provided on the right side frame 12R. The locking device 35 includes a receiving fitting 36 that is hooked on the receiving fitting 25, and a locking solenoid (not shown) that moves the receiving fitting 36 between a locked position (see FIG. 3B) and an unlocked position (see FIG. 3A).

[0023] When printing is performed by the print head 20, the receiving fitting 36 is set to the unlocked position as shown in FIG. 3A. When the carriage 31 of the cutting head 30 moves to the right and the connecting member 34 and the connecting member 24 come into contact with each other, the carriage 31 and the carriage 21 are connected. As a result, the print head 20 can move in the main scanning direction Y together with the cutting head 30. On the other hand, when cutting the medium 5 by the cutting head 30, as shown in FIG. 3B, the print head 20 is positioned at the standby position and the receiving fitting 36 of the locking device 35 is set to the locked position. Thereby, the movement of the print head 20 is blocked. When the carriage 31 moves to the left, the connecting member 34 and the connecting member 24 are separated from each other, and the connection between the carriage 31 and the carriage 21 is released. As a result, the cutting head 30 can move in the main scanning direction Y while the print head 20 is waiting at the standby position.

[0024] As shown in FIG. 1, the printer 100 includes a conveyance device 50 that conveys the medium 5. In the present embodiment, the conveyance device 50 includes a grit roller 51, a pinch roller 52, and a feed motor 53 (see FIG. 2). As shown in FIG. 2, the grit roller 51 is provided on the platen 16. The pinch roller 52 presses the medium 5 from above and is disposed above the grit roller 51. The pinch roller 52 sandwiches the medium 5 together with the grit roller 51. The pinch roller 52 is configured to be movable in the vertical direction. The feed motor 53 is connected to the grit roller 51. When the feed motor 53 is driven and the grit roller 51 rotates with the medium 5 sandwiched between the grit roller 51 and the pinch roller 52, the medium 5 is conveyed in the sub-scanning direction.

[0025] The printer 100 includes a medium supply device 60 to which the medium 5 wound in a roll shape is attached and that feeds out the medium 5 toward the platen 16. Here, the medium 5 is wound around a paper tube 5A. The paper tube 5A and the medium 5 wound around the paper tube 5A constitute a medium roll 5M. The medium supply device 60 is configured to rotatably support the medium roll 5M so that the medium 5 can be fed out from the medium roll 5M. The configuration of the medium supply device 60 is not particularly limited, but the medium supply device 60 according to the present embodiment includes a supply roller 61 to which the paper tube 5A is attached, and a left guide plate 62L and a right guide plate 62R (see FIG. 1) that rotatably support the supply roller 61. The supply roller 61 is disposed behind the processing head 10. The supply roller 61 is formed in a cylindrical shape or a columnar shape. As the conveyance device 50 conveys the medium 5 forward, the medium 5 is fed out from the supply roller 61 toward the platen 16. Note that in the present embodiment, the printer 100 does not include a motor that drives the supply roller 61, but may include a motor that drives the supply roller 61. The supply roller 61 may be a roller that does not rotate by itself or a roller that rotates by itself.

[0026] The printer 100 includes a take-up device 70 that winds up the medium 5 on which printing or cutting has been performed in a roll shape. The take-up device 70 includes a take-up roller 71 and a take-up motor 75 (see FIG. 1). The take-up roller 71 winds up the medium 5. A paper tube 5B is attached to the take-up roller 71. The take-up roller 71 winds up the medium 5 on the paper tube 5B by rotating the paper tube 5B. The take-up roller 71 is formed in a cylindrical shape or a columnar shape. As shown in FIG. 2, the take-up roller 71 is disposed in front of the processing head 10. As shown in FIG. 1, the printer 100 includes a left side wall 76L and a right side wall 76R that rotatably support the take-up roller 71. The take-up motor 75 is connected to the take-up roller 71 and rotates the take-up roller 71. Note that the take-up device 70 may convey the medium 5 instead of the conveying device 50.

[0027] As shown in FIG. 1, the printer 100 includes a control device 80. The control device 80 processes data for processing and controls the processing head 10, the take-up device 70, and the conveying device 50. The control device 80 is configured by, for example, a microcomputer. The hardware configuration of the microcomputer is not particularly limited, but includes, for example, an interface (I / F), a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and a storage device. The control device 80 is provided inside the casing 10a of the printer 100. However, at least a part of the control device 80 may be provided outside the casing 10a. For example, a part of the control device 80 may be a computer installed outside the casing 10a. In this case, various processes of the control device 80 are executed by the computer installed outside the casing 10a and the computer disposed inside the casing 10a communicating with each other by wire or wirelessly.

[0028] The control device 80 is electrically connected to the carriage motor 44 of the head movement mechanism 40, the feed motor 53 of the conveyance device 50, the ink head 22, the solenoid 32 of the cutting head 30, the locking solenoid of the locking device 35, the winding motor 75 of the winding device 70, and the sensor 38, and is configured to control them. The control device 80 controls the movement of the print head 20 and the cutting head 30 in the main scanning direction Y by controlling the carriage motor 44. The control device 80 controls the movement of the medium 5 in the sub-scanning direction by controlling the feed motor 53. The control device 80 controls the ink ejection timing, ejection amount, etc. of the ink head 22. The control device 80 controls the up and down movement of the cutter 33 and the pressure applied by the cutter 33 to the medium 5 by controlling the solenoid 32. Further, the control device 80 controls the winding operation of the medium 5 by the winding roller 71 by controlling the winding motor 75.

[0029] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the control device 80. The CPU of the control device 80 functions as a processing data acquisition unit 83, a first processing execution unit 81, a second processing execution unit 82, a rotational processing data generation unit 84, a reading unit 85, a determination unit 86, and a permission unit 87 by executing a computer program. The control device 80 has a processing data acquisition unit 83, a first processing execution unit 81, a second processing execution unit 82, a rotational processing data generation unit 84, a reading unit 85, a determination unit 86, and a permission unit 87. The processing performed by each of the above units will be described later.

[0030] As described above, the printer 100 can perform printing and cutting on the medium 5. Next, an example of a method of performing printing and cutting on the medium 5 using the printer 100 will be described. In this example, the printer 100 performs printing on the medium 5 sent out from the medium supply device 60, and winds up the printed medium 5 by the winding device 70. After that, the wound medium 5 is removed from the winding device 70 and reset to the medium supply device 60. Then, cutting is performed on the printed medium 5 sent out from the medium supply device 60.

[0031] Specifically, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 5, first, in step S1, the user sets the media roll 5M on the media supply device 60. Next, in step S2, the processing data acquisition unit 83 of the control device 80 acquires print data and cutting data. Note that the method of acquiring the data is not limited in any way. The processing data acquisition unit 83 may receive the print data and cutting data from an external computer or the like, or may acquire the print data and cutting by converting the data received from an external computer or the like with software. Also, the timing of acquiring the print data and cutting data is not limited in any way. The print data may be acquired before printing is executed, and the cutting data may be acquired before cutting is executed. Here, the print data and cutting data are examples of "first processing data" and "second processing data", respectively. Printing and cutting correspond to "first processing" and "second processing", respectively.

[0032] In step S3, the first processing execution unit 81 executes printing on the media 5 based on the print data. Specifically, the first processing execution unit 81 alternately repeats the operation of discharging ink from the ink head 22 while moving the print head 20 in the main scanning direction and the operation of conveying the media 5 forward by rotating the grit roller 51. Thereby, printing is performed on the media 5. Also, the first processing execution unit 81 winds up the printed media 5 by rotating the take-up roller 71.

[0033] In this embodiment, a plurality of images are printed on the medium 5. Note that an image is an image formed by ink, and includes, for example, characters, symbols, lines, figures, pictures, and the like. The image may be a black-and-white image or a color image. The image is not limited to a planar image, and may be a three-dimensional image having a thickness. The print data includes first to nth (where n is a natural number of 2 or more) print job data for printing in first to nth regions in the longitudinal direction (i.e., the sub-scanning direction) of the medium 5. The first to nth regions are regions arranged continuously or intermittently from the front portion to the rear portion of the medium 5 fed forward. The first processing execution unit 81 processes the n print job data included in the print data in the order from the first print job data to the nth print job data. In this embodiment, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, "A" is printed in the first region R1 of the medium 5 based on the first print job data, "B" is printed in the second region R2 based on the second print job data, and "C" is printed in the third region R3 based on the third print job data.

[0034] Further, the first processing execution unit 81 prints circular crop marks M1 to M4 and rectangular crop marks (hereinafter referred to as rectangular marks) M5 on each region of the medium 5. The crop marks M1 to M4 are marks mainly used to determine the origin position of cutting, and are printed at the four corners of each region. The crop marks M1, M2, M3, and M4 are printed at the upper left, upper right, lower left, and lower right of each region, respectively. The rectangular mark M5 is a quadrilateral mark and is printed at a predetermined position (hereinafter referred to as the first position) of each region. Here, the first position is set at the upper left of each region, and the rectangular mark M5 is printed to the right of the crop mark M1. However, the first position of the rectangular mark M5 is not particularly limited. As described above, in this embodiment, cutting is performed on the same medium 5 after printing. The crop marks M1 to M4 are used for positioning the cutting head 30 with respect to the medium 5 during cutting. The rectangular mark M5 is used for the purpose of determining whether the cutting data and the conveyance direction of the medium 5 are aligned during cutting, as will be described later.

[0035] In step S3, the media 5 and the paper tube 5B wound up constitute the media roll 5N (see FIG. 2). In step S4, after the media 5 is cut in the width direction (main scanning direction), the media roll 5N is removed from the winding device 70 and attached to the media supply device 60 so that the printed surface of the media 5 faces the processing head 10. That is, the media 5 is reset to the media supply device 60. Specifically, the media roll 5N is rotated 180° in the left-right direction from the state where the media roll 5N is removed from the winding device 70, and the media 5 is reset to the media supply device 60. In this embodiment, in this way, without pulling out the media 5 from the paper tube 5B, the media 5 is attached to the media supply device 60 while being wound around the paper tube 5B.

[0036] Incidentally, in the media roll 5M before printing, the first region of the media 5 is located on the outer side of the media roll 5M, and the nth region is located on the center side of the media roll 5M. On the other hand, after printing, the media 5 is wound up in the printing order by the winding device 70. In the media roll 5N after printing, the first region where printing is first performed is located on the center side of the media roll 5N, and the nth region where printing is last performed is located on the outer side of the media roll 5N. Therefore, when the media 5 is sent out from the media roll 5N, the media 5 is sent out in the order from the nth region to the first region. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the media 5 is sent out in the order of the third region R3, the second region R2, and the first region R1. Also, the images printed in each region are sent out in a state of being rotated 180° around the center of each region. The rectangular mark M5 printed at the first position moves to a position (hereinafter referred to as the second position) obtained by rotating the first position 180° around the center of each region. Here, the second position is the lower right position of each region, and the rectangular mark M5 is located to the left of the crop mark M1.

[0037] In step S5, the rotational machining data generation unit 85 of the control device 80 generates rotational cutting data obtained by rotating the cutting data by 180°. Here, the rotational cutting data obtained by rotating the cutting data by 180° refers to the cutting data for obtaining the medium 5 as if the medium 5 in the case of performing cutting based on the cutting data is rotated by 180°. The rotational cutting data is data obtained by rotating the cutting data by 180° in a plan view. Here, although step S5 is performed after step S4, step S5 may be performed before step S4 or may be performed simultaneously with step S4. Note that step S5 may be performed by an external computer connected to the printer 100. That is, the rotational cutting data may be generated by an external computer. In this case, step S5 is performed before step S2, and in step S2, the machining data acquisition unit 83 of the control device 80 acquires the print data and the rotational cutting data.

[0038] Next, proceed to step S6, and the second processing execution unit 82 of the control device 80 performs cutting on the medium 5 of the media roll 5N based on the rotational cutting data. The second processing execution unit 82 moves the cutting head 30 in the main scanning direction and rotates the grit roller 51, thereby relatively moving the cutter 33 with respect to the medium 5. Thereby, a predetermined position of the medium 5 is cut. The cutting data includes first to nth cutting job data for performing cutting on the first to nth regions of the medium 5. The second processing execution unit 82 processes the first to nth cutting job data rotated by 180° in the order from the nth cutting job data to the first cutting job data. Thereby, cutting is performed in the order from the nth region to the first region of the medium 5. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the contour of the character "C" is cut out based on the third cutting job data in the third region R3, the contour of the character "B" is cut out based on the second cutting job data in the second region R2, and the contour of the character "A" is cut out based on the first cutting job data in the first region R1.

[0039] In this embodiment, before cutting each area, the sensor 38 (see FIG. 3B) reads the crop marks M1 to M4 and the rectangular mark M5 of each area. Then, the determination unit 86 of the control device 80 determines whether the conveyance direction of the medium 5 is opposite to the conveyance direction of the medium 5 during printing. Here, the determination unit 86 determines whether the rectangular mark M5 is read at the second position. That is, it is determined whether the rectangular mark M5 is at the lower right of each area and is read at a position to the left of the crop mark M1. When the rectangular mark M5 is at the second position, it is confirmed that the rotational cutting data and the feeding direction of the medium 5 are aligned. When it is determined that the rectangular mark M5 is read at the second position, the permission unit 87 permits the processing of the second processing execution unit 82 based on the rotational cutting data, and the second processing is executed by the second processing execution unit 82 based on the rotational cutting data. That is, when it is determined that the conveyance direction of the medium 5 is opposite to the conveyance direction of the medium 5 during printing, the permission unit 87 permits the processing of the second processing execution unit 82 based on the rotational cutting data, and the second processing is executed by the second processing execution unit 82 based on the rotational cutting data. When it is determined that the rectangular mark M5 is read at the first position, the second processing is executed by the second processing execution unit 82 based on the cutting data acquired by the processing data acquisition unit 83, rather than the rotational cutting data. That is, as in the conventional case, when the user pulls out the medium 5 from the paper tube 5B and then attaches it to the medium supply device 60 in step S3, cutting is executed without rotating the cutting data by 180°. When the rectangular mark M5 is not detected, or when the rectangular mark M5 is read at a position other than the first position and the second position, the processing of the second processing execution unit 82 is aborted and the second processing is not performed. Note that the user may be notified whether the rectangular mark M5 is read at the first position or the second position, and the user may be configured to be able to select whether to execute the second processing based on the rotational cutting data, execute the second processing based on the cutting data acquired by the processing data acquisition unit 83, or abort the execution of the second processing.

[0040] As described above, according to the present embodiment, after winding up the medium 5 on which printing has been performed based on the print data, the wound printed medium 5 can be reset to the medium supply device 60 and cutting can be performed. Here, if cutting is performed based on the cutting data, the image of the print data and the cutting of the cutting data will not match. However, in the present embodiment, cutting is performed based on the rotation cutting data obtained by rotating the cut data by 180°. Therefore, printing and cutting can be made to match. Thus, according to the present embodiment, by simply resetting the wound printed medium 5 together with the paper tube 5B to the medium supply device 60, cutting can be performed on the printed medium 5. Therefore, the operation of pulling out the wound printed medium 5 from the paper tube 5B and the operation of resetting the pulled-out medium 5 to the printer 100 are unnecessary. Therefore, the work burden can be reduced for the user who performs printing and cutting on the medium 5 using the printer 100. Also, it is possible to prevent dust from adhering to the medium 5 or the medium 5 from getting dirty before cutting.

[0041] According to the present embodiment, the print data includes first to nth print job data, and the cutting data includes first to nth cutting job data. Therefore, a plurality of images can be printed on the medium 5, and cutting can be performed on each of the plurality of images. Here, with respect to the print data, processing is performed in the order from the first print job data to the nth print job data, but with respect to the cutting data, processing is performed in the order from the nth cutting job data to the first cutting job data. Therefore, there is no need to pull out the printed medium 5 from the paper tube 5B, and by simply resetting it to the medium supply device 60, cutting that matches each image of the medium 5 can be performed.

[0042] Note that in the printer 100, it is also possible to pull out the printed medium 5 from the paper tube 5B and perform cutting while feeding it out in order from the first to the nth regions toward the cutting head 30. In that case, if cutting is performed based on the cutting data, printing and cutting can be aligned. However, if cutting is performed based on the rotary cutting data, printing and cutting will not be aligned. According to the present embodiment, a rectangular mark M5 is printed at the first position during printing, and when cutting, it is determined whether the rectangular mark M5 is read at the second position obtained by rotating the first position by 180°. Then, when it is determined that the rectangular mark M5 is read at the second position, cutting is performed. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the user from performing cutting that is not aligned with the printing when pulling out the printed medium from the paper tube 5B and resetting it.

[0043] As described above, one embodiment of the present invention has been described, but the above embodiment is merely an example. Various other embodiments are possible.

[0044] In the above embodiment, cutting is performed after printing, but the reverse may also be possible. That is, after the cut medium 5 is wound up by the winding device 70, the medium 5 may be reset together with the paper tube 5B to the medium supply device 60 and printing may be performed. In this case, the cutting data corresponds to the "first processing data" and the printing data corresponds to the "second processing data". Printing is performed based on the rotary printing data obtained by rotating the printing data by 180°. The crop marks M1 to M4 and the rectangular mark M5 may be marks printed by the print head 20 during cutting, or may be marks formed by the regions cut by the cutting head 30 during cutting.

[0045] In the above-described embodiment, based on the position of the rectangular mark M5, which is an example of a landmark, it was determined whether the conveyance direction of the medium 5 during the second processing was opposite to the conveyance direction of the medium 5 during the first processing. However, the landmark only needs to be capable of specifying the conveyance direction of the medium 5, and is not limited to a landmark that is attached so as to have a different position when conveyed in the opposite direction. The landmark may include information regarding the conveyance direction of the medium 5. For example, an image of an arrow indicating the conveyance direction of the medium 5 may be used as a landmark. Also, a two-dimensional code including information indicating the conveyance direction of the medium 5 may be used as a landmark.

[0046] The first processing and the second processing may be different types of processing from each other, or may be the same type of processing. For example, both the first processing and the second processing may be printing performed by the print head 20.

[0047] Also, the processing performed by the processing head is not limited to printing and cutting. The processing may be, for example, coating the medium 5. The processing head may include, for example, a spray for spraying a coating material onto the surface of the medium 5.

[0048] In the above-described embodiment, the print data includes the first to nth print job data, and the cutting data includes the first to nth cutting job data. However, the print data and the cutting data may each be constituted by a single job data.

[0049] In the above-described embodiment, the print head 20 and the cutting head 30 are configured to be detachable from each other, but may be configured to be non-detachable.

[0050] In the above embodiment, the printer 100 processes the medium 5 while conveying the medium 5 from the rear to the front. However, it may also be processed while conveying the medium 5 from the front to the rear. That is, the medium supply device 60 may be in front of the processing head 10, and the winding device 70 may be behind the processing head 10. Further, both the medium supply device 60 and the winding device 70 may be configured to be capable of both supplying and winding the medium 5.

[0051] In the above embodiment, after printing based on the print data, cutting is performed based on the rotation cutting data obtained by rotating the cutting data by 180°. However, cutting may be performed based on the cutting data after printing based on the rotation print data obtained by rotating the print data by 180°. That is, regardless of the order of printing and cutting, printing and cutting may be performed based on the data obtained by rotating either the print data or the cutting data by 180°.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0052] 5 Medium 10 Processing head 20 Print head 30 Cutting head 38 Sensor (reading device) 50 Conveying device 60 Medium supply device 61 Supply roller 70 Winding device 71 Winding roller 80 Control device 100 Printer with cutting head (medium processing device) M5 Crop mark (mark)

Claims

1. A media supply device to which a media wound in a roll shape is attached, A processing head that processes the media supplied from the media supply device, A winding device that winds the media processed by the processing head in a roll shape, A control device that controls the processing head and the winding device, comprising: The control device is A processing data acquisition unit that acquires processing data, A rotational processing data generation unit that generates rotational processing data obtained by rotating the processing data 180° in a plan view, A first processing execution unit that performs a first processing on the media by the processing head and winds the processed media by the winding device, A second processing execution unit that performs a second processing on the media attached to the media supply device after being wound by the winding device by the processing head, having One of the first processing execution unit and the second processing execution unit performs processing based on the processing data acquired by the processing data acquisition unit, and the other of the first processing execution unit and the second processing execution unit performs processing based on the rotational processing data generated by the rotational processing data generation unit, a media processing device.

2. The processing data includes first to nth (where n is a natural number of 2 or more) job data for performing processing on first to nth regions of the media, One of the first processing execution unit and the second processing execution unit processes the processing data acquired by the processing data acquisition unit in the order from the first job data to the nth job data, The other of the second processing execution unit and the second processing execution unit processes the rotational processing data generated by the rotational processing data generation unit in the order from the nth job data to the first job data, the media processing device according to claim 1.

3. The first processing execution unit is set so as to form a mark on the media by the processing head that can specify the direction of conveyance of the media, Further comprising a reading device that reads the mark, The control device is A determination unit that determines whether the conveyance direction of the media attached to the media supply device after being wound by the winding device is opposite to the conveyance direction of the media during the first processing from the result of reading the mark. The media processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a permission unit that permits the second processing by the second processing execution unit when the determination unit determines that it is in the reverse direction.

4. The processing head includes a print head that performs printing on the media, The media processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the mark is a mark printed on the media.

5. The processing head includes a print head that performs printing on the media and a cutting head that performs cutting on the media, The first processing is one of printing and cutting, The media processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second processing is the other of printing and cutting.

6. A media processing method for processing a media by a media processing apparatus including a processing head, the method including: a processing data acquisition step of acquiring processing data; a rotation processing data generation step of generating rotation processing data obtained by rotating the processing data by 180° in a plan view; a first processing step of performing a first processing on the media by the processing head and winding the processed media in a roll shape; a second processing step of performing a second processing on the media by the processing head while feeding out the media wound in a roll shape in the unwinding direction in the first processing step, In one of the first processing step and the second processing step, processing is performed based on the processing data acquired in the processing data acquisition step, A media processing method, wherein in the other of the first processing step and the second processing step, processing is performed based on the rotation processing data generated in the rotation processing data generation step.

7. The processing data includes first to nth (where n is a natural number of 2 or more) job data for performing processing on first to nth regions of the media, One of the first processing step and the second processing step includes a step of processing the processing data acquired in the processing data acquisition step in order from the first job data to the nth job data, The media processing method according to claim 6, wherein the first processing step and the second processing step include a step of processing the rotation processing data generated in the rotation processing data generation step in order from the nth job data to the first job data.

8. The first processing step includes a step of forming a mark on the medium by the processing head, which can identify the direction of conveyance of the medium. A reading step of feeding out the medium wound in a roll shape by the first processing step and reading the mark by a reading device. A determination step of determining whether the feeding direction of the medium is opposite to the conveyance direction of the medium during the first processing, based on the result of reading the mark. The second processing step is the media processing method according to claim 6, which is executed when it is determined to be in the opposite direction in the determination step.

9. The processing head has a print head for printing on the medium and a cutting head for cutting the medium. The first processing is one of printing and cutting. The second processing is the other of printing and cutting, according to the media processing method of claim 6.

Images