Printing device

Abstract

To provide a printing device that can perform good data communication with a wireless tag on a cylindrical body around which a medium roll, such as a ribbon roll or a label paper roll is wound.SOLUTION: A printing device has a shaft and an antenna. The shaft is inserted into and arranged in a cylindrical body comprising a wireless tag and rotatably supports the cylindrical body. The antenna is to perform data communication with the wireless tag and has an antenna element group, and the antenna element group is arranged to cover a circumferential direction of the shaft.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] FIELD OF THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention relates to a printing device. [Background technology]

[0002] Thermal printers, such as label printers, print by transporting an ink ribbon over the printing paper and transferring the ink from the ink ribbon to the printing paper using a thermal head. Thermal printers may have print control settings such as print speed depending on the type of ink ribbon used. Some conventional thermal printers set print control based on data read from a wireless tag attached to the ribbon roll around which the ink ribbon is wound.

[0003] However, the reader / writer installed in a thermal printer may not be able to read data from the wireless tag attached to the ribbon roll depending on the positional relationship between the wireless tag and the antenna. For this reason, printing devices such as thermal printers are required to have a data reading process that can reliably read data from the wireless tag attached to the ribbon roll. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2000-209432 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a printing device that is capable of good data communication with a cylindrical wireless tag around which a media roll such as a ribbon roll or label paper roll is wound. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The printing device of the embodiment includes a shaft and an antenna. The shaft is inserted into a cylindrical body equipped with a wireless tag and rotatably supports the cylindrical body. The antenna is for performing data communication with the wireless tag and includes a group of antenna elements that are arranged to cover the circumference of the shaft. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a label printer according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] 2 is a partially enlarged perspective view showing a main part of the feed shaft of the label printer of FIG. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the delivery shaft of FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the paper core of the ribbon roll attached to the delivery shaft of FIG. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an example of a control system of the label printer of FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 shows an example of the success or failure of data reading at each angle of an IC tag using a conventional antenna. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which the angle of the IC tag relative to the conventional antenna is 0 degrees. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which an angle of 90 degrees is formed between an IC tag and a conventional antenna. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 shows an example of an antenna. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the success or failure of data reading for each angle of an IC tag using the antenna shown in FIG. 9 attached to a fixed shaft. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which the angle of the IC tag with respect to the antenna in FIG. 9 is 0 degrees. [Figure 12] FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram showing the IC tag at an angle of 90 degrees to the antenna in FIG. [Figure 13] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a modification of the antenna of FIG. [Figure 14] FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a modification of the antenna of FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0008] Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the scale of each part in the drawings used in the following description may be changed as appropriate. Also, in order to make the description easier to understand, the drawings may show simplified or omitted configurations.

[0009] A label printer 100 according to an embodiment will be described below with reference to Figures 1 to 5. The label printer 100 is an example of a printing device as defined in the claims of the present application.

[0010] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a label printer 100 according to a first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the label printer 100 has a housing 2 and a cover 4. The cover 4 is rotatably connected to the housing 2 via two hinges 3. The cover 4 is rotatable between an open position shown in FIG. 1, which exposes the interior of the housing 2, and a closed position, which covers the interior of the housing 2. Between the cover 4 and the housing 2 is a damper 1 for slowing the opening and closing movement of the cover 4. With the cover 4 closed, the label printer 100 has an outer shape that is roughly like a rectangular block.

[0011] The front of the housing 2 is equipped with an operation unit 202, a display unit 204, and a power switch 206. Information about label paper, the number of copies to be printed, etc. is input through the operation unit 202. The display unit 204 displays operation information, operation menus, etc.

[0012] The label printer 100 has a supply shaft 6 to which a label paper roll is attached, a feed shaft 10 to which a ribbon roll, which is an unused ink ribbon wound around a paper tube 30 (FIG. 4), is detachably attached, a take-up shaft 12 to which a ribbon roll for winding up the used ink ribbon is detachably attached, and a printing unit 20. The printing unit 20 is an example of a printing section.

[0013] A label paper roll is a long, strip-shaped label paper wound into a roll. Label paper is made by affixing multiple labels in a row to one side of a long backing sheet. The labels have an adhesive layer on the backing sheet side, making them detachable and affixable to other items after being peeled off the backing sheet. A label paper roll is made by wrapping label paper around a core material with the label-affixed side of the backing sheet facing inward. Label paper is an example of printing paper. Printing paper is not limited to label paper, and may be, for example, strip-shaped thermal paper. A label paper roll is an example of a media roll. The core material of a label paper roll is an example of a cylindrical body.

[0014] The ribbon roll is a long ink ribbon wound into a roll. The ink ribbon holds ink that is transferred to label paper by heat. An unused ribbon roll is an ink ribbon wound around a paper tube 30 before the ink is transferred, and its diameter decreases with use. A used ribbon roll is an ink ribbon wound up after the ink has been transferred, and its diameter gradually increases. In other words, the used ribbon roll is an ink ribbon pulled out from a ribbon roll before use and wound up downstream of the printing unit 20. An unused ribbon roll is an example of a media roll. The paper tube 30 is an example of a cylindrical body.

[0015] The side wall 201 of the housing 2 fixes one end of the supply shaft 6, the delivery shaft 10, and the take-up shaft 12. In other words, the side wall 201 holds the three shafts 6, 10, and 12 in a cantilevered manner. The take-up shaft 12 has substantially the same structure as the delivery shaft 10, except that it does not include an antenna 40 (FIGS. 2 and 3), which will be described later. Therefore, in the following explanation, a detailed explanation of the take-up shaft 12 will be omitted.

[0016] The supply shaft 6 is provided with two hold plates 701, 702 near both ends in the longitudinal direction, which respectively abut against both end surfaces in the axial direction of the label paper roll. The hold plate 701 on the far side, closer to the side wall 201, is movable along the longitudinal direction of the supply shaft 6. The hold plate 701 determines the axial attachment position of the label paper roll so that the axial center of the label paper roll is aligned with the center of the label printer 100. The hold plate 702 on the near side, which is attached near the end of the supply shaft 6 away from the side wall 201 of the housing 2, is fixed to the supply shaft 6 with a fixture 703.

[0017] When attaching a label paper roll to the supply shaft 6, the front hold plate 702 is removed from the supply shaft 6, and the label paper roll is then attached to the supply shaft 6. The front hold plate 702 is then attached to the front end of the supply shaft 6. The label paper from the label paper roll is pulled out of the label paper roll by the label paper transport roller 68 (Figure 5), passes through the printing unit 20, and exits the label printer 100.

[0018] The ribbon roll feed shaft 10 and take-up shaft 12 are each provided with stopper plates 13, 14 near the side wall 201 of the housing 2. The stopper plates 13, 14 are movable along the longitudinal direction of the respective shafts 10, 12. One axial end of an unused ribbon roll attached to the feed shaft 10 abuts against the stopper plate 13, aligning the axial center of this ribbon roll with the center of the label printer 100. One axial end of a used ribbon roll attached to the take-up shaft 12 abuts against the stopper plate 14, aligning the axial center of this ribbon roll with the center of the label printer 100.

[0019] A ribbon shaft fixing plate 15 is located opposite the front ends of the feed shaft 10 and the take-up shaft 12, which are away from the side wall 201. The ribbon shaft fixing plate 15 is rotatably connected via a hinge 16 to a support plate 203 that stands upright above the bottom wall 205 of the housing 2. The ribbon shaft fixing plate 15 has a receiving hole 151 that receives a tip 411 of a fixed shaft 41 (described below) of the feed shaft 10 (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as the tip 411 of the feed shaft 10), and a receiving hole 152 that receives a tip 121 of the take-up shaft 12. The ribbon shaft fixing plate 15 has an insertion hole 153 through which the head lever 21 of the printing unit 20 is inserted.

[0020] When attaching a ribbon roll to the let-off shaft 10, the ribbon shaft fixing plate 15 is opened to a position not shown, and the ribbon roll is attached to the let-off shaft 10. Thereafter, the ribbon shaft fixing plate 15 is rotated to the position shown, and the tip 411 of the let-off shaft 10 is inserted into the receiving hole 151, and the tip 121 of the take-up shaft 12 is inserted into the receiving hole 152. In this state, the ribbon shaft fixing plate 15 fixes the tip 411 of the let-off shaft 10 and the tip 121 of the take-up shaft 12.

[0021] The ink ribbon is unwound from a ribbon roll attached to a feed shaft 10, passes through a printing unit 20, and is taken up by a take-up shaft 12. The printing unit 20 transports the ink ribbon over the label paper, and the ink ribbon passes through the printing unit 20 at the same speed as the label paper.

[0022] The printing unit 20 has a thermal head located on the opposite side of the ink ribbon from the label paper. The printing unit 20 has a platen roller located opposite the thermal head, sandwiching the ink ribbon and label paper between them. The printing unit 20 presses the ink ribbon against the label paper using the thermal head, thermally transferring the ink from the ink ribbon to the label paper. The printing unit 20 prints two-dimensional barcodes and other information on the labels on the label paper.

[0023] Fig. 2 is a partially enlarged perspective view showing a main portion of the feed shaft 10 of the label printer 100. Fig. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the feed shaft 10. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the feed shaft 10 has a fixed shaft 41 fixed in a cantilever state to the side wall 201 of the housing 2, an intermediate sleeve 42 arranged coaxially on the outside of the fixed shaft 41, and a bearing 43 arranged coaxially on the outside of the fixed shaft 41. The fixed shaft 41 is an example of a shaft described in the claims of the present application. The intermediate sleeve 42 is an example of a sleeve.

[0024] The fixed shaft 41 is, for example, a solid metal shaft, and is fixed in a cantilever state to the side wall 201 of the housing 2 using a bolt. A tip 411 of the fixed shaft 41 protrudes from the front end of the intermediate sleeve .

[0025] The intermediate sleeve 42 is generally cylindrical and has a bearing 43 disposed inside near the end on the side wall 201 side. The bearing 43 is fitted inside the end of the intermediate sleeve 42 and fixed to the intermediate sleeve 42. The bearing 43 is cylindrical and can be made of resin or metal. The inner diameter of the intermediate sleeve 42 is generally the same as the outer diameter of the bearing 43.

[0026] The intermediate sleeve 42 is rotatable relative to the fixed shaft 41 by means of a bearing 43. The intermediate sleeve 42 is provided with the above-mentioned stopper plate 13 on the outside near the end on the side wall 201 side. The stopper plate 13 is movable in the longitudinal direction of the intermediate sleeve 42 and can be fixed at a desired position in the longitudinal direction.

[0027] The outer peripheral surface of the intermediate sleeve 42 has two bosses 421 for positioning the leaf spring 44 and screw holes 422 for fastening and fixing the leaf spring 44 to the outer peripheral surface of the intermediate sleeve 42. The leaf spring 44 has a slit 441 at one end on the side wall 201 side through which the bosses 421 are inserted, and a screw hole 422 at the other end through which a screw 442 is inserted. The leaf spring 44 is fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the intermediate sleeve 42 by inserting the bosses 421 of the intermediate sleeve 42 into the slits 441 and threading the screws 442 into the screw holes 422.

[0028] The leaf spring 44 is made of metal, and with the cardboard tube 30 of the ribbon roll attached to the outside of the intermediate sleeve 42, it presses the inner surface of the cardboard tube 30 outward, fixing the cardboard tube 30 to the intermediate sleeve 42. The leaf spring 44 protrudes from the outer circumferential surface of the intermediate sleeve 42 to an extent that the intermediate sleeve 42 can be inserted into the cardboard tube 30.

[0029] A sheet-like antenna 40 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the fixed shaft 41. Wiring 401 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the fixed shaft 41 and is electrically connected to the antenna 40 and extends in the longitudinal direction of the fixed shaft 41. The antenna 40 and wiring 401 may be, for example, continuous metal foil, or may be formed by patterning metal foil on the surface of a flexible substrate. For example, the pattern of the antenna 40 is in the shape of a loop antenna in order to generate a magnetic field.

[0030] A magnetic sheet 45 is provided between the outer circumferential surface of the fixed shaft 41 and the antenna 40. The magnetic sheet 45 is provided so that the magnetic field generated by the antenna 40 does not cause eddy currents to be generated in the metal fixed shaft 41, which would cancel out the magnetic field generated by the antenna 40. For this reason, the magnetic sheet 45 is slightly larger than the antenna 40 so that it is located between the antenna 40 and the fixed shaft 41.

[0031] Because antenna 40 is spaced from the outer circumferential surface of fixed shaft 41 by the thickness of magnetic sheet 45, the end of wiring 401 on the antenna 40 side is slightly inclined in a direction away from the outer circumferential surface of fixed shaft 41 toward antenna 40. Because bearing 43 is provided between intermediate sleeve 42 and fixed shaft 41, the inner diameter of intermediate sleeve 42 is sufficiently larger than the outer diameter of fixed shaft 41. For this reason, when fixed shaft 41 is inserted into intermediate sleeve 42 or when intermediate sleeve 42 rotates relative to fixed shaft 41, the inner surface of intermediate sleeve 42 does not come into sliding contact with antenna 40 and wiring 401.

[0032] 2, fixed shaft 41 has a groove-like recess 412 provided on its outer circumferential surface along its longitudinal direction. The width of recess 412 along the circumferential direction of fixed shaft 41 is slightly wider than the width of wiring 401. The depth of recess 412 is slightly deeper than the thickness of wiring 401. After magnetic sheet 45 is adhered to the outer circumferential surface of fixed shaft 41, antenna 40 is attached on top of magnetic sheet 45.

[0033] A protective sleeve 50 is located near the end of the fixed shaft 41 on the side wall 201 side. The inner diameter of the protective sleeve 50 is approximately the same as the outer diameter of the fixed shaft 41, and the outer diameter is slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the bearing 43. In other words, there is a gap between the intermediate sleeve 42 and the fixed shaft 41 that is the thickness of the protective sleeve 50. The protective sleeve 50 is interposed between the wiring 401 and the bearing 43, and is fitted onto the end of the fixed shaft 41 to secure it in place.

[0034] When the fixed shaft 41, to which the protective sleeve 50 is fixed, is inserted into the intermediate sleeve 42, to which the bearing 43 is fitted at one end, and the intermediate sleeve 42 is attached to the fixed shaft 41, the inner peripheral surface of the bearing 43 comes into contact with the outer peripheral surface of the protective sleeve 50. Because the inner diameter of the bearing 43 is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the protective sleeve 50 and there is a small gap between the two, the intermediate sleeve 42 equipped with the bearing 43 can rotate relative to the fixed shaft 41 equipped with the protective sleeve 50. The protective sleeve 50 prevents the intermediate sleeve 42 from sliding against the wiring 401 housed and arranged in the recess 412 of the fixed shaft 41 when the intermediate sleeve 42 rotates relative to the fixed shaft 41.

[0035] FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the cardboard tube 30 of the ribbon roll attached to the delivery shaft 10. As shown in FIG. 4, the cardboard tube 30 of the ribbon roll has an IC tag 32 that communicates wirelessly. The IC tag 32 is, for example, in the form of a rectangular sheet, and is attached by adhesive to the outer circumferential surface 301 of the cardboard tube 30 approximately at the center in the axial direction of the cardboard tube 30. The ink ribbon is wrapped around the outer circumferential surface of the cardboard tube 30, overlapping the outside of the IC tag 32. The IC tag 32 may be provided on the cardboard tube 30, or may be provided on the inner surface of the cardboard tube 30 or in an intermediate portion between the outer and inner surfaces of the cardboard tube 30. The IC tag is an example of a wireless tag as defined in the claims of this application.

[0036] FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an example of a control system of the label printer 100. As shown in FIG. 5, the label printer 100 has a control unit 60 that sets the print speed depending on the type of ink ribbon. The control unit 60 is configured by a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The processor may be, for example, an MPU (micro processing unit), SoC (system on a chip), DSP (digital signal processor), GPU (graphics processing unit), ASIC (application specific integrated circuit), PLD (programmable logic device), or FPGA (field-programmable gate array). Alternatively, the processor may be a combination of two or more of these.

[0037] The control unit 60 is connected to a power switch 206 , an operation unit 202 , a display unit 204 , a memory 62 , a reader / writer 63 , a label paper transport motor 64 , an ink ribbon supply motor 65 , an ink ribbon take-up motor 66 , and a communication unit 67 .

[0038] The memory 62 stores a control program and also stores data related to the printing speed appropriate for the type of ink ribbon. The reader / writer 63 wirelessly communicates with the IC tag 32 via the antenna 40, writing data to the IC tag 32 and reading data from the IC tag 32. The reader / writer 63 is an example of a data communication unit. The label paper transport motor 64 rotates a label paper transport roller 68 that pulls out label paper from the label paper roll. The ink ribbon pay-out motor 65 rotates the intermediate sleeve 42 of the pay-out shaft 10. The ink ribbon take-up motor 66 rotates the intermediate sleeve 42 of the take-up shaft 12. The communication unit 67 transmits and receives various data to and from external devices ED such as a host computer.

[0039] When the power switch 206 is turned ON, the control unit 60 controls the reader / writer 63 to read data from the IC tag 32 via the antenna 40. In particular, the label printer 100 is designed so that when replacing the ribbon roll on the feed shaft 10, the cover 4 of the housing 2 cannot be opened and the ribbon roll replaced unless the power switch 206 is turned OFF once. It is recommended that the label printer 100 be used after replacing the ribbon roll on the feed shaft 10, or after turning the power switch 206 OFF once. Therefore, in many cases, when using the label printer 100 after replacing the ribbon roll on the feed shaft 10, the power switch 206 will be turned ON, and the data will be read from the IC tag 32 at that time. Alternatively, the number of times cover 4 is opened and closed may be stored in memory 62 in a non-volatile manner, and an open / close counter may be provided that mechanically counts the number of times cover 4 is opened and closed, and the count value may be read by control unit 60. When power switch 206 is turned on, if the count value of the open / close counter differs from the number of times cover 4 is opened and closed stored in memory 62, control unit 60 may read data from IC tag 32.

[0040] The IC tag 32 stores data related to the ink ribbon wound around the paper tube 30. The data related to the ink ribbon includes, for example, the product name, type (for plain paper, for thick paper), width, length, manufacturing date, serial number (production number), remaining amount of ink ribbon, etc.

[0041] The control unit 60 then reads from the memory 62 the print speed that matches the type of ink ribbon read from the IC tag 32, and controls the label paper transport motor 64, ink ribbon feed motor 65, and ink ribbon take-up motor 66 to achieve this print speed. The control unit 60 controls the label paper transport motor 64, ink ribbon feed motor 65, and ink ribbon take-up motor 66 to print at this print speed until the ink ribbon is used up.

[0042] Furthermore, when each print task is completed, the control unit 60 rewrites the remaining amount of ink ribbon recorded in the memory 62. The control unit 60 can display the remaining amount of ink ribbon via the display unit 204.

[0043] Next, we will explain the success or failure of data reading for each angle of an IC tag attached to a paper tube using a conventional antenna. A reader / writer equipped with a conventional antenna may not be able to read data from the IC tag depending on the angle between the antenna and the IC tag. Below, the conventional antenna will be referred to as antenna 402. The antenna element of antenna 402 will be referred to as antenna element 4021.

[0044] Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the success or failure results of data reading for each angle of the IC tag 32 attached to the cardboard tube 30 by the antenna 402 attached to the fixed shaft 41. In Fig. 6, a circle indicates successful data reading, and a cross indicates unsuccessful data reading.

[0045] To facilitate a comparison between the conventional antenna 402 and the antenna 403 of the embodiment described later, the conventional antenna 402 will be described here using the label printer 100 described above. That is, the conventional antenna 402 will be described assuming that the label printer 100 is equipped with the conventional antenna 402. Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which the angle of the IC tag 32 with respect to the antenna 402 is 0 degrees, and Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram showing the same state in which the angle is 90 degrees. In Figs. 7 and 8, the outlined arrows indicate the main direction and magnitude of the magnetic field that the IC tag 32 receives.

[0046] For example, suppose that the width of antenna element 4021 of antenna 402 in the circumferential direction of fixed shaft 41 is half the circumferential direction of fixed shaft 41, as shown in Figures 7 and 8, that is, antenna element 4021 of antenna 402 covers half the circumferential direction of fixed shaft 41. In this case, the magnetic field generated by antenna 402 is strong at the center of antenna 402 and weak at the ends, as shown in Figures 7 and 8.

[0047] In the case of an IC tag 32 whose maximum width is equal to or greater than half the circumference of the cardboard tube 30, as shown in Fig. 7, when the IC tag 32 is at 0 degrees relative to the antenna element 4021 of the antenna 402, that is, when the center point of the circumferential width of the IC tag 32 coincides with the center point of the circumferential width of the antenna element 4021 of the antenna 402, the IC tag 32 receives a strong magnetic field generated by the antenna element 4021 of the antenna 402, and data reading is successful. On the other hand, as shown in Fig. 8, when the IC tag 32 is positioned at 90 degrees relative to the antenna element 4021 of the antenna 402, that is, when the antenna element 4021 of the antenna 402 and the IC tag 32 are positioned orthogonal to each other, the magnetic field generated by the antenna element 4021 of the antenna 402 is weak and is difficult for the IC tag 32 to receive, and data reading fails. The same is true for a positional relationship of 270 degrees, which is the -90 degree position. It should be noted that, since data reading was successful in the direction of 180 degrees (the rear side of antenna element 4021 of antenna 402), it is presumed that the magnetic field is stronger than in the directions of ±90 degrees.

[0048] Since the basic operation is electromagnetic induction, no electromotive force is generated in the IC tag 32 and communication becomes impossible unless the magnetic field generated by the antenna element 4021 of the antenna 402 penetrates the loop antenna of the IC tag 32. This situation in which communication is impossible occurs when the positional relationship between the IC tag 32 and the antenna 402 is ±90 degrees.

[0049] As mentioned above, conventional antennas cannot read data depending on the angle with the IC tag, and therefore cannot be said to be able to perform good data communication.

[0050] FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an embodiment of antenna 40. Hereinafter, antenna 40 of the embodiment will be referred to as antenna 403. In FIG. 9, for reference, fixed shaft 41 is shown alongside antenna 403. Also, recess 412 of fixed shaft 41, wiring 401, magnetic sheet 45, etc. are omitted. For convenience of explanation, the thickness of antenna 40 and the thickness of magnetic sheet 45 attached to fixed shaft 41 will not be taken into consideration.

[0051] Antenna 403 has four antenna elements 4031, 4032, 4033, and 4034, each of which forms a rectangular loop by winding a continuous metal foil multiple times in a certain direction, and these elements are continuously arranged in one direction along the short side of the loop. In antenna 403, antenna elements 4031 and 4033 are formed on the front surface of flexible substrate 4030. In antenna 403, antenna elements 4032 and 4034 are formed on the back surface of flexible substrate 4030. For convenience of explanation, in FIG. 9, antenna elements 4031 and 4033 formed on the front surface of flexible substrate 4030 are represented by a single solid line. In FIG. 9, antenna elements 4032 and 4034 formed on the back surface of flexible substrate 4030 are represented by a single dotted line. Also, in Figure 9, each antenna element and other wiring of antenna 403 is represented by a single solid line or a single dotted line, but in reality, the metal foil of each antenna element and other wiring of antenna 403 is provided with a width of, for example, about 0.5 mm to 1 mm in order to efficiently pass current.

[0052] Antenna elements 4031, 4032, 4033, and 4034 of antenna 403 are wound in the same direction when viewed from the front or back of flexible substrate 4030. For example, as shown in Fig. 9, when viewed from the front, each loop of antenna elements 4031 to 4034 is wound in a counterclockwise direction.

[0053] 9, the side of antenna 403 where antenna element 4031 is formed is defined as one end, and the side where antenna element 4034 is formed is defined as the other end. In antenna 403, the other end of antenna element 4031 overlaps with one end of antenna element 4032. Similarly, in antenna 403, the other end of antenna element 4032 overlaps with one end of antenna element 4033, and the other end of antenna element 4033 overlaps with one end of antenna element 4034. In other words, antenna 403 has a group of four antenna elements 4031, 4032, 4033, and 4034 that are arranged in one direction and overlap with adjacent antenna elements 4031, 4032, 4033, and 4034. 9, point α indicates the outermost point on one end side of antenna element 4031, and point β indicates the innermost point on the other end side of antenna element 4034. The width of antenna 403 from point α to point β is set to be approximately equal to the outer circumference of fixed shaft 41. By doing so, antenna 403 is provided on the outer circumferential surface of fixed shaft 41 so that the longitudinal direction of each of antenna elements 4031, 4032, 4033, and 4034 is aligned with the longitudinal direction of fixed shaft 41, and therefore one end side of antenna element 4031 and the other end side of antenna element 4034 overlap.

[0054] As described above, the antenna 403 is provided on the outer circumferential surface of the fixed shaft 41 so that the longitudinal direction of each of the antenna elements 4031, 4032, 4033, and 4034 is aligned with the longitudinal direction of the fixed shaft 41. That is, the antenna 403 is arranged so that the antenna elements 4031, 4032, 4033, and 4034 are adjacent to each other along the circumferential direction of the fixed shaft 41. In other words, when the cardboard tube 30 attached to the feed shaft 10 rotates, the IC tag 32 attached to the cardboard tube 30 faces the antenna element 4031, antenna element 4032, antenna element 4033, and antenna element 4034 of the antenna 403 in that order.

[0055] Fig. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the success or failure results of data reading for each angle of the IC tag 32 attached to the cardboard tube 30 by the antenna 403 attached to the fixed shaft 41. In Fig. 10, a circle indicates successful data reading. Fig. 11 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which the angle of the IC tag 32 with respect to the antenna 403 is 0 degrees, and Fig. 12 is a schematic diagram showing the same state at 90 degrees. In Figs. 11 and 12, the outlined arrows indicate the main direction and magnitude of the magnetic field that the IC tag 32 receives.

[0056] For example, the width of antenna 403 from point α to point β in the circumferential direction of fixed shaft 41 goes around the entire circumference of fixed shaft 41 as shown in Figures 11 and 12, that is, antenna element 4031, antenna element 4032, antenna element 4033, and antenna element 4034 of antenna 403 are arranged to cover the circumferential direction of fixed shaft 41. In this case, the magnetic field generated by antenna 403 has a uniform strength in all directions, as shown in Figures 11 and 12.

[0057] In the case of an IC tag 32 whose maximum width is equal to or greater than half the circumference of the cardboard tube 30, as shown in Fig. 11, when the IC tag 32 is at 0 degrees relative to the antenna element 4031 of the antenna 403, that is, when the center point of the circumferential width of the IC tag 32 coincides with the center point of the circumferential width of the antenna element 4031, the IC tag 32 receives a strong magnetic field generated by the antenna element 4031, and data reading is successful. Also, as shown in Fig. 12, when the IC tag 32 is positioned at 90 degrees relative to the antenna element 4031 of the antenna 403, that is, when the antenna element 4031 and the IC tag 32 are orthogonal to each other, the IC tag 32 is at 0 degrees relative to the antenna element 4032, and receives a strong magnetic field generated by the antenna element 4032, and data reading is successful. When the IC tag 32 is positioned at -90 degrees relative to the antenna element 4031 of the antenna 403, that is, at 270 degrees, the IC tag 32 is at 0 degrees relative to the antenna element 4034, and data reading is similarly successful. When the IC tag 32 is oriented at 180 degrees relative to the antenna element 4031 (back side of the antenna element 4031), the IC tag 32 is oriented at 0 degrees relative to the antenna element 4033, and data reading is similarly successful.

[0058] As described above, the label printer 100 according to this embodiment is provided with the antenna 403 on the delivery shaft 10 to which the ribbon roll in which the ink ribbon is wound around the paper tube 30 is attached, so that communication is possible regardless of the angle of the IC tag 32 attached to the paper tube 30 relative to the antenna 403.

[0059] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a modified example of antenna 403. Hereinafter, the antenna shown in FIG. 13 will be referred to as antenna 404. As shown in FIG. 13, antenna elements 4041, 4042, 4043, and 4044 of antenna 404 do not overlap with adjacent antenna elements, but are formed without any gaps. In other words, the gap between adjacent antenna elements is 0 mm. In FIG. 13, the width from the outermost side of the left half of antenna element 4041 to the outermost side of the right half of antenna element 4044 is approximately the same as the outer circumference of fixed shaft 41. By attaching such antenna 404 to fixed shaft 41, the gap between adjacent portions of antenna element 4041 on one end and antenna element 4044 on the other end is 0 mm. For convenience of explanation, in FIG. 13, antenna elements 4041 and 4043 formed on the surface of antenna 404 are represented by a single solid line. 13, antenna element 4042 and antenna element 4044 formed on the back surface of antenna 404 are represented by a single dotted line. Also, in Fig. 13, each antenna element and other wiring of antenna 404 are represented by a single solid line or a single dotted line, but in reality, the metal foil of each antenna element and other wiring of antenna 404 is provided with a width of, for example, about 0.5 mm to 1 mm in order to efficiently pass current.

[0060] FIG. 14 is a diagram showing yet another modified example of antenna 403. Hereinafter, the antenna shown in FIG. 14 will be referred to as antenna 405. As shown in FIG. 14, each of antenna elements 4051, 4052, 4053, and 4054 of antenna 405 has a loop formed on the center side of adjacent antenna elements so as to cross over the boundary. Here, for convenience, the gap between adjacent antenna elements is expressed as −2 mm. Even in this modified example, when antenna 405 is attached to fixed shaft 41, antenna element 4051 on one end and antenna element 4054 on the other end are arranged so as to cross over each other's loop, and the gap between the loops is −2 mm. Note that, for convenience of explanation, in FIG. 14, antenna elements 4051 and 4053 formed on the front surface of antenna 405 are represented by a single solid line. In FIG. 14, antenna elements 4052 and 4054 formed on the back surface of antenna 405 are represented by a single dotted line. Also, in Figure 14, each antenna element and other wiring of antenna 405 is represented by a single solid line or a single dotted line, but in reality, the metal foil of each antenna element and other wiring of antenna 405 is provided with a width of, for example, about 0.5 mm to 1 mm in order to efficiently pass current.

[0061] Incidentally, if the gap between adjacent antenna elements is large, there may be points where data cannot be read. For example, experimental results show that a gap between loops of -1mm to 1mm is suitable for stable data reading.

[0062] In the above embodiment, the number of antenna elements in the antennas 403, 404, and 405 is four. The number of antenna elements is not limited to four. The number of antenna elements increases or decreases depending on the diameter of the shaft on which the antenna is mounted. The outer diameter of the fixed shaft 41 in the above embodiment is, for example, 12 mm.

[0063] In the above embodiment, the antenna elements of the antennas 403, 404, and 405 are formed by patterning metal foil on the surface of the flexible substrate. In another embodiment, the antenna elements of the antennas 403, 404, and 405 may be formed by winding a coil instead of metal foil.

[0064] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the above-described embodiments have been presented as examples. The above-described embodiments are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. It is possible to carry out the invention in various forms, and various omissions and substitutions may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. The above-described embodiment and its modifications are within the scope and spirit of the invention. The present invention is also included in the scope of the inventions described in the claims and their equivalents. [Explanation of symbols]

[0065] 2...housing, 10...feed shaft, 12...winding shaft, 20...printing unit, 32...IC tag, 40, 402, 403...antenna, 41...fixed shaft, 42...intermediate sleeve, 43...bearing, 60...control unit, 62...memory, 63...reader / writer, 64...label paper transport motor, 65...ink ribbon feed motor, 66...ink ribbon winding motor, 67...communication unit, 68...label paper transport roller, 100...label printer, 201...side wall, 202...operation unit, 204...display unit, 206...power switch, ED...external device.

Claims

1. a shaft that is inserted into a cylindrical body that includes a wireless tag and that rotatably supports the cylindrical body; an antenna for performing data communication with the wireless tag, the antenna element group having an antenna element group arranged to cover the circumferential direction of the shaft; A printing device comprising:

2. The antenna element group includes a plurality of antenna elements arranged in one direction with no gap between adjacent antenna elements, The antenna is arranged so that the plurality of antenna elements of the antenna element group cover the circumferential direction of the shaft. The printing device of claim 1.

3. The antenna element group includes a plurality of antenna elements arranged in one direction so as to overlap adjacent antenna elements, The antenna is arranged so that the plurality of antenna elements of the antenna element group cover the circumferential direction of the shaft. The printing device of claim 1 .

4. One end side and the other end side of the plurality of antenna elements arranged so as to cover the circumferential direction of the shaft are arranged without any gaps. The printing device according to claim 2 .

5. The antenna element group includes a plurality of loop-shaped antenna elements wound in the same direction and arranged in one direction. The printing device of claim 1 .

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