Ribbon preparation method, tape printing device and program

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9804806-B2
Application number	US-201615079023-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 23, 2016
Priority date	Mar 30, 2015
Publication date	Oct 31, 2017
Grant date	Oct 31, 2017

Abstract

A tape printing device includes: a display unit which displays a printable area on a ribbon decoration preview which is a preview of a completed ribbon decoration; an input unit which input information; an acquisition unit which acquires the inputted information; and a print data generation unit which generates print data for printing a print image based on the acquired information, on a ribbon tape. The print data generation unit decides a print position of the print image on the ribbon tape according to an arrangement of the printable area on the ribbon decoration preview.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A ribbon preparation method comprising:
displaying a plurality of printable areas on a ribbon decoration preview which is a preview of a completed ribbon decoration;
setting a type of folding shape for the completed ribbon decoration made of a printed ribbon tape;
acquiring information for printing a plurality of print images from a plurality of editing areas, each corresponding to one of the plurality of printable areas, where information regarding a print image to be printed in each of the plurality of printable areas is input; and
printing the plurality of print images based on the acquired information, on a ribbon tape;
wherein
in the displaying of the plurality of printable areas, the ribbon decoration preview is displayed and a position of each printable area on the ribbon decoration preview is determined based on the type of folding shape that is set for the ribbon decoration, and
in the printing of the plurality of print images, print positions of the plurality of print images on the ribbon tape are decided according to an arrangement of the plurality of printable areas on the ribbon decoration preview.

2. The ribbon preparation method according to claim 1 , further comprising calculating a length of the ribbon tape necessary for preparing the ribbon decoration, according to the type of the ribbon decoration that is set,
wherein in the printing of the plurality of print images, the ribbon tape is cut to the calculated length, or a cut mark is printed on the basis of the length.

3. The ribbon preparation method according to claim 2 , wherein in the setting of the type of folding shape for the ribbon decoration, a dimension of an object to be wrapped is set, and
in the calculation of the length of the ribbon tape, the length of the ribbon tape necessary for preparation of the ribbon decoration and for ribbon wrapping on the object to be wrapped is calculated according to the dimension of the object to be wrapped that is set.

4. The ribbon preparation method according to claim 3 , wherein in the displaying of the plurality of printable areas, an object preview which is a preview of the object to be wrapped, a ribbon wrapping preview which is a preview of the ribbon tape wrapped around the object to be wrapped, and the ribbon decoration preview are displayed, and one or more of the plurality of printable areas are displayed on the ribbon wrapping preview and the ribbon decoration preview, and
in the acquisition of the information, the information that is different from one of the plurality of printable areas to another can be acquired.

5. The ribbon preparation method according to claim 4 , wherein in the setting of the type of folding shape for the ribbon decoration, a type of ribbon wrapping around the object to be wrapped is set,
in the displaying of the plurality of printable areas, the ribbon wrapping preview is displayed and the plurality of printable areas are arranged on the ribbon wrapping preview, according to the type of the ribbon wrapping that is set, and
in the calculation of the length of the ribbon tape, the length of the ribbon tape is calculated according to the type of the ribbon wrapping that is set.

6. The ribbon preparation method according to claim 3 , further comprising picking up an image of the object to be wrapped,
wherein in the setting of the type of folding shape for the ribbon decoration, the dimension of the object to be wrapped is set according to a result of the image pickup.

7. The ribbon preparation method according to claim 3 , wherein in the printing of the plurality of print images, a mark indicating at least one of a position to start wrapping around the object to be wrapped, a position to be applied at a corner of the object to be wrapped, a preparation target range of the ribbon decoration, a knot position of the ribbon decoration, and a ribbon overlapping position of the ribbon decoration, is printed on the ribbon tape.

8. A tape printing device comprising:
a display which displays a plurality of printable areas on a ribbon decoration preview which is a preview of a completed ribbon decoration;
at least one processor that executes one or more programs stored in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that comprises computer executable instructions to realize one or more functions of:
a setting unit which sets a type of folding shape for the completed ribbon decoration made of a printed ribbon tape; and
an acquisition unit which acquires information for printing a plurality of print images from a plurality of editing areas, each corresponding to one of the plurality of printable areas, where information regarding a print image to be printed in each of the plurality of printable areas is input; and

a printer which prints the plurality of print images based on the information acquired by the acquisition unit, on a ribbon tape;
wherein
on the display, the ribbon decoration preview is displayed and a position of each printable area on the ribbon decoration preview is determined based on the type of folding shape that is set for the ribbon decoration, and
the printer prints the plurality of print images on the ribbon tape at print positions coinciding with an arrangement of the plurality of printable areas on the ribbon decoration preview.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising a program configured to cause a computer to execute:
displaying a plurality of printable areas on a ribbon decoration preview which is a preview of a completed ribbon decoration;
setting a type of folding shape for the completed ribbon decoration made of a printed ribbon tape;
acquiring information for printing a plurality of print images from a plurality of editing areas, each corresponding to one of the plurality of printable areas, where information regarding a print image to be printed in each of the plurality of printable areas is input; and
generating print data for printing the plurality of print images based on the acquired information, on a ribbon tape;
wherein
in the displaying of the plurality of printable areas, the ribbon decoration preview is displayed and a position of each printable area on the ribbon decoration preview is determined based on the type of folding shape that is set for the ribbon decoration, and
in the generating of the print data, print positions of the plurality of print images on the ribbon tape are decided according to an arrangement of the plurality of printable areas on the ribbon decoration preview.

10. The ribbon preparation method according to claim 1 , wherein
in the ribbon decoration preview, the plurality of printable areas are each positioned based on the type of folding shape that is set for the ribbon decoration, and
in the acquiring of the information for printing the plurality of print images, separate print information is acquired for each of the plurality of printable areas.

11. The ribbon preparation method according to claim 4 , wherein
in the ribbon wrapping preview, the ribbon tape is divided into a plurality of sections wherein each of the plurality of sections corresponds to one of a plurality of surfaces of the object to be wrapped,
each of the plurality of sections includes at least one printable area, and
in the acquiring of the information for printing the plurality of print images, separate print information is acquired for each printable area corresponding to each of the plurality of sections of ribbon tape.

Assignees

• Seiko Epson Corp
• Seiko Epson Coporation

Inventors

• Hirabayashi Naofumi

Classifications

• G06F3/1284

  Local printer device · CPC title

• G06F3/1292

  Mobile client, e.g. wireless printing · CPC title

• G06F3/1208

  resulting in improved quality of the output result, e.g. print layout, colours, workflows, print preview · CPC title

• G06F3/1256

  User feedback, e.g. print preview, test print, proofing, pre-flight checks · CPC title

• B41J11/008

  Controlling printhead for accurately positioning print image on printing material, e.g. with the intention to control the width of margins · CPC title