Thermotransfer printer with single sheet intake means

• US 8,675,240 B2
• Filed: 04/19/2005
• Issued: 03/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 04/20/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Avery Dennison Corporation
• Original Assignee: Avery Dennison Corporation
• Inventors: Lenkl, Johannes
• Primary Examiner(s): BRYAR, JEREMIAH A
• Application Number:
  US11/578,905
• Publication Number:
  US 20070223014A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,255 Days
• Field of Search: 358/1.1, 358/1.15, 347/200
• US Class Current: 358/1.18
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 11/008 Controlling printhead for accurately positioning print image on printing material, e.g. with the intention to control the width of margins
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 13/12 specially adapted for small cards, envelopes, or the like , e.g. credit cards, cut visiting cards
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/32 using thermal heads
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 3/407 for marking on special material
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 3/44 Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms having dual functions or combined with, or coupled to, apparatus performing other functions
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 17/0025 the arrangement consisting of a wireless interrogation device in combination with a device for optically marking the record carrier

Abstract

The present invention concerns a thermotransfer printer for printing print media having RFID labels, comprising a thermotransfer printing unit, and a single sheet intake means. The invention is further characterised by an RFID reading unit for reading items of information from the RFID labels, wherein the RFID reading unit is so connected to the thermotransfer printing unit (70) that the thermotransfer printing unit (70) is controllable in dependence on the items of information read out of the respective RFID label.

Claims

1. A thermotransfer printer for printing print media having RFID labels, comprising:

a thermotransfer printing unit containing a printing head that applies pressure to the print media, and

a single sheet intake means,

an RFID reading unit for reading items of information from a RFID device in the RFID labels, wherein the RFID reading unit is so connected to the thermotransfer printing unit that the thermotransfer printing unit is controllable in dependence on the items of information read out of the respective RFID label, and

the printing head is controlled by a CPU control unit such that the CPU control unit directs the printing head to lift off the RFID label when the RFID device in a print medium reaches the printing head and does not cause damage to the RFID device.

2. A printer according to claim 1, further comprising a control unit which is adapted to receive items of information read out from the RFID reading unit and to control the thermotransfer printing unit in dependence on the received items of information.

3. A printer according to claim 1 , wherein the RFID reading unit is adapted to read out an identification of the labels, and the CPU control unit has an identification memory for storing identifications of the RFID labels to be printed by the printer, wherein precisely one set of commands is associated with each identification in the identification memory.

4. A printer according to claim 1, wherein the CPU control unit is adapted to control the thermotransfer printing unit in such a way that a predetermined motif is printed on the print media at a predetermined location in dependence on the received information from the RFID labels.

5. A printer according to claim 1, wherein the RFID reading unit, comprises

a collision detector which is adapted by using suitable signal encoding to recognize whether a plurality of RFID labels are in a transmitting/receiving region of the reading device, and

an access unit which is adapted to access a plurality of RFID labels by means of an access process, and to identify the RFID labels by means of a deterministic algorithm.

6. A printer according to claim 5, wherein the RFID reading unit comprises a position detection unit which is adapted to detect a transit time and/or intensity of a signal received from a given RFID label and to determine the position of the given RFID label relative to the RFID reading unit on the basis of the transit time and/or intensity of the signal from the given RFID label.

7. A printer according to claim 6, wherein the position detection unit identifies the printing media containing an RFID device being printed on by the thermotransfer printer.

8. A printer according to claim 5 wherein the signal encoding is Manchester encoding.

9. A printer according to claim 5 wherein the access process includes SDMA, TDMA, FDMA or CDMA.

10. A printer according to claim 5 wherein the deterministic algorithm includes a tree search algorithm.

11. A printer according to claim 5, wherein the deterministic algorithm includes a probabilistic algorithm.

12. A printer according to claim 11, wherein the probabilistic algorithm includes an Aloha algorithm.

13. A printer according to claim 1, wherein the printing head is a corner edge printing head.

14. A thermotransfer printer for printing print media having RFID labels, comprising;

a sheet intake having a carrier in a plane;

print media having a plurality of RFID labels provided on the carrier, with at least one of the labels having a RFID device, the carrier transports the print media upwardly;

a transport roller adjacent an edge of the supply of print media to transport the one of the supply of print media through a drive roller and a backing roller, the backing roller is biased toward the drive roller and is pivoted about an axis into and out of engagement with the one of the supply of print media;

a RFID reader positioned prior to the printing head for reading the RFID device in one of the labels, and

a printing head adjacent the driver roller and backing roller controlled by a control unit, the printing head directed to lift off one of the supply of print media by the control unit when the RFID reader detects one of the labels having a RFID device that is present at the drive roller.

15. A printer according to claim 14, wherein the printing head is a corner edge printing head.

16. A printer according to claim 14, wherein a pressure roller is disposed beneath the printing head.

17. A printer according to claim 14, including a separating edge adjacent an edge of the print media and beneath the transport roller.