# US 2010/0166477 A1 · Tape printer > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2010/0166477 A1 - Document ID: US20100166477A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 12/644,373 - Filed: 2009-12-22 - Published: 2010-07-01 - Earliest claimed: 2008-12-25 - Assignees: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha - Inventors: Koshiro Yamaguchi; Tsuyoshi Nagae; Teruo Imamaki; Masato Kato; Takashi Horiuchi; Akira Sago; Yasuhiro Iriyama; Yasuhiro Shibata - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20100166477A1 ## CPC - B41J 33/14: Ribbon-feed devices or mechanisms - B41J 2/32: using thermal heads - B41J 3/4075: {Tape printers; Label printers} - B41J 11/009: {Detecting type of paper, e.g. by automatic reading of a code that is printed on a paper package or on a paper roll or by sensing the grade of translucency of the paper} - B41J 15/044: {Cassettes or cartridges containing continuous copy material, tape, for setting into printing devices} - B41J 32/00: Ink-ribbon cartridges - B41J 35/36: Alarms, indicators, or feed disabling devices responsive to ink ribbon breakage or exhaustion - B41J: TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS ## Abstract A tape printer includes a tape cassette, a cassette housing portion, a feeding device, a printing device, detecting switches, a table storage device, and a tape type identifying device. The tape cassette includes a housing, a tape mounted in the housing, a tape exit, and a type indicator portion provided adjacent to the tape exit and in a specified area of a front surface of the housing. The type indicator portion indicates a tape type and includes vertical information sections extending along a direction orthogonal to a feed direction of the tape and an aperture formed in at least one of the vertical information sections. A part of the detecting switches that opposes a surface portion other than the aperture is pressed to thereby detect identification information. The tape type identifying device identifies the tape type with reference to a tape type table. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A tape printer, comprising: a tape cassette that comprises: a housing having a top surface, a bottom surface, a front surface and a pair of side surfaces; a tape that is a print medium mounted in the housing; a tape exit that discharges, from the housing, the tape guided in the housing along a predetermined feed path, at least a part of the feed path extending parallel to the front surface; and a type indicator portion that is provided adjacent to the tape exit and in a specified area of the front surface on an upstream side of the tape exit in a feed direction of the tape, the type indicator portion indicating a tape type of the tape, a cassette housing portion in which the tape cassette is detachably installed; a feeding device that feeds the tape along the path from the housing of the tape cassette installed in the cassette housing portion; a printing device that performs printing on the tape fed by the feeding device; a plurality of detecting switches that protrudes toward the front surface of the housing of the tape cassette installed in the cassette housing portion, and that detects identification information for identifying the tape type of the tape mounted in the housing; a table storage device that stores a tape type table in which identification information pieces are each associated with a tape type; and a tape type identifying device that identifies, with reference to the tape type table, the tape type associated with the identification information detected by the plurality of detecting switches as the tape type of the tape mounted in the housing, wherein: the type indicator portion includes a plurality of vertical information sections and an aperture formed in at least one of the plurality of vertical information sections, the plurality of vertical information sections being a plurality of strip-shaped sections extending along a direction orthogonal to the feed direction; and a part of the plurality of detecting switches that opposes a surface portion other than the aperture formed in the at least one of the plurality of vertical information sections of the tape cassette installed in the cassette housing portion is pressed to thereby detect information indicating a pressing state or non-pressing state of each of the plurality of detecting switches as the identification information. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The tape printer according to claim 1, further comprising: a movable member that includes the plurality of detecting switches and a regulating piece that regulates a vertical movement of the tape cassette, and that can be moved between a first position and a second position, the first position being in proximity to the front surface of the tape cassette installed in the cassette housing portion, and the second position being at an interval from the front surface of the tape cassette installed in the cassette housing portion, wherein: the tape cassette further comprises a reference aperture that is an aperture provided in the specified area of the front surface regardless of the tape type of the tape; the type indicator portion includes a first vertical information section that is located on a most downstream side in the feed direction among the plurality of vertical information sections; an end of the reference aperture on the upstream side in the tape feed direction is positioned on an upstream side of the first vertical information section; the plurality of detecting switches are provided in the movable member at positions that correspond to the type indicator portion of the tape cassette installed in the cassette housing portion; and the regulating piece is provided in the movable member at a position that corresponds to the reference aperture of the tape cassette installed in the cassette housing portion, and is inserted into the reference aperture when the movable member is at the first position. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The tape printer according to claim 2, wherein: the type indicator portion includes at least a tape width indicator portion that indicates a tape width of the tape; and a part of the plurality of detecting switches that opposes the tape width indicator portion is selectively pressed to thereby detect tape width information that is information relating to the tape width. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The tape printer according to claim 3, wherein: the tape width indicator portion includes, of the plurality of vertical information sections, the first vertical information section and a second vertical information section that is a vertical information section located second closest to the tape exit toward the upstream side in the feed direction; the aperture is formed in at least one of the first vertical information section and the second vertical information section; a combination of whether the aperture is formed in each of the first vertical information section and the second vertical information section indicates the tape width; and a part of the plurality of detecting switches that opposes the first vertical information section and the second vertical information section is selectively pressed to thereby detect the tape width information. ### Claim 5 (depends on 3) The tape printer according to claim 3, wherein: the plurality of vertical information sections include vertical information sections arranged in at least three rows; the tape width indicator portion includes, of the plurality of vertical information sections, the first vertical information section, a second vertical information section that is a vertical information section located second closest to the tape exit toward the upstream side in the feed direction, and a most upstream vertical information section that is a vertical information section located farthest from the tape exit toward the upstream side in the feed direction; the aperture is formed in at least one of the first vertical information section, the second vertical information section and the most upstream vertical information section; a combination of whether the aperture is formed in each of the first vertical information section, the second vertical information section and the most upstream vertical information section indicates the tape width; and a part of the plurality of detecting switches that opposes the first vertical information section, the second vertical information section and the most upstream vertical information section is selectively pressed to thereby detect the tape width information. ### Claim 6 (depends on 3) The tape printer according to claim 3, wherein: the type indicator portion includes a print mode indicator portion that indicates whether a print mode is a normal image or a mirror image; and a part of the plurality of detecting switches that opposes the print mode indicator portion is selectively pressed to thereby detect print mode information that is information relating to the print mode. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The tape printer according to claim 6, wherein: the plurality of vertical information sections include vertical information sections arranged in at least three rows; the print mode indicator portion includes, of the plurality of vertical information sections, a third vertical information section that is a vertical information section located third closest to the tape exit toward the upstream side in the feed direction; whether the aperture is formed in the third vertical information section indicates whether the print mode is the normal image or the mirror image; and a part of the plurality of detecting switches that opposes the third vertical information section is selectively pressed to thereby detect the print mode information. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The tape printer according to claim 7, wherein: the tape width indicator portion includes, of the plurality of vertical information sections, the first vertical information section and a second vertical information section that is a vertical information section located second closest to the tape exit toward the upstream side in the feed direction; the aperture is formed in at least one of the first vertical information section and the second vertical information section; a combination of whether the aperture is formed in each of the first vertical information section and the second vertical information section indicates the tape width; and a part of the plurality of detecting switches that opposes the first vertical information section and the second vertical information section is selectively pressed to thereby detect the tape width information. ### Claim 9 (depends on 7) The tape printer according to claim 7, wherein: the plurality of vertical information sections include vertical information sections arranged in five rows; the tape width indicator portion includes, of the plurality of vertical information sections, the first vertical information section, a second vertical information section that is a vertical information section located second closest to the tape exit toward the upstream side in the feed direction, and a most upstream vertical information section that is a vertical information section located farthest from the tape exit toward the upstream side in the feed direction; the aperture is formed in at least one of the first vertical information section, the second vertical information section and the most upstream vertical information section; and a combination of whether the aperture is formed in each of the first vertical information section, the second vertical information section and the most upstream vertical information section indicates the tape width; and a part of the plurality of detecting switches that opposes the first vertical information section, the second vertical information section and the most upstream vertical information section is selectively pressed to thereby detect the tape width information. ### Claim 10 (depends on 5) The tape printer according to claim 5, wherein: adjacent vertical information sections of the plurality of vertical information sections are arranged at an equal interval; and the plurality of detecting switches are arranged at an equal interval in the right-and-left direction of the movable member at the first position, corresponding to the plurality of vertical information sections of the tape cassette installed in the cassette housing portion. ### Claim 11 (depends on 2) The tape printer according to claim 2, wherein: the type indicator portion includes a plurality of lateral information sections that are a plurality of strip-shaped sections extending parallel to the feed direction of the tape, and that are arranged in the direction orthogonal to the feed direction; an upper end of the reference aperture is positioned above the plurality of lateral information sections; a combination of whether at least one of a plurality of overlapping areas in each of the plurality of vertical information sections includes the aperture indicates the tape type, the plurality of overlapping areas being areas where the plurality of vertical information sections and the plurality of lateral information sections intersect and overlap with each other; the regulating piece is positioned above the plurality of detecting switches in the movable member; and the plurality of detecting switches are provided at positions that correspond to the at least one of the plurality of overlapping areas in each of the plurality of vertical information sections of the tape cassette installed in the cassette housing portion. ### Claim 12 (depends on 2) The tape printer according to claim 2, wherein: all of the plurality of vertical information sections are positioned on a downstream side in the feed direction of the end of the reference aperture on the upstream side in the feed direction; and all of the plurality of detecting switches are positioned in the movable member on a downstream side in the feed direction of an end of the regulating piece on an upstream side in the feed direction. ### Claim 13 (depends on 2) The tape printer according to claim 2, wherein: the tape cassette further comprises a tape guide portion that is provided on a downstream side of the tape exit on the feed path, and that guides the tape that is discharged from the tape exit and exposed; a length in the feed direction of the specified area of the front surface on which the type indicator portion is provided is equal to or less than a tape exposure length that is a distance between the tape exit and the tape guide portion and is a length of the exposed tape; the top surface and the bottom surface of the housing each have a rectangular shape that is longer in a right-and-left direction; a distance between a cassette center line and a reference line is within a range of 18 to 24 percent of the tape exposure length, the cassette center line being a center line of the housing in the right-and-left direction, and the reference line being a virtual line along the direction orthogonal to the feed direction of the tape and indicating a position where the reference aperture is provided; at least a part of the first vertical information section is on a downstream side of the cassette center line in the tape feed direction, and is positioned such that a distance from the cassette center line is within a range of 14 to 20 percent of the tape exposure length; the regulating piece is located in the movable member at a position corresponding to the reference line of the tape cassette installed in the cassette housing portion; and at least one of the plurality of detecting switches is located at a position corresponding to the at least a part of the first vertical information section of the tape cassette installed in the cassette housing portion. ### Claim 14 (depends on 2) The tape printer according to claim 2, wherein: the tape cassette further comprises a tape guide portion that is provided on a downstream side of the tape exit on the feed path, and that guides the tape that is discharged from the tape exit and exposed; a length in the feed direction of the specified area of the front surface on which the type indicator portion is provided is equal to or less than a tape exposure length that is a distance between the tape exit and the tape guide portion and is a length of the exposed tape; at least a part of the first vertical information section is positioned such that a distance from the tape exit is within a range of 30 to 36 percent of the tape exposure length; and at least one of the plurality of detecting switches is located at a position corresponding to the at least a part of the first vertical information section of the tape cassette installed in the cassette housing portion. ### Claim 15 (depends on 13) The tape printer according to claim 13, wherein: a distance between center lines in the right-and-left direction of the adjacent vertical information sections is within a range of 7 to 10 percent of the tape exposure length; and the plurality of detecting switches are respectively arranged at positions that correspond to the center lines in the right-and-left direction of the plurality of vertical information sections of the tape cassette installed in the cassette housing portion. ### Claim 16 (depends on 1) The tape printer according to claim 1, wherein the aperture included in the type indicator portion is either a through-hole that penetrates the front surface or a recess that is recessed from the front surface toward the inside of the housing.