Label printer

An electrographic type label printer, comprising:

• a printer unit that transfers a toner image to a medium and prints an image to the medium;
• a medium supply unit that supplies the medium to the printer unit;
• a first control unit that controls the medium supply unit;
• and
• a second control unit that controls the printer unit, wherein
• the printer unit comprises:
• a transfer portion that transfers the toner image to the medium;
• and
• a fixing portion that fixes the toner image transferred to the medium, the medium supply unit comprises:
• a feed roller that feeds a first medium serving as the medium, the first medium having a roll shape;
• a take-up roller that takes up a part of the first medium where the image is printed;
• a cutter arranged between the feed roller and the take-up roller, the cutter that cuts the first medium;
• a supplying unit that retains and supplies a second medium serving as the medium, the second medium having a single strip shape;
• a conveyance unit that conveys the medium in the printer unit, the conveyance unit being placed on a downstream side of the transfer portion in a conveying direction of the medium and on an upstream side of the fixing portion;
• and
• a detector that detects a slack degree of the medium between the transfer portion and the
• fixing portion in the conveying direction, and outputs a signal in accordance with the slack degree,
• the conveyance unit comprises:
• a conveyance unit main body that conveys the medium by moving a mount surface for the medium in a state where the mount surface faces an upper side;
• and
• an intake unit that performs an air intake action for tightly fitting the medium to the mount surface,
• the first control unit is capable of selecting a conveyance mode of the medium by the conveyance unit from a first mode to convey the first medium extended between the feed roller and the take-up roller, a second mode to convey the second medium supplied from the supplying unit, and a third mode to convey the second medium created by cutting the first medium which is fed from the feed roller by the cutter,
• passing speed at which the medium passes through a pass-through portion provided in the fixing portion is variable,
• when the first control unit selects the first mode, the second control unit controls the passing
• speed in accordance with an output signal from the detector in order to adjust the slack degree within a preliminarily set range,
• the supplying unit comprises a tray on which the second medium is mounted, and successively takes out the second medium on the tray from an end of the tray on a side closer to the printer unit and delivers the second medium toward an interior of the printer unit, and
• an end of the tray placed on the opposite side of the printer unit is placed at the same position as or on the upper side of the end of the tray on the side closer to the printer unit in an up and down direction.

An electrographic type label printer, comprising:

• a printer unit that transfers a toner image to a medium and prints an image to the medium;
• a medium supply unit that supplies the medium to the printer unit;
• a first control unit that controls the medium supply unit;
• and
• a second control unit that controls the printer unit, wherein
• the printer unit comprises:
• a transfer portion that transfers the toner image to the medium;
• and
• a fixing portion that fixes the toner image transferred to the medium, the medium supply unit comprises:
• a feed roller that feeds a first medium serving as the medium, the first medium having a roll shape:
• a take-up roller that takes up a part of the first medium where the image is printed;
• a cutter arranged between the feed roller and the take-up roller, the cutter that cuts the first medium;
• a supplying unit that retains and supplies a second medium serving as the medium, the second medium having a single strip shape;
• a conveyance unit that conveys the medium in the printer unit, the conveyance unit being placed on a downstream side of the transfer portion in a conveying direction of the medium and on an upstream side of the fixing portion;
• and
• a detector that detects a slack degree of the medium between the transfer portion and the fixing portion in the conveying direction, and outputs a signal in accordance with the slack degree,
• the conveyance unit comprises:
• a conveyance unit main body that conveys the medium by moving a mount surface for the medium in a state where the mount surface faces an upper side;
• and
• an intake unit that performs an air intake action for tightly fitting the ma ium to the mount surface,
• the first control unit is capable of selecting a conveyance mode of the medium by the conveyance unit from a first mode to convey the first medium extended between the feed roller and the take-up roller, a second mode to convey the second medium supplied from the supplying unit, and a third mode to convey the second medium created by cutting the first medium which is fed from the feed roller by the cutter,
• passing speed at which the medium passes through a pass-through portion provided in the fixing portion is variable,
• when the first control unit selects the first mode, the second control unit controls the passing
• speed in accordance with an output signal from the detector in order to adjust the slack degree within a preliminarily set range,
• length along the conveying direction of the second medium created by cutting the first medium by the cutter in the third mode is variable, and
• when the length along the conveying direction of the second medium created upon selecting the third mode by the first control unit is not less than a distance between the pass-through portion for the medium provided in the transfer portion and the pass-through portion for the medium provided in the fixing portion, the second control unit controls passing speed at which the second medium passes through the pass-through portion provided in the fixing portion in accordance with the output signal from the detector in order to adjust the slack degree within a preliminarily set range.