Sato Holdings Kabushiki Kaisha

Seiichiro Nagata

Yasushi Sato

Yoshimasa Kubo

Masayuki Iioka

A printer printing an image on a print medium based on print data including print dot data for each of print lines. The printer includes a print head including heating elements arranged along a direction of the print lines, and a controller finding the number of print dots on each print line and determining a first or second control mode as a control mode of the heating elements for printing each print line based on the found number of print dots. In the first control mode, the heating elements are divided into first groups including two or more adjacent heating elements and are heated at a different timing. In the second control mode, the heating elements are divided into second groups including two or more heating elements with at least two thereof spaced apart and are heated at a different timing.

Printer

A printer using heat to print on a print medium improves a print processing speed over an entire print surface of a print medium. In print processing of a label (PL), the feeding speed at a print region (SW) for printing a barcode or the like is slower than a standard feeding speed, and the feeding speed at a margin region (SY) that has a length that is at least a predetermined length in the feeding direction (F) among the margin regions is faster than the standard feeding speed. Further, the feeding speed at a printing area (NW) for printing character, symbol, or the like, and the feeding speed at a margin region (NY) that has a length smaller than the predetermined length in the feeding direction (F) are set to the standard feeding speed. Accordingly, the print processing speed over the entire print surface of the label (PL) may be improved in the printer using heat to print on a label (PL).

Growing community of inventors

Saitama, Japan

Seiichiro Nagata