A printing device includes: a motor; a rotary body driven by the motor to rotate; a movable blade driven by rotation of the rotary body to cut a printing tape; a gear mechanism provided on a power transmission path from the motor to the movable blade; a first detector outputting a first signal based on a rotated position of the rotary body; a second detector outputting a second signal based on the rotated position, and a controller performing positioning the rotary body to a predetermined reference rotated position. The positioning includes: starting rotating the rotary body in one direction on the basis of the first signal at the time of starting the positioning; halting the rotation in the one direction of the rotary body on the basis of the second signal; and rotating the rotary body in the opposite direction for a prescribed time period after the halting is completed.

Disclosed is a cutter module to be used with a printing apparatus. The cutter module comprises a blade driving mechanism; and a rotary cutting blade driven by the blade driving mechanism. The blade driving mechanism comprises: a clutch mechanism selectively to enable the blade driving mechanism to drive the rotary cutting blade in a forward cutting direction or a backward direction. Also disclosed is a printing system comprising the cutter module and a method to be used with the cutter module.

A printing device includes a housing, a printing head, and an input unit. The housing includes a cassette accommodating portion to which a tape cassette accommodating a roll of a printing tape is detachably attachable. The cassette accommodating portion has an insertion opening through which the tape cassette can be inserted in an insertion direction. The printing head includes heat-generating elements arrayed in a scanning direction crossing an imaginary plane perpendicular to the insertion direction. The housing has: a principal surface at which the input unit is provided; a side surface crossing the principal surface and the imaginary plane; and a discharge opening formed in the side surface. The insertion opening is positioned above the input unit. At the discharge opening, a normal direction of a printed surface of the printing tape and a normal direction of the principal surface define an interior angle of less than 45 degrees therebetween.

A printable medium support for a printer comprises a support element to support a printable medium, wherein the support element is movable between a protruding configuration to support the printable medium, and a retracted configuration in which the support element is at least partially retracted in a first direction. The printable medium support comprises an actuating element to move the support element between the protruding configuration and the retracted configuration.

A printer includes: a conveyor that performs a forward-conveyance operation for conveying a printing medium downstream in a conveying direction and a backward-conveyance operation for conveying the printing medium upstream in the conveying direction; a printing device; a roller provided downstream of the conveyor in the conveying direction; an opposed member opposed to the roller; a moving mechanism that moves a moving member, which is one of the roller and the opposed member, between (i) a first position at which the printing medium is nipped between the moving member and the other of the roller and the opposed member and (ii) a second position at which the moving member is separated from the printing medium; and a controller that executes a first conveyor-backward-conveyance processing for controlling the conveyor to perform the backward-conveyance operation in a state in which the moving member is located at the second position.

A control method of a tape printing apparatus the method including performing a blade closing operation using a half cutter in a state in which rotation of a platen roller is stopped and subsequently performing a blade opening operation, causing a discharge feeding section to operate in a period from after the half cutter starts the blade opening operation and until the platen roller starts rotating, and determining presence or absence of a tape in a discharge feeding section based on a detection signal output from a discharge sensor during an operation of the discharge feeding section.

An agnostic in-line verification system and method produce finished RFID-enabled tags including labels, tags, tickets, stickers and the like. Includes is an RFID-verification base unit with an RFID-verifier that checks for verification of programmed data of the RFID-enabled tags. A feed module is positioned upstream of the RFID-verification base to receive a flow of RFID-enabled tags to be finished through RFID verification, and a collector module is downstream of the RFID-verification base unit and that receives RFID-verified tags from the RFID-verification base unit. In systems that feed a continuous stream of uncut tags, a cutter module is positioned between the verification base unit and the collector module.

Provided is a tape printing apparatus including a half cutter and a mounting portion lid. The half cutter has a half-receiving portion and a half-movable portion, the half-movable portion includes a half-movable blade and comes into contact with or separates from the half-receiving portion, a first side, which is one side of the half-movable blade in a blade length direction, is open between the half-receiving portion and the half-movable portion, and the mounting portion lid opens and closes a cutter mounting portion on which the half cutter is mounted. The mounting portion lid is provided with a lid-side half-receiving support portion that supports at least one of an end on the first side of the half-receiving portion and an end on the first side of a third frame portion that supports the half-receiving portion pressed by the half-movable portion when the mounting portion lid is closed.

A cutter unit includes a first frame, a fixed blade, a movable blade, a movable blade drive mechanism and a pressure mechanism. The fixed blade has a first cutting edge portion. One end portion of the movable blade has one end configured to cut a cut item in cooperation with the first cutting edge portion. The second cutting edge portion and the first cutting edge portion contacting with each other at a first point and a second point. Another end portion of the movable blade has a contacting portion in contact with the first frame at a third point. The first point, the second point and the third point define an imaginary triangle. The pressure member presses the movable blade at a pressure contact position so that the movable blade presses against the fixed blade. The pressure contact position is positioned substantially within the imaginary triangle.

A thermal printer includes: a roll sheet receiving portion; and a delivery slot through which a portion of the recording sheet drawn from the roll sheet is delivered to an outside of the thermal printer; a printing unit including: a thermal head; and a platen roller configured to convey the recording sheet toward the delivery slot while sandwiching the recording sheet between the thermal head and the platen roller; a flap provided on a portion of the casing between the printing unit and the roll sheet receiving portion so as to be pivotable about a first axis, and configured to press the roll sheet in a direction of separating away from the delivery slot through abutment against an outer peripheral surface of the roll sheet; and an urging member configured to urge the flap about the first axis in the direction of separating away from the delivery slot.