JP2008276396A - Printing system and printing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printing system and a printing method by which various printed matters can easily and acculately be issued without inputting necessary information manually in issuing a printed matter. <P>SOLUTION: A fetch screen for fetching order data transmitted from an order terminal 2 to an order receiver terminal 3, and stored in the order receiver terminal 3 is transmitted from a server device 1 to an order receiver terminal 3. In the server device 1, print layout is stored in an information storage part 12, and issue data are generated by reflecting the order data fetched from the order terminal 3 in the print layout stored in the information storage part 12 by an issue data generation part 13, and an issue screen is generated having the generated issue data displayed in a list by an issue screen generation part 15, and transmitted to the receiver terminal 3, and when the issue instruction notification based on the issue screen is received form the orderer terminal 3, the specified issue data are transmitted to the orderer terminal 3 by issue instruction notification. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing system and a printing method for printing various printed materials such as distribution labels, price tag labels, nameplates, tags, food raw material labels, tickets and the like using a printing layout stored in a server device.

  Conventionally, when a product is ordered from a retailer or other orderer to a wholesaler or other contractor, various printed materials such as logistics labels, price tag labels, nameplates, tags, food ingredient labels, tickets, etc. And issue the printed matter together with the product. There are various types of printed matter to be issued depending on the product, and since the contractor has manually entered the information necessary for issuing the printed matter (price, number of copies, etc.), the printed matter issuance work. It has become a complicated thing.

  In order to support various printed materials, a plurality of print formats are stored in the server device, and when the user tries to print the print data, the user can select one of the plurality of print formats stored in the server device. There has been proposed a printing system capable of easily setting a print format for each distribution destination of print data by selecting any one print format and printing the print data based on the selected print format. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

  However, in the prior art, it is the terminal that edits and creates the print data based on the print format stored in the server device, and it is necessary to prepare a dedicated application for each terminal. A lot of effort is required for installation of dedicated applications on the terminal and maintenance work such as version upgrades, and it is necessary to manually input necessary information when issuing printed matter, so input errors occur. There was a problem that there was a possibility of doing.

JP 2001-191605 A

  The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and an object of the present invention is not to install a dedicated application for creating a print layout in a terminal and to obtain information necessary for issuing a printed matter. An object of the present invention is to provide a printing system and a printing method capable of easily and accurately issuing various printed materials without the need for input.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has the following configuration.
The gist of the invention described in claim 1 is a server device, an orderer terminal managed by an orderer who orders products, and an orderer terminal which is managed by a contractor who receives an order from the orderer. Is connected to a network, and is connected to a printer that prints a printed matter delivered to the orderer together with the product to the orderer terminal, wherein the server device is connected to the orderer from the orderer terminal A capture screen transmitting means for transmitting a capture screen for capturing order data transmitted to the terminal and stored in the contractor terminal to the contractor terminal; a print layout storage means for storing a print layout; and the contractor In order to print with the printer, the order data taken from the terminal reflected in the print layout stored in the print layout storage means Issuance data generation means for generating issuance data, and when the issuance data is generated by the issuance data generation means, generates an issuance screen on which the generated issuance data is listed and transmits it to the contractor terminal An issuance screen transmission means; and an issuance data transmission means for sending the issuance data specified by the issuance instruction notification to the orderee terminal when an issuance instruction notification based on the issuance screen is received from the orderee terminal. A printing system is provided.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, the order data includes a type of print layout, and the issuance data generation means is the print layout specified by the order data from the print layout storage means. The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the issuance data in which the order data is reflected in the read print layout is generated.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a server device, an orderer terminal managed by an orderer who orders goods, and an orderer terminal which is managed by a contractor who receives the order from the orderer. Is connected to a network, and a printing method in a printing system in which a printer that prints a printed matter delivered to the orderer together with the product is connected to the orderer terminal, wherein the server device includes the orderer terminal Is sent to the contractor terminal, and the capture screen for capturing the order data stored in the contractor terminal is transmitted to the contractor terminal, the print layout is stored, and the capture data is captured from the contractor terminal. Generate issuance data for printing with the printer, which is reflected in the print layout storing the ordering data, and is generated when the issuance data is generated. When the issuance instruction notification based on the issuance screen is received from the contractor terminal, the issuance screen in which the issuance data is generated is generated and transmitted to the contractor terminal. In the printing method, the issue data is transmitted to the contractor terminal.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the order data includes a type of print layout, and generates the issuance data reflecting the order data in the print layout specified by the order data. The printing method according to claim 3, wherein:

  A printing system and a printing method according to the present invention are transmitted from an orderer terminal to a contractor terminal, and a capture screen for capturing order data stored in the contractor terminal is transmitted from the server device to the contractor terminal. Stores the print layout, generates the issuance data for printing with the printer, reflecting the order data imported from the contractor's terminal to the stored print layout, and the generated issuance data is displayed in a list. The issue screen is generated and transmitted to the contractor terminal, and when the issue instruction notification based on the issue screen is received from the contractor terminal, the issue data specified by the issue instruction notification is transmitted to the contractor terminal. By doing so, it is not necessary to install a dedicated application to create a print layout on the contractor's terminal when issuing printed matter. The order data sent from the orderer's terminal to the contractor's terminal as necessary information when issuing printed materials, as well as reducing costs and maintenance work such as upgrading. Thus, there is an effect that various printed materials can be issued easily and accurately without the need to manually input information necessary for issuing the printed material.

  Furthermore, the printing system and the printing method of the present invention are configured so that the type of print layout is included in the order data and the issuance data reflecting the order data in the print layout specified by the order data is generated. Since there is no need to specify a print layout on the side of the customer, the mistake that the contractor prints the print layout by mistake is prevented, and various printed materials can be issued easily and accurately. .

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of a printing system according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a server device, and FIG. 3 is an information storage section shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an issuance screen generated by the issuance screen generation unit shown in FIG. 2, and FIG. 5 is an orderer terminal shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of ordering data produced by.

  In this embodiment, a contractor who has ordered products from a retailer or the like orders a printed matter such as a distribution label, a price tag label, a nameplate, a tag, a food ingredient label, or a ticket related to the product. Referring to FIG. 1, a server system 1, an orderer terminal 2 managed by an orderer such as a retailer, and an orderer terminal managed by an orderer such as a wholesaler 3 is connected via a network 4 such as the Internet, and the order receiver terminal 3 is connected to a label printer 5 for printing various printed materials and a price tag printer 6.

  The server device 1 stores an HTML document and a file associated with the HTML document in a WWW (World Wide Web) system, and responds to a request from the contractor terminal 3 via the network 4. Or a computer that transmits a file associated with an HTML document to the contractor terminal 3. Referring to FIG. 2, an information transmission / reception unit 11, an information storage unit 12, an issue data generation unit 13, and an issue data storage Section 14 and issue screen generation section 15.

  The information transmission / reception unit 11 has a function of transmitting and receiving an HTML document and a file associated with the HTML document by HTTP, receives various requests and order data from the contractor terminal 3, and requests from the contractor terminal 3 In response to this, various screens and the generated issuance data are transmitted to the contractor terminal 3.

  The information storage unit 12 is information storage means such as a hard disk, and stores a capture screen 20, print layout information, issuance screen information, printer information including printer selection information and printer setting information.

  Referring to FIG. 3, the capture screen 20 stored in the information storage unit 12 has a print layout designation field 21 for designating the type (print layout) of the printed matter to be issued, and order data designation for designating the order data to be uploaded. A field 22 and a transmission button 23 for instructing uploading of order data.

  The print layout information stored in the information storage unit 12 is information indicating a print layout such as a label or a price tag printed by the printer, and is managed by a unique print layout name. As print layout information, a fixed field (a field for printing preliminarily input fixed data) and a variable field (a field for printing variable data) are set, and the print coordinates (X, Y) are set for the fixed field and the variable field. , Type (character, barcode, ruled line, etc.) and modification information (enlargement ratio, inversion, rotation, etc.) are set.

  The issuance screen information stored in the information storage unit 12 is information for creating an issuance screen. As the issuance screen information, button information (radio, confirmation, cancellation, deletion, etc.), character information (title, input item) Name, etc.), issue data display fields (coordinates, number of digits, etc.) are set.

  The printer information stored in the information storage unit 12 includes printer selection information for selecting a printer for printing labels and price tags, and printer setting information for instructing printer settings for printing. Printer selection information such as model name, type number, printer name, IP address, and printer driver name, and printer setting information such as printing speed, printing density, correction coordinates, and sorting / cutting operation are set. The printer selection information is information for specifying a printer to print based on the corresponding print layout information, and one printer is specified by setting a plurality or one of the printer selection information. In other words, if there is no printer of the same model among printers connected directly to the contractor terminal 3 or via LAN or the Internet, one printer is specified by setting only the printer model name. If there are a plurality of printers of the same model, one printer for printing can be specified by setting with a combination of printer model name + type number.

  When the order data is uploaded from the contractor terminal 3, the issuance data generation unit 13 reads the corresponding print layout information and printer information from the information storage unit 12, and prints the order by reflecting the order data in the read print layout information. Data is generated, the generated print data is converted into the printer language specified by the printer information, and issuance data including the print data converted into the printer language and the read printer information is generated.

  The issue data storage unit 14 is a storage unit that stores the issue data created by the issue data generation unit 13.

  When the issuance data is generated from the order data by the issuance data generation unit 13, the issuance screen generation unit 15 generates the issuance generated by the issuance data generation unit 13 based on the issuance screen information stored in the information storage unit 12. An issuance screen 30 in which the data, that is, the issuance data stored in the issuance data storage unit 14 is displayed as a list is generated and transmitted to the contractor terminal 3 via the information transmitting / receiving unit 11. As shown in FIG. 4, the issuance screen 30 includes an issuance instruction button 31 for instructing issuance and an issuance data list 32 indicating the issuance data stored in the issuance data storage unit 14. By selecting the issue data to be issued in the issue selection field and clicking the issue instruction button 31, the selected issue data is transmitted to the contractor terminal 3. In the issuance screen 30 shown in FIG. 4, the print layout, the product name, the price, and the number of sheets are displayed as items in the issuance data list 32 as information for specifying the issuance data. The items to be displayed can be arbitrarily set from the order data uploaded from the contractor terminal 3.

  The orderer terminal 2 is an information processing apparatus such as a computer that operates according to a program, has a function of performing information communication via the network 4, and transmits product ordering data to the orderer terminal 3. As shown in FIG. 5, the ordering data is data in text format including various types of print information to be printed on printed matter such as product names and prices, the type of print layout, and the number of sheets to be issued. The order data is created in a predetermined format and is recognized by the issuance data generation unit 13 of the server device 1, that is, the correspondence relationship with each variable field of the print layout is understood. The order data may be fixed-length data or variable-length data delimited by commas, tabs, or periods as long as it is in a format recognized by the issue data generation unit 13 of the server device 1. good. Further, when there is a predetermined format agreed between the orderer and the ordering party, the correspondence relationship between the order data and each variable field of the print layout is set in the issue data generation unit 13 of the server device 1. Anyway.

  The contractor terminal 3 is an information processing apparatus such as a computer that operates according to a program, and is configured such that an installed browser can access the server apparatus 1 via the network 4 and browse various screens provided by the server apparatus 1. It has become. The contractor terminal 3 sends the issuance data received from the server device 1 to the label printer 5 and the price tag printer 6 via the LAN, output port (LPT or COM) or, if necessary, the printer driver. An issuance program for printing various printed materials such as distribution labels, price tag labels, nameplates, tags, food raw material labels, and tickets is stored.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIG.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the issuing operation of the embodiment of the printing system according to the present invention.

  Referring to FIG. 6, when placing an order for a product, the person in charge of the order creates order data in text format at the orderer terminal 2 (step A 1), and the created order data is transferred from the orderer terminal 2 to the contractor terminal 3. The contractor terminal 3 stores the received ordering data (step A3).

  Next, the browser is started up at the contractor terminal 3 to access the server device 1 (specified URL) (step A4). When the server device 1 is accessed from the contractor terminal 3, the issue screen generation unit 15 transmits the capture screen 20 stored in the information storage unit 12 to the contractor terminal 3 (step A5).

  Next, in the contractor terminal 3, when the order data for printing the printed matter is designated using the order data designation field 22 of the displayed capture screen 20 and the transmission button 23 is clicked, the designated order data is transferred to the server device 1. Uploaded (step A6). The print layout designation field 21 of the capture screen 20 is used for designating the print layout at the contractor terminal 3 when the order layout data does not include the type of print layout. The designated print layout is transmitted to the server apparatus 1 together with the order data.

  When the information transmitting / receiving unit 11 of the server device 1 receives the ordering data from the contractor terminal 3, the information transmitting / receiving unit 11 outputs the received ordering data to the issuing data generating unit 13, and the issuing data generating unit 13 is included in the ordering data. The print layout information and the printer information of the print layout are read from the information storage unit 12, the print data is generated by reflecting the order data in the read print layout information, and the generated print data is specified by the printer language. Convert to Further, the issuance data generation unit 13 generates issuance data composed of the print data converted into the printer language and the read printer information (step A7), and stores the generated issuance data in the issuance data storage unit 14 (step A8). . In addition, when the print layout designated by the contractor terminal 3 is received together with the ordering data, the information transmitting / receiving unit 11 designates by the contractor terminal 3 only when the type of the print layout is not included in the ordering data. If the order layout data includes the type of the print layout, the print layout included in the order data is prioritized.

  Next, when the issuance data is generated from the ordering data by the issuance data generation unit 13, the issuance screen generation unit 15 is generated by the issuance data generation unit 13 based on the issuance screen information stored in the information storage unit 12. An issuance screen 30 in which the issued data, that is, the issuance data stored in the issuance data storage unit 14 is displayed as a list is generated and transmitted to the contractor terminal 3 via the information transmitting / receiving unit 11 (step A9).

  Next, when the issuer terminal 3 selects the issue data to be issued in the issue selection column of the issue data list 32 on the issued issue screen 30 and clicks the issue instruction button 31, the issuer specifying the issue data to be printed is specified. An instruction notification is transmitted from the contractor terminal 3 to the server device 1 (step A10).

  When the information transmission / reception unit 11 of the server device 1 receives the issuance instruction notification specifying the issuance data to be printed from the contractor terminal 3, it reads the identified issuance data from the issuance data storage unit 14, and reads the issued issuance data. Download to the terminal 3 (step A11). The issuance data downloaded from the server apparatus 1 to the contractor terminal 3 is processed under the control of the issuance program, and the printer information is sent to either the label printer 5 or the price tag printer 6 selected by the printer selection information of the printer information. The printer setting information and the print data are transmitted, and the print data is printed under the print conditions specified by the printer setting information (step A12). Since the print data in the downloaded issue data has already been converted into the printer language corresponding to the printer selected by the printer selection information of the printer information, the contractor terminal 3 converts the printer data into the printer language. Do not need.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the capture screen 20 for capturing the order data transmitted from the orderer terminal 2 to the contractor terminal 3 and stored in the orderer terminal 3 is displayed from the server device 1. The server apparatus 1 stores the print layout in the information storage unit 12 and stores the order data fetched from the contractor terminal 3 in the information storage unit 12 by the issue data generation unit 13. Issue data to be printed by the label printer 5 or price tag printer 6 reflected in the print layout being generated, and the issue screen generation unit 15 generates an issue screen in which the generated issue data is displayed as a list. When the issuance instruction notification based on the issuance screen is received from the contractor terminal 3, the issuance data specified by the issuance instruction notification is transmitted to the contractor terminal 3. Since it is not necessary to install a dedicated application for creating a print layout in the contractor terminal 3 when issuing printed matter, it is possible to reduce costs and perform maintenance such as version upgrades. It is possible to reduce the labor required for work and the like, and since the order data transmitted from the orderer terminal 2 to the contractor terminal 3 is used as information necessary for issuing the printed matter, information necessary for issuing the printed matter There is an effect that various printed materials can be issued easily and accurately without the need for manual input.

  Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, the ordering party side is configured to generate issuance data that includes the type of the print layout in the order data and reflects the order data in the print layout specified by the order data. Since there is no need to specify a print layout, the mistake that the contractor prints the print layout by mistake is prevented, and various printed materials can be easily and accurately issued.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and it is obvious that the embodiments can be appropriately changed within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention. In addition, the number, position, shape, and the like of the constituent members are not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be set to a suitable number, position, shape, and the like in practicing the present invention. In each figure, the same numerals are given to the same component.

1 is a system configuration diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of a printing system according to the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of a server apparatus. It is a figure which shows the example of the capture screen memorize | stored in the information storage part shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of an issue screen produced by the issue screen production | generation part shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of order data produced with the orderer terminal shown in FIG. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the issuing operation | movement of embodiment of the printing system which concerns on this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Server apparatus 2 Orderer terminal 3 Contractor terminal 4 Network 5 Label printer 6 Price tag printer 11 Information transmission / reception part 12 Information storage part 13 Issuance data generation part 14 Issuance data storage part 15 Issuance screen generation part 20 Capture screen 21 Print layout designation column 22 Order Data Specification Field 23 Send Button 30 Issuing Screen 31 Issuing Instruction Button 32 Issuing Data List

Claims (4)

A server device, an orderer terminal managed by an orderer who orders products, and an orderer terminal managed by a contractor who receives an order from the orderer are connected via a network, and the orderer terminal A printing system to which a printer for printing printed matter delivered to the orderer together with the product is connected,
The server device is a capture screen transmitting means for transmitting a capture screen for capturing the order data transmitted from the orderer terminal to the contractor terminal and stored in the contractor terminal;
Print layout storage means for storing the print layout;
Issuance data generating means for generating issuance data for printing by the printer, reflecting the order data fetched from the orderer terminal to the print layout stored in the print layout storage means;
When the issuance data is generated by the issuance data generation means, an issuance screen transmission means for generating an issuance screen in which the generated issuance data is displayed as a list and transmitting it to the contractor terminal;
And an issuance data transmission means for transmitting the issuance data specified by the issuance instruction notification to the contractor terminal when an issuance instruction notification based on the issuance screen is received from the contractor terminal. Printing system to do. The order data includes the type of print layout,
The issuance data generation means reads the print layout specified by the order data from the print layout storage means, and generates the issuance data in which the order data is reflected in the read print layout. The printing system according to claim 1. A server device, an orderer terminal managed by an orderer who orders products, and an orderer terminal managed by a contractor who receives an order for the products from the orderer are connected via a network, and the orderer terminal A printing method in a printing system to which a printer for printing printed matter delivered to the orderer together with the product is connected,
The server device is transmitted from the orderer terminal to the contractor terminal, and transmits a capture screen for capturing order data stored in the contractor terminal to the contractor terminal,
Remember the print layout,
Generating issuance data to be printed by the printer, reflected in the print layout storing the order data fetched from the contractor terminal;
When the issuance data is generated, an issuance screen in which the generated issuance data is displayed as a list is generated and transmitted to the contractor terminal,
When the issuance instruction notification based on the issuance screen is received from the contractor terminal, the printing data specified by the issuance instruction notification is transmitted to the contractor terminal. The order data includes the type of print layout,
4. The printing method according to claim 3, wherein the issuance data in which the order data is reflected in the print layout specified by the order data is generated.

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