JP3614072B2 - Label printer - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an improvement in a label printer that prints and issues a product label that is attached to a product and displays the product.
[0002]
[Prior art]
There are relatively few products that, in particular, fresh foods that are delighted by consumers when the product origin is displayed on the product label, are actually printed on the product label.
Therefore, even if the product file is divided into a plurality of production areas even if it is the same type of product, even if it is set as a different product, there is no particular problem without using much memory.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, recently, there has been a growing demand for the display of production areas for many products, and there has been a problem that if the production data is to be displayed by the above-described method, a very large amount of memory is required and the cost becomes high.
Further, as a solution to the above problem, there may be a method in which only one product data is set in the product file for the same type of product, and the production area data is called and set at the time of label printing.
However, there are cases where the number of production areas is in the thousands, and it is not easy to call up the desired production area data, so that the printing work efficiency of the operator may be greatly reduced.
[0004]
The present invention has been made under such a background, and an object of the present invention is to provide a label printer that has high memory utilization efficiency and can display the production area of product labels with good work efficiency.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The invention according to claim 1 is a printer that calls and prints product data from a product file and issues a label.
A production buffer that stores a large number of callable location data, a history buffer that calls the product data from the product file and stores a predetermined number of production data for each product in the most recent order when the product data is called, and a product A history display means capable of displaying a plurality of production area data from the history buffer when data is called, and when one of the plurality of production data displayed by the history display means is designated, the corresponding production data is called up and the print data A label printer is provided, comprising: a setting unit that sets the data as a product; and an initial setting unit that calls and sets the latest local production data from the buffer when the product data is called .
[0007]
The invention according to claim 2 is the label printer according to claim 1 ,
When the history buffer stores the production area data, if the same production area data is already stored for the same product, a plurality of the same production area data is prevented from being stored .
[0009]
The invention according to claim 3 is the label printer according to claim 1 or 2 ,
A search call screen is provided that retrieves and retrieves the desired production area data from the production area file.
[0010]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an appearance of a label printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. This label printer is mainly used for pricing a product, and the label includes a product name, a price, an in-store marking bar. Print codes etc.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the label printer.
[0011]
In these drawings, the control unit shown in FIG. 2 is provided inside the label printer 1, and a scale 2 is connected to the control unit.
Further, on the front surface of the label printer 1, a first label printing mechanism unit 3a and a second label printing mechanism unit 3b are provided, and an operation unit 4 is provided. The first label printing mechanism 3a and the second label printing mechanism 3b print arbitrary characters, numbers, and images in dot units.
[0012]
Different label sheets are respectively attached to the first label printing mechanism unit 3a and the second label printing mechanism unit 3b, and one of the first label printing mechanism unit 3a and the second label printing mechanism unit 3b is selected, It is possible to print on label paper that suits your needs.
For example, a normal price label is attached to the first label printing mechanism 3a to print a normal product price label, and a price label with POP printing is attached to the second label printing mechanism 3b. It is now possible to print pricing labels for special sales products.
[0013]
The operation unit 4 is provided with a numeric keypad 5, a product number key 6, an operation / display unit 8, and the like.
The product number key 6 is used together with the numeric keypad 5 and is used when inputting the product number of the product.
The operation / display unit 8 has a structure in which a touch panel 8b (see FIG. 2) is laminated on the upper surface of the liquid crystal display 8a (see FIG. 2).
An image scanner 10 is connected to the operation unit 4 via a connector 9. The image scanner 10 can read a figure and print the read figure on a label sheet. The image scanner 10 is also used to read image data to be printed on a label for appealing to customers.
[0014]
Reference numeral 20 shown in FIG. 2 is a CPU (central processing unit) that controls each part of the apparatus to perform processing. The CPU 20 includes an input process for processing various input data such as input data input from the operation unit 4, image data read by the image scanner 10, and weight data input from the scale 2, a first label printing mechanism unit A printing process for controlling the printing operation of 3a, 3b, a display process for outputting various information to the liquid crystal display 8a, a setting process for setting the contents of various files, a print data creating process for creating print data, etc. .
In addition, the CPU 20 prints the operation mode of the main body 1 by printing a label and issues a pricing label, the setting mode for setting various files, the report mode for reporting the label issuance result, and the like. Switch to maintenance mode.
[0015]
The scale 2, the first label printing mechanism 3a, the second label printing mechanism 3b, the image scanner 10, the liquid crystal display 8a, various keys and switches, and the touch panel 8b are, as shown in FIG. 21, the print controller 22, the scanner controller 23, the display controller 25, and the operation controller 24 are connected to the CPU 20. When a product is placed on the scale 2, the product Is output to the CPU 20 as weighing data via the load cell control unit 21.
[0016]
Reference numeral 40 denotes a ROM (Read Only Memory), which includes various processing control programs for the CPU 20, such as an input processing program, a print processing program, a display processing program, a setting processing program, and a print data creation processing program. Stored.
Reference numeral 35 denotes a character generator ROM that stores a plurality of types of font data of characters such as numerals, alphabets, kana, kanji, commas, and symbols.
[0017]
Reference numeral 37 denotes a clock unit having a calendar function, and the CPU 20 can obtain current date (year / month / day) and time data from the clock unit 37.
Reference numeral 30 denotes a RAM (Random Access Memory), such as a working area in which flags, registers, etc. used when the CPU 20 performs various processes, a font file, a print format file, a product file, a production file, etc. A storage area is provided.
[0018]
The operation of the label printer having such a configuration will be described below.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a product file stored in the RAM 30. This product file includes a history buffer capable of storing five production codes in addition to the product number, name, department code, unit price, etc. for each product.
This history buffer operates to shift the data in columns 1 to 5 to the right one step at a time so as to drop the data in the rightmost column when reading the production code for printing, and to put new data in the leftmost column. . That is, the first-in first-out method is stored from the left.
An example of the history buffer display screen is shown in FIG.
[0019]
The production area file provided in the RAM 30 includes an identification number, a production area name, and production name reading data for each production area, and is set in advance in a setting mode. When the production area file is set, it is sorted in the order of reading data, and the storage capacity can be stored as many as 2000.
An example of the production area file is shown in FIG. 5, and an example of a reading search screen for the production area file is shown in FIG.
[0020]
Next, the operation of the label printer according to the embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
SP1... It is determined whether or not it is a valued mode. If NO, the process proceeds to SP2, performs other processing, and returns to SP1.
If YES, the process moves to SP3.
SP2 ... Other processing is performed.
[0021]
SP3: The operator calls the corresponding product data from the product file to the work area provided on the RAM by operating the numeric keypad and the product number key.
SP4: Calls the name of the corresponding production area from the production area file based on the most recent production area data stored in the column “1” at the left end of the history buffer of the called product data, and sets (sets) it in the work area as an initial value. To do.
Then, the data in the work area is displayed on the touch panel as a priced screen as shown in FIG.
[0022]
SP5 ... It is determined whether or not the part of the production center key displayed as "Production area" on the value-added screen is touched. If NO, the process proceeds to SP14, and if YES, the process proceeds to SP6.
SP6: It is determined whether there is valid production data in the history buffer of the called product data, that is, whether there is data other than “0”. If NO, SP11 is processed, and if YES, SP7 is processed.
[0023]
SP7: A production name is read from a production file based on valid production data in the history buffer, and the production name called (set) for the product in the past is stored in the buffer as in the history buffer display screen shown in FIG. As many as are displayed on the touch panel.
SP8 ... It is determined whether or not the search key displayed as "reading search" on the history buffer display screen is touched. If YES, the process proceeds to SP11, and if NO, the process proceeds to SP9.
[0024]
SP9 ... It is determined whether any of the parts of the names of production areas displayed on the history buffer display screen has been touched, and the process is repeated until YES is reached.
SP10 ... The touched production name is replaced with the production name that was initially set in SP4, and the screen returns to the display of the valued screen and proceeds to SP14.
[0025]
SP11: A reading search screen as shown in FIG. 6 is displayed on the touch panel.
By touching one of the keys in each row from “A” to “Wa”, the characters in that row can be selected and displayed in the upper column according to the number of touches. You can enter up to search characters.
If the reading data can be set to three or more characters in the production area file, the number of search characters may be three or more.
SP12... If the “Search” key is touched here, the names of the production areas corresponding to the readings from the production area file shown in FIG. 5 are listed in the left column (assuming that the production area files are sorted in advance in the reading order).
[0026]
SP13... When the target production area code is touched, the process proceeds to SP10, where the value is returned to the price screen and the production area name is set.
SP14: The product is weighed and the price is calculated from the unit price and weight.
[0027]
SP16 ... When the print key (not shown) is pressed, the print data is edited.
SP17: Prints and issues a label.
[0028]
SP18: The production center code of the name of production selected and printed this time is stored as the latest data in the history buffer of the corresponding product in the product file.
However, if the same data has already been stored, the data in that portion is erased and the buffer is left justified before being newly stored. And it returns to SP1.
The label printer according to the embodiment of the present invention operates as described above.
[0029]
The operation of one embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and there are design changes and the like without departing from the gist of the present invention. Are also included in the present invention.
For example, the present invention includes the following cases.
a. If there is room on the screen with a price, the merchandise data may be called and all the production area data (five) stored in the history buffer may be displayed without any specific operation.
[0030]
b. The timing of storage in the history buffer may be either when the production area data is selected, when it is set as print data, or at the time of printing.
c. One product is not limited to not storing a plurality of the same production area data in the history buffer. Even if there is no processing not storing a plurality of data, a certain effect can be obtained.
Further, the specific method of this processing is not limited to the embodiment.
[0031]
d. The history buffer is not limited to five data items for each product. Anything that meets the conditions of use may be used.
e. The search of claim 5 is not limited to the search by reading, but can be easily selected while looking at the screen, such as a list displayed after narrowing down the target by classification or district, etc. I just need it.
[0032]
f. It may be combined with an automatic sticking device or a packaging device.
g. If the print position of the production area data is not set in the print format, the production area data may be printed at the left corner of the product name column. If the product name column does not fit in the printing, the printing of the production area data may be converted into small characters.
[0033]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) In the invention of claim 1, since it is not necessary to set a plurality of product data in the product file even if the production areas are different for the same type of products, compared to a method in which product data is set separately for each production area Memory can be reduced.
In addition, the selection operation of the production area data can be easily selected because it is sufficient to select from among the products that have been called in the past.
In addition, since a predetermined number of production area data is stored in the latest order for each product, necessary production data can be efficiently called with a small amount of memory.
In addition, when the product data is called up, the corresponding latest production area data is set, so that the operation of setting the production area data can often be omitted.
[0035]
(2) In the invention of claim 2 , since the same product does not store a plurality of the same production area data, the memory can be used efficiently.
[0037]
(3) In the invention of claim 3 , since the display data can be used to call the production area data both before and after the data is stored in the history buffer, the operability can be improved. Therefore, the operator can perform the label printing operation with confidence even for a new product.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an appearance of a label printer according to an embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the label printer of FIG.
FIG. 3 is a view showing an example of a product file stored in a RAM 30;
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a history buffer display screen.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a production area file.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a reading search screen for a production area file.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the label printer according to the embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a priced screen displayed on the touch panel.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Label printer 2 ... Scale 3a ... 1st label printing mechanism part 3b ... 2nd label printing mechanism part 4 ... Operation part 5 ... Ten key 6 ... Product number key 8 ... Operation / display part 10 ... Image scanner 20 ... CPU
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 21 ... Load cell control part 22 ... Print control part 23 ... Scanner control part 24 ... Operation control part 25 ... Display control part 30 ... RAM (Random Access Memory)
35 ... Character generator ROM (Read Only Memory)
37 ... Clock unit 40 ... ROM (Read Only Memory)

Claims (3)

In a printer that calls and prints product data from a product file and issues a label,
A production file that stores a large number of production data that can be called,
A history buffer that stores product data from a product file and recalls a predetermined number of production data for each product in the most recent order when the production data is called,
History display means capable of displaying a plurality of production area data from the history buffer when calling product data;
When one of a plurality of production area data displayed by the history display means is designated, the corresponding production data is called and set as print data ;
A label printer comprising: initial setting means for calling and setting the latest local production data corresponding to the buffer when the product data is called . When the history buffer stores production data,
  2. The label printer according to claim 1, wherein when the same production area data is already stored for the same product, storing a plurality of the same production area data is suppressed. The label printer according to claim 1, further comprising a search call screen that retrieves and retrieves the target production data from the production file.

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