CN110641178A

CN110641178A - Thermal printer and printing method thereof

Info

Publication number: CN110641178A
Application number: CN201911044933.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 周哲衡; 陈桂鸿
Original assignee: Shanghai Sunmi Technology Group Co Ltd; Shenzhen Michelangelo Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Shanghai Sunmi Technology Group Co Ltd; Shenzhen Michelangelo Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-10-30
Filing date: 2019-10-30
Publication date: 2020-01-03

Abstract

The invention provides a thermal printer and a printing method thereof. The printing method includes step S1: a plurality of data buffer areas receive data packets, and print tasks are formed in the data buffer areas; step S2: generating a print queue from the print job; step S3: transmitting the printing tasks to the thermal printing head according to the arrangement sequence of the printing queues; step S4: the thermal print head prints the print job. The thermal printer and the printing method thereof provided by the invention provide data buffer areas for data packets of different data sources, form printing tasks and generate printing queues, thereby eliminating the problem of disordered printing.

Description

Thermal printer and printing method thereof

Technical Field

The invention mainly relates to the field of thermal printers, in particular to a thermal printer and a printing method thereof.

Background

The thermal printer has a working principle that a semiconductor heating element is arranged on a printing head, and the printing head can print required patterns after being heated and contacting thermal printing paper, and the principle of the thermal printer is similar to that of a thermal fax machine. The image is generated by heating to cause a chemical reaction in the film. The chemical reaction of the thermal printer is carried out at a certain temperature. High temperatures accelerate this chemical reaction. When the temperature is lower than 60 ℃, the paper needs to be changed into dark color for a long time, even for several years; and when the temperature is 200 ℃, the reaction is completed within several microseconds.

The existing mainstream type thermal printer has single data source, can directly send printing heads to print after receiving printing data, and can not generate the situation of disordered printing content. However, this method is not suitable for a thermal printer with multiple data sources, because the data of the ticket for printing can come from multiple data sources, such as a network, a bluetooth interface, a USB interface, or the printer itself, the thermal printer will receive the print data from different data sources at the same time, and if the data is received and sent to the print head for printing in the existing method, the print content will be confused, and the printed ticket will be invalid.

Disclosure of Invention

The following presents a simplified summary of one or more aspects in order to provide a basic understanding of such aspects. This summary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated aspects, and is intended to neither identify key or critical elements of all aspects nor delineate the scope of any or all aspects. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a printing method based on a thermal printer, comprising:

step S1: a plurality of data buffer areas receive data packets, and a printing task is formed in each data buffer area;

step S2: generating a print queue from the print job;

step S3: transmitting the printing tasks to a thermal printing head according to the arrangement sequence of the printing queues;

step S4: the thermal print head prints the print job.

In one embodiment of the above method, the data buffers receive the data packets from different data sources, the data sources including network data, bluetooth data, USB data, or internal data based on the thermal printer.

In one embodiment of the above method, the print job comprises one or more data packets.

In one embodiment of the method described above, in step S1, the print job is formed from packets received within a set interval time.

In an embodiment of the above method, the set interval is 500 ms.

In one embodiment of the method as described above, the print jobs generate the print queues in chronological order.

In one embodiment of the method, in step S4, the print job is deleted from the print queue after the printing action of the print job is completed.

In one embodiment of the method, in step S4, if an accident occurs, the printing is terminated, and after the accident is eliminated, the print job is reprinted.

In one embodiment of the above method, the unexpected situation includes a run-out of printing paper, a paper jam, or a power outage.

The invention also provides a thermal printer, which is suitable for the printing method and comprises the following steps:

the buffer module comprises a plurality of data buffer areas, the data buffer areas receive data packets, and the printing tasks are formed in the data buffer areas;

the printing queue generating module is used for receiving the printing tasks and generating a printing queue;

and the printing module comprises the thermal printing head and receives the printing tasks in the printing queue and prints through the thermal printing head.

Compared with the prior art, the invention has the following advantages: the data buffer area is provided for the data packets of different data sources to form the printing task, and the printing queue is generated by the printing task, so that the problems of printing confusion and invalid printing bills are solved.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the application and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiment(s) of the application and together with the description serve to explain the principle of the invention. In the drawings:

fig. 1 shows a flow chart of a printing method based on a thermal printer provided according to the present invention.

Fig. 2 shows a process diagram of a thermal printer based printing method according to the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of the print queue in fig. 2.

Fig. 4 shows a schematic structural diagram of a thermal printer provided according to the present invention.

Wherein the figures include the following reference numerals:

network data buffer 210 Bluetooth data buffer 220

USB data buffer 230 internal data buffer 240

Print jobs

211, 221, 222, 231, 241

Print queue 250 thermal print head 260

Thermal printer 400 buffer module 410

Print queue generating Module 420 print Module 430

Detailed Description

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. It is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only examples or embodiments of the application, from which the application can also be applied to other similar scenarios without inventive effort for a person skilled in the art. Unless otherwise apparent from the context, or otherwise indicated, like reference numbers in the figures refer to the same structure or operation.

As used in this application and the appended claims, the terms "a," "an," "the," and/or "the" are not intended to be inclusive in the singular, but rather are intended to be inclusive in the plural unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In general, the terms "comprises" and "comprising" merely indicate that steps and elements are included which are explicitly identified, that the steps and elements do not form an exclusive list, and that a method or apparatus may include other steps or elements.

The relative arrangement of the components and steps, the numerical expressions, and numerical values set forth in these embodiments do not limit the scope of the present application unless specifically stated otherwise. Meanwhile, it should be understood that the sizes of the respective portions shown in the drawings are not drawn in an actual proportional relationship for the convenience of description. Techniques, methods, and apparatus known to those of ordinary skill in the relevant art may not be discussed in detail but are intended to be part of the specification where appropriate. In all examples shown and discussed herein, any particular value should be construed as merely illustrative, and not limiting. Thus, other examples of the exemplary embodiments may have different values. It should be noted that: like reference numbers and letters refer to like items in the following figures, and thus, once an item is defined in one figure, further discussion thereof is not required in subsequent figures.

It should be noted that the terms "first", "second", and the like are used to define the components, and are only used for convenience of distinguishing the corresponding components, and the terms have no special meanings unless otherwise stated, and therefore, the scope of protection of the present application is not to be construed as being limited. Further, although the terms used in the present application are selected from publicly known and used terms, some of the terms mentioned in the specification of the present application may be selected by the applicant at his or her discretion, the detailed meanings of which are described in relevant parts of the description herein. Further, it is required that the present application is understood not only by the actual terms used but also by the meaning of each term lying within.

Fig. 1 shows a flow chart of a printing method based on a thermal printer provided according to the present invention. As shown in fig. 1, the printing method based on a thermal printer provided by the present invention includes:

step S1: the plurality of data buffers receive the data packets and form print jobs in each data buffer. Specifically, each data buffer receives packets independently, and forms a print job based on the received packets.

Step S2: a print queue is generated from the print job. That is, the print jobs generated in the respective data buffers are arranged in order to generate a print queue.

Step S3: the print jobs are delivered to the thermal print head according to the order of the print queues.

Step S4: and the thermal printing head prints the printing task and generates a corresponding printing bill.

Preferably, the plurality of data buffers receive data packets from different data sources. In fact, due to the diversification of data transmission means, data packets from various interfaces can be received by the thermal printer as long as the data packets conform to the data transmission protocol. By way of example and not limitation, the data sources herein may include network data, bluetooth data, USB data, or internal data based thermal printers. The so-called internal data may include a self-test page printed by a combination key of the thermal printer. Actually, the printing method provided by the invention is to provide corresponding data buffer areas for data packets of different data sources, form printing tasks from the data packets, and sort the printing tasks to generate a printing queue, so that the problem of data printing of multiple data sources is thoroughly solved, and situations such as disordered printing are avoided. Fig. 2 shows a process diagram of a thermal printer based printing method according to the present invention. As shown, the four data buffers include a network data buffer 210, a bluetooth data buffer 220, a USB data buffer 230, and an internal data buffer 240. As will be readily appreciated, the network data buffer 210 is configured to receive data packets originating from a network, the bluetooth data buffer 220 is configured to receive data packets obtained after bluetooth pairing, the USB data buffer 230 is configured to receive data packets received through a USB interface, and the internal data buffer 240 is configured to receive data packets retained inside the thermal printer. The data packets generate print jobs in respective data buffers, the print jobs generate a print queue 250, the print queue 250 includes the received print jobs, and the print jobs are sequentially transmitted to the thermal print head 260, and finally the corresponding bill printing is completed.

Preferably, the print job comprises one or more data packets, i.e. the generated print job comprises one or more data packets originating from the same data source. Referring to fig. 2, the network data buffer 210 receives network packet 1 and network packet 2, and forms a network print job 211 from the two network packets; USB data buffer 230 receives USB packet 1, USB packet 2, and USB packet 3, which constitute a USB print job 231.

Preferably, in step S1, the print job is formed by the data packets received within the set interval time. More preferably, the set interval is 500 ms. Still referring to fig. 3, after the network data buffer 210 receives the network data packet 1, the network data packet 2 is received again within 500ms, and no other network data packet is received within the next 500ms, so that a network print job 211 is formed by the network data packet 1 and the network data packet 2. After receiving the bluetooth data packet 1, the bluetooth data buffer 220 does not receive new data within 500ms, and then a network print task 221 is formed by the bluetooth data packet 1; the bluetooth data buffer 220 receives the bluetooth data packet 2 after 500ms and no new data is received within the next 500ms, a network print job 222 is formed from the bluetooth data packet 2.

Preferably, the print jobs generate the print queue 250 in chronological order. Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of the print queue 250 of fig. 2. As shown, print queues 250 are generated from the time-sequential queuing of print jobs generated from the different data buffers in FIG. 2, which is illustrated as being ordered to the right. The print queue 250 is equivalent to a first-in-first-out stack, which stores each print job to be printed, and the print job that is first queued in the print queue 250 is printed first. In the print queue 250 shown in fig. 3, the order is, from back to front, the bluetooth print job 222 → the USB print job 231 → the internal print job 241 → the network print job 211 → the bluetooth print job 221, in which the bluetooth print job 221 is printed first.

Preferably, in step S4, after the printing action of the print job is completed, the print job is deleted from the print queue 250.

Preferably, in step S4, if an accident occurs, the printing is terminated, and after the accident is eliminated, the printing job is re-executed. Among them, the unexpected situation includes that the printing paper is used up, a paper jam, or a power failure. It is easy to understand that in the daily use of the thermal printer, the situation that the printing paper is consumed and needs to be loaded with new printing paper often happens. In this case, the printing process is often performed halfway, and the operation is stopped, and new printing paper is loaded and then reprinted. Therefore, it is necessary to retain the print job being printed in the print queue 250 to avoid losing the print job to be printed after an accident is encountered. Only after a print job is completely printed can the print job be removed from the print queue 250.

The following describes a specific implementation process of a printing method provided by the present invention with reference to fig. 2 and fig. 3.

At some point, data from the network, bluetooth, USB, and thermal printer are received, and stored in their respective data buffers, packet 1 in the network data buffer 210, packet 1 in the bluetooth buffer, packet 1 in the USB buffer, and packet 1 in the internal data buffer 240.

Immediately thereafter (within 500 ms), packets from the network, USB and printer are received, and they continue to be stored in their respective data buffers, packet 2 of network data buffer 210, packet 2 of USB buffer and packet 2 of internal data buffer 240 in the figure. Within 500ms after the receipt of the data packet in the bluetooth data buffer 220, no new data is received, and the bluetooth data packet 1 is placed in the print queue 250 as a print job 221.

The USB buffer continues to receive USB packets 3. Within 500ms after the network data buffer 210 receives the data packet 2, no new data is received, and the data packet 1 and the data packet 2 in the network data buffer 210 are also put into the print queue 250 as a print job 211. Similarly, packet 1 and packet 2 of the internal data buffer 240 are also placed in the print queue 250 as a print job 241.

Within 500ms after the receipt of the data packet in the USB data buffer 230, no more new data is received, and all data packets in the USB buffer are placed as a print job 231 in the print queue 250.

After 500ms, the bluetooth interface receives new data again, and the bluetooth packet 2 is stored in the bluetooth data buffer 220. After another 500ms, the bluetooth data buffer 220 has not received new data, and thus packet 2 is placed in the print queue 250 as a print job 222. Specifically, each print job is flushed from the data buffer as it is fed into the print queue. In this embodiment, there is now effectively only print job 222 in bluetooth data buffer 220 because print job 221 has already been entered into print queue 250.

Referring to fig. 3, each print job in the print queue 250 is sent to the thermal print head 260 in turn for printing. Only after a print job is completely printed will the print job be deleted from print queue 250 and printing of the next print job in print queue 250 will begin. Upon an unexpected occurrence, such as a paper shortage, printing may be suspended, and the current print job in print queue 250 may be reprinted from the beginning after the paper shortage resumes.

The invention also provides a thermal printer which is suitable for the printing method. Fig. 4 shows a schematic structural diagram of a thermal printer provided according to the present invention. As shown, the thermal printer 400 suitable for the aforementioned printing method includes a buffering module 410, a print queue generating module 420, and a printing module 430.

The buffer module 410 includes a plurality of data buffers. The data buffers receive the data packets and form print jobs in each data buffer.

The print queue generating module 420 is configured to receive the print jobs in each data buffer, and generate the print queue 250 according to the print job sorting.

The print module 430 includes a thermal print head 260, and the print module 430 receives a print job and prints through the thermal print head 260.

The invention provides a thermal printer and a printing method thereof, which are suitable for processing various data sources needing to be printed. The thermal printer can not generate the situation of disordered printing content insertion, and can still ensure the complete printing of the bill even if an accident situation occurs.

Flow charts are used herein to illustrate operations performed by systems according to embodiments of the present application. It should be understood that the preceding operations are not necessarily performed in the exact order in which they are performed. Rather, various steps may be processed in reverse order or simultaneously. Meanwhile, other operations are added to or removed from these processes.

Having thus described the basic concept, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the foregoing disclosure is by way of example only, and is not intended to limit the present application. Various modifications, improvements and adaptations to the present application may occur to those skilled in the art, although not explicitly described herein. Such modifications, improvements and adaptations are proposed in the present application and thus fall within the spirit and scope of the exemplary embodiments of the present application.

Also, this application uses specific language to describe embodiments of the application. Reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment," "an embodiment," and/or "some embodiments" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with at least one embodiment of the present application is included in at least one embodiment of the present application. Therefore, it is emphasized and should be appreciated that two or more references to "an embodiment" or "one embodiment" or "an alternative embodiment" in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, some features, structures, or characteristics of one or more embodiments of the present application may be combined as appropriate.

Aspects of the present application may be embodied entirely in hardware, entirely in software (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or in a combination of hardware and software. The above hardware or software may be referred to as "data block," module, "" engine, "" unit, "" component, "or" system. The processor may be one or more Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DAPDs), Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, or a combination thereof. Furthermore, aspects of the present application may be represented as a computer product, including computer readable program code, embodied in one or more computer readable media. For example, computer-readable media may include, but are not limited to, magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disk, floppy disk, magnetic strips … …), optical disks (e.g., Compact Disk (CD), Digital Versatile Disk (DVD) … …), smart cards, and flash memory devices (e.g., card, stick, key drive … …).

Similarly, it should be noted that in the preceding description of embodiments of the application, various features are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure aiding in the understanding of one or more of the embodiments. This method of disclosure, however, is not intended to require more features than are expressly recited in the claims. Indeed, the embodiments may be characterized as having less than all of the features of a single embodiment disclosed above.

Numerals describing the number of components, attributes, etc. are used in some embodiments, it being understood that such numerals used in the description of the embodiments are modified in some instances by the use of the modifier "about", "approximately" or "substantially". Unless otherwise indicated, "about", "approximately" or "substantially" indicates that the number allows a variation of ± 20%. Accordingly, in some embodiments, the numerical parameters used in the specification and claims are approximations that may vary depending upon the desired properties of the individual embodiments. In some embodiments, the numerical parameter should take into account the specified significant digits and employ a general digit preserving approach. Notwithstanding that the numerical ranges and parameters setting forth the broad scope of the range are approximations, in the specific examples, such numerical values are set forth as precisely as possible within the scope of the application.

Although the present application has been described with reference to the present specific embodiments, it will be recognized by those skilled in the art that the foregoing embodiments are merely illustrative of the present application and that various changes and substitutions of equivalents may be made without departing from the spirit of the application, and therefore, it is intended that all changes and modifications to the above-described embodiments that come within the spirit of the application fall within the scope of the claims of the application.

Claims

1. A thermal printer based printing method comprising:

step S2: generating a print queue from the print job;

step S4: the thermal print head prints the print job.

2. The printing method of claim 1, wherein a plurality of the data buffers receive the data packets from different data sources, the data sources including network data, bluetooth data, USB data, or internal data based on the thermal printer.

3. The printing method of claim 2, wherein the print job comprises one or more data packets.

4. The printing method according to claim 2, wherein in step S1, the data packets received within the set interval time form a print job.

5. The printing method according to claim 4, wherein the set interval time is 500 ms.

6. The printing method of claim 1, wherein the print jobs generate the print queue in chronological order.

7. The printing method according to claim 1, wherein in step S4, after the printing action of the print job is completed, the print job is deleted from the print queue.

8. The printing method according to claim 1, wherein in step S4, if an unexpected situation occurs, the printing is terminated, and after the unexpected situation is eliminated, the print job is reprinted.

9. The printing method of claim 1, wherein the unexpected condition comprises a run out of printing paper, a paper jam, or a power outage.

10. A thermal printer adapted for use in the printing method of any one of claims 1 to 9, comprising:

the buffer module comprises a plurality of data buffer areas, the data buffer areas receive the data packets, and the printing tasks are formed in the data buffer areas;

the printing queue generating module is used for receiving the printing tasks and generating the printing queue;