JP2001180067A - Handy terminal with function of detecting a plurality of different eye marks - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize a size accuracy of a basis for privately forming postal transfer sheets which is specifications of a payment form special for postal transfer by correctly controlling a positional relationship of printed results to simultaneously print a data description format and data on blank thermosensitive papers in a thermal printer of a handy terminal which prints measured results of a use amount of gas, tap water, electricity or the like as notice slips. SOLUTION: The handy terminal is provided with a detecting function for a plurality of different eye marks. With the use of a thermal printer paper having the eye mark for a first slip of the payment form special for postal transfer and the matchmark for a second slip, the handy terminal prints with setting a printing position of the first slip by the eye mark for the first slip, and prints with setting a printing position of the second slip by the eye mark for the second slip. A payment form satisfying the dimensional tolerance of the privately-formed postal book-transfer sheet can be obtained.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention uses a thermal printer of a handy terminal used for meter reading of gas, water, electric power, and the like, and performs printing requiring high accuracy such as a postal transfer payment note. The present invention relates to a handy terminal having a function of detecting several different eye marks.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, a handy terminal using a thermal printer has been used for meter reading of gas, water, electric power meters and the like. This handy terminal measures the usage of gas, water, electric power, etc., prints the result on the spot as an information sheet, separates the print result, and passes it to the user. In this case, for users who have not contracted for automatic withdrawal of usage fees, a payment will be made by the gas, water, power, etc. supply company to the users again based on the data of meter reading results. The current situation is that a notice and a payment slip are sent, whereby the user pays the fee. The administrative procedure for sending a payment notice and a payment request to charge a user who has not made an automatic debit contract requires a lot of time and cost,
As a result, this is one of the factors that increase the cost of the usage fee.

[0003]

In order to solve such a problem, a user who has not made a contract for automatic withdrawal of the usage fee is required to measure the usage of gas, water, electric power, and the like. When printing the result on site, it is desirable to be able to print a usage fee bill attached to a payment sheet with the payment fee attached, together with a notice sheet of the meter reading result. At present, automatic reading processing using OCR by image processing is becoming widespread in the transfer processing of gas, water, electric power, etc., and even in postal transfer, the postal transfer private standard which is the standard of postal transfer dedicated payment form Have been created.

FIG. 7, FIG. 8, and FIG. 9 respectively show a payment handling slip based on a postal transfer private transfer standard and a positional relation standard of the payment slip. The postal transfer-dedicated payment form is a first payment handling form including an account number field, an amount field, and a subscriber name field as shown in FIG. 7, and a second payment processing and receipt form as shown in FIG. The payout slip is a perforated form, and a perforation is provided between the payout form and the payout form, and the positional relationship is strictly defined as shown in FIG. That is, the perforation on the left side of the payment handling slip should be within 4 mm ± 0.3 mm from the vertical line on the left side of the account number column as shown in FIG. Similarly, as shown in FIG. 9, the position of the print position alignment frame of the second payout slip is such that the vertical line on the right side of the account number is 54.
Be within 26 ± 1mm.

[0005] The postal transfer payment form is a series of two-sheet postal transfer form and is premised on data processing by the OCR reader. Therefore, it is required that the positional relationship between the two forms of the payment form be accurate. I have. For this purpose, print in advance the format of a special two-vote postal transfer payment form on OCR paper and write the data by hand, or write it by thermal transfer, ink jet, or laser recording. , The input process is performed. In contrast, gas, water,
The handy terminal thermal printer, which prints the meter reading results of power consumption etc. as a notification slip, has poor print launch accuracy and it is extremely difficult to achieve the dimensional accuracy of the postal transfer privately-manufactured standard, which is the standard for postal transfer payment documents. It is. In order to solve such a problem, it is required to prepare a payment document that satisfies the dimensional accuracy standard of the postal transfer private transfer standard using a thermal printer such as a handy terminal.

[0006]

According to the present invention, a handy terminal has a function of detecting a plurality of different eye marks in order to create a payment slip for exclusive use of a series of two-post mail transfer by a thermal printer of the handy terminal. Then, using a thermal printer paper provided with an eye mark for the first vote and an eye mark for the second vote of the payment form dedicated to postal transfer, the print position of the first vote is determined by the eye mark for the first vote. To realize a handy terminal having a function of detecting a number of different eye marks, in which printing is performed by defining the position of the second vote with the eye mark for the second vote, and printing is performed. As a result, it is possible to create a payment document that satisfies the dimensional accuracy standard of the postal transfer private transfer standard.

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A handy terminal having a function of detecting a number of different eye marks according to the present invention not only prints meter reading results, but also charges users who have not made a contract for account transfer a charge. The prints of different patterns such as the payment papers and receipts shown above can be selectively printed and delivered. For this purpose, the handy terminal is prepared in advance not only with a notice sheet of meter reading results, but also with a format for printing different patterns such as payment papers and receipts indicating usage fee billing. The necessary format is selected based on the user's selection or the preset user's data, and the data of the meter reading result is inserted in the selected format and printed.

In this case, the payment slip given to the user is:
It is necessary to perform high-precision printing in which the printing position is precisely regulated so as to be able to cope with data processing by the OCR reader. For example, as shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, in a postal transfer private payment standard, the positional relationship of each vote in a series of two-vote postal transfer payment forms is strictly defined.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of printer paper used for printing a postal transfer-dedicated payment note or the like by a thermal printer of a handy terminal having a function of detecting several different eye marks according to the present invention. In FIG.
(A) shows the front side of the printer paper for the thermal printer on which the postal transfer payment sheet is printed, and (b) shows the eye mark on the back side.

In FIG. 4A, P1 is an area where the first vote of the postal transfer-only payment form is printed, and P2 is an area where the second vote of the postal transfer-only payment form is printed. The area P1 and the area P2 form a single postal transfer-dedicated payment note print pattern. M is a perforation provided at the boundary of each print pattern in order to easily separate the printed postal transfer-dedicated payment form. m denotes an area P1 and an area P1 to make it easy to separate the area P1 where the data of the first vote and the area P2 where the data of the second vote of the printed payment form for postal transfer are printed. It is a perforation inserted between P2.

In FIG. 4B, dt1 and dt2 are eye marks for print positioning, respectively. The eye marks dt1 and dt2 are eye marks for positioning the area P1 where the data of the first vote of the payment form dedicated to postal transfer is printed and the area P2 where the data of the second vote are printed. dt3 is an eye mark used for cueing a paper sheet for printing a postal transfer dedicated payment form and a notice sheet indicating a meter reading result of an integrating meter indicating the usage amount of gas, water, electric power, and the like. The thermal printer of the handy terminal feeds out the paper when printing the format and data of the postal transfer-dedicated payment form, and prints when it detects an eye mark for dt1 print positioning in FIG. 4B. The paper is stopped, the print position of the area P1 where the data of the first vote is printed is determined, and the format and the data are printed at the same time.
After the printing of the area P1, the thermal printer detects the eye mark for print positioning of dt2 in FIG. 4B, stops the print paper, and determines the print positioning of the area P2 where the data of the second vote is printed. And print the format and data at the same time. After the printing of the area P2, the thermal printer detects the dt3 eye mark in FIG. 4B, stops the printing paper, and performs positioning of the head for printing the next print pattern.

In this manner, the print position of the first vote is determined by the eye mark dt1 for positioning the first vote of the payment note, and the eye mark dt1 for positioning the second vote of the payment note is perforated. Immediately after m, by detecting the eye mark dt2 and determining the print position of the second vote, the writing accuracy can be improved. Further, an eye mark dt3 is provided at a position after the payment note so as to prepare for the next print in order to search for the next print. By changing the width of the eye marks dt1, dt2, dt3, the function of the handy terminal can be identified. Specifically, the eye mark dt1 is set to 2 mm ± 0.1 in width. The eye mark dt2 is set to 5 mm ± 0.1 in width. The eye mark dt3 is set to 3 mm ± 0.1 in width. Can be identified.

[0012] The accuracy of the position of a postal transfer payment document or the like printed by the thermal printer of the handy terminal is also affected by the detection accuracy of the eye mark sensor of the thermal printer. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the relationship between the signal of the eye mark sensor and the slice level. In FIG. 5, O1, O2, and O3 indicate detection signals of the eye mark sensor, and SL indicates a slice level of the signal. O in FIG.
As indicated by 1, O2 and O3, the output level of the detection signal of the eye mark sensor varies depending on environmental conditions. For this reason, in the detection of the eye mark by the conventional level slicing method in which the detection signal having such a level fluctuation is detected at a constant slice level SL, the detection position fluctuates due to a change in the output level of the detection signal of the eye mark sensor. Therefore, accurate position cannot be detected.

For this reason, the detection method of the eye mark used in the handy terminal having the function of detecting a plurality of different eye marks according to the present invention is such that the middle of the width of the eye mark is set as the detection position. . Specifically, the output level of the detection signal of the eye mark sensor is the slice level SL
(A period during which the eye mark is ON, that is, the width of the eye mark) is counted, and a half of the period is set as the detection position, so that the output level of the detection signal of the eye mark sensor changes. , A fixed position can always be detected.
At the same time, the functions of the eye marks dt1, dt2, dt3 in FIG. 4 can be identified by measuring the width of the eye marks. The operation of the handy terminal having the function of detecting several different eye marks according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In the handy terminal using the thermal printer paper having several eye marks of the present invention,
At the same time as the printing of the notice sheet informing of the meter reading result, it is possible to selectively print different patterns of the usage fee bill attached to the postal transfer payment sheet.

For this purpose, a format of a program for printing a different pattern such as a bill for a usage fee attached to a postal transfer payment sheet is prepared in advance in the handy terminal in addition to the printing of the meter reading result. The required format is selected by the user of the handy terminal or based on the data of the user set in advance, and the data of the meter reading result is inserted in the selected format. Printed. FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a preparation operation of a handy terminal having a function of detecting several different eye marks according to the present invention. As a preparatory work for using the handy terminal, data of a user in a meter reading area for which the user of the handy terminal is in charge is downloaded from a host computer of a supplier of gas, water, electric power or the like to a memory of the handy terminal. In this case, in the past, only the debit data from the bank account for the previous month was downloaded, and with the meter reading result, the receipt of the debit was printed and passed to the user who debited the bank account. I was

In the handy terminal of the present invention, data downloaded from the host computer includes: 1. Payment form of user's fee (whether or not contract for debit from bank account is made) The user's data is downloaded, such as whether there is an unpaid fee for paying the user's fee and how many months have not been paid. For this purpose, data of the handy terminal is extracted from the original data of the host computer. Handy terminal data is extracted by extracting only the data of the users in the meter reading area in which the user of the handy terminal is in charge from the database of the meter reading schedule data, the payment prompting schedule data, and the payment slip basic data of the original data of the host computer. Then, the extracted data is subjected to a data combining process, and data on a person who will be reading the meter is created. The meter reading scheduler data is individually created by the host computer for each meter reading area in which the user of each handy terminal is in charge.

[0016] The data of the person who will read the meter, prepared by the host computer, are arranged in the order of meter reading and downloaded to the handy terminal. Thereby, the preparation work of the handy terminal is completed, and the preparation for starting the meter reading processing work is completed. FIG. 2 shows a flow chart of the meter reading operation, receipt, and bill issuing operation of the handy terminal of the present invention. When the preparation for the start of the meter reading process is completed, the meter reading operator starts the meter reading operation of his / her area with the handy terminal set to the state where the meter reading process is started. At the time of meter reading, the handy terminal determines whether or not it is necessary to execute a meter reading operation based on data input to each user, and notifies the meter reading operator. For a user who determines that the handy terminal needs to execute the meter reading operation, the meter reading operator performs meter reading and inputs the result to the handy terminal.

After inputting the meter reading result, the meter reading operator presses a start button for starting printing on the handy terminal. When the print start button is pressed, the printer receives a status request command and checks whether the printer is ready for printing. If printing is possible, sends a printable status response and forms overlay. Perform restoration transmission. The handy terminal performs various calculation processes for obtaining data necessary for printing on the result of the meter reading in response to the transmission of the printable status response and the transmission of the form overlay restoration. When the calculation process is completed, the handy terminal detects the payment form of the user. Payment form detection
How the user will pay the fee,
That is, it detects whether the user has made a contract for automatic debit from the bank account. When the payment mode is detected, the handy terminal edits the print information that matches the payment mode.

When the print information is edited, the handy terminal selects a suitable layout for printing the print information. In selecting an appropriate layout, a print format is set in accordance with the form of payment of the user's fee. Since the print format differs depending on the form of payment, a print format that matches the form of payment of the user's fee is selected. Since the data of the user's fee payment method is input in the memory of the handy terminal in advance, the handy terminal checks the user's fee payment method and automatically sets the type of print format. After editing the print information and selecting a suitable layout, the handy terminal simultaneously supplies the print information and the information of the suitable layout to the printer as print issuance data, and the printer edits these two pieces of information and prepares for printing. As a result of the editing, it is possible to obtain a print format of the information in which the data of the meter reading result is combined into a format that matches the payment form of the user's fee.

FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of a print operation of the output information of the handy terminal of the present invention. If the user has made a contract for the account transfer, the fee is automatically deducted from the bank account, and there is no need to perform the fee payment procedure by himself, so that it is unnecessary to issue a payment slip. Since the output information only needs to know the result of the meter reading, it is not necessary to perform printing in which the printing position is accurately regulated. Therefore, high-precision printing is not performed (NO). In this case, there is no problem even if the position of the notice slip is slightly shifted, and the position of the print is determined by detecting the dt3 eye mark in FIG. Printing is performed at the position where the printing is performed. After the printing of this notice sheet is completed, the cue eye mark IM3 for the next print is detected, and when the IM3 is detected, it is determined that the printing has been normally performed, and the next meter reading is performed. The cueing for printing the result is performed and the operation is completed.

If no IM3 is detected, it is determined that printing has been performed beyond the designated length field, and the printing operation is performed again. It is necessary to pay the fee for users who have not made a contract for account transfer. For this purpose, the handy terminal is configured to print a postal transfer-only payment form after printing the notification slip, and a print format of information in which the postal transfer-specific payment form is set is prepared. . Payment slip of postal transfer exclusive payment form is OC
High-precision printing (YES), in which high-precision printing in which the print position is accurately regulated so as to be compatible with data processing by the R reading device, is selected. High-precision printing is performed using two eye marks dt1 and dt2 in FIG. 1B in order to correct the positional accuracy of the printer.

FIG. 6 shows the state of data in the form of a postal transfer-only payment note on the memory map of the printer. The data of the first vote P1 of the postal transfer dedicated payment form shown in FIG. 4A is arranged at 960 dots from the first dot of the memory. The data of the second vote P2 of the payment form for postal transfer shown in FIG.
08 dots, and between the data of the first vote P1 and the data of the second vote P2, 96
A spare area of 8 dots up to 8 dots (1 mm in print pitch) is provided. This reserve area is the second vote P2
Used to adjust the print start position of the data. When the handy terminal prints the postal transfer-dedicated payment form, the paper is sent, and when the handy terminal detects the eye mark for dt1 print positioning in FIG. 4B, the print paper is stopped. The print positioning of the area P1 where the data of the first vote is printed is performed, and the format and data set from the first dot to 960 dots on the memory map in FIG. 6 are printed at the same time.

If the eye mark for dt1 print positioning in FIG. 4B is not detected (NG), it is determined that the cue position is not correct, and the data of the first vote is determined. The printing is stopped, the eye mark of dt3 in FIG. 4B is detected, the sheet is still fed, and the next print is searched. After the printing of the area P1, when the handy terminal detects the eye mark for print positioning of dt2 in FIG. 4B, the printing paper is stopped, and the printing of the area P2 where the data of the second vote is printed. Perform positioning. In this case, the print start position of the data of the second vote P2 is adjusted using the spare area on the memory map according to the result of printing the data of the first vote.

When the data of the first vote is printed beyond the eye mark for the print positioning of dt2 in FIG. 4B, dt2 is not detected, so the second vote of the second vote is not detected. Printing of data is stopped (NG),
The eye mark of dt3 in FIG. 4B is detected, the sheet is still fed, and the next print is searched. 2nd vote P2
When the print start position is determined, 9 on the memory map in FIG.
The format and data set from the 69th dot to 1408 dots are printed simultaneously. In this way, by using the two eye marks dt1 and dt2, the payment sheet on which the first and second votes of the payment form dedicated to postal transfer are printed at a position conforming to the standard is printed out. can do. When the printing of the second vote is completed, the eye mark of dt3 in FIG. 4B is detected, the sheet is still sent, and cueing of the next print is performed.

If the print of the second vote is printed beyond the eye mark for cueing dt3 in FIG. 4B, dt3 is not detected, and the data of the second vote is Judge that printing was not performed normally, and start printing again from the beginning. If the user has selected to pay from a payee other than the post office, the handy terminal sets the payment form in a payment form that can be used in banks and convenience stores and performs high-precision printing. The meter reading operation of one user is completed by the above operation. When the meter reading operation of one user is completed, the handy terminal indicates the data of the next user and causes the meter reading operator to perform the meter reading operation of the next user. In this way, the meter reading of the user is sequentially performed,
When the meter reading operation of all the users input to the memory of the handy terminal is completed, the meter reading operation of the day is completed.

FIG. 10 shows a postal transfer exclusive payment form (embodiment) prepared by a handy terminal having a function of detecting several different eye marks according to the present invention, and a conventional one eye mark. 7 shows a comparison of accuracy with a postal transfer payment form (comparative example) created by a thermal printer. As is apparent from FIG. 10, even if a thermal printer having the same positioning accuracy is used, printing that sufficiently satisfies the standard of the postal transfer-dedicated payment form can be performed by the present invention. According to the present invention, for users who have not made an account transfer contract, the usage amount of the meter reading result and the usage fee for this are printed,
Along with the notification slip, it becomes possible to issue a combined print format of payment paper on which data necessary for payment is printed on a payment form for postal transfer. The user who has been given the postal transfer payment form with the data required for payment printed together with the notification form can immediately carry out the payment procedure by bringing the postal transfer form to the post office. . In addition, suppliers of electricity, gas, water, etc. do not need to send a bill with a transfer form again to users who have not made a contract for account transfer, so it is extremely efficient to collect money It becomes possible to do business.

[0026]

As is apparent from the above description, the present invention provides a handy terminal with a plurality of different eye marks in order to prepare a series of two-vote postal transfer payment slips using a thermal printer. , The eye mark for the first vote of the payment form for postal transfer,
Using a thermal printer paper provided with an eye mark for the second vote, the printing position of the first vote is determined by the eye mark for the first vote, and printing is performed. By realizing a handy terminal with the function of detecting several different eye marks, which determines the print position and prints, the payment form that satisfies the dimensional accuracy standard of the postal transfer privately-manufactured standard is realized. It can be created. For this reason, the user can immediately carry out the payment procedure by bringing the payment form to the post office. In addition, suppliers of electricity, gas, water, etc. do not need to send a bill with a transfer form again to users who have not made a contract for account transfer, so it is extremely efficient to collect money It becomes possible to do business. In this way, by selecting and printing an arbitrary print format in a necessary format according to the user's fee payment mode, it is possible to perform an efficient and high-value-added meter reading operation.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a preparation operation of a handy terminal having a function of detecting several different eye marks according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing a meter reading operation, a receipt, and a bill issuing operation of the handy terminal of the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of a print operation of output information of the handy terminal of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a printer sheet used for printing a postal transfer-dedicated payment form or the like by a thermal printer of a handy terminal having a function of detecting several different eye marks according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a relationship between a signal of an eye mark sensor and a slice level.

FIG. 6 shows a state of data in a postal transfer-only payment form on a memory map of the printer.

FIG. 7 shows the standard of the payment handling slip of the postal transfer privately made standard.

FIG. 8 shows the standard of the payment slip of the postal transfer privately made standard.

FIG. 9 shows a payment handling slip based on a postal transfer private transfer standard and a positional relation standard of the payment slip.

FIG. 10 shows a postal transfer exclusive payment form created by the thermal printer of the present invention (embodiment) and a postal transfer exclusive payment form created by a conventional thermal printer using one eye mark and having the same positioning accuracy. 7 shows a comparison of accuracy with (Comparative Example).

[Explanation of symbols]

P1: area to be printed on the first vote of the postal transfer payment form, P2: area to be printed on the second vote of the postal transfer payment form, M: printed postal transfer only Perforation for facilitating separation of the payment form, m: The area of the area P1 for printing the data of the first vote and the area P2 for printing the data of the second form of the printed payment form for postal transfer Perforation for easy separation, dt1... Eye mark for positioning the print of the area P1 on which the data of the first vote of the postal transfer payment document is printed, dt2. Eye mark for print positioning in the area P2 where the data of the second vote is printed, dt3 ... The head of the postal transfer payment form and the meter reading result of the integrating meter indicating the usage of gas, water, electric power, etc. Eye mark used for positioning for printing announcements form, O1, O2, O3 ··· detection signal of eye mark sensor, SL · · · signal slice level

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Toshitaka Higo 1-30-30 Akabori, Okegawa-shi, Saitama International Charter Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Kunihiko Iwagami 1-8-16 Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo (72) Inventor Toshihiko Tsuzawa 1-8-16 Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo F-term (reference) 2C087 AA09 AA13 AA14 AC05 BB10 CA03 9A001 BB03 BB04 HH34 JJ35 KK55

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A first form of payment form for preparing a series of two-sheet form payment form such as a payment form for postal transfer by a thermal printer.
Using a thermal printer paper provided with an eye mark for the vote and an eye mark for the second vote, the first mark eye mark detecting means detects the first mark for the first vote and prints the first vote. The printing is performed with the position determined and the eye mark detecting means for the second vote detects the eye mark for the second vote and the printing position of the second vote is determined and printed. Handy terminal with eye mark detection function. 2. A print paper for measuring the usage of gas, water, electric power, etc., printing the result on site using a thermal printer, and preparing a notice sheet of the meter reading and a payment form for postal transfer. An eye mark for cueing
If you use a thermal printer paper with an eye mark for the first vote and an eye mark for the second vote of the payment form for postal transfer, and print a notice sheet of the meter reading result, after printing the notice sheet, When the mark detecting means detects an eye mark for cueing the print sheet and aligns the next sheet, and when printing a postal transfer-dedicated payment form, the eye mark detecting means uses an eye mark for the first vote. The mark is used to detect an eye mark that determines the print position of the first vote, and printing is performed. The eye mark detection means detects the eye mark for the second vote and determines the print position of the second vote to perform printing. Handy terminator with a function to detect several different eye marks, such as printing a postal transfer payment slip etc. by a thermal printer . 3. An eye mark detecting means according to claim 1, wherein the eye mark detecting means is provided on the thermal printer paper for cueing out the print paper, and the first vote of the postal transfer exclusive payment form. Terminal having a function of detecting a number of different eye marks, wherein the identification of the eye mark for the second vote is performed by measuring the width of the eye mark. 4. The eye mark detecting means according to claim 1, wherein the eye mark detecting means is provided on a thermal printer paper for a first vote of a postal transfer-only payment form and an eye mark for a second vote. A handy terminal that has a function to detect several different eye marks that detects the position of the eye mark based on the center of the width of each eye mark.