JP2001287430A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer in which replacement of a roll sheet can be known without limiting the roll sheet being used and the roll sheet can be used effectively in response to a request from a shop. SOLUTION: The printer comprises a print mechanism (20) printable on a roll recording sheet, a residual quantity detector (12) of recording sheet, and a control means 50 having a function for controlling the print mechanism (20) to print residual quantity information of recording sheet based on a signal obtained from the residual quantity detector (12).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer for printing on a roll of recording paper.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, for example, in a store, a receipt on which a product name, an amount, and the like are printed is delivered to a customer. Such a receipt is issued on a roll of recording paper. Printers configured to perform the operations are known.

In this type of printer, roll paper having a so-called end mark on the paper surface is used, and the remaining amount of the recording paper becomes small. For example, both edges of the recording paper are colored. When the part appears, it is possible to know when to replace the roll paper.

[0004]

However, in such a conventional printer, the use time of the roll paper cannot be known unless the roll paper with the end mark is used, so that the usable roll paper is limited. In addition, depending on the store, for example, there is a concern that the delivery of the receipt with the end mark will give a bad impression to the customer, and the end marked part will not be issued as a receipt. In some cases, roll paper was not used effectively.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve such problems of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to know when to replace a roll paper without being limited to the roll paper to be used. Another object of the present invention is to provide a printer capable of effectively using roll paper according to a store request.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a printing mechanism capable of printing on roll-shaped recording paper, and a paper remaining amount detecting device for detecting the remaining amount of recording paper. And a control unit having a function of controlling a printing mechanism to perform display printing including information on the amount of paper remaining on the recording paper based on a signal obtained by the detection of the amount of remaining paper. Printer.

According to the present invention, since the remaining paper amount information is printed on the recording paper based on the signal indicating the state of the remaining recording paper, the roll paper having the end mark as in the prior art is provided. It is possible to know the replacement time of the roll paper without using the information.

In addition, according to the present invention, the control means only needs to change the recording medium in which the recording medium is stored, and the printing mechanism used for normal printing can be used as it is, so that the number of parts can be increased or the design can be changed. There is an advantage that it does not have to be done.

In the present invention, the control means includes a message function for causing the printing mechanism to print predetermined information on the remaining amount of paper, a specific color from a plurality of print colors printable by the printing mechanism, and Color change function to print to the print mechanism in color, a specific font selected from several types of fonts that can be printed by the print mechanism, and arbitrarily combined from the font change mechanism to print to the print mechanism with the specific font It is also possible to have one.

According to the present invention, since a plurality of functions are provided to the control means as a function of performing display printing of the control means, the printing mode of the remaining paper amount information is appropriately changed in response to requests from various stores. It becomes possible to do.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of a printer according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a printer according to the present embodiment in a vertically installed state. FIG. 2 (a)
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a control system according to the present embodiment;
(B) is a flowchart showing a procedure of processing in the control means of the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, a printer 1 according to the present embodiment can be selectively installed either vertically or horizontally, and has a main body frame 2 made of metal, for example. ing. A roll paper holder 3 is provided on the main body frame 2.

The roll paper holder 3 is formed in a substantially box shape so as to accommodate roll paper (not shown), and has a curved bottom portion 4.
And a pair of flat side portions 5 sandwiching the same. In the bottom portion (lower left portion in FIG. 1) 4 of the roll paper holder 3, a horizontal placing groove 6 is formed. Roll paper holder 3
A holder cover 7 is provided at one front end portion (lower right portion in FIG. 1) 4a of the bottom portion 4 so as to be openable and closable. A movable plate 8 is provided on the holder cover 7.
Is configured to be movable as the holder cover 7 is opened and closed. In this embodiment, when the holder cover 7 is closed, the movable plate 8 and the roll paper holder 3 are closed.
A vertical groove 9 is formed between the front end portion 4a and the front end portion 4a.

In the side portion 5 of the roll paper holder 3, a horizontal placing hole 10 is formed so as to extend in a direction from the substantially central portion toward the horizontal placing groove 6, and from the substantially central portion of the side portion 5. A vertical installation hole 11 is formed to extend in a direction toward the vertical installation groove 9. The paper remaining amount detector 12 used in the present embodiment is attached to either the horizontal hole 10 or the vertical hole 11, and in FIG.
This shows a state in which the paper remaining amount detector 12 is attached to the hole 11 for vertical placement.

The paper remaining amount detector 12 has a protruding engagement portion 13 capable of pressing the end face of the roll paper. It is configured to detect that the remaining amount of the recording paper is small.

In the present embodiment, the printing mechanism 20 is, for example, a print head 21 for performing printing by a thermal method.
And a platen roller 2 that can contact the print head 21
2 is used. Print head 21
Is disposed near the other front end portion 4b of the bottom portion 4 of the roll paper holder 3. On the other hand, the platen roller 22
The holder cover 7 is rotatably provided at a distal end portion.

In the vicinity of the printing mechanism 20, a cutter device 3 for cutting the recording paper pulled out of the roll paper is provided.
0 is provided.

As shown in FIG. 2A, the printer 1 according to the present embodiment has a control unit 50.
Is electrically connected to the print head 21 and is also electrically connected to the limit switch 14 of the remaining paper amount detector 12. Then, the control means 50 outputs an RO (not shown).
In accordance with a program stored in M, based on a signal detected by the remaining paper amount detector 12, the print head 21 has a function of performing display printing different from normal printing in which, for example, printing of a product name, an amount, and the like is performed. It is configured.

Further, the control means 50 selects, for example, a message function for printing a predetermined message and a specific color from a plurality of printing colors printable by the print head 21 as the display printing function. It has a color change function for printing and a font change function for selecting and printing a specific font from several fonts that can be printed by the print head 21. When printing is performed based on the color changing function of the control unit 50, a multicolor thermal paper is used as a recording medium, or a print head 21 that performs printing by, for example, a dot impact method instead of the above-described thermal method is used. .

Hereinafter, the procedure of the process of the control means 50 together with the operation of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 1 or FIG. 2 (b).

First, when roll paper is loaded into the roll paper holder 3 of the printer 1, the protruding engagement portion 1
When 3 is pressed against the end face of the roll paper, the limit switch 14 is released, and a normal printing is enabled.

In step 10, the remaining paper amount detector 12
The normal printing is performed in a state where the limit switch 14 is released, that is, the store name, the product name, the amount, and the like are printed on the recording paper pulled out from the roll paper by the print head 21. This recording paper is cut by the cutter device 30,
Delivered to customer as receipt.

In step 20, the remaining paper detector 12
Unless is detected, the process proceeds to step 10 and the normal printing of step 10 is repeated.

When the roll paper diameter is reduced by the subsequent use of the recording paper, the contact state between the protruding engagement portion 13 of the remaining paper detector 12 and the end face of the roll paper is released. The limit switch 14 is actuated by the movement of the protruding engagement portion 13 (see FIG. 1). When the detection signal of the limit switch 14 is sent to the control means 50 (FIG. 2).
(See (a)). In step 20, based on the detection signal, the control means 50 proceeds to step 30 and causes the print head 21 to perform display printing (see FIG. 2B).

Such display printing includes printing made based on the message function, the color changing function, and the font changing function, as described above. FIG.
Each function will be described with reference to (a) and (b) and FIGS. 4 (a) and (b).

FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b) are diagrams showing a specific example of printing based on the message function among the display printing functions of the control means 50 of the present embodiment.

When a message function is selected from the display printing function, the control means 50 uses this message function to display characters (messages) other than characters normally used in normal printing, numbers, symbols, diagrams, and the like. It is used as an end mark, and is printed in a blank portion other than the product name, the amount, and the like, which are normally printed.

In the specific example shown in FIG.
0 indicates that the symbol function or the diagram P1 is printed in the margins at both ends of the recording paper simultaneously with the normal printing immediately after receiving the detection signal from the paper remaining amount detector 12 by the message function.

In the specific example shown in FIG. 3B, the control means 50 controls the remaining paper detector 12 by a message function.
After the end of the normal printing which is performed when receiving the detection signal from the printer, a store-specific message M1, a symbol or a ruled line P
2 is printed.

FIG. 4A is a view showing one specific example of printing based on the message function and the font change function among the display printing functions of the control means of the present embodiment.

When the font changing mechanism is selected from the display printing function, the control means 50 ends the font other than the font such as the font and size of the characters used in the normal printing by this font changing function. Used as a mark to print the product name, amount, etc. to be printed in normal printing.

In the specific example shown in FIG.
0 indicates, after the end of the normal printing performed when the detection signal from the paper remaining amount detector 12 is received, by a message function, for example, a ruled line P3 is added to the margin around the portion where the store name is printed.
In addition to the printing, the amount P4 is printed in a different font.

FIG. 4B is a diagram showing one specific example of printing based on the color changing function among the display printing functions of the control means of the present embodiment.

When the color change function is selected from the display print functions, the control means 50 uses this color change function to set a character color (for example, red) other than the character color (for example, black) used in normal printing. Is used as an end mark to print the product name, amount, and the like to be printed in normal printing.

In the specific example shown in FIG.
0 indicates that, after the end of the normal printing, which is performed when the detection signal from the paper remaining amount detector 12 is received, the color change function changes the character color of the message M2 to be printed in the normal printing. Change it to print.

As described above, according to the present embodiment,
On the basis of a signal indicating detection of the remaining amount of recording paper, the control unit 5
Since the end mark is recorded on the recording paper by the display printing function of 0, the replacement time of the roll paper can be known without using the roll paper with the end mark as in the related art.

In addition, the printing head 21 used for normal printing can be used as it is simply by changing the recording medium (for example, ROM) in which the control means 50 of the present embodiment is stored. There is an advantage that there is no need to change the design.

According to the present embodiment, the control means 5
Since a plurality of functions are provided to the control means as the display printing function of 0, it is possible to appropriately change the printing mode of the end mark according to various store requests.

For example, in a store where there is a concern that a receipt whose end mark is clearly recognized will be delivered to the customer, a message specific to the store is printed by the message function as in the specific example shown in FIG. 3B. As a result, an end mark that can be recognized only by the store can be recorded.

Further, in a store where it is desired to use recording paper effectively only with items printed by ordinary printing, for example, FIG.
As in the specific example shown in (a), the font that changes only the amount of money by the font change function can be used as the end mark. In particular, when it is desired to clearly recognize the employee of the store, For example, as shown in the specific example shown in FIG.
Only the color that has been changed can be used as the end mark.

On the other hand, in a store where temporary employment is frequently replaced, a color change function is added to the specific example shown in FIG. This has the advantage of eliminating the need to explain the meaning of the end mark to each temporary employment.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various changes can be made.

For example, in the above embodiment, the message printing function, the color changing mechanism, and the font changing function are specifically described as the display printing function of the control means 50, but the present invention is not limited to this. Instead, any function relating to printing of the print head, which can change characters, symbols, and the like, can be included in the display printing function.

The printing method of the print head 21 may be determined by various functions of the display printing mechanism. For example, when a color changing function is desired to be used, a multi-color thermal paper is used as a recording medium in the thermal method. In addition, a multi-color ink can be used in an ink jet system or a dot impact system other than the heat-sensitive system. In addition, when it is desired to use various functions other than the color changing function, any printing method can be adopted.

Further, in the above embodiment, the remaining amount of recording paper is detected by the remaining paper amount detector 12 and the detection signal is sent to the control means. However, the present invention is not limited to this. In the RAM of the control means 50, the actual use length with respect to the usable length of the recording paper is determined by counting the total number of print lines, and based on a predetermined count value corresponding to the remaining amount of the recording paper, the control means 50 is used. However, it is also possible to perform display printing.

Further, after the detection of the remaining paper amount detector 12, the display printing may be performed every time in order to call attention to the store, or the display printing may be performed only once if not particularly required. .

In addition, in a printer of a type capable of printing on two roll papers, a roll paper for customer delivery and a roll paper for store storage, the roll paper for store storage can always be monitored. It is also possible to perform display printing only on the roll paper for store storage. In this case, there is an advantage that it is not necessary to consider the form of the end mark when handing over to the customer. However, since it is usually difficult to always monitor the roll paper for store preservation, it is preferable to perform display printing on the roll paper for customer delivery as in the above embodiment.

On the other hand, for example, it is also possible to provide a display unit separately outside the printer so that the display unit itself emits light or a predetermined message is displayed on the display unit based on the detection signal of the remaining paper amount detector. is there. However, the present invention is significant in that, in the first place, the end mark is printed using the print head 21 used for normal printing as it is, and the store employee always pays attention to the receipt. As compared with such a display unit, there is an advantage that information regarding the remaining amount of paper does not need to be overlooked.

[0050]

As described above, according to the present invention, the end mark is recorded on the basis of the signal relating to the remaining amount of paper, so that the conventional end-marked roll paper is not used. However, it is possible to know when to replace the roll paper.

Further, according to the present invention, since a plurality of functions are provided to the control means as the display printing function of the control means, it is possible to appropriately change the printing mode of the end mark according to various store requests. Will be possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a printer according to an embodiment in a state where the printer is placed vertically.

FIG. 2A is a block diagram illustrating a control system according to the present embodiment. (B) is a flowchart showing a procedure of processing in the control means of the present embodiment.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagrams illustrating a specific example of printing based on a message function among display printing functions of a control unit according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 4A is a diagram illustrating a specific example of printing performed based on a message function and a font change function among display printing functions of the control unit of the present embodiment. (B): It is a figure which shows one specific example printed based on the color change function among the display printing functions which the control means of this Embodiment has.

[Explanation of symbols]

 12 paper remaining amount detector 20 printing mechanism 50 control means

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Shoichi Murata 3-3-5 Yamato, Suwa-shi, Nagano F-term in Seiko Epson Corporation (reference) 2C061 AQ01 AR01 AS06 CQ33 CQ34 HL05 HN19 LL04

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A printing mechanism capable of printing on roll-shaped recording paper, a paper remaining amount detector for detecting a remaining amount of recording paper, and a signal obtained by the detection of the remaining amount of paper. A printer having a function of controlling the printing mechanism so as to perform display printing including information on the remaining amount of the recording paper. 2. A printer according to claim 1, wherein said control means has a message function for causing said printing mechanism to print predetermined information on the remaining amount of paper. 3. The printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control means has a color changing function of selecting a specific color from a plurality of print colors printable by the printing mechanism and causing the printing mechanism to print the specific color. The printer according to claim 1, wherein 4. The control means selects a specific font from several fonts printable by the printing mechanism,
4. The printer according to claim 1, further comprising a font changing function for causing the printing mechanism to print the specific font.