JP2003063073A - Label printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a label printer which enables a simple and correct selecting operation, by displaying on a list commodities which are likely to be selected and further narrowed down, in a treatment on inputting of commodity numbers. SOLUTION: The label printer has a commodity number input assistance function that it retrieves an commodity name area in a commodity file, selecting words used in a commodity as retrieval words, and displays on a list commodities including the retrieval words in their commodity names. The printer is also provided with a treated commodity file in which commodities priced in a predetermined period of time are stored, and executes a retrieval on the commodities stored in the treated commodity file and displays the retrieval result on a list.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a label printer that prints and issues product data such as product name and price on a label, and particularly stores product data in advance in a storage means corresponding to a product number. The present invention relates to a label printer of a type that calls and sets product data by inputting a product number when a label is issued.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a label printer, which prints and issues product data such as product name and price on a label, stores product data such as product name and unit price in advance in storage means (product file) corresponding to product number (product number). Is stored and the product number and unit price stored in advance are set by inputting the product number when the label is issued, so that the print data can be set with one touch. However, it takes experience to look at a product and quickly determine the correct product number.
On the other hand, it is often the case that an inexperienced store clerk or a part-timer operates a label printer of this type to perform label issuing work, and it may be difficult to quickly determine an accurate product number.

From the above, various functions for supporting the input of the product number have been considered. For example, there is one in which a list of product numbers and product names (product name list) is displayed on the display screen, and the product number is input by touching the product name displayed on the display screen. Further, when displaying the product name list, it is considered that only the products satisfying a certain condition are displayed to reduce the number of product names to be displayed so that selection can be easily performed. As this kind of technology, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-10159
In the gazette, for example, when the operator inputs "Sanma", the product name words related to "Sanma", such as "Sanma" and "Akitou", are called in the device, and the called words are used as search words, respectively. , Search the product name area of the product file, display the product list of items that use these words in the product name, and select the product number from the product list by the operator. The technique of inputting is proposed.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional method, although the number of product names to be displayed is considerably narrowed down, all the products corresponding to the search word are displayed indiscriminately. Since the number of product names to be displayed increases, it takes a lot of time to select the corresponding product from the displayed list, and there is a possibility that a selection error may occur.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and in the process related to the input of the product number, the products that are likely to be selected are further narrowed down and displayed in a list, so that the selection operation can be performed easily. It is an object of the present invention to provide a label printer that can be performed without error.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention searches a product name area of a product file by using a word used in a product name as a search word and selects a product including the search word in the product name. A label printer having a product number input support function for displaying a list is provided with a storage unit for storing products priced within a predetermined period, the search is performed for products stored in the storage unit, and a search result is displayed on a display unit. (EN) Provided is a label printer characterized by displaying a list in (1).

The invention described in claim 2 is the same as claim 1
In the label printer described in (1), there is provided a command means for operating when there is no corresponding product in the displayed list,
When this command means is operated, the above-mentioned search is performed for all products in the product file, and the search result is displayed.

The invention described in claim 3 is the same as that of claim 2.
In the label printer described in (3), the display of search results for all products does not display the product name displayed when the command means is operated.

The invention according to claim 4 is the same as claim 1
In the label printer described in (1) above, it is possible to select whether to search for the products stored in the storage unit before executing the search or to search for all the products.

The invention described in claim 5 is the same as claim 1
In the label printer described in (3) above, when there is no corresponding product as a result of the search, the search is performed for all products and the search result is displayed in a list on the display unit.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 is a perspective view showing an external configuration of a label printer according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a system block diagram showing an electrical circuit configuration incorporated in the label printer shown in FIG. 1 and 2,
Reference numeral 1 is the main body of the label printer, and the control unit shown in FIG. 2 is provided inside the main body. A first printing mechanism unit 3, a second printing mechanism unit 4, and an operation unit 5 are provided on the front surface of the main body 1.

The printing mechanisms 3 and 4 include a thermal head for dot printing, a shift register for accumulating data for one dot line, and supplying the data to the thermal head.
It has a stepping motor that moves the label one dot line at a time, and can print arbitrary characters, numbers, and images. In addition, the printing mechanism unit 3,
4, weighing labels (price labels) of different sizes are set, or weighing labels are set on the first printing mechanism 3 and pop labels (product advertisement labels) are set on the second printing mechanism 4. By setting them, labels of different types can be printed appropriately. The second printing mechanism section 4 is removable from the main body 1.

The operation unit 5 includes a numeric keypad 7, a function key 8, a label feed key 9, a zero reset switch 10 of the balance 2, a power switch 11, an operation / display unit 12, an image scanner connection connector 13 and the like. I have it.

The operation / display unit 12 has a touch panel 12a laminated on the upper surface of a liquid crystal display 12b so that data can be displayed and input on the same surface. That is, the liquid crystal display 12b is 480 × 2
With the dot display of 00 dots, the product list is displayed in the pricing mode and various other displays are performed. On the other hand, the touch panel 12a is provided on the upper surface of the liquid crystal display 12b, and when the operator's finger touches the transparent panel on the upper surface of the liquid crystal display 12b, the touched position is detected and input. The operation panel of the operation unit 5 is attached to the main body 1 by a bellows 6 for angle adjustment, and the angle can be adjusted.

Further, in FIG. 2, the load cell 2 of the scale 2 is
The a is connected to the CPU 20 via the load cell control unit 21. Similarly, the touch panel 12a and various keys 7
11 to 11 are connected to the CPU 20 via the operation controller 24, the liquid crystal display 12b via the display controller, and the image scanner 14 via the scanner controller 23. The scanner control unit 23 has a built-in buffer for storing the image data input from the image scanner 14.

The CPU 20 is also connected to a communication unit 50 that exchanges data with an external device (for example, a store controller) by communication via a LAN. Thereby, for example, the above-mentioned product data is downloaded from the product file (PLU file) for the pricing process held by the store controller SC (not shown), or conversely, the pricing result data is uploaded to the store controller.

Further, the CPU 20 is connected to a ROM 40 in which a control program is written and a RAM 30 for writing and reading data. The RAM 30 stores various files such as a product (price lookup) file, a product name word file (product name word dictionary), a processed product file, and a buffer for each data, a work area, and the like.

Next, various information stored in the RAM 30 will be described. The RAM 30 described above is
A work area for temporarily storing the calculation results of the CPU 20, that is, various registers and flag data, and a file area for storing a file group in which data required for various processes executed by the CPU 20 are registered. In the file area, a PLU file (product file), a product name word file (product name word dictionary), a processed product file, etc. are recorded.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the structure of a product file (PLU file). The product file contains data for printing price labels such as product name (product name), unit price (price for flat-rate products), tare weight, effective date (effective days, expiration date), etc., corresponding to the product number (product number). Is remembered.
It should be noted that these set values can be arbitrarily changed.

FIG. 4 shows a product name word file. As shown in this figure, the product name word file contains "Kana product name".
Corresponding to, this "Kana product name" and the synonymous word are stored. Even if the same "Sanma" is stored in the product name area of the product file as "Sanma", "Samma", or "Autumn fish", it is unknown, so to search without exception, All synonyms that may be stored in the product name area for “Kana product name” are stored in advance. It should be noted that the “Kana product name” is not necessarily limited to a noun indicating the raw material of the product,
The processing method may be any noun stored in the product name area, such as "sashimi" or "shioyaki".

FIG. 5 shows an example of the structure of the processed product file. This figure shows an example of storing a file for each period. As shown in this figure, during the past predetermined period (for example, 7 days) based on the current date, the product number of the product for which price has been set is stored in association with the day on which the price was set. For example, in the processed product file shown in FIG. 5, product numbers “2345” and “234” are stored on the previous day.
6 ”... Further, as in the processed product file shown in FIG. 5, the processed product data is not stored in association with the date, but as shown in FIG. Individually, that is, from the most recently processed part number data,
The data structure may be stored in a FIFO (First In First Out) format. Further, if the number of "N" is appropriately set, it becomes possible to store the processed products in the past predetermined period. Further, not only the data structure of the processed product file shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 described above, but if the product number of the product processed for a predetermined period in the past is stored, in particular, what data structure is stored. May be.

Next, the operation of the label printer having the above structure will be described with reference to FIG. Note that FIG.
The flowchart shown in is a flowchart for explaining the outline of the pricing process, and is the CPU of the label printer.
It does not indicate the processing itself of 20.

First, in step S1, the operator inputs the product number of the product to be priced from the operation unit 5 and presses a "product number key" (not shown) to supply the input product number to the CPU 20, The relevant product data (product name, unit price, tare, valid period, etc.) is read from the product file shown in FIG. 3 by the CPU 20 (step S1). At this time, if the operator does not know the product number of the product to be priced, the product number input operation is performed by using the product number input support function according to the present invention. The processing in this case will be described later.

Subsequently, when the target product is placed on the weighing pan in step S2, the weight of the product (total weight W _G ) is measured and the price P is calculated. The price P is (1) below
It can be obtained by a formula. P = In _{(W G -W F) / 100} × U P (1) above (1), W _F is the tare weight, U _P 100
The unit price per g is shown.

In the following step S3, the first or second printing mechanism section prints and issues the product name, price, content amount, effective date (processing date + effective period), etc. on the label, and then issues it in the following step S4. The label is attached to the product at a predetermined position automatically or manually. Then, in step S5, it is determined whether or not the pricing process has been completed for the same product. As a result, when it is determined that the pricing process for the same product is completed, the process proceeds to step S6 and it is determined whether or not the work is completed. As a result, when all the pricing operations are completed, the process is completed.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S5 that the pricing process has not been completed for the same product, the process returns to step S2 and the above-described process is repeated. If it is determined in step S6 that there is an unprocessed product, the process returns to step S1 and the product number of the product to be priced is input. The processing determination in steps S5 and S6 is performed, for example, by determining whether a predetermined key indicating the end of the processing or a predetermined key indicating that the processing is to be continued is pressed by the operator. To do.

Next, in step S1 described above, the product number using the input support function according to the embodiment of the present invention, which is performed when the operator does not know (does not know) the product number. The input operation will be described with reference to FIG. First, in step S10, the operator inputs a search word for a product to be priced, for example, “Sanma”. This input may be voice or key input.

As a result, in the subsequent step S11, the product name word corresponding to the above search word is called from the product name unit price file (see FIG. 4). For example, when “Sanma” is input as the search word in step S10, “Sanma”, “Sanma”, and “Akitou” are called from the product name unit price file and stored in the register. Then, step S1
In 2, it is determined whether the current "search mode" is the "overall search mode" for searching the entire product file or the "processed product search mode" for searching for processed products.

As a result, when the "search mode" is determined to be the "overall search mode", the process proceeds to step S13, and the product name word shown in FIG. 3 is used as the search keyword with each product name word called in step S11. The product name area is searched, and the search results are displayed as a list on the display screen in the subsequent step S14. Here, an example of the display screen displayed is shown in FIG. In this figure, the symbol A indicates the product name word called in step S11. Then, the product number and the product name obtained as a search result are associated with each other and displayed under the list.

Subsequently, in step S19, the operator confirms such a display screen and selects the product to be priced. This is done by touching the displayed product name or product number. This allows
When the product is selected, the process proceeds to step S20 and the CP
U20 reads the product data of the selected product from the product file, and the step S of the flowchart shown in FIG.
Go to 2.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S12 that the "search mode" is the "processed product search mode", the process proceeds to step S15, and the above-described step S1 is executed.
The processed product file is searched by using each product name word called in 1 as a search keyword, and the corresponding product number and product name are extracted. Specifically, in the processing product file,
As shown in FIG. 5 or 6, only the product number is stored.
Therefore, at the time of search, first, the product name corresponding to the product number stored in the processed product file is read from the product file shown in FIG. 3, and the read product name containing the search keyword is extracted. The CPU 20 performs the series of processes for all the product numbers stored in the processed product file to extract the corresponding product name.

Subsequently, in step S16, step S
In step 15, it is determined whether the corresponding product name has been extracted. As a result, when the number of hits is “0”, that is,
If the corresponding product name cannot be extracted from the processed product file, the process proceeds to step S13, and the processes of step S13 and subsequent steps described above are performed. On the other hand, if the corresponding product name is extracted from the processed product file in step S16, that is, if the number of hits is not “0”, the process proceeds to step S17, and the detection results are displayed in a list on the display screen.

Here, FIG. 10 shows an example of a display screen displayed on the display unit (touch panel 12a) in step S17. Here, as in the case of FIG. 9, step S
The item name word called in 11 is "Sanma, Sanma,
It shows the search results when it was "Sword". Then, if there is a product to be priced in the product names (B in the figure) displayed as a list as a search result, “YES” is determined in step S18, and in step S19, the operator selects the product name or The product is selected by touching the product number (step S19). As a result, information on the selected product is displayed on the touch panel 12a from the CPU 2
0, and in step S20, the CPU 20 reads the product data of the selected product from the product file, and the process proceeds to step S2 shown in FIG.

On the other hand, in step S18, when there is no product to be priced in the search result displayed on the display screen, the operator selects "Full search" provided at the lower right of the display screen shown in FIG. By touching the "key 100", a search command for searching the entire product file is input. By performing such an operation, step S13
In step S11, the product file is searched based on the product name word called in step S11.

Incidentally, from step S18 to step S13
If the process proceeds to step S15, the CPU 20 does not output the product name obtained as a result of searching the product file to the display unit as it is, but selects the product name extracted from the product file as the search result in step S15. Exclude the product name displayed in. That is, the product name that has already been presented to the operator once is excluded. This is because the search result displayed in step S15 does not include the corresponding product name, and therefore the operator operates the "search all" key 100.
It is clear that the product name displayed in the search result of step S15 is unnecessary. Therefore, step S15
By excluding the product name displayed in, that is, the product name once presented to the operator from the search results,
Avoid displaying again and reduce the number of products displayed as new options. This makes it easier for the operator to find the corresponding product.

In this manner, the CPU 20 displays the product name obtained as a result of searching the product file by removing the product name already presented to the operator from the product name obtained as a result of searching the product file in step S14. Display on screen.
The display example of FIG. 9 is the same as that of FIG.
In the display example of 0, the display example is shown when the “all search” key 100 is touched and the product file search of step S13 is executed through step S18. In the case of the present embodiment, the product number “2344” to the product number “2350” are stored in the product file as the “Sanma” related product, and of these, the product number “2344” to the product number “2347” are stored in the processed product file. Then, the operator selects the product to be priced from the displayed product names, so that the processes in and after step S19 described above are performed.

The "search mode" in this embodiment
Is set to "processed product search mode" by default, but this search mode can be arbitrarily switched by the operator. For example, the operator can switch to the "overall search mode" by performing a predetermined operation from the operation unit 5 before inputting a search word in step S10. For example, in the search in the "processed product search mode", if you think that the desired product name word is unlikely to be displayed as the search result, you can switch to the "overall search mode" to efficiently search for the desired product name word. You can search.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above with reference to the drawings, the specific structure is not limited to this embodiment, and includes a design and the like within the scope not departing from the gist of the present invention. Be done.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the stand-alone type weighing label printer has been described, but the same applies to the fixed amount label printer. Further, it may be an automatic (weighing) pricing machine that automatically attaches the issued label to a product or an automatic (weighing) packaging pricing machine combined with a packaging machine. Further, a system may be possible in which a plurality of label printers are connected to a management device, files such as product files are stored in the management device, and each label printer forces a file of the management device. Further, as a modification of this system, one label printer may be configured as a master unit having a function of a management apparatus built therein, and another label printer (slave unit) may be a master-slave system connected to the master unit.

Any method may be used to input the search word. For example, the Technical Bulletin of the Institute of Invention, Public Skill Number 2000
As described in -6098, the "kana" product name dictionary may be used for input. Further, in the embodiment, by inputting “Kana product name” as a keyword to call the corresponding “Product name word” and calling the called product name word as the search keyword, only the input “Kana product name” may be used as the search keyword. .

The method of storing the processed product file is not limited. For example, when the same product number is already stored, the previously stored product number may be deleted so that the same product number is not always stored in duplicate.

The method of searching the processed product file is not limited. For example, if a storage method that does not duplicately store the same part number is adopted, when searching from such a file, first sort the part numbers of the processed product files, and select the ones that are stored in duplicate. If the search is performed after the exclusion, the search processing can be efficiently performed.

The display example is not limited to the embodiment. In the case of the above embodiment, the display example of step S17 is displayed in the order of product numbers, but it may be displayed in the order of processing. Further, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-355313, it is possible to distinguish and display the products already priced on the day. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the touch panel is provided, and by touching the displayed product name, the “product number” of the product is input and the product data is read, but the product number displayed together with the product name May be input by key or voice. Alternatively, the product may be selected with the cursor key and input with the input key.

[0044]

As described above, according to the invention as set forth in claim 1, since the normal pricing operation is performed on the same product repeatedly at a predetermined period (for example, every week), the selected product is selected. Is very likely to be present in the product stored in the storage means. Therefore, by narrowing down the list of products that are likely to be selected, the number of product names to be displayed can be reduced, and the selection operation can be performed easily and without error.

According to the invention described in claim 2, when there is no corresponding product in the displayed list,
By operating the command means, it is possible to perform a search for all products as in the conventional case, so that it has the same function as the conventional case and no inconvenience occurs.

Further, according to the invention of claim 3, since the products which are known to be not the corresponding products are not displayed, the number of products to be displayed is reduced and only the products that may be selected are displayed. Since it can be displayed, selection work becomes easy.

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, when it is known in advance that there is no corresponding product among the products stored in the storage means, all the products are searched from the beginning. Since it can be selected, unnecessary search can be prevented.

According to the invention described in claim 5, when the number of hits is 0, it is necessary to search for all products, but since the search is automatically performed for all products. , Does not need any special operation.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an external configuration of a label printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a system block diagram showing an electric circuit configuration incorporated in the label printer shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a product file according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a product name word file according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a processed product file according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing another configuration example of a processed product file according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the label printer according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining a product number input operation using the input support function according to the embodiment of the present invention.

9 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen displayed in step S14 of FIG.

10 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen displayed in step S17 of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Label printer main body, 2 ... Scale, 2a ... Load cell,
3 ... 1st printing mechanism part, 4 ... 2nd printing mechanism part, 5 ... operation part, 7-11 ... key operation part, 12a ... touch panel, 1
2b ... Liquid crystal display, 14 ... Image scanner, 20 ... C
PU, 21 ... Load cell control unit, 23 ... Scanner control unit, 24 ... Operation control unit, 25 ... Display control unit, 30 ... RA
M, 40 ... ROM

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A label printer having a product number input support function for searching a product name area of a product file using a word used in a product name as a search word and displaying a list of products including the search word in the product name within a predetermined period. A label printer, comprising: storage means for storing the priced goods, performing the search for the goods stored in the storage means, and displaying the search results in a list on a display unit. 2. A command means for operating when there is no corresponding product in the displayed list is provided, and when this command means is operated, the search is performed for all the products in the product file and the search result is displayed. The label printer according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The label printer according to claim 2, wherein the display of the search results for all products does not display the product name displayed when the command means is operated. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein it is possible to select whether to perform a search for the products stored in the storage unit before performing the search or a search for all the products. Label printer as described. 5. The label printer according to claim 1, wherein when there is no corresponding product as a result of the search, the search is performed for all products and the search result is displayed in a list on the display unit. .