JP2003136785A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress a decrease in a bar code read rate when a printing density level is set high. SOLUTION: When the printing density is set high, an AND process (conjunction process) is carried out for each dot to image data corresponding to the bar code and data obtained by shifting the image data by one dot in a right direction, and a thinning process of reducing in a right-left direction dots shown by black of a level not lower than a predetermined reference value is executed. Image data after the thinning process and image data corresponding to normal characters are edited and printed by the set printing density.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing device,
In particular, the present invention relates to a printing device capable of printing characters, barcodes, etc., by changing the printing density.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional label printer as a printing device, improvement in printing quality of the printer and improvement in reading rate by a scanner have been pursued. In addition, regarding the print quality of the label printer, the reproducibility with respect to the size of the dot (pixel) has been pursued as the density and precision of the label printer have increased.

However, in a printer for which dot reproducibility has been pursued, such as a thermal transfer type printer, a printer using thermal paper, a toner printer, and an ink jet printer, the print result looks thin, and therefore the print density is adjusted. It is often done and the print density is set darker.

[0004]

As described above, there is a problem in that a character or a figure composed of dots has a bad appearance because there is a gap between dots even if the dot reproducibility is 100%. . Therefore, if the print density is set darker to improve the appearance, each dot will be printed larger when the barcode is printed than when the print density is set lighter (characters will become thicker). So
There is a problem that the reading rate of the barcode reader is lowered.

For example, when the print density is set to be dark so that the printed result of the character or the like is dark, the character is thickened and printed thickly, and the appearance is good, but the thickened character is similarly generated in the bar code or the like. Therefore, the reading rate of the barcode reader is reduced. Conversely, if the print density is set low in order to increase the barcode reading rate, the characters will be printed lightly and the appearance will be poor.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is possible to increase the print density of characters and the like while suppressing a decrease in the bar code reading rate.

[0007]

A printer according to claim 1 is a printer for printing predetermined print data,
A storage means for storing print data, a developing means for developing image data corresponding to the print data stored by the storage means, and a predetermined code among dots corresponding to the image data developed by the developing means And a printing unit for printing image data corresponding to the print data expanded by the expansion unit. The dots thinned out by the thinning means are
It may be a dot corresponding to a given bar code. The thinning means prints at a predetermined density by performing a logical product operation on each dot forming the image data corresponding to the barcode and the dot adjacent to each dot in the longitudinal direction of the barcode. Dots can be thinned out. Further, the thinning-out means can thin out the dots corresponding to the barcode when the print density of the print data is set to a predetermined reference value or more.

[0008]

1 shows an example of the configuration of an embodiment of a label printer to which the present invention is applied. As shown in FIG. 1, a label printer 100 includes a control unit 10 that controls each unit, a thermal head 5 that prints on a label 1, and a stepping motor that is driven by the control of the control unit 10 (hereinafter, simply referred to as a motor as appropriate). 7), and
It is rotated by the rotational driving force of the motor 7 transmitted via the belt 8 and conveys the mount 2 which constitutes the label continuum 3 set on the supply shaft 4 described later and the label 1 which is peelably attached to the mount 2. In addition, the platen roller 6 that presses the label 1 against the thermal head 5, the supply shaft 4 that rotatably supports the label continuum 3, the light emitting portion that emits predetermined light, and the light emitted from the light emitting portion. It is composed of a light-receiving portion that receives light and outputs an electric signal corresponding to the intensity of the received light (amount of light received per unit time).
The light-emitting part and the light-receiving part are arranged so as to sandwich the label, and the gap between the label 1 and the label (only the mount 2 between the two adjacent labels 1).
Position detection sensor 9 for detecting the light based on the amount of light received by the light receiving unit
It has and.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration example of the embodiment shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the control unit 10 stores a predetermined control program in a ROM (re
CPU (central processing), which operates according to a control program stored in the ROM 12 and controls each unit.
unit) 11 and a RAM (random ac) for storing various data necessary for the CPU 11 to operate.
access memory 13 and an EEPROM (elect) for storing mode information, print density information, etc. described later.
locally erasable and prog
ramable read only memory
y) 21, and a motor control unit 1 that supplies a pulse signal to the stepping motor 7 to rotate the stepping motor 7.
4, a head control unit 15 for generating a control signal corresponding to print data such as a character, a figure, and a barcode to be printed supplied from the CPU 11, and supplying the control signal to the thermal head 5 to perform a printing operation; Under the control of the CPU 1, the light emitting portion of the position detecting sensor 9 is controlled to emit light, and the electric signal output from the light receiving portion is received, converted into digital data and used as position detecting data by the CPU 1
1, a sensor control unit 16 to be supplied to the unit 1, an external interface 17, and an interface 20. And
An input unit 18 for inputting various data and commands,
Input data input from the input unit 18 and a display unit 19 for displaying various kinds of information are connected via an interface 20. Input data input from the input unit 18 is supplied to the CPU 11 via the interface 20, and display data corresponding to various information displayed on the display unit 19 is supplied from the CPU 11 via the interface 20. ing. Further, via the external interface 17, various data and commands can be transmitted / received to / from an externally connected host computer or various devices not shown.

FIG. 3 shows an example of ideal printing of bar codes by the thermal head 5. Each dot corresponds to a heating element that constitutes the thermal head 5, and the dot where the heating element generates heat is black. In this example, the barcode is a bar with a width of 3 dots (black bar), a space with a width of 3 dots (white bar), a bar with a width of 4 dots, and a width of 4 dots. Space, a bar with a width of 4 dots, and a space with a width of 3 dots.

However, when actually printed, as shown in FIG. 4, the diameter of each dot printed in black becomes about 50% larger than that in the case of FIG. Therefore, the width of each bar is increased by about 1 dot. On the contrary, the width of each space is reduced by about 1 dot.

Thus, in actual printing, the number of dots printed in black is reduced by one dot in advance, as shown in FIG. 5, in consideration of the increase in the size of dots printed in black. In the following, this process is thinned out,
Or, it is described as a barcode development process. That is, a bar having a width of 2 dots, a space having a width of 4 dots, a bar having a width of 3 dots, a space having a width of 5 dots, a bar having a width of 3 dots, and a bar having a width of 4 dots Print a barcode consisting of spaces of width.

As a result, when actually printed, it is possible to print a bar code having a bar and a space of a width assumed in advance. That is, apparently, a bar having a width of 3 dots, a space having a width of 3 dots, a bar having a width of 4 dots, a space having a width of 4 dots, and a bar having a width of 4 dots, A barcode consisting of a space with a width of 3 dots is printed.

As a method for realizing the thinning processing,
The following can be considered. The first method is to execute the above process for all barcodes. The second method is to execute the above process when the print density is set to a density equal to or higher than a predetermined reference level. A third method is to execute the above processing only for a bar code designated by the host computer as a printer control command. Fourth
This method allows you to select and set the barcode print mode that executes the above processing and the normal mode that executes normal processing without performing the above processing by setting the printer mode, and the barcode print mode is set. In the meantime, the above process is executed.

Next, referring to the flowchart of FIG.
The procedure for setting the printer mode will be described. First, in step S1, the CPU 11 determines whether or not the setting of the barcode printing mode is instructed. That is, it is determined whether or not the input unit 18 of the label printer 100 is operated to input the predetermined data for setting the barcode printing mode. As a result, when it is determined that the setting of the barcode printing mode is instructed, the process proceeds to step S3, and the CPU 11 sets the barcode printing mode. That is, the CPU 11 uses the EEPR
The mode information indicating that the barcode printing mode has been set is written in the OM 21. As a result, the subsequent print processing is performed in the bar code print mode.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S1 that the bar code print mode is not set,
In step S2, the CPU 11 sets the normal mode. That is, the CPU 11 uses the EEPROM 21
The mode information indicating that the normal mode has been set is written in. As a result, the subsequent printing process is performed in the normal mode. When the processing of step S2 or step S3 ends, this processing ends.

Next, referring to the flow chart of FIG.
The procedure for performing the actual printing process after the mode setting is performed will be described. First, in step S11, the CPU 11 initializes the printer. next,
In step S12, it is determined whether there is received data. That is, it is determined whether the print data (including the control command) transmitted from the host computer has been received.

As a result, if it is determined that there is no received data, the process of step S12 is repeatedly executed. On the other hand, if it is determined that there is received data, step S1
3, the print data transmitted from the host computer is received and stored in the RAM 13, and
It is determined whether print data for the page has been received.
As a result, when it is determined that the print data for one page is not received, the process of step S13 is repeatedly executed. On the other hand, if it is determined that the print data for one page has been received, the process proceeds to step S14.

In step S14, the CPU 11 determines whether or not the currently set mode is the bar code print mode based on the mode information stored in the EEPROM 21. As a result, when it is determined that the currently set mode is not the barcode printing mode, the process proceeds to step S15. On the other hand, when it is determined that the currently set mode is the barcode printing mode, the process proceeds to step S17.

In step S17, step S1
It is determined whether the print data for one page received in 3 includes print data for printing a barcode. As a result, when it is determined that the print data for printing the barcode is not included, the process proceeds to step S15. On the other hand, when it is determined that the print data for printing the barcode is included, the process proceeds to step S18.

In step S18, the bar code expansion process is applied to the print data for printing the bar code. Here, the barcode expansion processing is as shown in FIG.
As described above with reference to, in actual printing, the number of dots printed in black is reduced by one in advance in consideration of the increase in the size of dots printed in black.

FIG. 8 shows a specific example of the bar code expansion processing. First, the CPU 11 creates the first bitmap image data (FIG. 8A) corresponding to the print data for printing the barcode on the RAM 13. Next, the second bitmap image data (the direction in which the black bar and the white bar are arranged alternately) in the right direction (the longitudinal direction of the barcode, the direction in which the black bars and the white bars are alternately arranged) of the dot image by one dot with respect to the paper surface FIG. 8B is created on the RAM 13. At this time, each dot forming the first bitmap image data and each dot forming the second bitmap image data are offset by one dot in the left-right direction. That is, the N-th (N is a natural number) dot from the left of the first bitmap image data is (N) from the left of the second bitmap image data.
The dot corresponding to the (-1) th dot (however, the dot of the second bitmap image data corresponding to the first dot of the first bitmap image data does not exist. The second bitmap image There is also no dot in the first bitmap image data corresponding to the rightmost dot in the data).

Next, AND processing (logical product operation) is executed on the corresponding ones of the dots of the first bitmap image data and the second bitmap image data. That is, the AND process is performed on the Nth dot from the left of the first bitmap image data and the (N-1) th dot from the left of the second bitmap image data. For example, when AND processing is performed on black dots and black dots, the result is black dots. Also,
When AND processing is applied to white dots and black dots,
It becomes a white dot. Further, when the AND processing is performed on the black dots and the white dots, white dots are obtained. Therefore,
Each dot of the first bitmap image data and the second
As a result of performing the AND process on each corresponding dot of the bitmap image data of No. 3, the number of black dots in the left-right direction is decreased by 1 as shown in FIG. 8C. Here, since there is no second bitmap image data corresponding to the leftmost dot of the first bitmap image data, it will be omitted here. The first bitmap image data corresponding to the rightmost dot of the second bitmap image data is assumed to be a white dot, and the AND process is executed. In this way, it is possible to perform the thinning process of reducing the black dots by one dot. When the barcode development process in step S18 is completed, the process proceeds to step S15.

In step S15, the print data is edited. That is, if the print data for one page received in step S13 includes a character code, the font data corresponding to the character code is changed to R
The data is read from the OM 12 and developed at a predetermined position designated by the control command of the drawing area of the RAM 13. When the print data includes data for printing the barcode, bitmap image data corresponding to the barcode is created and developed at a predetermined position designated by the control command of the drawing area of the RAM 13. At this time, in step S18, if the barcode development processing is being executed, the bitmap image data subjected to the barcode development processing is developed in the drawing area of the RAM 13. In this way, the bitmap image data of the character or barcode corresponding to the print data is expanded in the drawing area.

Next, in step S16, the RAM 1
The print issuing process is executed based on the bitmap image data corresponding to the print data expanded in the drawing area 3. That is, the CPU 11 supplies the bitmap image data expanded in the drawing area of the RAM 13 to the head controller 15 and instructs the head controller 15 to print the bitmap image data on the label 1.

The head controller 15 which receives the command from the CPU 11 supplies the thermal head 5 with a control signal corresponding to the bit map image data. This allows
The thermal head 5 prints the bitmap image data on the label 1. After that, the process returns to step S12, and the processes after step S12 are repeatedly executed.

Next, referring to the flowchart of FIG.
The procedure of actual print processing when the print density is set to a high density equal to or higher than a predetermined reference level will be described. First, in step S21, the CP
U11 initializes the printer. Next, step S
At 22, it is determined whether there is received data.
That is, it is determined whether the print data (including the control command) transmitted from the host computer has been received.

As a result, if it is determined that there is no received data, the process of step S22 is repeatedly executed. On the other hand, if it is determined that there is received data, step S2
3, the print data transmitted from the host computer is received and stored in the RAM 13, and
It is determined whether print data for the page has been received.
As a result, when it is determined that the print data for one page is not received, the process of step S23 is repeatedly executed. On the other hand, if it is determined that the print data for one page has been received, the process proceeds to step S24.

In step S24, the CPU 11 can set the currently set print density (for example, level 1 (light) to level 5 (dark)) based on the print density information stored in the EEPROM 21. ) Is at level 4 or higher. As a result, when it is determined that the currently set print density is not level 4 or higher, the process proceeds to step S25. On the other hand, if it is determined that the currently set print density is level 4 or higher, the process proceeds to step S27.

The print density is preset according to the following procedure. First, the operator operates the input unit 18 of the label printer 100 to input data corresponding to the print density. The data corresponding to the input print density is supplied to the CPU 11. The CPU 11 supplies this data to the EEPROM 21 and stores it in the print density storage area of the EEPROM 21 as print density information. Then, when printing is performed, the CPU 11 reads the print density information and executes a process according to the print density.

In step S27, step S2
It is determined whether the print data for one page received in 3 includes print data for printing a barcode. As a result, when it is determined that the print data for printing the barcode is not included, the process proceeds to step S25. On the other hand, when it is determined that the print data for printing the barcode is included, the process proceeds to step S28.

In step S28, the bar code expansion process is applied to the print data for printing the bar code. Here, the barcode expansion processing is as shown in FIG.
As described above with reference to, in actual printing, the number of dots printed in black is reduced by one in advance in consideration of the increase in the size of dots printed in black. When the barcode development processing in step S28 ends, the process proceeds to step S25.

In step S25, the print data is edited. That is, when the print data for one page received in step S23 includes a character code, the font data corresponding to the character code is R
The data is read from the OM 12 and developed at a predetermined position designated by the control command of the drawing area of the RAM 13. When the print data includes data for printing a barcode, bitmap image data corresponding to the barcode is created and developed at a predetermined position designated by the control command of the drawing area of the RAM 13. .
At this time, in step S28, if the barcode expansion processing is being executed, the bitmap image data subjected to the barcode expansion processing is expanded in the drawing area of the RAM 13. In this way, the bitmap image data of the character or barcode corresponding to the print data is expanded in the drawing area.

Next, in step S26, the RAM1
The print issuing process is executed based on the bitmap image data corresponding to the print data expanded in the drawing area 3. That is, the CPU 11 supplies the bitmap image data expanded in the drawing area of the RAM 13 to the head controller 15 and instructs the head controller 15 to print the bitmap image data on the label 1.

The head controller 15 which has received the command from the CPU 11 supplies a control signal corresponding to the bit map image data to the thermal head 5. This allows
The thermal head 5 prints the bitmap image data on the label 1. After that, the process returns to step S22, and the processes after step S22 are repeatedly executed.

Next, with respect to the bar code designated by the control command transmitted from the host computer,
A procedure for performing bar code expansion processing and printing will be described. First, when the CPU 11 receives the control command and the print data supplied from the host computer via the external interface 17, the CPU 11 analyzes the control command, and with respect to the print data corresponding to the bar code designated by the control command, the above-mentioned bar Execute code expansion process.

Next, the print data is edited. That is, when the received print data for one page includes a character code, the font data corresponding to the character code is read from the ROM 12 and expanded at a predetermined position designated by the control command of the drawing area of the RAM 13. To do. When the print data includes data for printing a barcode, bitmap image data corresponding to the barcode is created and developed at a predetermined position designated by the control command of the drawing area of the RAM 13. . At this time, with respect to the barcode which has been subjected to the barcode expansion processing, the bitmap image data is expanded as it is at the position designated by the control command of the drawing area of the RAM 13. In this way, the bitmap image data of the character or barcode corresponding to the print data is expanded in the drawing area.

Next, the print issuing process is executed based on the bit map image data corresponding to the print data expanded in the drawing area of the RAM 13. That is, CPU1
1 supplies the bitmap image data expanded in the drawing area of the RAM 13 to the head controller 15 and instructs the label controller 1 to print the bitmap image data.

The head controller 15 which receives the command from the CPU 11 supplies the thermal head 5 with a control signal corresponding to the bit map image data. This allows
The thermal head 5 prints the bitmap image data on the label 1. As a result, only the barcode specified by the control command is subjected to the barcode expansion processing and printed.

As described above, in the present embodiment,
Even if the print density is set to be high, the barcode can be read by thinning the print data for printing the barcode. Therefore, even when the print density level is set high in order to print characters and the like darkly, it is possible to suppress a decrease in the reading rate of a bar code reader printed with the density.

In the above embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to the label printer provided with the thermal head has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and other printing devices such as a toner printer and an inkjet printer. The present invention can also be applied to.

Further, it goes without saying that the configurations and operations of the above-described embodiments are examples, and can be changed as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0043]

As described above, according to the printing apparatus of the present invention, the storage means stores the print data, the expansion means expands the image data corresponding to the print data stored by the storage means, and the thinning means. Among the dots corresponding to the image data expanded by the expanding means, the dot corresponding to a predetermined code is thinned out, and the printing means prints the image data corresponding to the print data expanded by the expanding means. Therefore, when the print density is set to be high, it is possible to easily read the print data which is difficult to read due to the thick characters of each dot. Therefore, it is possible to suppress a decrease in the barcode reading rate when characters are printed darkly.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of an embodiment of a label printer to which a printing device of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a control unit in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a bar and a space that constitute print data of a barcode created by calculation.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an actual print result of the print data of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an actual print result of print data in which one black dot is thinned out and one white dot is added.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a mode setting procedure.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining a procedure in which a barcode expansion process is performed according to a setting mode.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the procedure of barcode expansion processing.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining a procedure in which a barcode development process is performed according to print density.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 label 2 mounts 3 Label continuum 4 supply axis 5 thermal head 6 Platen roller 7 Stepping motor 8 belts 9 Position detection sensor 10 Control unit 11 CPU 12 ROM 13 RAM 14 Motor control unit 15 Head controller 16 Sensor control unit 17 External interface 18 Input section 19 Display 20 interfaces 21 EEPROM 100 label printer

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A printing device for printing predetermined print data, comprising storage means for storing the print data, and expansion means for expanding image data corresponding to the print data stored by the storage means. Among the dots corresponding to the image data expanded by the expanding means, thinning means for thinning out dots corresponding to a predetermined code, and an image corresponding to the print data expanded by the expanding means. A printing device comprising: a printing unit that prints data. 2. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the dots thinned by the thinning means are dots corresponding to a predetermined barcode. 3. The thinning means performs a logical product operation on each dot forming the image data corresponding to the barcode and a dot adjacent to each dot in the longitudinal direction of the barcode, The printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein dots printed at a predetermined density are thinned out. 4. The thinning means thins dots corresponding to the bar code when the print density of the print data is set to a predetermined reference value or more. The printing device described.