JP2003159855A - Label printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a label printer with an RFID card reading/writing function enhanced in maintenance properties, capable of housing history by a printer main body alone and having excellent portability and good use convenience. <P>SOLUTION: The printer main body 2 is equipped with a recording part 18 supporting an RFID card detachably and capable of writing various operations such as error data or the like in the RFID card and a judge means for judging whether the RFID card is mounted on the recording part 18. When the RFID card is judged to be mounted by the judge means, various operations are recorded on the RFID card and, when the RFID card is judged to be not mounted, various operations are recorded on a temporary memory part. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is an RFI capable of storing a history of error information and the like without using a line monitor or the like.
The present invention relates to a label printer having a D card reading / writing function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a label printer for printing a label, when a host computer connected to the printer body gives an operation instruction to the printer body, the host computer displays statuses indicating various operations of the printer body. Then, the host side manages the history of these printer operation information. This type of label printer requires a host computer,
Further, since the host computer and the printer main body are connected by a cable, this is a factor that causes problems such as poor connection of the connector and disconnection of the cable.

A line monitor device is interposed between the printer body and the host computer to collect operation instruction information sent from the host computer or printer operation information returned from the printer body. There is also known one which manages and confirms the history of these operation information by a display unit such as a display provided in this line monitor device.

However, in such a conventional label printer, the status indicating various operations of the printer main body is returned to the host computer or the line monitor device, and the operation information is sent to the host computer or the line monitor device. Since it is managed as a history, there is a problem that dedicated history management software is required on the host computer side or a line monitor device must be separately provided.

Further, when the line monitor device is provided, it is necessary to carry the line monitor device and the cable to the site and connect them, and then store the history, which not only hinders the site but also requires troublesome maintenance and the printer main body. Since the history could not be stored by itself, history management by the printer alone was desired.

[0006]

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the above problems and improve maintainability.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a label printer with an RFID card reading / writing function, which can store history in a single printer body, has excellent portability, and is convenient to use.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in the invention of the label printer described in claim 1,
An RFID card is detachably supported by the printer body, and a recording unit that can write various operations such as error information in the RFID card and a determination unit that determines whether the RFID card is attached to the recording unit. It is equipped. When the determination unit determines that the RFID card is attached, various operations are recorded in the RFID card, while when it is determined that the RFID card is not attached, various operations are recorded in the temporary storage unit. And

According to the first aspect of the present invention configured as described above, it is determined whether the printer body has a recording unit in which various operations can be written in the RFID card and whether the RFID card is mounted in the recording unit. Since it is provided with a determining means for performing various operations, various operations can be recorded by the printer body alone. Therefore, unlike the prior art, dedicated management software or the like used for the host computer becomes unnecessary. Further, since the history can be stored in the printer main body alone, it is not necessary to connect a monitoring device separately, the maintainability is improved, and the portability is good.

Further, the RFID card according to the second aspect can be recorded according to category.

Further, the determination as to whether the RFID card is attached or not attached to the recording section can be made when an error occurs.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION A label printer according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a label printer, in which a printer main body 2 which is a main part of the label printer is
A supply shaft 4 that rotatably supports a label continuum 6 described later, a strip-shaped mount 8 that constitutes the label continuum 6 that is mounted on the supply shaft 4, and a label 10 that is temporarily attached to the mount 8. , A light reflection sensor 12 for detecting an identification mark (printing base point), a thermal head 14 for printing, a label continuum 6 sandwiched between the thermal head 14 and the label 10, and the label 10 is conveyed. A platen roller 16 (hereinafter, simply referred to as a platen) that presses the thermal head 14 against the thermal head 14, a light emitting unit that emits a predetermined light, and an electric light that receives the light emitted from the light emitting unit and that corresponds to the intensity of the received light. A media detection sensor 40 that includes a light-receiving unit that outputs a signal, has a light-emitting unit and a light-receiving unit that sandwich the label continuum 6, and detects the end of the label continuum 6 based on the amount of light received by the light-receiving unit. , A card slot 18 as a recording portion for RFID, an operation panel 38 for inputting various data and commands, the control unit 20 for controlling the respective units
And is surrounded by the housing 22.

The card slot 18 is designed so that an RFID card C, which will be described later, can be inserted and installed from the side surface (front side in FIG. 1) of the housing 22.
When the RFID card C is installed in 8, the RFI
By reading the unique ID of the D card C, it is possible to recognize that the card is mounted. Further, the card slot 18 can record various operations such as a printing operation, an operation operation, and an error condition on the mounted RFID card C.

Then, the label continuous body 6 wound in a roll shape is mounted on the supply shaft 4, pulled out to the thermal head 14 side, and sandwiched between the thermal head 14 and the platen 16 to print desired print data on the thermal head. The desired information is sequentially printed on the label 10 on the mount 8 by supplying it to the plate 14 and rotating the platen 16. At this time, for each label 10, an identification mark (not shown) printed on the mount 8 is read by the light reflection sensor 12, and the label 10 is conveyed to a predetermined position of the thermal head 14 and a desired print is made on the label. 10, and these operations are controlled by the control unit 20.

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 20 operates according to a read-only memory (ROM) 24 that stores a predetermined control program, and a central processing unit (CPU) that operates according to the control program stored in the ROM 24 and controls each unit. 26, a random access memory (RAM) 28 that stores various data necessary for the CPU 26 to operate, and a platen 16 that forms a part of a label carrying mechanism, which is rotated by a stepping motor (not shown). A control circuit 30 and a thermal head control circuit 32 for generating a control signal corresponding to print data such as characters, figures and barcodes to be printed supplied from the CPU 26 and supplying the control signal to the thermal head 14 to perform a printing operation. , The light reflection sensor 1 under the control of the CPU 26
The identification mark detection circuit 34 which receives the electric signal 2 and converts it into digital data and supplies it to the CPU 26 as position detection data, and the light emitting unit of the media detection sensor 40 under the control of the CPU 26 to emit light. ,
A label cutout detection circuit 36 that receives the electric signal output from the light receiving unit, detects the end or mid-cut of the label continuum 6 based on the magnitude and change of the electric signal, and notifies the CPU 26 of the end detection data, and the housing 22. An operation panel control circuit 42 for controlling an input from an operation panel 38 provided in a part of the device and an RFID card C mounted in a card slot 18 as a recording unit for RFID are used to control data reading and writing. It is composed of an RFID card read / write circuit 44.

Here, the above-mentioned respective components of the printer main body 2 including the CPU 26 constitute a control means, and C
PU 26, label transport mechanism 16, label transport control circuit 3
0, thermal head 14, thermal head control circuit 3
2, the light reflection sensor 12, the identification mark detection circuit 34, the medium detection sensor 40, and the label break detection circuit 36 constitute a printing unit. Further, the RFID card read / write circuit 44 and the card slot 18 constitute a storage control means.

The RAM 28 and the ROM 24 are connected to the CPU 26, and the CPU 26, the RAM 28 and the ROM 2 are also connected.
4, label conveyance control circuit 30, thermal head control circuit 32, identification mark control circuit 34, label break detection circuit 3
6, the operation panel control circuit 42, and the RFID read / write circuit 44 are commonly connected to the data bus 46.

The CPU 26 executes the programs stored in the ROM 24, thereby causing the RAM 28 and the ROM 2 to operate.
4. The label transport control circuit 30, the thermal head control circuit 32, the operation panel control circuit 42, and the RFID writing / reading circuit 44 are controlled to perform the printing process of the label 10 and the reading / writing process of the RFID card C. For example, CPU2
6 is a platen of a label transport mechanism having a label transport control circuit 30, a thermal head control circuit 32, an identification mark detection circuit 34, a label break detection circuit 36 and a motor (not shown) by executing a printer control program stored in the ROM 24. By controlling 16, the printing process on the label 10 is performed.

Further, the CPU 26 executes the RFID control program stored in the ROM 24 so that the RFI
The D read / write control circuit 42 is controlled to determine the presence / absence of the RFID card C via the card slot 18. That is, when the RFID card C is attached to the card slot 18, it is recognized that the card is attached by reading the unique ID, and information of various operations is written in the RFID card C by a write command. On the other hand, when the RFID card C is not installed in the card slot 18, the RAM
Information of various operations is recorded in the work area of 28, and in particular, when an error is determined among various operations, the error status (information) is recorded (stored) in the error information storage area of the RAM 28. It has become. Here, the error information stored in the error information storage area of the RFID card C or the RAM 28 is, for example, the date of occurrence, the model, and the error information such as “printer jamming occurrence” and “cutter error occurrence”. The error can also be stored by code.

FIG. 3 shows an RFID used in this embodiment.
It is a figure which shows the internal structure of a card. As shown in the figure,
The RFID card C is composed of an RFID chip 48 and an antenna 49. In the RFID chip 48,
In particular, it has a built-in memory (not shown) for storing error information, and transmits (reads) data stored in the memory via the antenna 49 and writes error information received from the card slot 18 via the antenna 49. To do.
The memory in the RFID chip 48 is EEP-RO.
M (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Me
mory) is non-volatile. Further, desired information such as the type of printer and a unique number can be displayed on the surface of the RFID card C by means of printing or the like.

Next, in the label printer according to the present invention, a first embodiment of a processing procedure for storing various operations in the RFID card C will be described with reference to FIG. In the following, various operations to be stored in the RFID card, particularly storage of error information when an error occurs will be described.

In step S1, the label printer is operated by activating a power source (not shown) or the like.

In step S2, it is shown that an error has occurred during operation.

In steps S3 to S4, it is confirmed whether or not the RFID card C is mounted in the card slot 18. If it is confirmed that the RFID card C is present, the process proceeds to step S5, the error information is written in the FRID card C, and the process proceeds to step S7.

On the other hand, if it is determined in S4 that there is no RFID card C (not installed), in step S6
The error information is written in the RAM 28, and the process proceeds to step S7.

In step S7, the operator is notified of the end of the collection of error information by a known method such as a buzzer (not shown), blinking of a lamp, or display on a display unit.

In step S8, the printer operation is stopped.

As described above, the RFI is attached to the printer body 2.
Since the D card slot 18 is integrally provided and the error information can be recorded (stored) in the RFID card C via the card slot 18, the portability is excellent and the convenience of use is good.

Further, it is determined whether or not the RFID card C is mounted in the card slot 18, and if it is not mounted, the error information is stored in the RAM, so that the loss of the error information can be avoided.

Further, since the RFID card C in which the error information is written can be carried to another device, it is read by another device (for example, a personal computer) equipped with an RFID reader at any time or periodically, and is read by a printer. The error occurrence status can be managed, and the error status frequently caused by the printer can be known, which can be useful for troubleshooting.

Next, a second embodiment of a processing procedure for storing error information in the RFID card C will be described with reference to FIG.

In step 11, the main body of the printer is operated by operating a power source (not shown).

In step S12, it is shown that an error has occurred during operation.

In step S13, the generated error information is once written and stored in the RAM 13.

In step S14, the printer operation is stopped.

In step S15, the power of the stopped printer body is turned on again to start up.

In steps S16 to S17, it is confirmed whether or not the RFID card C is mounted in the card slot 18. If it is confirmed that the RFID card C is present, the process proceeds to step S18, the error information is written in the RFID card C, and the process proceeds to step S19.

On the other hand, in step S17, the RFID
If it is determined that there is no card, the process proceeds to step S19.

In step S19, the operator is notified of the fact that the collection of the error information has been completed by a buzzer (not shown), blinking of a lamp, or display on the display unit.

In step S20, the printer operation is stopped.

As described above, the error information is directly transmitted to the RFI.
Writing to the D card C first, writing to the RAM 28 once, stopping the printer operation, and restarting and then writing to the RFID card C, the error information is lost even when the RFID card is not attached. Is avoided.
Other configurations, operations, and effects are the same as those in the previous embodiment, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In the above description, the collection of error information among various operations has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this, and it is also possible to collect information regarding other operations and I / O. . In this case, for example,
This can be realized by dividing the RFID card C and the RAM 28 into each category as shown in FIG. 5
0 is an I / O (input / output) that stores the input / output data
A storage unit 52 is an operation storage unit that stores an operating (operation), 54 is an error storage unit that stores an error, and 56 is how many pieces of error information are stored, or each storage unit 50, This is a case number storage unit that stores the number of cases of how many pieces of information 52 and 54 are stored.

Then, the CPU 26 reads the execution programs for various operations from the ROM 24, analyzes the I / O data, operating data, and error data passing through the data bus 46 with this execution program, and categorizes them by category shown in FIG. RFID card C (or RA
M28), the I / O storage unit 50, the operation storage unit 52, and the error storage unit 54 are sequentially stored. Then, the number of cases that can be registered in each category is set and stored, and in the CPU 26, when the number of cases stored in the case number storage unit 56 exceeds the maximum number set in the ROM, the CPU 26 is configured to sequentially delete the old data. . With the above configuration, not only error information but also various operations such as I / O data and operating data can be collected. If the storage units 50, 52, and 54 are not divided by category, it is possible to assign an ID to each category and store them in the storage unit in chronological order. It suffices to extract only the information of the ID attached to.

[0044]

In the label printer according to the present invention, the printer main body is integrally provided with a recording unit for RFID, and the state of various operations can be recorded in the RFID card via this recording unit. It has the effect of being excellent in use convenience.

Further, it is determined whether or not the RFID card is mounted in the recording unit, and if it is not mounted, the information of various operations is stored in the RAM, so that the loss of error information can be avoided. .

Further, RFI in which information of various operations is written
Since the D card can be carried to other devices, it can be read at any time or periodically by other devices equipped with an RFID reader to manage the printer error occurrence status, and to know the error status often caused by the printer. Therefore, there is an effect that it can be useful for countermeasures against defects.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a label printer according to an embodiment of the present invention,
It is a schematic diagram explaining the whole structure.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a control unit of the label printer.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an RFID card used in the label printer of the same.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a second embodiment of the same.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of each category set in a FRID card.

[Explanation of symbols]

C RFID card 2 Printer body 4 supply axis 6 Label continuum 8 mount 10 labels 12 Optical reflection sensor 14 Thermal head 16 Platen Roller (Platen) 18 RFID recording unit (card slot) 20 Control unit 22 housing 24 ROM 26 CPU 28 RAM 30 Label transport control circuit 32 Thermal label control circuit 34 Identification mark detection circuit 36 Label break detection circuit 38 Operation panel 40 Media detection sensor 42 Operation panel control circuit 44 RFID card read / write circuit 46 bus 48 RFID chip 49 antenna 50 I / O (input / output) storage section 52 Operation Storage Unit 54 Error storage section 56 cases memory

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A label printer for performing desired printing on a label while tracing error conditions and various operations occurring in the printer for printing on a label, wherein the RFID card is detachably attached to the printer body. A recording unit that supports and can write the various operations in an RFID card, and a determination unit that determines whether or not an RFID card is attached to the recording unit, and the determination unit attaches an RFID card A label printer characterized in that when the determination is made, the various operations are recorded in an RFID card, and when it is determined that the RFID card is not mounted, the various operations are recorded in a temporary storage unit. 2. The label printer according to claim 1, wherein the RFID card is recordable by category. 3. The label printer according to claim 1, wherein whether or not the RFID card is attached to the recording unit is determined when an error occurs.