JP2005025538A - Printing method for printing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enhance the printing function of printing equipment such as a time recorder or checkwriter. <P>SOLUTION: Printing equipment such as a time recorder or checkwriter is connectable to a computer. The computer is provided with a print data generating means for converting a character font built in the computer into bitmap data adapted to a printhead of the printing equipment, and the converted data are transferred to a printing control part of the printing equipment that executes printing. The printing equipment can use abundant fonts in the computer to print various fonts, so that the printing equipment can execute enhanced printing without holding various fonts. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a printing method of a printing device such as a time recorder or a check writer, and more particularly to a printing method of a printing device that enables printing with various fonts.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Taking a time recorder as an example of a printing device, in recent years, there are many time recorders equipped with a dot impact type printer head in response to a demand for reduction in size and weight (for example, Patent Document 1). To print on a time card using the dot impact printing mechanism, the character font to be printed is read from the memory by the print control unit, and the dot pattern data is sequentially transferred to the dot impact printer head. The dot pin is driven to transfer the ink ribbon ink to the time card.
[0003]
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-242911
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In general, the time recorder has a small character size for printing, so the number of dots of the printer head is small, and in addition to numbers, only character fonts such as katakana, alphabets, and some symbols are provided. Therefore, even when a name is printed when a time card is issued, it cannot be printed in Chinese characters or other language characters. In addition, if various types of font data that are not frequently used are provided in the memory of the print control unit in order to enable printing of various characters, a large-capacity memory is required, resulting in an increase in cost.
[0005]
Therefore, there are technical issues that need to be solved in order to improve the printing function by enabling printing with a variety of fonts without installing a large amount of font data in the main body of a printing device such as a time recorder. The present invention aims to solve the above problems.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention is proposed to achieve the above object, and is a printing device that can be connected to a computer, and bitmap data that fits a character font built in the computer into a printing head of the printing device. The present invention provides a printing method for a printing device, in which printing data generating means for converting the data into the computer is provided in the computer, and the converted data is transferred to a printing control unit of the printing device to execute printing.
[0007]
Further, the printing device is a time recorder, and provides a printing method of the printing device in which the converted data is transferred to the print control unit of the time recorder and printing on the time card is executed.
[0008]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a time recorder will be described in detail. First, the setting function of the time recorder using a computer will be described, and then the unique function of the time recorder main body will be described. Many of the conventional time recorders with a counting function are configured to set all setting items by using setting keys and a display device provided in the time recorder. In addition to the above method, the time recorder and the computer ( (Hereinafter abbreviated as “PC”), and the time recorder can be set from the PC using the setting and counting time recorder application program incorporated in the PC. However, if the time recorder is set on the time recorder main body, there is a possibility that a setting different from the setting for tabulation processing in the PC may be performed, which may cause an error in the tabulation result. Therefore, here, by omitting the setting function of the time recorder main body so that the time recorder can be set only from the PC, erroneous counting due to a difference in setting between the time recorder and the counting PC is prevented. Even in this case, the setting contents on the time recorder main body side can be confirmed by report printing by providing the time recorder with a report printing function. The time recorder application program is configured to support multiple time recorders with the same basic configuration but different functions such as the total number of items. When the time recorder application program installed on the PC is started, the model selection is performed first. A menu is displayed, and a setting screen corresponding to the model selected in the model selection menu is opened.
[0009]
FIG. 1 is a working time system setting screen displayed on a PC display, such as basic setting 1 such as a closing date, determination time of lateness / early departure, holiday setting 2, work setting 3, rounding processing setting 4, etc. By entering an arbitrary time in the input box for each item and clicking the registration button 5 in the lower row, the setting data is written to the file on this PC.
[0010]
There are more setting items than the conventional model, enabling more detailed settings. For example, there are two types of holiday setting 2, “Holiday 1” and “Holiday 2”, and it is possible to distinguish between Sunday, which is a legal holiday, and other holidays, and different hourly wage settings can be made on the hourly wage setting screen described later.
[0011]
In the shift work system such as the 3 shift system or the 4 shift system, each setting is performed individually. In this case, the operability is improved. That is, the setting screen is switched with the buttons “shift 1” to “shift 4” in the upper left of the screen, but the shift copy screen of FIG. 2 is displayed in front by pressing the shift copy button 6 at the bottom of the screen after switching. . On this screen, the copy source and copy item can be selected. For example, after completing the setting on the “Shift 1” setting screen, the screen is switched to the “Shift 2” setting screen, and the shift copy screen shown in FIG. If “Shift 1” is selected as a check box and a check mark is entered in the required copy item box and the OK button is pressed, the setting value of the designated item in “Shift 1” is “Shift 2” by the copy function of the application program Copied to the screen. Therefore, it is possible to save the trouble of inputting a new numerical value for each setting item on the new setting screen. Even if the shift number is different, items other than attendance / leaving time are often the same, so if you copy all the items and modify only the items that should be changed, the setting effort will be greatly reduced. The
[0012]
Further, the time recorder application program includes a simulation program for reflecting the set contents in the tabulation result. When the simple simulation button 7 in the lower part of the working time system setting screen in FIG. 1 is pointed and clicked, the tabulation processing in FIG. The simulation screen is displayed. In this screen, columns of “stamping”, “rounding result”, and “result display” are arranged in the upper half, and an arbitrary time can be input in the input box of the “stamping” column. The input box in the “stamping” column is associated with the tabulation and rounding processing program. When the time is entered in the input box in the “stamping” column, the simulation result of the rounding processing and tabulation processing is displayed by the simulation function of the application program. It is displayed in the “Rounding result” column and the “Result display” column.
[0013]
For example, in the settings of start time 08:30, end time 17:00, rounding time unit 15 minutes, midnight overtime start time 00:00, in the first input box (left end) of the “stamp” field as shown in FIG. When 08:22 is input from the keyboard, the processing program determines that the attendance is registered, rounds up 15-minute increments to 08:22, and rounds the result 08: 30 is displayed in real time. Next, when 19:44 is entered in the second input box from the left in the “stamping” field, the processing program compares 19:44 with the closing time 17:00, and the closing time 17:30 is exceeded. Therefore, it is determined that the employee has registered to leave work, and the round-down process is performed every 15 minutes for 19:44. The rounding result 19:30 is displayed in the box in the “Rounding Result” column immediately below, and the totaling simulation process is executed at the same time. The result is displayed in the “result display” column. The “Result Display” column covers the total items such as actual work, early departure, working hours within the specified time, overtime hours, and late-night overtime hours, and confirms the rounding and totaling results for the input values in the “Time Stamp” column. it can.
[0014]
Deletion and re-entry of the numerical value in the “stamp” field input box can be arbitrarily performed, and each time a numerical value is input, the result of the rounding process and the totaling process is immediately reflected on the screen. For example, if you enter a time value in the third input box from the left in the “stamp” field, it will be judged as reentry registration on the same day, and the counting result in the “result display” field will be erased, and the reentry time after rounding will be processed. Is displayed in the rounding result column. Then, when a time value is entered in the fourth input box from the left in the “stamping” field, the counting process is executed again, and the counting result is displayed in the “result display” field.
[0015]
In addition, the totaling process simulation screen of FIG. 3 can be displayed at the same time while the working time system setting screen of FIG. 1 is open, and the change of the setting value in the setting input box of the working time system setting screen rounds the totaling process simulation screen. The working time system setting screen and the totaling processing simulation screen are associated with each other so that the result display and the totaling result display are reflected in real time.
[0016]
In addition, a time zone display bar graph that displays the time zone setting as a graph is provided in the lower half of the tabulation simulation screen as another GUI function, and the time zone bar in the graph appears early, within a predetermined period, overtime, late at night It is classified by color for each time zone such as late-night overtime, and the time zone setting can be judged by visual image. In addition, the time zone can be arbitrarily expanded and contracted by dragging the boundary of each time zone with the mouse, and the setting change is instantly reflected in the simple simulation result in the upper stage.
[0017]
FIG. 4 shows a calendar setting screen. Clicking on a date and clicking one of the buttons “Weekday”, “Holiday 1” and “Holiday 2” at the bottom displays “Weekday” and “Holiday 1” as the basis for payroll calculation. "Holiday 2" can be switched. The date field on the calendar is displayed in a different color for each setting of “weekday”, “holiday 1”, and “holiday 2”.
[0018]
Fig. 5 shows the hourly wage setting screen. You can enter hourly wages for “weekdays”, “holiday 1”, and “holiday 2” in the input box on the left side of the screen. You can select the method for entering the ratio for hourly wages with check boxes.
[0019]
Fig. 6 shows the tabulation result display screen for each individual. From the previous model, tabulation items were added (number of substitutes, absenteeism, number of business trips), "Holiday 2" was added to the work category, and the tabulation results for each day and the comment field Detailed aggregation such as addition can be performed, and this aggregation screen can be printed and used as a substitute for salary details. Also, the date line is displayed in different colors according to the categories of “weekdays”, “holiday 1”, and “holiday 2”, and is associated with the color of the tabulation result table so that it can be seen at a glance. In addition, by displaying characters such as “late”, “early leave”, “paid-off”, and “paid-off” in the date line in different colors, the work status can be grasped at a glance.
[0020]
In addition, the conventional application program prohibits modification and writing of dates prior to the latest date of the aggregated data read into the PC, and settings such as scheduled paid leave and work shift changes are prohibited. Although it cannot be performed in advance, here, as a new function, data for future dates can be written in advance in the total data file on the PC side. Here, the software processing necessary to prevent errors in the aggregated data is that the PC does not overwrite the corrected data on the PC side when reading the data on the time recorder side, and the time recorder side is not overwritten. The data of the date without time is not read, that is, the data on the PC side is not overwritten with the blank data on the time recorder side.
[0021]
The date advance correction function will be specifically described with reference to FIG. (A) shows time stamp data on the time recorder side, and (b) shows time stamp data in the PC. For example, in (b), the time stamp data up to 5/22 has already been imported to the PC, the paid vacation setting of 5/26 has been written in advance, and the time card has been lost when going to work on 5/23 Suppose you noticed that. And the 5/23 attendance time stamp data 8:22 that was not stamped on the time card is written on the pc side, the time card is reissued around noon on 5/23, and then the reissued time card Suppose that the attendance / leaving registration shown in (a) is performed. Then, if the time recorder side data (a) is taken into the PC around noon on 5/27, the time stamp data (a) is integrated with the time stamp data (b) in the PC. As shown in the data (c) in the PC, the time recorder data before about 5/23 noon, which is the time of the final correction, is not taken in, so the data before the time of the final correction is not overwritten. The remaining 5/23 time stamp data 17:45 and subsequent time stamp data is taken into the PC. Also, as shown in the column 5/26, the data that has been corrected and written in advance on the PC side is not overwritten by the time-recording data (a), and the prior settings may be changed. Absent. Further, if a correction history for each day is left and a correction history deletion function is provided, the correction history when the correction is made by mistake can be erased, and the past erroneous correction from the present time can be corrected.
[0022]
Next, an early departure mark management function will be described. When time stamping is earlier than the end of work time, the time recorder cannot determine whether it is leaving or leaving midway, so it is regarded as leaving and an early departure mark is printed in the even column of the time card, and the time stamp data stored in the memory of the main unit is also printed The early departure mark is given. Therefore, when the aggregated data is taken into the PC and displayed on the screen, as shown in FIG. 9, for example, when the number of stamped columns per day is composed of 6 columns, even columns (second column, fourth column) In addition, there are disadvantages that unnecessary early departure marks are displayed in duplicate and are difficult to see, and an operation for deleting early departure marks is required.
[0023]
On the other hand, in this embodiment, the control unit of the time recorder is provided with a function of deleting the early departure mark added to the time stamp data before the latest time stamp data on the same date. For example, if you go to work at 8:50 on 6/12 and make a second stamp at 12:05, the early departure mark is recorded because 12:05 is earlier than the end time. Then, when the third stamp is made at 12:55, the immediately preceding early departure mark is automatically deleted. In addition, the early departure mark is also added when the fourth stamp is made at 15:00, but when the fifth stamp is made, the early departure mark in the fourth stamp column is automatically deleted, The early departure mark recorded until then, such as 8, is replaced with a blank. If you stamped in the sixth column, which is the final stamping column, an early departure mark will be added if it is before the closing time, but since the seventh stamping is impossible, the early stamping mark in the final stamping column will be It will not be deleted. As described above, since the useless early leaving mark is deleted from the time stamped data in the memory of the time recorder, it is not necessary to delete the early leaving mark on the PC.
[0024]
In addition, when a time card is inserted, there is a print control means that automatically deletes the data of the early departure mark that is duplicated in the time recorder, and at the same time overwrites a cancellation line on the corresponding early departure mark printed on the time card. For example, the early withdrawal mark printed on the time card at the time of the previous insertion may be overwritten with a cancellation line such as a double line to correct the printing on the time card.
[0025]
Next, the time card issuing function will be described. Issuing a time card based on employee registration data (insert a time card into the card insertion slot of the time recorder and read a unique ID code for each time card, and information such as the card number, name and shift work number to the time card) When a single time card is issued, the conventional time recorder updates the card number displayed for confirmation on the display board in ascending order. For example, the number of registered employees is 20 In this case, after the card number display on the display board reaches 20 and the 20th time card is issued, the final display 20 is displayed again. Accordingly, the next time card may be inadvertently inserted and the final time card may be issued repeatedly, and the card may be wasted.
[0026]
In contrast, the time recorder of this embodiment has a function of managing the number of issued time cards by referring to the number of registered employees, and registering employees directly from a PC or from a memory card into which PC data is written. The number is read, the registered card numbers are sequentially displayed on the display board to prompt card issuance, and when the number of issued time cards is counted and the card issuance for all the card numbers is completed, “END” is displayed on the display board. ”And the time card issuing routine is stopped. Therefore, even when a time card is further inserted, the card number is not printed on the time card, and the possibility of wasting a plurality of time cards with the same card number is eliminated. As a result, even if you do not prepare time cards for the number of employee registrations at the time of card issuance, if you prepare an appropriate number of time cards and insert them sequentially into the time recorder, the time points for the number of employee registrations issued The card issuance is stopped at this time, so it is easy to prepare for card issuance.
[0027]
It also has a new function for reissuing time cards. In the conventional machine, when reissuing the time card, switch to the reissue mode, and when the time card is inserted, the ID code of this time card is read and related to the specified card number, and until that of the corresponding card number The stamped data is cleared. Therefore, it is necessary to capture and store the engraving data so far in a PC or a memory card before reissuing.
[0028]
On the other hand, when reissuing the time card, the time recorder of this embodiment only updates the association between the card number and the ID code of the time card, and does not delete the previous stamp data. The data is transferred to the time card with a new ID code. This eliminates the need to import the time stamp data before reissuance or to combine the time stamp data before reissuance and the time stamp data after reissue at the time of counting.
[0029]
Further, at the time of reissuing the time card, the stamped data from the beginning of the period to the time of reissuing may be printed collectively. By doing so, it is possible to record all the stamped data for one counting period on the reissued time card, and it becomes easy for the person using the time card to confirm the work record.
[0030]
Next, the backup / recovery function of the time recorder will be described. Some time recorders with a totaling function include a USB connector for cable communication with a PC and a memory card writer for writing data to a memory card. There is no device with a function for inserting data, and recovery using backup data is impossible. Therefore, for example, when the printer or display unit of the time recorder is damaged and the main unit is replaced, the stamping history that is printed on the time card by operating the watch one by one in order to import the previous stamping data into the new time recorder. There is a problem that a reproduction operation is necessary and it takes a lot of time and effort to the administrator.
[0031]
Therefore, in this embodiment, the control unit of the time recorder is provided with a backup data reading function in addition to the backup data writing function so that the data backed up to the external storage medium can be read. Therefore, the backup data can be transferred from the time recorder to the memory card or the PC, and the backup data can be written from the memory card or the PC to the new time recorder, so that the trouble of transferring the data when the time recorder is replaced is significantly reduced.
[0032]
Next, the printing method of the time recorder of the present invention will be described. As described above, the time recorder in this embodiment has a feature that simplifies the equipment functions on the main body of the time recorder by placing many of the main functions such as setting functions on the PC, but the PC function is also used for the printing function. By doing so, high functionality can be realized. To this end, the time recorder application program installed on the PC is equipped with software for generating bitmap data of an arbitrary size from the character font built in the PC and transferring it to the print controller of the time recorder. As a result, the font data of the print character can be converted into bitmap data suitable for the number of dots of the printer head of the time recorder, and printing can be executed by the printer head of the time recorder.
[0033]
For example, a thinning process is performed on a 24-dot vertical font in accordance with the number of dots of a time impact dot impact printer head (mostly 10 dots or less) to generate, for example, 8-dot vertical print data. Is transferred to the time recorder. The print control unit of the time recorder outputs the print data in bitmap format transferred from the PC as it is to the printer head and executes printing. According to this method, since the font provided in the PC is used, it is possible to print Chinese characters, English characters, characters of other languages, and logotypes. In addition, the print character size can be freely set by the bitmap development process. For example, the data of two lines obtained by dividing the vertical 18-dot character pattern into two vertically is sent to the vertical 9-dot printer head, and the size of the printer head It is also possible to print characters larger than.
[0034]
The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned time recorder, but can also be applied to a printing device such as a check writer, and various modifications are possible within the technical scope of the present invention. It is natural to extend to things.
[0035]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, when the present invention is applied to a time recorder as a printing device, the print data on the time recorder side is generated from the character font built in the computer on the computer side in the name printing when the time card is issued. Since the data is transferred to the print controller of the time recorder for printing, the time recorder can print a variety of fonts using the abundant fonts provided in the computer. It is a rational printing method that can perform accurate printing.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a copy of a working time system setting screen on a computer display according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the present invention and is a copy of a shift copy screen on a computer display.
FIG. 3 is a copy of a summary processing simulation screen on a computer display according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a copy of a calendar setting screen on a computer display according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a copy of an hourly rate setting screen on a computer display according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of the present invention, and is a copy of a total result display screen on a computer display.
7A and 7B are explanatory diagrams of a pre-data correction function according to the present invention, in which FIG. 7A is time stamp data in a time recorder after time card reissue, and FIG. 7B is time stamp data in a PC before time card reissue. , (C) is stamped data in the PC obtained by combining the stamped data of (b) with the stamped data of (b).
FIG. 8 shows an embodiment of the present invention and is a copy of a personalized display screen of stamped contents on a computer display.
FIG. 9 shows a conventional example, which is a copy of a personalized display screen of stamped contents on a computer display.

Claims (2)

In a printing device connectable with a computer, the computer is provided with print data generating means for converting a character font built in the computer into bitmap data suitable for a print head of the printing device, and the converted data is printed in the printing device. Printing method for printing equipment that transfers to the print control unit and executes printing. 2. A printing method for a printing device according to claim 1, wherein the printing device is a time recorder, and the converted data is transferred to a print control unit of the time recorder to execute printing on a time card.

Images