JP2006130692A - Label printer and method of controlling the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a label printer that can readily print data of variable information only by placing the label printer as a low order device of a host computer without installing a dedicated program in the host computer or extending a personal computer having the dedicated program installed in it, and a method of controlling it. <P>SOLUTION: Print data D is accumulated in a register (a storage) 300-1 of a PLC (a host computer) 2 as variable information. The label printer 1 connected to the PLC 2 accesses the PLC 2 to acquire the print data D from the register 300-1. In the acquisition of the print data D, the label printer 1 transmits a data request command for requesting the print data D accumulated in the register 300-1 to the PLC 2, and then receives the print data D transmitted from the PLC 2 according to the data request command. The label printer 1 forms a printer command for printing the acquired print data D to the label L and performs the printing on the label L according to the printer command. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention provides a label printer that prints print data stored as variable information in a storage unit of a host computer on a label and a control method thereof. In particular, the label printer is simply installed as a subordinate device of the host computer. The present invention relates to a label printer that can print the variable information print data and a control method thereof.

  Conventionally, when printing print data of variable information with a label printer, the host computer connected to the label printer generates a printer command dedicated to the label printer to print the print data with the label printer. The printer command is transmitted from the host computer to the label printer, and the label printer receives the transmitted printer command. The label printer prints variable information print data based on the received printer command (see, for example, paragraphs 0008 to 0016 of Patent Document 1).

  In addition, the thing of patent document 1 has the host computer connected to the label printer via the external interface 27 as a high-order computer specifically, various commands and data are transmitted from this host computer to a label printer, These commands and data are received by the label printer (see particularly paragraph 0008 of the document). In the label printer, printing is performed based on the received command and data (see paragraph 0016 of the same document in particular).

  However, according to the conventional label printer as described above, the printer command generated by the host computer is received, and the print data of variable information is printed based on the received printer command. For this reason, since the printer command is generated by the host computer, a dedicated program for generating the printer command must be installed and stored in the host computer, or a personal computer equipped with the dedicated program must be added. The program configuration or the device configuration becomes complicated. In addition, there is a problem that a processing load of generating a printer command is generated in the host computer.

  Furthermore, since the conventional label printer employs a method in which a printer command is transmitted from the host computer to the label printer, it is necessary to set the host computer to transmit the printer command. In this case, the user must understand the printer command, and the print data of variable information cannot be easily printed by the label printer.

JP 2003-54049 A

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and the object of the present invention is to store a dedicated program in a host computer or without adding a personal computer having the dedicated program installed therein. It is an object to provide a label printer and a control method therefor that can easily print variable information print data simply by installing a label printer as a subordinate device of a host computer.

  In order to achieve the above object, a label printer of the present invention is a label printer that prints on a label print data stored as variable information in a storage unit of a host computer, and the label printer is connected to the host computer. Data acquisition means for accessing and acquiring print data from the storage unit of the host computer, and printer command generation means for generating a printer command for printing the print data acquired by the data acquisition means on the label It is characterized by.

  In the label printer of the present invention, the data acquisition means transmits a data request command for requesting transmission of print data stored in a storage unit of the host computer to the host computer, and the data request command Accordingly, the print data transmitted from the host computer may be received.

  In the label printer of the present invention, the label printer includes a ROM storing print position information for printing print data stored as variable information in the storage unit of the host computer at a specified position on the label; A RAM for storing the print data acquired from the storage unit of the host computer by the data acquisition means, and the printer command generation means reads the print data and the print position information from the RAM and the ROM and combines them. Thus, the printer command may be created.

  A label printer control method according to the present invention is a label printer control method for printing print data stored as variable information in a storage unit of a host computer on a label. The label printer accesses the host computer. The printing data is acquired from the storage unit of the host computer, and a printer command for printing the acquired printing data on the label is generated.

  In the label printer control method of the present invention, the print data is acquired by transmitting a data request command for requesting transmission of print data stored in a storage unit of the host computer to the host computer. The print data transmitted from the host computer in response to the data request command may be received.

  In the label printer control method of the present invention, the label printer stores print position information for printing the print data stored as variable information in the storage unit of the host computer at a specified position on the label. A ROM and a RAM for storing print data acquired from the storage unit of the host computer by the data acquisition means, and generation of the printer command reads the print data and the print position information from the RAM and the ROM; A combination of these may be configured to create a printer command.

  In the label printer and its control method according to the present invention, since the label printer itself generates a printer command, a dedicated program for generating the printer command is installed and stored in the host computer, or the dedicated program is installed. It is not necessary to add an additional personal computer, so that the program configuration and device configuration are simplified. In addition, the processing burden of generating a printer command in the host computer is eliminated.

  In the label printer and its control method of the present invention, the label printer itself accesses the host computer and acquires the print data from the storage unit of the host computer (data siphoning or data extraction method). Therefore, it is not necessary to set the host computer for transmitting the printer command, and it is not necessary for the user to understand the printer command to perform such setting, and the variable data print data can be easily printed by the label printer. it can.

  Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a label printer 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention and a programmable controller 2 (hereinafter referred to as “PLC 2”) as a host computer to which the label printer 1 is connected. FIG. The contents of the register 300-1 of the PLC 2 shown, the contents of the RAM 5-2 and ROM 5-3 of the label printer 1 shown in FIG. 1, the contents of the printer command C3 generated in the label printer 1 shown in FIG. 1, and the printer command FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a label L printed based on C3. FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining a processing operation when the label printer 1 of FIG. 1 acquires print data D stored in the register 300-1 of the PLC 2. It is.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the label printer 1 according to the present embodiment prints the print data D accumulated in the register (storage unit) 300-1 of the PLC 2 on the label L. In the present embodiment, the PLC 2 is a host computer.

  A specific command is input from the label printer 1 to the PLC 2. The command is input via the computer link unit 4 of the PLC 2. The computer link unit 4 functions as a communication unit that enables transmission and reception of commands and data between the PLC 2 and the label printer 1. A command input to the PLC 2 is processed by the CPU unit 3 of the PLC 2. The CPU unit 3 has a hardware configuration including a CPU 300, a ROM, a RAM, and the like (not shown), and the processing of the command is executed by the CPU 300 of the CPU unit 3.

  The print data D to be printed on the label L is input to the PLC 2 via input means such as a keyboard (not shown). The input print data D is accumulated in the register 300-1 of the PLC 2 as shown in FIG. The register 300-1 is a storage unit of the CPU 300 of the CPU unit 3 constituting the PLC 2. The print data D accumulated in the register 300-1 of the PLC 2 is variable information and is appropriately changed as necessary.

  FIG. 2 shows an example in which “label printing” is printed on the label L as an example of the print data D accumulated in the register 300-1 of the PLC2. In this example, the register 300-1 of the PLC 2 has “La” as the address A1, “Be” as the address A2, “Le” as the address A3, “Mark” as the address A4, and “Character” as the address A5. The print data D is accumulated individually.

  The print data D accumulated in the register 300-1 of the PLC 2 as described above is finally printed on the label L by the label printer 1 in an array of “label print”. Thus, in order to print the print data D stored in the register 300-1 of the PLC 2 at the designated position on the label L, print position information is required for each print data D. As will be described later, the label printer 1 has this print position information as fixed data.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the label printer 1 includes a microcomputer board 5, a controller 6, a printing device 7, and a label sticking device 8.

  The microcomputer board 5 is means for acquiring print data from the register 300-1 of the PLC 2 (data acquisition means), and means for generating a printer command for printing the acquired print data D on the label L (printer command generation means). Function as. In order to realize these functions, the microcomputer board 5 is specifically configured as follows.

  The microcomputer board 5 accesses the PLC 2 as indicated by the arrow a in FIG. 2 and transmits a specific command. This specific command includes a print command confirmation command C1 and a data request command C2. The print command confirmation command C1 is a command for requesting the PLC 2 to confirm whether or not there is a print command. The data request command C2 is an instruction for requesting the PLC 2 to transmit the print data D stored in the register 300-1. The data request command C2 includes, for example, registers A1 to A5. Specific request contents such as requesting print data D existing at the address are also included. The commands C1 and C2 are transmitted from the microcomputer board 5 to the PLC 2 via the RS232C port 5-4 of the microcomputer board 5.

  When the PLC 2 receives the print command confirmation command C1 as described above, processing for confirming the presence or absence of the print command is performed. In this embodiment, in this embodiment, the CPU 300 of the CPU unit 3 constituting the PLC 2 checks whether or not the print data D is accumulated in its own register 300-1. When the accumulation of the print data D in the register 300-1 is completed, the print command C4 is transmitted to the microcomputer board 5. In other cases, the print command C4 is transmitted to the microcomputer board 5. Absent.

  In addition to the above method, the processing method using the print command flag may be adopted for the confirmation process of the presence or absence of the print command C4. In this case, an address that is not used as a storage location for the print data D in the register 300-1 of the PLC 2 is set as a storage location for the print command flag. If the print command flag exists at the storage location, the print command C4 is transmitted from the PLC 2 to the microcomputer board 5 when the PLC 2 receives the print command confirmation command C1. On the other hand, if there is no print command flag at the storage location, the print command C4 is not transmitted to the microcomputer board 5 even if the print command confirmation command C1 is input to the PLC 2. The print command flag is stored in the storage location when the print data D is accumulated in the register 300-1 of the PLC2.

  When the microcomputer board 5 receives the print command C4, the microcomputer board 5 transmits a data request command C2 of the PLC2. When the PLC 2 receives the data request command C2, the PLC 2 transmits the print data D stored in the register 300-1 to the label printer 1 in accordance with the data request command C2. As a result, the label printer 1 receives and acquires the print data D stored in the register 300-1 of the PLC 2. The acquired print data D is temporarily stored in the RAM 5-2 of the microcomputer board 5 by the CPU 5-1 of the microcomputer board 5. For example, in the example of FIG. 2, the print data D such as “La”, “Be”, “Le”, “Mark”, and “Character” is accumulated in the register 300-1 of the PLC 2. D is transmitted from the PLC 2 to the printer label 1, and print data D such as “La”, “Be”, “Le”, “Mark”, and “Character” is temporarily stored in the RAM 5-2 of the microcomputer board 5. .

  The CPU 5-1 of the microcomputer board 5 executes temporary storage of the print data D in the RAM 5-2. At that time, the CPU 5-1 of the microcomputer board 5 stores the print data D in the RAM 5-2 in the order of addresses of the register 300-1 of the PLC2. Accordingly, the print data D stored at the first address B1 of the RAM 5-2 becomes the print data D stored at the first address A1 of the register 300-1, and is stored at the next address B2 of the RAM 5-2. The print data D is the print data D stored at the next address A2 of the register 300-1. For example, in the example of FIG. 2, “La” print data D is stored at the first address A1 of the register 300-1, and therefore “La” print data D is stored at the first address B1 of the RAM 5-2. Since “be” print data D is stored in the next address A2 of the register 300-1, “be” print data D is stored in the next address B2 of the RAM 5-2.

  Print position information X1, Y1, X2, Y2,... Is stored in the ROM 5-3 of the microcomputer board 5. The print position information X1, Y1, X2, Y2,... Is information necessary for printing the print data D stored in the register 300-1 of the PLC 2 at a designated position on the label L, and is set in advance. It is fixed data. The print position information X1, Y1, X2, Y2,... Are stored in the ROM 5-3 in the order of addresses of the register 300-1 of the PLC2.

  That is, the print position information for the print data D at the first address A1 in the register 300-1 of the PLC2 is stored at the first address P1 in the ROM 5-3. The print position information for the print data D of the next address A2 in the register 300-1 is stored in the next address P2 of the ROM 5-3. For example, in the example of FIG. 2, the print data D of “La” is accumulated at the first address A1 of the register 300-1, so that the print position information X1, Y1 stored at the address P1 of the ROM 5-3. Is the print position information of the print data D of “La”. In addition, since “be” print data D is stored at the next address A2 of the register 300-1, the print position information X2 and Y2 stored at the next address P2 of the ROM 5-3 are “be” prints. This is the print position information of data D.

  The print position information such as X1, Y1, X2, and Y2 indicates the print position of the print data D in the XY coordinates. The XY coordinates are considered as having the origin O1 on the label L, the X axis in the horizontal direction from the origin O1, and the Y axis in the vertical direction.

  In the microcomputer board 5, the printer command C3 is generated by the CPU 5-1. The printer command C3 is a command for printing the print data D on the label L. The printer command C3 is created based on the print data D in the RAM 5-2 and the print position information in the ROM 5-3. That is, the CPU 5-1 of the microcomputer board 5 reads out the print data D and the print position information one by one from the RAM 5-2 and the ROM 5-3 in the order of their addresses, and creates the following printer commands by combining them.

  The creation method of the printer command C3 will be described in detail with reference to the example of FIG. 2. First, the CPU 5-1 of the microcomputer board 5 first prints data D “La” stored in the address A1 of the RAM 5-2 and the ROM 5. -3, the print position information X1 and Y1 stored in the address B1 is read out and the print data (La) and the print information (X1, Y1) are combined, as shown in FIG. An example print command C3-1 “message: X = X1, Y = Y1, Printdata =“ La ”” is created. Next, the CPU 5-1 of the microcomputer board 5 calls the printing data D “be” stored in the next address B2 of the RAM 5-2 and X2 and Y2 stored in the next address P2 of the ROM 5-3. By reading the print position information and combining the print data (B) and the print information (X2, Y2), as shown in FIG. 2, the printer command C3-2 “message: X = X2,” Y = Y2 and Printdata = “Be” are created. Other printer commands C3-3, C3-4, and C3-5 in the following example are created in the same manner as described above. In this way, printer commands are created one after another. It should be noted that commands such as message start and message end are added to the beginning and end of the printer command sequence.

<Example of printer command>
Telegram Start Telegram: X = X1, Y = Y1, Printdata = “La”
Telegram: X = X2, Y = Y2, Printdata = “Be”
Telegram: X = X3, Y = Y3, Printdata = “Le”
Telegram: X = X4, Y = Y4, Printdata = “mark”
Telegram: X = X5, Y = Y5, Printdata = “Character”
Telegram end

  In the microcomputer board 5, the print data D stored at the first address B1 of the RAM 5-2 is the print data D stored at the first address A1 of the register 300-1 of the PLC 2, and the microcomputer board 5, the print position information stored at the first address P1 of the ROM 5-3 is the print position information of the print data D stored at the first address A1 of the register 300-1 of the PLC2. Therefore, the printer command created based on the print data D and the print position information prints the print data D stored at the first address A1 in the register 300-1 of the PLC 2 at the designated position on the label L. It becomes an instruction.

  The print command C3 generated by the microcomputer board 5 as described above is sent to the controller 6. When the sent print command C3 is input to the controller 6, the controller 6 controls the printing apparatus 7 and performs printing on the label L in accordance with the received print command C3. As a printing method in the printing apparatus 7, various printing formats such as a well-known dot print format, ink jet format, and laser print format are applied. Further, the label L printed by the printing device 7 is stuck to the product by the label sticking device 8.

  Next, a processing operation when the label printer 1 of the present embodiment configured as described above acquires print data stored in the register 300-1 of the PLC 2 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  As shown in the figure, when such processing operation is started, first, a print command confirmation command C1 is transmitted from the label printer 1 to the PLC 2 (step 100). When the label printer 1 receives the print command C4 from the PLC 2 after transmitting the print command confirmation command C1 (Yes in step 102), the data request command C2 is further transmitted from the label printer 1 to the PLC 2 (step 102). 104).

  In response to the data request command C2, the print data D stored in the register 300-1 of the PLC 2 is transmitted from the PLC 2 to the label printer 1. In this way, the label printer 1 receives the print data D transmitted from the PLC 2. At this time, the label printer 1 waits for completion of reception of the print data D requested by the data request command C2 (No in step 106).

  When the label printer 1 receives the requested print data D (Yes in step 106), a printer command C3 is created based on the received print data D (step 108). Printing on the label L is performed based on the printer command C3, and the printed label L is issued (step 110).

  In step 100, when the label printer 1 does not receive the print command C4 from the PLC 2 after the label printer 1 transmits the print command confirmation command C1 to the PLC 2 (No in step 102), the label printer 1 The print command confirmation command C1 is retransmitted from 1 to the PLC 2 (step 100). That is, the label printer 1 waits for the print command C4 from the PLC 2 after transmitting the print command confirmation command C1.

  4A shows another example of the print data D stored as variable information in the register 300-1 of the PLC 2 (see FIGS. 1 and 2), and FIG. 4B shows the print data D of FIG. An example of the label L printed on is shown. In the example of FIG. 4, the address “0” of the register 300-1 of the PLC 2 is “LT”, the address “1” is “C−”, the address “2” is “76”, and the address “3” is “ The print data D “01” is accumulated. As shown in FIG. 5A, the print data D is also accumulated at other addresses. For example, the print data D stored in the addresses “0” to “3” of the register 300-1 is arranged at the designated position on the label in the array “LTC-7601” as shown in FIG. Printed. The print position information for printing at such a designated position is stored as fixed data in the ROM 5-3 of the label printer 1 as described above.

  According to the label printer 1 and its control method of the present embodiment described above, since the label printer 1 itself generates the printer command C3, a dedicated program for generating the printer command C3 is installed in the PLC 2 as a host computer. There is no need to store or add a personal computer equipped with the dedicated program, thereby simplifying the program configuration and device configuration. Also, the processing load of generating the printer command C3 in the PLC 2 is eliminated.

  In the label printer 1 and its control method of the present embodiment, the label printer 1 itself accesses the PLC 2 and acquires print data from the register 300-1 of the PLC 2 (data siphoning or data extracting method). Therefore, it is not necessary to set the PLC 2 for transmitting the printer command C3, and it is not necessary for the user to understand the printer command C3 in order to perform the setting. Can be printed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a label printer according to an embodiment of the present invention and a PLC as a host computer to which the label printer is connected. The contents of the PLC register shown in FIG. 1, the contents of the RAM and ROM of the label printer shown in FIG. 1, the contents of the printer command generated in the label printer shown in FIG. 1, and the label printed based on the printer command It is explanatory drawing. FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining a processing operation when the label printer in FIG. 1 acquires print data stored in a PLC register. FIG. (A) is another example of the print data accumulated in the register of the PLC, (b) is an explanatory diagram of an example of a label printed based on the print data of (a).

Explanation of symbols

1 Label printer 2 PLC (host computer)
3 CPU unit 300 CPU of CPU unit
300-1 Register (storage unit)
5 Microcomputer board 5-1 CPU of microcomputer board
5-2 RAM of microcomputer board
5-3 ROM of microcomputer board
5-4 RS232C port 6 controller 7 printing device 8 labeling device A1 to A5 PLC register address B1 to B5 microcomputer board RAM address P1 to P5 microcomputer board ROM address C1 print command confirmation command C2 data request command C3 Printer command C4 Print command D Print data L Label

Claims (6)

A label printer that prints on a label print data stored as variable information in a storage unit of a host computer,
The label printer
Data acquisition means for accessing the host computer and acquiring print data from a storage unit of the host computer;
And a printer command generation unit that generates a printer command for printing the print data acquired by the data acquisition unit on the label. The data acquisition means is
A data request command for requesting transmission of print data stored in the storage unit of the host computer is transmitted to the host computer, and the print data transmitted from the host computer in response to the data request command is received. The label printer according to claim 1. The label printer
A ROM storing print position information for printing the print data stored as variable information in the storage unit of the host computer at a designated position on the label;
A RAM for storing print data acquired from the storage unit of the host computer by the data acquisition means;
The printer command generation means includes
The label printer according to claim 1, wherein a printer command is created by reading print data and print position information from the RAM and the ROM and combining them. A label printer control method for printing print data stored as variable information in a storage unit of a host computer on a label,
The label printer
A method for controlling a label printer, comprising: accessing the host computer, acquiring print data from a storage unit of the host computer, and generating a printer command for printing the acquired print data on the label. The acquisition of the print data
A data request command for requesting transmission of print data stored in the storage unit of the host computer is transmitted to the host computer, and the print data transmitted from the host computer in response to the data request command is received. The method for controlling a label printer according to claim 4. The label printer
A ROM storing print position information for printing the print data stored as variable information in the storage unit of the host computer at a designated position on the label;
A RAM for storing print data acquired from the storage unit of the host computer by the data acquisition means;
The above printer command generation is
The label printer control method according to claim 4, wherein a printer command is created by reading print data and print position information from the RAM and ROM and combining them.

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