JP2008023798A - Program, printer, and control device thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a program constituted so as to prevent erroneous reading of a barcode reader by using an inexpensive means irrespective of various fluctuation causes of a width of a line, a printer for performing barcode printing, and a control device of the printer. <P>SOLUTION: There is disclosed the program for allowing a computer 12 to execute procedures of forming (16) print data of a barcode according to image data including barcode information, correcting (17) the formed print data and outputting the corrected print data to the printer (A). The correction is carried out such that the number of dots forming a black bar and the number of dots forming a white bar in the print data are varied in one bar of one bar code having the plurality of bars. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a program for creating barcode print data, a printing apparatus that performs barcode printing, and a control device for the printing apparatus.

An electrophotographic printing apparatus draws and prints characters, graphics, and the like with a set of points called dots. As the size of the point is smaller, the number of dots constituting a character or the like is increased, and precise printing becomes possible. The size of the point is generally expressed as resolution. In most cases, dots are formed by a digital printing (printing) apparatus by irradiating a photosensitive member with light by a laser diode or LED to create an electrostatic latent image.
When printing barcodes with a printing apparatus, printing is performed with a configuration that conforms to the standards of each barcode. For example, UCC / EAN-128 bar code (European Article Number 128: bar code standardized by the International EAN Association) is a bar code standard that is used in a charge agent storage system that pays at convenience stores. The total length of the barcode including the quiet zone needs to be 60 mm or less, and is composed of four types of thickness lines.

When printing such a barcode at a resolution of 600 dpi, the dot configuration of the barcode is 4 dots (a white line (hereinafter referred to as “white bar”) and a black line (hereinafter referred to as “black bar”). 0.169 mm), 8 dots, 12 dots, and 16 dots, and the line width is becoming very thin and high density, making printing difficult.
Conventionally, various solutions have been proposed in order to overcome inconveniences such as difficulty in printing line widths that are becoming extremely thin and dense (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 to 3).
In Patent Document 1, for example, the line widths of the black bar and the white bar are appropriately set so that the white bar and the black bar of the barcode are not thickened so that the reading rate is not lowered due to the condition of the line width. By preparing a barcode font table set to a wide width, a reduction in barcode reading rate is solved.
Patent Documents 2 and 3 disclose that a method of changing the line width of the black bar and the white bar to an appropriate width according to the direction of the barcode, the number of printed sheets of the printing apparatus, and the temperature / humidity environment is disclosed. ing.
JP 2004-17399 A JP 09-099590 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-265419

However, in the above-described printing apparatus, the black bar width and white bar width of the barcode printed on the recording paper vary depending on the conditions of the printing apparatus, and printing is often performed without always maintaining a stable thickness.
For example, there are various fluctuation factors such as a change with time according to the number of printed sheets, a temperature / humidity environment, a type of recording paper, a printing direction of a barcode, and a longitudinal position for printing the barcode.
In a barcode that requires a high-definition line such as the convenience store fee proxy storage UCC / EAN-128 barcode described above, fluctuations in the line width cause a reading failure by the barcode reader.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to execute a program and bar code printing that are configured to prevent reading failure by a bar code reader with an inexpensive means, regardless of various factors of variation in line width in consideration of the above-described actual situation. To provide a printing apparatus and a control apparatus for the printing apparatus.

In order to solve the above problem, the invention according to claim 1 creates barcode print data based on image data including barcode information, corrects the created print data, and sets the corrected print data. In the program for causing a computer to execute a procedure of outputting to a printing apparatus, the correction is performed by changing the number of dots constituting the black bar and the number of dots constituting the white bar of the print data to one barcode having a plurality of bars. The program is characterized by changing the number of dots in one bar.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, it is detected whether or not the bar code direction in the bar code information coincides with the developing direction, and correction is performed with a different correction amount according to the detected bar direction. The program according to item 1 is characterized.
According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a program according to the first or second aspect, wherein the correction is performed with a different correction amount according to the resolution of the barcode data in the barcode information.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided print data creation means for creating barcode print data based on image data including barcode information, and image correction for correcting print data created by the print data creation means. And a print device comprising: output means for outputting print data corrected by the image correction means, wherein the print data creation means develops image data including bar code information provided from an external device and The print data of the code is created, and the image correction means sets the number of dots constituting the black bar and the number of dots constituting the white bar of the print data to one bar code having a plurality of bars. The correction is performed by varying the number of dots in the bar.
Further, the invention according to claim 5 has bar direction detecting means for detecting whether or not the bar code direction in the bar code information coincides with the developing direction. 5. The printing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein correction is performed with different correction amounts.
Further, the invention described in claim 6 is characterized in that the printing apparatus according to claim 5 further performs correction with different correction amounts according to the resolution of the barcode data in the barcode information.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a print data creation unit for creating barcode print data based on image data including barcode information, and an image correction for correcting the print data created by the print data creation unit. And an output means for outputting the print data corrected by the image correction means to the printing apparatus, wherein the image correction means includes the number of dots and the white bar constituting the black bar of the print data. The number of dots composing the image is determined by changing the number of dots in one bar of one bar code having a plurality of bars.
The invention according to claim 8 has bar direction detecting means for detecting whether or not the bar direction of the bar code in the bar code information coincides with the developing direction, and the direction of the bar detected thereby is detected. 8. A control apparatus for a printing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein correction is performed with different correction amounts.
According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a control apparatus for a printing apparatus according to the seventh or eighth aspect, wherein the correction is performed with a different correction amount in accordance with the resolution of the barcode data in the barcode information.

  According to the present invention, a creation unit that creates barcode print data based on image data including barcode information in a computer, an image correction unit that corrects print data created by the creation unit, and the image correction unit In the program for executing the output procedure for outputting the print data corrected by the printing apparatus to the printing apparatus, the number of dots constituting the black bar and the white bar of the print data is set to all the bars included in one barcode Since the line width is varied by changing the number of dots in one bar, even if the line width fluctuates due to various external and internal factors, the barcode reader can be read by this program. It becomes possible to create a barcode with a line width by control using inexpensive means.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of a printing apparatus (printer) to which the present invention is applied. Hereinafter, an embodiment applied to an electrophotographic printer (hereinafter referred to as a printer) A which is an image forming apparatus used in the present invention will be described.
First, the configuration and operation of the entire printer according to this embodiment will be described. In FIG. 1, the peripheral surface of the photoreceptor 1 as a latent image carrier is uniformly charged to a predetermined positive or negative potential by the charging device 2 while being driven to rotate at a predetermined peripheral speed. Thereafter, scanning exposure processing based on image information is performed by the image exposure apparatus 3 such as slit exposure or laser beam scanning exposure to form an electrostatic latent image.

The electrostatic latent image formed on the photoreceptor 1 is developed by the developing device 4 to become a toner image. The toner image formed on the photosensitive member 1 passes through the registration roller 6 and the conveyance guide plate 7 from the paper feeding cassette 5 and is synchronized with the rotation of the photosensitive member 1 between the photosensitive member 1 and the transfer roller 8. It is transferred by a transfer roller 8 onto a fed transfer material (not shown).
The transfer material onto which the toner image has been transferred in this manner is separated from the peripheral surface of the photosensitive member 1 and sent to the image fixing device 9, where the toner image is fixed and then copied as a copy (copy). It is discharged out of the printing apparatus (printer) A.
The surface of the photoreceptor 1 after the image transfer is cleaned by removing the transfer residual toner by the cleaning device 10, and is neutralized by a neutralization device (not shown), and used for the next image formation.
Here, as shown in FIG. 1, the above-described components of the photoreceptor 1, the charging device 2, the developing device 4, and the cleaning device 10 are removably supported on the printer main body as an integrally formed process cartridge 11. ing.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the UCC / EAN-128 barcode. As shown in FIG. 2, the configuration of the UCC / EAN-128 barcode will be described. There are four types of lines for both the white bar and the black bar. The line width is twice, three times, and four times the width of one module. It consists of
The four types of line widths are the same for both the white bar and the black bar. One module width is the thinnest bar among the four types of thicknesses that make up the barcode, and is the reference thickness.

FIG. 3 is a principle block diagram showing a printing apparatus and control apparatus for barcode printing according to the present invention. Barcode data is created based on image data including input barcode information, barcode data is corrected by main body information such as printer driver information, and print (printing) data is given to printing (printing device). .
The computer 12 detects the barcode direction from the image data from the memory 13 by the barcode direction detection means 14, creates barcode data by the barcode data creation means 16 via the printer driver 15, and stores the barcode data. The image is corrected by the image correcting means 17 and the print data is given to the printer A.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing the relationship between the number of printed sheets and one module width (black bar) before correction. In the printer A, as shown in FIG. 4, the line width of the black bar tends to be narrowed according to the number of printed transfer materials. The one-module width written in FIG. 4 is the thinnest bar among the four types of bars constituting the barcode as described above.
As shown in FIG. 2, the other bars are composed of four types of line widths of 2 times, 3 times and 4 times the width of one module. The four types of line widths are the same for both the white bar and the black bar. It is. The reason why the line width of the black bar becomes narrower in accordance with the number of printed sheets described above is due to an increase in the charge amount of the developer due to the two-component development. Since this cannot be maintained, there is a problem that the barcode reading rate is lowered.

FIG. 5 is a graph showing the relationship between the number of printed sheets and one module width (black bar) before correction. Unlike the printing apparatus described above, as shown in FIG. 5, there is also an apparatus in which the line width of the black bar tends to increase according to the number of printed transfer materials.
This is mainly due to one-component development, and as the number of printed sheets increases from the initial stage, the charge amount of the toner increases, and the developability improves from the initial stage. Obviously, even if the thickness is increased, the thickness cannot be maintained, so that the barcode reading rate is lowered.

FIG. 6 is a graph showing the relationship between the temperature and the width of one module (black bar). In the printer used in the present embodiment, the line width of the black bar tends to vary depending on the temperature environment as shown in FIG.
This is due to the fact that the charge amount of the developer fluctuates depending on the environment. When the temperature is low, the charge amount increases, so the developing ability is lowered, and the line width of the black bar becomes narrower. In particular, when the temperature is high, the charge amount decreases, and the developability increases, so that the toner amount increases and the line width of the black bar increases.
FIG. 7 is a graph showing the relationship between the humidity and the width of one module (black bar). Similarly, in this printer, the line width of the black bar tends to fluctuate even in a humidity environment as shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing the direction of the barcode with respect to the developing direction. 8A shows the direction of the barcode that is perpendicular to the developing direction, and FIG. 8B shows the direction of the barcode that is parallel to the developing direction.
In the printer used in the present embodiment, the black bar and white bar line widths tend to differ depending on the barcode direction. This is because a toner image in which a developing brush (not shown) by the developer on the developing sleeve is formed on the photosensitive member (FIG. 1) is a difference due to the laser beam diameter on the photosensitive member image surface of the laser as an exposure means. It is known that this is the cause of scratching the rear end of the traveling direction. For these reasons, the line width of the black bar of the bar code perpendicular to the developing direction is narrower than the line width of the parallel black bar.

FIG. 9 is a graph showing the relationship between the reflectance as viewed from the barcode reader and the line width of one module. In FIG. 9, the line width varies according to the reflectance of the transfer material, and the line width of the black bar tends to increase as the reflectance decreases.
The reason why the line width of the black bar becomes thicker as the reflectance becomes lower is that the reading side measures the line width by the reflectance of each of white and black, and the reflectance of the transfer material that becomes the white bar is low, and the black bar This is because when the difference from the reflectance of the bar is reduced, the edge recognition becomes dull and the black bar is read thickly. As described above, it has been found that the line widths of the black bar and the white bar of the barcode vary depending on various factors.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing a change in the number of dots for determining the line width in each bar. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the changes in FIG. 10 as a table. In order to deal with the above-described problem of line width variation, as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, in one bar code, the number of dots for determining the line width in each bar is varied.
This bar code data has a resolution of 1200 dpi, and basically a black and white bar of one module is printed with 9 dots. In this embodiment, correction is performed by setting one module width of 9 dots to the middle level, the upper level is corrected by adding 2 dots to the black bar, and the lower level is corrected by subtracting 2 dots from the black bar.

FIG. 12 is a graph showing a result of the line width of the bar code subjected to the three-step correction of the line width shown in FIG. 10 varying according to the number of sheets passed through the printer. Initially, the middle bar code is well read, but it can be seen that the reading of the upper bar code improves after 5000 sheets.
Similarly, as a result of reading a bar code whose line width has been corrected in three steps in accordance with fluctuations in temperature, humidity, bar code printing direction, and reflectance of the transfer material, which are the above-described fluctuation factors, the line width has fluctuated. However, it was confirmed that reading by a bar code reader (bar code reading device) was always possible at some position in the upper, middle and lower levels.

FIG. 13 is a graph showing the variation due to the variation factor of one module width. Bar code correction was set at the upper and lower limits of this fluctuation amount. From this result, in a printer whose line width changes due to various internal and external fluctuation factors, the bar code cannot be read in a certain part by changing the line width of the bar code within one bar. By changing the reading position of the barcode reader, it is possible to provide a barcode that can be read.
In the printer used in this embodiment, it is known that the black bar of the bar code perpendicular to the developing direction is thinner than the parallel bar. This is because, as described above, the difference in the laser beam diameter on the surface of the photoreceptor image of the laser as the exposure means and the development direction of the toner image formed on the photoreceptor by the developer brush on the developing sleeve. It has been found that this is the cause of scraping the rear end.

FIG. 14 is a table showing bar codes with the same resolution of 1200 dpi as in FIG. In order to solve the above-described problem of scraping the rear end of the toner image in the traveling direction, the number of correction dots for the white and black bar dots is changed according to the barcode direction.
In FIG. 14, the barcode has the same resolution of 1200 dpi as in FIG. 11, but the direction of the barcode is different, and control is performed by changing the number of correction dots in the parallel direction and the vertical direction. This is due to an internal variation factor of the printing apparatus (printer) in which the line widths in the vertical and horizontal directions are different, and an appropriate correction value can be set from the beginning.
The bar code recording format editing function by the bar direction detecting means 14 and the image correcting means 17 in the configuration of the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 3 is realized by a combination of a CPU (not shown) and preinstalled software. Is.
When the barcode image data and the paper setting information are input to the computer 12, it is detected whether the bar direction of the barcode is (A) or (B) in FIG. In order to detect the direction of the bar, it is only necessary to check whether the black portion of the image is continuous for a certain length (the minimum length of the bar).
As a result of the above detection, when the barcode bar is detected as being perpendicular to the developing direction, and when it is detected as being parallel, the correction value is set for the number of dots in the barcode white bar and black bar, respectively. It is something to change.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a bar code of the UCC / EAN-128 fee proxy storage as a table. As shown in FIG. 15, the barcode of the UCC / EAN-128 proxy charge storage outputs a barcode according to the standard with a barcode symbol length of 60 mm or less, so the number of dots of each module width depends on the resolution. It has been decided.
It is understood that the size of one dot differs depending on the resolution, and one dot of 400 dpi not shown is 0.0635 mm. Further, since one dot of 600 dpi has a size difference of 0.042 mm and one dot of 1200 dpi has a size difference of 0.021 mm, it is necessary to change the number of correction dots for barcode data having different resolutions.

FIG. 16 is a table showing changes in correction values when the resolution is 600 dpi. Here, as shown in FIG. 16, by creating a table so that the correction value can be changed at the resolution of 600 dpi with respect to the correction value at 1200 dpi in FIG. 11, an appropriate barcode according to the resolution. Can be printed.
The bar code has a reading grade defined in ANSI standard (bar code symbol quality evaluation standard), and is divided into five stages of A, B, C, D and F. In grade 5, the A grade is the highest quality, and the fee proxy storage bar code guidelines indicate that the B grade or higher is desirable.
In this case, according to the embodiment, the grade that cannot be read is the quality of the D grade, and the bar code grade that can be read is the result of the C grade or higher.

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a printing apparatus (printer) to which the present invention is applied. It is the schematic which shows the structure of a UCC / EAN-128 barcode. It is a principle block diagram which shows the printing apparatus and control apparatus of barcode printing of this invention. It is a figure which shows the relationship before correction | amendment of the number of printed sheets and 1 module width (black bar) with a graph. It is a figure which shows the relationship before correction | amendment of the number of printed sheets and 1 module width (black bar) with a graph. It is a figure which shows the relationship between temperature and 1 module width (black bar) as a graph. It is a figure which shows the relationship between humidity and 1 module width (black bar) as a graph. It is the schematic which shows the direction of the barcode with respect to a development direction. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the reflectance seen from the barcode reader, and 1 module line width with a graph. It is the schematic which shows the change of the number of dots which determines line | wire width in each bar. It is a figure which shows the change of FIG. 10 as a table | surface. FIG. 11 is a graph showing a result of the line width of the barcode subjected to the three-step correction of the line width shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the fluctuation amount by the fluctuation | variation factor of 1 module width with a graph. It is a figure which shows the barcode of the same resolution 1200 dpi as FIG. 11 as a table | surface. It is a figure which shows the barcode of UCC / EAN-128 charge proxy accommodation as a table | surface. It is a figure which shows the change of the correction value at the time of the resolution of 600 dpi as a table | surface.

Explanation of symbols

A Printing device (image forming device, printer)
12 Computer 14 Barcode direction detection means 16 Print data creation means (barcode data creation means)
17 Image correction means

Claims (9)

  In the program for causing a computer to execute a procedure of creating barcode print data based on image data including barcode information, correcting the created print data, and outputting the corrected print data to a printing apparatus, The number of dots constituting the black bar and the number of dots constituting the white bar of the print data are determined by changing the number of dots in one bar of one bar code having a plurality of bars. Program.   2. The program according to claim 1, wherein it is detected whether or not the direction of the bar of the bar code in the bar code information coincides with the developing direction, and correction is performed with a different correction amount according to the detected bar direction.   3. The program according to claim 1, wherein correction is performed with different correction amounts according to the resolution of the barcode data in the barcode information.   Print data creation means for creating barcode print data based on image data including barcode information, image correction means for correcting print data created by the print data creation means, and print corrected by the image correction means In the printing apparatus comprising output means for outputting data, the print data creating means creates the print data of the barcode after developing the image data including the barcode information given from the external device, and the image The correction means corrects the number of dots constituting the black bar and the number of dots constituting the white bar by changing the number of dots in one bar of one barcode having a plurality of bars. The printing apparatus characterized by performing.   It has bar direction detecting means for detecting whether or not the bar direction of the bar code in the bar code information coincides with the developing direction, and the correction is made with a different correction amount according to the detected bar direction. The printing apparatus according to claim 4.   6. The printing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein correction is performed with a different correction amount in accordance with the resolution of the barcode data in the barcode information.   Print data creation means for creating barcode print data based on image data including barcode information, image correction means for correcting print data created by the print data creation means, and print corrected by the image correction means In the control device of the printing apparatus comprising output means for outputting data to the printing apparatus, the image correction means sets the number of dots constituting the black bar and the number of dots constituting the white bar of the print data to a plurality of bars. A control device for a printing apparatus, wherein the number of dots in one bar of a bar code is varied.   It has bar direction detecting means for detecting whether or not the bar direction of the bar code in the bar code information coincides with the developing direction, and the correction is made with a different correction amount according to the detected bar direction. The control apparatus for a printing apparatus according to claim 7.   9. The control apparatus for a printing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein correction is performed with different correction amounts according to the resolution of the barcode data in the barcode information.

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