JP2008221573A - Printer and printer system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer which can set a language automatically in accordance with an operator and can inform an operator of an error message by a set language. <P>SOLUTION: The printer comprises an input section being operated in order to input an instruction or a print content, a means for printing on a print medium, a section for displaying a message, a section for storing an error message by a plurality of kinds of language with regard to each error in print operation, a section performing wireless communication with a transponder which stores language information for specifying a language being used by an operator, and a control section for controlling the wireless communication section to acquire language information from the transponder upon the occurrence of an error in print operation and controlling the display section to read out an error message by a language specified by the acquired language depending on the content of the error from the storage section and displaying the error message. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printer that performs printing on a printing medium (hereinafter also referred to as “paper”) such as a label temporarily attached to a mount or a belt-like sheet for tag production. The present invention further relates to a printer system for notifying an operator of an error that has occurred in a printer.

  Conventionally, when a print error such as a paper jam or out of paper occurs in a printer, or a print data error occurs when the print data is abnormal and the paper is not ejected, a liquid crystal display provided in the printer housing An error message is displayed on the display unit or the like, or the surroundings are notified by a buzzer sound.

  The operator can recognize the occurrence of the error by an error message or a buzzer sound, and can perform an operation necessary for eliminating the cause of the error. However, especially in portable printers, the area of the display unit is small, so error messages displayed on the display unit are limited, and the operator must resolve the error by referring to the printer manual or the like. There is a problem that it takes time to solve the error.

  In the case of a printer connected to a host device such as a host computer via a cable, error information is transmitted to the host computer and a message is transmitted from the host computer to the operator. However, portable printers are not always used by connecting to a control device such as a host computer. When a label or tag is attached to a product displayed in the store, the operator operates the printer while walking in the store. It may be used to print on labels and tags. In such a case, when an error occurs, it is convenient to know the cause of the error and how to cancel the error without connecting the printer to a host computer or the like.

As a related technique, in Patent Document 1 below, when an error occurs in a printer, or when there is an abnormality in print data and a sheet is not ejected, a voice message is sent to the operator to indicate the status of the printer. Has been disclosed. This printer includes a data analysis unit that analyzes print data from a host device, an operation switch panel that inputs instructions from an operator, a display unit that displays a message for the operator, and a voice unit that notifies the operator of the message by voice. And a control unit that notifies a message to the operator via the display unit and the voice unit in response to an instruction from the operation switch panel when the normality of the printing operation is monitored to detect an abnormal situation and an unprintable state. is doing.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-224847 (page 1-2, FIG. 1)

  With recent internationalization of companies, operators of various nationalities can use printers. However, in a normal printer, an error message by display or sound is performed only in one language (for example, Japanese), which is very inconvenient for an operator who is not familiar with the language. On the other hand, in order to support a plurality of languages, it is necessary to set the language each time according to the operator, so the setting in the printer becomes complicated.

  In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide a printer and a printer system capable of automatically setting a language according to an operator and notifying an error message in the set language.

  In order to solve the above problem, a printer according to one aspect of the present invention includes an input unit operated to input a command or print content, and a print content input using the input unit or transmitted from an external device. Used by an operator, a printing unit that prints on a printing medium based on the printed content, a display unit that can display a message, a storage unit that stores error messages in multiple languages for each error in the printing operation A wireless communication unit that performs wireless communication with a transponder that stores language information that specifies a language, and controls the wireless communication unit to acquire language information from the transponder when an error occurs in a printing operation, Depending on the content of the error, the error message in the language specified by the acquired language information is read from the storage unit and read. And a control unit for controlling the display unit to display the issued error message.

  In addition, a printer system according to one aspect of the present invention stores the above-described printer and language information for specifying a language used by an operator, and wireless communication between the printer when energy is supplied from the printer. Possible transponders.

  According to the present invention, the language information is automatically acquired in accordance with the operator because the printer acquires the language information by performing wireless communication with the transponder that stores the language information for specifying the language used by the operator. Set and notify error messages in the set language.

Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In addition, the same reference number is attached | subjected to the same component and description is abbreviate | omitted.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a printer system including a printer and a transponder according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, each operator of the printer 100 wears a transponder 200 such as an RFID (radio frequency identification) tag as an employee ID card, for example. The transponder 200 stores language information for specifying a language used by the operator and performs wireless communication when energy is supplied from the outside.

  The printer 100 can acquire language information specifying the language used by the operator from the transponder 200 by supplying energy to the transponder 200 using an electromagnetic field or a magnetic field and performing wireless communication with the transponder 200. . At that time, if radio waves (electromagnetic waves) in the UHF band of about 950 MHz are used, communication is possible even if the distance between the printer 100 and the transponder 200 is about several meters.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the printer 100 includes an input unit 30 that is used to input various commands and print contents, a display unit 40 that displays a message, and a voice unit 50 that notifies the message by voice. is doing. Further, the printer 100 is provided with an operation switch 70 such as a push button operated by an operator to notify an error message by voice.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing the internal structure of the printer according to the embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, a thermal printer that performs printing on a label temporarily attached to a mount or a belt-like sheet for tag production will be described as an example.

  In the printer 100, a label continuous body 3 configured by temporarily attaching the label 1 to the mount 2 in a peelable manner is used as a printing medium. The label 1 is a thermal paper and, for example, colors black at a predetermined temperature. The label continuum 3 is wound around a paper tube and mounted on a rotatable supply shaft 4.

  When the stepping motor 5 drives the platen roller 7 via the belt 6, the label continuous body 3 is conveyed from the upstream side (right side in the figure) toward the downstream side (left side in the figure). The conveyance of the label continuous body 3 is controlled based on the detection result of the label sensor 8, and the thermal head 9 prints on the label 1 included in the label continuous body 3.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of the printer according to the embodiment of the present invention. The control unit 10 controls each unit of the printer 100 to perform printing on the printing medium, and displays an error when an error occurs in the printing operation by the printing unit constituted by the supply shaft 4 to the thermal head 9 shown in FIG. The error message is displayed on the unit 40, or the error message is notified by voice to the voice unit 50.

  Error types include paper jam, out of paper, paper size error, communication error with external device such as host computer (busy, etc.), poor thermal head connection, disconnection of heating element in thermal head, etc. It is done. The storage unit 20 stores, for each error, an error message for display and / or an error message for voice notification in a plurality of types of languages. The error message for display is limited in content because the size of the display unit 40 is limited, but the error message for voice notification is not particularly limited in content, so it is a detailed message. It can be.

  The input unit 30 includes a keyboard used for inputting various commands and print contents. Printing is performed on a print medium based on the print content input using the input unit 30 or the print content transmitted from an external device such as a host computer.

  The display unit 40 includes an LCD panel that displays an error message or the like under the control of the control unit 10. The voice unit 50 includes a voice synthesis unit 51 that synthesizes a voice signal under the control of the control unit 10 and a speaker 52 that notifies an error message or the like by voice based on the voice signal supplied from the voice synthesis unit 51. It is out.

  In addition, the printer 100 includes a wireless communication unit 60 in order to perform wireless communication with the transponder 200 (FIG. 1). The wireless communication unit 60 supplies energy to the transponder 200 using an electromagnetic field or a magnetic field under the control of the control unit 10, and performs wireless communication with the transponder 200. The control unit 10 controls the wireless communication unit 60 so that language information specifying the language used by the operator is acquired from the transponder 200 when an error occurs in the printing operation.

  Further, the control unit 10 reads out an error message for display in a language specified by the acquired language information from the storage unit 20 in accordance with the content of the error, and displays the read error message. The unit 40 is controlled. Further, the control unit 10 reads out an error message for voice notification in a language specified by the acquired language information from the storage unit 20 according to the content of the error, and notifies the read error message by voice. As described above, the voice unit 50 may be controlled.

  Here, before the language information is acquired from the transponder 200, the control unit 10 stores an error message for display in a preset language (for example, Japanese) according to the content of the error. The display unit 40 may be controlled to display the read error message. Alternatively, the control unit 10 may control the audio unit 50 so as to notify an error with a buzzer sound before the language information is acquired from the transponder 200.

  Further, the control unit 10 may control the voice unit 50 so that an error message is notified by voice when the operator turns on the operation switch 70. Since the operation switch 70 can be locked in the ON state, the operator may always lock the operation switch 70 in the ON state, or each time an error occurs without locking the operation switch 70. 70 may be turned on.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing in detail a circuit configuration around the control unit of the printer according to the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4, the control unit 10 controls a CPU 11, a ROM (read only memory) 12, a RAM (random access memory) 13, a motor control circuit 14 that controls the motor 5, and the thermal head 9. A head control circuit 15, a sensor control circuit 16 that controls the label sensor 8, an internal interface 17, and an external interface 18 are included. The CPU 11 is connected to the input unit 30 to the operation switch 70 via the internal interface 17 and is connected to the host computer 80 via the external interface 18.

  The ROM 12 constitutes the control unit 10 and the storage unit 20. More precisely, a control program for controlling each part of the printer and check data for head check are stored in a part of the storage area of the ROM 12, and another part of the storage area of the ROM 12 is stored. , Error messages for display and / or error messages for voice notification are stored.

  On the other hand, the RAM 13 temporarily stores print data input from the input unit 30 or the host computer 80 and check data read from the ROM 12. The CPU 11 controls each unit in accordance with a control program stored in the ROM 12 and outputs print data or check data stored in the RAM 13 to the thermal head 9 via the head control circuit 15.

  When an error occurs in the printing operation, the CPU 11 controls the wireless communication unit 60 via the internal interface 17 to acquire language information specifying the language used by the operator from the transponder 200 (FIG. 1). In accordance with the content of the error information, an error message for display and / or voice notification in a language specified by the acquired language information is read from the ROM 12, and the read error message is displayed via the internal interface 17 on the display unit 40. And / or output to the audio unit 50.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of a transponder used in an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, an RFID tag is used as a transponder. As shown in FIG. 5, the transponder 200 includes a radio communication unit 91 that transmits and receives an RF signal by generating a radio frequency electromagnetic field or magnetic field when energy is supplied from the outside, and transmission and reception of the RF signal. A control unit 92 that controls reception and a memory 93 that stores language information for specifying a language used by the operator are included. The energy for operating the transponder 200 is supplied as an RF signal from the wireless communication unit 60 (FIG. 4) of the printer.

  Next, the operation of the printer according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the printer according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  If an error such as a paper jam occurs in step S1 after the printer 100 starts printing, the control unit 10 performs error processing in step S2. For example, the control unit 10 displays an error message on the display unit 40, generates a buzzer sound in the audio unit 50, or transmits error information to the host computer 80. When displaying an error message on the display unit 40, a display error message in a preset language (for example, Japanese) is used.

  As a result, an operator who wears the transponder 200 as an employee ID approaches the printer 100, and the printer 100 and the transponder 200 enter the communicable range. The transponder 200 stores language information that identifies the language used by the operator. On the other hand, in the printer 100, under the control of the control unit 10, the wireless communication unit 60 transmits an RF signal to the transponder 200 and receives an RF signal from the transponder 200. In order to save power, the transmission of the RF signal to the transponder 200 may be performed intermittently.

  In step S <b> 3, the control unit 10 determines whether or not the transponder 200 has been detected based on information represented by the RF signal received by the wireless communication unit 60. If the transponder 200 cannot be detected, step S3 is repeated, and if the transponder 200 can be detected, the process proceeds to step S4.

  In step S <b> 4, the wireless communication unit 60 acquires language information from the transponder 200 and transmits it to the control unit 10. In step S5, the control unit 10 sets a language used for error message display and voice notification based on the language specified by the acquired language information, and depends on the set language according to the content of the error. The error message for display and the error message for voice notification are read from the storage unit 20.

  In step S6, the control unit 10 outputs the read display error message to the display unit 40, and the display unit 40 displays the error message. The operator looks at the error message displayed on the display unit 40, and further presses the operation switch 70 to turn it on when he / she wants to notify a detailed error message by voice.

  In step S7, the control unit 10 determines whether or not the operation switch 70 is on. If the operation switch 70 is in the ON state, in step S8, the control unit 10 outputs the read voice notification error message to the voice unit 50, and the voice unit 50 notifies the error message by voice. On the other hand, if the operation switch 70 is in the OFF state, the process proceeds to step S9 without notifying the error message by voice.

  In step S9, the control unit 10 determines whether or not an error such as a paper jam has been resolved. If the error has not been eliminated, step S9 is repeated, and if the error has been eliminated, printing is continued.

  In this way, an error message is displayed in the language that the operator is good at on the display unit 40, and if the operator desires, the operator can press the operation switch 70 and the voice unit 40 can A detailed error message is notified by voice in the language to be used.

It is a figure which shows the printer system comprised by the printer and transponder which concern on one Embodiment of this invention. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an internal structure of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a circuit configuration of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating in detail a circuit configuration around a control unit of the printer according to the embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the circuit structure of the transponder used in one Embodiment of this invention. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Label 2 Mount 3 Label continuous body 4 Supply shaft 5 Motor 6 Belt 7 Platen roller 8 Label sensor 9 Thermal head 10 Control part 11 CPU
12 ROM
13 RAM
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 14 Motor control circuit 15 Head control circuit 16 Sensor control circuit 17 Internal interface 18 External interface 20 Storage part 30 Input part 40 Display part 50 Voice part 51 Voice synthesis part 52 Speaker 60 Wireless communication part 70 Operation switch 80 Host computer 91 Wireless communication part 92 Control unit 93 Memory 100 Printer 200 Transponder

Claims (6)

An input unit operated to input a command or print content;
Printing means for printing on a print medium based on the print content input using the input unit or the print content transmitted from an external device;
A display unit capable of displaying a message;
A storage unit for storing error messages in a plurality of languages for each error in the printing operation;
A wireless communication unit that performs wireless communication with a transponder that stores language information specifying a language used by an operator;
When an error occurs in the printing operation, the wireless communication unit is controlled to acquire language information from the transponder, and an error message in a language specified by the acquired language information is displayed according to the content of the error. A control unit that reads from the storage unit and controls the display unit to display the read error message;
A printer comprising: It further includes a voice part capable of notifying a message by voice,
The storage unit stores an error message for voice notification in multiple languages for each error,
The control unit reads out an error message for voice notification in a language specified by the acquired language information in accordance with the content of the error from the storage unit, and notifies the read error message by voice. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the printer controls the sound unit.   A switch operated by an operator to notify the error message by voice is further provided, and the control unit controls the voice unit to notify the error message by voice when the operator turns on the switch. The printer according to claim 2.   4. The printer according to claim 2, wherein the control unit controls the sound unit to notify an error with a buzzer sound before language information is acquired from the transponder.   Prior to the acquisition of language information from the transponder, the control unit reads an error message in a preset language from the storage unit according to the content of the error, and displays the read error message The printer according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the display unit is controlled to do so. A printer according to any one of claims 1 to 5;
Storing language information specifying a language used by an operator, and capable of wireless communication with the printer when energy is supplied from the printer;
A printer system comprising:

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