JP2010184382A - Label issuing device and control program thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a label issuing device and a control program thereof capable of extremely simply adjusting the date and time information such as consumption time limit so as to be available only on that day. <P>SOLUTION: The processing date and time and the available period of a merchandize as an issue object of a label are specified and, based on the processing date and time and the available period which are specified, the limit date and time for the merchandize is calculated. Further, the correction of the limit date and time is indicated in accordance with a prescribed operation of an operator. Thus, in accordance with the indication of the correction of the limit date and time, the calculated limit date and time is corrected into the date and time available only on that day. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a label issuing device that issues a label printed with date and time information such as a expiration date and a shelf life, and a control program therefor.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a label issuing device that issues a label printed with product information such as a product name, processing date and time (processing date and processing time), expiration date (consumption date and expiration date) of the product is known. . (For example, see Patent Document 1)

JP-A-8-295054

  The expiry date printed on the label by the label issuing device is that the product can be consumed from the processing date and time entered by the operator and the valid period set in advance in a PLU (Price Look Up) file or the like (the processing date and time of the product) (Elapsed days or elapsed time).

  In this type of label issuing device, when “0 days” is specified as the product validity period, the expiration date of the same day as the processing date is printed on the label and the expiration date is not printed. When “0 hours” is designated as the effective period, there is one having a function of printing on the label the expiration date of the same time as the processing time.

  By the way, in stores that manufacture and sell products with a short shelf life (for example, 6 hours) such as lunch boxes and side dishes, it is desirable to issue labels that are valid only on the current day in order to avoid expiring late at night. There is a case. However, the conventional label issuing device has means for changing the processing date and time, the effective period, and the like, but does not have means for changing the expiration date by key input or the like. Therefore, the operator has to adjust the processing date and the effective period so that the expiry date is within the day (for example, until 23:59). This operation involves time calculation, date input, and the like, which is very cumbersome and leads to a reduction in work efficiency of the label issuing process.

  The present invention has been made based on the circumstances as described above, and an object of the present invention is to provide a label issuing device capable of effectively adjusting date information such as the expiration date as long as the date and a control program thereof. Is to provide.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides a label issuing device that issues a label on which information related to a product is printed, a product designating unit that designates a product to be issued a label, and a product designating unit that designates the product. A deadline date and time calculating means for calculating a deadline date and time for the product based on the processing date and time of the product and a correction instructing means for instructing correction of the deadline date and time calculated by the deadline date and time calculation means, In accordance with an instruction to correct the deadline date and time by the correction instructing unit, a deadline date and time correcting unit for correcting the deadline date and time to a date and time that is valid only for the current day is provided.

  According to the present invention in which such a measure is taken, it is possible to provide a label issuing device and its control program capable of effectively adjusting the date and time information such as the expiry date only for the current day.

1 is an external perspective view of a label issuing device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The block diagram of the label issuing apparatus in the same embodiment. The figure which shows the data structure of the PLU file in the embodiment. The schematic diagram of the application screen in the embodiment. The schematic diagram of the pop-up screen in the embodiment. The figure which shows the data structure of the correction flag table in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. The flowchart of the process in the embodiment.

Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a label issuing device 1 according to the present invention. Reference numeral 2 denotes a main body, a display 3 such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), a keyboard portion 4 on which various operation buttons are arranged, a label issuing port 5 from which a label on which various information is printed, and a main body. 2 is provided with a power button 6 for switching on / off the power supply to the power source 2. The display 3 is a touch panel type display in which a touch panel capable of operation input by a touch operation is laid on the surface.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control circuit of the label issuing device 1. The control circuit includes a central processing unit (CPU) 10 as a control center. The CPU 10 includes a read only memory (ROM) 11, a random access memory (RAM) 12, a flash ROM 13, a clock unit 14, a communication interface (I / I). F) 15, an input controller 16, a display controller 17, and a printer controller 18 are connected by a bus line 19 such as an address bus or a data bus.

  Then, a LAN (Local Area Network) cable 15 a is connected to the communication interface 15, the keyboard unit 4 and the touch panel sensor 20 of the display 3 are connected to the input controller 16, and the display unit 21 of the display 3 is connected to the display controller 17. A printer unit 22 is connected to the printer controller 18.

  The ROM 11 stores fixed data such as a control program for the label issuing device 1. The RAM 12 stores files received from higher-level devices such as the PLU file 12a and the message file 12b, and forms various working storage areas depending on the processing scene. The PLU file 12a stores various types of information related to products. Various messages to be printed on the label are stored in the message file 12b. The flash ROM 13 stores an application used for the label issuing process. The clock unit 14 measures the system date and time. The communication interface 15 manages communication with a host device connected via the LAN cable 15a. The input controller 16 processes a signal output according to a key operated by the keyboard unit 4 and a signal output by the touch panel sensor 20 when the display 3 is touched. The display controller 17 controls the screen display of the display unit 21. The printer controller 18 controls the printer unit 22 to issue a label that is printed with various information about the product. The printer unit 22 is a thermal printer that prints desired characters and figures on a printing surface of a label, which is thermal paper, by controlling the energy applied to the heating elements arranged in a line, for example.

  When the system is activated, the label issuing device 1 automatically accesses the host device via the communication interface 15, downloads the PLU file 12 a and the message file 12 b, and stores them in the RAM 12.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the data structure of the PLU file 12a. The PLU file 12a stores a product name, a unit price, an effective period, and the like for the PLU code. The PLU code is an identifier assigned to each product. The effective period is the number of days or time that the product can be consumed from the processing date, and is stored as, for example, “6 hours” or “3 days”.

Next, an application screen displayed on the display 3 in the label issuing process will be described. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the application screen 30.
The application screen 30 includes a product name display field 31, a current date and time display field 32, a processing date input field 33, a processing time input field 34, an expiration date display field 35, an expiration date display field 36, a message display field 37, and the like. I have. In the product name display field 31, the name of the product for which the label is issued is displayed, for example, “Product A”. Designation of a product to be issued a label is performed by operating the keyboard unit 4 and selecting a desired product from the products stored in the PLU file 12a (product designating means).

  The current date and time display field 32 displays the current date and time acquired from the clock unit 14 as, for example, “February 3, 2008 20:45” (February 3, 2008, 8:45 pm). . In the processing date input field 33, the processing date of the product input by the operator by operating the keyboard unit 4 is displayed as, for example, “2008.02.03” (February 3, 2008). In the processing time input field 34, the processing time of the product input by the operator by operating the keyboard unit 4 is displayed as, for example, “20:30” (8:30 pm). The processing date and time of the product is specified by the processing date and processing time input in the processing date input field 33 and the processing time input field 34.

The valid period of the product is specified by referring to the valid period stored in the PLU file 12a in association with the PLU code of the product.
In the expiry date display field 35, the expiry date of the product is displayed, for example, as “2008.02.04” (February 4, 2008). In the expiry date display column 36, the expiry date of the product is displayed, for example, as “2:30” (2:30 am). The expiry date of the product is calculated from the processing date and processing time input in the processing date input field 33 and the processing time input field 34, and the validity period of the product stored in the PLU file 12a. The expiry date is calculated from the processing time input in the processing time input field 34 and the validity period of the product stored in the PLU file 12a (expiration date calculation means).
In the message display field 37, a message to be printed on the label read from the message file 12b is displayed.

  In the example shown in FIG. 4, the expiration date of the product A is the day after the processing date. Stores may refrain from expiring the next day in this way. As in the conventional method, the label issuing device 1 refers to the display of the expiration date display field 35 and the expiration date display field 36 and inputs the processing date and processing time input field 34 to be input to the processing date input field 33. The processing time to be changed can be adjusted by the operator so that the expiration date is the same day. Furthermore, the label issuing device 1 can be adjusted so that the expiration date is the same day by the following method different from the conventional method.

  First, the operator causes the display 3 to display the pop-up screen 40 shown in FIG. 5 by operating the keyboard unit 4 or touching the display 3. The screen 40 includes an expiration date display field 41, an expiration date display field 42, an effective days input field 43, an effective time input field 44, a cancel button 45, a confirm button 46, and the like.

  In the expiry date display column 41, the processing date and processing time input in the processing date input column 33 and the processing time input column 34 of the application screen 30, and the expiration date and effective time input in the effective days input column 43 are input. The expiry date of the product A calculated based on the valid time input in the field 44 is displayed. In the expiry date display column 42, the expiry date calculated based on the machining time input in the machining time input column 34 of the application screen 30 and the valid time input in the valid time input column 44 is displayed. The

  In the effective days input field 43 and the effective time input field 44, the effective period of the product stored in the PLU file 12a is displayed as a default, but the effective period desired by the operator by operating the keyboard unit 4 and the display 3 is displayed. You can enter.

  The cancel button 45 is a button for canceling the contents displayed in the expiration date display column 41 and the expiration date display column 42 and erasing the pop-up screen 40. The confirm button 46 is a button for confirming the contents displayed in the expiry date display column 41 and the expiry date display column 42 and deleting the pop-up screen 40. The expiration date and the expiration date determined by operating the confirmation button 46 are reflected in the expiration date display column 35 and the expiration date display column 36, respectively.

From the pop-up screen 40, an expiration date correction function (expiration date correction means) can be used. The function will be described.
When the operator wants to set the expiry date of the product to be valid only for the current day, the operator inputs “0 days” into the effective days input field 43 by touch operation on the display 3 and key operations on the keyboard 4, and the effective time input field 44. "0 hour" is input to (correction instruction means).

  At this time, the expiration date display column 41 displays the date of the current day, and the expiration date display column 42 displays the last time of the day that can be displayed. For example, when the processing date is February 3, 2008, “2008.02.03” (February 3, 2008) is displayed in the expiry date display column 41, and the expiry date display column 42 is displayed. “23:59” (23:59) is displayed. When the confirm button 46 is operated, the pop-up screen 40 is deleted, “2008.02.03” that is the date of the current day is displayed in the expiration date display field 35 of the application screen 30, and the expiration date display field 36 is displayed. “23:59”, which is the last time of the day, is displayed.

  After the expiry date (expiration date and expiry date) has been effectively corrected for the current day in this way, when a label is issued by a predetermined key operation on the keyboard unit 4, the printer unit 22 displays it on the application screen 30. The contents of the label are printed. Thus, a label on which the expiration date valid only for the current day is printed from the label issuing port 5.

  As described above, the label issuing device 1 can effectively correct the expiration date of the product only on the current day by simply specifying the validity period “0 day” and the validity time “0 hour” on the pop-up screen 40. Therefore, it is possible to speed up the label issuing process without requiring complicated processing such as an operator calculating and inputting an appropriate processing date and time based on the processing date and the effective period of the product.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
The label issuing device 1 according to the present embodiment automatically adds the expiration date and time correction function described in the first embodiment, without automatically giving an instruction to the operator that the expiration date should be corrected only for the current day. It has a function to modify. The same portions as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted.

  The label issuing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment stores a correction flag table 13a (correction necessity storage means) that stores the necessity of correction of the expiration date for each product in the flash ROM 13. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing the data structure of the correction flag table 13a. The table 13a stores the correction flag F in association with the PLU code of each product. The correction flag F is set to either “0” indicating that the expiration date needs to be corrected or “1” indicating that it is unnecessary.

The label issuing process in this embodiment will be described.
When the label issuing process is started, the application screen 30 shown in FIG. 4 is displayed. At this time, automatic expiration date correction processing is executed. FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the automatic correction process.

First, the correction flag table 13a is searched with the PLU code of the selected product, and it is determined whether or not the correction flag F associated with the PLU code is set to “1” (ST1). If “1” is set as a result of this determination (Yes in ST1), it is determined whether or not the expiration date displayed in the expiration date display field 35 is the current day (ST2). As a result of this determination, if the expiry date is not the current day (No in ST2), the expiry date displayed in the expiry date display field 35 and the expiry date display field 36 is effectively modified only for that day (ST3). That is, the expiration date displayed in the expiration date display field 35 is set as the system date that the clock unit counts, and the expiration date displayed in the expiration date display field 36 is set as the final time of the day.
On the other hand, when the expiration date displayed in the expiration date display field 35 is the current day (Yes in ST2), the expiration date is not corrected.

  When it is determined in the process of ST1 that “1” is not set in the correction flag F (No in ST1), the operator makes the expiration date valid only for the current day according to the process described in the first embodiment. It is determined whether or not the correction has been made (ST4). If the expiry date is validly modified only on the current day (Yes in ST4), it is determined whether or not the memory button 38 provided on the application screen 30 has been operated (ST5). When the memory button 38 is operated, the correction flag F stored in the correction flag table 13a in association with the PLU code of the product is set to “1” (ST6). Thus, by changing the correction flag F of the product stored in the correction flag table 13a to “1”, it is possible to change whether or not the expiration date needs to be corrected (correction necessity change means).

  After the correction flag F is set to “1”, if the expiry date is not effectively corrected only for the current day (No in ST4), or if the memory button 38 is not operated (No in ST5), the process is performed. finish. In the next label issuance process for the product for which the correction flag F is set to “1”, the expiration date is automatically corrected effectively only on that day (ST1 to ST3).

  As described above, the label issuing device 1 according to the present embodiment sets the expiry date for a product to be processed for label is valid only for the current day without giving an instruction for the operator to correct the expiry date for the current day only. If the expiration date calculated based on the input processing date and time and the effective period set in the PLU file 12a is after the next day, the expiration date is automatically set. It will be effectively modified only on the day. As a result, it is possible to save the operator from having to identify and operate the product whose expiration date is to be corrected only on the current day. Therefore, the label issuing process can be performed more simply and quickly.

  In addition, even if a product for which it is not necessary to set the expiration date to be valid only for the current day, when the operator corrects the expiration date and operates the memory button 38 only for the current date, Change to the target of automatic correction. As described above, by appropriately selecting a product desired by the operator as a target for automatic correction, it is possible to realize individual settings more suitable for the operation of the store.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to each said embodiment as it is, In an implementation stage, in the range which does not deviate from the summary, each component can be changed suitably and can be embodied.

  For example, in each of the above-described embodiments, the processing when the expiration date is printed on the label in the label issuing device 1 has been described. However, the date information printed on the label may be other date information such as the expiration date. Good.

  Further, the method of instructing the correction of the expiration date is not limited to inputting “0 days” in the valid days input field 43 and entering “0 hours” in the valid hours input field 44. In addition, a button for instructing correction may be arranged on the keyboard unit 4 or the application screen 30, and the correction may be instructed in response to the operation of the button.

  In addition, when the expiry date is effectively modified only for the current day, the expiry date is set to 23:59 on the processing date, but another time indicating that the expiry date is valid for the current day, such as 23:00 or 23:50. May be set.

  In addition, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of constituent elements disclosed in the respective embodiments. For example, some components may be deleted from the overall components shown in the above embodiments. Furthermore, the constituent elements over different embodiments may be combined.

  F ... correction flag, 1 ... label issuing device, 2 ... main body, 3 ... display, 4 ... keyboard part, 10 ... CPU, 12a ... PLU file, 13a ... correction flag table, 14 ... clock part, 30 ... application screen, 40 ... pop-up screen

Claims (4)

In a label issuing device that issues a label printed with information about a product,
A product specification means for specifying a product for which a label is issued,
A deadline date and time calculating means for calculating a deadline date and time for the product based on the processing date and time of the product designated by the product designation means and the validity period of the product;
Correction instruction means for instructing correction of the expiration date calculated by the expiration date calculation means;
A deadline date and time correcting means for correcting the deadline date and time to a date and time that is valid only for the current day in response to an instruction to correct the deadline date and time by the correction instruction means;
A label issuing device comprising: A correction necessity storage means for storing for each product whether or not the deadline date and time correction by the deadline date and time correction means is necessary
The correction instruction means specifies whether or not the correction of the due date / time is necessary for the product specified by the product specifying means from the correction necessity storage means, and instructs the correction of the due date / time when correction is necessary. The label issuing device according to claim 1.   A correction necessity change means is further provided for changing the necessity of correction stored in the correction necessity storage means for the commodity for which the correction of the deadline date is instructed by the correction instruction means. The label issuing apparatus according to claim 2. A control program for a label issuing device that issues a label printed with information about a product,
In the label issuing device,
A product specification function for specifying products for which labels are issued,
An expiration date and time calculation function for calculating an expiration date and time for the product based on the processing date and time of the product specified by the product specification function and the validity period of the product;
A correction instruction function for instructing correction of the expiration date calculated by this expiration date calculation function;
A deadline date correction function for correcting the deadline date to a date that is valid only for the current day in response to an instruction to correct the deadline date by this correction instruction function;
Control program to realize.

Images