JP2013052647A - Printing apparatus and control program thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printing apparatus that can reduce sheet supply operation to two print parts and can evade sheet deterioration and discoloration in both printing parts and to provide its control program.SOLUTION: The printing apparatus includes: a first printing part that uses a first sheet rolled in a roll state as a print medium; a second printing part that uses the second sheet rolled in the roll state with the diameter that is larger than that of the first sheet as a print medium, and detects the data volume of the print data and prints the print data by a first printer when the detected data volume is less than a constant amount, and prints the print data by a second printer when the data volume is equal to or more than the constant amount.

Description

  Embodiments described herein relate generally to a printing apparatus including two printing units and a control program therefor.

  It is conceivable to use a printing apparatus having two printing units in a store that sells products. For example, it is possible to use such as printing a ticket or the like in one print unit and printing a receipt related to the sale of the ticket or the like in the other print unit.

JP 2002-123625 A

  Each of the two print units accommodates paper wound in a roll shape, and the amount of paper used by both print units differs depending on the amount and frequency of printing. In the printing unit on the side where the usage amount is large, the frequency of paper supply increases, which is a heavy burden on the staff. In the print unit on the side where the amount of use is small, the sheet usage period becomes long, and when the thermal type thermal sheet is used, the surface of the sheet is deteriorated or discolored.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of an embodiment of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus and a control program therefor that can reduce paper replenishment work to two print sections and can avoid paper deterioration and discoloration in both print sections. It is to be.

  A printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a first printing unit that uses a first paper wound in a roll shape as a print medium, and a second paper in a roll shape that has a larger diameter than the first paper. A second print unit used as a print medium and a data amount of the print data are detected, and when the detected data amount is less than a predetermined amount, the print data print is assigned to the first printer, and the detected data amount Control means for allocating a print of the print data to the second printer when the value is equal to or greater than a predetermined amount.

The figure which shows the structure of one Embodiment. The block diagram which shows the structure of the control circuit of one Embodiment. The flowchart which shows the control of one Embodiment.

Hereinafter, an embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIG. 1, the printing apparatus 1 has two discharge ports 2, 3 on the front surface, a first print unit 10 inside the discharge port 2, and a second print inside the discharge port 3. Part 20.

  The first print unit 10 includes a plurality of transport rollers 12 that transports the print medium, for example, a first sheet 11 wound in a roll shape, with the leading end of the first sheet 11 drawn toward the discharge port 2, a motor 13 that drives the transport rollers 12, A thermal head 14 for printing characters and images on the conveyed first paper 11, a platen roller 15 for pressing the first paper 11 against the thermal head 14, a cutter 16 for cutting the printed first paper 11, and a first A paper storage unit 19 that stores the main body of the paper 11 is provided. The rated print speed of the first print unit 10 is, for example, 5 ips (inch / sec).

  The first paper 11 is a thermal paper having a heat-sensitive layer on the surface, or a continuous label paper in which a number of labels having a heat-sensitive layer are sequentially attached to a belt-like mount, and has an outer diameter of 5 inches and a core diameter of 1 inch, for example. Has a standard size. The paper storage unit 19 has a shape and a size that can accommodate the first paper 11.

  The second print unit 20 includes a plurality of transport rollers 22 that transports the print medium, for example, a second sheet 21 wound in a roll shape, by pulling the leading end toward the discharge port 3, a motor 23 that drives the transport rollers 22, A thermal head 24 for printing characters and images on the second paper 21 to be conveyed, a platen roller 25 for pressing the second paper 21 against the thermal head 24, a cutter 26 for cutting the printed second paper 21, and a second A paper storage unit 29 that stores the main body of the paper 21 is provided. The rated print speed of the second print unit 20 is, for example, 10 ips (inch / sec) faster than the first print unit 10.

  The second paper 21 is a thermal paper or continuous label paper wound with a diameter larger than that of the thermal paper 11 of the first printing unit 10, and has a standard size with an outer diameter of, for example, 10 inches and a core diameter of 1 inch. The paper storage unit 29 has a shape and a size that can accommodate the second paper 21.

  If a clerk tries to load a new first sheet 11 for the first print unit 10 into the sheet storage unit 29 of the second print unit 20, the first sheet 11 can be stored in the sheet storage unit 29. However, a large gap is generated between the first sheet 11 and the inner wall of the sheet storage unit 29 when the sheet is stored. The clerk notices that the loading is incorrect due to the presence of this large gap and stops loading.

  Further, even if the clerk tries to load a new second sheet 21 for the second print unit 20 into the sheet storage unit 19 of the first print unit 10, the second sheet 21 is large and does not enter the sheet storage unit 19.

The control circuit is shown in FIG.
The first printing unit 10 includes a CPU 30, a ROM 31 for storing a control program, a RAM 32 for storing data, a sheet feeding mechanism 33 including each of the conveying rollers 12 and the motor 13, the thermal head 14, and a platen that drives the platen roller 15. An interface 37 that performs data transmission / reception with the drive mechanism 35, the cutter 16, and the second printing unit 20, an operation unit 38, a display unit 39, and a communication interface 50 that performs data transmission / reception with the host device 51 of the host are provided. The CPU 30, ROM 31, and RAM 32 constitute a microcomputer that controls the first print unit 10.

  The second print unit 20 includes a CPU 40, a ROM 41 for storing a control program, a RAM 42 for storing data, a paper feed mechanism 43 including the transport rollers 22 and a motor 23, the thermal head 24, and a platen that drives the platen roller 25. A drive mechanism 45 and the cutter 26 are provided. The CPU 40, the ROM 41, and the RAM 42 constitute a microcomputer that controls the second print unit 20.

The microcomputer of the first print unit 10 and the microcomputer of the second print unit 20 have the following means (1) to (3) as main functions based on the control programs in the ROMs 31 and 41.
(1) Detection means for detecting the amount of print data input from the host device 51.

  (2) First control means for allocating a print of the print data to the first printer 10 when the detected data amount is less than a predetermined amount.

  (3) Second control means for assigning the print of the print data to the second printer 20 when the detected data amount is a certain amount or more.

Next, the control will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
When print data is input from the host device 51, the print data is taken into the RAM 32 of the first print unit 10 (step 101). Then, the data amount of the captured print data is detected (step 102).

  If the detected data amount is less than a certain amount (YES in step 103), the print data in the RAM 32 of the first print unit 10 is printed on the first paper 11 by the first print unit 10 (step 104). The printed first sheet 11 is cut by the cutter 16 and the cut piece is discharged from the discharge port 2 as a receipt or a ticket.

  If the detected data amount is greater than or equal to a certain amount (NO in step 103), the print data in the RAM 32 is transferred to the RAM 42 of the second print unit 20 (step 105), and the print data in the RAM 42 is transferred to the second data. Printing is performed on the second paper 21 by the printing unit 20 (step 106). The printed second sheet 21 is cut by a cutter 26, and the cut piece is discharged from the discharge port 3 as a receipt or a ticket.

  The fixed amount is appropriately set according to the contents of printing, the amount of data for one printing, the frequency of printing, and the like.

  When a continuous label sheet having a thickness of 0.06 mm and a roll diameter of 5 inches in which labels having a length of 2 inches are sequentially attached is used, about 5,818 labels can be printed. When a continuous label sheet having a thickness of 0.06 mm and a roll diameter of 10 inches in which labels having a length of 2 inches are sequentially attached is used, about 16,458 labels can be printed.

  As described above, when the amount of print data is less than a certain amount, printing is performed by the first printing unit 10 loaded with the first paper 11 having the smaller roll diameter, and the amount of print data is equal to or more than a certain amount. In this case, printing is performed by the second printing unit 20 loaded with the second paper 21 having a larger roll diameter, so that the time when the first printing unit 10 runs out of paper and the time when the second printing unit 20 runs out of paper. Can be as close as possible. As a result, it is possible to supply sheets to the first and second printing units 10 and 20 all at once, reducing the supply work and reducing the burden on the staff. It is also possible to avoid such a problem that the use period of the paper in one print section becomes extremely long and deterioration or discoloration occurs on the surface of the paper.

  When the amount of print data is equal to or greater than a certain amount, the second print unit 20 with the higher print speed prints, so the waiting time of the shopper can be shortened as much as possible. The efficiency of product sales will be improved.

  Since the sheet storage unit 19 dedicated to the first sheet 11 is provided in the first print unit 10 and the sheet storage unit 29 dedicated to the second sheet 21 is provided in the second print unit 20, it is possible to prevent an error in loading the sheet. it can.

  In addition, the said embodiment and each modification are shown as an example, and are not intending limiting the range of invention. The novel embodiments and modifications can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, rewrites, and changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. In these embodiments and modifications, the scope of the invention is included in the gist, and is included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Printing apparatus, 2, 3 ... Ejection port, 10 ... 1st printing part, 11 ... 1st paper, 12 ... Conveyance roller, 14 ... Thermal head, 15 ... Platen roller, 16 ... Cutter, 20 ... 2nd printing part 21 ... second sheet, 22 ... conveying roller, 24 ... thermal head, 25 ... platen roller, 26 ... cutter, 30 ... CPU, 40 ... CPU, 51 ... host device

Claims (6)

A first print unit that uses a first sheet wound in a roll as a print medium;
A second print unit that uses, as a print medium, a roll-shaped second sheet wound around a diameter larger than the first sheet;
The amount of print data is detected, and when the detected data amount is less than a predetermined amount, the print data print is assigned to the first printer, and when the detected data amount is a predetermined amount or more, the print data print Control means for assigning to the second printer;
A printing apparatus comprising: The first print unit includes a paper storage unit having a shape and a size that can accommodate the first paper,
The second print unit includes a paper storage unit having a shape and a size that can accommodate the second paper.
The printing apparatus according to claim 1. The first print unit has a predetermined print speed,
The second print unit has a faster printing speed than the first print unit;
The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the printing apparatus is a printer. The first printing unit prints print data on the first paper, cuts and discharges the first paper after the printing,
The second printing unit prints print data on the second paper, cuts and discharges the second paper after the printing,
The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the printing apparatus is a printing apparatus. The first and second papers are thermal paper having a heat-sensitive layer on the surface, or continuous label paper in which a number of labels having a heat-sensitive layer are sequentially attached to a belt-like mount.
The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the printing apparatus is a printing apparatus. A first print unit that uses a first paper wound in a roll shape as a print medium; a second print unit that uses a roll-like second paper wound in a larger diameter than the first paper as a print medium; And a printing apparatus equipped with a computer,
In the computer,
A function to detect the amount of print data,
A function of allocating a print of the print data to the first printer when the detected data amount is less than a certain amount;
A function of allocating a print of the print data to the second printer when the detected data amount is a predetermined amount or more;
A control program for a printing apparatus characterized by realizing the above.

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