JP2013203012A - Label printer, program of label printer, and method of displaying number of printing sheets of label printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow a printable number of sheets of labels printable from now to be correctly displayed in a label printer printing the labels based on a battery.SOLUTION: A label printer driven by a battery includes: a detection portion detecting a voltage of the battery; a print portion printing labels; a printing number memory portion counting a number of the labels printed by the print portion; a voltage memory portion detecting a previous voltage of the battery before printing by the print portion and a later voltage of the battery just after printing by the detection means and memorizing them; a drop detection portion detecting a voltage drop value when printing a single label from the previous voltage and the later voltage memorized in the voltage memory portion and from the printing number of the labels memorized in the printing number storage portion; a calculation portion calculating a printable number by the print portion to the minimum voltage of the battery, by which the print portion can print the label, from a present voltage value detected by the battery detection means and the voltage drop value detected by the drop detection means; and a display displaying the printable number calculated by the calculation means.

Description

  Embodiments described herein relate generally to a label printer, a program for the label printer, and a method for displaying the number of printed sheets of the label printer.

  There is known a label printer capable of printing on a label sheet in which a number of labels are continuously arranged and pasted on a long mount. Such a label printer is placed in a back yard of a supermarket, for example, and prints a label that is pasted to display a price on a package such as sugar beet or fresh food. In such a label printer, a printer driven by a battery has been developed in consideration of use in a supermarket where commercial power cannot be supplied or in an area where commercial power is unstable.

  By the way, in a general printer using a battery, the remaining amount of the battery is detected so that the number of labels that can be printed is confirmed by the remaining amount of the battery, and how many sheets can be printed by the remaining amount of the battery is output. There is something to do.

JP 11-58898 A

  By the way, in a printer using a battery, if the contents to be printed differ greatly, the amount of power required for printing one sheet varies depending on the contents to be printed, so the number of printable sheets varies. For example, in the case of image data such as a photograph, the printing rate, which is the ratio of dots to be printed with respect to the total number of dots in one line, increases, so the power consumption in the printing unit increases. Since the printing rate is low, the power consumption in the printing section is low. Therefore, it is necessary to input data to be printed in order to know the number of sheets that can be printed with the current remaining battery level. However, if the contents to be printed are not determined, the number of printable sheets cannot be calculated based on the remaining battery level.

  On the other hand, a label printer is attached to a food package, for example, and does not change greatly every time the size or content of a sheet is printed. For this reason, the power consumed by one sheet of printing does not change much. . However, it is not clear how to calculate the number of labels that can be printed depending on the remaining battery level.

  In the present embodiment, in a label printer driven by a battery, a detection unit for detecting the voltage of the battery, a printing unit for printing on the label, a number-of-prints storage unit for counting the number of labels printed by the printing unit, A voltage storage unit for detecting and storing a pre-voltage of the battery before printing by the printing unit and a post-voltage of the battery immediately after printing by the detection means; a pre-voltage and a post-voltage stored in the voltage storage unit; A drop detecting unit for detecting a voltage drop value when printing one label from the number of printed labels stored in the printed sheet storage unit, and the printing unit up to a minimum battery voltage that can be printed on the label by the printing unit. A calculation unit for calculating the number of printable sheets from the current voltage value detected by the battery detection unit and the voltage drop value detected by the drop detection unit, and the printing calculated by the calculation unit And a label printer and a display for displaying the capacity of sheets.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing electrical connection of the label printer according to the present embodiment. The figure which shows the area | region formed in RAM of this label printer. The figure which shows the area | region formed in the non-volatile memory of this label printer. The flowchart which shows the process which this label printer performs.

  The label printer according to this embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS.

  1 is a block diagram showing the electrical connection of the label printer of the present embodiment, FIG. 2 shows an area formed in the RAM of this label printer, and FIG. 3 shows an area formed in the nonvolatile memory of this label printer. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing processing executed by the label printer. Further, this label printer uses a thermal head to color a label and print it on a label sheet in which a number of labels that are colored by heat are continuously attached to a long mount.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the label printer 1 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 2, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 3, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 4, a non-volatile memory 5 such as a flash memory, and a label. Displays a thermal head 6 that develops color, a transport motor 7 that transports the paper, an optical paper sensor 8 that is used to detect a predetermined position of the label paper so that printing can be performed from the leading edge of the label, and input data. In addition, a display 9 made of a color displayable liquid crystal capable of displaying the remaining number of printable sheets, a keyboard 10 for inputting data, and a voltage sensor 11 for detecting battery voltage are connected by a bus line 12. Here, the nonvolatile memory may be an SRAM (Static Random Access Memory) backed up by a battery. The CPU 2, ROM 3, RAM 4, nonvolatile memory 5, thermal head 6, transport motor 7, paper sensor 8, display 9, keyboard 10, and voltage sensor 11 are driven by a battery 13 built in the label printer 1. .

  FIG. 2 shows a storage area formed in the RAM 4. The RAM 4 includes a drawing area 4 a for developing an image supplied to the thermal head 6 and printed on a label, and a display 9 of the label printer 1. A display area 4b for storing data to be displayed and a work area 4c used for executing various processes performed by the label printer 1 are formed. The work area 4c is, for example, a key buffer that temporarily stores key information input from the keyboard 10, an area that stores information of each sensor captured by the paper sensor 8 or the voltage sensor 11, and the like.

  FIG. 3 shows a storage area formed in the nonvolatile memory 5. The non-volatile memory 5 is provided with an issue number area 5a, a front voltage area 5b, a rear voltage area 5c, a low battery voltage area 5d, a display identification voltage area 5e, and a single power area 5f. The issued number area 5a is an area for counting the number of labels that are cleared and subsequently printed when the battery 13 is charged. The previous voltage area 5b stores a value obtained by detecting the battery voltage before the print head 6 and the carry motor 7 are driven by the voltage sensor 11 when a print command is received from the keyboard 10. The rear voltage area 5c stores a value obtained by detecting the battery voltage with the voltage sensor 11 after the printing is finished and the label is discharged. The front voltage area 5b and the rear voltage area 5c store a front voltage and a rear voltage each time one sheet is printed. That is, if 100 labels are printed, 100 data are stored in the front voltage area 5b and the back voltage area 5c. The low battery voltage area 5d stores a reference voltage value for stopping printing as a low battery when the attached battery 13 is equal to or less than the value stored in the low battery voltage area 5d. The display identification voltage area 5e displays this label when the battery voltage falls below the voltage stored in the display identification voltage area 5e without displaying the number of printable sheets when the battery voltage acquired by the voltage sensor 11 is sufficiently high. The printer 1 is provided for displaying the number of printable sheets. The single-sheet power area 5f stores an amount of power necessary for printing one label obtained by a calculation formula described later.

  The processing executed by the label printer 1 will be described with reference to FIG. First, the battery voltage is acquired by the voltage sensor 11 (Act 1), and it is determined whether or not it is equal to or lower than the identification voltage stored in the display identification voltage area 5e (Act 2). If the voltage is equal to or lower than the identification voltage, it is determined whether the amount of power required for printing one label is calculated (Act 3), and the amount of power required for printing one label is calculated. If the number of printable sheets is calculated (Act 4), the calculated number of printable sheets is stored in the display area 4b and displayed on the display 9 (Act 5). If it is determined in Act2 that the voltage is higher than the identification voltage, the processes in Act3 and Act4 are not executed. The determination as to whether or not the voltage is equal to or higher than the identification voltage is made so that a sufficiently large number of labels can be printed under normal use with the current remaining battery level, so that the number of printable sheets is not displayed. If the amount of power necessary for printing one label is not calculated in Act3, Act4 is not displayed. This process is because when the label printer 1 is used for the first time, the amount of power necessary for printing on one label by the label printer 1 has not been measured yet. In other words, the amount of power for printing on one label is counted by counting the number of printed sheets from when the battery is charged until printing becomes impossible, as will be described in detail later. If the amount of power required for the measurement cannot be measured, Act4 is not displayed.

  Next, it is determined whether or not an instruction for printing has been performed with the keyboard 10 (Act 6). If there is no instruction for printing, the process returns to Act 1. If there is an instruction for printing, the voltage sensor 11 acquires the previous voltage of the battery 13 before driving the thermal head 6 for printing and the carry motor 7 (Act 7). When acquisition of the previous voltage is completed, the transport motor 7 is driven to print the label with the thermal head 6 while the label paper is transported to perform printing (Act 8). 1 is added to (Act 9), and the rear voltage of the battery 13 is acquired by the voltage sensor 11 (Act 10). If the post voltage is acquired, it is determined whether or not the post voltage is lower than the low battery voltage (VL) stored in the low battery voltage area 5d (Act 11). If not lower, the process returns to Act 1 and is lower. Since the battery 13 cannot be printed with the current charging state, the amount of power used for printing one label is calculated, and the calculation result is stored in the single power area 5f (Act 12). An error is displayed on the display (Act 13), and this process is terminated.

  When the label printer 1 is turned on, the contents displayed when the power was turned off the previous time are automatically displayed. That is, when it was used for label issuance last time, the format to be printed and the product information of the product are automatically displayed. In order to print labels of other products without changing the printing format, new product information is called by communicating with an internal memory or server. In order to change the format, the format information stored in the label printer 1 may be called up.

  The calculation of the number of printable sheets will be described. First, before calculating the number of Act4 prints, it is necessary to calculate the power consumption VP for printing one label performed in Act12. The power consumption VP for printing one label is calculated by the following equation.

Single sheet power consumption VP = (total of previous voltage−total of subsequent voltage) ÷ number of printed sheets Since the power consumption VP for printing one label is obtained from this equation, the power calculated in the single sheet power area 5f is Remembered.
Next, the number of printable sheets calculated in Act4 is obtained by the following equation.
Number of sheets that can be issued = (VC−VL) ÷ VP
However, VC is a voltage value acquired by the voltage sensor 11 in Act1, and VL is the lowest voltage that can be printed by the label printer 1 stored in the low battery voltage area 5d.
The issuable number obtained by this formula is stored in the issuance number area 5a, and is drawn in the display area 4b and displayed on the display 9.

  In such a label printer 1, first, data to be printed on a label is input by the keyboard 10. The input data is developed and stored in the drawing area 4a. First, the voltage of the battery 13 is acquired by the voltage sensor 11. It is determined whether or not the acquired voltage is equal to or less than the identification voltage stored in the display identification voltage area 5e. If the voltage is not equal to or less than the identification voltage, a sufficient number of labels can be printed, and thus the number of printable sheets is not displayed. . If the acquired voltage is equal to or lower than the identification voltage, it is determined whether or not one sheet of power required to issue one label has been stored in the one sheet power area 5f. Since the value cannot be calculated, the number of printable sheets is not displayed. If the power for one sheet has been calculated, the number of printable sheets is displayed. If there is no print command, the process of acquiring the battery voltage is repeated.

  When there is a label printing command from the keyboard 10, the label printer 1 acquires the previous voltage and stores it in the previous voltage area 5b before starting printing. This pre-voltage data is stored and saved every time it is acquired. And it prints on a label, adds 1 to the number-of-issues area 5a of a label, acquires the back voltage of the battery 13, and memorize | stores it in the back voltage area 5c. The subsequent voltage is also stored and saved every time it is obtained in the same manner as the previous voltage. If the voltage obtained after printing is equal to or higher than the voltage stored in the low battery voltage area 5d, the battery voltage obtaining process is performed. If the voltage is lower than the low battery voltage, the voltage is lowered to the extent that the attached battery 13 cannot print on the label any more. Therefore, the number of printed sheets from when the battery is charged to when the low battery is detected is acquired. The power required to print one label from the previous voltage and the rear voltage is calculated. And the error display which shows that it is a low battery is performed on the indicator 9.

  Here, the timing of measuring the previous voltage will be described. In this embodiment, in order to obtain the amount of power required for printing one label, the voltage acquired before printing is started after the printing command is given is used as the previous voltage. It doesn't have to be after receiving. For example, the latest voltage value when the voltage of the battery 13 is measured every 5 minutes or every hour can be set as the previous voltage. That is, the voltage of the battery that drops due to the spontaneous discharge of the battery, or the voltage of the battery that drops when the label printer 1 is turned on and not printing is sufficiently larger than the amount of power consumed by printing. If the voltage of the battery 13 is acquired within a small and negligible level, the timing of acquiring the voltage of the battery 13 may be any time before the printing.

  Thus, in this label printer 1, the voltage of the battery 13 is acquired before and after printing on the label, and the amount of electric power when one label is printed is calculated using these acquired battery voltages. As a result, it is possible to know the number of printable sheets more accurately than that calculated from the number of labels printed from immediately after charging until the low battery is detected. In other words, the battery 13 naturally discharges even when the label printer 1 is not used. However, in the method of this embodiment, the electric power discharged by the unused time is excluded. In addition, since the pre-voltage and the post-voltage are obtained every time the label is printed until the battery becomes low after charging is completed, it is not the amount used when only one sheet is issued. Can be calculated.

  In this embodiment, the number of printable sheets is displayed when the voltage becomes lower than the voltage value stored in the display identification voltage area 5e. An area for displaying the 13 printable number of sheets is not required. For this reason, other information can be displayed and the display can be used effectively.

  In this embodiment, even if charging / discharging of the battery 13 is repeated and the performance of the battery 13 gradually decreases, the power consumption per one battery is updated every time a low battery is detected. Can use the power consumption per sheet. Thereby, it is possible to know a relatively accurate number of printable sheets.

  In the above embodiment, the printable number of labels is displayed when the value stored in the display identification voltage area 5e falls below. However, the number of printable sheets is always displayed when the power is turned on. May be. In addition, when printing with a high printing rate is performed by a printer using a thermal head, for example, if a ruled line covering almost the entire line of the thermal head is printed, it is necessary to pass a large current through the thermal head. May have. In such a case, the post-voltage may be measured after waiting for the battery to recover after a short period of time from the end of printing.

  Furthermore, when printing a plurality of labels continuously with one printing instruction, the pre-voltage and the post-voltage may be measured for each printing, and before printing the first label. The pre-voltage may be measured and the post-voltage may be measured after the last printed label is printed.

  In this embodiment, it has been described that the number of printable labels cannot be displayed unless data is stored in the single-sheet power area 5f of the label printer 1. However, at the time of shipping the product, the manufacturer or the store of the label printer 1 The average amount of power per sheet may be stored in the setting at the time of delivery.

  In this embodiment, the process shown in FIG. 4 has been described as being always performed, but it may be performed by an interrupt process that occurs at regular intervals. Further, the print command may be recognized by a key input interruption process.

  As described above, the embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof.

1. Label printer 5 Nonvolatile memory 5a Issued number area 5b Front voltage area 5c Rear voltage area 5f Issued number area 6 Thermal head 9 Display 11 Voltage Sensor 13 ... Battery

Claims (6)

In a label printer driven by a battery,
A detector for detecting the voltage of the battery;
A print section for printing on the label;
A print number storage unit for counting the number of labels printed by the printing unit;
A voltage storage unit for detecting and storing a pre-voltage of the battery before printing by the printing unit and a post-voltage of the battery immediately after printing by the detection unit;
A drop detection unit for detecting a voltage drop value when printing on one label from the pre-voltage and post-voltage stored in the voltage storage unit and the number of printed labels stored in the printed number storage unit;
The number of sheets that can be printed by the printing unit up to the lowest battery voltage that can be printed on the label by the printing unit is calculated from the current voltage value detected by the battery detection means and the voltage drop value detected by the drop detection means. An arithmetic unit;
A label printer comprising a display for displaying the number of printable sheets calculated by the calculating means. The detection means detects the voltage of the battery every predetermined time,
The label printer according to claim 1, wherein the calculation unit calculates the number of printable sheets by the printing unit every time the detection unit detects the voltage of the battery. 2. The label printer according to claim 1, wherein the detecting means detects the voltage of the battery before printing one label, and detects the voltage of the battery after printing the one label. Set a predetermined voltage that can be printed by the printing unit,
2. The label printer according to claim 1, wherein when the voltage of the battery detected by the detection unit falls below the predetermined voltage, the calculation unit calculates the number of printable sheets based on the battery voltage detected by the detection unit. . For label printers equipped with battery-powered computing means,
Detection means for detecting the voltage of the battery by the detection unit;
Printing means for printing on the label in the printing section,
Storage means for storing the number of labels printed by the printing unit under the control of the printing means;
Pre-voltage storage means for detecting the voltage of the battery before printing by the detection means and storing it in the storage unit,
Post voltage storage means for detecting the voltage of the battery immediately after printing by the detection means and storing it in the storage unit,
A drop detecting means for detecting a voltage drop value when printing on a predetermined number of labels from a difference between voltage values stored in the previous voltage storing means and the subsequent voltage storing means;
The number of sheets that can be printed by the printing means up to the lowest battery voltage that can be printed on the label by the printing means is calculated from the current voltage value detected by the battery detection means and the voltage drop value detected by the drop detection means. Computing means,
A program for a label printer that functions as display means for displaying on a display the number of printable sheets calculated by the calculation means. In a label printer driven by a battery,
The battery voltage is detected by the detector,
Print on the label at the print section,
The number of labels printed by the printing unit is stored in the number storage unit,
The pre-voltage of the battery before printing and the post-voltage of the battery immediately after printing are detected by the detection means and stored in the storage unit,
Detecting a voltage drop value when printing on one label from the previous voltage and the rear voltage stored in the voltage storage unit and the number of labels stored in the number storage unit;
The number of sheets that can be printed by the printing unit up to the lowest battery voltage that can be printed on the label by the printing unit is calculated from the current voltage value detected by the battery detection unit and the voltage drop value detected by the drop detection means. ,
A method for displaying the number of printable sheets of the label printer, wherein the calculated number of printable sheets is displayed on a display.

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