JP2014165797A - Label ledger inspection device, print state inspection device, print state inspection method and print state inspection program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To automatically perform a print omission checking.SOLUTION: A label ledger inspection device 1 obtains an image of an inspected label 31 from a label ledger 3 having the inspected label attached thereto, for managing the propriety of labels 4, 5, 6 printed by a prescribed printer 7 and attached to food products, in order to inspect the propriety. The label ledger 3 has a stair barcode 50 printed by a printer 7 attached thereto, and the stair barcode 50 has a plurality of squares 55 uniformly shifted in the X and Y directions to be arranged in a stair shape. In addition, the label ledger inspection device 1 comprises: a ledger image storage unit 28 for storing a ledger image acquired from the label ledger 3 having the stair barcode 50 attached thereto; and a print state determination unit 54 for determining the propriety of the print state by the printer 7 by inspecting a dot omission in an image of the stair barcode 50.

Description

  The present invention relates to a label ledger inspection apparatus having a printing state inspection function for managing the printing state of a label to be attached to a food product.

  Conventionally, in food manufacturing factories, various labels are affixed to produced food products. The label is a POS label that displays the name and expiry date of the product as the food product, a packaging label that simply displays the contents of the food, or a promotion that displays points for sales promotion. It may be a label. And the label sticking operation is performed from the start of manufacture of the food to the end of manufacture. In the food manufacturing industry, a label ledger with a label to be inspected is generally used to manage the suitability of the label in the labeling operation. The label affixing operation is performed on the basis of the inspected label affixed to the label ledger, thereby improving the accuracy and speed of the label affixing operation.

  FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing the layout configuration of a conventional label ledger. The figure shows a label ledger 70 of, for example, the factory A. In the label book 70 of the former factory shown in the figure, the product name “Onigiri Ikura” and the barcode are displayed on the sample label 71, and the inspected label areas 72 (1), (2) for attaching the inspected label thereunder. ), (3), (4). In the inspected label area 72, (1), (2), (3), (4) are designated in order from the upper left to the horizontal direction, and when the inspected label is pasted, there is a time difference, that is, the inspected label Is changed according to time, the inspected label regions 72 (1), (2), (3), and (4) are pasted in this order. The inspection label area 72 is divided and fixed by a broken line 77.

  Therefore, first, three types of test labels, that is, the POS label 73, the packaging material label 74, and the sales promotion label 75 are attached to the test label area 72 (1). Thereafter, when the label is exchanged, that is, when only the volume of the sales promotion label 75 is lost, a new volume is set again and the sales promotion label 75 is inspected again, the sales promotion label 76 is pasted on the next inspected label area 72 (2). The line number 78 and the line number barcode 78-1 indicate the production line numbers when the same food product is produced by a plurality of production lines. Since it is necessary to always attach the same label to food products produced by a plurality of simultaneous production lines, the same label ledger 70 is required. The line number 78 and the line number bar code 78-1 are printed because it is necessary to distinguish the system ledger when a plurality of lines are simultaneously produced. “01” in the figure indicates a label ledger 70 for the production line of line number 01 among a plurality of production lines.

  Here, the operator has visually inspected whether the inspected labels 73, 74, and 75 are correctly attached to the label ledger 70. If the label ledger 70 can find an error when it is created, the production of the food product including the label attaching operation can be stopped, so that unnecessary production can be prevented. In addition, the labels to be inspected 73, 74, and 75 are attached to the label ledger 70, so that different material labels can be inspected without any distortion of the labels. Therefore, in creating the label ledger 70, it is required to make it into a computer rather than visually. Therefore, in the computerization, the label ledger 70 with the inspected labels 73, 74, and 75 is acquired with a scanner or a camera, and the ledger image is subjected to image analysis so that the correct inspected labels 73, 74, and 75 are pasted. A label ledger inspection device that automatically inspects whether or not the device is in place.

  On the other hand, especially in the food industry, it has become very important whether the allergy label is printed without problems or clearly printed. For this reason, in order to determine whether the printed POS label has a faint print (that is, missing dots), in many food industries, a special staircase barcode is printed, and the staircase barcode is checked to print the faint print. Checks are being carried out. As described in FIG. 3, the staircase barcode refers to a printed matter in which bars are printed in a staircase shape.

  FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a conventional check for faint printing (dot missing). FIG. 4A shows a POS label 73 with faint printing, and the POS label 73 shows that a dot dropout exists on the arrow A line. In general, in printers such as ink jet printers and thermal printers, dot missing is inspected by shifting printing for each dot. FIG. 5B shows a staircase barcode 81 as a test pattern for checking fading printing, which is printed while being shifted for each dot. The staircase bar code 81 indicates that there is a missing dot on the arrow B line. Both are printed by the same printing apparatus (not shown).

  The staircase bar code 81 prints a bar code in a staircase pattern, and inspects missing dots by inspecting missing bar codes. In order to detect the POS label 73 with faint printing in advance, the staircase barcode 81 is printed in advance by the printing apparatus, and the faint printing is checked visually.

  JP-A-2004-58282 (Patent Document 1) describes an ink jet recording apparatus. FIG. 4 of Patent Document 1 describes a stair chart, which describes that it is possible to observe how ink droplets ejected from each inkjet nozzle land on a recording medium.

JP 2004-58282 A

  However, the inspection method using the staircase bar code 81 related to the prior art has a problem that even if the printing omission in the X-axis direction can be inspected, the printing omission in the Y-axis direction cannot be inspected. There is also a problem that it is not possible to simultaneously determine missing prints in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction. Furthermore, there is a limit in the visual check, and there is a problem that an inspection omission occurs.

  Further, a POS label 73 and the like as a label to be inspected and a stair bar code 81 are attached to the label ledger 70, and a check for missing prints using the stair bar code 81 is performed simultaneously with the inspection of the POS label 73 etc. by the label ledger inspection device. However, there is a limit to the suitability check of the staircase barcode 81, and there is a problem that it is difficult to perform it simultaneously with the check of the POS label 73 and the like. In addition, a method of extracting and comparing feature points between images is also conceivable, but in the case of blurring of staircase barcodes, only a slight white line is included, so that the conventional image inspection method detects such blurring. There was a problem that I could not.

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is to determine the suitability of a printing state by a printing apparatus by automatically performing a check for missing print using a staircase barcode.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a label ledger inspection apparatus according to the present invention is a label printed by a predetermined printing apparatus and affixed to a food product, and a label to be inspected for managing the adequacy of the label is attached. In the label ledger inspection apparatus that obtains an image of the inspected label from the label ledger and inspects the suitability of the inspected label, the stair barcode printed by the printing device is included in the label ledger together with the inspected label The staircase bar code is a shape in which a plurality of square portions are arranged in a staircase shape evenly shifted in the X and Y directions, and the label ledger on which the staircase bar code and the inspected label are pasted A ledger image storage unit for storing a ledger image obtained from the printing method, and a printing form by the printing device by inspecting missing dots from the image of the staircase barcode. It is characterized in that it has a determining printing state determination unit the appropriateness of.

  According to the present invention having the above-described configuration, the staircase barcode is printed on the printing apparatus that prints the label to be attached to the food product, and the printed staircase barcode is attached to the label ledger together with the label to be inspected. And in the label ledger inspection device, a ledger image storage unit for storing a ledger image acquired from the label ledger with the staircase barcode and the label to be inspected, and inspecting missing dots from the image of the staircase barcode The label ledger inspection apparatus that enables the inspection of the appropriateness of the inspected label and the inspection of the appropriateness of the printing apparatus at the same time is provided. It becomes possible.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the label ledger inspection apparatus regarding 1st Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the kind of label. It is explanatory drawing which shows the staircase barcode regarding 1st Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the layout structure of the label ledger regarding 1st Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the outline | summary of operation | movement of the label ledger inspection apparatus regarding 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows printing omission determination operation | movement of the staircase barcode regarding 1st Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the operation | movement of printing omission determination regarding 1st Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which similarly shows the operation | movement of a printing | missing omission determination regarding 1st Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the layout structure of the conventional label ledger. It is explanatory drawing which shows the check of the conventional faint print.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the label ledger inspection apparatus according to the first embodiment. In the work of attaching labels to food products produced in multiple simultaneous production lines of food manufacturing plants such as lunch boxes and side dishes, the label ledger 3 is a label to be inspected 31 described later and this implementation in order to manage the suitability of the labels. It is created by pasting a staircase bar code 50 relating to the form. The created label ledger 3 is scanned by a camera or scanner 2 as an imaging device, and a ledger image 3-1 described later is read. The ledger image 3-1 acquired by the scanner 2 is sent to the label ledger inspection apparatus 1 as an image signal. The printing device 7 will be described later.

  The label ledger inspection apparatus 1 includes a personal computer and includes an image input unit 11 that receives an image signal from the scanner 2. The image signal from the scanner 2 includes an image of the staircase barcode 50. The image signal received by the image input unit 11 is converted into a ledger image 3-1 and stored in the ledger image storage unit 28 of the image memory 12. Further, the ledger image storage unit 28 stores a blank ledger image 3-0, which will be described later. The blank ledger image 3-0 is an image of the label ledger 3 in which the label 31 to be inspected is not pasted. The ledger image storage unit 28 also stores a difference image 42 (an image of an inspected label area 26 (1) described later) calculated from the ledger image 3-1 and the blank ledger image 3-0.

  The image memory 12 further includes a parameter storage unit 29 and a label image storage unit 30. The parameter storage unit 29 stores a product number, a flight number, and an inspection date, which are parameters of the label ledger 3. The parameter is described in the barcode 25 of the label ledger 3, read by a barcode reading unit (not shown), and stored in the parameter storage unit 29. The label image storage unit 30 stores an image of an inspected label image 31-1 described later in the inspected label area 26, and further stores a registered label image 45 described later registered in advance.

  The inspected label area acquisition unit 13 recognizes a thick line frame (not shown) indicating a first inspected label area 26 (1) to be described later on the ledger image 3-1 received from the scanner 2 this time, and inspects the label. The area 26 (1) is acquired, and the lower left of the inspected label area 26 (1) is automatically set as the origin (0, 0).

  The feature point extraction unit 14 always performs the inspected label area 26 (1) for the ledger image 3-1 and the blank ledger image 3-0 during the first examination and the second and subsequent examinations. ) To calculate the difference image 42. Since the inspected label 31 is not pasted on the blank ledger image 3-0, an image of the inspected label area 26 (1) is obtained in the difference image 42. Then, the feature point extraction unit 14 extracts feature points from the image of the inspected label area 26 (1).

  The parameter determination unit 15 determines whether there is a ledger image 3-1 in which the inspection date, the flight number, and the product number, which are parameters of the label ledger 3 stored in the parameter storage unit 29, match. Here, the inspection date is the inspection date of the label ledger 3. A flight number is a lot number for food production, and a product number is a unique number assigned to the type of product. If there is no ledger image 3-1 with the matching parameters, it can be seen that the inspection is for the first label ledger 3 to be inspected. Then, the parameter is registered in the parameter storage unit 29. When the label ledger 3 is inspected for the second and subsequent times, it is determined whether or not the product number, the flight number, and the inspection date, which are parameters of the label ledger 3, are all the same. If it does so, if the parameter of the label ledger 3 exists in the parameter storage part 29, it will be understood that it is the inspection after the 2nd time.

  The area 1 image determination unit 16 compares the image feature points of the first inspected label area 26 (1) of the ledger image 3-1, and determines the coincidence / mismatch. If they match, it is the label ledger 3 of the same production line, and if they do not match, it is the label ledger 3 of a different production line. Accordingly, the region 1 image determination unit 16, in combination with the parameter determination unit 15, for the plurality of ledger images 3-1, for the same production line among the plurality of simultaneous production lines, according to the match / mismatch of the parameters and the image feature points. It is determined whether the label ledger 3 or not.

  Further, the inspected label inspection unit 17 compares and inspects the inspected label image 31-1 stored in the label image storage unit 30 and the registered label image 45. The inspected label inspection unit 17 checks the number and images of the inspected label images 31-1. Here, the image check performed by the inspected label inspection unit 17 compares and inspects the feature points of the inspected label image 31-1 and the feature points of the registered label image 45. Speeding up can be expected by comparing feature points. As a result of the comparison inspection, when the inspected label image 31-1 is the same as the registered label image 45 registered in advance, the label ledger 3 has no error.

  Further, the display unit 18 displays the determination result when there is a missing dot in the inspection result by the inspected label inspection unit 17 and the printing state by the printing apparatus 7 described later. The storage unit 19 stores information necessary for the label ledger inspection operation and the printing state determination operation. The stair bar code discriminating unit 51 determines whether the image of the stair bar code 50 read from the ledger image storage unit 28 is the correct stair bar code 50.

  The line segment acquisition unit 52 detects the origin S (0, 0) and the maximum value M (a, b) for the image of the staircase barcode 50 determined by the staircase barcode determination unit 51, and the origin S (0 , 0) and the line segment connecting the maximum values M (a, b). The dot dropout determination unit 53 determines dot dropout for the line segment acquired by the line segment acquisition unit 52. The staircase barcode determination unit 51, the line segment acquisition unit 52, and the missing dot determination unit 53 constitute a printing state determination unit 54. The printing state determination unit 54 determines whether the printing apparatus 7 is printing normally. That is, the printing state determination unit 54 determines the suitability of the printing state by the printing device 7 by inspecting missing dots from the image of the staircase barcode 50. And the control part 20 controls operation | movement of said each part.

  FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the types of labels. This figure shows that the following three types of labels are affixed to the produced food product (here, “rice ball”) in the food manufacturing factory. The POS label 4 displays the name of the product (here, “Sea Chicken (registered trademark) mayonnaise”), the expiration date (February 4, 2012 at 7:00 pm), the name of the raw material, the manufacturer, and the like. The packaging material label 5 displays food contents and figures on a circular mount. And the sales promotion label 6 displays the point score for the sales promotion to a consumer on an elliptical mount. The sales promotion label 6 may be a newly released sticker for a new release. The POS label 4 is printed by the printing device 7. The packaging material label 5 and the promotional label 6 are printed by another printing apparatus.

  These labels 4, 5, and 6 are affixed to the rice balls in the production process of “rice balls” as food products. Prior to that, the label to be inspected is a label ledger to be described next, that is, an inspected label 31 having the same shape as the POS label 4, the packaging material label 5 and the sales promotion label 6 (that is, the POS label 34, the packaging material label 35 and the sales promotion label 36 described later). 3 is pasted. The worker confirms the inspected label 31, that is, the POS label 34, the packaging material label 35, and the promotional label 36 attached to the label ledger 3, and the POS label 4 and the packaging material label 5 on the rice balls as food products. Then, the work of attaching the promotional label 6 is performed. Although the label is always constant in time, the label winding is lost due to the production process of the food product, and a new winding is set again. In the case of this exchange label, since a label sticking error is likely to occur, the label is pasted again on the ledger and inspected. For example, this is a case where the volume of the POS label 4 or the promotional label 6 is used up. The label ledger 3 for managing the adequacy of the label application work must always instruct and manage the optimum label application work.

  FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a staircase barcode relating to the first embodiment. The staircase barcode 50 for inspecting the printing state of the printing device 7 is printed by the same printing device as the printing device 7 that prints the POS label 4. The printing apparatus 7 includes a dot image forming unit (not shown) that forms an image such as a character or a figure using dots. The printing device 7 may be a thermal printer having a plurality of linear or staggered print heads, an ink jet printer that ejects ink particles, or a wire dot printer. Furthermore, a non-impact printer such as an electrophotographic printer may be used.

  Further, as shown in the figure, the staircase barcode 50 has a shape in which a plurality of rectangular portions 55 are arranged in a staircase shape by being shifted equally in the X direction and the Y direction. Thus, the square part 55 is configured as a plurality of dots × a plurality of dots, and the arranged square parts 55 are all configured with the same number of dots. And each square part 55 arrange | positioned at step shape is shifted | deviated so that the dot which overlaps may not exist between the adjacent square parts 55, and a space | interval may not be opened.

  FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the layout configuration of the label ledger relating to the first embodiment. The label ledger 3 is shown in which two types of inspected labels 31, a POS label 34 and a packaging material label 35, and a staircase barcode 50 are pasted in a first inspected label area 26 (1) of the label ledger 3. As described above, the label affixed to the food product is changed with time, and the label ledger 3 specifies the labels 4, 5, and 6 to be affixed to the current food product. Then, the labels 4, 5, 6 are specified by the inspected labels 31 (34, 35, 36) having the same shape as the labels 4, 5, 6. In the figure, the sales promotion label 36 is shown not attached to the inspected label area 26 (1).

  In the label book 3 of the former factory relating to the present embodiment shown in the same figure, “A” is printed or displayed as the factory name 21 at the top, and the product name and the barcode 25 are printed as the sample label 24 at the next level. The bar code 25 includes a product name, a product number as a parameter, a flight number, an inspection date, and other information necessary for managing the label ledger 3. The production line number and the bar code describing this information are not printed or displayed.

  Below this, inspected label regions 26 (1), (2), (3), and (4) for attaching the inspected label 31 are provided. In the inspected label area 26, (1), (2), (3), (4) are specified in order from the upper left to the horizontal direction, and when the inspected label 31 is pasted, there is a time difference, that is, the inspected When the label 31 is changed with time, the label areas 26 to be inspected are pasted in this order. The inspected label area 26 is divided and fixed by a broken line 27.

  Further, a staircase bar code 50 for inspecting the printing state of the printing device 7 is affixed to the first inspected label area 26 (1) of the label ledger 3. The staircase barcode 50 may be attached only to the first inspected label area 26 (1). That is, the printing state inspection of the printing device 7 is performed only at the beginning of the inspection of the label ledger 3. However, it may be appropriately performed even after the first time.

  Next, operation | movement of the label ledger inspection apparatus 1 regarding this Embodiment is demonstrated. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of the operation of the label ledger inspection apparatus according to the first embodiment. First, the label ledger 3A to which the label to be inspected 31 (POS label 34 and packaging material label 35) and the staircase barcode 50 are attached will be described. The staircase barcode 50 is attached only to the first inspected label area 26 (1). That is, the printing state inspection of the printing device 7 is performed only at the beginning of the inspection of the label ledger 3. The label ledger 3A is scanned by the scanner 2, and a ledger image 3-1 as an image signal is sent to the label ledger inspection apparatus 1.

  In the label ledger inspection apparatus 1, a difference image 42 (that is, an image of the inspected label area 26 (1)) is created between the ledger image 3-1 received this time by the image input unit 11 and the blank ledger image 3-0. (S1). At that time, the inspected label area acquisition unit 13 acquires the area of the inspected label area 26 (1) for the ledger image 3-1. However, in the present embodiment, the image of the staircase barcode 50 is not stored as a difference image. Thereafter, the parameter determination unit 15 performs parameter comparison for the ledger image 3-1 (S 2). Since the ledger image 3-1 received this time is the first inspection, there is no data in which the inspection date, the flight number, and the product number as parameters match.

  In this case, the parameters are then registered, and the feature point extraction unit 14 extracts the feature points from the difference image 42, which is registered (S3). Here, the feature points of the staircase barcode 50 relating to the present embodiment are extracted from the difference image and registered separately. Then, inspected label inspecting unit 17 performs inspection by comparing the label image of inspected label 31 attached to inspected label area 26 (1) of label ledger 3 A with registered label image 45 ( S4). Then, the staircase barcode 50 is inspected by the printing state determination unit 54 relating to the present embodiment (S5). This will be described later.

  Next, the label ledger 3B on which the inspected label 31 (POS label 34, packaging material label 35, and promotional label 36) is attached will be described. The label ledger 3B is similarly scanned by the scanner 2, and the ledger image 3-1 as an image signal is sent to the label ledger inspection apparatus 1. In the label ledger inspection apparatus 1, a difference image 42 is created between the ledger image 3-1 received this time by the image input unit 11 and the blank ledger image 3-0 and stored in the ledger image storage unit 28 (S1). At that time, the inspected label area acquisition unit 13 acquires the area of the inspected label area 26 (1) for the ledger image 3-1.

  Thereafter, the parameter determination unit 15 performs parameter comparison for the ledger image 3-1 (S 2). Since the ledger image 3-1 received this time is the second and subsequent inspections, there is data in which the inspection date, the flight number, and the product number as parameters match. Thereafter, the area 1 image determination unit 16 compares the difference image 42 of the inspected label area 26 (1) of the label ledger 3A as the past difference image 42 and determines whether or not they match (S6). In this case, since the inspected label area 26 (1) of the label ledger 3B is the same as the inspected label area 26 (1) of the label ledger 3A, the process proceeds to the next. Eventually, for the ledger image 3-1, the parameters of which match and the image feature points of the first inspected label area 26 (1) match, the label ledger 3B for the same production line among the multiple simultaneous production lines judge. Then, a completion mark is attached to the inspected label area 26 (1) of the label ledger 3B (S7). Then, the inspected label inspection unit 17 compares the label image of the inspected label 31 attached to the second inspected label area 26 (2) of the label ledger 3B with the registered label image 45, thereby inspecting. Is performed (S8).

  Next, the label ledger 3C to which the inspected label 31 (POS label 34 and packaging material label 35 having different positions and angles from the former two) relating to different production lines will be described. The label ledger 3C is similarly scanned by the scanner 2, and the ledger image 3-1 as an image signal is sent to the label ledger inspection apparatus 1. In the label ledger inspection apparatus 1, a difference image 42 is created between the ledger image 3-1 received this time and the blank ledger image 3-0 by the image input unit 11 (S1). At that time, the inspected label area acquisition unit 13 acquires the area of the inspected label area 26 (1) for the ledger image 3-1.

  Thereafter, the parameter determination unit 15 performs parameter comparison for the ledger image 3-1 (S 2). Since the ledger image 3-1 received this time is the second and subsequent inspections, there is data in which the inspection date, the flight number, and the product number as parameters match. Thereafter, the area 1 image determination unit 16 compares the difference image 42 of the label area 26 (1) of the label ledger 3A or 3B as the past difference image 42 and determines whether or not they match (S6). In this case, the inspected label area 26 (1) of the label ledger 3C is different from the inspected label area 26 (1) of the label ledger 3A or 3B in the position and angle of the inspected label 31. Eventually, the ledger image 3-1 having the same parameters and different image feature points in the first inspected label area 26 (1) is determined as a label ledger for another production line among a plurality of simultaneous production lines. . In this case, parameters are registered, and the feature point extraction unit 14 extracts feature points from the difference image 42, which are registered (S9). Then, inspected label inspecting unit 17 performs inspection by comparing the label image of inspected label 31 attached to inspected label area 26 (1) of label ledger 3C with registered label image 45 ( S10).

Next, the inspection of the staircase barcode 50 will be described. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation for determining missing printing of a staircase barcode according to the first embodiment.
S101: The control unit 20 of the label ledger inspection apparatus 1 instructs the image memory 12 to read the image of the staircase barcode 50 in the ledger image 3-1 from the ledger image storage unit 28. Then, the control unit 20 instructs the storage unit 19 to temporarily store the image of the staircase barcode 50.

  S102: The control unit 20 instructs the staircase bar code discriminating unit 51 to determine whether the image of the staircase bar code 50 stored in the storage unit 19 is a correct staircase bar code 50 image. The determination method in this case is to take out the feature points of the staircase barcode registered as a master, scan the inspected label area 26 (1), extract the staircase barcode 50 attached to the inspected label area 26 (1), If the feature points match, it is determined to be a staircase barcode. That is, it is performed by comparing feature points with a pre-stored reference staircase barcode image.

  S103: When it is determined that the staircase barcode 50, the control unit 20 instructs the line segment acquisition unit 52 to acquire the origin S (0, 0) from the image of the staircase barcode 50. 7 and 8 are explanatory diagrams showing the operation of determining missing print according to the present embodiment. FIG. 7A shows a state where the origin S is acquired at the lower left position. The coordinates are (0, 0). At this time, even when the image of the staircase barcode 50 is tilted, the origin S (0, 0) can be acquired. That is, even if the staircase bar code 50 is attached to the label ledger 3 at an angle, the origin S (0, 0) can be acquired.

  S104: The control unit 20 similarly instructs the line segment acquisition unit 52 to acquire the maximum value M (a, b) from the image of the staircase barcode 50. FIG. 5B shows a state where the maximum value M is acquired at the upper right position. The coordinates are (a, b).

  S105: The control unit 20 similarly instructs the line segment acquisition unit 52 to acquire the image of the line segment 56 from the origin S (0, 0) and the maximum value M (a, b). As described above, the staircase bar code 50 has a shape in which a plurality of rectangular portions 55 are arranged in a staircase shape with the square portions 55 being evenly shifted in the X direction and the Y direction. That is, the rectangular portion 55 is configured as a plurality of dots × a plurality of dots, and the plurality of arranged rectangular portions 55 are all configured with the same number of dots. And each square part 55 arrange | positioned at step shape is shifted | deviated so that the dot which overlaps may not exist between the adjacent square parts 55, and a space | interval may not be opened. Therefore, the expression of the line segment 56 connecting the origin S (0, 0) and the maximum value M (a, b) can be expressed by y = (b / a) x (0 <= x <a).

  Therefore, the coordinates of each dot constituting the line segment 56 increase by +1 for both the X axis and the Y axis. FIG. 7C shows the acquired line segment 56. If the square portions 55 are all printed in black, the line segments 56 from the origin S (0, 0) to the maximum value M (a, b) are all black. However, as shown in FIG. 8A, if a dot dropout appears as a vertical line (or horizontal line) at one location in the rectangular portion 55, only one point is formed on the line segment 56 as shown in FIG. White spots occur. In the present embodiment, as shown in the next step, the dot dropout determination unit performs this under the control of the control unit 20. FIG. 8A shows the staircase barcode 50 in which the missing dot has occurred, and FIG. 8B shows the line segment 56 in which the missing dot has appeared.

S106: The control unit 20 instructs the dot missing determining unit 53 to determine dot missing from the line segment image acquired by the line segment acquiring unit 52. Here, the determination that there is no missing dot means that there is no missing print as a vertical line or a horizontal line (not shown) in the rectangular portion 55 shown in FIG. On the other hand, determining that there is a missing dot may be unknown whether the missing dot in the rectangular portion 55 shown in the figure is a vertical line or a horizontal line. If there is a missing dot, go to Step 107. If there are no missing dots, the process ends.
S107: When there is a missing dot, the control unit 20 displays on the display unit 18 that there is a missing dot.

  According to the present embodiment having the above configuration, the stair barcode 50 is printed on the label ledger 3 together with the inspected label 31 by printing the stair barcode 50 on the printing device that prints the label attached to the food product. Affix it. In the label ledger inspection apparatus 1, a ledger image storage unit 28 that stores a ledger image acquired from the label ledger 3 to which the stair barcode 50 and the label 31 to be inspected are pasted, and dots from the image of the stair barcode 50. Since it has the printing state determination unit 54 that determines the suitability of the printing state by the printing device by inspecting the omission, the inspection of the suitability of the inspected label 31 and the inspection of the printing state by the printing device 7 are performed. Can be provided at the same time.

  Further, the rectangular portion 55 of the staircase barcode 50 is configured as a plurality of dots × a plurality of dots, and the plurality of arranged rectangular portions 55 are all configured with the same number of dots. And each square part 55 arrange | positioned at step shape is shifted | deviated so that the dot which overlaps may not exist between the adjacent square parts 55, and a space | interval may not be opened. Accordingly, since the line segment 56 is extracted from the staircase barcode 50 and the missing dot is determined, the missing dot can be determined regardless of the vertical or horizontal blur (white line). In addition, since it is only necessary to inspect the missing dot of only the line segment 56, the inspection can be performed in a short time.

  In the present embodiment, it has been described that the stair barcode 50 is attached to the first inspected label area 26 (1) of the label ledger 3 as shown in FIG. 4, but the present invention is not limited to this. That is, the product name and the barcode 25 are printed or displayed as the sample label 24 on the label ledger 3, but they may be displayed side by side. In this case, as described in step 101, the control unit 20 of the label ledger inspection apparatus 1 reads the image of the staircase barcode 50 in the ledger image 3-1 from the ledger image storage unit 28 with respect to the image memory 12. I will tell you.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Label ledger inspection apparatus 2 Scanner 3 Label ledger 4 POS label 5 Packaging material label 6 Promotion label 7 Printing apparatus 11 Image input part 12 Image memory 18 Display part 31 Inspected label 34 Inspected label (POS label)
35 Inspected label (wrapping material label)
36 Inspected label (promotional label)
50 Stair Bar Code 51 Stair Bar Code Discriminating Unit 52 Line Segment Acquisition Unit 53 Missing Dot Determination Unit 54 Print State Determination Unit 55 Square Part

Claims (7)

An image of the label to be inspected is obtained from a label ledger that is printed by a predetermined printing device and is affixed to a food product, and the label to be inspected for managing the suitability of the label is obtained. In a label ledger inspection device that inspects the suitability of inspection labels,
On the label ledger, a staircase barcode printed by the printing apparatus is attached together with the label to be inspected, and the staircase barcode is arranged in a staircase shape with a plurality of rectangular portions evenly shifted in the X direction and the Y direction. Shape,
Furthermore, a ledger image storage unit for storing a ledger image acquired from the label ledger on which the staircase barcode and the label to be inspected are pasted,
A label ledger inspection apparatus comprising: a printing state determination unit that determines whether a printing state of the printing apparatus is appropriate by inspecting missing dots from the staircase barcode image. The printing state determination unit
A staircase barcode discriminating unit for discriminating an image of the staircase barcode from the ledger image;
A line segment acquisition unit that detects the origin and maximum value of the image of the staircase barcode determined by the staircase barcode determination unit, and acquires a line segment connecting the origin and the maximum value;
The line segment acquisition unit comprises a dot missing determination unit that determines dot missing of a line segment acquired,
The label ledger inspection apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a display unit that displays a determination result of the dot missing determination unit. The printing apparatus forms characters and figures with dots,
In the staircase barcode, the plurality of square portions are all configured with the same number of dots, and the square portions are arranged so that there is no overlapping dot between adjacent square portions and the gap is not opened. The label ledger inspection apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the label ledger inspection apparatus has a shape. In a printing state inspection apparatus for inspecting a printing state printed by a predetermined printing apparatus,
A staircase bar code having a shape in which a plurality of square portions are arranged in a staircase pattern evenly shifted in the X and Y directions, and stores a staircase bar code image acquired from the staircase bar code printed by the printing device An image storage unit,
A printing state inspection apparatus comprising: a printing state determination unit that determines whether a printing state of the printing apparatus is appropriate by inspecting missing dots from the staircase barcode image. The printing state determination unit
A staircase barcode discriminating unit for discriminating the staircase barcode from the staircase barcode image;
A line segment acquisition unit that detects the origin and maximum value of the staircase barcode determined by the staircase barcode determination unit, and acquires a line segment that connects the origin and maximum value;
The line segment acquisition unit comprises a dot missing determination unit that determines dot missing of a line segment acquired,
The print state inspection apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising a display unit that displays a determination result of the dot missing determination unit. In a printing state inspection method for inspecting a printing state printed by a predetermined printing apparatus,
A staircase bar code having a shape in which a plurality of square portions are arranged in a staircase shape with equal displacement in the X and Y directions, and the staircase bar code image acquired from the staircase bar code printed by the printing device An image storage step of storing in the storage unit;
A staircase barcode determination step of determining the staircase barcode from the staircase barcode image stored in the image storage unit;
Detecting the origin and maximum value of the staircase barcode determined in the staircase barcode determination step, and acquiring a line segment connecting the origin and maximum value; and
A missing dot determination step for determining missing dots in the line segment acquired in the line segment acquisition step;
A printing state inspection method comprising a display step of displaying a determination result of the dot dropout determination step. A staircase bar code having a shape in which a plurality of square portions are arranged in a staircase pattern evenly shifted in the X and Y directions, and a staircase bar code image acquired from the staircase bar code printed by a predetermined printing device. An image storage step of storing in the image storage unit;
A staircase barcode determination step for determining the staircase barcode from the staircase barcode image stored in the image storage unit;
Detecting the origin and maximum value of the staircase barcode determined in the staircase barcode determination step, and acquiring a line segment connecting the origin and maximum value; and
A missing dot determination step for determining missing dots in the line segment acquired in the line segment acquisition step;
A printing state inspection program for causing a computer to execute a display step of displaying a determination result of the dot missing determination step on a display unit.

Images