JP2022130712A - Mountless label printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress influence on look of a label.

SOLUTION: A mountless label printer includes control means for controlling printing on a mountless label sheet on the basis of printing format data in which, about each printing item, at least a printing position in a sheet feeding direction and a printing range in the sheet feeding direction are set. When there exists a printing item whose printing height in the sheet feeding direction of printing data corresponding to the printing range does not meet the printing range in the sheet feeding direction, and when there exists no other printing item whose printing position in the sheet feeding direction is overlapped on a part in which the printing height does not meet the printing range of the printing item whose printing height does not meet to the printing range in the sheet feeding direction, the control means changes the printing position in the sheet feeding direction of the other printing item at a sheet feeding direction downstream side than the printing item whose printing height does not meet the printing range in the sheet feeding direction so as to be closer to a sheet feeding direction upstream side according to a different amount when the printing height does not meet the printing range in the sheet feeding direction.

SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

COPYRIGHT: (C)2022,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to a liner-less label printer that prints product names, prices, etc. on sheets of paper without a liner, cuts them, and issues them as labels to be affixed to products.

Conventionally, when a long label with a large amount of print is required to suit the product, or conversely when a short label is required with a linerless label printer, the print format data can be selected, printed, and cut. A technique has been proposed that is capable of saving paper and reducing the number of paper replacements compared to a method that uses paper that has been cut to a certain length in advance (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-8509

However, in this prior art, it is necessary to set a large number of types of print formats, and for this setting, it is necessary to set and input the print position, print range, etc. for each print item. When using it, since it is used to display products, the size between printed items affects the appearance, so it is necessary to check the format after setting, which is a big problem. .

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in consideration of such circumstances, and its object is to reduce the number of print format types even when labels with different print data amounts are issued, and to improve the appearance of labels. To provide a linerless label printer capable of suppressing the influence on

In order to solve the above problem, a liner-less label printer according to an embodiment of the present invention is a liner-less label printer in which at least a print position in the paper transport direction and a print range in the paper transport direction are set for each print item. A control means for controlling printing on the linerless label paper based on the set print format data, wherein the control means controls the paper transport of the print data corresponding to the print range in the paper transport direction. There is a print item whose print height is less than the print height in the paper transport direction. If there are no other print items with overlapping print positions, the print positions in the paper transport direction of other print items on the downstream side in the paper transport direction from the print items whose print height is less than the print range in the paper transport direction. , the print height is changed so as to be closer to the upstream side in the paper transport direction by the amount that the print height is less than the print range in the paper transport direction.

According to the present invention, even when labels with different print data amounts are issued, it is possible to reduce the number of print format types and suppress the influence on the appearance of labels.

1 is a schematic diagram showing the mechanism of a linerless label printer according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a linerless label printer according to this embodiment; FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing the data configuration of a format file managed by the linerless label printer according to the present embodiment; FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing the data configuration of a product file managed by the mountless label printer according to the embodiment; FIG. 4 is a main flow chart for explaining the operation of the linerless label printer according to the present embodiment; 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of a dot data expansion routine according to the present embodiment; FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a cut label according to the present embodiment;

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the mechanism of a linerless label printer according to an embodiment of the invention. In FIG. 1, the paper is pulled out from a label roll 2, which is a roll of linerless label paper 1 having a thermosensitive coloring surface on the front side and an adhesive surface on the back side, and a thermal head 3 and a platen roller 4 driven by a stepping motor. Paper is conveyed while sandwiched between them, and printed by heating. Further, the paper after printing is cut by a cutter 5 and issued as a label 6. - 特許庁

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the mountless label printer according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the mountless label printer according to the present embodiment includes a CPU 10, a flash memory 11, a RAM 12, an operation unit 13, a display unit 14, a communication unit 15, an interface 16, a thermal head 17 (thermal head 3 in FIG. ), a stepping motor 18, and a cutter 19 (corresponding to the cutter 5 in FIG. 1).

The CPU 10 is a central processing unit that executes programs on the flash memory 11 and controls the operation of the label printer. The flash memory 11 is a read-only memory that stores a control program for the label printer, control data, and the like.

The RAM 12 has a work area for temporarily calling (reading out) data for processing, and includes a dot developing area for developing print data into dot data, and one format data for calling from a format file. There is a calling format area for storing product data, a calling product data area for calling and storing product data, and the like.

The RAM 12 also stores a format file (see FIG. 3) defining a label printing format, a product file (see FIG. 4) defining various product data for label printing, a font file (character generator ), etc., and is backed up by a battery so that the product file and the form file are retained even when the power is turned off. The RAM 12 also stores the current mode of the linerless label printer (for example, pricing mode, setting mode, report mode, maintenance mode).

The operation unit 13 is an input device for operating the label printer, and is a touch panel integrated with the display unit 14 . The display unit 14 is a liquid crystal display that displays various menu screens and data. The communication unit 15 communicates with the host computer.

The interface 16 performs data input/output between the CPU 10 and the like and respective driving units and motors, which will be described later. The thermal head 17 heats the paper 1 based on instructions from the CPU 10 . The stepping motor 18 rotates the label roll 2 and the platen roller 4 so that the label paper 1 is transported to a predetermined printing position or heating position based on a command from the CPU 10 . A cutter 19 cuts the printed paper 1 based on a command from the CPU 10 .

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing the data structure of a format file managed by the linerless label printer according to this embodiment. Various print formats can be set in the format file, including the format number that identifies the type of format, the label length that determines the cut length of the paper, and the product name, additives, message, raw materials, and price as print items. , bar code, units, expiry date, date and time of processing, store name, etc., and each of these print items includes the print position (the upper left of the label is 0, 0, and the upper left end of the print range), paper transport direction Set the height that is the print range of , the length that is the print range in the direction perpendicular to the height, and the font that specifies the character font type.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing the data configuration of a product file managed by the linerless label printer according to this embodiment. Items such as product number, product name, price, bar code, additive, message, and raw material are set in the product file. When setting multiple lines of print data for each item, insert a linefeed code at the end of each line.

The operation of the linerless label printer according to this embodiment will be described below using a flow chart. FIG. 5 is a main flow chart for explaining the operation of the mountless label printer according to this embodiment. FIG. 6 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the dot data expansion routine according to the present embodiment. Also, FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a cut label according to the present embodiment. Each step shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 is controlled by the CPU 10. FIG.

In FIG. 5, first, referring to the RAM 12, it is determined whether or not the mode is a pricing mode for issuing a label (step S1). If it is determined that the mode is not the pricing mode (step S1: NO), file data setting in the setting mode, performance report output in the report mode, maintenance in the maintenance mode, etc. are performed (step S2), and step S1 is performed. back to

On the other hand, if it is determined that the mode is the pricing mode (step S1: YES), desired format data is called from the format file to the call format area in the RAM 12 (step S3). Desired format data is format data in a format specified by a format number designated by the operator via the operation unit 13 . For example, when the format file shown in FIG. 3 is stored in the RAM 12 and the format number #1 is designated, the format data of the format specified by the format number #1 is called. In the format data specified by the format number #1, it is assumed that the product name has a printing range of 3 lines and the additive has a printing range of 4 lines (see the left side of the arrow in FIG. 7).

Next, in the RAM 12, the product data of the product to be priced is called from the product to the called product data area (step S4). The product to be priced is specified by the operator specifying the product number via the operation unit 13 . For example, when the product file shown in FIG. 4 is stored in the RAM 12 and the product number 0001 is designated, the product data of the product specified by the product number 0001 is called as the product data of the product to be priced. Become. It is assumed that the product name and additive specified by the product number 0001 each have a print data amount for one line (see FIG. 4).

Next, according to the format called at step S3, the print data of the product data called at step S4 is developed into dot data (step S5). Details will be described with reference to FIG.

Next, based on the dot data developed in step S5, the thermal head 17 and platen roller 4 are controlled to print on the paper 1 (step S6). Then, based on the label length data in the calling format area, the cutter 19 is controlled to cut the paper 1 (step S7). That is, if the format of format number #1 is called in step S3 and the product data of the product of product number 0001 is called in step S4, the label shown on the right side of the arrow in FIG. 7 will be issued. Then, the process returns to step S1.

In FIG. 6, first, in the format data called in step S3 of FIG. The most upstream print item is retrieved (step S11). For example, if it is the first time of the determination process, the most upstream print item is "product name".

Next, it is determined whether or not the printed item retrieved in step S11 is "product name" (step S12). ), and if it is not an "additive", it is determined whether it is a "raw material" (step S14), and if it is not a "raw material", it is determined whether it is a "message" (step S15). .

The print items of "product name", "additives", "ingredients", and "message" determined in steps S12 to S15 are printed in the paper feed direction according to the amount of print data (height). is predetermined as a print item that changes the More specifically, each of the above print items reduces (shortens) the print range in the paper transport direction when the amount of print data (eg, the number of lines) in the paper transport direction is small. It is predetermined as a print item to be printed.

If the printed item searched in step S11 corresponds to any of the above "product name", "additives", "ingredients" and "message" (step S12: YES, step S13: YES, step S14: YES, Step S15: YES), it is determined whether or not the corresponding print data for the corresponding print item satisfies the height of the corresponding print item in the format data (printing range in the paper transport direction) (step S16). That is, for each print item that is YES in steps S12 to S15, the height (printing range in the paper transport direction) of the format data called in step S3 and the print data in the paper transport direction in the product data called in step S4 If the amount of print data is smaller than the height, it is determined that the requirement is not satisfied, and if not, it is determined that the requirement is satisfied. For example, in the case of the print item "product name", the print range (height) in the paper transport direction is 3 lines, but the print data is as small as 1 line.

When it is determined that the print data does not satisfy the height of the corresponding print item of the format data (step S16: NO), the position of the unsatisfied portion (marginal height portion) and the paper transport direction overlap. It is determined whether or not there is print data for other print items (other print items of the format data called in step S3) (step S17). In other words, it is determined whether or not there is another print item in the print data whose height position overlaps with the unsatisfactory portion (marginal height portion). That is, it is determined whether or not there is print data of other print items of the called format data to be printed in the extra height portion. For example, in the case of the print item "product name", the printing range (height) in the paper transport direction is 3 lines, and the print data is 1 line, so the portion that does not meet the requirements (the height margin) is 2 lines. Therefore, it is determined whether or not there is print data for each print item of "barcode", "price", "unit", "additive", and "store name" to be printed in the two lines. . That is, in step S17, when the format data in which the print items are arranged in parallel in the paper transport direction is called in step S3, the part (margin) of the one print item arranged in parallel is not satisfied. height portion), in the format data, it is determined whether the print data of the other print items arranged in parallel are to be printed in the unsatisfactory portion.

Then, if it is determined that there is no other print item in the print data that overlaps the height position (step S17: NO), the part that does not satisfy the height range (margin) is printed in the order of the print position in the call format data. The position data in the paper transport direction of all subsequent items are subtracted to change the position (step S18). For example, if the print item "product name" is determined in step S16, the position data in the paper transport direction for each of the print items such as barcode, price, unit, additives, and store name is reduced by two lines of "product name". . That is, each of the print items is printed so as to be shifted upstream by two lines of the "product name" with respect to the paper transport direction. Also, the label length data is shortened by two lines of "product name".

Next, it is determined whether or not all items of the call format data have been processed (step S19). If all items have not been processed (step S19: NO), the process returns to step S11.

On the other hand, if all the items of the call format data have been processed (step S19: YES), the product data of the same item in the call product data area for the print item searched in step S11 is aligned to the upper left of the print range, It is converted into dot data and written in the dot development area (step S20). At this time, it is performed based on the position of the format data in the calling format area and the font data. Then, the process returns to the main routine of FIG.

When returning to the main routine, if format number #1 and product number 0001 have been input, dot data is developed as shown in the right diagram of FIG. That is, the print items after the product name are moved up by two lines of "product name", and furthermore, the "store name" that is after "additives" is moved up by three lines of "additives". Then, the label length data of the call format data is shortened by two lines of "product name" and three lines of "additives".

On the other hand, if the printed item searched in step S11 does not correspond to any of "product name", "additives", "ingredients", and "message" (step S12: NO, step S13: NO, step S14: NO, step If S15: NO), skip steps S16, S17 and S18 and proceed to step S19. If it is determined that the print data satisfies the height of the corresponding print item of the format data (step S16: YES), steps S17 and S18 are skipped and the process proceeds to step S19. Also, if it is determined that there is another print item of the print data whose height position overlaps (step S17: YES), step S18 is skipped and the process proceeds to step S19.

In the present invention, the label attached to the packed perishable food has a price label printed with the product name and price on the surface of the product, and the additives and raw materials are mainly printed on the back surface of the product. It may be applied to a label printer capable of printing these two labels at once, in some cases with a back label.

Also, the format data may be configured so that the rotation angle of the print item can be set. Items for which the print range can be shortened are not limited to product names, additives, raw materials, and messages. Also, the timing of changing the print position is not limited to the time of printing or the time of dot expansion, and may be at the time when the print data is determined or after that.

Moreover, the print position is changed not only when the amount of print data is less than the print range, but also when it exceeds the print range. In this case, the positions of subsequent items are changed in the away direction by the amount exceeded. By doing so, it is possible to omit the operation of setting the print range in the paper transport direction from the format data.

Also, the linerless label printer may activate the adhesive surface of the paper when issuing the label. Also, the paper may be cut manually. Further, the label printer is not limited to a single unit, and may be one equipped with a scale, an automatic pasting device, a packaging machine, or a POS.

In this embodiment, the print data of each item is aligned to the top of the print range of the format. However, the print data may be aligned to the bottom. In the case of bottom alignment, in the item position change processing in step S18, not only the items after the item determined not to satisfy the height but also the item determined not to satisfy the height are changed.

In this embodiment, the position data of the format points to the upper left end of the print range, but it is not limited to this, and may point to the upper right end, the lower left end, or the lower right end. Note that the linerless label printer of this embodiment determines whether or not the corresponding print data for the print item satisfies the print range in the paper transport direction. It is also something that changes to close the position of . In addition, the liner-less label printer of the present embodiment performs different processing for change depending on whether there is print data for another print item whose position in the paper transport direction overlaps with the unsatisfied portion.

Additional notes are disclosed below.
(Supplementary Note 1) The linerless label printer according to Supplementary Note 1 prints on linerless label paper based on print format data in which at least the print position in the paper transport direction and the print range in the paper transport direction are set for each print item. In a linerless label printer that cuts and issues labels, if there is a print item where the print height in the paper feed direction of the print data corresponding to the print range is less than the print range in the paper feed direction , change the print position of either or both of the relevant print item and other print items in the paper transport direction so that the print height is less than the print range in the paper transport direction, so that the print height is shortened in the paper transport direction (paper (or change to pack on the downstream side of the paper). In other words, the print position may be shifted to the top of the print range, or may be shifted to the bottom of the print range (the same applies hereinafter). In addition, the linerless label printer compares the print range in the paper transport direction with the print height in the paper transport direction of the print data corresponding to the print range, and determines that the print height meets the print range in the paper transport direction. For a print item that does not have a print item, the print position in the paper transport direction of either or both of the print item and other print items is shortened in the paper transport direction by the amount that the print height is less than the print range in the paper transport direction. may be changed to

According to the liner-less label printer, even when labels with different print data amounts are issued for the same print item, there is no need to change the print format, so the number of print format types can be reduced. Moreover, since the intervals between the printed items can be maintained, the effect on the appearance of the label can be suppressed.

The liner-less label printer may compare a print range in the paper transport direction with a print height in the paper transport direction of print data corresponding to the print range for a predetermined print item. The predetermined print item may be any of product name, additives, message, or raw material.

According to the liner-less label printer, by judging whether or not the print data satisfies the print range for print items such as product names, additives, messages, or raw materials, these items can be printed depending on the product. Often different and effective.

In the linerless label printer, when there is no print data of another print item whose print height is less than the print range in the paper transport direction and the print position of the print item in the paper transport direction overlaps, the print item or the other print item The print position in the paper transport direction of either one or both of the print items may be changed so that the print height is less than the print range in the paper transport direction, so that it is narrowed in the paper transport direction.

According to the linerless label printer, by changing the processing depending on whether or not there is print data for other print items that overlap in the paper transport direction, even if the print items are arranged in parallel in the paper transport direction. Paper can be saved without any problems.

1 linerless label paper 2 label roll 3, 17 thermal head 4 platen roller 5, 19 cutter 6 label 10 CPU
11 flash memory 12 RAM
13 Operation Unit 14 Display Unit 15 Communication Unit 16 Interface 18 Stepping Motor

Claims (1)

A linerless label printer,
Control means for controlling printing on the linerless label paper based on print format data in which at least the print position in the paper transport direction and the print range in the paper transport direction are set for each print item,
The control means is
There is a print item in which the print height in the paper transport direction of the print data corresponding to the print range is less than the print range in the paper transport direction, and the print height is less than the print range in the paper transport direction. If there is no other print item whose print height overlaps with the print position in the paper transport direction of the print range of the print item, the print height of the print item is less than the print range in the paper transport direction. The print position in the paper transport direction of another print item on the downstream side in the paper transport direction and which is predetermined as a print item that changes the print range in the paper transport direction A liner-less label printer characterized by executing a process of shifting to the upstream side in the paper conveying direction in order of printing position from the upstream side in the paper conveying direction by the amount that is less than the printing range of .

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