JP4313015B2 - Labeling device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a label sticking device for sticking a label to a product supported by a transport surface of a product conveyor for transporting the product.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In the conventional label affixing device, an issued label is temporarily waited in order to match the label affixing timing for a product to be conveyed, and then a label affixing operation is started. As such a standby method, the issued label is sandwiched between the platen roller and the print head (see, for example, Patent Document 1), or the front end of the issued label is brought into contact with the nail on the sticking roller. By doing.
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
JP 2001-80619 A (Page 2-5, FIG. 2)
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, since the label issued from the label printer is temporarily stopped, the processing capability is not improved. Further, if the issued label is sandwiched between the platen roller and the print head, an area where printing cannot be performed occurs. On the other hand, when making it wait with a nail | claw, the adhesive agent apply | coated to the label adheres to a nail | claw and a nail | claw becomes dirty.
[0005]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a label sticking device capable of improving the processing capability, eliminating the non-printable area, and preventing the device from being soiled.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, a label sticking device of the present invention is a label sticking device for sticking a label to a product supported by a transport surface of a product conveyor for transporting a product, and prints and issues a label. Label printer, label affixing means for transporting the issued label and affixing it to the product, sensor for detecting the product on the product conveyor, and time until the sensor arrives at the label affixing position after detecting the product A calculating means for calculating or a storing means for storing, and a label printing start timing of the label printer and an operation of the label applying means based on the product arrival time calculated or stored by the calculating means or the storing means. Control means for applying the label to the product without waiting for the label to be applied after the label starts printing. Ete made.
[0007]
That is, when the times T0, T1, T2 and T3 are defined as follows:
T0: Product arrival time after the sensor detects the product until the product arrives at the label application position T1: Start time from when the sensor detects the product to the start of printing of the label T2: Printing the label Printing time T3 required for the transfer: The transport time for transporting the issued (printed) label to the application position The total time ΣT = (T1 + T2 + T3) of the times T1 to T3 coincides with the commodity arrival time T0.
[0008]
The printing time T2 varies depending on the printing amount of the product and the length of the label. Therefore, in the present invention, the total time ΣT can be matched with the commodity arrival time T0 by controlling the start time T1 and / or the transport time T3.
[0009]
By the way, the transport speed of the label is a speed approximate to or the same speed as the transport speed of the merchandise and cannot be changed greatly. On the other hand, the label transport time T3 varies depending on the label length printed and issued even if the label transport speed is constant. Therefore, it is preferable to make the total time ΣT coincide with the product arrival time T0 by obtaining and controlling the start time T1 for each product.
[0010]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
The label sticking device of the present invention can be applied to any of an upper sticking device for sticking a label on the upper surface of a product and a lower sticking device for sticking a label to the lower surface of the product. A case where the present invention is applied to an undercoating apparatus will be described as an example. In the following description, the product M is placed and transported on the tray T. The product M may refer to the product M and may refer to the tray T.
[0011]
overall structure:
As shown in FIG. 1, the products M placed in the tray T are transported by an upstream first conveyor (product conveyor) 101 and a downstream second conveyor (product conveyor) 105. Between the conveyors 101 and 105, a label conveyor (label sticking means) 1 is provided.
As will be described later, the label L printed and issued by the label printer 30 is conveyed by the label conveyor 1 and attached to the lower surface of the tray T.
[0012]
Label printer 30:
The label printer 30 includes a winding roller 31 and a winding roller 32. For example, printing paper _RL having a number of labels on a mount is mounted on the unwinding roller 31. When the printing paper _RL is unwound from the unwinding roller 31, predetermined printing is performed on the label L by the print head 34 in the platen roller 33 in FIG. Thereafter, the printing paper R _L is folded back by the peeling bar 35, the label L is peeled off from the mount R, the label L is issued, and the mount R is wound around the winding roller 32 (FIG. 1). At this time, the label L is issued with the label L sticking surface (the surface to which the adhesive is attached) facing upward.
[0013]
As shown in FIG. 2, the label conveyor 1 is disposed between the first conveyor 101 and the second conveyor 105, that is, below the gap S between the conveying surfaces of both the conveyors 101 and 105. . The label conveyor 1 receives the label L issued from the label printer 30, transfers the label L obliquely upward toward the notch S along the inclined surface 10 of the label conveyor 1, and jumps out of the notch S It is something to be made. The protruding label L comes into contact with the lower surface of the product M at the label attaching position P and is attached.
The conveyor belt 11 of the label conveyor 1 is formed of, for example, a large number of ropes or a net-like material having a large number of holes, and the suction force by the blower 2 is applied to the label L on the inclined surface 10. It comes to work. The lower side of the label conveyor 1 faces the suction chamber 3 so that the suction force by the blower 2 works. The blower 2 always sucks air while the conveyors 101 and 105 are driven.
[0014]
This apparatus is provided with first to third nozzles 21 to 23 for blowing air to the label L. Due to this air blowing force, the label L of FIG. 2 is easily and smoothly peeled off from the mount R at the part of the peeling bar 35, and the label L is attached to the tray T as shown in FIG. Pressed against the lower surface and stuck to the tray T.
[0015]
Product detector 51:
A product detector 51 for detecting the product M is provided above the first conveyor 101 shown in FIG. The product detector 51 is composed of, for example, an optical sensor, and when a product M on the first conveyor 101 is detected, a product detection signal is sent to the microcomputer 10 described later.
[0016]
Control configuration:
As shown in FIG. 4, the apparatus includes a microcomputer (microcomputer) 10. The microcomputer 10 includes the commodity detector 51, the first conveyor 101, the second conveyor 102, the label printer 30, the label conveyor 1, the touch screen 13, the stroke key unit 14, and the local control device 17 through an interface (not shown). Connected. The microcomputer 10 constitutes a control means for controlling each device connected to the microcomputer 10 and attaching the label L to the product M.
[0017]
The microcomputer 10 includes a CPU (calculation means) 11 and a memory (storage means) 12. The CPU 11 includes a timer 11a for measuring time.
The memory 12 includes a product information storage unit 12a, a tray information storage unit 12b, and a label information storage unit 12c.
[0018]
As shown in FIG. 5 (a), the product information storage unit 12a associates the product name, unit price, printing time T2, label position f, tray number, label number, etc., for each product call number. Is remembered.
The printing time T2 is a time required for the label printer 30 to print the label L. The printing time T2 is calculated based on the printing contents (for example, the number of printing characters) including the product name and price and the printing speed of the label printer 30. As the printing time T2, a value calculated in advance based on the product name or price is stored.
As shown in FIG. 7, the label position f (f1 to f3) is a distance from the front end of the tray T to the front end of the label L attached to the tray T.
[0019]
The tray information storage unit 12b stores the depth, width, height, and the like of the tray in association with each other for each tray number.
The label information storage unit 12c stores the length and width of the label in association with each other for each label number.
The memory 12 stores in advance a transport time T3 and a detection distance a described later. The transport time T3 is a transport time required for transporting the label L by the label conveyor 1.
[0020]
The touch screen 13 constitutes display means for displaying various information, menus, and the like on a display screen such as a liquid crystal screen, for example, and an input for inputting or setting by touching a part of the display. Means. Accordingly, the touch screen 13 constitutes display means, and constitutes input means together with the key stroke portion 14.
Predetermined values are input to the storage units 12a, 12b, and 12c in advance using the touch screen 13 and the key stroke unit 14.
[0021]
Labeling principle:
Next, the principle of applying the label of the present invention will be described.
As shown in FIG. 6, when the commodity detector 51 (FIG. 1) detects the commodity M, the label printer 30 starts printing the label L at the print start timing T11 after the start time T1 has elapsed. After the printing time T2 required for printing the label L elapses, the issued label L is conveyed by the label conveyor 1 at the conveyance start timing T12 of the label L. After the transport time T3 required for transporting the label L elapses, the front end of the label L is pasted on the lower surface of the tray T at the arrival timing T13, and the label L sticking is started.
[0022]
Here, the total time ΣT from the detection of the commodity M to the arrival timing T13 is calculated by the following equation (1).
Total time ΣT = start time T1 + printing time T2 + transport time T3 (1)
Therefore, if the time from when the commodity detector 51 detects the commodity M until the commodity M arrives at the label attaching position P2 is defined as the commodity arrival time T0, the total time ΣT becomes the commodity arrival time T0. By controlling so as to match, it is possible to attach the label L to an arbitrary position of the product M.
[0023]
Therefore, the start time T1, the printing time T2, and the transport time T3 are obtained as follows, and the apparatus is controlled based on the respective values.
The printing time T2 is obtained based on the printing contents and the capability of the label printer 30. Therefore, the printing time T2 is uniquely determined according to the printing content.
The conveyance time T3 is obtained based on the conveyance speed of the label L of the label conveyor 1. In the present embodiment, the conveyance speed of the label L is set to the same or approximate speed as the conveyance speed of the commodity conveyors 101 and 105. Therefore, the conveyance time T3 is uniquely determined according to the conveyance speed of the commodity conveyors 101 and 105.
[0024]
Therefore, by calculating and controlling the start time T1 for each product, the total time ΣT can be matched with the product arrival time T0.
In order to calculate the start time T1, first, a product arrival time T0 is calculated.
As shown in FIGS. 7A, 7B, and 7C, from the detection of the product M to the label application position P2 depending on the size of the tray T and the label L application location on the tray T. The pasting distance D (D1 to D3) is different. The pasting distance D can be calculated by adding the label position f (f1 to f3) to the detection distance a from the commodity detection position P1 to the label pasting position P2 by the commodity detector 51. Therefore, the commodity arrival time T0 is calculated by the following equation (2).
Product arrival time T0 = (detection distance a + label position f) / product transport speed.
[0025]
Next, the start time T1 in FIG. 6 is calculated by the following equation (3).
Start time T1 = product arrival time T0-printing time T2-conveying time T3 (3)
Therefore, if the label detection is started after the calculated start time T1 from the product detection by the product detector 51, the label L is pasted to a predetermined position of the product M after the printing time T2 and the transport time T3. It is possible.
[0026]
How to apply the label:
First, after an operator performs a predetermined operation and designates a product to be processed, when the apparatus is started, the CPU 11 in FIG. 4 is associated with the product from each of the storage units 12a, 12b, and 12c. Read the stored contents.
Based on the stored contents, the CPU 11 calculates the start time T1 using the above-described equations (2) and (3).
[0027]
When the commodity detector 51 detects the commodity M conveyed on the first conveyor 101, a commodity detection signal is transmitted to the microcomputer 10. When the microcomputer 10 receives the product detection signal, the timer 11a starts measuring time. Based on the time measured by the timer 11a, the time when the CPU 11 determines that the start time T1 has elapsed is set as the print start timing T11, and the label printer 30 is started to print the label L. Thereafter, the label L printed and issued after the printing time T2 is conveyed by the label conveyor 1, and the label L pops out from the label attaching position P2 after the conveyance time T3. On the other hand, the commodity conveyors 101 and 105 continue to convey the commodity M, and the label L that has jumped out from the label pasting position P <b> 2 comes into contact with and adheres to the lower surface of the commodity M.
[0028]
As described above, the printing of the label L is started after the predetermined start time T1 has elapsed since the commodity detection by the commodity detector 51. As soon as the label L is issued, the conveyance of the label L is started, and the conveyance is continued as it is and is affixed to the product M. Therefore, the issued label L can be stuck without stopping. For this reason, since it is not necessary to sandwich the label in order to stop the label L, there is no unprintable area. In addition, since there is no need to provide a standby claw, there is no possibility that the apparatus becomes dirty.
[0029]
As described above, the preferred embodiments have been described with reference to the drawings. However, those skilled in the art will readily understand various changes and modifications within the obvious scope by looking at the present specification.
For example, the tray T is not always necessary, and only the product M may be transported. Further, the printing time T2 and the conveyance time T3 are not stored, but may be calculated each time. Furthermore, the product arrival time T0 may be calculated in advance, and the time T0 may be stored in the memory 12 for each product.
Further, the start time T1 until the start of label printing may be constant, or the start time T1 may be changed and the transport time T3 for transporting the label to the label application position may be changed. In this case, the label conveyance speed may be changed.
Moreover, this invention does not limit the structure of a label sticking means. For example, the label may be attached to the upper surface of the product.
Accordingly, such changes and modifications are to be construed as within the scope of the present invention as defined by the claims.
[0030]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, since the label is affixed to the product without waiting for the label to be affixed after the label printing is started, the processing capability can be greatly improved.
In addition, there is no need to sandwich the issued label between the platen roller and the print head, or to stop the label with a nail, so there is no need for a non-printable area and a nail that tends to get dirty. Since there is no device, the device can be kept clean.
In addition, once the issued label is stopped, the reliability of label sticking may be reduced, but such a problem does not occur.
[0031]
Furthermore, if the start time T1 until the label printing starts is changed for each product and the printing start timing of the label printer is controlled, it is possible to deal with various products and labels simply by changing the software. The processing capability can be improved without incurring.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a label sticking device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view showing the operation of the apparatus.
FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view showing the operation of the apparatus.
FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a device configuration of the apparatus.
FIG. 5 is a chart showing storage contents of a storage unit.
FIG. 6 is a timing chart showing label application timing.
FIG. 7 is a schematic side view showing a relationship between a product detection position and a label application position.
[Explanation of symbols]
10: Control means 11: CPU (calculation means)
12: Memory (storage means)
30: Label printer 51: Product detector (sensor)
101: First conveyor (conveyor for goods)
105: Second conveyor (commodity conveyor)
L: Label M: Product

Claims (4)

A label affixing device for affixing a label to a product supported by a conveyance surface of a product conveyor for conveying the product,
A label printer that prints and issues labels;
Label affixing means for transporting the issued label and affixing it to the product;
A sensor for detecting products on the product conveyor;
A calculating means for calculating the time from when the sensor detects the product until it arrives at the label attaching position, or a storing means for storing;
Controlling the label printing start timing of the label printer and the operation of the label pasting means based on the product arrival time computed or stored by the computing means or the storage means, until the label is pasted after the label printing starts Control means for attaching the label to the product without waiting for the label between
A labeling device comprising: In claim 1,
A start time T1 from when the sensor detects a product to a start of printing the label, a print time T2 required to print the label, and a transport time T3 for transporting the issued label to the application position. Total time ΣT = T1 + T2 + T3,
After the sensor detects the product, the product arrival time T0 until the product arrives at the labeling position matches.
A label affixing device in which the control means obtains a start time T1 until the label printing starts for each product. In claim 1 or 2,
A label affixing device in which the control unit obtains a label conveyance speed by the affixing unit for each product. In claim 1, 2 or 3,
A label affixing system comprising input means for inputting predetermined parameters to the calculation means or the storage means.

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