JP5741794B2 - Mountless label printer - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a mountless label printer that prints a product name, a price, and the like on a sheet without a mount and issues it as a label to be attached to a product.

  Conventionally, when using a mountless label printer that requires long labels with a large print amount according to the product, or conversely, when short labels are required, each print format data can be selected, printed, and cut. As described above, there has been proposed a technique capable of saving paper and reducing paper replacement as compared with a method using paper that has been cut into a predetermined length in advance (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2007-8509 A

  However, with this conventional technology, it is necessary to set a large number of types of print formats. For this setting, it is necessary to set and input all the print positions and print ranges for each print item. When using it, because it displays the product, it affects the quality of the appearance depending on the dimensions between the printed items, so it was a big problem because the format must be confirmed after setting. .

  The present invention has been made in consideration of such circumstances, and the object of the present invention is to reduce the number of types of print formats and to improve the appearance of labels even when issuing labels having different print data amounts. It is an object of the present invention to provide a mountless label printer that can suppress the influence on the printer.

In order to solve the above problem, a mountless label printer according to an embodiment of the present invention is based on print format data 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. Thus, in a mountless label printer that prints on a mountless label sheet, cuts and issues a label, the print height in the sheet transport direction of the print data corresponding to the print range corresponds to the print range in the sheet transport direction. If there is a print item that is less than the specified print item, the print position of one or both of the other print items , or both , is conveyed as much as the print height is less than the print range in the paper transfer direction. It is characterized in that it is changed so as to be packed in the direction ( changed so that it is packed on the upstream side of the paper, or changed so that it is packed on the downstream side of the paper) . That is, the print position may be padded with the upper end of the print range or may be padded with the lower end of the print range (the same applies hereinafter). The mountless 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 the print height satisfies the print range in the paper transport direction. For print items that do not exist , the print position in the paper transport direction of either or both of the print items and other print items is reduced in the paper transport direction so that the print height is less than the print range in the paper transport direction. It may be changed to.

  According to the above mountless label printer, even when a label having a different print data amount is issued for the same print item, it is not necessary to change the print format, so that the types of print formats can be reduced. Moreover, since the interval between the print items can be maintained, the influence on the appearance of the label can be suppressed.

The mountless 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 a product name, an additive, a message, or a raw material .

  According to the mountless label printer, by determining whether the print data satisfies the print range for the print items of product names, additives, messages, or raw materials, the print data amount of these items depends on the product. It is often different and effective.

The backing-less label printer, wherein when the printing height is no print data of other print item that overlaps the printing position location of the print item and the paper conveyance Direction less than the printing range of the paper conveying direction, the print item Or, the print position in one or both of the other print items may be changed so that the print height is less than the print range in the paper transport direction so as to be narrowed in the paper transport direction. Good.

According to the backing-less label printer, by changing the processing depending on whether there is print data for the other print item position of the sheet conveyance direction overlap, if the printed item is arranged in parallel to the sheet conveying direction Even so, paper can be saved without hindrance.

  According to the present invention, even when a label having a different print data amount is issued, the types of print formats can be reduced, and the influence on the appearance of the label can be suppressed.

It is the schematic which shows the mechanism of the mountless label printer by embodiment of this invention. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a mountless label printer according to an embodiment. FIG. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the data structure of the format file managed with the mountless label printer by this embodiment. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the data structure of the product file managed with the mountless label printer by this embodiment. It is a main flowchart for demonstrating operation | movement of the mountless label printer by this embodiment. It is a flowchart for demonstrating operation | movement of the expansion | deployment routine to dot data by this embodiment. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the cut label by this embodiment.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the mechanism of a mountless label printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a thermal head 3 and a platen roller 4 driven by a stepping motor are drawn out from a label roll 2 in which a mountless label paper 1 having a heat-sensitive coloring surface and an adhesive surface on the back is wound in a roll shape. The paper is conveyed between the paper sheets and heated to print. Further, the printed paper is cut by a cutter 5 and issued as a label 6.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the mountless label printer according to the present 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 (the thermal head 3 in FIG. And 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 a program on the flash memory 11 to control 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) and processing data. Among them, a dot development area for developing print data into dot data and one format data from a format file are called. A call format area for storing data and a call product data area for calling and storing product data.

  The RAM 12 also includes a format file (see FIG. 3) in which a label printing format is defined, a product file (see FIG. 4) in which various product data for label printing are defined, and a font file (character generator). ) And the like are stored, and are backed up by a battery so as to retain product files and format files even when the power is turned off. In addition, the current mode (for example, the price mode, the setting mode, the report mode, and the maintenance mode) of the mountless label printer is also stored in the RAM 12.

  The operation unit 13 is an input device for operating the label printer, and is a touch panel configured integrally 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 inputs and outputs data between the CPU 10 and the like, each driving unit described later, and a motor. The thermal head 17 generates heat on the paper 1 based on a command from the CPU 10. The stepping motor 18 rotationally drives the label roller 2 and the platen roller 4 so that the label paper 1 is conveyed to a predetermined printing position or heating position based on a command from the CPU 10. The cutter 19 cuts the paper 1 after printing based on a command from the CPU 10.

  FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing a data structure of a format file managed by the mountless label printer according to the present embodiment. Various print formats can be set in the format file, the format number that identifies the format type, the label length that determines the cut length of the paper, and the print items include product name, additive, message, raw material, price , Bar code, unit, expiration date, processing date and time, shop name, etc., and these print items are the print position (the upper left of the label is 0, 0 and indicates the upper left of the print range), the paper transport direction The font that specifies the height, the length that is the printing range orthogonal to the height, and the character font type are set.

  FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing a data structure of a product file managed by the mountless label printer according to the present embodiment. Items such as a product number, a product name, a price, a barcode, an additive, a message, and raw materials are set in the product file. When setting multiple lines of print data for each item, insert a line feed code at the end of each line.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the mountless label printer according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to a flowchart. FIG. 5 is a main flowchart for explaining the operation of the mountless label printer according to the present embodiment. FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the rasterizing routine for dot data according to the present embodiment. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a cut label according to the present embodiment. Note that the CPU 10 controls each step shown in FIGS. 5 and 6.

  In FIG. 5, first, the RAM 12 is referred to and it is determined whether or not it is a valued mode in which a label is issued (step S1). If it is determined that the mode is not the priced 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. Return to.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that the mode is a valued mode (step S1: YES), desired format data is called from the format file to the call format area in the RAM 12 (step S3). The desired format data is format data specified by a format number specified 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 of the format specified by the format number # 1, it is assumed that the product name has a print range of 3 lines and the additive has a print 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 calling 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. Note that the product name and additive of the product specified by the product number 0001 are each the amount of print data 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 the platen roller 4 are controlled to print on the paper 1 (step S6). 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, when the format number # 1 format is called in step S3 and the product data of the product number 0001 is called in step S4, a label as shown on the right side of the arrow in FIG. 7 is issued. Then, the process returns to step S1.

  In FIG. 6, first, in the format data called in step S3 in FIG. 5, the determination process (at least the determination process in step S12 among the determination processes in steps S12 to S15) is not performed in the paper transport direction. On the other hand, the most upstream print item is searched (step S11). For example, in the first determination process, the most upstream print item is “product name”.

  Next, it is determined whether or not the print item searched in step S11 is “product name” (step S12). If it is not “product name”, it is determined whether or not it is “additive” (step S13). ) If it is not “additive”, it is determined whether it is “raw material” (step S14). If it is not “raw material”, it is determined whether it is “message” (step S15). .

  It should be noted that the “item name”, “additive”, “raw material”, and “message” printing items determined in steps S12 to S15 are the printing range (height) in the paper transport direction according to the amount of printing data. Is predetermined as a print item for changing. More specifically, each print item has a smaller (shorter) print range when the print data amount (for example, the number of lines) in the paper transport direction is smaller than the print range (for example, the number of lines) in the paper transport direction. The print items to be made are predetermined.

When the print item searched in step S11 corresponds to any of the above-mentioned “product name”, “additive”, “raw material”, 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 print item in the format data (print range in the paper transport direction) (Step S16). That is, for each print item that is YES in steps S12 to S15, the height of the format data (print range in the paper transport direction) called in step S3 and the print data in the paper transport direction in the product data called in step S4. When the amount of print data is small with respect to the height, it is determined that it is not satisfied, and when it is not small, it is determined that it is satisfied.
For example, in the case of the print item “product name”, the print range (height) in the paper conveyance direction is for three lines, but the print data is as small as one line, so it is determined that it is not satisfied.

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 that does not satisfy (the marginal height portion) and the paper conveyance direction overlap. It is determined whether there is print data of another print item (other print item of the format data called in step S3) (step S17). In other words, it is determined whether or not there is another print item of print data in which the height position overlaps with the unfilled portion (the marginal height portion). That is, it is determined whether or not there is print data to be printed in a marginal height portion, which is print data of another print item of the called format data. For example, in the case of the print item “product name”, the print range (height) in the paper transport direction is for 3 lines and the print data is for 1 line, so the unfilled part (the marginal height part) is for 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”, and the print data to be printed in the portion corresponding to the two lines. .
That is, in step S17, when format data in which print items are arranged in parallel in the paper conveyance direction is called in step S3, a portion that does not satisfy one print item arranged in parallel (the margin is not enough). When there is a height portion), it is determined whether or not the print data of the other print items arranged in parallel in the format data is to be printed on the unfilled portion.

  If it is determined that there is no other print item of the print data whose height position overlaps (step S17: NO), the print position order in the call format data is as much as the height range is not satisfied (allowance). Subsequent position data in the paper transport direction of all items is subtracted so as to be narrowed upward to change the position (step S18). For example, when the print item “product name” is determined in step S16, the position data in the paper transport direction of each print item of barcode, price, unit, additive, and store name is reduced by two lines of “product name”. . That is, each print item is printed by being packed two lines upstream of the “product name” in the paper conveyance direction. The label length data is also 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, when all 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 at 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 call 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 are input, the dot data is expanded as shown in the right diagram of FIG. That is, the print item after the product name moves upward by two lines of “product name”, and “store name” after “additive” moves upward by three lines of “additive”. Then, the label length data of the call format data is shortened by two lines of “product name” and three lines of “additive”.

  On the other hand, when the print item searched in step S11 does not correspond to any of “product name”, “additive”, “raw material”, and “message” (step S12: NO, step S13: NO, step S14: NO, step In step S15: NO), steps S16, S17, and S18 are skipped, and the process proceeds 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. 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, a label attached to a packaged fresh food has a price label on which the product name and price are printed on the front surface of the product, and additives and raw materials are mainly printed on the back surface of the product. In some cases, a back side label may be attached, and it may be applied to a label printer that can issue these two labels at a time.

  Further, the rotation angle of the print item may be set in the format data. The items that can shorten the print range are not limited to product names, additives, raw materials, and messages, but may be items that the print range in the paper transport direction changes depending on the amount of print data of the item. The timing for changing the print position is not limited to the time of printing or dot development, but may be the time when the print data is determined or after that.

  The print position change is not limited to the case where the print data amount is less than the print range, but may be when the print range is exceeded. In this case, the position is changed in the direction away from the subsequent items. In this way, the setting operation of the print range in the paper transport direction can be omitted from the format data.

  Further, the mountless label printer may activate the adhesive surface of the paper when the label is issued. Further, the paper may be cut manually. Moreover, it is not limited to a label printer alone, but may be a scale, an automatic sticking device, a packaging machine, or a POS.

  Further, in this embodiment, the print data of each item is positioned in the format printing range in the upper order. However, the present invention is not limited to this and may be positioned in the lower order. In the case of bottom adjustment, in the item position changing process 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 position.

In this embodiment, the position data of the format is pointing to the upper left end of the print range, not limited to this, right upper, left lower end, it may refer to the lower right end. The mountless label printer of the present embodiment determines whether or not the corresponding print data for the print item satisfies the print range in the paper transport direction, and if not, at least other print items thereafter It is also a thing which changes so that the position of may be packed. Further, the mountless label printer of this embodiment has different change processes depending on whether or not there is print data of other print items in which the unfilled portion and the position in the paper transport direction overlap.

1 Mount paperless 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)

Based on the 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 mountless so that the top and bottom direction of the paper transport direction and print item are reversed. In mountless label printers that print on label paper, cut and issue labels,
There are print items where the print height in the paper transport direction of the print data corresponding to the print range does not meet the print range in the paper transport direction, and the print height is less than the print range in the paper transport direction. If the Printout item the printing height is that portion and the do heavy paper conveying direction of the printing position that is less than of the print range of the print item does not exist in the other, the print height on the print range of the sheet conveying direction The print position in the paper transport direction of the other print items downstream in the paper transport direction from the print item that is less than the print item is narrowed to the upstream in the paper transport direction so that the print height is less than the print range in the paper transport direction. A mountless label printer characterized by changing.

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