JP6884427B2 - Mountless label printer - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a mount-less label printer that prints a product name, price, etc. on a paper without a mount, cuts the product, and issues the label as a label to be attached to the product.

Conventionally, when a mount-less label printer requires a long label with a large amount of printing according to the product, or conversely, when a short label is required, the print format data is selected, printed, and cut. As described above, a technique capable of saving paper and reducing paper replacement has been proposed as compared with a method using paper cut to a certain length in advance (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP-A-2007-8509

However, in this conventional technique, it is necessary to set a large number of print format types, and in this setting, all the print positions, print ranges, etc. must be set and input for each print item, and moreover, at a retail store. When using it, since it is a product display, the dimensions between the printed items affect the appearance, so it was a big problem because it was necessary to check the format after setting. ..

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

In order to solve the above problem, the mount-less label printer according to the embodiment of the present invention is a mount-less label printer, and for each print item, at least the printing position in the paper transport direction and the print range in the paper transport direction are set. A control means for controlling printing on a mount-less label paper based on the set print format data is provided, and the control means transfers the print data corresponding to the print range with respect to the print range in the paper transport direction. There is a print item that does not meet the print height in the direction, and the print height does not meet the print range in the paper transport direction. Of the print range of the print item, the portion that does not meet the print height and the paper transport direction When there is no other print item with overlapping print positions, the print position of other print items downstream in the paper transport direction from the print item whose print height is less than the print range in the paper transport direction is set in the paper transport direction. The print height is less than the print range in the paper transport direction, and the print height is changed so as to be packed on the upstream side in the paper transport direction.

According to the present invention, even when labels having different amounts of print data are issued, the types of print formats can be reduced, and the influence on the appearance of the labels can be suppressed.

It is the schematic which shows the mechanism of the mountless label printer by embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the mountless label printer by this embodiment. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the data structure of the format file managed by the mount-less label printer by this embodiment. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the data structure of the product file managed by the mount-less label printer by this embodiment. It is a main flowchart for demonstrating the operation of the mountless label printer by this Embodiment. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the operation of the expansion 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 view showing a mechanism of a mountless label printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, paper is pulled out from a label roll 2 in which a mountless label paper 1 having a heat-sensitive color-developing surface on the front surface and an adhesive surface on the back surface in a roll shape, and a thermal head 3 and a platen roller 4 driven by a stepping motor The paper is transported by sandwiching it between them and heated for printing. Further, the printed paper is cut by the cutter 5 and issued as the label 6.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a mountless label printer according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the mount-less label printer according to the present embodiment has 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, and a thermal head 17 (the thermal head 3 in FIG. 1). A stepping motor 18 and a cutter 19 (corresponding to the cutter 5 in FIG. 1) are provided.

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

The RAM 12 has a work area for temporarily calling (reading) data for processing, and in the work area, a dot expanding area for expanding print data into dot data and one format data being called from a format file. There is a call format area for recalling and storing product data, a call product data area for recalling and storing product data, and the like.

Further, the RAM 12 includes a format file in which the label printing format is defined (see FIG. 3), a product file in which various product data for label printing is defined (see FIG. 4), and a font file (character generator). ) Etc. are stored, and are backed up by a battery so that product files and format files are retained even when the power is turned off. In addition, the current modes (for example, pricing mode, setting mode, report mode, maintenance mode) of the main mount-less label printer are also stored in the RAM 12.

The operation unit 13 is an input device for operating the label printer, and is a touch panel integrally configured 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 / outputs data between the CPU 10 and the like, each drive unit described later, and the motor. The thermal head 17 generates heat on the paper 1 based on the command of the CPU 10. The stepping motor 18 rotationally drives the label roll 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 printed paper 1 based on the command of the CPU 10.

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

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing a data structure of a product file managed by the mount-less label printer according to the present embodiment. Items such as product numbers, product names, prices, barcodes, additives, messages, and raw materials are set in the product file. When setting print data of multiple lines for each item, insert a line feed code at the end of each line.

Hereinafter, the operation of the mount-less label printer according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the 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 expansion routine for dot data according to the present embodiment. Further, FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing an example of a cut label according to the present embodiment. 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 the label is issued in the pricing mode (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 Return to.

On the other hand, when it is determined that the mode is in the pricing mode (step S1: YES), the RAM 12 calls the desired format data from the format file into the call format area (step S3). The 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 specified, the format data of the format specified by the format number # 1 is called up. 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 in the called product data area is called from the product (step S4). The product to be priced is specified by the operator designating 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 specified, 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 the additive of the product specified by the product number 0001 are the amount of print data for one line (see FIG. 4).

Next, the print data of the product data called in step S4 is expanded into dot data according to the format called in step S3 (step S5). The 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). Then, the cutter 19 is controlled based on the label length data of the call format area to cut the paper 1 (step S7). That is, when the format of the format number # 1 is called in step S3 and the product data of the product 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 of FIG. 5, the determination process (at least the determination process of step S12 among the determination processes of steps S12 to S15) is not performed in the paper transport direction. On the other hand, the print item on the most upstream side is searched (step S11). For example, if it is the first time of the above determination process, the print item on the most upstream side is the "product name".

Next, it is determined whether or not the print item searched in step S11 is the "product name" (step S12), and if it is not the "product name", it is determined whether or not it is an "additive" (step S13). ), 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", "additive", "raw material", and "message" determined in steps S12 to S15 have a print range (height) in the paper transport direction according to the amount of print data. It is predetermined as a print item for changing. More specifically, each of the above print items makes the print range smaller (shorter) when the amount of print data (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. It is a predetermined print item to be printed.

When the print item searched in step S11 corresponds to any of the above "product name", "additive", "raw material", and "message" (step S12: YES, step S13: YES, step S14: YES, Step S15: YES), regarding the corresponding print item It is determined whether or not the corresponding print data satisfies the height (print range in the paper transport direction) of the print item of the format data (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. Compared with the amount, it is judged that the print data amount is not satisfied when the print data amount is small with respect to the height, and it is judged that the print data amount is satisfied when the print data amount is not small. For example, in the case of the print item "product name", the print range (height) in the paper transport direction is for three lines, whereas the print data is as small as one line, so it is determined that the print data is not satisfied.

Then, when it is determined that the print data does not satisfy the height of the corresponding print item in the format data (step S16: NO), the positions of the unsatisfied portion (marginal height portion) and the paper transport direction overlap. It is determined whether or not there is print data of another print item (another 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 the print data in which the unsatisfied portion (marginal height portion) and the height position overlap. That is, it is determined whether or not there is print data to be printed in the marginal height portion of the print data of other print items of the recalled 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 unsatisfied part (margin height part) is for 2 lines. Therefore, it is determined whether or not there is print data to be printed in the two lines of the print data of each print item of "bar code", "price", "unit", "additive", and "store name". .. 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 portion (margin) that does not satisfy one print item arranged in parallel is satisfied. When there is a height portion), it is determined whether or not the print data of other print items arranged in parallel in the format data is to be printed in the unsatisfied portion.

Then, when it is determined that there is no other print item of the print data whose height positions overlap (step S17: NO), the portion that does not satisfy the height range (margin) is placed in the order of the print position in the call format data. The position data of all subsequent items in the paper transport direction is subtracted so as to be packed upward to change the position (step S18). For example, when the print item "product name" is determined in step S16, the position data of each print item of the barcode, price, unit, additive, and store name in the paper transport direction is reduced by two lines of the "product name". .. That is, each of the print items is printed two lines upstream of the "product name" in the paper transport direction. Also, the label length data is shortened by two lines of the "product name".

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

On the other hand, when all the items of the call format data are processed (step S19: YES), for the print items searched in step S11, the product data of the same item in the call product data area is padded to the upper left of the print range. It is converted into dot data and written in the dot expansion 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 the format number # 1 and the product number 0001 are input when returning to the main routine, the dot data is expanded as shown in the right figure of FIG. That is, the printed items after the product name move upward by two lines of the "product name", and the "store name" after the "additive" moves upward by three lines of the "additive". Then, the label length data of the call format data is shortened by two lines of the "product name" and three lines of the "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 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 are other print items of the print data whose height positions overlap (step S17: YES), step S18 is skipped and the process proceeds to step S19.

In the present invention, in the label to be attached to the packed fresh food, a priced label on which the product name and price are printed is attached to the front surface of the product, and additives and raw materials are mainly printed on the back surface of the product. The back side label may be affixed, and these two labels may be applied to a label printer capable of issuing at the same time.

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

Further, the print position change is not limited to the case where the amount of print data is less than the print range, and may be the case where the print position is exceeded. In this case, the position of the following items is changed in the direction away from each other by the excess amount. By doing so, it is possible to omit the operation of setting the print range in the paper transport direction from the format data.

Further, the mount-less label printer may activate the adhesive surface of the paper when issuing the label. Further, the paper may be cut manually. Further, the label printer is not limited to a single body, and may be equipped with a scale, an automatic sticking device, a wrapping machine, or a POS.

Further, in this embodiment, the print data of each item is positioned in the print range of the format in the top-justified manner, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the print data may be positioned in the bottom-justified position. In the case of bottoming out, in the item position change 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 is changed in position.

In this embodiment, the position data of the format points to the upper left end of the print range, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the upper right end, the lower left end, and the lower right end may be pointed to. The mount-less 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, and if not, at least other print items after that. It is also changed to close the position of. Further, in the mount-less label printer of the present embodiment, the processing of change is different depending on whether or not there is print data of another print item in which the unfilled portion and the position in the paper transport direction overlap.

The appendix is disclosed below.
(Appendix 1) The mount-less label printer according to Appendix 1 prints on the mount-less label paper based on the print format data in which at least the printing position in the paper transport direction and the print range in the paper transport direction are set for each print item. In a mountless label printer that cuts and issues a label, when there is a print item that does not meet the print height of the print data corresponding to the print range in the paper transport direction with respect to the print range in the paper transport direction. , The print position in the paper transport direction of either or both of the print item or the other print item is changed so that the print height is less than the print range in the paper transport direction and is packed in the paper transport direction (paper). It is characterized in that it is changed so that it is packed on the upstream side of the paper, or it is changed so that it is packed on the downstream side of the paper). That is, the print position may be packed with the print range top-justified, or may be bottom-justified with respect to the print range (the same applies hereinafter). Further, the mountless label printer compares the print range in the paper transport direction with the print height of the print data corresponding to the print range in the paper transport direction, and the print height satisfies the print range in the paper transport direction. For non-printed items, the print position in the paper transport direction of either or both of the print item or the other print item should be packed in the paper transport direction by the amount that the print height is less than the print range in the paper transport direction. It may be changed to.

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

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

According to the above-mentioned mountless label printer, for the print items of the product name, additive, message, or raw material, by determining whether or not the print data satisfies the print range, the amount of print data for these items depends on the product. It is often different and effective.

When there is no print data of a print item whose print height is less than the print range in the paper transport direction and a print position of another print item in which the print position in the paper transport direction overlaps, the mount-less label printer is the print item or another. The print position in one or both of the print items in the paper transport direction may be changed so that the print height is less than the print range in the paper transport direction and is packed in the paper transport direction.

According to the above-mentioned mountless label printer, when the print items are arranged in parallel in the paper transport direction by changing the process depending on whether or not there is print data of other print items whose positions overlap in the paper transport direction. Even if there is, you can save paper without any trouble.

1 Mount-less 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)

It is a mountless label printer
A control means for controlling printing on mount-less label paper is provided 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
There are print items that do not meet the print height in the paper transport direction of the print data corresponding to the print range with respect to the print range in the paper transport direction, and the print height does not meet the print range in the paper transport direction. If there is no other print item in the print range of the print item whose print position overlaps with the print position in the paper transport direction, the print height is less than the print range in the paper transport direction. The print position of the print item in the paper transport direction, which is another print item on the downstream side of the paper transport direction and is predetermined as a print item that changes the print range in the paper transport direction, is determined by the print height in the paper transport direction. A mount-less label printer characterized in that it is changed so that it is packed on the upstream side in the paper transport direction as much as it is less than the print range of.

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