JPH02202465A - Mark scanning in mark printing/verifying device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To allow even a mark with a small length l in a paper feed direction than that of a conventional mark to be scanned by shifting a scanner to a paper feed direction during the scanning of a mark using the scanner. CONSTITUTION:A bar code is printed on a label paper 5 with a thermal head using the ink of an ink ribbon 6. A scanner is allowed to move from a position shown by a solid line in an arrow B direction to a position by an imaginary line, while being sent to a direction crossing at right angles with an arrow B direction by a carriage not illustrated. The scanner 9 is arranged at an opposite position to a base plate 18. A thermal head 2 scans and reads a bar code printed on the label paper 5 and verifies the printed results. During the scan, the scanner 9 moves in a label paper transport direction and ends the scan when the rear end of a mark 20 reaches a scan end line. If this shift amount is (s) and a paper feed rate is (v), the length l of a scannable mark in a label paper transport direction is l>=vXt-s. Thus it is possible to scan a mark with a smaller length l than that of a conventional mark.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a mark scanning method in a mark printing/verification apparatus such as a barcode printer having a self-verification function.

[Conventional technology]

For example, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-181165, a mark such as a bar code is printed on a sheet of paper using a print head such as a thermal head, and then the mark is scanned by a scanner. There is a mark printing/verification device that reads and verifies the printed result.

At this time, in order not to reduce the printing speed, while paper is being fed, the scanner is moved in a direction perpendicular to the paper feeding direction to scan the printed marks.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, in such a conventional marking scanning method, if 1 paper feeding speed (printing speed) is t, the scanning time by the scanner is t, and the length of the marking to be scanned in the paper feeding direction is Ω, then Q≧ Unless υ×t...■, the marked gold body cannot be scanned.

Therefore, as the paper feed speed (printing speed) υ increases, the scanning time t must be shortened, and a high output carriage drive motor must be used to move the scanner, increasing costs. There is a problem in that the power consumption by the motor increases significantly as the motor increases.

In addition, if paper feeding is stopped and scanning is performed, the above formula is no longer satisfied, so the length a of the mark in the paper feeding direction can be shortened, but the printing/verification speed (throughput) of the device is reduced. This will result in a decline.

This invention was made in view of the above points, and the length Ω of the printed mark in the paper feeding direction is Q<υXt
The purpose is to make it possible to scan the entire area with a scanner, even if it is, without reducing the printing/verification speed (throughput) of the device.

[Means to solve the problem]

The present invention provides a mark printing/verification device as described above.
In order to achieve the above object, a marking scanning method is provided in which the scanner is shifted in the paper feeding direction while the marking is being scanned by the scanner.

Further, in this marking scanning method, it is preferable to change the speed at which the scanner is shifted depending on the paper feeding speed.

Alternatively, the scanner may be shifted intermittently, and the period may be a constant multiple of the paper feeding period.

Furthermore, in any of these marking scanning methods,
It is desirable to change the shift amount of the scanner depending on the length of the mark to be scanned in the paper feeding direction.

[For production]

According to the mark scanning method in the mark printing/verification apparatus of the present invention, when the shift amount of the scanner is 5, the flood ≧υXt
-s, scanning is possible.

Even markings with a shorter length Q in the paper feeding direction than before can be scanned.

Furthermore, since the markings are scanned by the scanner while the paper is being fed, the printing/verification speed (throughput) of the apparatus is not reduced.

Further, if the length Ω of the marks in the paper feeding direction is the same, the printing/verification speed of the apparatus can be increased by increasing the paper feeding speed υ without shortening the scanning time t.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side view of a main part of a barcode printer which is a mark printing/verification apparatus embodying the present invention, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are a plan view and a side view of a mechanism for shifting the scanner.

In Figure 1, 1 is a platen, 2 is a thermal head,
3 is the ribbon guide bar, 4 is the ribbon separation plate, 5
is label paper, 6 is ink ribbon, 7°17 is 1st. Second
Stay, 8... Label holder, 9 is a scanner, 18 is a base plate.

The label paper 5 is overlapped with the ink ribbon 6 at the position of the ribbon guide bar 3 and conveyed between the platen 1 and the thermal head 2, and the thermal head 2 transfers the ink of the ink ribbon 6 to the label paper 5 as a mark. The code will be printed.

The ink ribbon 6 is peeled off from the label paper 5 via the ribbon separation plate 4, conveyed in the direction of arrow A, and wound onto a winding reel (not shown).

The label paper 5 is guided by a base plate 18 that is adjustably attached to a second stay 17 attached to a printer main body (not shown), and is conveyed in the direction of arrow B by the platen 1 and the thermal head 2.

At this time, a label presser 8 attached to a first stay 7 attached to the printer body prevents the label paper 5 from rising.

Then, the scanner 9, which is disposed so as to face the base plate 18, is moved by a carriage (not shown) in the direction indicated by the arrow B.
While moving the label paper in the direction perpendicular to the direction (perpendicular to the plane of the paper), the label paper is also shifted in the direction of arrow B from the position shown by the solid line to the position shown by the imaginary line (s: shift amount). The barcode (see FIG. 4), which is a mark printed on 5, is scanned and read, and the printed result is verified.

This scanner 9 includes a light source such as an LED that illuminates the object to be scanned, a lens that collects the reflected light from the object to be scanned by the illumination light, and a signal that receives the focused light and outputs a signal according to the amount of light. It has a built-in photodetector such as a phototransistor for output.

Regarding the shift mechanism of this scanner 9, see Figures 2 and 3.
This will be explained using figures.

A shift motor 11 shown in FIG. 3 is attached to the carriage (not shown), and a rotating shaft 14 and a support shaft 15 are fixedly attached to the rotating shaft 14.
0 is rotatably attached.

The tooth portion 10 of this rack 10 is formed in an arc shape.
The tip of the support shaft 15 is fitted into an arc-shaped guide hole 16 along the direction a, thereby regulating the swinging range of the rack 10 in the direction of the arrow C about the rotation shaft 14.

In addition, the pin 19 and rotation shaft 14 implanted in this rank 10 are
A coil spring 13 is suspended between the rack 10 and the rotating shaft 14 to eliminate play between the rack 10 and the rotating shaft 14.

A shift gear (pinion) 12 attached to the rotating shaft of a shift motor 11 meshes with the teeth 10a of the rack 10. The shift motor 11 is a stepping motor, and is capable of rotating in a required rotational direction by a shift step and holding the shift motor at that position.

While the carriage (not shown) moves in a direction perpendicular to the paper feeding direction and the scanner 9 scans the barcode on the label paper 5, the step rotation of the motor 11 causes the rack 10 to move as shown by the solid line in FIG. The scanner 9 swings from the position shown by the solid line to the position shown by the imaginary line, and thereby the scanner 9 also moves by the shift amount S from the position shown by the solid line to the position shown by the imaginary line.

Figure 4 shows a mark (barcode) printed on label paper 5.
2 is a diagram showing the relationship between scan start and end lines, etc., by the scanner 9. FIG.

Label paper 5 is conveyed with markings (barcodes) 20 printed on it by platen 1 and thermal head 2 shown in FIG.
When the head reaches the scan start line, a carriage drive motor (not shown) is started, the carriage moves in a direction perpendicular to the label paper conveyance direction, and the mark (bar code) 20 is scanned by the scanner 9.

During the scanning, the scanner 9 shifts in the label paper conveyance direction and finishes scanning when the rear end of the mark 20 reaches the scan end line, so if the amount of shift is S, then
The length Q of a mark that can be scanned in the label paper conveying direction is Q≧Xt-s .

Furthermore, if Q and scanning time t are the same as conventional ones, printing speed can be increased by increasing paper feed speed υ. Note that it is desirable to change the speed at which the scanner 9 is shifted depending on the paper feeding speed.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the relationship between the movement timing of the shift motor 11 and the drive timing of the paper feed motor that conveys the label paper 5.

In this embodiment, both motors are stepping motors, and when the number of moving steps of the paper feed motor reaches seven, the shift motor 11 is operated one step.

By doing this, even if the paper feeding speed fluctuates, the scanner 9 can be shifted so that it can reliably scan the mark 20 without overshooting.

6(a) and 6(b) show the behavior of the scanner 9 in the paper feeding direction when the scanner 9 shifts by 9 steps and 3 steps at the timing shown in FIG. 5.

If the shift speed of the scanner 9 is constant, the paper feed speed (
If the transport speed of the label paper 5 decreases or stops, the scanner 9 will come off the mark to be scanned, making it impossible to scan, but as in this embodiment, the constant of the paper feed (line feed) cycle By shifting the scanner 9 at twice the frequency, scanning can be completed even if the paper feeding speed decreases or stops.

Furthermore, even if the length Q of the mark to be scanned in the paper feed direction is extremely short, if the paper feed is stopped and scanning by the scanner 9 is started when the mark reaches the scan start line, the paper feed cycle can be Since the constant multiple of is infinite, scanner 9
can complete the scan without being shifted.

Furthermore, depending on the length α of the mark to be scanned in the paper feeding direction,
It is preferable to change the shift is of the scanner 9 so that it is increased when Q is long, and decreased when Q is short.

What is the reason why the mark is scanned and read by the scanner 9 and the verification result is poor?

It can be roughly divided into continuous missing marks and partial defects that are not a practical problem for ll marks.

Therefore, if such a verification result is obtained, stop transporting the label paper 5, leave the shift position of the scanner 9 as it is, or change the shift position, and scan the mark again. By inspecting the mark, the quality of the mark and the printing condition can be determined. If there are continuous defects in the ink ribbon 6, printing can be stopped to prevent a series of defective marks from being made. This can be prevented.

Of course, in the case of rescanning, the label paper 5 may be fed in the opposite direction, and the scanner shift direction may also be reversed.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the mark scanning method in the mark printing/verification apparatus of the present invention, the length of the mark to be scanned in the paper feeding direction is 02, the paper feeding speed (printing speed) is υ, and the scanner Depending on the scanning time.

If the shift amount of the scanner is S, then scanning is possible if Q≧υX t −s, and even a mark with a shorter length Q in the paper feeding direction than before can be scanned.

Furthermore, since the markings are scanned by the scanner while the paper is being fed, the printing/verification speed (throughput) of the apparatus is not reduced.

Furthermore, if the length Q in the paper feeding direction is the same, the scanning time t
Increase paper feed speed υ without shortening .

The printing and verification speed of the device can be increased.

Furthermore, if the paper feed speed is changed by changing the speed at which the scanner is shifted in accordance with the paper feed speed, or by shifting the scanner intermittently and making the period a constant multiple of the paper feed period, However, the marking can be reliably scanned.

Note that by changing the shift amount of the scanner depending on the length of the mark to be scanned in the paper feeding direction, it is possible to reliably scan the #M mark regardless of its length.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a side view of essential parts of a barcode printer that is an embodiment of the present invention. Figures 2 and 3 are a plan view and a side view of the mechanism that shifts the scanner, and Figure 4 is a mark (barcode) printed on the label paper 5 and the scan start and end lines by the scanner 9, etc. FIG. 5 is a timing chart showing the relationship between the movement timing of the shift motor 11 and the movement timing of the paper feed motor that conveys the label paper 5. FIGS. 6(a) and (b) ) is a diagram showing the behavior of the scanner in the paper feeding direction when the scanner shifts 9 steps and 3 steps at the timing shown in FIG. 1...Platen 2...Thermal head 3
... Ribbon guide bar 4 ... Ribbon separation plate 5 ... Label paper 6 ... Ink ribbon 7.
...First stay 8...Label holder 9...
Scanner 10...Racked shift motor 12...Shift gear 3...Coil spring 14...Rotation shaft 5...Support shaft 16...
Guide hole 7...Second stay 18...Base plate 9...Pin 20...Marking (barcode) 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 11!5 (Q) Figure 6 Figure (b)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a mark printing/verification device that prints a mark on paper, then scans and reads the mark with a scanner in a direction perpendicular to the paper feeding direction, and verifies the printing result. . A marking scanning method, characterized in that the scanner is shifted in a paper feeding direction while the marking is being scanned by the scanner. 2. A mark scanning method in a mark printing/verification apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the speed at which the scanner is shifted is changed according to the paper feeding speed. 3. In the mark scanning method in the mark printing/verification apparatus according to claim 1, the scanner is intermittently shifted;
A marking scanning method characterized in that the period is a constant multiple of the paper feeding period. 4. The mark scanning method in the mark printing/verification apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the shift amount of the scanner is changed depending on the length of the mark to be scanned in the paper feeding direction. Sign scanning method.