JPH03231875A - Label printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simplify formation of data by providing a print control means which finishes printing operation when the number of line printed through a print executing means corresponds to a sheet of labels otherwise transfers to a step for setting next print system and the number of print line. CONSTITUTION:When a print system switching request is commanded in the way of printing operation, a print system e1 and a designated number l1 of line in a message, prior to modification, are set. Print data are then read out successively, line by line, from a frame memory 1 based on thus set print system and provided to a driver 17 so that a thermal head 16 and a step motor 18 are subjected to sequential driving control to execute printing line by line. When the set number of print line matches with the designated number l1 of line, modified print system e2 and designated number 2 of line in the message are set. Print data are then read out, line by line, from the memory 1 based on thus set print system and printing is executed line by line.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a label printer that prints and issues labels, tags, etc. to be attached to products and the like.

[Prior Art] For example, in a conventional label printer that prints and issues a label to be attached to a product, there are four printing methods for the label: beginning printing, bottom printing, 2 beginning mirror printing, and bottom printing mirror printing. There is. These printing methods are controlled by the reading direction of print data stored in the frame memory. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, tail-end printing is performed by reading print data from the frame memory 1 in the direction of the arrow ■ in the figure.
Cue printing is performed by reading print data from the direction. Further, by reading the print data from the direction of the arrow (■) in the figure, tail-setting mirror printing is performed, and by reading the print data from the direction of the arrow (■) in the figure, the beginning mirror printing is performed. Incidentally, mirror printing is a method of printing by inverting the characters as if they were reflected in a mirror.

These printing methods are usually determined by the higher-end model. That is, the higher-level model sends print data for one label to the label printer, and also instructs the printing method for the print data. On the other hand, the label printer that receives the print data draws it in the frame memory. Then, the printing data in the frame memory is read and printed using the printing method instructed by the host model, and when printing for one label is completed, the printing operation is ended. Therefore, only one type of printing method could be applied to one label.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] As described above, in this type of conventional label printer, only one type of printing method can be applied to one label. This has caused the following inconveniences. For example, when printing label 2 shown in Fig. 5 (setting the printing direction as P), the print data shown in Fig. 4 is drawn in frame memory 1, m lines are printed from the bottom, and the remaining n lines are printed. Lines can be printed by cue printing.

However, since it is impossible to apply two types of printing methods to one label, conventionally it is necessary to draw print data in the same format as label 2 in the frame memory, which makes data creation cumbersome. there were.

In addition, for example, a label 3 as shown in FIG. 6 and FIG.
．． 4 (setting the printing direction as P), only the print data for label 3 is drawn in the frame memory, all label 3 is printed from the bottom, and label 4 is printed.
, printing can be performed by performing end printing for m' lines and starting printing for the remaining n' lines. However, in this case as well, since two types of printing methods cannot be applied to one label, printing data in the same format as label 4 must be drawn in the frame memory, making data creation cumbersome.

The present invention was made based on these circumstances, and
The present invention aims to provide a label printer that can apply multiple types of printing methods to one label and that can simplify data creation.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention provides a label printer equipped with a plurality of printing methods as printing methods for labels by controlling the readout direction of print data stored in a frame memory. a setting means for setting the number of lines to be printed; a printing execution means for printing on the label according to the settings set by the setting means; and a printing means for printing when the number of lines to be printed by the execution means corresponds to one label. and a printing control means that moves to the next printing method and setting process of the number of printing lines when the printing is completed and the printing is not completed for one label.

[Function] By taking such measures, it becomes possible to change the printing method during printing on one label, depending on the setting of the printing method and the number of printing lines by the setting means.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram of a label printer, in which a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11 as the control unit main body, a ROMI 2 in which program data, character generator data, etc. are set, and various memories used for data processing. The RAM 13 in which the label is formed and the frame memory 1 in which print data for the label is drawn are operated.

Further, data communication can be performed with a host computer CHC) 14 as a host model via an interface 15. Furthermore, the head driver 17 of the thermal head 16 that prints on the label and the motor driver 19 of the step motor 18 that feeds the label at a predetermined pitch are respectively driven and controlled.

Here, the data sent from the host computer 14 to the label printer includes print data for the label and print format data that instructs a print format such as a printing method. The print data message is
As shown in FIG. 2(a), it includes a print data command c1 that specifies that it is a print data message and print data d. The print format data message is shown in Figure 2 (b).
), or in the format shown in (C) of the same figure. The former is a case where the printing method is not changed during printing of one label, and the printing format command C2 that specifies that it is a printing format message, the switching instruction flag F-0 that indicates that the printing method is not changed, and the corresponding Includes printing method e.

The latter is a case where the printing method is changed in the middle of printing one label, and the printing format command C2, the switching instruction flag F-1 indicating that the printing method has been changed, and the printing method e before the change are used.
1, the specified number of lines g1, and the changed printing method e
2 and its specified number of lines, 92.

Therefore, the CPU II is connected to the host computer 14.
The program is programmed to execute the process shown in FIG. 3 when data is received from the computer via the interface 15. That is, when data is received in ST (step) 1, the type of the received data is checked. Then, in ST2, the command of the received data message is the print data command C.
If it is 1, the print data in the message is drawn in the frame memory 1. Then, it waits to receive the next print format message.

In this state, data is received in ST1, and in ST3 the command of the received data transmission is changed to print data command C.
If it is 1, the switching instruction flag F in the message is checked in ST4. Here, if the flag F is "0", it is instructed not to switch the printing method during printing, so
As ST5, the printing method e in the message (Fig. 2 (b))
Set. Then, based on the set printing method, one line of print data is sequentially read from the frame memory 1 and output to the head driver 17, and the thermal head 16 and step motor 18 are driven and controlled each time, one line at a time. Executes printing. If the number of lines to be printed matches the preset number of lines to be printed on the label, printing of one label has been completed, and the process proceeds to the next routine.

On the other hand, if the switching instruction flag F is "1" in ST4, an instruction has been given to switch the printing method in the middle of printing, so ST
6, the printing method e1 and designated line number j21 before the change in the message (FIG. 2(C)) are set. Then, based on the set printing method, one line of print data is sequentially read from the frame memory 1 and output to the head driver 17, and the thermal head 16 and step motor 18 are driven and controlled each time, one line at a time. Executes printing. If the number of printed lines matches the specified number of lines 91, the changed printing method e2 and the specified number of lines Ω2 in the message (FIG. 2(C)) are set. Then, based on the set printing method, one line of print data is sequentially read from the frame memory 1 and output to the head driver 17, and the thermal head 16 and step motor 18 are driven and controlled each time, one line at a time. Executes printing. Therefore, if the number of lines to be printed at this time matches the specified number of lines g2 that has been set, and the number of lines that have been printed so far matches the number of lines to be printed on the label that has been set in advance, printing on one label is completed. Once completed, move on to the next routine.

In this embodiment configured as described above, the printing method can be changed during printing of one label depending on the setting of the printing format on the host computer 14 side. Therefore, when printing and issuing the label 2 shown in FIG.
) is included in the print data message and sent. Next, in the print format message shown in FIG. 2(c), the end printing method is incorporated as the pre-change printing method, m lines are incorporated as the number of lines to be printed, and the beginning printing method is incorporated as the post-change printing method. Incorporate n lines as the number of lines and send. This results in
Print data is drawn in the frame memory 1 as shown in FIG. Then, the printing operation is started, and first, printing data is read out from the frame memory 1 in the direction indicated by (2) in FIG. 4, that is, m lines of printing are executed by tail-end printing. Next, the print data is read from the frame memory 1 in the direction indicated by ``2'' in FIG. 4, that is, printing of n lines is executed by cue printing. As a result, label 2 shown in FIG. 5 will be issued.

Therefore, when printing and issuing the label 2 shown in FIG. 5, it is possible to omit the effort of creating print data for the portion (n lines) printed by cue printing this time. Also,
Since the amount of print data sent from the host computer 1 side to the label printer side is reduced, the time required to send the print data and the frame memory 1 of the received print data are reduced.
This reduces the time required to draw labels, and can be expected to shorten the time required for label issuance. It also has the advantage that labels of a larger size than the frame memory 1 can be easily printed.

On the other hand, when printing the labels 3 and 4 shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 (printing direction is P), the host computer 14 side first prints the print data for the label 3 as shown in FIG. 2(a). Incorporate it into the data message and send it. Subsequently, the end printing method is incorporated into the print format message shown in FIG. 2(b) as a printing method, and the message is transmitted. As a result, print data in the same format as the label 3 shown in FIG. 6 is drawn in the frame memory 1, and the label 3 shown in FIG. 6 is issued by end printing.

Next, the host computer 14 side incorporates the end-of-line printing method as the pre-change printing method and m lines as the number of lines to be printed in the print format message shown in FIG. is sent with n lines included as the number of print lines of 7. At this time, print data in the same format as the label 3 shown in FIG. 6 is drawn in the frame memory 1, and the printing operation is started in this state. First, m' lines of printing are executed by tail-end printing. Ru. Next, printing for n lines is executed by cue printing.

As a result, the label 4 shown in FIG. 7 will be issued.

Therefore, when the labels 3 and 4 shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 are printed and issued, the effort of creating print data corresponding to the labels 4 can be omitted.

Therefore, as described above, the amount of print data sent from the host computer 1 side to the label printer side is reduced, and the time required to send the print data and the time required to draw the received print data to the frame memory 1 is shortened. Therefore, it is expected that the time required for label issuance work will be shortened.

Furthermore, by incorporating three or more patterns of printing methods and the specified number of lines into the printing format message shown in Figure 2 (C), it is easy to change the printing method for one label three or more times. Can be implemented.

Furthermore, it goes without saying that the labels in the above embodiments may be replaced with tags or the like that can be attached to products.

[Effects of the Invention] As detailed above, according to the present invention, multiple types of printing methods can be applied to one label, data creation can be simplified, and label issuing operations can be simplified. It is possible to provide a label printer that can save time.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, FIGS. 2(a) to (C) are diagrams showing main message formats in the embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the main operations, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of drawing print data to the frame memory, and FIGS. 5 to 7 are diagrams showing examples of label issuance. 1...Frame memory, 11...CPU. 14...Host computer, 16...Thermal head, 18...Step motor.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] In a label printer that is equipped with a plurality of printing methods as a printing method for a label by controlling the reading direction of print data stored in a frame memory, one printing method and the number of printing lines for the label are set. a setting means; a printing execution means for printing on the label according to the settings made by the setting means;
The number of printed lines executed by this execution means is the number of lines printed on the label 1.
A label printer comprising: a printing control means that ends printing when the number of sheets is equivalent to one label, and moves to the next printing method and setting process of the number of lines to be printed when the number of prints is less than one label.