JPH0532243A - Label printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To perform positioning of a label paper simply and accurately by a method wherein the shape and arrangement location of a format for a label paper are respectively input, and the format is detected based on the shape, and at the same time, the label paper is positioned based on the arrangement location. CONSTITUTION:A G counter 3a is provided on a RAM 3 which is connected to a CPU 1, and the G counter 3a together with a reflecting sensor 5 constitutes a standard detecting means, in order to detect a format which is previously printed on a label paper. Also, a keyboard controller 11 and a display controller 12, etc., constitute a standard input means, together with a host computer 7 and a communication I/F 8. In addition, a positioning means for the label paper is constituted of a feed motor 15 which carries the label paper and a motor driver 17, etc. The format is detected at the CPU 1 based on the shape of format which is input, and at the same time, the label paper is positioned at a printing location, based on the arrangement location the format which is input previously.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a label printer which prints on a label paper on which a predetermined format is printed in advance.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a label paper 1 (usually referred to as a preprinted label paper) on which a format such as a logo, a message, and a ruled line is printed in advance is rolled as shown in FIG. Formed tags are known. A black mark 1 for positioning the label paper 1 at the printing position is formed on the back side of the label paper 1 according to the preprinted format on the front side.
a, 1b, 1c, ... Are printed.

That is, as shown in FIG. 7, the label paper 1 is transferred from this tag to the thermal head 2a of the label printer 2.
And the platen 2b so as to be supplied between them. At this time, the black marks 1a, 1b, 1c on the back side of the label paper 1 are detected by the reflection sensor 2c provided in the label printer in the middle of the supply path of the label paper 1.

Here, for example, when the length between the print position of the thermal head 2a and the reflection sensor 2c is a and the length of the label issued from the label sheet 1 (the length between black marks) is b, / B = c + α / b, (0 ≦ α <b, and c is an integer).

According to the above equation, the reflection sensor 2c causes the black marks 1a, 1b, 1c, ...
When the label sheet 1 is detected, the label sheet 1 is further conveyed by α, so that the label sheet 1 is transferred to the thermal head 2
It can be positioned at the print position of a.

[0006]

As described above, when a label paper on which a predetermined format is printed in advance is used in the conventional label printer, a black mark remains on the back side in double-sided printing, such as printing of business cards. On the contrary, there is a problem that the label paper cannot be positioned at the print position without the black mark. Of course, in the case of a label paper in which the format or the like is not printed in advance, since the printing position is arbitrary, it is not necessary to provide a black mark, which is not a problem.

Therefore, the present invention provides a label printer capable of positioning a label sheet at a printing position without providing a black mark on the back side when printing on a label sheet on which a predetermined format is printed in advance. To aim.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, in a label printer which prints predetermined print information by positioning a label paper on which a predetermined format is printed in advance at a print position, information on the shape and arrangement position of the format is provided. The reference input means for inputting, and the reference detection means for detecting the format based on the information of the shape input by the reference input means, and when the format is detected by the reference detection means, the reference input means inputs the Positioning means for positioning the label paper at the printing position based on the information of the arrangement position is provided.

[0009]

In the present invention having such a structure, the reference input means inputs the information on the shape and layout position of the format printed on the label paper.

Based on the input format information of the format, the reference detection means detects the format printed on the label. Then, based on the arrangement information of the format input by the reference input means,
The label paper is positioned at the printing position by the positioning means. Then, predetermined print information is printed on the label paper.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is a CPU (central processing unit) that constitutes the main body of the control unit. A ROM (read only memory) 2 in which program data for processing performed by the CPU 1 is stored, and a RAM (random access memory) 3 in which areas of various memories used when the CPU 1 performs processing are configured. Are connected to the CPU 1 via a system bus 4. The RAM 3 is further provided with a G counter 3a. The G counter 3a is compatible with preprinting in order to detect a predetermined portion of a format (hereinafter referred to as a preprinted portion) preprinted on a label sheet. As a reference detection unit, the reflection sensor 5 is installed so as to detect the front side of the label paper. The communication I / F 8 input via an I / O (input output interface) unit 6 for inputting an output signal from the reflection sensor 5 and the host computer 7 via a line is also transmitted via the system bus 4. It is connected to the CPU 1. The host computer 7 constitutes the reference input means together with the communication I / F 8.

A keyboard controller 11 and a display controller 12 for controlling a keyboard 9 and a display 10 respectively as another reference input means, a head driver 14 for driving a thermal line head 13, and a feed motor 15 for conveying a label sheet. Also, a motor driver 17 for driving a ribbon motor 16 for conveying an ink ribbon is also connected to the CPU 1 via the system bus 4.

From the host computer 7 to the communication I
When a setting command or the like is input via / F8 or directly from the keyboard 9, the pre-printing unit check process is performed together with the printing. The setting command includes setting of the length L of the label to be printed and printed, the length G of a predetermined portion of the preprinted portion, and the distance P from the front end of the label printer to the preprinted portion in the transport direction. .. FIG. 2 shows a flow chart of the pre-printing unit check processing performed by the CPU 1. First, a process of reading the detection value output from the reflection sensor 5 is performed.

Next, it is confirmed whether or not the detection value read from the reflection sensor 5 last time is stored in the RAM 3 as the previous sensor value. If the previous sensor value is not stored in the RAM 3, the motor driver 17 is controlled to feed the label paper by one step by the feed motor 15.
The detection value output from the reflection sensor 5 read this time is stored in the RAM 3 as the previous sensor value. Then, the process returns to the beginning of this pre-printing portion check processing.

If the detection value read from the reflection sensor 5 the previous time is stored in the RAM 3 as the previous sensor value, then the magnitude relationship between the previous sensor value and the detection value read from the present reflection sensor 5 is checked.

When the detected value this time is larger than the previous sensor value, the value of the G counter 3a is set to 1, the label paper is fed by one step, and the detected value output from the reflection sensor 5 read this time is set to the previous value. It is stored in the RAM 3 as a sensor value. Then, the process returns to the beginning of this pre-printing portion check processing.

When the previous sensor value and the detected value read from the reflection sensor 5 this time are equal to each other within a predetermined tolerance, it is confirmed whether the value of the G counter 3a is 0 or not. If the value of the G counter 3a is not 0, the process of adding +1 to the value counted by the G counter 3a is performed.

Next, the label paper is fed by one step, and the detected value from the reflection sensor 5 read this time is stored in the RAM 3 as the previous sensor value. Then, the process returns to the beginning of this pre-printing portion check processing.

Furthermore, when the detection value read from the reflection sensor 5 this time is smaller than the previous sensor value, the G counter 3
If the value of a is larger than 10, and if it is not larger than 10, the value of the G counter 3a is set to 0, the label paper is fed one step, and the detected value from the reflection sensor 5 read this time. Is stored in the RAM 3 as the previous sensor value. Then, the process returns to the beginning of this pre-printing portion check processing. If the value of the G counter 3a is greater than 10, the feed number α obtained by the following equation is set to the set value of the feed step number based on the setting command, and the G counter is set to 0. (Positioning means)

H- (G + P) = nL + α, where n is an integer and 0 ≦, where H is the distance between the reflection sensor 5 and the thermal line
Putting α <L), the number of feeds α is obtained. The detection value from the reflection sensor 5 read this time is used as the previous sensor value for RA.
It is stored in M3, and this pre-printing unit check processing is ended.

In this embodiment having such a structure, when the business card shown in FIG. 3 is printed by printing on both sides, for example, the preprinted portion on the front side of the business card shown in the drawing is a one-point line on the upper part of the business card. E, and here, the one-point line E is used to position the label sheet at the printing position. The width G of this one-point line E is 2 mm
(About 16 dots), label length L is 57 mm (about 47 dots)
5 dots), and the distance P from the front edge of the label paper to the one-point line E is 1.5 mm (about 12 dots).

The above numerical values are set as the shape information and the arrangement information by the setting command shown in FIG. That is, the length L of the label is set to L, the width G of the one-point line E is set to the portion B, and the distance P from the front end of the label to the one-point line is set to 0.1 mm in units of C. From this setting command, the detection condition of the one-point line E of the pre-printed portion is determined (greater than 10 dots), and the distance for feeding the label paper when the one-point line E is detected is determined by the feed number α. Is calculated by the following equation. H- (G + P) = nL + α, (where n is an integer and 0 ≦
α <L)

Further, as shown in the paper feed command (main part) of FIG. 4B and the issue command (main part) of FIG. 4C, both of the sensor part D and the sensor part E As a setting, 0 ... No sensor detection, 1 ... Reflection sensor (usually used for gap detection, etc.), 2 ... Transmission sensor (center position installation), 3 ... Transmission sensor (end position installation), 4 ... Reflection sensor (pre-printing) Correspondence) is set, and if 4 is set here, it is determined that the pre-printing unit is detected and the label paper is positioned at the print position, and a black mark is provided on the back side of the label paper. The pre-printed label paper on which is not printed can be positioned at the print position by the pre-printing and can be fed and issued, respectively.

When printing is started in response to a setting command, an issuing command, etc., the detection value from the reflection sensor 5 is read as shown in FIG. 5 (a). In the cross section of the label paper shown in (a), the one-point line E of the pre-printed portion is printed in black or the like, so the reflectance is low, and the reflectance is high outside the pre-printed portion. In addition, the voltage output from the reflection sensor 5 greatly drops at the one-point line E of the preprinted portion and becomes a low level. The two-dot broken line shown on the label paper below the thermal line head 13 in the figure shows the printing position of the thermal line head 13 at that time.

Therefore, for example, the case where the reflection sensor 5 detects from the front end of the label will be described. Paper is fed step by step, and the reflection sensor 5 eventually
As shown in (b) b, first, the front end of the one-point line E is detected. At this time, the detection value of the reflection sensor 5 one step before is at a high level, and the detection value this time is at a low level, so the G counter 3a is set to 1.

Thereafter, as shown in (b) of FIG. 5B, the detection value of the reflection sensor 5 one step before and the detection value at that time are substantially equal to each other at a low level within the tolerance. Therefore, the counter 3a feeds the paper between them. The number of steps (the number of dots) performed is counted.

When it is further conveyed, the reflection sensor 5 passes through the one-point line E as shown in FIG. 5B, and at that time, the detection value (output voltage) of the reflection sensor 5 becomes a high level. Become. Therefore, depending on whether the count of the counter 3a at that time is greater than 10 steps (dots), it is determined whether the one-point line E of the pre-printed portion has been passed, and if it is greater than 10 steps, the printing position at that time is positioned. The number of feeds α to be set is set, and the label paper is conveyed by the number of feeds α. Then, as shown in FIG.
As shown in (b) D, the label paper is positioned at the printing position of the thermal line head 13.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the label paper can be positioned at the printing position by the one-point line E of the pre-printed portion, and it is necessary to provide a black mark or the like for positioning the label paper on the back side of the label paper. There is no.

Regarding the print color of the pre-printed portion,
If it is a reflection sensor using infrared light emitting diode,
It has been found that it is almost feasible for red and black and other colors.

Further, in the present embodiment, the example of the simplest shape of the pre-printed portion (one-point line with a width) has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this example, for example, it is printed in advance. The present invention can be applied to any shape that can be detected separately from other portions such as logos and ruled lines, and the condition for determining the shape can be set by a command or the like.

[0032]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to provide a label printer capable of positioning the label paper at the printing position without providing a black mark on the back surface side when printing on the label paper on which a predetermined format is printed in advance.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a flow of a pre-printing unit check process of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a business card to be printed and issued according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of various commands according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a relationship between a preprinted portion of a label paper and an output voltage of the reflection sensor of the embodiment, and a view showing a relationship between the label paper, the reflection sensor and a thermal line head in each detection state of the reflection sensor. ..

FIG. 6 is an external view of a tag on a conventional label paper.

FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram when a tag of a label paper of a conventional example is set.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... CPU, 3a ... G counter, 5 ... Reflection sensor, 7 ...
Host computer, 9 ... Keyboard, 13 ... Thermal line head, 15 ... Feed motor.

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Claims (1)

Claim: What is claimed is: 1. A label printer which prints predetermined print information by positioning a label paper on which a predetermined format has been printed in advance at a print position, and inputs information on the shape and arrangement position of the format. Reference input means, and reference detection means for detecting the format based on the shape information input by the reference input means; and when the format is detected by the reference detection means, input by the reference input means A label printer, comprising: positioning means for positioning the label paper at a printing position based on the information of the arranged position.