JPH10324320A - Label printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a label printer which prints registered print information in printing regions respectively specified in a format wherein solution against an error that print data cannot be put in the specified printing region has been improved. SOLUTION: The label printer includes a control unit 6 for causing a printing part 3 to print on labels or displaying a message on a display 5 based on a signal from a weighing part 2 for weighing articles or from a control part 4 where an operator makes key inputs. Print information and print formats are stored in a memory 7 of the unit 6. When the unit 6 determines that predetermined print information cannot be put in a printing region specified by the print formats, the print information is not printed in the specified region but on another label. Thus operator operation can be simplified, and entire printed contents can be displayed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a label printer, and more particularly, to a label printer for printing print information of a product on a plurality of print areas of a label based on a predetermined format.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, fresh food such as meat and fish in trays sold in supermarkets and the like has a label with a price on which the name, price, processing date, storage method, additives, etc. are printed. Affixed. In a meat corner, a side dish corner, and the like, a product is weighed after receiving an order from a customer, and a price label similar to the above is attached to a packaging container. Such a priced label is generally issued using a label printer, and this label printer is, for example, disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. Sho 62-12452, when a product is placed on a weighing pan, Is measured, the price is calculated from the net weight and a unit price registered in advance, and these are printed on a label together with the product name and the like and issued.

In general, a label printer of this type processes merchandise from a key operation unit for input operation by an operator such as a salesperson or a signal from a weighing unit for detecting the weight of merchandise and displays merchandise information on a display. It has a microcomputer that outputs print signals to the printing unit and its memory, and its memory has the code number of the product, product name, unit price, barcode information, processing date, expiration date, storage method, additive list, one-touch cooking method Product information such as a simple message is registered as a master for each product. Then, when a product is designated by inputting a product code, the above-mentioned product information relating to the designated product is called, and those to be label-printed are extracted from these, and together with the calculated price, net amount, etc., are printed as print information. Printed on the label.

In this case, the label printer memory has a print format that determines how and where each piece of print information is to be printed on the label, ie, how many lines from the start of the label and how many points of the label. A printing format for specifying whether or not to print is registered, and at the time of printing, label printing is performed based on this format. As a result, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, on the label L1, the product name is in the uppermost print area a, the storage method is in the lower print area b, the barcode is in the left print area c, and the price is Are developed and printed on the label L1 in the print area d on the right side. At this time, the main print data is printed on the first label L1 in this way, but as shown in FIG. 5, for example, additives are printed on the second label L2, In recent years, the label L2 of the eye is stuck on the bottom of the tray or the container.

[0005]

However, since the amount of printing information of the additive varies greatly depending on the product, the amount of printing information of the additive is small depending on the product, so that printing in one line may be sufficient. In such a case, it is better to print the additive on the first sheet to save the label than to print the additive on the second label. To cope with this, a format in which the additive is printed on the first label will be used. However, when the number of characters to be printed increases, the printing specified in the format will be performed. You will not be able to enter the area.

In order to cope with such a problem, the operator cuts down the number of characters by simplifying the contents of the input or otherwise leaves the character unregistered. However, in this case, it takes time and effort to reconstruct the wording, and there arises a problem that all the contents to be displayed cannot be displayed.

Further, when a label printer performs a special sale of a product only within a predetermined time by a time service or the like, in order to attract consumers' attention, the printing area of the price indicating that it is a special price is enlarged. However, in the case where the print area of another item arranged around the print format is changed to a print format configured to cut the print area accordingly, the number of characters increases as described above and the print area does not fit in the print area. In addition to the case, although the input content does not change, the print area may be cut and reduced in size, so that all the content may not be able to fit in the area.

The present invention addresses the above-mentioned problems in the conventional label printer, and when the contents of the print data do not completely fit in a print area specified by a predetermined print format, the operator is required to use the print data. An object of the present invention is to provide a label printer which is simplified so as to display all of the original print contents on a label.

[0009]

To solve the above problems, the present invention uses the following means.

That is, the invention described in claim 1 in the claims of the present application (hereinafter referred to as "first invention").
Is a label printer provided with print control means for printing print information of a product on a plurality of print areas of a label based on a predetermined format, wherein the control means prints print information to be printed on each print area. When the amount does not exceed the capacity of the printing area, each print information is printed on a label according to the current format, and when the amount exceeds, the print information is automatically printed on another label. Features.

Further, the invention according to claim 2 (hereinafter referred to as “second
Invention ". ) Is a label printer having substantially the same configuration as that of the first aspect of the invention, wherein the print control means determines that the amount of print information to be printed in each print area does not exceed the capacity of the print area. The print information is printed on a label in accordance with, and when it exceeds, the print information is printed on another label, and the format is automatically changed to print other print information on the original label. It is characterized by the following.

On the other hand, the invention according to claim 3 (hereinafter referred to as “third
Invention ". ) Is a label printer having substantially the same configuration as that of the first aspect of the invention, wherein the print control means determines that the amount of print information to be printed in each print area does not exceed the capacity of the print area. When the print information is printed on the label, the print area is automatically extended and the print information is printed on the original label when the print information is exceeded. The print information is printed on another label.

Further, the invention according to claim 4 (hereinafter referred to as a "fourth invention") is a label printer having substantially the same configuration as the first invention, wherein the printing control means prints in each printing area. If the amount of print information to be printed does not exceed the capacity of the print area, each print information is printed on the label according to the current format, and if it exceeds, the print area is expanded and the print information is printed on the original label. Along with
It is characterized in that the format is automatically changed in order to print other print information having a lower priority for printing on the original label on another label.

According to a fifth aspect of the invention (hereinafter referred to as a "fifth invention"), in any one of the first to fourth inventions, the print control means is provided after the first label. Another label is issued from the same printing unit.

Further, the invention according to claim 6 (hereinafter referred to as “6th
Invention ". The present invention is characterized in that, in any one of the first to fourth inventions, the print control unit issues another label from a second printing unit different from the printing unit that issues the first label. I do.

According to the first or second aspect of the invention, when the amount of print information exceeds the capacity of the print area, the print information is automatically printed on another label, so that the operator cuts down the input contents. This need not be done, and all the input contents will be displayed on another label.

On the other hand, according to the third or fourth aspect of the invention, when the print information amount exceeds the capacity of the print area, the print area is automatically expanded, and the print area whose range is narrowed by the expansion is automatically increased. Since the print information of the area is printed on a different label from the lowest priority, the operator does not need to cut down the input contents, and all the input contents are changed to other labels. Will be displayed on the label.

At this time, if one label is initially issued, the print information is transferred to the second label and printed. If two labels are issued, the original printing is performed. If the area is the first sheet, it is moved to the second or third label, and if the original print area is the second sheet, it is moved to the third label and printed.

According to the fifth invention, another label is issued from the same printing section following the first label, so that it is not necessary to newly provide a printing section. If another label is a second label different from the first label
Is issued from the printing section, the issuance time can be shortened.

[0020]

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

As shown in FIG. 1, a label printer 1 according to this embodiment has a weighing section 2, and when a product G is placed on a weighing dish 2a, the net amount of the product and the An automatic weighing type label printer that calculates a price, prints these data together with a product name and the like on a label L by a printing unit 3, and feeds out and issues the label L from an issuing port 3a. And an operation unit 4 in which
A display unit 5 having a liquid crystal screen is provided, and a key operation of the operation unit 4 is used to specify a product, register or change product information, or select a work mode, and to perform product information or operation according to the key operation. Messages and the like are displayed on the display unit 5.

As shown in FIG. 2, the label printer 1 has a weighing value from a load cell (not shown) that generates a distortion signal (a weighing value signal) corresponding to the load applied to the weighing dish 2a. A signal and a key operation signal from the operation unit 4 are input, a display signal such as data or a message to be displayed is displayed on the display unit 5, and a printing signal required for label printing is printed on the printing unit 3. A control unit 6 composed of a microcomputer for outputting a signal is mounted, and a memory 7 stores a product master and a plurality of types of printing formats.

As shown in FIG. 3, the product master includes a product code used when designating and calling a product, a product name and bar code information, a processing date and a shelf life, or a product per 100 grams. Various types of product information such as unit prices, storage methods, additives, messages, and the like are registered for each product. The registration of the product information to the product master is enabled when the registration mode is selected as the work mode. For example, when the operator presses the registration mode key provided on the operation unit 4, as shown in FIG. The registration list is displayed on the display unit 5 in a scrolling manner, so that the operator can key in the product information by moving the cursor to each input field.

On the other hand, the print format determines where and in what style the print information such as the data extracted from the product information and the calculated price is to be printed on the label. Things
More specifically, a format is determined such as which print information is to be printed with a character having a size of what point and from what character on which line of the label. In the memory 7 of the label printer 1, a plurality of types of such print formats having mutually different format contents are stored.
Label printing is performed based on one of the printing formats designated in advance.

Then, when the operator presses a label issuing mode key provided on the operation unit 4, the work mode shifts to the label issuing mode.
Product key is input by key operation of, and product G is weighing pan 2
a, the control unit 6 calls up the registration information on the product from the product master, calculates the price and net amount from the unit price and the weighing value signal from the weighing unit 2, and prints each of these prints. In accordance with a print format specified in advance, for example, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, each of the print areas a, b, c, d, e,... Then, the dots constituting the character are sequentially read out line by line, and the signal is output to the printing unit 3. As a result, printing is performed on the label L fed from the label roll R (see FIG. 1) set in the printing unit 3.

In the case of this print format, the label printer 1 issues two labels for one product,
The label L1 has a product name, storage method, barcode,
The price and the like are printed on the second label L2 with the additive and the message, respectively. At this time, the product name is in the uppermost print area a of the first label L1, the storage method is in the lower print area b, the bar code is in the left print area c, and the price is in the right print area c. In the printing area d, the additive and the message are printed in the printing area e of the second label L2, and as a result, two labels L1 and L2 as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 are issued. In this illustrated example,
This is the case where the net amount is measured to be 510 g by the measuring unit 2,
In addition, this is a case where the phrase “Please store in a refrigerator at 10 ° C. or lower” is registered in the product master as a storage method. Label printing is performed on other products in the same format.

Here, during the label issuing mode, for example, the wording of the method of storing the product may be a long wording such as "Store in a refrigerator at 10 ° C. or less, and enjoy as soon as possible regardless of the expiration date." To change, the operator presses a temporary change mode key provided on the operation unit 4. By depressing this key, it is possible to temporarily rewrite the product information registered in the product master while storing it, and the display unit 5 displays a list of registered contents of the product to be rewritten, and the operator can use the storage method. Is changed by key input.

On the other hand, the control unit 6 stores each print information in the image RAM according to the above-described print format.
.. Are expanded to the respective print areas a, b, c, d, e,..., But since the wording of the storage method has been changed to a long wording as described above, 1 If the content does not fit in the print area b on the first label L1 and an expansion error occurs, the control unit 6 replaces this print format with one of a plurality of print formats and uses this storage method. Label printing is performed by selecting another printing format in which printing is performed following the additive and the message in the printing area e on the second label L2 without printing on the first label L1. As a result, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, for example, two labels L1 and L2 printed on the second label L2 are issued as the storage method, and in the illustrated example, other labels than the storage method are used. The print information such as the product name is printed in almost the same layout as the print format. The second label L
If the storage unit 2 does not already have enough space for the additive data and the message from the beginning, the control unit 6 selects a printing format for printing the storage method on a new third label.

As described above, in the label printer 1, when the print information does not fit in the print area defined by the print format and an expansion error occurs, the print format is changed, and the print information over the number of characters is changed. Since the entire contents are automatically displayed on another label and displayed, there are problems such as reconstructing the wording so that the operator can fit in the printing area, or the label that is supposed to be displayed is not displayed on the label. Will be avoided.

In the above example, the print area is not changed, but the print information does not fit in the print area because of a large number of characters in the print information. In some cases, the print area may be changed to a small size, and the print information may not be able to fit in the print area. Next, the latter case will be described as an example of temporarily selling a special price by a time service or the like during normal sales at a price calculated from the net amount of the product and the unit price.

Now, it is assumed that two items, namely, the preservation method and the additive, are printed in the print area b in FIG. 4 during normal sales as shown in FIG. In this case, the label printer 1 issues one label L for one product, and the print area b is specified by a print format as an area for printing two items, a preservation method and an additive. In the product master, the message column is unregistered and label printing is not performed.

Here, for example, when a bargain sale of merchandise is performed as time service as a time service, the operator presses a temporary change mode key, and a predetermined special sales price or time is displayed in the bar of special price in the merchandise master. An eye catch copy such as "time service special price" indicating a service item is input.

On the other hand, the control unit 6 stores each print information in the image RAM according to the above-described print format.
Each of the above print areas a, b, c, d, e,... Is expanded, but the print information relating to the price is specified in the above print format by the addition of the special price and the eye catch copy as described above. Print area d on the first label L1
If the content does not fit in the output format and an expansion error occurs, the control unit 6 replaces the print format with a plurality of print formats, as shown in FIG.
As shown in the figure, the above-mentioned price printing area d is enlarged at the upper portion so as to include all of the special price and the eye catch copy, thereby forming a special price printing area d ′. Then, another printing format in which the storage method and the additive printing area b 'located above the printing method are reduced is selected.

As a result, as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, for example, a special price, an eye catch copy, etc. are added to the first label L1 and printed, and a new second label L2 is printed.
Labels L1 and L printed with the additive moved to
2 is issued. In this case, the storage method and additives include:
For these print information, the first label L1
In this case, the priority of printing on the storage method is set in advance by the operator, and in this case, the priority of the storage method is set higher than that of the additive. In addition, even if the low-priority label is moved to the second label L2 and the text still overflows from the print area b ', a "development error" occurs again, and the above-mentioned storage method is also used for the second label L2. Is moved to the label L2. Instead of following the priority set by the operator, data having a large number of characters may be preferentially transferred to the second label L2 and printed. Note that the example shown in FIG.
In the case where the net amount is measured by the measuring unit 2 to be 280 g and the normal selling price is calculated to be 1440 yen, this price is revised and sold at a time service special price of 980 yen.

As described above, in the label printer 1, when the print information does not fit in the print area defined by the print format and an expansion error occurs, the print format is changed, and the print information having the number of characters is changed. The print area is expanded so that it can fit in and out, and the print information whose print area is narrowed by the expansion is automatically printed on another label from the lowest priority, so that the entire contents of each print information is As a result, it is possible to avoid problems such as reconstructing the wording so that the operator can fit in the printing area and not displaying what is supposed to be displayed on the label.

In the above, two labels L1,
L2 may be continuously fed out and issued from the issuing port 3a of the printing unit 3, or another printer may be connected to the label printer 1 so that the first label L1 is The second label L2 may be printed and issued by the second printer.

[0037]

As described above, according to the label printer of the present invention, when the print information is changed, the number of input characters is large, or when the sales method is changed, the print area is reduced. When all the content is no longer printed in the print area where the print information is printed, the print information is not printed in the original print area and is printed on another label, or the print area is expanded. Therefore, even if the operator does not perform the operation of cutting down the contents of the print information, all the input contents of the print information are displayed on the label as they are.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a label printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a control system diagram of the label printer.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a product master stored in a memory.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a print area according to a print format stored in a memory.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a print area.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a first label issued by the label printer.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a second label.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a first label when a print format is changed.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a second label when the print format is changed.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a label of another product issued by the label printer.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of a print area according to another print format stored in a memory.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of the first special sale label when the print format is changed.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram of a second special sale label when the print format is changed.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 label printer 2 weighing section 3 printing section 4 operation section 5 display section 6 control unit 7 memory

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A label printer provided with print control means for printing print information of a product on a plurality of print areas of a label based on a predetermined format, wherein the control means attempts to print on each print area. When the amount of print information to be printed does not exceed the capacity of the print area, each print information is printed on a label according to the current format, and when it exceeds, the print information is automatically printed on another label. A label printer. 2. A label printer provided with print control means for printing print information of a product on a plurality of print areas of a label based on a predetermined format, wherein said control means attempts to print on each print area. If the amount of print information to be printed does not exceed the capacity of the print area, each print information is printed on a label according to the current format, and if it exceeds, the print information is printed on another label and the other print information is A label printer characterized in that the format is automatically changed so as to print on a label of the label. 3. A label printer provided with print control means for printing print information of a product on a plurality of print areas of a label based on a predetermined format, wherein said control means attempts to print on each print area. If the amount of print information to be printed does not exceed the capacity of the print area, each print information is printed on the label according to the current format, and if it exceeds, the print area is automatically extended and the print information is printed on the original label. A label printer characterized in that it is configured to print and print other print information having a low priority for printing on the original label on another label. 4. A label printer provided with print control means for printing print information of a product on a plurality of print areas of a label based on a predetermined format, wherein said control means attempts to print on each print area. If the amount of print information to be printed does not exceed the capacity of the print area, each print information is printed on the label in accordance with the current format, and if it exceeds, the print area is expanded and the print information is printed on the original label. A label printer characterized in that the format is automatically changed to print another print information having a lower priority for printing on the original label on another label. 5. The label printer according to claim 1, wherein the printing control unit issues another label from the same printing unit following the first label. 6. The printing control device according to claim 1, wherein the printing control unit issues another label from a second printing unit different from the printing unit that issues the first label. The label printer described in.