JPH1044521A - Label printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a label printer wherein a selection operation or exchanging operation of a label printing mechanism by a manual operation is not necessary when a mark down operation or a print operation for POP advertisement is executed. SOLUTION: Different papers are respectively loaded to each of a first label printing mechanism section 3a and a second label printing mechanism section 3b. A CPU 20 judges whether or not a mark down operation that a normal price as well as a discount price is printed should be executed based on a special sale file stored in a RAM 30. When the CPU 20 executes the mark down operation, it selects one of the first label printing mechanism section 3a and second label printing mechanism section 3b in which the label paper suitable for the mark down operation is loaded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a label printer that prints predetermined data on a label and issues the printed label, and in particular, prints a price label to be attached to a packed product displayed at a store such as a supermarket. And issue a label printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Priced labels of special sale products (discounted products) and sales promotion products (advertising products) are different from ordinary priced labels, and are designed to attract customers' attention. Is being done. For example, in the case of a discounted product, a special price after the discount is printed on the label together with the normal price before the discount to appeal. In this case, two lines are crossed out in the normal price before the discount to emphasize that the price has been corrected. Such a label on which both the price before the discount and the price after the discount are printed is called a mark-down label, and the process of printing and issuing such a label is called a mark-down process.

[0003] Further, in the case of an advertisement product, a POP advertisement (usually image data) is printed on a label with a price, thereby appealing that the product is an advertised bargain product. As described above, the price label of the discounted product or the advertising product is different from the usual information (for example, the pre-discount price or the POP).
Advertising).

As shown in FIG. 12, print labels 102, 102, 102,... Are usually arranged in advance on a mount 104 at predetermined intervals G, G, and have respective sizes (label areas). Is constant. FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of the arrangement of print labels. Therefore, in the case of a mark-down label, the price after the discount and the price before the discount are conventionally printed in the price printing column as shown in FIG. FIG. 13A shows a label on which no markdown processing has been performed, and FIG. 13B shows a markdown label on which markdown processing has been performed. As shown in FIG. 13B, in the mark-down label, the price “1549” before the discount is marked with two lines, and the price “1280” after the discount is printed.

[0005] In the case of a POP advertisement as a label, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 4A, when performing normal printing,
The product name is printed by centering it on the product name print field 106 provided in advance on the label.
As shown in (b), a blank portion is provided after or before the product name, and the POP advertisement is printed in the blank portion. For this reason, when these labels were used, the degree of appeal to the customer of the product could not be expected much.

As described above, conventionally, the size of the label to be printed is one type, but a plurality of label printing sections are provided, and a plurality of labels are appropriately selected by mounting different label sheets on each printing section. A label printer that can be issued by the applicant has been devised by the applicant. For example, see JP-A-63-294339. In this technique, a first label printing mechanism and a second label printing mechanism (both not shown) are provided, and the first label printing mechanism is used to control a normal label shown in FIG. Is printed by the second label printing mechanism, as shown in FIG.
The mark-down label shown in FIG.
By printing a label with a POP advertisement as shown in (1), a label with a high degree of appeal to customers is printed.

[0007]

However, in this type of conventional label printer, selection (switching) between a first label printing mechanism and a second label printing mechanism is performed.
Is performed manually (manual operation), or the label printing mechanism used for each product number is set in advance, so that mark down processing can be specified when a label is issued, or POP printed as image data When the printing of the advertisement is designated, the label printing mechanism to be printed must be selected or switched by a manual operation, which is troublesome.

In particular, an inexperienced operator often forgets to select or switch the label printing mechanism, and in this case, a correct label is not printed. In this type of label printer, if the wrong label is issued, if the operator does not notice it, it will be displayed at the store with the wrong label attached to the product, but it is a problem. Even if you notice immediately after the issuance, it is necessary to change the label printing mechanism and issue the label again after correcting the actual data because of the aggregation of the actual data, which is extremely troublesome. . If the result data is not correctly corrected, accurate result data cannot be tabulated, which hinders inventory management and the like of commodities. For this reason, there has been a strong demand from users for solving the above problems.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and does not require a manual operation for selecting or switching a label printing mechanism when performing markdown processing or POP advertisement printing processing. It is intended to provide a printer.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an invention according to claim 1 is a label printer which prints at least a product name and a price on a label sheet and issues the label printer. A plurality of printing units including a printing unit equipped with a label paper and a printing unit equipped with a label paper suitable for performing markdown processing, and printing the discounted price together with the normal price on the label paper. Instruction means for instructing to perform markdown processing, and when performing the markdown processing, selecting a printing section on which label paper suitable for performing markdown processing is mounted from the plurality of printing sections. And selecting means. According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a label printer which prints at least a product name and a price on a label sheet and issues the label section, wherein at least a label section for a normal price label is attached, and image data for a POP advertisement. A plurality of printing units including a printing unit on which label paper suitable for printing a POP advertisement is attached; instruction means for instructing printing of POP advertisement image data on the label paper; and printing of the image data In this case, there is provided a selection unit for selecting a printing unit on which label paper suitable for printing POP advertisement image data from the plurality of printing units is mounted.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a label printer according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. A label printer according to an embodiment of the present invention is a weighing label printer, that is, calculates the price of a product from the weight of the product weighed by the balance and a preset unit price of the product, and automatically performs label printing. Label printer.

[First Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an external configuration of a label printer according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the label printer. In these figures, reference numeral 1 denotes a main body of the label printer. A control unit shown in FIG. 2 is provided inside the main body 1, and a balance 2 is connected to the control unit. On the other hand, on the front surface of the main body 1, a first label printing mechanism 3a, a second label printing mechanism 3b, and an operation unit 5 are provided.

The first label printing mechanism 3a and the second label printing mechanism 3b include a thermal head for performing dot printing, a shift register for storing data for one dot line and supplying the data to the thermal head, and a label paper. And a stepping motor for moving the image by one dot line at a time, so that arbitrary characters, numbers, and images can be printed. Label paper for printing the normal label shown in FIG. 15A is mounted on the first label printing mechanism 3a, and the second label printing mechanism 3b is mounted on the second label printing mechanism 3b.
The label paper for markdown shown in FIG. 15C is mounted, normal label printing is performed by the first printing mechanism 3a, and markdown labels and POP advertisement labels are printed by the second label printing mechanism 3b. Printing processing is performed. Note that, by default, the first label printing mechanism 3a is set. The selection of the first label printing mechanism unit 3a and the second label printing mechanism unit 3b is performed by the printing control unit 22 based on a selection signal output from the CPU 20.

The operation panel of the operation section 5 is attached to the main body by a bellows 6 for adjusting the angle so that the angle can be adjusted. The operation unit 5 includes a numeric keypad 7, a product number key 8, a label feed switch 9, a zero reset switch 10 of the scale 2, a power switch 11, an operation / display unit 1, and the like.
2 and a connector 13 for connecting the image scanner 14. Here, the product number key 8 is used together with the numeric keypad 7 when inputting a product number described later. The operation / display unit 12 has a structure in which a touch panel 12a (see FIG. 2) is stacked on the upper surface of a liquid crystal display 12b (see FIG. 2), so that data can be displayed and input on the same surface. Has become.

Reference numeral 20 shown in FIG. 2 denotes a C for controlling each part of the apparatus.
It is a PU (Central Processing Unit). 40 is the CPU 20
Is a ROM (Read Only Memory) in which various control programs used in are stored. This ROM4
The CPU 20 switches the operation mode of the main body 1 to an operation mode such as a setting mode for setting various setting items and a label issuing mode according to the control program stored in “0”.

The operating unit 5 includes the connector 1
3, an image scanner 14 can be connected. The image scanner 14 is 8 dots / mm
It has a line sensor having a resolution of .times. And reads an image up to a maximum width of 64 mm (512 dots) by moving on the image. Each dot that makes up the read image is based on a certain level (variable)
1 of "black"("1" signal) or "white"("0" signal)
It is converted into a bit signal and output as image data.

As shown in FIG. 2, the load cell 2a of the balance 2
The first label printing mechanism 3a and the second label printing mechanism 3b are connected via the load cell controller 21 to the print controller 22.
Via the scanner controller 23
, The touch panel 12a and the keyboard 7-11 are connected to the CPU 20 via the operation control unit 24, and the liquid crystal display 12b is connected to the CPU 20 via the display control unit 25. The scanner control unit 23 has a built-in buffer for temporarily storing image data input from the image scanner 10. When a product or the like is placed on the scale 2, the weight data is stored in the load cell control unit 21.
Is output to CPU2. Reference numeral 42 denotes a clock unit having a calendar function. The CPU 20 can obtain data of the current date (year, month, day) and time from the clock unit 42.

Reference numeral 30 denotes a RAM (Random Access Memory).
ry), as shown in FIG. 3, a working area D1 including flags, registers, and the like used for various processes.
And PLU file D2, special sale file D3,
POP file D4 and print format file D
5 is provided. Figure 3 is RAM
3 is a conceptual diagram showing a memory map of FIG. These storage areas are backed up by a battery so that their contents are not lost even when the power of the main unit 1 is turned off.

FIG. 4 is a table showing an example of the contents stored in the PLU file D2. This PLU file is a file in which information of various products is stored, and information of one product is stored in one record. This record includes a field FA1 in which a product number assigned in advance for each product type is stored, and a unit price of the product (normally, 1).
00g), a field FA3 storing a tare weight which is the weight of a tray on which the product is placed, a field FA4 storing an expiration date indicating a shelf life, and the like. Field FA5 in which the name of the product is stored, and POP indicating image data to be printed on a label attached to the product
It is composed of a plurality of fields such as a field FA6 in which a number is stored.

In the example shown in FIG. 4, the product name "beef loin" is assigned "2001" as the product number, the unit price is "580" yen, and the tare weight is "5" [ g], the effective date is “2” day, and the value “0” is stored as the POP number. When the value of the field FA6 storing the POP number is “0”, it indicates that the image data is not printed on the label.

FIG. 5 is a table showing an example of the contents stored in the above-mentioned special sale file D3. The special sale file D3 stores information such as a discount rate, a special sale start date, and a special sale end date of a product to be sold. As shown in FIG. 5, the special sale file D3 includes a field FB1 in which a product number FB1 is stored and a field FB in which a discount rate is stored.
2. A plurality of records including a field FB3 storing a bargain sale start date and a field FB4 storing a bargain sale end date are stored. In the example of FIG. 5, "2"
“001” is discounted by 17% for merchandise storing “001”, from September 5, 1995 to September 8, 1995.
It indicates that the sale will be held until the day.

FIG. 6 is a table showing an example of the contents stored in the POP file D4. This POP file D4
Is a file for storing image data for a POP advertisement, a field FC3 for storing the image data,
A field FC2 in which the data length of the image data stored in the field FC3 is stored, a field FC1 in which a POP number allocated to each image data is stored, and a print format set corresponding to the image data. It has a plurality of records consisting of a field FC4 in which a print format number is stored.

Since the image data stored in the field FC3 has a variable length, the data length of the image data is stored in the field FC2, and the print format number for specifying the print format is stored in the field FC4.
Is stored in The image data stored in the field FC3 is input using the image scanner 14 shown in FIGS.

The above-described print format file D5
Is a file in which format data such as the presence / absence of printing of each print item and the print start position is stored for each print format number. FIG. 7 shows the print format file D5.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the contents stored in. The print format file D5 stores a plurality of records. Each record has a field FD1 storing a format number and a field F storing a label size.
D2, unit price printing start position, product weight printing start position, product price printing start position, product name printing start position,
And fields FD3 to FD7 in which the print start positions of the image data are stored. If the contents of the print start position stored in the fields FD3 to FD6 are (0, 0), no printing is performed for that item. In the present embodiment, the print format of the first label print mechanism 3a and the second label print mechanism 3b in FIG. 1 is selected and set in advance from the print format file D5.

That is, in the present embodiment, a normal price label is printed by the first label printing mechanism 3a,
Mark down label or POP at label printing mechanism 3b
Print the advertising label. For this reason, a normal label sheet for a price label is mounted on the first label printing mechanism 3a in advance, and a normal printing format is used when the first label printing mechanism 3a is used (selected) in the setting mode. Set the print format of the price label (select the print format number). In addition, the second
Mark down label and POP are added to the label printing mechanism 3b.
Attach the label paper for advertisement printing, and set the print format of the mark-down label as the print format when the second label printing mechanism 3b is used (selected) in the setting mode (select the print format number). ).

Next, the operation of the label printer according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 8 shows the first embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a flowchart illustrating a schematic operation of the label printer according to the embodiment. First, the operator operates the operation / display unit 12 to set the operation mode of the main body 1 to the label issuing mode. When the mode is set to the label issuing mode, the process proceeds to step S1. In step S1, first, the CPU 20 performs a display process for inputting the product number of the product for which the label is to be issued to the operation / display unit 12. When this display is made, the operator presses the numeric keypad 7 and the product number key 8 to input the product number.

For example, by operating the numeric keypad 7, “200”
After inputting "1", the merchandise number key 8 is pressed. When this input is made, the CPU 20 uses the input merchandise number, that is, "2001" as a key to store each record of the PLU file D2 stored in the RAM 30. The field FA1 is searched, and the information of the corresponding record is read out.In the example shown in FIG.
100 [g], a tare weight of 5 [g], an effective date of 2 days, a character string "beef loin" as a product name, and a value "0" as a POP number are read. The information read as the effective date is added to the current date data obtained from the clock unit 42 in FIG. 2, and the last date on which the product is valid (equivalent to the expiration date when the product is food). ) Is calculated.

Next, the field FB1 of each record in the special sale file D3 is searched using the input product number "2001" as a key, and the information of the corresponding record is read. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the discount rate is "17"%,
“95.0.05” is read as the special sale start date, and “95.09.08” is read as the special sale end date. The read information and the calculated information are stored in the working area D1.

In step S2, a process for changing the information read in step S1 is performed. This change processing is performed by the operator operating the operation / display unit 12 and the ten keys 7. For example, it is possible to change the product set in the special sale file D3 to perform the special sale so as not to perform the normal special sale, or to change the image data to be printed. Here, it is assumed that the image data to be printed is changed to the image data to which “5” is assigned as the POP number among the various types of information read out by the operation of the operator. If no change is made, the process in step S2 is omitted.

In step S3, a product corresponding to the product number input in step S1 is displayed by the operator in FIG.
The weight data of this product is placed on
Output to 0. In step S4, a process of calculating the price of the product from the weight data obtained in step S3, the unit price read in step S1, and the tare weight using the following equation is performed. Price = (weight data-tare weight) x unit price The unit price read in step S1 is 580 yen / 100
[G], and the tare weight is 5 [g]. When 267 [g] is obtained as the weight data of the product placed on the scale 2, the price of the product is (267-5) × 58.
0/100 = 1519 yen. Note that this price is divided by 100 when obtaining the price, because the unit of the weight data and the tare weight is different from the unit of the unit price. In addition, when calculating the price, the decimal part is truncated.

In step S5, it is determined whether or not to perform the markdown process based on the special sale start date and special sale end date read in step S1 and the current date data obtained from the clock unit 42. The result of this determination is “Y
If "ES", the process proceeds to step S6. In step S6, a process of calculating the price after discount is performed. In this process, the price after discount is obtained from the price of the product calculated in step S4 and the discount rate read in step S1. Since the price of the product calculated in step S6 is 1519 yen and the discount rate is 17%, the price after the discount is 1549 × 0.
Although 83 = 1285 yen is calculated, the process of truncating the first digit is performed, and 1280 yen is calculated as the discounted price.

On the other hand, if the decision result in the step S5 is "NO", that is, if it is determined that the mark down is not performed, the process proceeds to a step S7. Step S
At 7, it is determined whether or not to print the image data.
This determination is made based on the value of the POP number read in step S1 or whether the POP number is temporarily set in step S2. When the result of this determination is “YES”, that is, when the value of the POP number is “0”
Otherwise, that is, when printing image data, the process proceeds to step S8. In step S8,
A selection signal is output from the CPU 20, and the printing control unit 22 in FIG. 2 selects the second label printing mechanism unit 3b based on the selection signal.

On the other hand, when the result of the determination in step S7 is "NO", that is, when the value of the POP number read in step S1 is "0", and in step S2, the POP number is not temporarily set. If so, the process proceeds to step S9. In step S9, the CPU 2
From 0, a selection signal is output, and the printing control unit 22 in FIG. 2 selects the first label printing mechanism unit 3a based on the selection signal.

When any one of steps S8 and S9 is completed, the process proceeds to step S10. In step S10, processing for expanding the print image in the memory is performed. When the first label printing mechanism 3a is selected, the print image is developed in accordance with the printing format (format for a normal price label) preset in the first label printing mechanism 3a. When the second label printing mechanism 3b is selected, when the image data is not printed, that is, when the value of the POP number is "0", the printing format (mark) set in advance in the second label printing mechanism 3b is set. The print image is developed in accordance with the format for the down label, and when the image data is printed, that is, when the value of the POP number is a value other than “0”, the print format number set in advance for each POP number The print image is developed in accordance with a print format (a format for printing POP advertisements) specified in (1). The details of the print image developing process based on the print format data are disclosed in JP-A-61-130069. ing).

In step S11, a process of printing the print image developed in step S10 by the selected first label printing mechanism 3a or second label printing mechanism 3b is performed.

As shown in FIG. 15, when the markdown process and the POP advertisement (image data) are not printed, the first label printing mechanism 3a is automatically selected and the normal price label is printed. (See FIG. 15 (a)), and when performing markdown processing, the second label printing mechanism 3b is automatically selected and a markdown label (see FIG. 15 (b)) is printed, and the POP is printed. When printing an advertisement, the second label printing mechanism 3b is automatically selected and a POP advertisement (see FIG. 15C) is printed.

[Second Embodiment] Next, a label printer according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. The difference between the label printer according to the second embodiment of the present invention and the label printer according to the first embodiment of the present invention is that although not shown, a third label printing mechanism is provided, and what label is provided for each of them. Is set in advance. For example, as shown in FIG. 9, the first label printing mechanism, the second label printing mechanism, and the third label printing mechanism are respectively label paper for POP advertisement printing,
A label paper for a markdown label and a label paper for a normal price label are mounted in advance, and a POP advertisement label, a markdown label, and a normal label are set to be printed, respectively. Printing is performed in a print format in which “5”, “2”, and “1” are assigned as print format numbers.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a part of the schematic operation of the label printer according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In this figure, the same processes as those in FIG. 8 are denoted by the same reference numerals. The operation of the label printer according to the second embodiment of the present invention is different from the operation of the label printer according to the first embodiment of the present invention in that step S20 is added. The description is omitted.

In the operation of the label printer according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. 8, if it is determined in step S7 that image printing is to be performed, the second label printing mechanism is selected in step S8. In the second embodiment, if it is determined in step S7 that image printing is to be performed, the third label printing mechanism is selected in step S20. In step S10,
A print image is selected according to the print format set in the selected label print mechanism. When the first label printing mechanism is selected, the POP
An advertisement is printed, a mark-down label is printed when the second label printing mechanism is selected, and a normal price label is printed when the third label printing mechanism is selected.

In the above embodiment, the special sale file D3 is searched based on the product number input by the operator, and it is determined whether or not the product is in the special sale period.
Although the mark-down process is performed based on this determination result, the operator may instruct to perform the mark-down process in the process of step S2 in FIG. For example, a “mark-down” key is displayed on the operation / display unit 12 in FIG. 1, and when this key is touched by the operator, a display requesting that a bargain price or a discount rate is input is performed, and input is performed by the operator. The discounted price may be calculated based on the special sale price or the discount rate. In the above embodiment, when calculating the price after the discount, the decimal part is rounded down, but may be rounded up or rounded off.

In the above embodiment, the label printing mechanism is selected either when the mark down or the POP number is determined based on the input product number, or when the POP number is temporarily set. . In the above-described embodiment, the bargain sale is marked down.
It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which it is possible to set items that are marked down and items that are not marked down even at a bargain sale.
In the first embodiment, the print control unit 22 (see FIG. 2) controls the first label printing mechanism unit 3a and the second label printing mechanism unit 3b as a single unit. However, the present invention is not limited to this. May be provided, each of which has the function of the print control unit 22. Furthermore, although the weighing label printer is used in the embodiment, a constant label printer (weigher) may be used.

Although no error check is performed in the above embodiment, for example, when the print format set in the first label printing mechanism 3a or the second label printing mechanism 3b does not match the print data. ,
For example, when printing a mark-down label or a POP advertisement, if the format of the label having no area for printing the mark-down label or the POP advertisement is set, the type of the attached label is different. May be issued.

In the above embodiment, the print format is set in the first label printing mechanism 3a, the second label printing mechanism 3b, and the (third label printing mechanism).
The type of the attached label may be set, and the print format may be set according to the label type. Also,
Instead of setting the label type, the label type may be automatically detected. The label is not limited to the above example, for example, as shown in FIGS.
As shown in (c), the discounted price and PO
Print columns (portions indicated by oblique lines in the figure) for printing the P advertisement may be set at various places on the label, and the shape of the print columns may be set variously.

[0044]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When printing image data for markdown or POP advertisement, the printing section with the appropriate label paper is automatically selected and label printing is performed. No need to make a selection. This simplifies the operation and completely solves conventional problems such as incorrect labels being affixed to products and accurate results data being unable to be tabulated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an external configuration of a label printer according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the label printer.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing a memory map of a RAM.

FIG. 4 is a table showing an example of contents stored in a PLU file D2.

FIG. 5 is a table showing an example of contents stored in a special sale file D3.

FIG. 6 is a table showing an example of contents stored in a POP file D4.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of contents stored in a print format file D5.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a schematic operation of the label printer according to the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a table showing items set in each printing mechanism of the label printer according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a part of a schematic operation of the label printer according to the embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a label printing column.

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an example of the arrangement of a print label.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a markdown label,
(A) is a diagram illustrating an example of a label that has not been subjected to markdown processing, and (b) is a diagram illustrating a label that has been subjected to markdown processing.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of a label on which a POP advertisement is printed.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of label printing.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3a First label printing mechanism (printing section) 3b Second label printing mechanism (printing section) 20 CPU (instruction means, selection means)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A label printer which prints at least a product name and a price on a label paper and issues the label printer, wherein at least a printing unit on which a label paper for a normal price label is mounted and a mark-down process are performed. A plurality of printing units including a printing unit on which label paper is mounted; instruction means for instructing the label paper to perform a markdown process of printing a discounted price together with a normal price; and performing the markdown process. In this case, the label printer further comprises a selection unit for selecting a printing unit on which label paper suitable for performing a markdown process from the plurality of printing units is mounted. 2. A label printer which prints at least a product name and a price on a label paper and issues the label, and prints at least a printing section having a label paper for a normal price label and image data for a POP advertisement. A plurality of printing units including a printing unit on which label paper suitable for the printer is mounted, instruction means for instructing printing of POP advertisement image data on the label paper, and when printing the image data, A label printer comprising: a selection unit that selects a printing unit on which label paper suitable for printing image data for a POP advertisement is printed from the plurality of printing units.