JPH11283124A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a printer capable of optionally setting up the number of preset keys and setting up the size of keys in accordance with the number of preset keys by determining the size of keys based on data for changing the number of preset keys, the scale of a preset key screen and the resolution of touch position detection and changing the preset key screen. SOLUTION: A preset key number setting mode is selected from a menu screen on a touch panel of a display/input part 4 and the number of preset key lines is increased by depressing a ten key '8' and the number of preset key lines is reduced by depressing a ten key '2'. When a ten key '6' is depressed, the number of preset key columns is increased, and when a ten key '4' is depressed, the number of preset key columns is reduced. The numbers of vertical and horizontal clots on the preset key screen are mutually divided and its quotient is corrected to a unit of resolution for the detection of a touch position. Consequently the size and number of preset keys can be changed by simple operation in accordance with the number of commodity sorts.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer used in a retail store or the like, which reads out data of a corresponding product from a product file when a preset key is pressed and prints the data.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the above-mentioned printers, the types of products to be handled vary depending on the type of store.
There are cases where there are nearly 00 types. The printer maker is designed to meet the user with the largest number of preset keys, so even stores with few types of products use one of the preset keys with a small size.

Further, there is a type in which a preset key is provided on a touch panel, a plurality of adjacent keys can be connected to each other and set as one preset key, and the size can be changed (for example, Japanese Patent Application No. 2-293825). The setting operation has to be performed for each key, and the ratio of changing the size has become an integer multiple of twice or four times.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned method, the setting operation must be performed for each key, which is not only troublesome but also causes the size of the key to be twice, four times, or an integral multiple. It was not possible to make it a desirable size.

The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and the number of preset keys can be set arbitrarily, so that the size of the keys can be changed according to the number of preset keys. It is intended to provide a printer.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a preset key screen including a plurality of preset keys is displayed on a touch panel, and when the preset key is touched, corresponding product data is read from a product file. In a printer that reads out and prints on paper, when data for changing the number of preset keys is input by operation, the keys are changed based on the data for changing the number, the size of the preset key screen, and the resolution of touch position detection. A printer characterized in that the size is determined and the preset key screen is changed.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the printer according to the first aspect, wherein the operation of the data for changing the number is performed in a vertical direction and a horizontal direction of the screen, respectively.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the printer according to the first or second aspect, further comprising control means for making the first key number of the preset key screen continuous with the last key number of the previous screen. provide.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, each preset key screen is divided into a group consisting of a plurality of continuous screens.
4. The printer according to claim 3, wherein a group switching key is provided to control the same group by the control unit.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the printer according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, wherein a label is issued by printing on a label sheet.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view of a display / input unit of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2A is an overall view of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2B is a side view of the printer, from which a state inside the main body can be seen.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 4 denotes a display / input unit, and reference numeral 4a denotes a backlight-equipped liquid crystal display having a resolution of 240 dots vertically and 320 dots horizontally and having a touch panel type input function. This is an analog input detector that detects the center position of the displayed portion with the same resolution as the dot of the display. 4b is a fixed key,
Numeric keys and function keys are assigned. Reference numeral 4c denotes a fixed key having keys F1 to F5, which has a function of a group switching key, and serves as a page switching key of the preset key screen in the preset key number changing screen and the label issuing mode.

The display contents of the preset key number change screen and the preset key screen are the same. Further, a key for switching to the previous or next screen is provided in each of the preset key screens grouped by the group switching key, and 5
There are a total of 15 screens with 3 groups of screens.

In the display / input unit 4 having such a configuration, when the preset key number setting mode is set from the menu screen of the touch panel and the up arrow key (numerical key 8) is pressed, the number of rows of the preset keys increases, and the down arrow key Pressing (numerical key 2) reduces the number of rows of preset keys, pressing the right arrow key (numerical key 6) increases the number of rows of preset keys, and pressing the left arrow key (numerical key 4) increases the number of rows of preset keys. Decrease. In this state, a key number is assigned to the upper left of each preset key as shown at 4a in FIG.

FIG. 2 is an overall view and a side view of the printer. As shown in FIG. 2B, the inside of the main body is a roll paper 7a having labels affixed to a mount at predetermined intervals, a print head 7b, It is composed of a platen roller 7c, a mount winding section 7e, and the like. This printer is installed in an unpackaged product such as a supermarket, for example, a deep-fried food corner, and when the customer tells the clerk the type of the product, the clerk presses the preset key of the corresponding product on the liquid crystal display touch panel 4a of the printer, and the product name is displayed. , Issue a label printed with a barcode containing the amount and their information,
Paste it on the packaged product and give it to the customer. The customer receives the product with the label attached, and pays out at the checkout site together with other purchased products.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of an electric circuit of the printer. Reference numeral 1 denotes a CPU (main processing unit) for controlling the whole circuit, and 2 denotes a ROM (from a flash memory to which programs and fixed data are written). Read-only memory), 3 a RAM (random access memory) for storing data being processed, 4 a display / input unit described above, 5 a display control unit, 6 an operation control unit, 7 a label printing unit, 8 Is a print control unit for controlling the printing unit 7.

Next, each of FIGS. 4 to 8 will be briefly described. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a format of the key number storage area. The number of rows and columns of preset keys set in the key number setting mode are stored and stored in the RAM.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a format of a preset key file, in which a product number and a key name for displaying a screen are set and stored for each key number of the preset key, and are stored in a RAM. Is done.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the format of a product file. The product name, price, department, etc. are stored for each product number, and are stored in the RAM.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the format of the preset key screen table, which shows the screen number of the preset key screen and the range of the corresponding key number for each preset key group number, and is stored in the ROM in advance. ing.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a format of a screen data file, in which display data of a preset key screen is stored for each screen number of a preset key.
Is stored.

Next, FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a processing procedure after selecting a key number change mode from a menu screen (not shown). The operator presses any one of the fixed keys 2, 4, 6, and 8 to input an operation to the CPU to increase or decrease the number of rows or columns of the key in that direction. The CPU reads the data in the key number storage area, and reads a row corresponding to the input,
Alternatively, “1” is increased or decreased with respect to the column data and written. The CPU can display the preset key by the number of rows and the number of columns in the key number storage area (the part excluding the part to which the front and rear keys belong to the right end), and divide each from the number of vertical and horizontal dots of the preset key screen of the touch panel. Then, the quotient is corrected to the unit of the resolution of the touch position detection (the displayed dot and the resolution have the same value, and the corrected result does not change.

However, since the unit of the resolution is generally larger, when the number of dots is twice as large as that of the dot, the quotient is corrected to be rounded down to an even number unit.) Length. Then, as the display data of the screen number 1 of the screen data file, the rectangular frame having the above length is written as dot data in the order from the upper left corner of the preset key screen to the right, and then from the left end of the next line. go. Then, the corresponding key name is written as dot data in each square frame from the preset key file using the order as a key number.

When the writing for the screen number 1 is completed, the preset key screen table is read, and the same number is written to the screen number 2 or 3 as the key number following the last key number. When writing to group 1 from the preset key screen table is completed, for screen number 4 belonging to group 2,
Since the first key number of group 2 is 106, 106
Start with the key number. By writing to all the screen data files in this manner, the preset key screen data is created, and the process ends. The above operation completes the change of the number of preset keys.

As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, when the fixed key "4", which is a left arrow, is depressed from the state shown in the left of FIG. 11, which is the screen number 1, the number of columns is reduced by one, and the state shown in FIG. FIG.
Since the key number of the left "loin ham" is 10, it does not enter the left side of FIG. 12, and then moves to the upper left corner on the right of FIG.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an outline of the operation in the label issuing mode. When the issuing mode is selected from the main menu screen, the preset key screen of the screen number 1 is displayed (the right side of FIG. 11 and the preset key screen of FIG. 12). The screen on the right is displayed), and the next key operation is started. Hereinafter, each step from step S11 will be described in order.

S11: It is determined whether or not the preset key has been pressed based on the data from the fixed key and the touch panel. If Yes, the process in S12 is performed. If No, the process in S16 is performed.

S12: Read the currently displayed display screen number provided in a predetermined area of the RAM 3.

S13: Determine which rectangular frame the touch position (X, Y) sent from the touch panel corresponds to in the same direction of the rectangular frame with respect to X (horizontal direction) and Y (vertical direction) of the touch position, respectively. Divide by the length of the side and round up. Then, the first key number of the corresponding group in the preset key screen table is obtained from the screen number of S12, and the preset key number of the touch position is obtained.

S14: Product data is read from the preset key file and the product file according to the obtained preset key number.

S15: The product data is printed on a label in a predetermined format, a label is issued, and the process is terminated.

S16: It is determined whether or not any of the group switching keys (F1 to F5) provided below the touch panel has been operated. If Yes, the process of S17 is performed. If No, the process of S21 is performed. Do.

S17: Data corresponding to the operated group switching key is read from the preset key screen table.

S18: The number at the center of the screen number of the data is selected.

S19: The screen data corresponding to the screen number is read from the screen file. Then, this screen number is written in a predetermined area of the RAM 3 described in S12.

S20: Display on the liquid crystal panel, and the process ends.

S21: It is determined whether the previous key or the rear key at the right end of the screen displaying the preset key is touched, and if Yes, the screen number currently displayed is incremented by one or one. Then, the process of S19 is performed, and if No, the process of S22 is performed.

S22: A process is performed when a key other than the above is operated in the issue mode, and a series of processes is completed.

The operation of one embodiment of the present invention has been described above in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and a design change or the like may be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. The present invention is also included in the present invention. For example, when calculating the size of a key when changing the number of preset keys, a value of the resolution of touch input detection or data obtained by multiplying the resolution plus a space or the like by an integer is used. It may be calculated.

The expression "based on the size of the preset screen" at the time of this calculation is substantially equivalent to the size of the touch panel when the preset key screen is displayed on almost the entire touch panel. It also includes things. That is, the data may be data close to the size of the preset key screen, for example, data in consideration of the surrounding space.

In addition to the analog type, the touch input detection may be one having a large number of contacts for one minimum key, and one capable of detecting a large number of touch positions by having a light intersection. It may be.

The operation for increasing or decreasing the number of preset keys is as follows.
Instead of performing the operation in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction separately, an operation for simply instructing an increase or decrease may be performed, or data on the number of preset keys may be input.

Since the size of the touch panel is limited, the preset key screen is also limited to a predetermined size. Therefore, the number of keys and the key size are correlated, and the key size is May be used to determine the key layout.

It is also easy to apply the present invention to a device for printing a receipt or a journal such as an ECR or the like, which performs payment for shopping, and a preset key and a printing device such as a label printing / pasting device, a POP printing device, and a flyer printing device. It is also easy to apply to a device provided.

[0045]

As described above, the effects obtained by the present invention will be described below according to the claims. That is, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the size and number of the preset keys can be changed by a simple operation according to the number of product types, and it is possible to widely support various jobs for printing product data.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the operation can be performed in each of the vertical direction and the horizontal direction of the screen, the operability is good in accordance with the actual increase and decrease of the keys, and the operability according to the screen shape is good. Key arrangement.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the previous screen and the preset key number are continuous even if the number of preset keys is changed, and it is necessary to newly perform a setting operation relating to the correspondence between the preset keys and the preset data. There is almost no setting operation.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect, even if the number of preset keys is changed, the preset keys do not move to another group. It is possible to easily find a desired preset key.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the above effects can be obtained by a label printer.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a display / input unit of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an overall view and a side view of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of an electric circuit of the printer according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a format of a key number storage area.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a format of a preset key file.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a format of a product file.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a format of a preset key screen table.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a format of a screen data file.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a processing procedure in which each data area is changed when a key number changing operation is performed.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an outline of an operation in a label issuing mode.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example in which a preset key screen is switched.

12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a case where the number of columns in the example of FIG. 11 is reduced.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 CPU 2 PROM 3 RAM 4 Display / input part 4a Liquid crystal display 4b Fixed key 4c Group switching key 5 Display control part 6 Operation control part 7 Label printing part 7a Roll paper 7b Print head 7c Platen roller 7e Paper winding part 8 Printing Control unit

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A printer which displays a preset key screen including a plurality of preset keys on a touch panel and reads out corresponding product data from a product file and prints on paper when the preset key is touched. When the data for changing the number is operated and input, the size of the key is determined based on the data for changing the number, the size of the preset key screen and the resolution of the touch position detection, and the preset key screen is changed. Characterized printer. 2. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the operation of the data for changing the number is performed in each of a vertical direction and a horizontal direction of the screen. 3. The printer according to claim 1, further comprising control means for making the first key number of the preset key screen continuous with the last key number of the previous screen. 4. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein each preset key screen is divided into a group consisting of a plurality of continuous screens, and a group switching key is provided to control the same group by the control means. Printer. 5. The printer according to claim 1, wherein a label is issued by printing on a label sheet.