JPS61197258A - Measuring printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enhance overall speed and printing quality, by a method wherein when a portion of printing information is to be emphasized, only the printing speed in printing in a line including the portion to be emphasized is lowered. CONSTITUTION:When data requiring development of a different color assigned to specified printing data are stored in a printing buffer 27, the energizing time for heating elements of a thermal head 10 is prolonged for printing through color development at a higher temperature, thereby consuming more time for printing. On the other hand, when only general printing data are stored in a printing buffer 26, the energizing time in printing in a line solely through development of a color at a lower temperature is shortened, thereby shortening the period of time required for printing in the line. By this, an overall label- issuing time is shortened. In printing in a line including both data requiring the development of the different color at the higher temperature and data requiring the development of the basic color at the lower temperature, the energizing time T2 is set to be longer than the energizing time T1 in printing in a line requiring only the development of the basic color at the lower temperature, thereby equalizing the basic-color printed condition in both cases, and enhancing the printing quality.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a weighing printing device that prints printed content including weighing data on a label using a thermal head.

2. Description of the Related Art In general, using a thermal head as a printing means in a label printer or the like has various advantages such as being able to obtain a free printing pattern and being able to print a clear bar code.

However, since the printing color of the label is constant over the entire label, if there is a part of the printed information that needs to be emphasized, that part is surrounded by a line or printed especially in bold letters. Although it is possible to achieve this goal to some extent by means of such means, it is only noticeable if one looks carefully; it is not something that can be seen with the naked eye.

In this regard, although it is easy to achieve the above-mentioned objective by performing multicolor printing, this requires two or more thermal heads and the structure of the printing mechanism becomes complicated.

Therefore, by using a label with two-color coloring temperature characteristics for one thermal head and controlling the time when the current is applied to the heating element of the thermal head, it is possible to make printed areas such as highlighted areas stand out as red coloring. has been proposed.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in the case of such a method, the above-mentioned energization time is always controlled in the same state even though the emphasized part is usually a part of the label. The printing speed will be slow even in areas where only low-temperature printing is performed. Regarding this point.

A method has been proposed in which the energization time is extended only in a printing line that has printing data for high temperature printing, but the printing line that has printing data for high temperature printing also includes printing data for low temperature printing, It often results in a mixed line of high and low temperature color development. Even in such a printing line in which high and low temperature coloring is mixed, the energization time for low temperature coloring printing is the same as the energization time in a printing line that only uses low temperature coloring. At this time, since this is also a printing line based on high-temperature coloring, the entire energization time is long, the speed is low, and the OFF time is long, so that the heating element used for low-temperature coloring printing easily radiates heat.

As a result, even in the low-temperature printing portion, the printing of the printing line with both high and low-temperature coloring is lighter than that of the printing line with only low-temperature coloring, and the printing quality of the two is different.

Therefore, the present invention improves the overall speed by slowing down only the printing speed of the printing line of that part when there is a part to be emphasized in the printed information, and also enables low-temperature printing on the printing line of only low-temperature coloring. The purpose of the present invention is to obtain a metering printing device that can make the printing quality equivalent to that of low-temperature printing in a printing line where both high and low-temperature color development are mixed.

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention provides a label 1 having two-color coloring temperature characteristics,
A thermal head 1o equipped with a large number of heating elements that prints over the entire width of the label 1 in contact with a label 1 moving in one direction is provided, and printing that provides printing data for controlling energization to the heating elements of the thermal head 10. buffer 2
6.27 is provided at least two times, and the basic color development for general print data 13 to 16 is low temperature and specific print data 1 for printing by the heating element of the thermal head 10 on label 1.
7 is set to have a high temperature, and when these printing buffers 26 and 27 are selected, the constant current is applied to the heating elements at different times, and printing is performed on the printing buffer 27 for different colors. A print controller 20 is provided that extends the energization time only when data is present, and the energization time is set to T for a low-temperature coloring single line that does not include print data for high-temperature different coloring on the printing line by the thermal head 10, and The energization time for printing data for low-temperature basic coloring in a high- and low-temperature mixed line that includes printing data for high-temperature different coloring is set to T2, which is set in the relationship T<T2, and for this energizing time T2. A configuration is adopted in which an additional energization time is added to set the effective energization time necessary for high-temperature and different color development.

Function First, basically, when data that requires different color development for specific print data is stored in the print buffer 27, the power supply time to the heat generating element of the thermal head 10 is increased for high temperature color printing. Although it takes time,
When printing a single low-temperature coloring line in which only general print data is stored in the print buffer 26 without including such specific print data, the energization time is shortened, and by shortening the printing time of the print line, the label as a whole can be improved. In this case, even if basic color printing is performed using the same low-temperature coloring, when printing a mixed line of high and low-temperature coloring, the energization time for low-temperature coloring is reduced to the energizing time T for a single low-temperature coloring line.
By setting T2 longer than 1, it is possible to improve the printing quality by making the basic color printing conditions of the two the same.

Example An embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

First, as shown in FIG. 1, rectangular labels 1 are pasted on a long mount 2 at equal intervals, and the mount 2 is wound into a roll and held in a label supply section 3. . The mount 2 passes through a platen 5 driven by a pulse motor 4, is bent at a label peeling plate 6, passes through a roller 7, and is wound onto a winding shaft 9 driven by a winding motor 8. Further, a thermal head 10 is provided on the platen 5.

This thermal head 10 is equipped with a large number of heating elements capable of printing over the entire width of the label l.

Further, the label 1 peeled off by the label peeling plate 6 is subjected to a photoelectric label detector 11 which detects the passing timing of its leading edge and also detects its presence or absence.

Here, an example of the contents printed on the label 1 is shown in FIG. Label l shows processing date and effective date.

Code, product number, per 100g (yen), content (g).

Store name 9 dividing lines (these are, for example, blue), price (yen)
Unique information 12 such as (this is, for example, a red white outline) is printed in advance. Then, the thermal head 10 selects 1 product name 139 date 14. Barcode15. Data 16. Specific information 17 such as "advertisement item" will be printed,
In this embodiment, the specific information 17 designated as an "advertisement item" is a portion to be emphasized, and is colored differently from other printed portions by means described later. Specifically, this label 1 has two coloring layers on its surface and has two coloring temperature characteristics, with the upper layer being used for basic coloring such as black, and the lower layer being used for producing different colors such as red. ing. That is, when the current to the heat generating element of the thermal head 10 is constant, the label 1 develops a basic color of black at low temperatures with a short energization time, and develops a unique color of red at high temperatures with a long energization time.

Next, the electric circuit configuration will be explained with reference to FIG. First, a print controller 20 is provided which operates based on scale data, a label issue signal, a label detection signal, and the like. This print controller 20 has a CPU 21 as its main body, and a ROM 22 and RA connected to this CPU 21.
M23, character generator 24 and I10 port 25. Further, a first print buffer 26 and a second print buffer 27 are connected to the print controller 20. The thermal head 10 and the pulse motor 4 with the motor driver 28 interposed therebetween are connected to the print controller 2o via the I10 port 25, and printing and label feeding are controlled. Furthermore, the "advertisement item" selection key 29 is selected via the I10 port 25.
．． A TI setting key 30 and a number setting key 31 for energization time T2, which will be described later, are connected to the print controller 20.

It is possible to import each content.

In such a configuration, printing on the label 1 by the thermal head 10 is performed line by line. This one print line does not mean one line of characters, but a print line in units of dots. Here, in this example,
As shown in FIG. 3, it has N printing lines ranging from 1 line to N lines, and the printing direction is set in the direction of the arrow (the feeding direction of the label 1 is in the opposite direction). Now, the printing operation according to the present invention will be explained below by referring to the first print buffer 26 as 0 memory and the second print buffer 27 as ① memory.

In this embodiment, for example, the specific information 17 "advertisement item" is highlighted by red printing, and the product name 132 date 14. Barcode15. General print data such as data 16 is to be printed in black color, and therefore these data are stored separately in 0 memory 26 and 0 memory 27 as shown in FIG. Basically, ■ shorten the energizing time for printing the data stored in the memory 26 to produce black color at low temperature; This is controlled by the print controller 20 so that the print is printed in red color. Here, considering the printing content on the label 1 in terms of printing lines, in FIG. Although it is a single line, the area indicated by H includes the print data of "advertisement item" for high-temperature color printing and the print data of "clam" for low-temperature color printing, resulting in a mixed line of high and low-temperature color development. In this embodiment, the printing controller 20 controls the current application time to the heat generating elements of the thermal head 1o, taking into consideration the existence of such a low-temperature coloring single line and a high- and low-temperature coloring mixed line.

Therefore, printing operation control will be explained with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 4 and the timing charts shown in FIGS. 5 to 7. First, after processing the main routine, the scale data is stored in the memory, and the print data for this "advertisement item" based on the selection of the "advertisement item" selection key 29 is stored in the memory. If the label issuing switch is ON, the line counter LCOUNT is returned to 0 and then set to 1 in order to execute the label issuing operation including the printing operation. Then, in order to check the condition of the print line, ■ Check the memory. Now, if the printing line is located in the area and is a low-temperature coloring line alone,
When it is determined that there is no H, the routine processing shown below is performed, and the timing chart becomes as shown in FIG. As shown in this figure, the energization time for the heating element is set to T. This current application time T□ is the normal time required for black color development. When this energization time T□ has elapsed, the thermal head 10 is switched from ON to OFF. The OFF time of this thermal head 10 is set to tl, and a motor rotation signal is output during the OFF period of this thermal head 1o, and the label 1 is advanced by 1 line by one step rotation, and the first printing line is printed. served.

Also, data is exchanged during the OFF period of the thermal head 10, but only a small amount of memory data is exchanged. In this way, the time T1+t is the time required to print one line of black.

As the printing progresses and the printed line reaches the area indicated by area H, and it becomes a mixed line of high and low temperature color development, data is present in the memory check and it is determined that there is H, so the right side of Fig. 4 The routine becomes as shown in FIG. 6, and the timing chart becomes as shown in FIG. First, both memory data and 0 memory data for data replacement are given to the thermal head 10. and,
Based on this data, the necessary heating elements are turned on, but initially the energization time is set to T2 instead of T□. This energization time T2 is set using the T2 setting key 30, and is set in the relationship T□<T2.

In other words, the energization time is made longer than the energization time of the low-temperature coloring line alone. When this energization time T2 has elapsed, the thermal head 1
o is turned off. Although this OFF time is assumed to be t2, it may be the same as the OFF time t. Such T2+t2
One line of the product name 13, ``clams'', is printed in black according to the time required. At this time, one line of the "advertisement item" part is also printed in black, and there is insufficient heat energy, so an additional energization time is added after the energization time T2 has elapsed, and the effective energization necessary for high-temperature red coloring is added. The time is set and the printing operation continues. Therefore, the data is replaced at the O and FF times t2, and only the data in the memory is given to the thermal head 10 again.
Necessary heating elements are turned on. In this embodiment, this additional energization time is not continuous, but is divided into several pulses as shown in FIG. This number of pulses is set by the number setting key 31, and FIG. 6 shows a case where the number of pulses is set to three. Therefore.

The time 3T3 corresponds to the additional energization time,
T2+3T becomes the effective energization time (this effective energization time T, +37. may be continuous as one pulse). Under such printing control based on the effective energization time, the printing operation of one line of the "advertisement item" portion continues, resulting in high-temperature color printing, and this portion develops in red color.

That is, the time T, +3T3+4t2 is the time required to print one print line in red, and after this time elapses, a rotation signal is applied to the pulse motor 4, and the label 1 is fed one line by one step rotation.

FIG. 7 shows an overall timing chart based on such control.

As described above, according to this embodiment, firstly, (1) the energization time for general print data stored in the memory is short and the temperature is low, so printing is performed in the basic color of black; On the other hand, (2) data for the specific information 17 stored in the memory is printed in a different color of red because the energization time is longer and it is exposed to high temperatures. As a result, the words "Advertisement item" are printed in red, and the other barcode 15 is printed in black.
etc. are clearly distinguished and emphasized. In this embodiment, the time required for printing one line is short T□+t□ for the low-temperature coloring single line in the area that does not have the specific information 17, and the high-low temperature coloring in the area H that includes the specific information 17. Since only the time required to print one line on mixed lines is increased, the overall printing time for each printing line is shortened, and there are many areas where labels can be fed at high speed, making it possible to issue labels more efficiently. It is something that Furthermore, in this embodiment, even if the same general print data is stored in the memory and is colored black at low temperature, the power supply time to the heating element is T in the low temperature coloring single line.
On the other hand, in a line where high and low temperature coloring is mixed, black color printing is performed at T2, which is longer than T As an equivalent device, it is possible to improve printing quality. For example, in the timing chart shown in FIG. 7, B,,B,,B,.

In a one-line printed portion of black printing as shown in B, the transition to the next line occurs in a short time, so the heating element is difficult to dissipate heat, and the basic energization time T for black is sufficient. This is clear from the fact that the same heating element is used continuously when considering the printing of the bar code 15 and the like. On the other hand, R
For single-line printing parts where red and black are mixed, as shown by □, R, and R3, the basic energizing time for black printing is T1.
If they are kept the same, it will likely result in a thin black print. This is because the printing time for one line is longer in a coloring line where high and low temperatures are mixed, and for example, a heating element that is energized in the R1 line section is energized in the next R2 line section. Even if it is, the OFF time during that time is long and heat is easily dissipated, and the same energization time T1 is insufficient for producing black color. In this regard, in this embodiment, as described above, such a problem does not occur because the energization time for low-temperature color printing in the high- and low-temperature color mixed line where the printing time is long is set to be longer as T2. In other words, red and black mixed line R work, R2゜R1
Black printed portions B 11 , B2/ , B3 in
The printing condition at ' is the same as the black printing condition at the portions 80 to 84 described above.

In addition, in implementation, the energization time T2 is arbitrarily variably set by operating the T2 setting key 30.

Also, the number of pulses for the effective energization time can be set using the number setting key 3.
It is set arbitrarily by the operation in step 1. this is.

This is to cope with improvements in the properties of the paper for the label 1, the label issuing speed, and the like. Further, although the additional energization time to the energization time T2 is added later in this embodiment, it may be added before one energization time T2.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the "advertisement item" is colored red as the specific information 17, but each item of the various print groups (specific information 12) determined by pre-printing on the label 1 It may also be possible to select whether or not to perform printing in a different color for each print, and to select and combine the prints. In addition, a label 1 that is not pre-printed is used, and the unique information 12 such as the date of processing is printed using the thermal head 10 in the same manner as described above to produce a different color, and the normal data such as the product name 13 is printed as described above. It is also possible to print in basic colors as shown in FIG. Furthermore, as explained in the fifth embodiment, when printing and issuing emphasized printed characters on a pre-printed label 1, such as an "advertisement item", it is calculated by (weight) x (unit price) based on the measurement. The calculated amount (price) may also be printed in a different color to make it stand out. Particularly in the case where the message with emphasis 1 is an "advertisement item" as in this embodiment, since the unit price is low, it is more preferable to print the unit price in a different color such as red. For printing in various different colors, use the keyboard or a flag setting command to store the product name, auxiliary characters (for example, advertising product), weight, and price in the flag memory to select whether to print in red or black (for example, Red = 1. Black = O), and when creating memory data for print buffers 26 and 27, black data and print buffer 2 are stored in print buffer 26 according to this selection flag.
For 7, data for red should be created. In these cases as well, if the printing line is a line in which high and low temperature coloring is mixed, the energization time control as described above may be performed.

Effects of the Invention The present invention provides a plurality of print buffers for inputting print data to a thermal head as described above, and selects input from these print buffers as appropriate to input heat generating elements of specific information portions in print information. You can easily change the energization time, and this allows you to partially change the degree of color development on the label to clearly distinguish and print the areas you want to emphasize. In the printing line part, the heating element is energized for a shorter time to perform the printing operation, so the printing time can be shortened, and even if the same low-temperature color printing data is printed, it can be printed on a line with both high and low-temperature color generation. In some cases, the energization time was made longer than when printing with a single low-temperature coloring line, so that the printing quality of basic coloring printing in any printing line could be made to be the same.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention, in which Fig. 1 is a side view showing a part of the mechanism, Fig. 2 is a plan view of a label, Fig. 3 is a block diagram, Fig. 4 is a flow chart, and Fig. 5 The figure is a timing chart showing operation in a low-temperature single coloring line, No. 6.
The figure is a timing chart showing the operation in a mixed high and low temperature coloring line, and FIG. 7 is an overall timing chart. 1...Label, 1o...Thermal head, 13-1
6...General information, 17...Specific information, 20...Print controller, 26.27...Print buffer, T~T2...Electrification time Applicant Tokyo Electric Co., Ltd. 3J Diagram J) 2

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A label having one or two color development temperature characteristics is provided, a thermal head is provided with a large number of heating elements for printing over the entire width of the label in contact with the label moving in one direction, At least two print buffers are provided that provide print data for controlling energization to the heating element of the thermal head, and the basic color development for general print data is specified at a low temperature for printing by the heating element of the thermal head on the label. When these print buffers are selected by setting different colors for print data to be at high temperatures, a difference is made in the energization time of the constant current to the heating element, and the print data is set to be high temperature in the print buffer for different colors. A print controller is provided that extends the energization time only when the print line is printed by the thermal head. The energization time for print data for low-temperature basic coloring in a mixed high- and low-temperature coloring line that includes print data for coloring is T_1<T_2
A weighing printing device characterized in that T_2 is set in the relationship as follows, and an additional energization time is added to this energization time T_2 to set an effective energization time necessary for high-temperature and different color development. 2. The measurement printing device according to claim 1, characterized in that the value of the energization time T_2 can be set arbitrarily. 3. The measurement printing device according to claim 1, wherein the additional energization time is divided into several pulses. 4. The measurement printing device according to claim 3, characterized in that the number of pulses can be set arbitrarily.