JPS63286372A - Label printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To allow simple and secure entry of article name or characters by providing a setting means to set commodity number corresponding to a detected article name, or character code corresponding to detected characters, as input data. CONSTITUTION:When commodity number (e.g. '0001') is entered by operation of a ten-key board and an article number key PLU is pressed, an item to be registered about the article number ('0001') (in case data is already registered, such registered data) is displayed. For instance, the touching of 'division' results in the display of an image as shown in Fig. d, in the multiwindow mode, thus enabling setting and change of the division. Further, as a result of the entry of a division number by operation of the ten-key board 7 and pressing of the article number key under a condition where the image is displayed, the division is changed and the screen returns to an image of Fig. c again. In this way, preset data such as commodity name, unit price, tare and preservable period can be sequentially changed and set.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a label printer that facilitates the input of characters such as product numbers (product numbers) and Chinese characters.

[Prior art] In current label printers, unit price, tare weight, effective date, product name, etc. are preset in advance according to the product number, and when printing a label, the desired product number can be entered by inputting the product number. Recalling and using preset data.

However, unless the operator is very skilled, he or she will not memorize which product number corresponds to which product. In addition, there are many types of products these days, and preset data is frequently changed or deleted, so it is not easy to know which product number corresponds to which product.

For this reason, conventionally, a list of correspondence between product numbers and product names (product name list) was printed and placed on the front, top, or near the label printer, and this product name list was viewed as needed. (For example, the patent application
8-234048).

Similarly, when entering product names in kanji, a kanji code table showing the correspondence between kanji codes and kanji characters was used.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] By the way, the conventional means using the above-mentioned product name list or Kanji code table had the following drawbacks.

■Easily soiled and damaged.

■Easy to lose.

■A storage place must be secured.

■Operations are cumbersome as you have to input from the keyboard while looking at the list.

■Inputting a product number or kanji code requires multiple manual operations for one piece of data.

The present invention was made against this background, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a label printer that can solve all of these drawbacks.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention stores character patterns in correspondence with character codes, and stores product names consisting of combinations of character codes in correspondence with product numbers. The label printer includes a dot-type display, a touch panel provided on the display surface of the display, a display control means for displaying a product name list or a character list on the display, and a touched position on the touch panel. and a setting means for setting a product number corresponding to the detected product name or a character code corresponding to the detected characters as input data. shall be.

[Operation] According to the above configuration, the product number or character code can be input by touching the product name or characters displayed on the display.

[Example] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

Structure of First Embodiment FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the external structure of the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the electrical structure of the same embodiment.

In these figures, l is the main body of the label printer. A control section shown in FIG. 2 is provided inside the main body, and a scale 2 is connected to this control section. On the other hand, on the front surface of the main body 1, two label printing mechanism sections 3.4, a first and second label printing mechanism section 3.4, and an operation section 5 are provided. The second printing mechanism section 4 is removable from the main body 1.

These printing mechanism sections 3.4 include a thermal head that performs dot printing, a shift register that stores data for one dot line and supplies it to the thermal head, and a stepping motor that moves the label one dot line at a time. It allows you to print arbitrary characters, numbers, and images. In addition, weighing labels of different sizes (labels with prices) can be set in the printing mechanism section 3.4, or weighing labels can be set in the first printing mechanism section 3 and weighing labels can be set in the second printing mechanism section 4. By setting a pop-up label (product advertisement label), different types of labels can be printed as appropriate.

The operation panel of the operation section 5 is attached to the main body l by a bellows 6 for angle adjustment, so that its angle can be adjusted. The operating section 5 has a configuration as shown in FIG. That is, the operation unit 5 includes a numeric keypad 7, a function key 8, a label feed switch 9, a zero reset switch IO for the scale 2, a power switch 11,
It is equipped with an operation/display section 12 and a connector 13 for connecting an image scanner. A clear key C and a tare key T are added to the numeric keypad 7. In addition, the function key 8 is the product number key P used when setting unit prices, etc.
Shift key 5t (to use I, U, numeric keypad 7 and product number key PLO as a double function)
It consists of IFT. The operation/display unit 12 has a touch panel 12a stacked on the top surface of a liquid crystal display 12b, so that data can be displayed and input on the same surface. That is, the liquid crystal display 12b
performs various displays as described below using 480×200 dots.

On the other hand, the touch panel 12a is provided on the top surface of the liquid crystal display 12b, and when the operator touches the transparent panel on the top surface of the liquid crystal display 12b, the touched position is detected and inputted. That is, around the operation/display unit 12, five light emitting diodes LED are arranged on the left side, five phototransistors PT are arranged vertically on the right side, and 104 light emitting diodes are arranged on the lower side. Diode LED, 10 phototransistors PT on the top side,
They are arranged horizontally, facing each other.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, when the operator touches the touch panel 12a with his or her finger, the light emitting diode LED corresponding to the touched position and the phototransistor PT are cut off, the touched position is recognized, and manual operation is performed. Ru.

An image scanner 14 can be connected to the control section via the connector 13. The image scanner 14 has a line sensor with a resolution of 8 dots/mm, and reads an image up to a maximum width of 64 mm (512 dots) by moving it over the image. Each dot constituting the read image is converted into a 1-bit signal of "black"("l" signal) or "white J ("0" signal) based on a fixed level (variable), Output as image data.

Each of the above-mentioned sections is connected to the control section shown in FIG. 2. First, the load cell 2a of the scale 2 is connected to the CPU 20 via the load cell control section 21. The first printing mechanism section 3 and the second printing mechanism section 4 are connected to the CPU 20 via the printing control section 22 . image scanner i
4 is connected to the CPU 20- via the scanner control section 23. Similarly, the touch panel 12a and various keys 7
11 are connected to the CPU 20 via the operation control section 24, and the liquid crystal display 12b is connected to the CPU 20 via the display control section 25. Note that the scanner control unit 23 has a built-in buffer for storing image data input from the image scanner 14.

Further, a RAM 30 and a ROM 40 are connected to the CPU 20.

FIG. 5 shows the internal configuration of the RAM 30, which includes a working area 31 used for various processes, and a PLU (
a price lookup) file 32, a department name file 33 for recording the department to which each product belongs, a total area 34 for storing total data, a display buffer for storing data to be displayed on the liquid crystal display 12b, and ,
A print/display buffer 35, which is a print buffer for storing data printed by the print mechanism section 3.4, is provided.

The above-mentioned PLU file 32 stores the unit price, tare weight, expiration date, department number, product name, etc. in correspondence with the product number.

Further, the department name file 33 stores department numbers in association with department names. Here, the department is used for classification when processing aggregated data, for example, roool beef department sales results ×××X yen.
, r0002 Pork department sales results ×××X yen.” Above r0001J and r0002
J is the department number, and "beef department" and "pork department" are the department names. By using this category, the product name list can be selected efficiently, which will be described later.

Further, the ROM 40 stores programs such as a measurement processing program, a printing processing program, a display processing program, and kanji patterns.

Operation of the First Embodiment Below, the operation of this embodiment will be explained separately for (1) product setting mode and (2) pricing mode.

(1) Product Setting Mode The product setting mode is a mode in which the product name and the above-mentioned department are preset in the PLU file 32 in correspondence with the product number.

First, when the device is powered on, a pricing mode screen shown in FIG. 7 (&) is displayed on the liquid crystal display 12b. Here, if you know the product number, enter this product number and the basic screen shown in FIG. 7(b) will be displayed. On the other hand, if the product number is unknown □, enter the appropriate product number and the basic screen will be displayed.

When the menu key MK is touched on the basic screen shown in FIG. 7(b), the menu screen shown in FIG. 6(a) is displayed. Here, when "1" of "1. Product Registration" is touched, the product setting mode screen shown in FIG. 6(b) is displayed.

In this state, press the numeric keypad 7 to enter the product number (for example, roo).
olJ) and press the product number key PLU, the items that can be registered for this product number (r 0001 J,) will be displayed (including the registered data if the data has already been registered). (Figure 6(C)).

Here, for example, if you touch "Department",
) screen will be displayed in a multi-window, allowing you to set and change departments. In this state, when the department number is input using the numeric keypad 7 and then the product number key I) is pressed, the department is changed and the screen returns to the screen shown in FIG. 6(c). In this way, preset data such as product name, unit price, tare, expiration date, etc. can be sequentially changed and set.

In addition, by setting the department by the above operation,
Pricing, which will be described later, is a necessary operation in preparation for the mode.

If you want to set a department name corresponding to the department number in the department name file 33, select r2. This can be done by selecting "setting mode", which will be described later.

(2) Operation of pricing mode In pricing mode, if the product number is known, enter the product number from the numeric keypad 7 on the basic screen shown in Figure 7(b) and press the product number key. Just press PLU. As a result, the preset data for this product number is called up and displayed. Note that the input data from the numeric keypad 7 is displayed on the price tank.

On the other hand, if the product number is unknown, processing is performed according to the flowchart in FIG.

In this process, before displaying the product name list, a department name list is displayed and a department is first selected. Next, a product name is selected by displaying the product name list set for the designated department. This improves the operability when selecting product names.

This process will be explained below. In the following description, for convenience of explanation, display positions PI-PIO are defined as shown in FIG. 7(C). That is, the detection column C1 and the detection rods Ll, L2 . ...... Each intersection of L5 is set to display position Pi, P2. ...P5, detection column C5 and detection rods Ll, L2 . ......The intersection with L5 is P6. P7
．．・・・・・・Plo.

■Touch "Product Number" on the basic screen shown in Figure 7(b).

As a result, a department name list as shown in FIG. 7(c) is displayed (step Sl in FIG. 8). Please note that the screen (
In c), 10 departments are displayed in descending order of department number.

That is, the working area 31 of the RAM 30 is provided with ten registers DRI-DRIO corresponding to the display positions P1 to P10 in FIG. 7(c).
0 searches the department name file 33 in step S1, and writes the searched department numbers into the registers DRI-DRIO in descending order of department numbers.

After writing the department number, the CPU 20 writes the register D.
The department name corresponding to the department number written in RI-DRIO is read from the department name file 33, and the display position pt- of the liquid crystal display 12b is read out from the department name file 33.
It is displayed in a pair with the department number at the position corresponding to pto.

(2) In the state of screen (c), it is determined whether or not there is a touch input (step S2).

(2) If it is determined that there has been an input, the touch position is detected (step S3).

If the touch position is "previous" (step S4), 10 department names from the previous screen are displayed (step S5). That is, processing is performed to rewrite the contents of the registers DRI to DR10.

If the touch position is "back" (step S6), processing is performed to display 10 department names one screen later (step S6).
7).

If the touch position is "actual" (step S8), a process to be described later is executed.

If the touch position is roll~rP10J (step S
9, 5IO), the department number and department name displayed at the touch position are reversely displayed (step S
ll, 512).

If the touch position is "end" (step 513), the pricing mode screen of FIG. 7(a) is displayed (step 51).
4).

In addition, if a touch is made at a position other than the above, it is determined that a mistouch has occurred, and steps S1.3 to S15 are performed.
Then, a warning is output, and the process returns to step S2.

(2) In step S8, if it is determined that "Real" has been touched, the process moves to step S16, and lθ product numbers and product names of the currently reverse-displayed department are displayed in descending order. This is shown in Figure 7(d).

This is a screen showing a list of product names. In this case, a flag indicating reverse display is provided in the register Drt 1-DI (10), and the designated department is determined based on this flag.

The product name list is displayed in the same way as the department display described above.

That is, the PLU file 32 is searched using the department number as a search key, and the product numbers in which the department with this department number is preset are stored in the register D in descending order.
After writing to RI-DRIO, register DFtl-D
The product name of the product number written in RIO is searched and read out from the PLU file 32, and displayed in pairs with the product number at the corresponding display positions P1 to P1O.

(2) Next, while the screen (d) is being displayed, the CPU 20 determines whether or not there is a touch input (step 517), and if there is a touch input, the position thereof is detected (step 818).

■Perform the following processing depending on the detected position.

If the touch position is "previous" (step 519), 10 product names from one screen before are displayed (step 520). It goes without saying that these 10 product names belong to the designated department.

If the touch position is "next" (step 521), 10 product names from one screen later are displayed (step 522).

If the touch position is P1 to PIO (step S23.5
24) performs processing to be described later.

If the touch position is "Hiragi" (step 525), the process returns to step St, and the department list screen shown in FIG. 7(c) is displayed.

If a position other than the above is touched, it is determined that a mistouch has occurred, the process moves from step S25 to step S26, a warning is output, and the process returns to step S17.

■The touch position is PN (N = 1, 2...10
), register DRN (N=1.2...10
) and set them in each register in the working area 31 of the RAM 30, that is, the product number register, unit price register, tare register, best before date register, and product name register (steps S27, 828). .

(2) After this, the contents of each register are displayed as shown in FIG. 7(e) (step 529). This is the pricing screen. In addition, FIG. 7(e) is different from FIG. 7(d),
This is a display example when r0004J displayed at display position P4 is touched.

In the case of the above example, the present invention was applied to a domestic product, and the product name was written in kanji, but the invention is not limited to this, and the product name is written in alphabetical characters. Even if the text is written in Arabic characters, etc., the desired effect can be obtained by applying the same method.

The second embodiment and above were the first embodiment. In the first embodiment, a product number is input, but a similar method can be applied to input a kanji code.

In this case, display registers are prepared corresponding to the number of Kanji characters to be displayed on one screen, and Kanji codes are written in the display registers in the specified order and displayed at predetermined positions on the screen.

When there is a touch input, the touch position is determined and the kanji code displayed at the touch position is detected.
This Kanji code is written as input data into each register, for example, product name register, advertisement text register, department name register, etc.

The operation of this second embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG. 9, taking the case of setting a department name as an example.

■Touch "2° Setting Mode" on the menu screen shown in FIG. 6(a). As a result, the setting mode screen shown in FIG. 9(a) is displayed.

■Touch “60 department names” on this screen,
The department name setting screen shown in FIG. 9(b) is displayed, and the department name can be set. Here, when the product number key PLU is pressed after inputting the department number using the numeric keypad 7, the screen shown in FIG. 9 (4) is displayed corresponding to this department number.

■In this state, enter kanji by entering the kanji code using the numeric keypad, etc. If you do not know the kanji code, touch the up key LK at the top of the screen (d
), a list of kanji for the A sound is displayed. Also, if you touch "a" on this screen, a list of kanji for the "i" sound will be displayed.

Thereafter, by performing the same operation, a list of kanji such as tsuon, konon, etc. will be displayed.

Also, if you touch "Previous" on the right side of the screen, the kanji list from the previous screen will be displayed, if you touch "Next", the kanji list from the next screen will be displayed, and if you touch "End", it will end and Fig. 9<c > Return to the screen.

In this way, by touching a desired kanji while displaying the kanji list, the kanji code for that kanji can be input.

In addition, in the case of the above-mentioned second embodiment, as in the first embodiment, kanji are input as characters, but if characters are input by inputting character codes, alphabetic characters and , it goes without saying that the desired effect can be obtained by applying the same method even when inputting Arabic characters.

Modifications of the first embodiment The following functions may be added to the first embodiment.

(a) The screen may be scrolled.

(b) Product number and department number do not need to be displayed. In other words,
It is sufficient to display only the product name and department name.

However, displaying the product number and department number will help the operator remember them.

(C) Even if a department number is set, it is possible to provide a selection means for displaying product numbers in descending order, regardless of the department number.

(d) It is also possible to display product numbers not in ascending order but in descending order.

(e) Departments may be further subdivided.

For example, departments may be created in three levels: large, medium and small, and product numbers may be searched from the small departments.

Next, the second embodiment may be provided with the following functions.

(a) The screen may be scrolled.

(b) Kanji codes may be displayed together with the kanji characters.

(c) If there are many types of kanji, the list display may be changed depending on the purpose.

For example, in the case of product name setting, the number of kanji used is limited, so these are restored preferentially.

(d) Before displaying the list, display the 50 syllables on the screen,
It may also be possible to immediately select a desired sound. Also,
It may be possible to select not only the 50 syllables but also symbols, alphanumeric characters, katakana, etc. with a single touch.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the present invention displays a product name list or a character list on the screen, and displays the product names in this list,
Or, since characters can be entered simply by touching them with a finger, product names and characters can be entered easily and reliably without using a printed product name list or character code table.

Furthermore, even when a product name is changed or added, or when external characters are registered, there is an advantage that there is no need to change or recreate the product name list or character list each time.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the external configuration of a label printer according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the same label printer, and FIG. 3 is a front view showing the configuration of the operating section 5. 4 is a side sectional view for explaining the operation of the touch panel 12a, FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram showing the configuration of the RAM 30, FIG. 6 is a front view showing screen transitions in product setting mode, and FIG. The figure is a front view showing the transition of the screen when the value is in the mode, Figure 8 is a flowchart to explain the process of calling up the product name when the value is in the mode, and Figure 9 is the screen when inputting kanji in the second embodiment. FIG. 12a...Touch panel, 12b...
Liquid crystal display, 20...CPU, 25...
・Display control unit, 30...RAM, 40...
...ROM.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim] A label printer that stores a character pattern in correspondence with a character code and stores a product name consisting of a combination of character codes in correspondence with a product number, comprising: a dot-type display; a touch panel provided on a display surface; a display control means for displaying a product name list or a character list on the display; a detection means for detecting a product name or character corresponding to a touched position on the touch panel; A label printer comprising: a setting means for setting a product number corresponding to a detected product name or a character code corresponding to a detected character as input data.