JPH039873B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

The present invention relates to a label printer, and particularly to a label printer equipped with an electronic scale in conjunction with an electronic scale. Conventional drum-type label printers print the product name using a product name stamp, and numbers such as weight and price are printed on each label using numerical type. It became impossible to freely change the size and size. In addition, even for dot-type label printers, the print control program has one
Since the type was fixed, the format of the label used was also necessarily one type. However, the items printed on the label, such as the display of additives contained in the product, the barcode used to read the product code and price with an optical reader, and the expiry date of the product, cannot be used for product type or sales. Depending on the form, it may not be necessary. In such a case, it is necessary to change the printing position on the label depending on the type of item to be printed. However, in the above conventional label printer, such changes cannot be freely made. Therefore, a technology has been proposed in which price formats for multiple products are stored in advance, the format is called up on a display, necessary data is written, and product price formats are created based on this (for example, , Japanese Patent Publication No. 57-89981). However, although this conventional technology allows any format to be called up using each key, the format is not automatically selected depending on the required data item to be written, but the format to be specified is separately referred to. Therefore, it is difficult to select a format when various print items are combined in various ways. Furthermore, in this prior art, there is no technology for automatically printing various data such as unit price, weight, price, etc. in a selected format as a label printer in cooperation with the electronic scale that is the object of the present invention. It had not been proposed. This invention was proposed in view of the above-mentioned conventional circumstances, and allows a label printer equipped with a single electronic scale to automatically change the format of a label by specifying various required items to be printed. The purpose is to obtain a label printer that can select and print product barcodes, additive display, electronic scale data, dates, effective dates, etc., and use formatted labels. It is something to do. The present invention has the following constituent elements (A) to (G): (A) an input device equipped with a numeric keypad or a dedicated format key and function keys such as a product code key and a date key; (B) a label. (C) A storage device in which a program for controlling the printing position, size, etc. of the data printed on the label corresponding to various label formats is stored; (D) a printing mechanism that prints predetermined data at a predetermined position on the label based on the read program, and the printing mechanism is composed of a printing control means and a printing section; (E) an electronic scale connected to the printing mechanism and outputting printing data such as unit price, weight, price, etc. to the printing mechanism; (F) an electronic scale connected to the printing mechanism; A connected storage device that stores character codes such as product names and additive names; the storage device synchronizes the character codes of the product names or product names and additives with the output of the print data of the electronic scale; and (G) a bar code that converts price data from the electronic scale and product code data from the input device into a bar code and outputs the bar code to the print control means. It is characterized by consisting of a code conversion section, and will be explained in more detail below. Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the software or hardware functions of the label printer of the present invention in conjunction with an electronic scale, and Fig. 2 is a plan view showing an example of the label format used. be. In FIG. 1, the input device is a numeric keypad 11,
"Print" key, "Call" key, "Product code" key,
Function keys 12 such as a "department code" key, a "date" key, and an "effective date" key are provided to specify whether or not to print items such as product effective date, bar code, additives, etc. on the label. It is now possible to set printing contents regarding product name, additive name, product code, department code, processing date, effective date, etc. The storage device 2 is composed of, for example, a ROM (read-only memory), and stores programs corresponding to various label formats F ₁ to _{F 8} as shown in FIG. 2, that is, various printing items provided on the labels. The program that controls the printing position and size of the data (numbers) printed in the column, as well as the paper feed of the label, is compatible with various label formats _.
- It is stored in correspondence with _F8 . In Figure 2, N1 is the product name column provided on label R, N2 is the additive column, PD is the processing date column,
UP is the unit price field, W is the weight field, P is the price field,
ED shows the effective date field, PC shows the product code field, RC shows the department code field, and POS shows the barcode field. The reading means 3 is the numeric keypad 11 of the input device 1.
The label format is determined from the combination of printing items entered using the function keys 12 and 12, and the program corresponding to this format is stored in the storage device 2.
, and outputs it to the printing mechanism 4. That is, in this example, three types of printing items: effective date ED, barcode POS, and additives are printed on the label R.
As long as you specify whether or not to provide them, the label format with these print item fields is determined from the specified combination of print items, and the program corresponding to the determined format is loaded from the storage device 2. It is read out. In addition, in this embodiment, these three types of printing items can be specified by inputting a 3-digit binary code (ABC). For example, when providing an effective date field on a label, , the most significant digit (A) of the binary code (ABC) is set to "1", and when not provided, it is set to "0". Furthermore, when a barcode field is provided on the label, the second digit (B) of the binary code (ABC) is set to "1", and when it is not provided, it is set to "0". Furthermore, when providing an additive column on the label, use binary code (ABC).
It can be specified by setting the least significant digit (C) of ``1'' to ``1'', and if not provided, to ``0''. Table 1 shows the types of label formats that can be specified by entering the binary code on the numeric keypad. The label formats F ₁ to _{F 8} shown here are F ₁ shown in Figure 2.
It is compatible with label formats from F to _F8 .

[Table] The printing mechanism 4 consists of a printing control means 41 and a printing unit 42 such as a printing head and its peripheral equipment such as a paper feeding device.Here, a dot-type printing head, such as a thermal head, is used as the printing head. Labels in multiple formats shown in can be printed according to the above-mentioned program. Further, an electronic scale 5 and a character generator 6 are connected to this printing mechanism 4, and when data such as unit price, weight, price, etc. are input from the electronic scale 5,
The print control means 41 reads out a character pattern corresponding to the data from the character generator 6, reads out a corresponding number program via the reading means 3, and prints the label R based on the read program and the character pattern. The printing unit 42 is controlled so that predetermined characters, numbers, etc. are printed at predetermined positions. Further, a storage device 7 storing character codes such as various product names and additive names is connected to the printing mechanism 4, and when a predetermined call code is inputted with the input device 1, the electronic scale 5 In synchronization with the output of the print data, the character code of the corresponding product name or the character code of a pair of product name and additive name is read out from the storage device 7 in a timely manner, and the character code is read out from the storage device 7 in a timely manner.
1. In this case, if you want to print the product name, for example, "beef slices," enter the corresponding predetermined call code using the numeric keypad 11, and then press the "Call" key. of
It is stored in a RAM (not shown) and read out at a timely manner. Also, when printing the processing date, effective date, etc.
Enter the number in the order of year, month, and day using the numeric keypad 11, then press the "date" key or "effective date" key.
The character code corresponding to the date is stored in the RAM, and when printing a product code or department code, enter the code number using the numeric keypad 11, then press the "Product Code" key or the "Department Code" key. When the user presses the "Code" key, the character code corresponding to the code number is stored in the RAM and is read out in a timely manner in synchronization with the output of print data from the electronic scale 5. On the other hand, the barcode conversion unit 8 is configured to receive price data from the electronic scale 5 and the product code set with the input device 1, and these data are converted into barcodes here. It is configured to be output to the print control means 41. The printing control means 41 of the printing mechanism 4 inputs such a character code or barcode at a timely manner, reads out a pattern corresponding to the character code from the character generator 6, and based on the above-mentioned program, The printing unit 42 is controlled to print these character patterns and barcodes at predetermined positions on the designated label. Since the printing mechanism 4 having such a function is well known, a detailed explanation of its configuration will be omitted here. Note that the reading means 3, printing mechanism 4, and
The printing control means 41, barcode converting section 8, etc. can be configured by a microcomputer. FIG. 3 is a flowchart 1 of the procedure for specifying the label format and the operation order of the reading means 3.
This is an example and consists of the following steps.
In addition, in this embodiment, there is no dedicated key for switching to format specification mode, so
In step 1, an operation is performed to shift to the format specification mode. Step 1: When the power is turned on, first, it is determined whether the numeric keypad is in the ON state or not.
As a result of the determination, if the numeric keypad is not in the ON state, the mode shifts to normal printing processing mode. Also, if the numeric keypad is in the ON state, the mode shifts to the mode for specifying the following label format. Step 2: When entering the mode for specifying a label format, first, it is determined whether the first key pressed is the "0" key or the "1" key. If the result of the judgment is that neither key is pressed, the system waits until either the "0" key or the "1" key is pressed. Step 3: Then, when either the "1" key or the "0" key is pressed, the number of the pressed key is stored as the most significant digit number. Step 4: When the process of Step 3 is completed, the second key pressed is the "0" key or
It is determined which of the "1" keys it is. Step 5: As a result of the judgment, press the “0” key or “1”
If it is any key, the number of the pressed key is stored as the second digit number. Step 6: When the process of Step 5 is completed, the key pressed the third time is the "0" key or
It is determined which of the "1" keys it is. Step 7: As a result of the judgment, press the “0” key or “1”
If it is any key, the number of the pressed key is stored as the lowest digit number. Step 8: When the processing of Step 7 is completed, the printer enters a standby state until the next "Print" key is pressed.
Then, when the “Print” key is pressed, the 3-digit 2
The setting of the decimal code is completed and you can move on to the next step. Step 9: In this step, the three-digit binary code set through the above processing is stored in an appropriate built-in RAM (not shown). this
The RAM is held non-volatile by a backup power supply, so that the stored binary code is held until the next label format change. When the designation of the label format is completed and the data to be printed is input to the print control means 41, the reading means 3 reads out the above-mentioned program corresponding to the stored binary code as appropriate, and reads the corresponding program from the stored binary code. is output to the print control means 41. Note that the above is an example of specifying the label format using the numeric keypad 11, but other methods such as
A dedicated key corresponding to the above three items is provided on the input device 1, and the dedicated key is turned ON (“1”) and OFF (“0”).
The binary code may be input by a combination of the following. Alternatively, dedicated keys corresponding to various label formats may be provided to directly specify the label format to be used.
Alternatively, by storing call codes corresponding to various label formats in the storage device, and inputting the call codes using the input device 1, the program corresponding to the label formats can be directly transferred to the storage device. It is also possible to read from 2. Further, the label formats that can be specified are not limited to the eight types shown in FIG. 2, and the number of types can be increased or decreased as necessary. As explained above, the present invention stores a plurality of programs for controlling the print position of data printed on a label in correspondence with various label formats, and allows the input device to control the label format used. The format can be automatically specified by inputting the required printing item using a simple binary code, and the format can be selected based on the printing item, making it easy to select the format and printing various printing items. This has the advantage that it is easy to create a label. Furthermore, by inputting the required data from the connected electronic scale and the barcode converter, various data such as barcode, weight, additives, price, date, and expiry date can be printed, and the required data as a label can be printed. This has the effect that various data can be easily printed using the required format selected by the above-mentioned simple operation.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an example of a label format. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of an operation flow for specifying a label format. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...Input device, 2...Storage device, 3...Reading means, 4...Printing mechanism.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A label printer equipped with an electronic scale characterized by comprising the following constituent elements (A) to (G). (A) An input device equipped with a numeric keypad or format keys and function keys such as a product code key and a date key; (B) various programs that control the printing position and size of data printed on labels; (C) A storage device that stores a program corresponding to a format having a print item designated by a key operation of a three-digit binary code of the input device from the storage device; (D) a printing mechanism that prints predetermined data at a predetermined position on the label based on the read program; the printing mechanism is composed of a print control means and a printing section; (E) (F) an electronic scale connected to the printing mechanism and outputting printed data such as unit price, weight, price, etc.; (F) a storage device connected to the printing mechanism storing character codes such as product names and additive names; , the storage device is configured to input the character code of the product name or the product name and the additive to the print control means in synchronization with the output of print data of the electronic scale; and (G) a barcode conversion unit that converts price data from the electronic scale and product code data from the input device into a barcode and outputs the barcode to the print control means;