JPH0664276A - Label printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate printing operation by displaying a plurality of input screens on a display means by the changeover of the screens and indicating the number of labels at every characters by inputting a charater row and the printing number of labels according to the indication of the inputted screen. CONSTITUTION:A large number of keys 6 capable of inputting a character are arranged to the upper half body 2 of a label printer 1 and a liquid crystal display part 7 is arranged at the upper position of the keys 6. A printing part performing printing to a label 4a is provided to the lower half body 3 of the printer 1. In this case, a memory means equipped with a plurality of recording areas storing the character row printed on a label and the number of labels to be printed is provided to a control device and a plurality of input screens indicating the input of the character row and the number of labels are displayed on the liquid crystal display part corresponding to those memory areas so as to be capable of being changed over. When the character row and the number of labels are inputted according to the indication of the displayed screen, they are stored in the recording area corresponding to the input screen to perform label printing.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a label printing apparatus for printing an input character string on a heading label such as a document through a printing means.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an exhibition or the like, for example, the same heading label is often attached to many samples. In addition, with the diversification of information, there is an increasing demand for suitable filing using heading labels according to the type of information, and the same information may be owned and stored by a plurality of people at a plurality of places. Conventionally, this type of label is created by handwriting, and there are problems such as the complexity of creation and the appearance.

In order to solve such a problem, conventionally, there has been proposed a printing device for efficiently printing the same content on both upper and lower positions of a lined label by appropriately selecting the printing direction (Actual Publication No. 1-178948). Gazette).

Further, there has been proposed a label printing apparatus which stores the number of characters and lines input in one label and calculates the number of labels so that an integer number of sheets can be set on one sheet (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-61). No. 175722).

Further, a label printer has been proposed in which automatic calculation is performed to change the characters to full-width or half-width so that printing can be suitably performed within a predetermined label width (JP-A-63-189).
276 publication).

Further, there has been proposed a label printer capable of inputting a print format of a cut paper label and printing on labels of various sizes (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-1 / 1987).
58072).

[0007]

Many conventional label printers have a function of setting the number of sheets for printing an input character string on a plurality of labels. But,
In such a conventional label printing apparatus, a complicated setting such as printing a plurality of character strings on different numbers of labels cannot be performed. Therefore, it is necessary to set the number of labels printed for each character string and repeat the printing process.
The operation was complicated and problematic.

The present invention aims to solve such a problem.

[0009]

In order to solve the above problems, the label printing apparatus of the present invention comprises a storage means having a plurality of storage areas for storing a character string to be printed on a label and the number of labels to be printed. A first processing means for switching and displaying on the display means a plurality of input screens corresponding to the respective storage areas provided in the storage means and for prompting the user to input the number of character strings and labels. When the number of character strings and labels is entered according to the instructions on the specified input screen displayed, the entered character strings and label numbers are stored in the storage area corresponding to the input screen, and only the character strings are stored. When there is an input, the second processing means for storing 1 as the input character string and the number of labels in the storage area corresponding to the input screen, and each of the storage means when there is a print instruction. All characters stored in the storage area And reads out the number of labels, and a third processing means for printing each string by the number read in the label.

[0010]

The label printing apparatus of the present invention can display a plurality of input screens on the display means by switching the screens. These input screens and the plurality of storage areas provided in the storage means are in a one-to-one correspondence relationship, and when the number of character strings and labels is input according to the instructions on the predetermined input screen, they are input. The number of character strings and labels is stored in the storage area corresponding to this input screen.

When there is an instruction to print a character string, all the character strings and the number of labels stored in each storage area of the storage means are read out, and the read-out number of all character strings is read out. Is printed on the label.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A label printing apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 to 4 show the appearance and internal mechanism of the label printing apparatus 1. A label printing device (hereinafter referred to as a device) 1 is a device that prints on each of a large number of labels 4a arranged regularly on a label sheet 4, and is composed of an upper half body 2 and a lower half body 3. An insertion port 5 for the label sheet 4 is formed in the middle.

A large number of keys 6 capable of inputting characters and the like are arranged on the upper half 2 of the device 1, and above the liquid crystal panel for displaying a predetermined number of characters, the number of lines, or an input character string. The liquid crystal display section 7 is provided. When the number of characters and the number of lines more than that are input, the screen is adapted to be scrolled left and right and up and down by the cursor keys. As shown in FIG. 4, the arranged keys 6 include character keys such as alphabets, “function”,
Function keys for performing processes such as “cancel”, “convert”, “execute”, and “print”, and cursor keys with arrows on all four sides are provided. The contents of each key are written on the head of the key.

The lower half 3 has an insertion opening 5 and this insertion opening 5
A feeding path 11 extending rearward from the above is formed, and a guide roller 9 for guiding the inserted label sheet 4 is provided on the upper surface of the feeding path 11. In addition, the guide roller 9
A sheet feeding roller 8 that is driven to rotate by a sheet feeding motor 16 and feeds the inserted label sheet 4 is provided at a total of three places behind the sheet feeding device, and a printing unit 20 that prints is provided behind the sheet feeding roller 8. There is.

A side wall 18 for positioning is formed on one side, for example, the left side, of the insertion port 5 and the feeding path 11, and the left side of the label sheet 4 is inserted in contact with the side wall 18. Is. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, on the side wall 18 on the downstream side of the feeding path of the sheet feeding roller 8, for example, a sheet sensor 19 such as a photo interrupter having a pair structure of a light emitting element 19a and a light receiving element 19b on the upper and lower surfaces. Is provided to detect whether the left side of the inserted and fed label sheet 4 exactly matches the side wall 18.

The printing unit 20 has a label sheet 4 at the bottom thereof.
Helical shaft 1 arranged in a direction orthogonal to the insertion direction of
2, the rotation of the carriage motor 14 is transmitted to the spiral shaft 12 via the gear train 15, and the printing unit 20 reciprocates along the rotating spiral shaft 12. . A rack 13 is installed above the printing unit 20 in parallel with the spiral shaft 12. The teeth of the rack 13 are formed in the lower part so as to face the printing unit 20,
The gear inside the printing unit 20 is in mesh with the rack 13. Further, from the bottom of the printing unit 20, for example, the thermal head 2 including a dot array capable of printing one character
A rubber platen 17 is arranged on the lower half 3 of the lower part of the thermal head 28. In addition,
The printing unit 20 also functions as a cassette holder for mounting a ribbon cassette (not shown) of the ink ribbon, and includes a winding shaft 25 for winding the ink ribbon.

The liquid crystal display section 7 displays the input character string or the edited character string, the code number, the character label, or a selection screen for each of them. The character label means a character string created for label printing or a character string already created.

Next, a control block diagram of the label printing apparatus will be described with reference to FIG.

The apparatus 1 includes a central processing unit (hereinafter referred to as CPU) 30 for controlling the entire apparatus, and an RO.
The storage unit 31 includes M, RAM, and the like.

The CPU 30 is synchronized with a head drive unit 36 for driving the thermal head 28 in contact and separation and outputting a character signal, a carriage motor drive unit 37 for controlling the drive of the carriage motor 14, the paper feed roller 8 and the paper discharge roller 23. A sheet feed motor drive unit 38 that controls the drive of the driven sheet feed motor 16 and a display drive unit 39 that drives the liquid crystal display unit 7 are respectively connected.

The CPU 30 is internally provided with a counter for counting the number of sheets and a timer for synchronizing with sheet feeding, and receives the input information from the key input unit 6'and the detection signal from the sheet sensor 19, respectively. Output a control signal to the required circuit part, input characters, edit processing as described later,
Overall control of label sheet type selection, display control, and print processing control.

Further, the CPU 30 monitors the detection signal from the sheet sensor 19, and the label sheet 4 is accurately inserted and fed depending on whether or not the signal for detecting the front end of the left side of the label sheet 4 is input. It is determined whether or not the sheet feed motor 1
The position of the label sheet being fed is indirectly measured by the rotation pulse of 6 or time management.

The storage unit 31 includes a program for controlling the operation of the entire apparatus such as editing and printing, a dictionary memory for converting kana / kanji characters, the arrangement position of labels arranged on various label sheets, and the labels. Label information in which vertical and horizontal dimensions and the like are registered, a code number as an identification code for specifying the type of label sheet, and a character size table (Table 1) as shown below are stored.

[0025]

[Table 1]

Table 1 shows the character size, and shows SS size to 3L size. In this type of label printing apparatus, there are various types of label sheets that can be printed, and there are several hundreds of label sheets, and a large number of character sizes are desired. Therefore, in addition to square characters, horizontally long characters and vertically long characters can be specified.
In this way, the character size can be selected using the size classification symbols, thereby facilitating the selection work.

Further, there are various kinds of label sheets such as ordinary square label, lined label, tack index label, box label and cassette label, and there are also various sticking positions on the label sheet.
Each is standardized. When an external input / output device such as an expansion cartridge shown as the auxiliary storage unit 40 in FIG. 6 is connected and the number of types of label sheets increases or when it is desired to perform printing on a desired unstandardized label sheet Can also be newly registered.

FIG. 7 shows an example of the label sheet and the label. Labels R ₁ , R ₂ , ... Having the same dimensions are regularly attached on the label sheet 4 at regular intervals. The positions of the labels on the label sheet 4 are designated as 1, 2, 3 ... In the column direction and A, B, C ... In the row direction.

The sheet number is selected by inputting a one-character or two-character (including numeral) identification code. This facilitates the selection work. The table (not shown) storing the sheet numbers in the present embodiment is represented by the label size, which corresponds to the sheet sensor 19
Is stored with the size and the like based on the corner position of the front end of the left side of the label sheet 4 detected by. The dimension type is the data required to identify the label position on the label sheet from the length and width dimensions of the label sheet, the shape of the label, the length and width dimensions of the label, the length and width of the label, and the number of labels on one sheet. Has been adopted. The size is usually specified in millimeters (mm), but in the present embodiment, the size is coded to reduce the memory capacity. The CPU 30 calculates the print position, that is, the label position based on the label information corresponding to the designated sheet number (identification code).

In the device 1 thus constructed, the character size is automatically set according to the number of characters and the number of lines of the input character string. This automatic setting of the character size is to automatically set the character size according to the character string entered on the character input screen so that it can be printed appropriately in the label. It is selected from 1.

The process of automatically setting the character size will be described below with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 8 and 9.

First, by inputting the code number of the label sheet to be printed, all the information such as the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the used label and the arrangement position are specified (# 10).
2). The print area of the label is discriminated based on the label information, and the vertical and horizontal lengths of the print area are compared (# 104). By this comparison, the shorter length is selected, and if the size in the horizontal direction is short as shown in FIG. 10A, a square region S having one side of this horizontal length 1 is assumed (# 106), and also FIG. 10 (b).
If the size in the vertical direction is short, as shown in, the square area S having the length 1 in the vertical direction as one side is assumed (# 10).
8). Then, the maximum character size of the square character that can be accommodated in this square area S is selected from Table 1, and this character size is set to the initial value (# 110).

After the initial value of the character size is determined in this manner, the input of characters (including symbols) is waited for, and each time the input character increases or decreases by one character, the created character string is changed. The lateral length is calculated. When a character string is created in a plurality of lines, it is calculated for each line (# 202).
Then, the horizontal length of the character string and the horizontal length of the set print area are compared for each line, and it is determined whether the created character string can be printed within the set horizontal dimension of the label ( # 204). If the horizontal length of the character string is larger than the print area, a character size one size smaller than the set character size will be selected from Table 1, and all character sizes across all lines will be the new character size. The size is changed (# 206). Then, after this, again # 202, # 20
The process of 4 is repeated. In this way, a suitable character size is temporarily determined on the basis of the horizontal length of the character string in each line and the horizontal length of the print area.

Next, the vertical length of the determined character size is added over all lines to obtain the total vertical length (# 20.
8) The total vertical length is compared with the vertical length of the print area. As a result, it is determined whether the created character string can be printed within the set vertical dimension of the label (# 21).
0). If the total vertical length of the created character string is larger, a character size that is one size smaller than the determined character size is selected from Table 1, and all character sizes across all lines are set to this new character size. It is changed (# 212). After this, the processes of # 208 and # 210 are repeated again. In this way, the maximum character size that can be printed in the print area is finally set. In addition, although each of the above-described calculation formulas is stored in the ROM of the storage unit 31 in advance,
You may make it utilize the conversion table which memorize | stored the calculation result.

As described above, in the created character label, the same character size is set for all lines, and when the number of characters is different for each line, the character size is different for each line. It eliminates the inconvenience of being set.
When the character size is switched from the S size shown in Table 1 to an extremely small SS size, the character size is not switched suddenly, but is switched to a horizontally long SS size character.

Such automatic setting of the character size is performed when one character is input or deleted, when the size of the input character is changed, when the character decoration of the input character is changed, line feed or line. This is always performed when the state of the input character or the state of the input line changes, such as when they are combined.

In addition, the character size of each character is
Alternatively, it can be manually set to a specific size as necessary. In this case, in # 202,
The horizontal length of the set character and the horizontal length of each character being automatically set are added to calculate the length of the character string for each line. In # 208, the longest vertical size character is set for each line. After being extracted for each, it will be added over all rows.

The character label thus created is stored in the storage unit 31, and under the control of the CPU 30, printing processing is performed on each of the arranged labels based on the stored data and the already set label information. Is applied.

Next, the process of designating the number of labels for each character label and the process of printing on the label of the character label in which the number of labels is individually designated will be described with reference to FIGS. 11 to 16.

In the label printing apparatus 1 of this embodiment, a plurality of character labels can be created by switching a plurality of input screens. FIG. 11 is a conceptual diagram showing the state of character label creation using a plurality of input screens. Conceptually, it is considered that a plurality of input screens 301 to 303 are overlapped and a predetermined portion of the uppermost input screen 301 is displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 7. In this case, the character labels “AAAA, BBBB, CCCC, DDDD” and the number of labels “20” on the input screen 301 are actually stored in the temporary storage area 311 of the storage unit 31. Similarly, the character labels and the number of labels on the input screen 302 are stored in the temporary storage area 312, and the character labels and the number of labels on the input screen 303 are stored in the temporary storage area 313. When the cursor key with an arrow in the upward direction is pressed, the screen displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 7 scrolls up, and when the cursor key with an arrow in the downward direction is pressed, the liquid crystal display unit The screen displayed in 7 scrolls down. By such a key operation, a desired character string on the input screen 301 can be displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 7. Also, the input screens can be switched by simultaneously pressing the shift key and the cursor key having an arrow written in the up or down direction. When the input screen 301 and the input screen 302 are exchanged and the input screen 302 is overlapped on the top,
The content of the input screen 302 is displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 7.

Next, specific examples of the number of sheets designation process and the printing process are shown in FIGS. First, the first input screen 3
01 is displayed. In this case, the second and third lines of the input screen 301 are displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 7, and the cursor 7a is positioned at the beginning (FIG. 12 (a)). And "A
"AAA", "BBBB", "CCCC", "DDDD"
When is input, the liquid crystal display section 7 displays the fourth line “CCCC” and the fifth line “DDDD” of the input screen 301 (FIG. 12B). Next, the shift key and the cursor key having an arrow pointing up or down are simultaneously pressed to switch to the second input screen 302. In this case, the liquid crystal display unit 7
Displays the second and third lines of the input screen 302 (FIG. 12 (c)). Then, "aaaa", "bbbbb",
When "cccc" and "dddd" are input, the liquid crystal display unit 7 displays the fourth line "cccc" and the fifth line "dddd" of the input screen 301 (FIG. 12 (d)).

When the screen is switched to the first input screen 301 again, the second line "AA" of the input screen 301 is displayed on the liquid crystal display section 7.
"AA" and the third line "BBBB" are displayed (Fig. 12
(E)). Next, when the cursor key in which an arrow is written in the upward direction is pressed, the liquid crystal display section 7 displays the first line “one individual sheet” and the second line “AAAAA” of the input screen 301 (FIG. 12). (F)). On this screen, the cursor 7a is positioned above "1" of "1 individual sheet", and the number of sheets printed on the label can be set. When the user inputs 20 on this screen, “1 individual number” on the LCD 7
Is changed to “20 individual sheets” (FIG. 13 (g)).

Further, when the screen is switched to the second input screen 302, the liquid crystal display section 7 displays the second line "a" of the input screen 302.
aaa "and the third line" bbbb "are displayed (Fig. 13
(H)). Next, when the cursor key in which an arrow is written in the upward direction is pressed, the liquid crystal display section 7 displays the first line “one individual sheet” and the second line “aaaa” of the input screen 302 (FIG. 13). (I)). On this screen, the cursor 7a is positioned above "1" of "1 individual sheet", and the number of sheets printed on the label can be set. When the user inputs 30 on this screen, “1 individual number” on the LCD 7
Is changed to “30 individual sheets” (FIG. 13 (j)).

When the printing process is performed on the label after the number of characters for each character label is designated, the "AAAA / BBBB / CCCC / DDDD" character label input on the input screen 301 is printed on 20 labels. Input screen 30
Entered in step 2 "aaa / bbbb / cccc / ddd"
The character label "d" is printed on 30 labels (Fig. 1
3 (k)).

Next, the process of designating the number of sheets to be printed for each character label will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 14 and 15. First, when the user's key input (# 401) is input of a cursor key with an arrow written upward (# 402), it is checked whether the current cursor position is the first line of the input screen (# 403). ). If the cursor position is already at the first line, the process returns to # 401. If the position of the cursor is not the first line, the cursor is moved up one line (# 404). Next, it is checked whether or not the position of the cursor is at the top line of the input screen by this movement (# 405). The data input when the cursor is positioned on the first line of the input screen is treated as data of the number of labels to be printed (# 406), and this data is stored in the temporary storage area of the storage unit 31 ( #
407). Further, the data input when the cursor is positioned on the second and subsequent lines of the input screen is treated as the data of the character string to be printed on the label (# 408), and this data is stored in the temporary storage area of the storage unit 31. To store (# 40
9). After these processes, the process returns to # 401.

Further, the user inputs a key (# 401).
If it is the input of a cursor key having an arrow written downward (# 410), it is checked whether the current cursor position is the last line of the input screen (# 411). If the cursor is already at the last line, the process returns to # 401. Also,
If the position of the cursor is not at the last line, the cursor is moved down by one line (# 412). After the cursor is moved, the input character string data (# 413) is stored in the temporary storage area of the storage unit 31 (# 414). After this processing, the processing is returned to # 401.

Further, a user key input (# 40
As 1), when the shift key and the cursor key with an upward arrow are pressed simultaneously (# 415), it is checked whether the current input screen is the first input screen (# 416). If it is the first input screen, the process returns to # 401. Also,
If it is not the top input screen, the input screen is switched to the previous screen (# 417). Then, the position of the cursor is moved to the beginning of the second line of this input screen (# 41
8).

Similarly, key input by the user (# 40
As 1), when the shift key and the cursor key with an arrow pointing downward are simultaneously pressed (# 419), it is checked whether the current input screen is the final input screen (# 420). If it is the final input screen, the process returns to # 401. Also,
If it is not the final input screen, the input screen is switched to the next screen (# 421). Then, the position of the cursor is moved to the beginning of the second line of this input screen (# 42
2).

Further, the user inputs a key (# 401).
If is the input of "end key", the process is terminated (# 4
23).

Next, the printing process of a plurality of character strings in which the number of labels to be printed is designated will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, according to a printing instruction from the user (# 501), data of the number of character strings and labels is read from a predetermined temporary storage area of the storage unit 31 (# 502). Then, the character string is printed on the label by the number of read sheets (# 503). This printing process is performed until the data in all the temporary storage areas of the storage unit 31 are printed on the label (# 504).

[0051]

According to the label printing apparatus of the present invention, the number of labels to be printed can be specified for each character string by inputting the number of characters and the number of labels to be printed in accordance with the instructions on the plurality of input screens. it can. Then, in the process of printing the character string on the label, the entire character string is printed on the label by the designated number of sheets.

Further, regarding a character string which is not desired to be printed, if 0 is designated as the number of labels, the character string can be removed from the object of printing on the label without erasing the character string from the storage means.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an appearance of a label printing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an internal mechanism of the label printing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an internal mechanism of the label printing apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a key arrangement of the label printing apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing an example of a sheet sensor.

FIG. 6 is a control block diagram in the label printing apparatus.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a positional relationship of labels with respect to a label sheet.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating setting of an initial value of a character size in automatic character size setting.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating automatic setting of character size.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a method of setting an initial value of a character size corresponding to a label shape.

FIG. 11 is a conceptual diagram showing a state of character input on a plurality of input screens.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of the number-of-sheets specifying process.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of print processing.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of a number designation processing.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of a number of sheets designation processing.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of print processing.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Label printing device, 4 ... Label sheet, 4a ... Label, 6 '... Key input part, 7 ... Liquid crystal display part, 30 ... CP
U, 31 ... Storage unit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a label printing apparatus for inputting a desired character string and printing the input character string on a label arranged on a label sheet, the character string to be printed on the label and the number of labels to be printed. Storing means for storing a plurality of storage areas, and a plurality of input screens corresponding to the respective storage areas provided in the storage means for prompting the user to input the number of character strings and labels are displayed on the display means by switching. When a character string and the number of labels are input according to an instruction of a first processing means and a predetermined input screen displayed by the first processing means,
The entered character string and the number of labels are stored in the storage area corresponding to the input screen, and when only the character string is entered,
Second processing means for storing 1 as the input character string and the number of labels in the storage area corresponding to the input screen, and all stored in each storage area of the storage means when a printing instruction is given. And a third processing unit that reads out the number of the character strings and the number of labels and prints each character string on the label by the read number.