JPH079735A - Paper sheets processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate the processing of paper sheets and improve the efficiency of test by a method wherein the reduction of the paper sheets used for testing is made possible without impairing the accuracy of test. CONSTITUTION:Printing pattern is stored in advance in a printing pattern storing means and, at the same time, the number of times of overlapped printing is set on the setting means 13 of the number of times of overlapped printing and the changing- over from normal mode to test mode is carried out with a mode changing-over means 11. Under the condition just mentioned above, printing instruction is given to a printing head 3 and conveying mechanism 4 by an overlappingly print printing pattern onto sheets by the set number of printing times. At this time, the number of printing times counted with the counting means 17 of the number of printing times is totalled with the calculating means 19 of cumulative value so as to store the cumulative value in the storing means 20 of the cumulative value. At the same time, when printing is carried out by the number of times of the overlapped printing, printing instruction is sent with a cumulative value printing instructing means 21 to the printing head 3 and the conveying means 4 so as to print the cumulative value onto the sheets. Further, discharge signal is sent from a discharge signal sending means 18 so as to discharge overlappedly printed sheets by means of the conveying mechanism 4.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a paper sheet processing apparatus which inserts and conveys paper sheets such as cards and prints information on the paper sheets, and more particularly to a printing test. The present invention relates to an effective sheet processing apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a paper sheet processing apparatus, for example, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, there is a device for reading and printing the information of the card C as a paper sheet. This card C is, for example,
As shown in FIG. 7, information such as a carla code can be printed. For example, a pre-paid card which has been widely spread in recent years, a point card, a media card, a gift card, an ID card, a program card, a ROM. It can be used as a card, total printing card for vending machines, etc.

When this paper sheet processing apparatus is to cause the card C to perform a predetermined process of reading or printing information, the card C is inserted from the insertion / ejection slot 1 and the card C is inserted by the internal transport mechanism. Conveyance, first, the information of the card C is read by the reading head, and thereafter, the necessary information is printed by the print head, and when the printing is completed, it is conveyed in the reverse direction by the conveyance mechanism and discharged from the insertion / ejection slot 1. I am trying.

By the way, in this paper sheet processing apparatus,
At the time of a durability test before manufacturing, at the time of manufacturing or maintenance, the durability and operating condition of the print head, the printing condition on the card C, etc. may be tested. In this test, conventionally, for example, a fixed print pattern as shown in FIG. 7 is prepared, this print pattern is printed on the card C, and the printing state of the card C is evaluated. The printing on the card C will be explained with reference to the card C shown in FIG. 7. There are 20 lines (20 passes) per sheet. For example, in the durability test of the print head, a printing test of 400,000 passes, that is, A printing test is performed using 20,000 cards. Further, when recognizing the current number of times of printing, the number of cards C on which printing has been completed is counted one by one.

[0005]

However, in the printing test of the above-mentioned conventional paper sheet processing apparatus, the card C used for the printing test becomes enormous, so that the test cost increases. was there. Further, when the number of cards C to be used becomes huge, the card processing becomes complicated, and particularly the evaluation work for knowing the printing state of the card C becomes extremely complicated,
There was a problem of poor efficiency.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to make it possible to reduce the number of paper sheets used in the test without impairing the test accuracy, and thus to treat the paper sheets. To improve the test efficiency.

[0007]

The technical means of the present invention for solving such a problem is a print head for printing on a paper sheet based on a print instruction, and an inserted paper sheet. In a paper sheet processing apparatus including a paper transporting mechanism that transports the paper sheet, positions the paper sheet at a printing position based on the print instruction, and discharges the paper sheet when there is a discharge signal,
Normal mode for performing normal printing and mode switching means for switching to a test mode in which a print pattern is set and printed on the above-mentioned paper sheets, and a test mode for performing the test is set, and the number of overprinting for setting the number of overprinting. Setting means, print pattern storage means for storing the print pattern, and print patterns printed in the print pattern storage means in the test mode by overlapping the number of times set by the print count setting means on the paper sheets. Overprint instruction means for giving a print instruction, a print number counting means for counting the number of overprints, and the discharge signal is sent when the number of prints counted by the print number counting means reaches the set number of overprints. And a discharge signal sending means.

Then, if necessary, a cumulative value calculating means for cumulatively counting the printing times counted by the printing number counting means to calculate a cumulative value, and a cumulative value storage means for storing the cumulative value calculated by the cumulative value calculating means. A cumulative value printing instruction means for issuing a printing instruction to print the cumulative value stored in the cumulative value storage means on the sheet before sending the discharge signal.

Further, if necessary, there is provided an overlapped print number print instruction means for giving a print instruction to print the set number of overlapped prints on the sheet before sending the discharge signal.

Further, if necessary, a temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the print head and a temperature display means for displaying the temperature detected by the temperature detecting means are provided.

[0011]

According to the paper sheet processing apparatus having such a configuration, when the test is performed, the print pattern is stored in advance in the print pattern storage means and the number of times of overprinting is set in the number of times of overprinting. The mode switching means switches from the normal mode to the test mode. In this state, the overlapping print instructing means issues a print instruction to the print head and the transport mechanism, and when the paper sheet is inserted, the transport mechanism and the print head are driven and the print pattern is printed on the paper sheet. The printing is performed over the set number of times of printing. At this time, the number of times of overlapping printing is counted by the printing number counting means. Then, when the number of prints counted by the number-of-prints counting means reaches the number of overprints set as above, an ejection signal is sent from the ejection signal sending means, whereby the transport mechanism ejects the overprinted sheets.

Further, when the cumulative value calculating means is provided,
The cumulative value calculating means accumulates the number of times of printing counted by the printing number counting means, the cumulative value is stored in the cumulative value storage means, and the cumulative value print instructing means gives a print instruction to the print head and the transport mechanism. The cumulative value stored in the cumulative value storage means is printed on the paper sheet before sending the discharge signal.

Further, when the overprinting number print instruction means is provided, the overprinting number print instruction means issues a print instruction to the print head and the transport mechanism, and the set overprinting number is set to the discharge signal. Is printed on paper sheets before being sent.

Further, when the temperature detection means for detecting the temperature of the print head is provided, the temperature detected by the temperature detection means is displayed by the temperature display means.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A sheet processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The paper sheet processing apparatus according to this embodiment reads and prints information on a card as a paper sheet, as described above.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, in the paper sheet processing apparatus according to the embodiment, 1 is an insertion / ejection port through which a card C is inserted and is ejected after a predetermined process, and 2 is an insertion / ejection port 1.
A reading head 3 provided downstream of the reading head 2 for reading information displayed on the upper surface of the card C, and a printing head 4 provided downstream of the reading head 2 for printing on the card C based on a printing instruction. A transport mechanism 5 that transports the card C, positions the card C at the reading position and the print position based on the print instruction, and discharges the card C when there is a discharge signal. It is provided on the side opposite to the outlet 1 and is made to function by switching the setting described later.

Reference numeral 10 denotes a control device, which is provided below the transport mechanism 4. In the control device 10, as shown in FIG. 1, reference numeral 11 denotes a mode switching means which sets a print pattern P (FIG. 3) described later on the card C from the normal mode for performing normal printing. The test mode is switched to the test mode in which the test of printing is repeated.
Specifically, the mode switching means 11 is, as shown in FIG.
This is realized by switching the DSW 6 of the eight DIP switches 12. In the DIP switch 12 shown in FIG. 4, the state in which the black corner is on indicates the ON state, and the state in which the black angle is below is the OF
The F state is shown. Then, the test mode is set by turning on the DSW 6. In the OFF state, the normal mode is set.

Reference numeral 13 is a superimposition printing number setting means for setting the number of superimposition printings. More specifically, the overprint count setting means 13 is realized by a combination of ON / OFF switching of the DSW2 and DSW3 of the dip switch 12, as shown in FIG. 4, and, for example, enables the following number of times to be set. When DSW2: OFF, DSW3: OFF, 1 time DSW2: ON, DSW3: OFF, 2 times DSW2: OFF, DSW3: ON, 5 times DSW2: ON, DSW3: ON, 10 times.

Further, in the DIP switch 12, the DSW 5 selects the reset function, and turns on the number of print lines (how many lines are printed per time), the total number of times described later, and the counter value of the number of times of printing described later. When reset, the print test is executed from the clear state, while O
In the case of FF, the reset is not performed, and the operation is performed based on the data stored inside during the test execution.

The DSW 4 designates whether the card C is manually inserted from the insertion / ejection slot 1 (ON) or automatically inserted from the hopper 5 (OFF). The DSW 1 designates the printing direction. When set to ON, movement printing is performed from the insertion / ejection port 1 to the hopper 5 side, and when set to OFF, movement printing is performed from the hopper 5 side to the insertion / ejection port 1 side.

In the control device 10 shown in FIG. 1, reference numeral 14 is a print pattern storage means for storing the print pattern P. The print pattern P has a fixed content of 20 lines (20 passes), for example, as shown in FIG. 1
Reference numeral 5 denotes an overprint number storage unit for storing the number of prints set by the overprint number setting unit 13.

Reference numeral 16 is an overlay print instruction means, which is a print instruction for printing on the card C the print pattern P stored in the print pattern storage means 14 in the test mode by the number of times stored in the overlay print count storage means 15. Is performed on the print head 3 and the transport mechanism 4.

Reference numeral 17 denotes a printing number counting means for counting the number of times of overlapping printing, and 18 denotes a discharge signal of the conveying mechanism 4 when the number of times of overlapping printing counted by the number of times of printing counting means 17 reaches the set number of times of overlapping printing. It is a discharge signal sending means.

Reference numeral 19 denotes a cumulative value calculating means for cumulatively calculating the cumulative value by cumulatively performing the repeated printing times counted by the printing frequency counting means 17, and 20 denotes a cumulative value storage means, which is constituted by a RAM backed up by a battery, for example. The total value calculated by the total value calculation means 19 is stored. Reference numeral 21 is a cumulative value printing instruction means for issuing a printing instruction to the card C to print the cumulative value stored in the cumulative value storage means 20 on the card C before sending the ejection signal. This cumulative value is printed next to the 20th line as shown in FIG. 3 (cumulative value printing unit A).

Reference numeral 22 indicates the number of times of overprinting stored in the overprinting number of times storage means 15, which gives a print instruction to the card C and the transport mechanism 4 to print the number of overprinting on the card C before sending the discharge signal. It is a print instruction means.
As shown in FIG. 3, the number of times of overprinting is printed next to the 20th line (printing count printing section B).

Reference numeral 23 is a temperature detecting means composed of a thermistor or the like for detecting the temperature of the print head 3, and 24 is a data converting portion for converting the detection result of the temperature detecting means 23 into print data and display data. Reference numeral 25 is a temperature display unit that numerically displays the temperature detected by the temperature detection unit 23 and converted into display data by the data conversion unit 24, and is composed of, for example, a 7-segment LED lamp. Reference numeral 26 is a temperature at which the print head 3 and the transport mechanism 4 are instructed to print the temperature detected by the temperature detecting means 23 and converted into print data by the data converter 24 on the card C before sending the discharge signal. It is a print instruction means. This temperature is printed as shown in Figure 3.
As shown in, the printing is performed after the 20th line (temperature printing portion T).

Further, the control device 10 has a timer means (RTC) not shown in the drawing, and prints a print instruction for printing the date and time measured by the timer means on the card C before sending the discharge signal. 3 and the conveyance mechanism 4 are provided with a date and time print instruction means (not shown). This date and time is printed before the first line as shown in FIG. 3 (date and time printing section D). Further, the control device 10 counts the number of print lines (how many lines are printed at one time), and based on the selection of the reset function of the DSW 5 of the dip switch 12, the cumulative value of the cumulative value storage means 20 and the overprinting. It has a function of resetting the count value of the frequency counting means 17 or operating without resetting. Furthermore,
The control device 10 performs various controls such as drive control of the hopper 5 and print direction control. The functions of the control device 10 described above are realized by various storage elements such as RAM, ROM, and EEPROM, and functions of the CPU and the like.

Next, the operation of the paper sheet processing apparatus according to this embodiment in the test mode will be described with reference to the flow chart shown in FIG. Now, a case where the durability test of the print head 3 is performed will be described. The dip switch 12 is set in advance. Here, first, the mode switching means 11 switches from the normal mode in which normal printing is performed to the test mode. That is, the DSW 6 is turned on. Further, other settings are set as follows, for example. The overprinting number setting means 13 sets the overprinting number. That is, for example, the DSW2 is turned on and the DSW3 is turned on, so that 10 times is set.

Further, the DSW 5 is turned off and the reset is not performed, and the operation is performed based on the data stored inside during the test execution. At the start of the continuous test, the DSW 5 is normally turned on and reset setting is performed. The DSW 4 is turned off so that the card C can be automatically inserted and supplied from the hopper 5. DSW
1 is an OFF setting, and printing is performed by moving from the hopper 5 side to the insertion / ejection port 1 side.

In this state, when the power is turned on (5-
1), the setting of the DIP switch 12 is input (5
-2), first, the initial operation is performed (5-
3). As a result, when the error is released or the card C is inside, the card C is ejected to the insertion / ejection slot 1. Next, it is judged whether or not to reset (5-4). Since reset is not performed in the above setting (OFF), the operation is performed based on the stored data. When the reset setting is performed (DSW5 is turned on) (normally at the start of the continuous test), the print line number counter value and the total print counter value (total value storage means 20) are reset (5-
5, 5-6). After that, in case of continuous printing test, DS
W5 should be turned off.

Next, the insertion direction of the card C is judged (5
-7), since it is supplied from the hopper 5, the card C is inserted from the hopper 5 (5-8), and when insertion is detected (5-).
9) and is conveyed by the conveyance mechanism 4 (5-10). Then, the overlay print instruction means 16 issues a print instruction to the print head 3 and the transport mechanism 4, whereby the print pattern P stored in the print pattern storage means 14 is overprinted as shown in FIG. The number of times set in the number-of-times setting means 13 and stored in the number-of-overprinting-times storage means 15 (here, 10 times) is overprinted on the card C (5-1).
1).

In this state, the number of times of overprinting is counted by the printing number counting means 17, and the cumulative value calculating means 1
The number of overlapping prints counted by the print count counting means 17 is accumulated by 9 and stored in the accumulated value storage means 20. Further, the temperature of the print head 3 is detected by the temperature detecting means 23, and the temperature display unit 25 is supplied via the data conversion unit 24.
Is displayed in. In this case, since the temperature of the print head 3 can be known in real time, the situation of the print head 3 can be easily grasped.

Then, it is judged whether or not the number of times of overlapping printing counted by the number of times of printing counting means 17 has reached the number of times of overlapping printing set as described above (5-12). As a result, a print instruction is given to the print head 3 and the transport mechanism 4, and the number of overprints stored in the overprint count storage unit 15 is printed on the card C (5-13). Further, the cumulative value print instruction means 21 issues a print instruction to the print head 3 and the transport mechanism 4, and the cumulative value stored in the cumulative value storage means 20 is printed on the card C (5-13). Furthermore, the temperature print instruction means 26 issues a print instruction to the print head 3 and the transport mechanism 4, and the temperature converted into print data by the data converter 24 is printed on the card C (5
-13). The date and time are also printed.

When the printing is completed, the discharge signal sending means 18
The ejection signal of the transport mechanism 4 is sent from the card C, and the card C is ejected from the insertion / ejection slot 1 (5-14). Then, a sensor or the like detects whether the card C has been removed, and if it has been removed (5-15), a new card C is again sent from the hopper 5.
Is supplied (5-7, 5-8) to perform the same overprinting as above. Further, when the power is turned off and the operation is restarted, the above cumulative value is not reset but is stored and the test can be continued in the same manner.

On the discharged card C, as shown in FIG. 3, the date and time (date and time printing section D), the printing result of the print pattern P overlaid, the number of overprinting times (printing number printing section B), Since the accumulated values up to (cumulative value printing section A) and the temperature of the print head 3 (temperature printing section T) are displayed, the data can be easily grasped. That is, conventionally, the card C is counted every time to know the cumulative total value, but in the embodiment, the number of times of printing up to now can be immediately recognized only by looking at the print result. Further, the temperature can be easily understood, and in particular, the relationship between the temperature and the print quality can be easily understood.

Furthermore, since the printing pattern P is overprinted, the number of cards C used in the printing test can be small, and the card C processing can be easily performed. That is, in the past,
In the case of performing a printing test of 40,000 passes with printing of 20 lines (20 passes), for example, 20,000 cards C were required.
2,000 sheets, the card processing, especially the evaluation work for knowing the printing state of the card C becomes easier, and the cost is reduced.

When the printing state such as missing dots is to be precisely observed, the overprinting number setting means 13 may set the overprinting number to a small number. That is, in the DIP switch 12, for example, DSW2 is turned off and DSW3
Set to OFF once. When the test is performed manually without using the hopper 5, the DSW 4 may be set to ON in the dip switch 12, and the change may be made as appropriate. Further, the printing test is not limited to the above-described setting, and it goes without saying that the DIP switch 12 may be set variously. In addition, it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the above-described paper sheet processing apparatus and may be applied to any paper sheet processing apparatus.

[0038]

As described above, according to the paper sheet processing apparatus of the present invention, the print pattern can be overprinted on the paper sheets in the test mode, so that the paper sheets used for the test are small. Therefore, it is possible to easily handle paper sheets such as handling paper sheets and evaluation work to know the printing state of paper sheets, and improve test efficiency without impairing test accuracy. . Further, since the number of paper sheets used for the test may be small, the test cost can be easily increased.

Further, when the cumulative value of the number of times of overprinting is printed on the paper sheets, the complexity of counting the paper sheets one by one and calculating the number of times as in the conventional case is eliminated, and it is only necessary to see the print result. Thus, it is possible to immediately recognize the number of times printing has been performed so far, and it is possible to greatly improve the efficiency of evaluation work and the like.

Furthermore, when the number of times of overprinting is printed on the paper sheets, the printing state of the paper sheets can be immediately recognized, and the efficiency of the evaluation work can be greatly improved.

Furthermore, when the temperature of the print head is displayed, the state of the print head can be immediately known,
In particular, there is an effect that the relationship between the temperature and the print quality can be easily grasped and the quality of evaluation can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a paper sheet processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing a paper sheet processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a print pattern and a print state on a card in a test mode of the paper sheet processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a DIP switch of the paper sheet processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation in a test mode of the paper sheet processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an example of an external appearance of a paper sheet processing apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a printing state on a card in a conventional printing test.

[Explanation of symbols]

 C card (paper sheet) 1 insertion / ejection port 2 read head 3 print head 4 transport mechanism 5 hopper 10 control device 11 mode switching means 12 dip switch 13 overlay print count setting means 14 print pattern storage means P print pattern 15 overlay print count Storage means 16 Overlay printing instruction means 17 Printing number counting means 18 Emission signal sending means 19 Cumulative value calculation means 20 Cumulative value storage means 21 Cumulative value printing instruction means 22 Overprinting frequency printing instruction means 23 Temperature detecting means 24 Data conversion section 25 Temperature Display unit 26 Temperature print instruction means A Cumulative value print unit B Print count print unit T Temperature print unit D Date and time print unit

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A print head that prints on a paper sheet based on a print instruction, a sheet that has been inserted is conveyed, the paper sheet is positioned at a print position based on the print instruction, and a discharge signal is issued. In a paper sheet processing apparatus equipped with a conveyance mechanism that discharges paper sheets when there is, a normal mode for performing normal printing and a print pattern are printed on the above-mentioned paper sheets by stacking the set number of times. Mode switching means for switching to a test mode for performing a test, overprinting number setting means for setting the number of overprinting times, print pattern storage means for storing the print pattern, and the print pattern storage means for storing the print pattern in the test mode. The printed pattern is printed on the above-mentioned paper sheets by the number of times set by the printing number setting means, and the number of times of overlapping printing is counted. A paper sheet characterized by comprising: a printing number counting means, and a discharging signal sending means for sending the discharging signal when the printing number counted by the printing number counting means reaches the set number of times of overlapping printing. Processing equipment. 2. A cumulative value calculating means for calculating a cumulative value by accumulating the printing times counted by the printing frequency counting means, and a cumulative value storing means for storing the cumulative value calculated by the cumulative value calculating means.
2. The sheet processing according to claim 1, further comprising: accumulated value print instruction means for giving a print instruction to print the accumulated value stored in the accumulated value storage means on the sheet before sending the discharge signal. apparatus. 3. The overlap printing number print instruction means for issuing a print instruction to print the set number of times of overprinting on the paper sheet before sending the discharge signal. Paper sheet processing equipment. 4. A temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the print head, and a temperature display means for displaying the temperature detected by the temperature detecting means.
The described sheet processing apparatus.