JPH1016347A - Printing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Problem] To create and print a price card easily and with good appearance using a barcode. When bar code data is read by a bar code reader, based on information indicating a country, a product, and a maker included in the bar code data, illustration data corresponding to the information is stored in a correspondence table storage area. 1
Judge by referring to the tables stored in 3b to 13d,
The illustration data is read from the illustration storage area 13e and printed by the printing unit 18. Thus, a price card including several types of illustration data can be easily created and printed simply by reading the barcode data.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus used for a portable electronic device such as a word processor, which can be printed, and more particularly to a printing apparatus suitable for producing a price card attached to a product.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when a price card to be attached to a product is created, the user has to create it by handwriting or use a printable portable electronic device such as a word processor and consider the format. Did not.

In this case, the price card includes not only the price of the product, but also a product illustration (for example, a notebook or an pencil for stationery) or a country illustration (for example, a Japanese flag for Japanese products). In addition, it is better and more effective to attach an illustration according to the purpose, such as an illustration of a maker (a maker's logo). However, arranging such an illustration with characters such as the amount of money and creating a price card requires a troublesome work.

[0004]

As described above, it is better to add various illustrations to the price card, such as not only the amount of money, but also the illustration of the product, the illustration of the country, and the illustration of the manufacturer. Visually pleasing.
However, it is impossible for a user to manually create a price card including such visual elements,
Also, even if a printable portable electronic device such as a conventional word processor is used, complicated operations such as creating illustrations and arranging the illustrations with characters such as money are required, There is a problem that it takes time as well as a burden on the user.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus which can create and print a price card easily and with good appearance by using a barcode. is there.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided a graphic storage means for storing information contained in bar code data and graphic data related to the information in association with each other, and a bar code reading means for reading bar code data. A graphic reading means for recognizing information included in the bar code data read by the bar code reading means and reading the graphic data corresponding to the information from the graphic storage means; And printing means for printing graphic data on recording paper.

According to such a configuration, based on the information included in the barcode data, the graphic data corresponding to the information is read and printed on a predetermined sheet. Therefore, if the illustration data indicating the country, product, and maker of the price card is associated with one of the pieces of information of the bar code data as graphic data, the price card including the illustration data can be read only by reading the bar code data. Can be easily created and printed.

Further, the present invention provides a graphic storage means for storing a plurality of types of information included in bar code data and graphic data associated with each of the plurality of types of information in association with each other; And bar code reading means for reading bar code data, and information specified by the specifying means among a plurality of types of information contained in the bar code data read by the bar code reading means. A graphic reading means for recognizing and reading graphic data corresponding to the information from the graphic storage means, and a printing means for printing the graphic data read by the graphic reading means on a recording paper.

According to such a configuration, based on a plurality of types of information included in the bar code data, the graphic data corresponding to at least one of the pieces of information specified in each piece of information is read out and read out. Printed on paper. Therefore, if the illustration data indicating the country, product, and maker of the price card is associated with each piece of information of the bar code data as graphic data, the price card including several types of illustration data can be obtained simply by reading the bar code data. Can be easily created and printed.

Further, the present invention provides an input means for inputting character data, a format storage means for storing a plurality of format data for determining a printing format, and one of a plurality of format data stored in the format storage means. Format selecting means for selecting one of the two, wherein the printing means combines the graphic data read by the graphic reading means with the character data input by the input means, and selects the character data by the format selecting means. And printing on recording paper in accordance with a format determined by the format data.

According to such a configuration, the graphic data read by the bar code data and the character data input by the user are converted into the predetermined paper based on the format data designated among the plurality of format data. Printed on Therefore, if you specify the format data according to the price card form and enter the amount data as character data, just read the barcode data, and the price card containing the illustration data and the amount data will be specified in the specified form. Can be easily created and printed.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. This apparatus is a printing apparatus having a price card printing function. As shown in FIG. 1, a key input unit 11, a control unit 12, a ROM 13,
It comprises a RAM 14, a display control unit 15, a display unit 16, a print control unit 17, a printing unit 18, and a barcode reading device 19.

The key input unit 11 is an input device for inputting data and giving instructions. This key input unit 11 includes:
In addition to a character key 11a for inputting character data, a print key 11b for instructing printing, and the like, a price card key 11c and illustration keys 11d to 11f are provided here.

The price card key 11c is a function key for instructing creation of a price card (price card creation mode). Illustration key 11d ~
Reference numeral 11f is a function key for calling out illustration data to be printed on a price card. this house,
Illustration key 11d is the illustration data of the country, illustration key 11e is the illustration data of the product, illustration key 11f
Is for calling the manufacturer's illustration data.

The control unit 12 controls the entire apparatus, and is composed of, for example, a microprocessor.
14 to perform various processes.

The ROM 13 stores a control program for operating the control unit 12, a program for creating a price card, font data for display, various dictionary data, and the like. This ROM 1
3 includes a barcode conversion table area 13f, a print format storage area 13a, and a correspondence table storage area 13b.
To 13d and an illustration storage area 13e.

The bar code conversion table area 13f stores data for converting data read by the bar code reader 19 into bar code data. The print format storage area 13a stores a plurality of format data that determine the print format of the price card. The format data includes, for example, information indicating a format such as vertical writing / horizontal writing, information indicating the size of characters and illustrations, information indicating the arrangement of characters and illustrations, and information indicating coloring.

[0018] Correspondence table storage area 1 for country and illustration
3b stores a table in which the country and the illustration data (here, the illustration data storage address) are associated with each other for each country code. In the correspondence table storage area 13c between products and illustrations, a table in which products and illustration data (here, the storage address of the illustration data) is associated with each product code is stored. In the correspondence table storage area 13d between the maker and the illustration, a table in which the maker and the illustration data (here, the storage destination address of the illustration data) is stored for each maker code is stored.

The illustration storage area 13e contains a country,
Various illustration data (actual image pattern data) relating to products and manufacturers are stored. The RAM 14 stores various data necessary for the operation processing of the control unit 12. As shown in FIG. 2, the RAM 14 has a barcode data storage area 14g, a print format storage area 14a, and barcode information storage areas 14b to 14b.
14d, an amount data storage area 14e, and an illustration address storage area 14f are provided.

The barcode data storage area 14g stores barcode data read by the barcode reader 19 and coded according to the barcode conversion table stored in the barcode conversion table area 13f. The print format storage area 14a stores format data selected by the user from among a plurality of format data that determine the print format of the price card. In the barcode information storage areas 14b to 14d,
Each country, product,
Stores barcode information indicating a maker. The amount data storage area 14e stores the amount data (character data) input by the user. Illustration address storage area 1
4f includes the country, product,
The storage location (address) of the maker's illustration data is stored.

The display drive section 15 drives the display section 16 under the control of the control section 12. The display unit 16 includes, for example, a color liquid crystal display device and displays data. The printing control unit 17 drives the printing unit 18 under the control of the control unit 12. The printing unit 18 includes, for example, a thermal printer,
Here, printing is performed on paper used as a price card. The barcode reader 19 is a device for reading barcode data as shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of a bar code applied to the present apparatus. FIG. 3A shows a one-dimensional barcode. Barcodes are JAN according to JIS
A common product code called a code is determined.
JAN codes include a 13-digit standard type and a 6-digit shortened type. The example of FIG. 3 is a standard type.

As shown in FIG. 3B, the standard type bar code has 13 digits, and the first two digits are a country code called a flag. The two-digit flag number, that is, the country code is determined in advance for each country according to the EAN standard, and is set to “49” in the case of Japan.

The next five digits are the product maker code, which must be applied for registration to the distribution code center through the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and given a maker code number. The next five digits are product item codes, which can be set freely by the manufacturer. The last digit is a check digit for preventing misreading.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the contents of a correspondence table between countries and illustrations in the embodiment. The correspondence table storage area 13b of the ROM 13 stores a table indicating a storage location (address) of the illustration data corresponding to each country. In the example of FIG. 4, the illustration data indicated by the address "A-1" is associated with the country indicated by the country code "0". Similarly, a country indicated by a country code “49” is associated with illustration data indicated by an address “B-1”.

FIG. 5 is a view showing a print example of a price card including a country illustration in the embodiment. By pressing the price card key 11c provided in the key input unit 11, a price card can be easily created using a barcode.

When the bar code data is read, the illustration data linked to the country code of the bar code data is retrieved from a correspondence table as shown in FIG.
The illustration data is printed according to predetermined format data. Therefore, the user can obtain the price card including the country illustration as shown in FIG. 5 only by inputting the price data of the product.

In FIG. 5, reference numeral 21 denotes price data input by the user, and reference numeral 22 denotes illustration data read from the country code of the bar code data. Whether the amount data 21 and the country illustration data 22 are printed in vertical or horizontal writing, how they are arranged,
The print format, such as what size and what color to print, is determined in advance by the format data.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a correspondence table between products and illustrations in the embodiment. The correspondence table storage area 13c of the ROM 13 stores a table in which each product code is associated with illustration data (in this case, an illustration data storage destination address). In this case, since there are a plurality of types of one product (for example, "stationary", "note", "pen", "eraser" ...), a plurality of types of illustration data are prepared for one product code. ing.

In the example of FIG. 6, addresses "A-1,""A-2,""A-3," and "A-4" are assigned to a product indicated by a product code (product item code) "01234". Are associated with each other. Similarly, the product code (product item code) "49
456 ", the address" B-1 ",
A plurality of types of illustration data represented by “B-2”, “B-3”, and “B-4” are associated with each other.

FIG. 7 is a view showing a print example of a price card including a product illustration in the embodiment. By pressing the price card key 11c provided in the key input unit 11, a price card can be easily created using a barcode.

When the bar code data is read, a plurality of types of illustration data linked to the product code (product item code) of the bar code are retrieved from a correspondence table as shown in FIG. The illustration data selected by the user is printed according to predetermined format data. Therefore,
The user only needs to input the price data of the product, and FIG.
A price card including a product illustration as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 7, reference numeral 21 denotes price data input by the user, and reference numeral 23 denotes illustration data read from the bar code data of the product code (product item code). Printing such as whether the price data 21 and the illustration data 23 of the product are to be printed in vertical or horizontal writing, how to arrange them, in what size, and in what colors. Things related to the format are determined in advance by the format data.

The same applies to the illustration data of the maker. Although not shown, there is a table in which each maker code is associated with the illustration data, and when the bar code data is read, the bar code data of the bar code data is read. The illustration data linked to the maker code is retrieved from the table and printed according to predetermined format data. Therefore, the user can obtain the price card including the maker illustration only by inputting only the price data of the product.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the price card creation process in the embodiment. When the price card key 11c provided on the key input unit 11 is pressed, a price card creation command is given to the control unit 12. Thereby, the control unit 12 executes the following price card creation processing.

That is, the control unit 12 first displays a format selection screen (not shown) on the display unit 16 through the display control unit 15 (step S1). The format selection screen is provided with selection options indicating a plurality of types of format data prepared in advance, and the user can select any format data from the options by operating a cursor key or the like.

When the format data is selected by the user (Yes in step S2), the control unit 12 reads the selected format data from the print format storage area 13a of the ROM 13, and reads this as format data to be used at the time of printing in the RAM 14. Is stored in the print format storage area 14a (step S
3).

Next, the control unit 12 displays a bar code reading request screen (not shown) on the display unit 16 through the display control unit 15 (step S4). By displaying the bar code reading request screen, the user causes the bar code reading device 19 to read the bar code to be read.

When bar code data is read by the bar code reading device 19 (Yes in step S5)
s) The read data is subjected to A / D conversion, and then provided to the control unit 12. The control unit 12 converts the digitized read data into barcode data according to the barcode conversion table stored in the barcode conversion table storage area 13f of the ROM 13 and stores it in the barcode data storage area 14g of the RAM 14. Recognize various data included in the barcode data, and store country data therein in the barcode information storage area 14b of the RAM 14 (step S6). Similarly, control unit 1
2 recognizes the product data included in the barcode data and stores it in the barcode information storage area 14c, and also recognizes the maker data included in the data and stores it in the barcode information storage area 14d. .

Next, the control unit 12 displays a not-shown amount input request screen on the display unit 16 through the display control unit 15 (step S7). By displaying the amount input request screen, the user operates the character key 11a of the key input unit 11 to input amount data (character data) to be printed on the price card.

When the amount data is input by the user (Yes in step S8), the control unit 12 stores the amount data in the amount data storage area 14e of the RAM 14 (step S9).

Next, the control unit 12 displays an illustration key selection request screen (not shown) on the display unit 16 through the display control unit 15 (step S7). By displaying the illustration key selection request screen, the user operates the illustration keys 11d to 11f provided on the key input unit 11 to call out the illustration data.

In this case, for each country and manufacturer, unique illustration data is determined, but for goods, for example, for stationery, a plurality of illustration data such as notebooks, pencils, erasers, etc. are prepared. Therefore, an operation for selecting desired illustration data from among them is required.

The illustration data of the country is called by pressing the illustration key 11d, the illustration data of the product is called by pressing the illustration key 11e, and the illustration data of the manufacturer is called by pressing the illustration key 11f.

When the illustration key 11d is depressed (country of step S11), the control unit 12 refers to the correspondence table between the country and the illustration stored in the correspondence table storage area 13b of the ROM 13 to read the bar code of the RAM 14 The illustration data corresponding to the country data stored in the information storage area 14b is determined, and address data indicating the storage location of the illustration data is stored in the illustration address storage area 14f of the RAM 14 (step S12).

When the illustration key 11f is pressed (the maker in step S11), the control unit 12
By referring to the correspondence table between the maker and the illustration stored in the correspondence table storage area 13d of No. 3, RA
The illustration data corresponding to the maker data (the maker data recognized as the barcode information) stored in the barcode information storage area 14d of M14 is determined, and the address data indicating the storage location of the illustration data is stored in the RAM1.
4 is stored in the illustration address storage area 14f (step S13).

When the illustration key 11e is pressed (commodity of step S11), the control unit 12
By referring to the correspondence table between the product and the illustration stored in the correspondence table storage area 13c of the RAM 1
4 is determined for the illustration data corresponding to the product data stored in the barcode information storage area 14c.

At this time, as described above, regarding the product,
Since a plurality of types of illustration data are prepared, the control unit 12 first reads out various types of illustration data corresponding to the product data from the illustration storage area 13e of the ROM 13 (step S14), and selects these illustration data. Is displayed on the display unit 16 (step S15). The illustration data selection request screen is provided with options for selecting any of the various illustration data. Therefore, the user can select the illustration data of a desired product on the illustration data selection request screen.

When the user selects the product illustration data by operating the cursor keys or the like provided on the key input section 11 (Yes in step S16).
s), the control unit 12 stores the address data indicating the storage location of the selected illustration data in the illustration address storage area 14f of the RAM 14 (Step S17).

In this way, the illustration address storage area 14f stores the address data indicating the storage location of the illustration data of one of the country, the product, and the maker.

Here, when printing is instructed by pressing the print key 11b provided in the key input unit 11 (Yes in step S18), the control unit 12 sets the illustration data and the amount stored in the illustration address storage area 14f. The data and the price data stored in the data storage area 14e are combined and printed in accordance with the format defined by the format data stored in the print format storage area 14a (step S19). More specifically, by sending the combined data of the illustration data and the amount data and the format data to the print control unit 17,
Printing is performed on a predetermined sheet through (step S19).

In this manner, the illustration data of one of the country, product, and maker obtained from the barcode data and the amount data input by the user are converted into the position, size, and color according to the specified format data. Printed. FIGS. 5 and 7 show examples of printing at this time. FIG. 5 is a print example of a price card including a country illustration.
Is the amount data input by the user, and 22 in the figure is illustration data read from the country code of the bar code. FIG. 7 shows a print example of a price card including a product illustration. In the figure, reference numeral 21 denotes price data input by a user, and reference numeral 23 denotes illustration data read from a bar code product code (product item code).

In the above embodiment, the case where one type of illustration data is printed together with the amount data is described. However, for example, a plurality of types of illustration data such as a country illustration and a product illustration, or a country illustration, a product illustration, and a maker illustration are provided. It is also possible to print the illustration data together with the price data.

In the above-described embodiment, a generally used one-dimensional barcode (see FIG. 3) is used. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a two-dimensional barcode can be applied. is there. The two-dimensional barcode is represented by white and black squares. In this case, while the one-dimensional barcode is limited to information only in the horizontal direction (bar width, bar interval), the two-dimensional barcode can include information in the vertical direction, and the amount of information is one-dimensional. 100 compared to barcode
More than double. By applying such a two-dimensional barcode to the present invention, more illustration data can be associated, and a wide variety of price cards can be easily created.

[0055]

As described above, according to the present invention, graphic data corresponding to the information is read out and printed based on the information included in the bar code data. By associating the illustration data indicating the maker as graphic data with one of the information of the barcode data, a price card including the illustration data can be easily created and printed simply by reading the barcode data. Can be.

Further, based on a plurality of types of information included in the bar code data, graphic data corresponding to at least one information specified in each of the information is read out and printed, so that the price card is printed. Illustration data showing the country, product, and manufacturer
If the barcode data is associated with each piece of information, the price card including several types of illustration data can be easily created and printed simply by reading the barcode data.

Further, based on the format data designated among the plurality of format data, the graphic data read by the bar code data and the character data input by the user are combined and printed. If you specify format data according to the shape of the card and enter the amount data as character data, simply read the barcode data and easily create a price card containing illustration data and amount data in the specified form Can be printed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is an exemplary view showing contents of a RAM in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary view showing a configuration of a barcode in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an exemplary view showing contents of a correspondence table between countries and illustrations according to the embodiment;

FIG. 5 is an exemplary view showing a print example of a price card including a country illustration in the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an exemplary view showing contents of a correspondence table between a product and an illustration in the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an exemplary view showing a print example of a price card including a product illustration in the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an exemplary flowchart showing the operation of price card creation processing in the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Key input part 11a ... Character key 11b ... Print key 11c ... Price card key 11d-11f ... Illustration key 12 ... Control part 13 ... ROM 14 ... RAM 15 ... Display control part 16 ... Display part 17 ... Print control part 18 ... Printing department

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A graphic storage means for storing information included in bar code data and graphic data related to the information in association with each other, a bar code reading means for reading bar code data, and a bar code reading means for reading the bar code data. A graphic reading means for recognizing information included in the read bar code data and reading graphic data corresponding to the information from the graphic storage means; and printing the graphic data read by the graphic reading means on a recording paper. And a printer. 2. A graphic storage means for storing a plurality of types of information included in barcode data and graphic data associated with each of the plurality of types of information in association with each other, and designating at least one of the information. Specifying means, bar code reading means for reading bar code data, and recognizing information specified by the specifying means among a plurality of types of information included in the bar code data read by the bar code reading means; A printing apparatus comprising: a graphic reading means for reading graphic data corresponding to information from the graphic storage means; and a printing means for printing the graphic data read by the graphic reading means on a recording sheet. 3. An input unit for inputting character data, a format storage unit for storing a plurality of format data for determining a printing format, and one of a plurality of format data stored in the format storage unit is selected. Format selecting means, wherein the printing means combines the graphic data read by the graphic reading means with the character data input by the input means, and selects the format data selected by the format selecting means. 3. Printing on recording paper in accordance with the format defined in (1).
The printing device according to the above. 4. The printing according to claim 1, wherein the type of information included in the barcode data includes at least one of country information, product maker information, and product item information. apparatus. 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a graphic selecting means for designating one of the plurality of graphic data and outputting it to said printing means when a plurality of graphic data are read by said graphic reading means. The printing apparatus according to claim 4.