JP2552830B2 - Printer device with bar code printing function - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Outline] A counter for adjusting the time from the occurrence of a dot interrupt until the actual printing of dots is provided. When performing bar printing of bar codes, the counter is set to the above counter. By changing the value, the dot rows composing the bar are overlapped and printed.

[Industrial applications]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer device having a bar code printing function that prints dot rows forming a bar by overlapping them.

[Prior Art and Problems] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a conventional bar code printing result and a sensor output when the printing result is read by an image sensor or the like. With the conventional bar code printing method, dots
Since the intervals of impacts are constant, when reading a bar code with an image sensor etc., the width of the bar will appear wider than the width of the space even if the number of dots is the same due to ribbon ink bleeding and sensor characteristics. It had the drawback of being easily misread.

[Object of the Invention]

The present invention eliminates the above-mentioned drawbacks, and by correcting the width of the bar when printing the bar code, the bar code reading rate when the bar code is read by an image sensor or the like is improved. It is an object of the present invention to provide a printer device having a bar code printing function which can be improved.

[Means for solving problems]

Therefore, the printer device having the bar code printing function of the present invention has a carrier equipped with a print head, a means for generating a dot interrupt each time the carrier moves a certain distance, and a start-up when a dot interrupt occurs. A dot interrupt processing means and a printer controller having a counter for adjusting the time from the dot interrupt occurrence until the actual printing is performed. In the case of printing the i-th (i is 1,2,3, ...) Dot row forming the bar of the bar code, the processing means displays a counter value C _i (where C ₁ > C ₂ >). C ₃ ＞
...) is set, and when the time designated by the counter value has elapsed with reference to the set time, the print head prints a dot row.

Example of Invention

 Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a bar code printing result according to the present invention and a sensor output when the printing result is read by an image sensor. As shown in FIG. 4, in the portion forming the bar, the first row and the second row overlap, and the second row and the third row also overlap. When such a bar code print result is read by the image sensor, the bar width and the space width appear to be equal.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a dot impact type printer device used in the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1
Is a print head, 2 is a carrier, 3 is a carrier moving motor, 4 is a hammer driver, 5 is a motor driver, 6 is an address decoder, 7 is a timer, 8 is a ROM,
Reference numeral 9 is a RAM, 10 is a microprocessor, and 11 is an interface circuit. The print head 1 is attached to the carrier 2. The carrier 2 moves left and right on the platen. The hammer driver 4 supplies a current for driving the hammer of the print head 1. The motor driver 5 supplies a drive current to the motor 3. The address decoder 6 decodes the address on the address bus and activates the corresponding circuit. The timer 7 is for generating print timing (dot impact interrupt) and the like. RO
Various control programs and character generators are stored in M8. Data is stored in the RAM 9. The microprocessor 10 executes the control program in the ROM 8. The interface circuit 11 controls data transfer with the main body device, and has a function of storing data sent from the main body device in the RAM 9 and sending data in the RAM 9 to the main body device. To have.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the processing when a dot impact interrupt occurs. An interrupt is generated each time the carrier moves by one dot. When a dot impact interrupt occurs, the dot impact interrupt processing program in ROM8 is executed and the following processing is performed.

Set the initial value in the counter. The initial value is a counter value when printing a normal character.

Check whether the bar code is printed. If Yes, perform the process, and if No, perform the process.

Release the hammer mask to enable printing.

Check whether the bar prints. If Yes, perform the process, and if No, perform the process.

Set the counter value. What is a counter value?
This is the value of the counter for adjusting the time from the occurrence of the impact interrupt to the actual impact.

Decrement the value of the counter by -1.

Check whether the counter value is 0 or not. If Yes, the process is performed. If No, the process returns to.

Dot impact (bar printing).

Release the hammer mask to enable printing.

Decrement the counter by -1.

Check whether the counter value is 0 or not. If Yes, the process is performed. If No, the process returns to.

Dot impact (character printing). The following processing is performed.

Check whether printing is completed. If Yes, perform the process, and if No, perform the process.

Set the hammer mask. Setting the hammer mask means masking the head pins so that the head pins do not impact.

Set the timer. That is, a value is set in the timer so that a timer interrupt is generated every time one dot is moved. The timer interrupt and the dot impact interrupt are synonymous. Since the carrier is moving at a constant speed, the distance traveled by the carrier between the first timer interrupt and the next timer interrupt is constant.

Figure 3 shows the dot impact interrupt and the actual dot
It shows the relationship of impact. If the bar print is for the first line, the actual dot impact will be performed ₁ hour after the dot impact interrupt.
If the bar print is for the second line, the actual dot impact is performed t ₂ hours after the dot impact interrupt, and if the bar print is for the third line, the dot impact is performed. The actual dot impact occurs ₃ hours after the interruption. Note that t ₁ ＞ t ₂ ＞ t ₃
The counter value is set so that

As shown in FIG. 3, the dot impact occurrence interval is constant, but by changing the time from the dot impact interrupt to the actual impact, the dot rows overlap as shown in FIG. It can be printed. This will be described. It is assumed that the interval of occurrence of dot impact interruption is T, t ₁ > t ₂ > t ₃ , and that T is the time for moving by one dot width. The first dot row is printed at time t ₁
The third dot row is printed at time T + t ₂ and the third dot row is printed at time 2T + t ₃ . The difference between the print time of the second dot row and the print time of the first dot row is T +
t ₂ −t ₁ <T, and the difference between the print time of the third dot row and the print time of the second dot row is T + t ₃ −t ₂ <T. That is, the second dot row is printed so as to overlap with the first dot row, and the third dot row is printed so as to overlap with the second dot row.

〔The invention's effect〕

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, it is possible to achieve a remarkable effect of preventing erroneous reading of bar codes. That is, since the distance between the dot row and the next dot row can be adjusted by the value set in the counter, the width of the bar can be adjusted in consideration of the characteristics of the ink ribbon and the sensor.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a dot impact type printer used in the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining processing when a dot impact interrupt occurs, and FIG. 3 is a dot impact interrupt. And FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the relationship between the dot impact and the actual dot impact. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a bar code printing result according to the present invention and a sensor output when the bar code printing result is read by an image sensor. FIG. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a bar code printing result of the above and a sensor output when the bar code printing result is read by an image sensor. 1 ... Print head, 2 ... Carrier, 3 ... Carrier moving motor, 4 ... Hammer driver, 5 ... Motor driver, 6 ... Address decoder, 7 ... Timer, 8 ... ROM , 9 ... RAM, 10 ... Microprocessor, 11 ... Interface circuit.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A carrier equipped with a print head, a means for generating a dot interrupt each time the carrier moves a fixed distance, a dot interrupt processing means activated when a dot interrupt occurs, and an actual dot interrupt generation. A printer device having a bar code printing function, comprising a printer control device having a counter for adjusting the time until printing is performed on the printer, and the dot interrupt processing means constitutes a bar of the bar code. In the case of printing the i-th (i is 1, 2, 3, ...) Dot row, the counter value C _i (where C ₁ > C ₂ > C ₃ >
...) is set, and when the time specified by the above counter value has elapsed with reference to the time when it was set, the print head prints a dot row, and the bar code is characterized in that Printer device with printing function.