JP2854507B2 - Receipt printer - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a receipt printer used for an electronic cash register or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a general electronic cash register,
In order to present a record of the contents of the registration process to the customer, a receipt on which the contents are printed is issued. A receipt printer that issues such receipts, for example, forms a paper transport mechanism that sequentially transports continuous paper with a feed motor or a feed roller, and prints various types of information on continuous paper that is sequentially transported by the paper transport mechanism. The information printing mechanism is formed by a thermal head or the like.

In such a receipt printer, when the paper transport mechanism sequentially transports continuous paper in accordance with a feed command received from the register body of the electronic cash register, the information printing mechanism is transported sequentially according to a print command received from the register body. Various kinds of information such as product names are sequentially printed on continuous paper. And
Since the continuous paper on which various types of information are printed is discharged to the outside of the apparatus by the paper transport mechanism, a clerk can manually cut the discharged continuous paper to issue a receipt.

[0004] In this case, the clerk presses the continuous paper against the blade fixed in advance to the receipt issuing port of the receipt printer to cut the continuous paper. This increases the work load of the clerk, which is not preferable.

Therefore, in order to solve such a problem,
At present, a receipt printer equipped with a paper cutting mechanism such as a rotary cutter for automatically cutting continuous paper is being implemented. In such a receipt printer, according to a cut command received from the register main body, continuous paper in which the paper transport mechanism sequentially conveys according to the feed command and the print command received from the register main body and the information printing mechanism prints various information is received. The paper cutting mechanism issues a receipt by cutting the continuous paper.

In this way, the receipt printer automatically cuts the receipt to be issued by the paper cutting mechanism, thereby making the cut portion of the receipt straight and improving the appearance. Since it is not necessary to cut manually, the work load on the clerk can be reduced.

[0007]

As described above, in a receipt printer that automatically cuts continuous paper by a paper cutting mechanism, the appearance of the receipt can be improved and the work load on the clerk can be reduced.

Here, in a general receipt printer,
Since the receipt is issued upward from the issue port on the top surface, this issue port is formed on the bottom surface of the concave portion to hold the cut receipt, but the overall length is still large. Receipts may fall over and fall.

Therefore, in order to solve such a problem,
Receipt printers that manually cut continuous paper that has been cut incompletely with stub cuts or partial cuts have also been implemented. Absent.

[0010] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems,
It has also been proposed to provide a tray-shaped member for holding a receipt having a large total length in a receipt printer, but this is not practical because the size and weight of the receipt printer and the appearance thereof are impaired.

[0011]

In a receipt printer in which a paper conveying mechanism sequentially conveys and an information printing mechanism cuts continuous paper on which various information has been printed by a paper cutting mechanism to issue a receipt, the paper conveying mechanism may include: A length determining unit for comparing the length of the continuous paper on which the information printing mechanism has conveyed and printed various information with a preset reference value is provided, and the length determining unit determines that the continuous paper is shorter than the reference value. Cutting detection means for driving and controlling the paper cutting mechanism to cut the continuous paper when detected is provided, and when the length determining means detects that the continuous paper is longer than a reference value, the paper cutting mechanism is driven and controlled by the drive. A cutting stop means for temporarily stopping the cutting of the continuous paper is provided, and when the cutting stop means detects an operation input in a state where the cutting of the continuous paper is temporarily stopped, the paper cutting mechanism is drive-controlled. Provided resume cutting resuming means the cutting of the continuous paper Te.

[0012]

The length determining unit compares the length of the continuous paper with a predetermined reference value, and when it detects that the continuous paper is longer than the reference value, the cutting stop unit drives and controls the paper cutting mechanism to control the continuous paper. When the cutting is paused and the operation input is detected in the state where the cutting of the continuous paper is temporarily stopped, the cutting resume unit controls the driving of the paper cutting mechanism to restart the cutting of the continuous paper, so that the long receipt can be processed. The cutting can be performed only when the clerk or the customer holds it.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, the printer unit 1, which is a receipt printer, is a part of an electronic cash register 2, and has a receipt issuing port 4 and a receipt issuing port 4 on the upper surface of a cubic main body housing 3 as shown in FIG. The journal confirmation window 5 and the cut switch 6 are provided.

In the electronic cash register 2 having such a printer unit 1 as a part, a register body 8 having substantially the same shape is mounted on a flat cubic drawer unit 7, and a flat top is provided on the upper surface of the register body 8. Keyboard unit 9 and display unit 10 comprising a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) and the cubic printer unit 1
Are appropriately arranged.

Here, the register body 8 of the electronic cash register 2 has a circuit (ROM: Read Only) in which various information such as an OS (Operating System) is fixedly stored in advance as shown in FIG. Memory) 11, PLU (P
Various information such as a RAM (Random Access Memory) 12 that temporarily stores various information such as rice look up information in an updatable manner and an I / F (Interface) 13 that controls input / output of various information are executed. CPU (Central Processing Unit)
The printer unit 1, the keyboard unit 9, and the display unit 10 are connected to the I / F 13 of the register body 8 by a connector cable 16.

The printer unit 1 that communicates with the register body 8 having the above-described structure is connected to the connector cable 16 and controls the input / output of various information.
F17, a ROM 18 in which various information such as control programs are fixedly stored in advance, and a RAM 19 in which various information such as character fonts are temporarily stored in an updatable manner are directly connected to a CPU 20 for executing various information by a system bus 21 or the like. This C
The PU 20 includes feed motors 22 and 23 for receipt and journal, print heads 24 and 25 for receipt and journal, and a receipt cutter 2 as a paper cutting mechanism.
6, the cut switch 6 and the like are connected by the system bus 21.

Therefore, in the printer unit 1, a paper transport mechanism for sequentially transporting receipt paper (not shown) made of continuous paper is formed by the feed motor 22, the feed roller (not shown), the CPU 20, and the like. An information printing mechanism for printing various information on receipt paper is formed by the print head 24, the CPU 20, and the like. Further, in the printer unit 1, the length of a receipt (not shown) on which various information is printed by the information printing mechanism such as the print head 24 by the paper feeding mechanism such as the feed motor 22 is used. The length determining means for comparing with a reference value preset in the RAM 19 is the C
When the length determination unit such as the CPU 20 detects that the receipt is shorter than the reference value, the cutting execution unit that drives and controls the receipt cutter 26 to cut the receipt paper is formed by the CPU 20 or the like. Is formed.

When the printer unit 1 detects that the receipt is longer than the reference value of the CPU 20 or the like, the cutting stop means for controlling the drive of the receipt cutter 26 to temporarily stop the cutting of the receipt paper is executed by the CPU.
20 and the like, and the cut switch 6
When the operation input is detected, the CPU 20 or the like forms cutting restart means for controlling the drive of the receipt cutter 26 to restart cutting the receipt paper.

In the printer unit 1, a paper transport mechanism for sequentially transporting journal paper (not shown) made of continuous paper is formed by the feed motor 23, the feed roller (not shown), the CPU 20, and the like. And an information printing mechanism for printing various information on journal paper includes the print head 24, the RAM 19, and the CPU.
20 and the like.

In such a configuration, in the electronic cash register 2, a clerk (not shown) inputs various kinds of information corresponding to a product (not shown) purchased by a customer (not shown) using the keyboard unit 9. Then, the CPU 14 of the register body 8 executes the registration process according to the various information. Then, various information such as the product information and the total price generated in the registration process is stored in the printer unit 1.
Is printed or displayed on the display unit 10, so that the customer and the clerk who have visually recognized the displayed contents execute the accounting process using money or the like that enters and exits the drawer unit 7.

When the receipt (not shown) to be issued as described above is short, the printer unit 1 of the electronic cash register 2 automatically cuts the receipt by the receipt cutter 26 as in the related art. If the receipt to be issued is long, the receipt cutter 26 does not cut it until the cut switch 6 is manually operated.

In this way, in the printer unit 1, by cutting the receipt by the receipt cutter 26, the cut portion of the receipt can be straightened and the appearance can be improved, and the receipt can be cut manually. Since it is not necessary to perform the operation, the work load on the clerk can be reduced. Moreover, in the printer unit 1, a long receipt is not cut until the cut switch 6 is manually operated.
Long receipts are prevented from falling if they are automatically cut.

The processing operation of the printer unit 1 will be described below in detail with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. In this printer unit 1,
When a receipt is issued, the same contents are printed on journal paper, and this journal is stored inside the device.However, here, only the part related to receipt issuance will be described and The explanation of the part to be performed is omitted.

First, the CPU 2 of the printer unit 1
0 is waiting for a feed command and a print command to be received. When these commands are received from the register body 8, the feed motor 22
Drives the receipt paper sequentially, and
By driving the print head 24 in accordance with the print command, various information such as a product name is sequentially printed on the receipt paper conveyed sequentially.

At this time, the CPU of the printer unit 1
Reference numeral 20 denotes a feed motor 22 driven as described above.
The CPU 20 that has received the cut command from the register main body 8 in this state counts the number n of feeds of the
The number n of feeds stored in M19 is compared with a reference value N preset in RAM19.

If the CPU 20 that compares the number n of feeds with the reference value N does not detect "n>N", the CPU 20 controls the drive of the receipt cutter 26 to cut the receipt paper, and n is initialized to “0”, and the processing operation ends.

On the other hand, when the CPU 20 that compares the number n of feeds with the reference value N detects "n>N",
Reference numeral 20 denotes a state in which the receipt cutter 26 is driven and controlled to temporarily stop cutting the receipt paper, and waits for an operation input of the cut switch 6 or a reception of a print / feed command. Therefore, in such a state, the CPU 20
Detects the operation input of the cut switch 6, this CP
U20 drives and controls the receipt cutter 26 to cut the receipt paper, initializes the number n of feeds, and ends the processing operation.

When the CPU 20 in the state where the driving of the receipt cutter 26 is stopped as described above detects the reception of the print / feed command, this means that the next registration processing is started without receiving the issued receipt. Therefore, the CPU 20 cuts the receipt paper by the receipt cutter 26, initializes the number n of feeds, and starts the above-described receipt issuing processing operation.

In this way, when the receipt to be issued is short, the printer unit 1 automatically cuts the receipt using the receipt cutter 26, so that the cut portion of the receipt can be straightened to improve the appearance. In addition, since it is not necessary to manually cut the receipt, the work load on the clerk can be reduced. Moreover, this printer unit 1
Then, if the issue receipt is long, cut switch 6
Is cut by the receipt cutter 26 after being manually operated, so that a long receipt can be cut only when the store clerk or the customer holds it, so that the fall when the long receipt is automatically cut can be prevented. Can be.

In the printer unit 1 which is the receipt printer exemplified in this embodiment, when the cut command is received from the register main body 8, the number of feeds n is compared with the reference value N. The present invention is not limited to the embodiment, and a receipt printer (not shown) that compares the number n of feeds that are sequentially updated with the reference value N in real time can be used.

In the printer unit 1 which is a receipt printer exemplified in this embodiment, the length of the receipt paper on which the paper transport mechanism is transported and the information printing mechanism prints various information is determined by the number of feeds n of the feed motor 22. Although the detection is exemplified, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, for example, such as a receipt printer that detects the length of the receipt paper by the number of rotations of the feed roller,
Receipt printer that detects by the number of print lines (both not shown)
Etc. can also be implemented.

Further, in the present embodiment, the printer unit 1 which can be freely attached to and detached from the register main body 8 of the electronic cash register 2 is exemplified as a receipt printer. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. R / R that integrates a receipt printer into an electronic cash register
It can also be formed by a J (Receipt / Journal) printer (not shown) or the like.

[0033]

As described above, the present invention relates to a receipt printer that issues a receipt by cutting a continuous paper on which various information is printed by a paper feeding mechanism sequentially and the information printing mechanism prints various information by a paper cutting mechanism. A length / shortness determining means for comparing the length of the continuous paper on which the information printing mechanism has printed and printed various information with a paper transport mechanism with a preset reference value is provided. When the length of the continuous paper is longer than a reference value, the paper cutting mechanism is driven by controlling the driving of the paper cutting mechanism to cut the continuous paper. A cutting stop means for controlling and temporarily stopping the cutting of the continuous paper is provided, and when the cutting stop means detects an operation input in a state where the cutting of the continuous paper is temporarily stopped, the paper cutting mechanism is activated. By providing cutting restart means for restarting the cutting of the continuous paper by controlling the movement, the long receipt can be cut only while being held by a clerk or a customer, so the long receipt is automatically cut. This has the effect that the fall in the case can be prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a circuit structure of an electronic cash register including a printer unit as a part of a receipt printer according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the appearance of an electronic cash register.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a processing operation of the printer unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printer unit 20 Short determination means, cutting execution means, cutting suspension means, cutting resumption means 20, 22 Paper transport mechanism 20, 24 Information printing mechanism 26 Paper cutting mechanism

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A receipt printer in which a paper conveyance mechanism sequentially conveys and an information printing mechanism cuts continuous paper on which various information is printed by a paper cutting mechanism to issue a receipt. An information printing mechanism is provided with length / shortness determination means for comparing the length of the continuous paper on which various types of information are printed with a preset reference value, and when the length / shortness determination means detects that the continuous paper is shorter than the reference value, the paper is printed. Cutting means for controlling the cutting mechanism to cut the continuous paper; cutting the continuous paper by driving and controlling the paper cutting mechanism when the length determining means detects that the continuous paper is longer than a reference value; A cutting stop means for temporarily stopping the cutting of the continuous paper when the cutting stop means detects an operation input in a state where the cutting of the continuous paper is temporarily stopped. A receipt printer comprising cutting restart means for restarting cutting.