JPH0720713B2 - Label printer - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a label printer used in a weighing and pricing machine or the like.

(Prior art and its problems) In a weighing and pricing machine configured to measure the weight of an item transferred by a conveyor or the like, attach a label on which a predetermined item such as weight and price is printed, and carry out the item, Conventionally, a label printer as shown in FIG. 8 has been used. In the figure, labels 5 attached to a mount 8 at a constant pitch are transferred from a supply drum 1 by a platen driven by a label feed motor 7, and when a print head 4 prints a predetermined item, a peeling mount 6 mounts the labels. It is peeled off and attached to the weighed item. The mount 8 is wound around the winding drum 9.

A brake 2 for applying tension to the mount, a label sensor 3 for detecting the feed of one label, and a micro switch 10 for detecting the end of the mount are provided behind the print head in the transfer direction of the mount. .

In such a label printer, if it is a semi-automatic printer, after the final label is detected by the label sensor, the label feeding control after that becomes impossible, so the operation of the print head is stopped at that time, Labeling was stopped. Therefore, there is a problem in that the label between the lower and upper parts of the figure is wasted.

Further, in a fully automatic printer used for an automatic weighing and pricing machine or the like, when the micro switch 10 provided at the rear of the label sensor detects the last label, the weighing conveyor is stopped, and the subsequent sticking conveyor. For the above-mentioned weighed item, a label is printed between the micro switch 10 and the label sensor 3, that is, a label for the number of labels between the air and the measured item on the pasting conveyor. The label left between the lohas was not used in this case as well.

Further, in a printer used for OA equipment and the like, a micro switch provided at a predetermined position is operated to detect that the end of the paper is approaching, and the counter is operated for a predetermined time from the operation of the micro switch to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-79780 proposes an invention in which the transfer of a sheet is stopped when the operation is completed and the sheet is effectively used without being wasted.

However, in these conventional techniques, there is a problem that a label is wasted and a micro switch has to be separately provided, which increases equipment costs.

(Object of the Invention) The present invention aims to solve the problems of the prior art as described above, and uses the drive pulse of the label feeding motor and the signal of the label sensor without separately providing a micro switch. The present invention provides a label printer that performs print processing so as not to waste paper.

(Summary of the Invention) A label printer according to the present invention includes a print head for printing predetermined items on a plurality of labels attached to a mount at a constant pitch,
It has a label sensor that is arranged behind the print head in the label transfer direction, checks the presence of a label, and outputs a pulse without a label, and counts the label feed motor feeding one label. Means for setting the number of pulses A to be set, means for setting the number of pulses B for ending counting at a time shorter than the number of pulses A, counting means for counting the pulses in the label feeding state of the motor, and the counter. When the label sensor issues a signal while counting the pulse number B, the counter stops the label feed motor when counting the pulse number A, and when the label sensor issues a signal when the counter has finished counting the pulse number B, First label feed motor control means for stopping and controlling the label feed motor at the timing of signal generation of the label sensor; Second label feed motor control means for stopping the label feed motor when the label sensor does not output a signal when the counter has finished counting the pulse number A, and the label sensor outputs a signal while the counter is counting the pulse number B. When the operation of issuing the label feeding motor and stopping the label feeding motor is continuously repeated a predetermined number of times, it is determined that the label printing is finished, and a third label feeding motor control means for ending the label printing operation is provided. It is characterized by having.

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of the present invention. The configuration is the same as the conventional example except that the conventional microswitch shown in FIG. 8 is not installed. FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of the normal operation of the present invention. In the drawing, a stepping motor is used as the label feeding motor 7, and
A counter (not shown) that counts the number of drive pulses
Is provided. The number of pulses corresponding to the feeding amount for one label is A, and the number of pulses corresponding to the feeding amount from the start of printing to the end of printing, which is slightly shorter than A, is B. The label can be idly fed after this printing. The number of pulses corresponding to the end jump feed amount is set to C, respectively.

When the label sensor 3 detects a state between labels on the mount, that is, a state without a label, the label sensor 3 outputs an H level signal,
Further, it is set to output an L level signal when the label portion is detected.

FIG. 3 shows a case where the rear end of the label wound around the supply drum in the apparatus of the present invention shown in FIG. 1 is disengaged from the brake 2 (state indicated by a dotted line) and a case where it is disengaged from the label sensor 3 (indicated by a solid line). 4) shows the output pulse of the label sensor in the former state, and FIG. 4 () shows the process of the trailing edge of the label coming off the label sensor 3. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of output pulses of the label sensor of FIG.

By setting so that the pulse of the label sensor is output as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, when the label still exists between the supply drum and the brake, the output of the label sensor during the period C described above. In the state where a pulse is generated and there is no label between the supply drum and the brake, the backing paper hangs down by its own weight, so that the output pulse of the label sensor is generated in the period B described above with label feeding.

In this embodiment, the label feed motor is controlled as follows. That is, (1) as shown in FIG. 4, a pulse of the label sensor is output earlier than the feeding time (pulse number A) for one label, and it is detected that the last label has separated from the brake 2. If so, the label feed motor is stopped at the timing A, and thereafter, for the label between the label sensor and the print head, the stop control is performed by counting the pulse number A.

(2) As shown in FIG. 2, when the output of the label sensor becomes H level and it is determined that there is a label within the period of C, the label feed motor is stopped and controlled by the output pulse of this label sensor. .

The control of such a label feed motor will be described in more detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

(1) After weighing the light weight object (step P ₁ ), the label feed motor is driven to transfer the label toward the print head (step P ₂ ). At this time, starts counting pulses of the pulse feed motor (Step P _3), the same time the print head to perform the printing processing of a predetermined item (step P _4).

(2) It is checked whether or not the output of the label sensor becomes H within the set B range of the pulse count number (step P ₅ ). If this judgment is NO, it is next checked whether or not the output of the label sensor has become H within the range of C where the count number is set (step P ₆ ). When the output of the label sensor does not become H in any of the ranges B and C, it is considered that the slit between the labels is clogged, so error processing is performed (step P ₈ ). If the condition determination is YES in step P _6, since the label feed takes place in a normal state, after setting (Step P ₉₎ a label number to N = 0, to stop the label feed (step P ₁₀ ) and returns to the process of step P ₁ .

(3) On the other hand, when the output of the label sensor becomes H within the range of the pulse count number B, the end of the label is announced (remaining number display, etc.) (step P ₁₁ ), and the pulse A causes the label feed Perform stop control (step P ₁₂ ). next,
The number N of labels remaining between the label sensor and the print head is incremented by 1 (step
P ₁₄ ), until the count number N reaches the number M of labels remaining between the label sensor and the print head, repeat the process of steps P _{1 to} P ₁₄ (step P ₁₅ ), and label with pulse A. Performs feed stop control. Count number N
There if equal to said label number M, and stops displaying the label out (step P _16). Incidentally, when returning to normal state until N = M, the count number N shifts from step P ₅ in Step P ₆ to P ₁₀ is reset to zero.

In the above, the label breakage is detected from the deviation of the detection timing of the label sensor due to the end of the mount being disengaged from the brake, and the stop control for the label is switched to the timer control. Not only when the label end passes through the label sensor,
The present invention can be applied even when the detection timing of the label sensor does not shift. That is, as long as the detection timing of the label sensor does not shift, the loop process from Steps P _{1 to} P ₅ to Steps P ₆ , P ₉ , and P ₁₀ is executed, and the stop control by the label sensor is performed. After the label passes the label sensor, the label sensor output is H
Level, and since thereby detecting the label out, at this time, loop extending from Step P ₁ to P ₅ in Step P ₁ to P ₁₅ is executed, the stop control by counting the number of pulses A is performed.

FIG. 6 shows a blank feeding period of the label after completion of printing (FIG. 7C).
(Period), an example of an operation flow is shown in which the rising of the label sensor output is checked, and depending on the result, either the stop control by the label sensor or the stop control by the counter is switched. Then, in this example, the rising of the label sensor is checked in step P ₅ ′, and if it can be checked, the processing in steps P ₁₀ and P ₉ is executed to stop the label feeding. If the check cannot be made, it means that the label has run out, and therefore the label feeding is stopped when the count number of the counter reaches A. Steps P ₆ ′ and P ₁₂ ′). As a result, label breakage can be reliably detected as in the above-described embodiment. In this figure, parts having the same contents as the steps in FIG. 5 are indicated by the same reference numerals.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the present invention, the pulse A for counting the number of feedings of one label of the label feeding motor,
A pulse B that ends counting at a time slightly shorter than the pulse A is set. (1) If the output pulse of the label is detected outside the range of the above B, it is determined as normal operation, The label feed motor is stopped by the output of the label sensor, and the labels on which the predetermined items are printed are sequentially attached to the measured items.

(2) When the output pulse of the label sensor is output in the range of B, it is determined that the label does not remain behind the brake provided between the supply drum and the label sensor, and the label feed motor is set to By stopping at the pulse A, a predetermined printing process is performed on all the remaining labels between the label sensor and the print head.

In this way, a label breakage is detected from the deviation of the detection timing of the label sensor, and the stop control by the label sensor is switched to the stop control of the label feed motor by counting the pulse by the counter, so a special micro switch should be used. Therefore, the printing process can be effectively performed on the label between the label sensor and the print head.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 and 3 are schematic block diagrams of the present invention, FIG. 2 and FIG.
FIGS. 7 and 8 are time charts, FIGS. 5 and 6 are flowcharts, and FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram of a conventional example. 1 ... Supply drum, 2 ... Brake, 3 ... Label sensor, 4
... print head, 5 ... label, 6 ... peeling stand, 7 ... label feed motor, 8 ... mount, 9 ... take-up drum.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A print head for printing a predetermined item on a plurality of labels attached to a backing sheet at a constant pitch, and a print head disposed behind the print head in the label transfer direction to check the presence or absence of the label. A means for setting the number of pulses A for counting the number of labels fed by the label feeding motor and a label sensor for outputting a pulse without a label, and ending the counting at a time shorter than the number of pulses A A means for setting the pulse number B, a counting means for counting the pulses in the label feeding state of the motor, and a label sensor issuing a signal while the counter is counting the pulse number B. When the counter counts the pulse number A, the label is counted. When the label motor issues a signal while the feed motor is stopped and the counter has finished counting the pulse number B, the signal of the label sensor is sent. A first label feed motor control means for stopping controlling the label feed motor at a timing of generation,
Second label feed motor control means for stopping the label feed motor when the label sensor does not output a signal when the counter has finished counting the pulse number A, and the label sensor outputs a signal while the counter is counting the pulse number B. When the label feed motor is stopped and the label feed motor is stopped repeatedly for a predetermined number of times, it is determined that the label printing is completed,
A label printer, comprising: a third label feed motor control means for ending the label printing operation. 2. The label printer according to claim 1, wherein the counting range of the pulse number B corresponds to a label printing range.