JPH0759399B2 - Bar code printing control method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Outline] The present invention relates to a barcode printing control method for printing a barcode with an impact type dot printer, and aims to provide a barcode printing control method with an improved reading rate. In this case, the dot row is printed according to the row of normal print timings where the time interval between the current print timing and the next print timing is t _n , and the black dot row that constitutes the black bar of the barcode is printed. When printing the black dot row on the start point side of, the black dot row on the start point side is printed at a timing delayed by Δt from the normal print timing, and the end point of the black dot rows forming the black bar of the bar code is printed. When the black dot row on the side is printed, the black dot row on the end point side is printed at a timing that is Δt earlier than the normal print timing.

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to a barcode printing control method for printing a barcode with an impact type dot printer.

[Conventional technology]

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining a conventional bar code printing control method. FIG. 9 (a) shows a black bar, a white bar, and a black bar having the same width. An example in which a white dot row, a black dot row at the fifth dot, and a black dot row at the sixth dot are printed by an impact type dot printer is shown in FIG. The dot spacing is, for example, 1/160 inch (≈0.16 mm), and the pin diameter is, for example, about 0.2 mm. When printed with a pin having such a diameter, the diameter of the black dot becomes 0.16 mm or more (about 0.25 mm) due to ink bleeding or the like. 1/16 dot spacing
When printing as shown in Fig. 9 (a) with an impact type dot printer with 0 inch and a pin diameter of 0.2 mm, the black bar width W
_B becomes 0.41 mm, the width W _{W of the} white bar becomes 0.23 mm, and W _W / W
_B becomes 0.56. Ideally, W _W / W _B = 1. When W _W / W _B greatly deviates from the ideal state,
This will cause a decrease in reading rate.

Further, as a method for solving the above problem, there is known a method in which a white bar is intentionally increased by one dot, or the ratio of white to be decreased by increasing the module size is decreased. 9th
Figure (b) is a diagram showing an example of intentionally increasing white dots,
Black dot row at 1st dot, black dot row at 2nd dot, 3
A white dot row at the 4th dot, a white dot row at the 4th dot, a white dot row at the 5th dot, a black dot row at the 6th dot, and a black dot row at the 7th dot are printed by an impact type dot printer. FIG. 9 (c) shows that W _W / W _B approaches 1 by increasing the module size.
Black dot row at 1st dot, black dot row at 2nd dot, 3
Black dot row at dot 4, White dot row at 4th dot, White dot row at 5th dot, White dot row at 6th dot, Black dot row at 7th dot, Black dot row at 8th dot, 9th dot Black dot rows are printed on the impact dot printer.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

However, each of the methods shown in FIGS. 9 (b) and 9 (c) has a drawback that the lateral dimension of the barcode is increased.

The present invention has been made in view of this point, and an object of the present invention is to provide a barcode printing control method that improves the reading rate in barcode printing by an impact dot printer.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

FIG. 1 is a principle diagram of the present invention. The present invention is a bar code printing control method for printing a bar code with an impact dot printer, wherein when printing characters, the time interval between the current print timing and the next print timing is t _n . When a dot row is printed according to a certain row of normal print timing and the black dot row on the starting point side among the dot rows that make up the black bar of the barcode is printed, it is delayed by _Δt from the normal print timing. When the black dot row on the start point side is printed at the same timing and the black dot row on the end point side among the black dot rows that make up the black bar of the barcode is printed, the timing is _Δt earlier than the normal print timing. The feature is that the black dot row on the end point side is printed with. Note that FIG. 1 shows a case where printing is performed while moving the print head from left to right.

〔Example〕

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of printing including characters and a bar code. In the example shown, "Product name: Salad", "Unit price: 250 yen"
The character is printed, the bar code is printed after this, the characters "Product name: apple", "Unit price: 150 yen" are printed after this, and the bar code is printed after this. The vertical length of the barcode is l.

As a method of printing characters and barcodes on the printer,
There are a method of passing a code indicating a character or a bar code to the printer and a method of passing it in the form of image data (dot pattern data). When a bar code is specified by code, dots are expanded inside the printer, so it is possible to identify which part is the bar code area in the internal RAM (image buffer). Further, when the data expanded into the image data is sent from the host computer, it is necessary to specify the area.

FIG. 3 is a view showing an example of a dot-developed bar code in the image buffer. In the illustrated example, the area of the 50th dot to the 95th dot is the barcode area. If there are two or more consecutive black dots in the barcode printing area, the dot numbers at the left and right ends are extracted. In this example, the leftmost dot number to be extracted is 52,56,
…, 91, and the extracted rightmost dot number is 53,58,…, 94
Is.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the normal print timing and the bar code print timing of the present invention. It is assumed that printing is performed while moving the print head from left to right. Fig. 4
FIG. 7A is a diagram showing normal print timing. At the normal print timing, the timer is set to t ₅₂ when the 51st dot is printed, and when the timer times out, the 52nd dot is printed and at the same time the timer is set to t _53. When is timed out, the 53rd dot is printed and the timer is set to t ₅₄ . Less than,
The same operation is repeated. t ₅₂ , t ₅₃ , ..., T ₅₈ are all equal to t _n . In the conventional technique, the bar code is also printed at the normal printing timing.

FIG. 4 (b) is a diagram showing the bar code printing timing according to the present invention. FIG. 4 (b) assumes that the bar code as shown in FIG. 3 is printed. At the bar code print timing, the timer is set to t ₅₂ ′ when the 51st dot is printed, and when the timer times out, the 52nd dot is printed and the timer is started at the same time.
Set to t ₅₃ ′, and when the timer times out 53
The timer is set to t ₅₄ ′ at the same time when the dot is printed, the 54 dot is printed at the time when the timer times out, the timer is set to t ₅₅ ′ at the time when the timer times out, and the 55 th dot is set when the timer times out. When the timer is set, the timer is set to t ₅₆ ′, and when the timer times out, the 56th dot is printed and the timer is set to t ₅₇ ′.
When the timer times out, the 57th dot is printed, and at the same time, the timer is set to t ₅₈ ′, and when the timer times out, the 58th dot is printed. The 52nd dot black dot row is printed later than the normal print timing, and the 53rd dot black dot row is printed earlier than the normal print timing.
The width of the black bar formed by the black dot row of the dots is smaller than that printed at the normal print timing. Similarly, the width of the black bar formed by the black dot rows of the 56th dot, the 57th dot, and the 58th dot is smaller than that printed at the normal print timing. In FIG. 4 (b), t ₅₂ ′ = t _n + Δt t ₅₃ ′ = t _n −2Δt t ₅₄ ′ = t _n + Δt t ₅₅ ′ = t _n t ₅₆ ′ = t _n + Δt t ₅₇ ′ = t _n − Δt t ₅₈ ′ = t _n −Δt.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the flow of the barcode printing process in the present invention. This processing is performed by the processor executing the print processing program. FIG. 5 (a) shows the main routine, and FIG. 5 (b) shows the print timing table B creation processing routine. First, the fifth
The figure (a) is demonstrated.

Enter the print data.

Check whether the barcode is printed. If yes, go to, otherwise go to.

Extract the barcode print area.

Create print timing table B.

Check whether the barcode printing is completed. That is, it is checked whether the barcode printing for the length in the vertical direction is completed.
If yes, go to and if no, go to.

Print according to Table B. Return to next.

The normal print timing table A is cited.

Check whether printing is completed. If Yes, set END. If No, go to.

Print according to Table A. Return to next.

Next, FIG. 5 (b) will be described.

Extract the barcode area.

The leftmost bit and the rightmost bit of consecutive black dots are extracted.

For the leftmost bit, t _L = t _n + Δt is calculated, and for the rightmost bit, t _L = t _n −Δt is calculated.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration example of the present invention.
In the figure, 1 is a central processing unit, 2 is a ROM, 3 is a RAM,
4 is a timer, 5 is a print head / pin drive unit, 6 is a carrier motor drive unit, 7 is a slit, 8 is a print head, and 9 is a print head.
Is a transmissive sensor, 10 is a carrier motor, 11 is a home
Each position sensor is shown.

The central processing unit 1 executes the control program of the ROM2.
A control program and various parameters are stored in the ROM2. A dot pattern and a print timing table are stored in RAM4. The timer 4 is used, for example, for print timing control. The signal output from the print head / pin drive unit 5 is applied to the pin drive solenoid of the print head 8, and the signal output from the carrier motor drive unit 6 is applied to the carrier motor 10. The transmissive sensor 9 has a disc provided with the slit 7 and also has a light emitting element and a light receiving element which are installed so as to sandwich the disc, and the slit passes between the light emitting element and the light receiving element. Then, a pulse signal is output. As the carrier motor 10, for example, a DC motor can be used. When the carrier motor 10 is driven,
The disk of the transmissive sensor 9 is rotated and the print head 8 is moved leftward or rightward. When the print head 8 reaches the left end, an ON signal is output from the home position sensor 11. A pulse motor can be used as the carrier motor 10, in which case the transmissive sensor 9 is not used.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the movement of the print head. When the print head is at the left end, the home position sensor outputs an ON signal. When the carrier motor is driven in the predetermined direction, the print head starts moving to the right. In the illustrated example, it is assumed that the speed of the print head becomes constant ₁ hour after the home position sensor outputs an off signal. When the print head speed is constant, a print timing signal is generated. Assuming a 136-digit ANK (alphanumeric characters) printer, assuming that 16 dots are required for each ANK character, the total number of dots in the horizontal direction is
It becomes 136 x 16 = 2176 dots, and this number of print timings is required.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the print timing table. When the time interval t _n when printing at a constant speed is 100, the normal timing table A shows the time t ₁ from the home position sensor to the first printing.
All are set to 100 except.

In the table B when the bar code exists, the table values of the dot numbers corresponding to the left end and the right end of the black bar of the bar code are rewritten. For example, in the case of FIGS. 3 and 4, the values shown in the figure are set in the table B. This value is obtained as follows.
If 1/160 inch is associated with T _n = 100 and the dot diameter is 0.2 mm, then Δl = (0.2−0.16) /2=0.02 Δt = Δl × t _n ÷ 0.16≈25.

〔The invention's effect〕

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, even in an impact type dot printer, it is possible to print a barcode with a high reading rate without increasing the size (length) of the barcode, and to print in a small space. Correspondence becomes possible.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a principle diagram of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of printing including characters and a bar code, FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a dot expanded bar code in an image buffer, and FIG.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a normal print timing and a barcode print timing of the present invention, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a flow of a barcode print processing in the present invention, FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration example of the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the movement of the print head, FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the print timing table,
FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining conventional bar code printing. 1 ... Central processing unit, 2 ... ROM, 3 ... RAM, 4 ... Timer, 5 ... Print head / pin drive, 6 ... Carrier / motor drive, 7 ... Slit, 8 ... Print head,
9 …… Transmissive sensor, 10 …… Carrier motor, 11 ……
Home position sensor.

Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Office reference number FI Technical display location B41J 3/10 101 F

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A bar code printing control method for printing a bar code with an impact dot printer, wherein when printing characters, the time interval between the current print timing and the next print timing is t _n. If you want to print the dot row according to the row of the normal print timing and the black dot row on the starting point side among the dot rows that make up the black bar of the barcode, print only _Δt from the normal print timing. When the black dot row on the start point side is printed at a delayed timing and the black dot row on the end point side among the black dot rows that make up the black bar of the barcode is printed, _{Δt is} faster than the normal print timing. A bar code printing control method characterized by printing a black dot row on the end point side at a timing.