JPH0577497A - Label printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To rapidly and easily conduct a reproduction experiment by a method wherein information transmitted from an external controller is stored in the order of transmission and, thereafter, the information is read in the order of storage on the instruction of reprinting, analyzed, and reprinted on a label. CONSTITUTION:A CPU 1 is connected to a host computer 2 through an external I/F driver 3 and a system bus 4. In this invention, a RAM 6 is provided with a work area 6b, in which when reception data stored in a reception buffer 6a is processed, the reception data is stored. In addition, an extension RAM 7 is provided with areas for various kinds of memories. Furthermore, data is read from or written in a memory card 9 by a memory card I/F 8. On the instruction of reprinting, the information in the information history storage means 6b, 9 are read in the order of storage, analyzed, and reprinted on a label. Namely, a thermal head 14 and a stepping motor 15 are separately driven by the CPU 1 under control.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a label printer for printing a label based on data transmitted from an external control device such as a host computer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in a label printer to which a host computer is connected by a line, the data transmitted from the host computer is first stored in a reception buffer, the data is read from the reception buffer, analyzed, and analyzed. Predetermined print information is printed on the label based on the obtained data.

[0003]

In the conventional label printer, for example, when a defect occurs in several sheets per several thousand times a day, in order to investigate the cause, the number of sheets per day or several thousand sheets should be investigated. The printing operation of may be reproduced. In such a reproduction experiment, various commands instructing the printing of one day or several thousand sheets had to be retransmitted from the host computer. As described above, sending many commands for reproduction from the host computer is time-consuming and troublesome.

Therefore, the present invention can store data such as commands transmitted from the host computer in the order of transmission,
Further, it is an object of the present invention to provide a label printer that can process stored data such as commands in a storage order, and therefore can easily perform a reproduction experiment in a short time without sending data such as commands from a host computer. To do.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention comprises an analysis processing means for analyzing information transmitted from an external control device provided externally to create desired data for printing on a label. In a label printer for printing a label on the basis of data from the analysis processing means, an information history storage means for storing information transmitted from an external control device in the order in which they are transmitted, a reprint instruction means for instructing reprinting,
By the reprint instruction by the reprint instruction means, the information stored in the information history storage means is read in a storage order, the read information is analyzed by the analysis processing means, and reprinted on the label. Is provided.

[0006]

In the present invention having such a configuration, the information transmitted from the external control device is stored in the information history storage means in the order of transmission. When reprinting is instructed by the reprint instruction means, the reprint control means reads the information stored in the information history storage means in a storage order, analyzes the read information by the analysis processing means, and re-prints it on the label. Print it.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is a CPU (central processing unit) that constitutes the main body of the control unit. The CPU 1 has an external I / F (interface) driver 3 connected to a host computer 2 as an external control device via a line.
Is connected via the system bus 4.

A ROM 5 (read only memory) stores program data for processing performed by the CPU 1, and a RAM (random access memory) 6 stores the program data.
Areas of various memories used when the CPU 1 performs processing and a clock counter for measuring a predetermined time are formed, and data transmitted from the host computer 2 and received by the external I / F driver 3 is temporarily stored. A reception buffer 6a that is temporarily stored and a reception data work area 6b that stores the reception data when processing the reception data stored in the reception buffer 6a are formed. The expanded RAM 7 supplements the storage capacity of the RAM 6 to form areas of various memories used when the CPU 1 performs processing, and the memory card I / F 8
Read and write data to the memory card 9.

The CPU 1, via the system bus 4, the ROM 5, the RAM 6, the additional RAM 7,
It is connected to the memory card I / F 8. The received data work memory 6b and the memory card 9 together form an information history storage means.

A keyboard controller 10, a head controller 11 and a motor controller 12 control a keyboard 13, a thermal head 14 and a stepping motor 15, respectively, and an I / O (input / output interface) section 16 receives signals from various sensors 17. It is designed to input an output signal. The CP shown in FIG.
The flowchart of the principal part process which U1 performs is shown.

First, it is determined whether the F2 key (not shown) provided on the keyboard 13 is turned on when the power is turned on. If the F2 key is not turned on here, other processing is performed. If the F2 key is turned on, a standby state is entered until a password is input. When the password is input, it is next determined whether the key input by the keyboard 13 is the logging mode.

If the key input from the keyboard 13 is not in the logging mode, processing of another mode set by the key input is performed. If the key input from the keyboard 13 is in the logging mode, the key input from the keyboard 13 is next performed. , 0 key input, 1 key input, 2 key input, or 3 key input on the numeric keypad is determined.

Here, the key input from the keyboard 13 is 0.
If none of the ~ 3 key inputs is made, the system waits until one of them is input.
If the key input from the keyboard 13 is 0 key input,
The logging process of the received data is ended, the logging end mode process in which the logging process is not performed is performed in the subsequent process, and the logging start mode process described later is performed when one key is input. If 2 keys are input, logging data issuing mode processing is performed to print the received data stored by the logging start mode processing as it is. If 3 keys are input, logging data processing mode processing to be described later is performed. (Reprint instruction means).

In any case, the * key (not shown) provided on the keyboard 13 is used to exit the mode processing, and the key input by the keyboard 13 is performed again by any one of the 0 to 3 key inputs on the ten-key pad. The process returns to the judgment. Further, in the logging data issuing mode processing and the logging data processing mode processing, even if the processing is completed, the key input by the keyboard 13 is returned to the processing for judging any one of the 0 to 3 key inputs on the ten-key pad. There is. FIG. 3 shows a flow chart of the above-mentioned logging start mode processing.

First, it is determined whether or not there is received data in the reception buffer 6a. If there is no received data, the process waits until there is received data. If there is received data in the receive buffer 6a, the received data is read sequentially and stored in the received data work area 6b.

Here, it is confirmed whether or not the remaining storage capacity of the received data work area 6b is smaller than a predetermined capacity.
When the remaining storage capacity of the reception data work area 6b is smaller than the predetermined capacity, it is confirmed whether or not the clock counter formed in the RAM 6 is equal to or longer than a preset Nsec.
If the remaining storage capacity of the reception data work area 6b is less than a predetermined capacity or if the clock counter formed in the RAM 6 is equal to or more than a preset Nsec, all the reception data stored in the reception data work area 6b It is stored in the memory card 9. If the remaining storage capacity of the received data work area 6b is equal to or larger than a predetermined capacity and the clock counter is less than Nsec set in advance, the next process is directly performed.

Next, the command contained in the received data stored in the received data work area 6b is analyzed, and if the command is a drawing command, the RAM 6 or an extension is made based on the print data sent from the host computer 2. If a drawing process for drawing image data in the RAM 7 is performed and the analyzed command is an issue command, R
Based on the image data drawn in the AM 6 or the additional RAM 7, the thermal head 14 and the stepping motor 15 are controlled via the head controller 11 and the motor controller 12, respectively, and the issuing process of printing and issuing a label is performed. If the analyzed drawing command is a command other than the above-mentioned commands, other command processing is executed. (Analysis Processing Means) In any command processing, when the command processing is completed, the processing returns to the first processing of the logging start mode processing. FIG. 4 shows a flow chart of the above-mentioned logging data processing mode processing.

First, it is confirmed whether or not there is received data to be processed which has been stored in the memory card 9 and has not been reprocessed. If there is received data to be processed, the received data to be processed from the memory card 9 is received. It is designed to read data sequentially. If there is no received data to be processed in the memory card 9, it is stored in the received data work area 6b,
Furthermore, it is confirmed whether or not there is received data to be processed that has not been reprocessed, and if there is received data to be processed,
Received data to be processed is sequentially read from the received data work area 6b. If there is no received data to be processed in the received data work area 6b, this logging data processing mode processing is ended.

When the reception data to be processed is read from the memory card 9 or the reception data work area 6b,
A drawing process of analyzing a command included in the received code and drawing image data in the RAM 6 or the extension RAM 7 based on the print data read from the memory card 9 or the received data work area 6b if the command is a drawing command. If the analyzed command is an issue command, the thermal head 14 and the stepping motor 15 are controlled via the head controller 11 and the motor controller 12, respectively, based on the image data drawn in the RAM 6 or the additional RAM 7. Then, an issuing process for printing and issuing the label is performed, and if the analyzed drawing command is a command other than the above-mentioned command, another command process is performed. (Reprinting Control Unit) In any command processing, when the command processing is completed, the processing returns to the first processing of the logging data processing mode processing.

In this embodiment having such a configuration, the data transmitted from the host computer 2 is external I / F.
It is received by the driver 3 and temporarily stored in the reception buffer 6b provided in the RAM 6.

Here, when the logging start mode is set, when the reception data is stored in the reception buffer 6a, the reception data is read from the reception buffer 6a and the reception data is stored in the reception data work area 6b. .. Therefore, the command included in the received data is analyzed, and when the received data work area 6b becomes full or when a preset fixed time has elapsed, the received data stored in the received data work area 6b is stored in the memory card. The process of storing the data in 9 is performed.

Therefore, when the logging data processing mode is set, for example, when a defect is found in the issued label, the stored reception data is called from the memory card 9 and the reception data work area 6b, The command included in the received data is analyzed, if the command is a drawing command, the drawing process is executed, if it is an issuing command, the issuing process is executed, and if it is another command, another command process is executed. In other words, a reproduction experiment is conducted to investigate the cause of the defective label.

As described above, according to this embodiment, when the received data transmitted from the host computer 2 and stored in the receive buffer is processed, the received data is stored and saved in the logging start mode. By providing the work area 6b and the memory card 9 and setting the logging data processing mode, the reception data stored in the memory card 9 and the reception data work area 6b can be reprocessed. Since it is not necessary to transmit the data transmitted again from, and therefore the time for transmitting and storing in the reception buffer 6a can be omitted, the reproduction experiment can be easily performed in a short time.

Further, since the received data is stored in the memory card 9, when the defective label is detected, the memory card is pulled out to check the received data and a reproduction experiment by another label printer is performed. be able to. As a result, since it is not necessary to interrupt the work by the label printer actually used, it is possible to investigate the cause without hindering the work of the user.

[0026]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention,
The data such as commands sent from the host computer can be stored in the order of transmission, and the stored data such as commands can be processed in the order of storage. Therefore, even if the data such as commands is not transmitted from the host computer, it can be done easily in a short time. A label printer capable of performing a reproduction experiment can be provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of essential parts of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a flow of a main part process of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a flow of a logging start mode process of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a flow of logging data processing mode processing of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... CPU, 2 ... Host computer, 6a ... Receive buffer, 6b ... Receive data work area, 9 ... Memory card.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An analysis processing means for analyzing information transmitted from an external control device provided outside to create desired data for printing on a label, and based on the data from the analysis processing means. In a label printer for printing on a label by means of an information history storage means for storing the information transmitted from the external control device in the order of transmission, a reprint instruction means for instructing reprinting, and a reprint by the reprint instruction means. According to the print instruction, the information stored in the information history storage means is read in a storage order, the read information is analyzed by the analysis processing means, and reprint control means for reprinting on the label is provided. Characteristic label printer.