JP2000015872A - Printer and control method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To realize a low-cost printer capable of printing a single form such as a check (check) in addition to receipt printing.
Eliminates time loss when switching between receipt printing and single-sheet printing, and improves throughput. . SOLUTION: A printer main body 1 has a receipt printer mechanism 10 and a control circuit 20, and a cut sheet printing unit 2 is connected. The energization of the thermal head 11 and the cut-sheet thermal head 41 can be selectively controlled.
At this time, the receipt thermal pad 11 and the cut-sheet thermal head 41 can print with the same energizing pulse width.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a PO for a retail store.
The present invention relates to a printer used in an S (point-of-sales) system, and more particularly, to a printer capable of issuing a receipt and printing on a single sheet such as a check (check).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, the most common type of receipt issuance at a retail store is to print on a roll of heat-sensitive recording paper by a thermal head. However, hotels and European and American RETAIL (retail) In the market, it is often printed on a single sheet such as a check. In the case of cut sheet paper, plain paper is generally used, and in that case, an impact dot printer is used. Therefore, in a store where such single-sheet printing is also required, either a receipt printer and a slip printer are used, or a composite printer having a thermal printing mechanism and an impact printing mechanism as described in Japanese Patent Application No. 8-143353 is used. Was used. In recent years, MICR
(Recognition of magnetic ink characters) has progressed, and there has been a demand for printing MICR characters at the time of printing at a checkout at a retail store. However, such a request has not been sufficiently addressed. .

[0003]

In the above-described combined printer of a thermal printer and an impact dot printer, a printing sound is loud because a check printing mechanism employs an impact-type printer mechanism. In addition, the resolution is coarse compared to thermal printing, and it is difficult to print MICR characters. Further, the head control unit needs to include both an impact-type control circuit and a thermal-type control circuit, resulting in a larger circuit and higher cost than a printer using only a receipt.

In a conventional multifunction printer, it is common to switch between check printing and receipt printing, and after receipt printing is completed, a check is inserted, and the mechanism holds the check, feeds the paper, and prints. Time loss was great.

Accordingly, the present invention is to solve such a conventional problem. It is an object of the present invention to enable a silent check printing and to reduce the circuit cost at the same level as a receipt-only printer. To provide a printer that can also perform check printing. Another object of the present invention is to provide a printer that reduces time loss and improves throughput.

[0006]

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a print head for printing on a receipt sheet, and a print head for printing on a cut sheet separate from the print head. B, a single head control unit for generating a predetermined application pulse, and a cut-sheet detector for detecting the presence or absence of cut-sheet paper. When there is no cut-sheet paper, the head control unit controls the print head A Only the energization control, if there is a cut sheet,
The head control unit selectively controls the energization of the print head A and the print head B.

[0007] With the above configuration, printing can be controlled by the same head controller by switching between receipt printing and single-sheet printing.

[0008] The invention according to claims 2 and 6 provides:
The receipt paper is a thermal paper, the print head A is a thermal head, the print head B is a thermal transfer head, a thermal transfer ink film is arranged between the cut sheet and the print head B, and an energizing pulse applied to the print head A The width and the width of the energizing pulse applied to the print head B are set by the same calculation.

According to the above-described configuration, since a single form is printed by the thermal printing method, quiet single form printing can be performed as compared with the impact type printing method. Furthermore, the same software can be used for receipt printing and single-sheet printing.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the print head A and the head control section are provided in the printer main body, and the printer main body can print receipts independently of each other. The printer is provided in a cut-sheet printing unit. The cut-sheet printing unit has a connection section B to which a connecting means for connecting to a head control section of the printer main body can be attached. Is provided with a connection portion A which engages with the connection portion B, and the cut-sheet printing unit is capable of printing a cut-sheet when the cut-sheet printing unit is coupled to the printer main body.

With the above-described configuration, the printer can be used as a small-sized receipt-only printer with the cut-sheet printing unit removed.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the thermal transfer ink film uses magnetic ink.
Is characterized by having a resolution sufficient for handling MICR (magnetic ink character recognition) characters.

With the above configuration, the cut-sheet printing unit can
Printing of MICR characters becomes possible. Furthermore, claim 5
The described invention is a control method of a printer having a print head A for receipt and a print head B for single form that operates by receiving power supply from a common power supply unit, wherein priority is given to receipt printing or simple printing. It has a selection judging step of selectively judging whether to give priority to vote printing, and each print control step of operating the print head A and the print head B, and judges the presence or absence of a cut sheet in the printer operation. A first step;
In the first step, after it is determined that a cut sheet is present, a second step of holding the cut sheet and a third step of determining whether or not to print the cut sheet are performed.
And a fourth step of determining whether or not to print a receipt in the third step and then determining whether or not to print a receipt, and a process capable of printing on a receipt while holding the single form. After the receipt printing, the first
And a step of returning to the step.

According to the above-described configuration, it is possible to hold a cut sheet even during receipt printing, so that the cut sheet can be printed immediately after receipt printing.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of a printer according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

The printer according to the present embodiment is, for example, a PO
It is used for the S system and issues receipts and performs check printing.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a printer according to the present embodiment, in which a receipt printer mechanism 10, a control circuit 20, a roll paper holding unit 30, and a power supply unit 50 are arranged inside a printer main body 1. P is printed with predetermined data by the receipt printer mechanism 10 and is ejected in the direction of arrow Q as a receipt.

The receipt printer mechanism 10 includes a receipt thermal head 11, a paper feed motor 12, an automatic cutter motor 13, and the like, which are connected to the control circuit 20 by connection cables 61, 62, and 63, respectively. I have.

In this embodiment, the control circuit 20 includes a CPU such as a microprocessor, a ROM storing a program for controlling its operation, a RAM for temporarily storing data during data processing, and the like. An I / O port is provided for outputting a control signal to each section of the printer or taking in a signal of a sensor provided in each section of the printer into the CPU. The control circuit 20 also includes a driver circuit for driving an actuator and a display device of each section of the printer, and a level shift circuit for converting a sensor signal into a signal level interpretable by the CPU. These circuits are well known to those skilled in the art and are not a main part of the present invention, so that detailed description will be omitted.

The determination section 21 provided in the control circuit 20 determines whether or not there is print data in the buffer, whether or not the receipt paper P is present, and whether or not the thermal head 11 is pressed against the receipt paper P at a predetermined position. Various information such as 23
In response, the condition that the receipt printer mechanism 10 is in a printable state is determined. These functions are stored in ROM
Is realized by the CPU executing the control program stored in the CPU. Hereinafter, all control operations performed by the control circuit 20 are realized by software by the CPU. In this example, the above-described control program is stored in the ROM. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and is stored in a non-volatile storage device such as a hard disk drive or an EEPROM, and is stored in the RAM at the time of execution. It may be supplied by a well-known recording medium such as a developed one. The control circuit 20
Is supplied with power from the power supply unit 50.

A connector 70 is provided outside the printer body 1.
Are provided as connection means with the control circuit 20.

Next, the cut-sheet printing unit 2 which is independent of the printer main body 1 will be described. The cut-sheet printing unit 2 is a mechanism for printing a check (check) or the like on a cut sheet. Inside the unit, a thermal head for cut-sheets 41,
A cut-sheet feeding motor 42, a cut-sheet detector 43 for detecting the presence or absence of a cut-sheet, a thermal transfer ink film 44, and various other mechanisms such as an ink film winding mechanism are provided. The cut sheet C is rotated by the cut feed motor 42.
It is sent in the direction of arrow D or E, and predetermined data is printed.

A connector 7 is provided outside the cut-sheet printing unit 2.
1 is provided, and can be connected to the connector 70 of the printer main body 1. When these connectors are not connected, the printer body 1 can be used as a printer dedicated to receipts.

In a state where the connector 70 and the connector 71 are connected, the cut sheet detector 43 transmits information on the presence or absence of the cut sheet C to the determination unit 21. If there is no cut sheet C, the printer control unit 22 sends the receipt printer mechanism 1
0 is issued and a receipt is issued. On the other hand, when there is the cut sheet C, when the command information for performing the check print is included in the various information 23, the determination unit 21 determines “cut sheet priority”.
Set the flag. Then, the printer control unit 22
Is transmitted to the cut-sheet printing unit 2 via the connector 70 and the connector 71, and predetermined data is printed on the cut-sheet paper C. When the printing of the predetermined data is completed, the determination unit 21 resets the “single-sheet priority” flag. Then, the printer control unit 22 enters a state of controlling the receipt printer mechanism unit 10 again.

The cut sheet C is generally plain paper, and the thermal transfer ink film 44 is disposed between the cut sheet C and the cut thermal head 41, and the thermal energy of the cut thermal head 41 is applied to the plain paper. Heat transfer. Therefore, a larger applied energy is required than when the receipt is applied to the thermal paper. Therefore, the heating element resistance value of the cut-sheet thermal head 41 is set to a value lower than the heating element resistance value of the receipt thermal head. By doing so, the current value increases and the applied energy increases as the heating element resistance value decreases, even if the voltage and pulse width are the same as when applied to the receipt thermal head. In addition, it is also possible to obtain the applied energy required for the thermal transfer by setting the heating element area of the cut-sheet thermal head 41 small and concentrating heat.

As described above, in the printer of the present invention, the energizing pulse width applied to the receipt thermal head 11 and the cut-sheet thermal head 41 can be set by the same calculation, that is, by the same software. This is because the printing method for receipts and the printing method for single sheets adopt the same thermal printing method.While the printer has multiple printing mechanisms, the printing control circuit uses a single printing method. This means that the same print control circuit as the mechanism can be used, and the cost of the circuit can be reduced.

In recent years, MICR (Magnetic Ink Character Recognition)
However, if magnetic ink is used for the thermal transfer ink film 44 and the thermal head 41 for cut sheets is set to a high-resolution heating element density sufficient to support MICR characters, MICR characters can be printed. it can. If a MICR head is mounted on the paper path of the cut-sheet printing unit 2, MICR characters can be read.

Furthermore, in the present printer, the receipt printer mechanism 10 and the cut-sheet printing unit 2 do not perform printing at the same time, so that the capacity of the power supply unit 50 for supplying power to these units is adjusted to the larger capacity. Power supply capacity for two printers is not required.
As in the case of the conventional composite printer, it is possible to reduce the size and cost of the printer.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that the receipt printing portion and the cut-sheet printing portion are modularized.
With the cut-sheet printing unit 2 removed, the printer becomes compact. The user can add a single-sheet printing unit 2 as needed, connect it with a connector, and use it as a composite printer that can perform check printing. still,
The cut-sheet printing unit 2 does not require any control circuit, so that the unit can be reduced in size.

Next, the flow of the control system will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, data is received from the host computer 3 to the data buffer of the printer (step 81). Next, according to the command in the data buffer, predetermined data is developed in a printer buffer (for example, data for one receipt) (step 82).
A step 83 determines in a standby state whether or not the cut sheet C is present. Only when a signal indicating that a cut sheet is present from the cut sheet detector 43 enters the judging section 21, the judging section 21 judges that there is a cut sheet. If the connector 70 and the connector 71 are not connected, printing cannot be performed on a cut sheet, so that even if there is a cut sheet C, it is determined that there is no cut sheet.

If it is determined in step 83 that there is no cut-sheet paper, in step 84, the "cut-sheet priority" flag is reset. When the "single-sheet priority" flag is reset, the printer is in a receipt printer-only state. Then, in step 85, it is determined whether or not the receipt printing is enabled.
Specifically, various kinds of information 23 such as presence / absence of a receipt sheet, whether the cover is properly closed, the head pressing state, whether the paper feeding mechanism is normal, and whether there is any abnormality such as heat generation of the motor and the head. Is determined by Here, if there is any insufficiency, an error processing sequence is entered in step 86. For example, when there is no receipt paper, a paper-out indicator is turned on to prompt the operator to set a paper.

If it is determined in step 85 that the printing is possible, in step 87, it is determined whether there is a receipt print command. If there is a receipt print command, receipt print data is printed on receipt paper in step 88. When one receipt printing is completed, the flow returns to step 83, and the presence or absence of the cut sheet is determined again. If there is no print command in step 87, the process returns to step 83 which is the standby position.

If it is determined in step 83 that there is a cut sheet, in step 89 a "cut sheet priority" flag is set, and in step 90, the cut sheet is held by rollers or the like. Next, in step 91, it is determined whether there is a single-sheet print command. If there is no single-sheet print command, the process proceeds to step 84, where the "single-sheet priority" flag is reset to enable receipt printing. In step 91, when there is a cut sheet print command, in step 92, cut sheet print data is printed on cut sheet paper.

After the printing of the cut sheet, it is determined in step 93 whether the cut sheet is correctly fed and the cut sheet is discharged. In the case of NO (N), there is a possibility that a feeding failure such as skew of the paper has occurred, so the error processing of step 94 is started. If it is determined that the cut sheet has been correctly ejected, the process returns to step 82, which is the standby position.

The control of the printer has been described based on the flowchart. The feature of this printer is that if the cut sheet paper C is set at a predetermined position of the cut sheet printing unit 2 during receipt printing (step 88), the cut sheet printing can be started immediately when the receipt printing is completed. There is that. Even when the cut sheet C is set, receipt printing can be performed without a cut sheet print command (arrow N in step 90). These features eliminate wasteful time and improve throughput.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show an example of the external design (layout) of the printer of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the printer, which has a layout in which the cut-sheet printing unit 2 is installed on the upper portion of the printer main body 1. Since the printer is of a vertical type, the installation area can be reduced. The receipt paper P is printed on the front surface and discharged in the direction of arrow Q. The cut sheet C is inserted along the document table 45. With this arrangement, the document table 45 is located at the upper part of the printer, and even if the lower part of the printer, for example, the portion below the arrow F is embedded in the housing of the system, the document table 45 can be cut. C can be easily set and taken out.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the printer, which has a structure in which the cover 14 of the printer body 1 is opened and the receipt paper P can be set on the roll paper holding unit 30.

[0038]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to switch and control different print heads for receipts and single forms with a single head control unit. A head control circuit can be manufactured at low cost equivalent to a printer using only a receipt.

According to the second and sixth aspects of the present invention, since single-sheet printing is performed by the thermal transfer method, quiet printing can be performed as compared with the conventional impact-type printing method. Furthermore,
The setting of the energizing pulse width can be performed by the same operation, so that the software can be shared, thereby also reducing the cost of the product.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the printer main body and the cut-sheet printing unit are configured to be detachable, if the cut-sheet printing unit is removed, the printer becomes a small receipt-only printer. This allows the user to initially purchase only the printer main unit as a printer dedicated to receipts and, if necessary, add a single-sheet printing unit later.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the MICR can be printed even in a POS system of a retail store. Check certification contributes to automation. MICR is expected to become more widespread in the future, and will be particularly effective in the future.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to hold a cut sheet even during receipt printing, and if the printer sets a cut sheet before the printer issues the receipt. Then, after receipt is completed, cut-sheet printing is started immediately, and the time for waiting the customer is reduced.

As described above, the present invention has many practical effects as a printer for the RETAIL (retail) market.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating control of the printer.

FIG. 3 is a perspective external view of the printer.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the printer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printer main body 2 Single-sheet printing unit 10 Receipt printer mechanism 11 Receipt thermal head 20 Control circuit 30 Roll paper holding part 41 Single-sheet thermal head 43 Single-sheet detector 44 Thermal transfer ink film 50 Power supply part 70 Connector 71 connector P Receipt paper C Cut sheet paper

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2C055 KK00 KK03 KK06 KK07 KK10 2C061 AP07 AQ04 AS02 AS06 AS14 HH03 HH07 HH08 HJ02 HJ10 HK06 HN05 HN13 HQ01 HR07 HX10 3E042 BA07 CE01

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A print head A for printing on receipt paper
A print head B for printing on a cut sheet separate from the print head A, a single head control unit for generating a predetermined application pulse, and a cut sheet detector for detecting the presence or absence of the cut sheet. When the cut sheet is not present, the head control unit controls the energization of only the print head A. When the cut sheet is present, the head control unit controls the print head A and the print head. B. A printer characterized in that power supply control is selectively performed for B and B. 2. The receipt paper is a thermal paper, the print head A is a thermal head, the print head B is a thermal transfer head, and a thermal transfer ink film is disposed between the cut sheet and the print head B. The print head A
The energizing pulse width applied to the print heads B and the energizing pulse width applied to the print heads B are set to have the same width and to be a predetermined applied energy required for each of the print heads A and B. The printer according to 1. 3. The print head A and the head control unit are provided in a printer main body, the printer main body can print receipts independently, and the print head B and the ticket detector are simple. The ticket printing unit is provided with a connection section B to which a means for connecting to a head control section of the printer main body can be attached. 7. The printer according to claim 1, further comprising a connection portion that engages with a connection portion of the unit, wherein the cut-out printing unit is capable of printing a cut-out when the cut-out printing unit is coupled to the printer body. 3. The printer according to claim 1. 4. The thermal transfer ink film using magnetic ink, and the print head B has a resolution sufficient for MICR (magnetic ink character recognition) characters. Printer according to. 5. A control method for a printer having a receipt print head A and a cut-sheet print head B which operate by receiving power supply from a common power supply unit, wherein receipt print is prioritized, And a print control step of operating the print head A and the print head B to selectively determine whether or not to give priority to vote printing. In the first step of determining, and in the first step, after determining that there is a single vote,
In the second step of holding a cut sheet, the third step of determining whether to print a cut sheet, and the third step,
A fourth step of determining whether or not to print a receipt, and determining whether or not to print a receipt; and a step of enabling printing on the receipt in a state where the receipt is held. And a step of returning to the first step. 6. The printer according to claim 2, wherein the energization pulse width set by the head control unit is set by the same calculation method for both receipt printing and single-sheet printing. A method for controlling a printer, comprising: