JPH09300711A - Bar code printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize constant printing quality and to easily adjust a printing condition. SOLUTION: A bar code printer consists of a sensor 1 reading a printed bar code symbol, an A/D converter 2 converting the analogue signal outputted from the sensor 1 to digital data, a controller 3 storing and operating the digital data of the bar code symbol from the A/D converter 2 to calculate values related to the width and reflectivity of an element and confirming the kind of the element of the bar code symbol to calculate the width of the element to output a printing control signal and a printer 4 controlling a printing condition on the basis of the printing control signal outputted from the controller 3.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention calculates the width of each element on the basis of the output of a sensor that reads a printed barcode symbol and based on the detection level that is different for each combination of the bar and space elements of the barcode symbol. The bar code that achieves a certain print quality and facilitates adjustment of the print conditions by determining the amount related to the print quality such as contrast based on the element width and the reflectance of the element, and controlling the print conditions. Regarding a printing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional bar code symbol print quality inspection apparatus (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 56-72774) sets a printed bar code symbol label at a predetermined position, scans it with a light beam by a motor, and condenses it. The reflected light is received by the lens, signal processing and calculation are performed, and the ratio between the black bar width (bar width) and the white bar width (space width) is calculated and displayed.

A conventional bar code print density display printer device (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-293178) reads a printed bar code, calculates a black level of a bar and a white level of a space from the read data, and outputs a density value (PCS value). Was to be displayed.

[0004]

The conventional bar code symbol print quality inspection device only calculates and displays the ratio of the black bar width (bar width) and the white bar width (space width).
There is a problem that the printing conditions of the thermal printing device of the bar code printing device are not automatically controlled based on the data.

Further, the conventional bar code print density display printer device only calculates the black level of the bar and the white level of the space from the read data and displays the density value (PCS value). In addition, there is a problem that the printing conditions of the thermal printing device of the bar code printing device are not automatically controlled.

In general, a thermal transfer type bar code printer needs to control the amount of heat generated by the thermal printer depending on the type of label or ink ribbon used. The calorific value was adjusted by. However, in order to improve the quality of the barcode, it is necessary to control the amount of heat generated by the thermal printer based on the information such as the contrast of the printed barcode and the width of the element.

Therefore, the inventors of the present invention calculate the width of each element based on the output of the sensor that reads the printed bar code symbol and the detection level that is different for each combination of the bar and space elements of the bar code symbol. Based on the technical idea of the present invention that the amount of the print quality such as contrast is obtained based on the width of the element and the reflectance of the element, and the print condition is controlled, and further research and development are conducted, the result is that the print quality is constant. In addition to achieving the above, the present invention has achieved the object of facilitating adjustment of printing conditions.

[0008]

A bar code printer according to the present invention (a first invention according to claim 1) determines the width of an element and the reflectance of the element based on the output of a sensor for reading a printed bar code symbol. In a barcode printing apparatus in which printing conditions are controlled based on the printing conditions, the printing conditions are controlled by calculating the width of each element based on the detection level that differs depending on the combination of each element of the bar and the space of the barcode symbol.

A bar code printing apparatus according to the present invention (a second invention according to claim 2) is a sensor for reading a printed bar code symbol and an A / D for converting an analog signal output from the sensor into digital data. Converter and the A
The digital data of the bar code symbol from the A / D converter is stored and operated to calculate the values related to the width of the element and the reflectance of the element, the type of each element of the bar code symbol is recognized, and the width of each element is calculated. And a printing device for controlling printing conditions based on the printing control signal output from the controller.

In the bar code printing apparatus of the present invention (the third invention according to claim 3), the controller at the intermediate level between the maximum value and the minimum value of the sensor output set in advance by the controller is different from the second invention. The type of each element of the barcode symbol is recognized based on the width of each element of the barcode symbol.

In the bar code printing apparatus of the present invention (the fourth invention according to claim 4), in the third invention, the controller is configured so that each element of the bar code symbol is based on a different detection level depending on a combination of the elements. Is calculated and the print control signal is output.

A bar code printer according to the present invention (a fifth invention according to claim 5) is the bar code printer according to the fourth invention, wherein the printer controls the amount of heat generation based on a print control signal output from the controller. It is composed of a thermal printer.

In the bar code printing apparatus of the present invention (the sixth invention according to claim 6), in the fifth invention, the controller is characterized in that the width of the thin bar following the thick space, the reflectance of the thick space, and the thin bar. A value relating to the contrast is calculated from the reflectance, and the comparison is made with reference data such as a preset contrast value and element width, and a print control signal is output based on the comparison result.

(Operation) In the bar code printing apparatus of the first invention having the above-mentioned configuration, the width of each element is calculated by calculating the width of each element of the bar and the space of the bar code symbol based on different detection levels. The printing conditions are controlled based on the width of the element and the reflectance of the element.

In the bar code printing apparatus of the second invention having the above structure, the bar code symbol printed by the sensor is read, the A / D converter converts an analog signal output from the sensor into digital data, and The controller stores and operates the digital data of the bar code symbol from the A / D converter, calculates the value related to the width of the element and the reflectance of the element, and recognizes the type of each element of the bar code symbol, The width of each element is calculated and a printing control signal is output, and the printing condition is controlled based on the printing control signal output from the controller by the printing device.

In the bar code printer according to the third aspect of the present invention having the above structure, in the second aspect of the invention, each element of the bar code symbol at the intermediate level between the maximum value and the minimum value of the sensor output preset by the controller. The print control signal is output by recognizing the type of each element of the barcode symbol based on the width.

In the bar code printer according to the fourth aspect of the present invention having the above structure, in the third aspect of the invention, the controller calculates the width of each element based on a different detection level for each combination of elements of the bar code symbol. It outputs a print control signal.

In the bar code printer according to the fifth aspect of the present invention having the above structure, in the fourth aspect, the thermal printer constituting the printer controls the amount of heat generation based on a print control signal output from the controller. To do.

In the bar code printer according to the sixth aspect of the present invention having the above structure, in the fifth aspect, the controller relates to the width of the thin bar following the thick space, the reflectance of the thick space, and the contrast from the reflectance of the thin bar. The value is calculated and compared with reference data such as a preset contrast value and element width, and a print control signal is output based on the comparison result.

[0020]

According to the bar code printing apparatus of the first aspect of the present invention, the width of each element of the bar and the space of the bar code symbol is calculated based on different detection levels for each element to calculate the width of each element. Since the printing conditions are controlled based on the width of the element and the reflectance of the element, a certain printing quality is achieved and
This has the effect of facilitating adjustment of printing conditions.

In the bar code printer according to the second aspect of the present invention, the controller stores and operates the digital data of the bar code symbol from the A / D converter, and calculates the values of the width of the element and the reflectance of the element. The print condition is calculated based on the print control signal output from the controller by calculating the width of each element and recognizing the type of each element of the barcode symbol. Is controlled, so that a certain print quality is realized and the adjustment of the print condition is facilitated.

In the bar code printer according to the third aspect of the present invention having the above-mentioned operation, the controller determines the bar code symbol according to the width of each element of the bar code symbol at the intermediate level between the maximum value and the minimum value of the sensor output set in advance. Since the print control signal is output by recognizing the type of each element, the print quality is improved.

In the bar code printer according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the controller recognizes the type of each element of the bar code symbol based on the width of each element of the bar code symbol, and Since the width of each element is calculated based on the detection level different for each combination of elements and the print control signal is output, there is an effect that the print quality is further improved.

In the bar code printer according to the fifth aspect of the present invention having the above-mentioned operation, the thermal printer constituting the printer is:
Since the heat generation amount is controlled by the print control signal based on the width of each element based on the detection level that is different depending on the type and combination of each element of the barcode symbol output from the controller, the effect of further improving the thermal print quality can be obtained. Play.

In the bar code printer according to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the controller calculates a value relating to the contrast from the width of the thin bar following the thick space, the reflectance of the thick space, and the reflectance of the thin bar. A comparison is made with reference data such as a preset contrast value and element width, and a print control signal is output based on the comparison result to control the amount of heat generation, which has the effect of further improving thermal print quality. .

[0026]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention are described below.
This will be described with reference to the drawings.

(First Embodiment) A bar code printer according to the first embodiment of the present invention digitally outputs a sensor 1 for reading a bar code symbol printed as shown in FIG. 1 and an analog signal output from the sensor 1. A / convert to data
The D converter 2 and the digital data of the bar code symbol from the A / D converter 2 are stored and operated to calculate values relating to the width of the element and the reflectance of the element, and the type of each element of the bar code symbol is determined. The controller 3 includes a controller 3 for recognizing and calculating the width of each element and outputting a print control signal, and a printer 4 for controlling print conditions based on the print control signal output from the controller 3.

As shown in FIG. 1, the conveying roller 8 is arranged below the printer 4 and conveys the label mount 6 on which the labels 5 on which the bar code symbols 9 are printed are attached at regular intervals. To do.

The ink ribbon supply device 70 includes a delivery roller 71 around which the ink ribbon 7 is wound, and the ink ribbon 7 delivered from the delivery roller 71 is interposed between the printing device 4 and the label 5. Take-up roller 7 on which the inserted and printed ink ribbon 7 is taken up
It consists of 2.

The printing device 4 is composed of a thermal transfer type thermal printing device which controls the amount of heat generation based on a printing control signal output from the controller.

In the sensor 1, when the aperture for reading the bar code symbol 9 is relatively larger than the bar code element, the output level is shown in FIG. Fluctuates as shown. Further, in this case, since the DC level of the sensor output fluctuates, it is necessary to change the detection level when calculating the element width.

For the combination of elements, for example, the detection levels are shown in Table 1 in advance from the set values of the elements of the bar code symbol for which a combination of changes from the thick space 53 to the thin bar 51 or from the thin bar 51 to the thick space 53 is to be printed. It is set as shown and stored in the ROM of the CPU constituting the controller 3 in advance.

[Table 1]

Further, in the thermal transfer type thermal printing apparatus, it is considered that the thin bar 51 after the thick space 53 is hard to print due to the heat accumulation of the thermal printing apparatus. In this case, the reflection of the thick space 53 and the thin bar 51 is reflected. Read the rate and narrow bar width to control the amount of heat generated by the thermal printer.

The control operation of the bar code printer of the first embodiment having the above construction will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 3 by taking the CODE 39 of a binary level bar code as an example.

In step 101, the amount of heat generated by the thermal printer 4 is determined by the CPU constituting the controller 3.
Is preset and the initial value stored in the ROM is read.

In step 102, the bar code symbol 9 is printed on the label 5 by the thermal printer 4 based on the read initial value.

In step 103, the bar code symbol 9 is read by the sensor 1, and the bar code symbol 9 output from the sensor 1 is proportional to the light and shade of the reflection density of the bar (black) and space (white) light. The optical signal (waveform 10 in FIG. 2C) that is an analog signal is the
Converted to digital data encoded by the / D converter 2.

Digital data of the bar code symbol 9 is stored in the CPU 3, and an intermediate value between the maximum value and the minimum value of the output level of the sensor 1 is stored in advance in the CPU 3 in order to recognize the type of element. The type of element, that is, the thin bar 51, the thick bar 52, the thick space 53, and the thin space 54 are recognized on the basis of the existing recognition level 13.

In step 104, the above step 1
The reflectance 11 of the thick space 53 is calculated by the combination of the first thick space 53 and the thin bar 51 in the barcode symbol 9 recognized in 03.

In step 105, the above step 1
The reflectance 11 of the thin bar 51 is calculated by the combination of the first thick space 53 and the thin bar 51 in the barcode symbol 9 recognized in 03.

In step 106, the above step 1
The width 16 of the thin bar 51 is obtained by the combination of the first thick space 53 and the thin bar 51 in the barcode symbol 9 recognized in 03.

To obtain the width 16 of the thin bar 51,
The detection level of the combination of the thick space 53 and the thin bar 51 is set to the position of the detection level 14 by setting the detection level of the width of the element of Table 1 stored in the CPU 3 to the value of B.

Similarly, the detection level of the combination of the thin bar 51 and the thin space is set to the value of A in Table 1 and set at the position of the detection level 15. In step 103, the CPU 16 calculates the width 16 of the thin bar from the relationship between the digital data of the barcode symbol 9 stored in the CPU 3 and the detection levels 14 and 15.

The PCS value is used to define the contrast of the bar code symbol. The PCS value is represented by the following expression 1.

[Equation 1] In the above formula 1, _RL is the reflectance of the space and _RD is the reflectance of the bar. In JIS and ANSI, the above PCS
The value requires 75% or more.

In step 107, the above step 1
Thick space reflectance 11 calculated in step 04 and thin bar reflectance 12 calculated in step 105.
From this, the PCS value is calculated by the CPU 3.

If the PCS value is 75% or more in step 108, the width 16 of the thin bar 51 calculated in step 106 is compared with the preset reference data (NB) of the width of the thin bar 51. I do.

In step 109, if the width 16 of the thin bar 51 is within the allowable maximum value NBmax and within the reference data of the allowable minimum value NBmin or more, step 11
0, the heat generation amount of the thermal printer 4 is not changed,
If the width 16 of the thin bar 51 is larger than the allowable maximum value NBmax of the reference data in step 109, the heat generation amount of the thermal printer 4 is reduced in step 111, and the PCS value is 7 in step 108.
If it is less than 5%, or if the width 16 of the thin bar 51 is smaller than the allowable minimum value NBmin of the reference data in step 109, step 11
In 2, the amount of heat generated by the thermal printer 4 is increased.

After the processing in any of steps 110, 111 and 112 is completed, the thermal printer 4 prints the next bar code and the process returns to step 103.

In the bar code printer according to the first embodiment having the above-described operation, the controller 3 stores and calculates the digital data of the bar code symbol from the A / D converter 2 to calculate the element width and the element reflectance. Value is calculated, the type of each element of the bar code symbol is recognized, the width of each element is calculated and a print control signal is output, and the print control signal output from the controller by the printer 4 Since the printing conditions are controlled based on the above, it is possible to achieve a certain printing quality and facilitate the adjustment of the printing conditions.

In the bar code printing apparatus of the first embodiment, the controller 3 sets the sensor 1 preset.
The type of each element of the bar code symbol 9 is recognized by the width of each element of the bar code symbol 9 at the intermediate level between the maximum value and the minimum value of the output of the above, and the print control signal is output, so that the print quality is improved. Has the effect.

Further, in the bar code printing apparatus of the first embodiment, the controller 3 causes the bar code symbol 9
The type of each element of the bar code symbol 9 is recognized based on the width of each element of the bar code symbol 9, and the width of each element is calculated based on the detection level that is different depending on the combination of each element of the bar code symbol 9, and the print control signal is output Therefore, there is an effect that the print quality is further improved.

Further, in the bar code printing apparatus of the first embodiment, the thermal printing apparatus which constitutes the printing apparatus 4 outputs the bar code symbol 9 output from the controller 3.
Since the heat generation amount is controlled by the print control signal based on the width of each element based on the detection level that differs depending on the type and combination of each element, the effect of further improving the thermal print quality is obtained.

Further, in the bar code printing apparatus of the first embodiment, the controller 3 calculates a value relating to the contrast from the width of the thin bar following the thick space, the reflectance of the thick space, and the reflectance of the thin bar, Bar 51
The width 16 is within the maximum allowable value NBmax and is equal to or larger than the minimum allowable value NBmin,
Since the print control signal is output based on the comparison result and the heat generation amount is feedback-controlled, the print quality within a certain range can be achieved regardless of the type of the label 5 and the type of the ink ribbon.

Further, since the bar code printer of the first embodiment controls the printing conditions by the setting on the control operation software as shown in FIG. 3 described above, it is easy to adjust and change the printing conditions. The advantages are that the configuration is simple and the cost can be reduced.

In the bar code printing apparatus of the first embodiment, the controller 3 calculates a value relating to the contrast from the width of the thin bar following the thick space, the reflectance of the thick space, and the reflectance of the thin bar. The comparison with the set contrast value of 75% is performed, and the print control signal is output based on the comparison result to control the heat generation amount, so that the contrast of a certain value or more is achieved.

The above-described embodiments are merely examples for the purpose of explanation, and the present invention is not limited to them. Those skilled in the art will recognize from the claims, the detailed description of the invention and the description of the drawings. Modifications and additions can be made without departing from the technical idea of the present invention.

Further, in the above-described first embodiment, as an example, based on the data obtained by calculating the contrast (PCS value) from the width of the element and the reflectance of the element for the first thick space and thin bar of the binary level barcode. Although the example of controlling the printing conditions of the thermal printing device has been described, the present invention is not limited to them, and any position in the bar code symbol and a combination of a wide space or a thin bar or a multi-level bar. Similar control over the code, the ratio of thin elements (thin bars and spaces) to thick elements (thick bars and spaces) of the barcode symbol,
A mode in which the length of the barcode is calculated can also be adopted.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a barcode printing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a bar code symbol printed on a label in the first embodiment, an enlarged part of the bar code symbol, and a bar (black) and a space (white) of the bar code symbol 9 output from the sensor. FIG. 4B is an explanatory diagram showing an optical signal that is an analog signal proportional to the density of the reflection density of light.

FIG. 3 is a chart showing a processing procedure in the first embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 sensor 2 A / D converter 3 controller 4 printer

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A bar code printing apparatus in which printing conditions are controlled based on the width of an element and the reflectance of the element based on the output of a sensor that reads a printed bar code symbol. A bar code printer characterized in that the printing conditions are controlled by calculating the width of each element based on different detection levels depending on the combination. 2. A sensor for reading a printed bar code symbol, an A / D converter for converting an analog signal output from the sensor into digital data, and a digital data of the bar code symbol from the A / D converter is stored. , A controller that calculates the width of the element and a value relating to the reflectance of the element, recognizes the type of each element of the barcode symbol, calculates the width of each element, and outputs a print control signal, A bar code printer comprising: a printer controlling print conditions based on a print control signal output from the controller. 3. The controller according to claim 2, wherein the controller recognizes a type of each element of the barcode symbol based on a width of each element of the barcode symbol at a preset intermediate level between the maximum value and the minimum value of the sensor output. A bar code printing device characterized by: 4. The barcode according to claim 3, wherein the controller calculates a width of each element based on a detection level that is different depending on a combination of the elements of the barcode symbol and outputs a print control signal. Printing device. 5. The bar code printer according to claim 4, wherein the printer is a thermal printer that controls a heat generation amount based on a print control signal output from the controller. 6. The controller according to claim 5, wherein the controller calculates a value relating to the contrast from the width of the thin bar following the thick space, the reflectance of the thick space, and the reflectance of the thin bar, and the preset contrast value and element. A bar code printing device characterized by comparing with a reference data such as a width of the print and outputting a print control signal based on the comparison result.