CN1497505A - Control method of printing device, receipt print data generation method - Google Patents

Abstract

In a method of controlling a printing apparatus which performs printing by adding image data already stored in the printing apparatus to payment transaction print data generated on the basis of input information concerning merchandise sales, a predetermined character string indicating a print position of the image data is retrieved from the payment transaction print data and the predetermined character string is extracted. A line number specified by the extracted predetermined character string is obtained and an image addition setting command is generated on the basis of the line number. The payment transaction print data and the image addition setting command are transmitted to the printing apparatus. Even if a low-speed interface is used as an interface between a PC and the printing apparatus, the image data can be printed rapidly.

Description

Control method of printing device, receipt print data generation method

field

The present invention relates to a control method of a printing apparatus for printing by adding stored image data to settlement processing print data generated based on input information related to commodity sales, a method for generating receipt print data, a program, a print driver, a print device, product sales data processing device and POS system.

Background technique

Conventionally, the POS system (sales information management system) used in retail businesses such as supermarkets and convenience stores consists of a host computer that acquires input information related to product sales and a printer that prints receipts to form a POS terminal. As this type of POS terminal, generally, a printing device receives settlement processing print data generated by a host computer, and prints on a receipt based on the settlement processing print data (for example, refer to Patent Document 1) (refer to FIG. 17 ), but in recent years Now, in addition to printing the settlement processing print data, for example, it is known that image data such as shop logos can be printed (see JP-A-2001-273560).

However, in the POS terminal that prints such settlement process print data and image data on the same receipt, the image data is stored in the host computer, and the image data is combined with the settlement process print data generated in the host computer. After that, send the data to the printing device. However, when the host computer and the printing device are connected by a low-speed interface, it takes time to transfer data, and there is a problem that issuance of a receipt is delayed. For this reason, as a whole, it causes business obstacles such as poor processing efficiency and keeping customers waiting.

Contents of the invention

In view of the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a control method for a printing device and a receipt print data that can quickly print image data even when a low-speed interface is used as an interface between a host computer and a printing device. Generation method, program, printer driver, printing device, commodity sales data processing device, and POS system.

The control method of the printing device according to the present invention is a control method of the printing device which adds image data to the settlement processing print data generated based on the input information related to commodity sales, and prints, and is characterized in that: A step of obtaining the settlement processing print data of the settlement processing print data; a step of retrieving a predetermined character string indicating the print position of the image data from the settlement processing print data, and extracting the predetermined character string; obtaining the specified character string by A step of obtaining a line number of a print line number specified by the extracted predetermined character string; a step of generating an image addition setting command for generating an image addition setting command based on the acquired line number; converting the settlement processing print data and a sending step of sending the image addition setting command to the printing device; the printing device adds the image data to the settlement processing print data according to the analysis result of the image addition setting command.

This method of controlling a printing apparatus extracts a predetermined character string indicating a printing position of image data from the generated settlement process print data, and generates an image addition setting command based on a line number specified by the predetermined character string. Then, it is sent to the printing device together with the settlement processing print data. The printing device adds the image data to the settlement process print data based on the analysis result of the image addition setting command, and generates data to be printed on the receipt. Therefore, even if a low-speed interface is used as an interface between the host computer and the printing device, image data can be printed quickly. Also, in order to generate an additional setting command for additional image data on the host computer side, the additional setting of image data can be performed through the host computer without directly operating the printing device. Furthermore, since the printing position of the image data is specified by a line number of the parameter included in the image addition setting command, the printing apparatus can easily determine the printing position and perform image data addition processing. In particular, by making predetermined character strings (such as "receipt" and "total amount" etc.) that must be printed on the receipt, it is possible to issue a receipt with image data printed at an appropriate position according to the length of the receipt.

In this case, preferably, the predetermined character string is a start character string indicating a position where the image data starts to be added, and the row number specified by the start character string is acquired in the line number obtaining step. .

With this configuration, it is possible to add an image within a predetermined range from the position where the initial character string is specified. In this case, the end position of the added image can be set until the end of the settlement processing data. Therefore, it is possible to issue a receipt in which image data is printed at an appropriate position according to the length of the receipt.

In addition, by using the end character string indicating the position where the image data is to be added as a predetermined character string in addition to the start character string, an image can be added from the start line specified in the line number acquisition step to the end. between the lines. In this case as above, a receipt with image data printed at an appropriate position can be issued according to the length of the receipt, the receipt can be distinguished in more detail, and multiple images and settlement processing information can be superimposed and printed.

Ideally, a plurality of image data files that are files of the image data are stored in the printing device, and further have: storing the start word sequence and the end word and used to be stored in the printing device The definition table storing step of the definition table storage step that the image specification data of specifying an image data file in a plurality of image data files in the image data file constitutes association; Obtain from described definition table and extract the described start word sequence in described word sequence extracting step In the image designation data acquisition step of the image designation data associated with the end character string, in the image addition setting command generation step, the image attachment data is generated based on the obtained line number and the image designation data. Set command.

Through this structure, a plurality of image data files are stored in the printing device, and the image addition setting command includes parameters related to the image designation data for designating one image data file from a plurality of image data files, so it can be changed by changing Various image data are added with parameters related to the image specifying data. In this way, various receipts can be created.

In this case, it is desirable to have a character string setting step of setting a start character string and/or an end character string.

With this configuration, since the start character string and/or the end character string of the specific print area can be set, the print area can be set arbitrarily according to the user's preference.

In this case, it is desirable to further include an image designation data setting step of setting image designation data in relation to the start character string and/or end character string set in the character string setting step.

With this structure, since the image specifying data can be set in relation to the start character string and/or the end character string, various receipts can be created according to the user's preference.

In this case, it is desirable to further have a line number of the line number of the start character string or a line number one line below the start character string, and an end character set in the line number acquisition step. The row number setting procedure of one of the row numbers of the row number of the column or the row number of the row next to the end character column.

With this structure, since it is possible to set how to obtain the line number of the specified printing area (that is, whether to specify according to the position containing the target character string or to specify according to the position not including the target character string), it is possible to expand the size of the image data. Additional processing changes.

In the printing apparatus described above, if color printing is possible, there may be a print color setting step for setting the print color of image data, and the image addition setting command may preferably include a parameter indicating the print color.

With this configuration, since color printing is possible, the visibility of the receipt can be improved. In addition, since the graphics addition setting command includes parameters indicating printing colors, various receipts can be created by changing the parameters indicating printing colors.

The receipt print data generation method of the present invention is: a method of generating receipt print data by adding stored image data to settlement processing print data generated by a host computer (40) based on input information related to merchandise sales. The data generation method is characterized by comprising: an image data storage step of storing the image data; a settlement processing print data obtaining step of obtaining the settlement processing print data from the host computer (40); 40) An image addition setting instruction acquisition step of acquiring an image addition setting instruction for printing by adding the image data; a command analysis step of analyzing the image addition setting instruction and obtaining a line number indicating a printing position of the image data A receipt print data generating step of adding the image data to the settlement processing print data to generate the receipt print data according to the line number.

The program of the present invention is characterized in that it causes a computer to execute each step of the above-described printing device control method, or each step of the above-mentioned receipt print data generation method.

With this configuration, even when a low-speed interface is used as an interface between the host computer and the printing device, a program for printing image data can be provided quickly.

The print driver of the present invention is characterized in that it causes the computer to execute the steps of the printing device control method described above.

With this configuration, even when a low-speed interface is used as an interface between the host computer and the printing device, it is possible to provide a print driver that quickly prints image data. Also, by realizing the control method of the above-mentioned printing device by the print driver, even if the host computer is an application program in monochrome and text format, it is not necessary to change the application program, and the printing device can issue a color drawing format. receipt.

In addition, the printing apparatus of the present invention is a printing apparatus for generating receipt print data by adding stored image data to settlement processing print data generated by a host computer based on input information related to merchandise sales, and is characterized in that: It has: image data storage means for storing the image data; settlement processing print data obtaining means for obtaining the settlement processing print data from the host computer; An image addition setting instruction acquisition device for an image addition setting instruction; an instruction analysis device for analyzing the image addition setting instruction and obtaining a line number indicating a printing position of the image data; according to the line number, the image A receipt print data generating means that adds data to the settlement process print data and generates the receipt print data.

These receipt print data generating methods and printing devices store image data in the printing device, and acquire settlement processing print data and image attachment setting commands for additional image data from a host computer. Then, by analyzing the image addition setting command, the line number indicating the printing position is obtained, and the image data is added to the settlement processing print data based on the line number. Therefore, even if a low-speed interface is used as an interface between the host computer and the printing apparatus, image data can be printed quickly. Also, since the additional setting command for additional image data is generated on the side of the host computer, the additional setting of image data can be performed through the host computer without directly operating the printing device. Furthermore, since the printing position of the image data is specified by the line number of one of the parameters included in the image addition setting command, the printing device can easily determine the printing area to perform image data addition processing.

In addition, in this case, there is also a color printing device that performs color printing of the primary color and at least one secondary color other than the primary color. The color printing device can ideally print the settlement processing print data in the primary color, so as to At least one secondary color of one color is used to print the image data.

With these configurations, since the settlement process print data is printed in the main color and the image data is printed in the secondary color, image data can be added without impairing the resolution of the settlement process print data. Also, since color printing is possible, the visibility of the receipt can be improved.

In addition, the merchandise sales data processing apparatus of the present invention transmits the settlement processing print data and the image addition setting command to the above-mentioned printing apparatus, in the merchandise sales data processing apparatus having a host computer controlling the printing apparatus, the host computer, It is characterized in that in the product sales data processing apparatus having a host computer that controls the printing apparatus by sending the settlement processing print data and the image addition setting command to the printing apparatus, the host computer has: settlement processing print data generating means for generating the settlement processing print data; character string extracting means for retrieving a predetermined character string indicating a printing position of the image data from the settlement processing print data; and extracting the predetermined character string; A line number obtaining means for obtaining a line number specified by the extracted predetermined character string; an image addition setting instruction generating means for generating the image addition setting instruction based on the obtained line number; The print data and the image addition setting command are sent to a sending device of the printing device.

The product sales data processing device extracts a predetermined character string indicating the print position of image data from the generated print data for settlement processing, generates an image addition setting command based on the line number specified by the predetermined character string, and prints it with the settlement processing. The data is sent to the printing device together. The printing device adds the image data to the settlement process print data based on the analysis result of the image addition setting command, and generates data to be printed on the receipt. Therefore, even if a low-speed interface is used as an interface between the host computer and the printing apparatus, image data can be printed quickly. Also, since the additional setting command for additional image data is generated on the side of the host computer, the additional setting of image data can be performed through the host computer without directly operating the printing device. Furthermore, since the printing position of the image data is specified by the line number of one of the parameters included in the image addition setting command, the printing device can easily determine the printing area and perform image data addition processing.

The POS system of the present invention is characterized in that it is composed of the above-mentioned product sales data processing device and a POS server connected to the product sales data processing device through a network to manage the product sales data processing device.

With this configuration, even when a low-speed interface is used as an interface between the host computer and the printing device, it is possible to provide a POS system that quickly prints image data.

Description of drawings

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an example of the POS system of the present invention.

2A and 2B are external perspective views of POS terminals constituting the POS system of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a functional block diagram of the PC of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a functional block diagram of the printing device of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a control block diagram of the printing device of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a setting screen for setting image data of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of settlement processing print data/image addition setting command sending processing of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of receipt print data generation processing of the present invention.

Fig. 9 is a diagram showing data acquisition results obtained from the definition table and settlement processing print data of the present invention.

10A and 10B are diagrams showing data acquisition results obtained from the definition table and settlement processing print data of the present invention.

11A and 11B are diagrams showing an example of an image addition setting command code according to the present invention.

12A and 12B are diagrams showing an example of an image addition setting command code according to the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of image data.

Fig. 14 is a diagram showing an example (print example 1) of a receipt created by the present invention.

Fig. 15 is a diagram showing an example (print example 2) of a receipt created by the present invention.

Fig. 16 is a diagram showing an example (print example 3) of a receipt created by the present invention.

Fig. 17 is a diagram showing an example of receipt creation in a conventional example of the present invention.

Detailed ways

Next, the control method of the printer, the receipt print data generation method, the program, the printer driver, the printer, the product sales data processing device, and the POS system according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the present invention, the host computer extracts a predetermined character string indicating the printing position of the image data from the settlement processing print data, and generates an image attachment for attaching the image data to the settlement processing print data based on the line number specified by the predetermined character string. Set command. Then, in the printing device, image data is added to the settlement process print data based on the line number acquired from the image addition setting command to generate receipt print data to be printed on the receipt.

That is, with this configuration, even when a low-speed interface is used as an interface between the host computer and the printing device, image data can be quickly printed by the printing device. Also, by generating image addition setting commands from the printer driver program incorporated in the host computer, even if the host computer uses an application program in monochrome and text format, it is possible to issue color and graphic formats through the printer without changing the application program. receipt. In addition, in the printing device, by acquiring the line number from the image addition setting command, the printing position can be easily specified, and further functions and effects such as the ability to create a beautiful receipt can be achieved.

Next, a POS system used in stores such as supermarkets and convenience stores and which issues receipts based on input information about product sales input by an operator will be described as an example.

As shown in Figure 1, the POS system 10 of the present invention is mainly read the POS terminals 20 of a plurality of commodity sales data processing devices (only one is shown in the figure) to obtain the input information by the operator (user) reading the bar code given to the commodity. ) and a POS server 30 that is connected to the POS terminal 20 through a network and manages input information input to the POS terminal 20.

The POS server 30 has memory such as ROM32 and RAM33 in addition to the control unit (CPU31), and processes the information stored in the buffer 39 etc. in RAM33 according to the control program stored in ROM32. Especially in RAM33, there is a product management part formed by product code storage block 35, product name storage block 36, amount storage block 37, inventory storage block 38, etc. Information on the product code, product name, and amount is partially extracted to generate product data for printing on the receipt 61 and displaying on the display 42 of the POS terminal 20 . The "product data" is data generated on the PC 40 and used as a source of print data for settlement processing, and includes product information such as the name of the product and the amount printed on the receipt 61 .

The POS terminal 20 refers to the commodity data of the POS server 30 according to the input information, and generates the settlement processing print data printed on the receipt 61 (in addition to the commodity information, it also refers to the printing of the store name and telephone number, date, information to the customer, etc. data and instructions; referring to FIG. 17 ), the POS terminal 20 has: a personal computer (PC) 40 having a POS application execution unit 41a that implements a cash registration process that logs input data into the POS server 30, etc.; The printing device 50 (receipt printer) for printing on the computer is connected to each other through connectors 46 and 53 . The PC 40 acquires input information such as information on the product (product information) and information on the customer 60 (customer information) by reading input from the keyboard 43 or a barcode input from the barcode reader 44 . In addition, the credit card and membership card of the customer 60 are read by the card reader 45, and information related to credit settlement and member-related information such as a membership number are obtained. The POS terminal 20 also has a display 42 that displays product information generated by restoring the product data sent from the POS server 30 , and presents the customer 60 with the amount of the purchased product and the like.

In addition, the control of the PC 40 is implemented by a print driver OLE for Retail POS (hereinafter referred to as OPOS) running on an OS such as WINDOWS (registered trademark). The so-called OPOS is to provide the POS application program 41a running on the OS with an interface that does not depend on the type of peripheral equipment such as the printer 50 and the barcode reader 44, and is controlled by each type of corresponding equipment (CO ) 41b and a service object (SO) 41c for each model of the corresponding device.

The POS application program 41a generates settlement processing print data printed on the receipt 61 based on the commodity data and input information sent from the POS server 30, and the settlement processing print data is provided to the CO 41b for the printing device through the OS 41d, and is provided to the CO 41b by the CO 41b. Corresponds to SO41c of the printer 50 model. SO41c processes the print data, generates a print command according to the command method of the printing device 50 , and sends it to the printing device 50 . In addition, the OPOS described above provides the user with a combination of SO41c and CO41b as the print driver 109 .

In addition, in SO41c, an image data setting program 108 for performing various settings of image data is installed at the same time as the generation of an image addition setting command for adding image data to the settlement process print data. The specific description will be described later, but the image data setting program 108 provides the user with an image data setting interface by displaying a predetermined setting screen 300 (see FIG. 6 ) on the display 42 . In this way, since the image data setting program 108 (application execution program) is provided by the print driver 109, the image data setting can be performed by the PC 40 without changing the POS application 41a of the PC 40.

On the other hand, the printing device 50 is an inkjet printer that performs printing by an inkjet method, and has a printing unit 120 having six inkjet heads from a first print head 55a to a sixth print head 55f. The structure of these inkjet heads 55 can be carried out by ejecting inks of M (red), C (blue), Y (yellow), LM (light red), LC (light blue), and K (black) respectively. Multi-color printing. In addition, the structure of the print head 55 is not limited to this, and it may be a structure that increases the number of print heads to perform more multi-color printing, and may also be a structure that reduces the number of print heads to perform only one-color or two-color printing.

In addition, the printing device 50 can set the monochrome printing mode of printing with only the sixth print head 55f and the color printing mode of printing with all print heads through a contact switch or software contact switch not shown in the figure. one of the Then, the PC 40 acquires information related to the mode setting, and can judge whether or not color information is included in the generated print data. In this way, when the color printing method is set and the print data includes color information, two-color or multi-color printing can be performed on the receipt 61 accordingly. In addition, in the following description, the printing device 50 is set to the color printing method, the settlement processing print information is printed in the main color "K (black)", and the image data is printed in a color other than the main color "K (black)". The specified secondary color is used for printing.

Next, the device configuration of the POS terminal 20 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2A and 2B. FIG. 2A is a front perspective view of the POS terminal 20 viewed from the operator's operating direction, and FIG. 2B is a rear perspective view of the POS terminal 20 viewed from the customer's side. As shown in both figures, the POS terminal 20 is composed of a PC 40 having a main body in the shape of a box-shaped main body case 48 and a printer 50 arranged on the rear left side of the main body case 48 . In addition, since the printing device 50 is connected to the main body box 48 with a cable, it is not limited to this arrangement, and it can be arranged at any position within the range allowed by the length of the cable.

PC40 is arranged with the keyboard 43 that the operator inputs information such as product information and customer information on the front portion of main body box 48, and the operator's display 42a that confirms operator's input information is arranged on its rear right side, and in the main body box 48 A cash drawer is installed. In addition, a barcode reader 44 for reading a barcode pasted or printed on a product is provided on the right side of the main body case 48, and an interface 47 for connecting to the printer 50 is provided on the left side of the main body case 48. A card reader slot 45 for reading the credit card presented by the customer 60 is formed on the right side of the keyboard 43 . Further, on the back side of the main body case 48, a customer display 42b for the customer 60 to check product information and the like is arranged. In addition, a setting screen (see FIG. 6 ) for image data setting is displayed on the above-mentioned display 42a on the operator's side, and the operator can perform setting operations while confirming it.

On the other hand, the printer 50 is provided with an operation display lamp 65 and an interface 51 on its front side. In addition, a receipt output port 64 for outputting a printed receipt 61 is formed on the upper surface of the printing device 50 .

Next, the control structure of PC40 is demonstrated with reference to the functional block diagram of FIG. The PC 40 has: a definition table setting unit 201 for setting a definition table (see FIG. 9, etc.) as a reference table for creating an image addition setting command; The image addition setting command generation unit 203 of the addition setting command, the definition table storage unit 221, the settlement processing print data storage unit 222, and the image addition setting command storage unit 223 have a data storage unit 204 for storing various data, and a settlement The processing print data sending unit 225 and the image addition setting command sending unit 226 have a data sending unit 205 that transmits the settlement processing print data and the image addition setting command through the interface 47 . In addition, the definition table setting unit 201 and the image addition setting command generating unit 203 are mainly implemented by the printer driver 109 .

The definition table setting section 201 is executed by the image data setting program 108 provided by the print driver 109, and has a function of setting predetermined character strings "start character string and end character string" (refer to FIG. 14 etc.)", the image designation data setting part 212 for setting the image designation data (file name, etc.) designating the image data to be added, and the acquisition of the line number for setting the printing position of the specific image data A line number setting unit 213 for parameters (details will be described later), and a color information setting unit 214 for setting the print color of image data. The setting items of the definition table setting unit 201 are set by the user by inputting necessary items into the setting screen 300 (see FIG. 6 ), and the input information is stored in a memory such as RAM, and can be rewritten as needed. .

The image addition setting command generating unit 203 includes: a character string extracting unit 216 for searching settlement processing print data and extracting a predetermined character string; a line number obtaining unit 217 for obtaining a row number specified by the predetermined character string; The image designation data acquisition unit 218 of image designation data related to a predetermined character string generates image addition setting commands "ESCI n1, n2, n3..." as shown in Fig. 11 and Fig. 12 . The structure of the image addition setting command will be described later.

Then, the PC 40 extracts a predetermined character string from the settlement process print data generated by the settlement process print data generation unit 202 based on the definition table set in the definition table setting unit 201 with the above-mentioned configuration, and based on the predetermined character string The image addition setting command is generated by the image addition setting command generation unit 203 using the row number specified by the column and the image designation data related to the predetermined character string. Then, the generated settlement processing print data and image addition setting command are transmitted to the printing device 50 through the data transmission unit 205 .

Next, the control structure of the printing device 50 will be described with reference to the functional block diagram of FIG. 4 . The printer 50 has a data acquisition unit 231 for acquiring settlement processing print data and image addition setting commands from the PC 40 through the interface 51, and a data storage unit 232 for storing the acquired data and a plurality of image data files (see FIG. 13 ). , a command analysis unit 233 that analyzes an image addition setting command sent from the PC 40 , a receipt print data generation unit 234 that generates receipt print data to be printed on the receipt 61 , and a print unit 235 that prints based on the receipt print data.

The data acquisition unit 231 has a settlement processing print data acquisition unit 241 and an image addition setting command acquisition unit 242, and sends data to the settlement processing print data storage unit 245 and the image addition setting command storage unit 246, respectively. The print data and the image addition setting command are transmitted at the same time, and the image addition setting command is extracted from the settlement processing print data and analyzed. Here, for convenience of description, the settlement processing print data and the image addition setting command are illustrated as acquiring and storing, respectively. In this way, the settlement process print data is composed of data and commands for printing product data other than the image addition setting command.

The data storage unit 232 has an image data storage unit 244 , a settlement processing print data storage unit 245 , and an image addition setting command storage unit 246 , and a plurality of image data files are stored in the image data storage unit 244 in advance. In addition, the plurality of image data files are configured by registering data read by the PC 40 , data read by a scanner, and data created by drawing software in the setting screen 300 executed by the image data setting program 108 , (Refer to FIG. 6 "image data registration"), and store it in the image data storage unit 244 as data to be sent to the printing device 50, and can be appropriately rewritten according to the needs of the user.

The command analysis unit 233 has a line number acquisition unit 248 that acquires a line number by analyzing the image addition setting command sent from the PC 40, and similarly acquires image specification data (file name, image specification No., etc.) from the image addition setting command. The image specifying data acquisition unit 249 of the image data acquisition unit 249 and the color information acquisition unit 250 similarly acquire color information indicating the print color of the image data from the image addition setting command, and the acquired information is stored in the RAM 144 described later.

According to the above configuration, the printing device 50 acquires the settlement processing print data and the image addition setting command through the data acquisition unit 231 , and analyzes the image addition setting command through the command analysis unit 233 to obtain the line number, image designation data and color information. Furthermore, based on these pieces of information, the receipt print data generation unit 234 adds image data to the settlement process print data to generate receipt print data.

FIG. 5 shows a control block diagram of the printing device 50. As shown in this figure, the printing device 50 has an interface 51, a data input unit 110 for inputting image addition setting commands and settlement processing print data from the PC 40, and Each inkjet head 55 has a printing unit 120 and a head driver 131 for performing color printing by ejecting inks of different colors respectively, and is composed of a driving unit 130 for driving the inkjet head 55 and a control unit 140 for controlling the printing device 50 as a whole. .

The control unit 140 has a CPU 141 , a ROM 142 , a CG-ROM 143 , and a RAM 144 , and is connected to each other via an internal bus 145 . The ROM 142 has a control data storage block 142b that stores control data including various data, in addition to a program storage block 142a that stores a control program processed by the CPU 141 . In addition, CG-ROM 143 stores font data of printed characters, and when a specific character code is given, it outputs the corresponding font data.

The RAM 144 includes various job range storage blocks 151 used as flags, etc., an image data storage block 152 for storing a plurality of image data files, and a settlement processing print data storage block for storing settlement processing print data transmitted from the PC 40 . Block 153, Image Addition Setting Command Storage Block 154, which stores information related to the analysis result of the Image Addition Setting Command 155, and is used as a working area for control processing. In addition, the RAM 144 always backs up stored data stored in advance even when the power is turned off.

The image addition setting command storage block 154 has a line number obtained as a result of analysis of the image addition setting command, a line number storage block 157 for separately storing image designation data and color information, an image designation data storage block 158 and color information. The information storage block 159 stores information acquired by each unit of the command analysis unit 233 (see FIG. 4 ).

In addition, the internal bus 145 is also connected to the data input unit 110 and the drive unit 130, while taking in input data (image addition setting commands, settlement processing print data, etc.) The output data (receipt print data, etc.) and control signals output are output to the drive unit 130 (head driver 131 ).

Then, the CPU 141 inputs various signals, data, etc. from each part in the printer 50 according to the control program in the ROM 142 through the above-mentioned structure, and outputs various signals, data, etc. to each part while processing various data in the RAM 144. Based on the analysis result, the print device 50 is controlled overall by adding the print data to the settlement process print data, generating receipt print data, and printing based on the data.

In addition, the interface 51 and the interface 47 of the PC 40 can adopt serial data transfer such as RS-232C standard, parallel data transfer such as XXX standard, network connection such as 10Base-T of Ethernet (registered trademark), or corresponding Transfer of data transfer standards such as USB.

Next, image data setting processing will be described with reference to FIG. 6 . The setting of the image data is carried out by executing the image data setting program 108 (see FIG. 1 ) in the PC 40 . Specifically, when the image data setting program 108 is activated, a setting screen as shown in FIG. 6 is displayed on the operator's display 42a, and the operator makes settings by inputting various information.

As shown in the figure, on the setting screen 300 , various information for setting image data can be divided into a plurality of screens and set, and the operator (user) opens a desired setting screen to make settings. In addition, when the setting screen of the initial list "Basic" is opened, settings such as the width size of the receipt 61, the print density of the image data, and the print quality can be performed, and since it is almost the same as a normal print setting application content, so the description is omitted here. In addition, when the setting screen of the third list "image data registration" is opened, the image data as shown in FIG. 13 can be registered. Since the usual registration method can also be used for this, the description will be omitted. Thus, only the setting screen of the list "definition table" will be described here.

As shown in FIG. 6, on the setting screen 300 of the "definition table", first, a predetermined character string is set. The predetermined character string is composed of, for example, a start character string and an end character string. The former indicates the position at which image data addition starts, and the latter indicates the position at which image data addition ends. The operator can select these starting character strings and ending character strings from the registered character strings through the up and down movement symbols of the starting character string setting column 301 and the ending character string setting column 302, or directly input the character strings into each character string. In the setting column 301, 302. Here, "receipt" is set as the start character string, and "thank you for purchasing" is set as the end character string.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, an example is shown in which the image is superimposed in the area specified by the start character string and the end character string, and only the start character string is specified, and the end position of the image can also be made to coincide with the printing end position of the settlement information. .

Next, setting of image specifying data is performed. To set the image designation data, the operator selects a file from the registered file list 303 to designate a file to be image data, and inputs it into the file setting column 304 . In addition, the operator can also designate a file by selecting a registered ID in the ID column 305 . Here, as "image data", as shown in Fig. 13, three image files are registered, and one image data can be selected from these image files. )".

Next, set the line number. Here, as the line number of the specified printing area, one of the line number of the start character string or the line number of the line below the start character string, and the line number of the end character string or one line above the end character string can be set. one of the row numbers. That is, it can be set whether to specify the print area based on the position containing the target character string or to specify the print area based on the position not including the target character string. Here, the print area is specified from the position (line) of the start character string of "include" to the position (row) of the end character string of "include".

Next, make color settings. Here, first set whether to perform color designation. Then, when the operator confirms the color setting as "designated", the image data is set as the print color for printing in the color setting column 306 .

Here, since the printing of the settlement process print data is set in advance with the main color "K (black)", the image data can be set to a print color (secondary color) other than "K (black)". In this way, for example, in a printing device that only performs two-color printing of "K (black)" and "R (red)", if the print data is printed with the main color "K (black)", the image data must be Print with secondary color "R (red)". In this way, by printing the print data in the main color and printing the image data in the secondary color, the image data can be added without impairing the clarity of characters printed on the print data. In addition, in this setting operation, the print color "Red (red)" is selected.

In addition, when the color setting is confirmed as "not specified", the image data is printed in accordance with the print color set in advance (for example, the color of the title of the store, etc.). However, in the case where the image data is registered in color, etc., it may be configured to perform printing in the registered color. When the above content setting is completed, the operator clicks the "OK" button 307, and the information set in the "definition table" is stored in the memory such as RAM in the PC40.

Here, the definition table and print results of the above settings will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 and 14 . As shown in FIG. 9, in the definition table, item No. is added to the information set by the above-mentioned series of operations, and here, only one item (item No. 1) is set. In addition, "receipt" is set as the start character string, and "thank you for the purchase" is set as the end character string, and the respective row numbers are set to "1". This means that the print area is specified based on the position (row) that "includes" the target character string. According to the position that "does not contain" the target character string (in the case of "0" when specifying the print area by the line number obtained in the line below one line, or in the case where the target character string is "end character string", in the line above one line).

In addition, "U2/C:fire.jpg" is set as the image designation data, but it can also be stored with the file name "fire" on the table. In addition, it is also possible to store an added numerical value instead of a file name according to a contact number attached to each image data file or a predetermined rule. Here, image designation No. "02" is stored based on ID "U2".

In addition, "Red" is set as the color designation, but it is also possible to store in the table by replacing the color name with the added numerical value according to the color designation No. added to each color or a predetermined rule. Here, the color designation No. ("2" for Red) added to each color is stored.

Next, the figure shows the data acquisition result when the above information is stored in the definition table and the settlement process print data includes the start character string "receipt" and the end character string "thank you for the purchase". That is, in this case, data representing "print image data of image designation No. 02 in the printing area from line number "x1" to "x2" based on color designation No. 2" is obtained. The so-called line numbers "x1" and "x2" ", which are the line numbers of the lines containing the start line "receipt" and the end line "thank you for your purchase", respectively.

Then, the result of obtaining the above-mentioned data and the obtained printing result are <printing example 1> shown in FIG. 14 . As shown here, on the receipt 61, image data "U2/C: fire. ". In addition, the printing area is from the line number "x1" including the start character string "receipt" to the line number "x2" including the end character string "thank you for purchasing". Also, as shown here, the image data is repeatedly printed according to the length from the line including the start character string to the line including the end character string.

In addition, in the settlement processing print data, if only either one of the start character string or the end character string is included, that is, if neither the start character string nor the end character string is included, no identification cannot be performed. Attachment of the image data of the printing area. However, by changing the design, in the case of extracting either the start character string or the end character string, image data may be attached to x lines from the start character string to the bottom, or from the end character string to the receipt end row, from From the end word column to the y line above, or from the end word column to the receipt start line, etc.

In this way, in the present invention, since the printing area of image data is specified by the line number of one of the parameters included in the image addition setting command, the printing device 50 can easily determine the printing area and print the image data. additional processing. In particular, by making predetermined character strings (for example, "receipt" and "total amount" etc.) required to be printed on the receipt, it is possible to issue a receipt 61 in which image data is printed at an appropriate position according to the length of the receipt.

Next, an image addition setting command generated based on the data acquisition result shown in FIG. 9 will be described with reference to FIGS. 11A and 11B . Figure 11A shows the structure of the image additional setting command, in which "ESC I" represents the image additional setting command number, and the following "n1, n2, n3, n4" represent parameters (generally using a sequence called ESC instruction). Each parameter is composed of 1bit (8bit), n1 indicates the image designation No., and in the case of <print example 1>, it is expressed as "02". In addition, n2 and n3 indicate the start line number and the end line number, and are expressed as "x1" and "x2" in the case of <print example 1>. In addition, n4 represents color information (color designation No.), and is represented as "2" in the case of <print example 1> (see FIG. 9 ).

In addition, as shown in FIG. 9, the parameter "n2" indicating the start line number is the first 1 bit in 8 bits, and indicates the line number setting (see FIG. 9). When the line number is included, "1" is not included. In this case, "0" is used to indicate, and the remaining 7 bits are used to indicate the start line number (the first line to the 128th line). The same structure applies to the parameter "n3" indicating the end line number. In addition, the number of bits constituting each parameter and the order of parameters can be changed as appropriate.

In this way, in the present invention, as the image addition setting command, a dedicated command for adding image data is set, and various information can be transmitted together with the settlement processing print data as parameters. In this way, image data addition processing (receipt print data generation processing) can be easily performed without causing trouble to the receiving device 50 .

Next, the process of sending the settlement process print data/image addition setting command by the PC 40 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 7 . The PC 40 acquires the input information on the product by inputting from the keyboard 43 and reading the barcode from the barcode reader 44, and generates settlement processing print data based on this (S11). Then, by retrieving settlement processing print data, a predetermined character string (start character string and end character string) contained therein is extracted (S12).

At this time, predetermined character strings are set in advance as described above, and are stored as a definition table. Then, when a predetermined character string is extracted (in the case of <printing example 1>, the start character string "receipt" and the end character string "thank you for purchasing") (S13: Yes), the predetermined character string is acquired Image specifying data and color information are stored in association with the specified line number, predetermined character string (S14: refer to FIG. 9 ). Then, based on the obtained result, an image addition setting command is generated (S15: refer to FIG. 11A ), and sent to the printer 50 together with the settlement process print data (S16), and the process ends (S18). On the other hand, when the predetermined character string has not been extracted (S13: No), the image addition setting command is not generated, and only the settlement processing print data is sent to the printer 50 (S17). It is preferable that the above-mentioned character list is a meaningful term or word, but if it is a special character that can express a meaning even as a single character, a single character may be used.

Next, the receipt print data creation process of the printer 50 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When the printer 50 acquires the settlement process print data from the PC 40 (S21: Yes), it determines whether an image addition setting command has been transmitted together with the settlement process print data (S23). If the acquired data is not settlement processing print data (S21: No), processing is performed according to the instruction (S22). If the image addition setting command is not sent (S23: No), the image data addition process is not performed (S24), and the settlement process print data is kept as receipt print data (S27).

On the other hand, when the image addition setting command is sent together with the settlement processing print data (S23: Yes), the image addition setting command is analyzed (S25) to obtain the line numbers (the start line number and the end line number) ), image specifying data (image specifying No.), and color information (color specifying No.) (S26: refer to FIG. 11A). Then, based on the acquired information, the image data is added (superimposed) to the settlement processing print data to generate receipt print data (S27), and the process ends (S28).

In this way, in the present invention, by retrieving the settlement processing print data generated by the PC 40, a predetermined character string specifying the print position of the image data, that is, the print position on the actual receipt is extracted, and the row identified by the predetermined character string is extracted. number to generate image additional setting commands. Then, the PC 40 sends it to the printing device 50 together with the settlement processing print data. On the other hand, the printer 50 adds image data to the settlement process print data according to the image addition setting command, and generates receipt print data to be printed on the receipt. That is, with this configuration, image data can be quickly printed even when a low-speed interface is used as the interface between the PC 40 and the printing device 50 . In addition, since the PC 40 generates an additional setting command for additional image data, the image data can be set through the PC 40 without directly operating the printing device 50 .

Here, several examples are given to describe printing examples of other image data. 10A, 12A, and 15 show the definition table, data acquisition results, image addition setting commands, and printing results of <print example 2>. As shown in FIG. 10A , in the definition table, two items specifying the same image data "U2/C:hana.jpg" (flower pattern) are stored. In this case, the result of data acquisition is as shown in the figure. The start line number, the end line number, and the color designation are combined into one set, and two sets of data are added to one image designation data in relation to each other. Print the same image data in the area. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 12A, the image addition setting command is also set with parameters indicating the start line number, end line number, and color information ("n2, n3, n4" and "n5, n6, n7"). It is appended after the parameter "n1" indicating image designation data.

However, in <Print Example 2>, since the line number of the ending character string "receipt" is set to "0" (see FIG. 10A), the leading bit (bit) of the line number setting of the parameter "n3" is indicated. It is "0" (see FIG. 11B). In this way, the line containing the end character string "receipt" does not become the printing area, and the line starting from the line containing the end character string "receipt" to more than one line is the printing area.

Therefore, FIG. 15 shows the print result when the image addition setting command shown in FIG. 12 is sent. As shown here, the image data (flower pattern) is printed in two print areas, and in the first print area (the print area specified by the start line number "x1" and the end line number "x2"), Image data is printed from line number "x1" to line number "x2-1". In the second print area (the print area specified by the start line number "x3" and the end line number "x4"), the image data from Line number "x3" to line number "x4" are printed.

In this way, as shown in <Print Example 2>, when a plurality of predetermined character strings are extracted for the same image designation data, image data addition setting can be performed based on an image addition setting command with a simpler structure. Certainly.

Next, Fig. 10B, Fig. 12B and Fig. 16 show the definition table, data acquisition result, image addition setting command and printing result of <print example 3>. As shown in FIG. 10B, in the definition table, different image data "U3/C: syoku.jpg", "U4/C: nichi.jpg", and "U5/C: iyaku.jpg" are respectively stored. The three items of the start character string and the end character string are added accordingly. In this case, as shown in the figure, the data acquisition result is in a format in which a start line number, an end line number, and a color designation are associated with each image designation data. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 12B, the image addition setting command is also associated with parameters ("n1, n2, n3, n4" and "n5, n6, n7,n8"...) form a group to be appended.

However, in <printing example 3>, three items are stored in the definition table, and they are "category totals" whose start characters are different and end characters are exactly the same. In this case, the character string that exists from the start character string to the bottom and exists in the last line of each item is used as the end character string of the start character string. Therefore, even if the same ending character string is stored in different items, if the ending character string exists in a plurality of settlement processing print data, it is not necessary to repeatedly print a plurality of image data.

Therefore, FIG. 16 shows the print result when the image addition setting command shown in FIG. 12B is sent. As shown here, image data "U3/C: syoku.jpg", "U4/C: nichi.jpg", "U5/C: C: iyaku.jpg" to print. In addition, even if the ending character string is the same character string, since the ending character string exists in a plurality of settlement processing print data, it is not necessary to repeatedly print three image data.

In this way, as shown in <printing example 3>, even when a plurality of image designation data are printed in different print areas, image data addition setting can be performed based on one image addition setting command.

As described above, the present invention is to: search for a specified character string from the settlement processing print data, obtain information that actually specifies the position on the receipt when the data is printed, specify the character string position, and determine the character string position using the information on the character string position. A printing device and a printing method for compositing the image data to the settlement processing print data, generating receipt print data, and printing the generated receipt print data.

In addition, according to a suitable embodiment, by associating the image designation data, the start character string, and the end character string, and storing a plurality of them as a definition table, it is possible to use various The image data is printed to the desired print area.

In particular, as in this embodiment, when the printing device 50 of the present invention is adopted in the POS system, by storing the logo of the shop as image data, it is possible to issue an order to print the logo of the shop in a specific area. Receipt 61. That is, as long as there is a small memory that only stores image data (logo) in the printing device 50 used as a receipt printer, it is possible to create a highly visible receipt, enhance the customer's impression of the store image, and improve the publicity effect. .

In addition, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the generation of the image addition setting command is realized by the print driver 109 built into the control unit 140 in the PC 40, but it may be stored in a recording medium or used in other ways. PCs and printers can use the structure of the generated program. As the recording medium, a hard disk, flash ROM, memory card {Compact Flash (registered trademark), smart media, memory stick, etc.}, compact disk, optical disk, digital versatile disk, floppy disk, etc. can be used.

As described above, in the control method of the printing apparatus of the present invention, the PC 40 does not transmit the image data to the printing apparatus 50 through the receipt printing data generation method, the program, the printing driver, the printing apparatus, the commodity sales data processing apparatus, and the POS system. The image data is stored in the printing device 50. Since the PC 40 sends the image additional setting command for the additional image data, as an interface between the PC 40 and the printing device, even if a low-speed interface is used, the transmission time There is no problem with it, and the processing efficiency will not be reduced.

In addition, the printing device 50 can easily specify the printing position by acquiring the line number from the parameter included in the image addition setting command. Furthermore, the function and effect of creating a beautiful receipt and the like can be achieved.

In addition, by generating an image addition setting command for additional image data by the printer driver 109 , the setting of the image data can be performed by the PC 40 without directly operating the printing device 50 . Also, even if the PC 40 is an application program in a monochrome and text format, the printer 50 can issue a receipt in a color and graphic format without changing it.

In addition, in the above-mentioned example, it is set in advance that the settlement processing print data is printed in the main color [K (black)]. The image data can be set to a print color (secondary color) other than [K (black)]. A configuration in which [K (black)] is set as image data may also be used. In such a case (when the settlement processing print data and the image data are set to be printed in the same color), it is ideal to print the image data by automatically reducing the print density. With this configuration, image data can be added without impairing the resolution of the print data for settlement processing.

In addition, not only the print color of the image data but also the print color of the settlement process print data may be set. However, in this case, only a print color other than the set color of the settlement process print data may be set for the image data, or when the settlement process print data and the image data are set to be printed in the same color , it is ideal to set to automatically reduce the print density to print image data.

In addition, in the above example, both the start character string and the end character string are set, but if there is no setting of both, the print area of the image data can also be specified according to the default value. . For example, if the start character string is not set, the image data can also be printed from the front end of the receipt 61 at a line of a predetermined length X, and if the end character string is not set, the image data can also be printed from the rear end of the receipt 61. Printing of the image data ends up to a line of the predetermined length Y. In addition, when the start character string is not specified, the image data can be printed starting from the line where the specified character string (such as "TEL: ", etc.) contained in the settlement processing print data is printed, and the end character string In the case of the print data, the printing of the image data may be terminated at the line where other predetermined character strings (for example, "Thank you for purchasing" etc.) included in the print data are printed. With these structures, the user can save setting operations without being limited to the printing area.

In addition, the setting of the image data (definition table) is not limited to the setting contents shown in FIG. 6 , and the setting of the expansion/reduction of the image data, the setting of the rotation angle, the designation of two or more image data, and their The structure such as the setting of the printing color. With this configuration, more diverse image data can be added.

In addition, in the above-mentioned embodiment, image data is superimposed on the print data of settlement processing to create a so-called background image-added receipt, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, information for publicity may also be It is inserted into the printing of settlement information as image data. In this case, it can be easily realized by "inserting" into the image addition setting command, or adding a predetermined parameter of the printing process that selects the "overlapping" one.

In addition, in the above-mentioned example, an inkjet type is used as the printing device 50, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and a thermal head type or needle type printing device may also be used.

In addition, regardless of the examples of the above-mentioned POS system, such as system structures and device structures such as independent ECRs that are not connected to the server, cash registers, etc., as long as they do not depart from the scope of the present invention, suitable adjustments can also be made. change.

As described above, the printing device control method of the present invention stores the image data in the host computer through the receipt print data generation method, the program, the print driver, the printing device, the product sales data processing device, and the POS system, not by the host computer. The image data is sent by the computer, but the image data is stored in the printing device. Since the image addition setting command for additional image data is sent by the host computer, as the interface between the host computer and the printing device, even if a low-speed interface is used Under certain circumstances, the effect of quickly printing image data, etc. can also be achieved.

Claims (16)

1. A control method of a printing device, which is a control method of a printing device for printing by adding image data to settlement processing print data generated based on input information related to commodity sales, characterized in that: A settlement processing print data obtaining step of obtaining the settlement processing print data; A step of retrieving a predetermined character string indicating a printing position of the image data from the settlement processing print data, and extracting the predetermined character string; a line number obtaining step of obtaining a print line number specified by the extracted predetermined character string; Based on the obtained line number, the image data is printed based on the position specified by the line number, the image data is added to the settlement processing print data, and a combined print result is obtained. 2. The control method of the printing device according to claim 1, wherein the control method further comprises: An image addition setting instruction generating step of generating an image addition setting instruction according to the obtained line number; a sending step of sending the settlement processing print data and the image addition setting instruction to the printing device (50); The printing device adds the image data to the settlement process print data based on an analysis result of the image addition setting command. 3. The control method of a printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the predetermined character string is a start character string indicating a position where the image data starts to be added, and the line number acquired by The line number specified by the start column. 4. The control method of a printing device according to claim 2, wherein the predetermined character string is composed of a start character string representing a position where adding the image data starts and an end character string representing a position where adding the image data ends. The plurality of row numbers specified by the start character string and the end character string are acquired in the row number obtaining step. 5. The control method of the printing device according to claim 4, characterized in that: a plurality of image data files that are files of the image data are stored in the printing device (50), Furthermore, a definition for associating the start word sequence and the end word with image specifying data for specifying one image data file from a plurality of image data files stored in the printing device (50) is stored. Table definition table storage step; an image specifying data acquiring step of acquiring image specifying data associated with the start character string and the end character string extracted in the character string extracting step from the definition table, In the image addition setting command generating step, the image addition setting command is generated based on the acquired line number and the image specifying data. 6. The control method of a printing device according to claim 4, further comprising: a character string setting step of setting the start character string and/or the end character string. 7. The control method of a printing device according to claim 6, further comprising: related to the start character string and/or the end character string set in the character string setting step An image designation data setting step for setting the image designation data. 8. The control method of the printing apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising: setting whether to obtain the line number of the start character string or the line number of the start character string in the step of obtaining the line number A line number setting step of obtaining the line number of the next line, or obtaining the line number of the end character string or the line number of the previous line of the end character string. 9. The control method of the printing device according to claim 2, characterized in that: when the printing device (50) is capable of color printing, further having a print color setting step of setting a print color of the image data, The image addition setting command includes a parameter representing the printing color. 10. A receipt print data generation method, which is a method of generating receipt print data by adding stored image data to settlement processing print data generated by a host computer (40) based on input information related to merchandise sales The print data generation method is characterized in that it has: an image data storage step for storing said image data; a settlement processing print data obtaining step of obtaining the settlement processing print data from the host computer (40); an image addition setting instruction acquisition step of acquiring an image addition setting instruction for printing with the image data added from the host computer (40); An instruction analysis step of analyzing the image addition setting instruction and obtaining a line number indicating a printing position of the image data; A receipt print data generating step of adding the image data to the settlement process print data based on the line number to generate the receipt print data. 11. A program for executing the steps of the printing apparatus control method according to claim 1 or the steps of the receipt print data generation method according to claim 10. 12. A print driver program, which causes a computer to execute the steps of the printing device control method according to claim 1. 13. A printing device (50) that adds stored image data to settlement processing print data generated by a host computer (40) based on input information related to merchandise sales to generate receipt print data, characterized in that: have: image data storage means (244) storing said image data; A settlement processing print data obtaining means (241) for obtaining the settlement processing print data from the host computer (40); Image addition setting instruction acquisition means (242) for obtaining an image addition setting instruction for instructing addition of the image data for printing from the host computer (40); An instruction analysis device (233) that analyzes the image addition setting instruction and acquires a line number indicating a printing position of the image data; A receipt print data generating means (234) that adds the image data to the settlement process print data based on the line number to generate the receipt print data. 14. The printing device according to claim 13, characterized in that: It also has a color printing device (235) for printing with a primary color and at least one secondary color other than the primary color, The printing means (235) prints the settlement processing print data in the primary color, and prints the image data in a secondary color of the at least one color. 15. A product sales data processing device, characterized in that it has: the printing device according to claim 13; by sending the settlement processing print data and the image additional setting instruction to the printing device (50 ) to control the commodity sales data processing device of the host computer (40) of the printing device (50), The host computer (40) has: settlement processing print data generating means (202) for generating the settlement processing print data; A character string extracting means (216) for retrieving a predetermined character string indicating a printing position of the image data from the settlement processing print data and extracting the predetermined character string; a line number obtaining means (217) for obtaining a line number specified by the extracted predetermined character string; An image addition setting instruction generating device (203) for generating the image addition setting instruction according to the obtained line number; A sending device (205) of the printing device (50) sends the settlement processing print data and the image addition setting command to the printing device (50). 16. A POS system, characterized in that: the commodity sales data processing device (20) according to claim 15 is connected with the commodity sales data processing device (20) through a network and manages the commodity sales data processing device The POS server (30) of (20) constitutes.

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