JPH0825321B2 - Mark Scanning Method in Mark Printing / Verification Device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a mark scanning method in a mark printing / verifying device such as a bar code printer having a self-verifying function.

[Conventional technology]

For example, as described in JP-A-62-181165, after printing a mark such as a bar code on a sheet of paper with a print head such as a thermal head, the mark is printed by a scanner. There is a mark printing / verifying device that scans and reads the data and verifies the print result.

At that time, in order to prevent the printing speed from decreasing, the scanner is moved in the direction orthogonal to the paper feeding direction while the paper is being fed, and the printed mark is scanned.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

However, in such a conventional mark scanning method,
The paper feed speed (printing speed) is v, and the scanning time by scanning is
If t is the length of the mark to be scanned in the paper feed direction, the entire mark cannot be scanned unless l ≧ v × t.

Therefore, the scanning time t has to be shortened as the paper feed speed (printing speed) v becomes higher, and therefore, a carriage drive motor having a large output must be used for moving the scanner. However, there is a problem that the cost becomes high and the power consumption by the motor increases significantly.

Further, if the paper feed is stopped and scanning is performed, there is no limit to satisfy the above formula, so that the length l of the mark in the paper feed direction can be shortened, but the printing / verification speed (sruput) of the apparatus is reduced. Will be done.

This invention has been made in view of the above points,
Even if the length l of the printed mark in the paper feed direction is l <v × t, the entire scan can be scanned by the scanner, and the printing / verifying speed (sloupt) of the device is not reduced. The purpose is to

[Means for solving the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a marking scanning method in which the scanning is shifted in the paper feeding direction during scanning of the marking by the scanner in the marking printing / verifying apparatus as described above.

Furthermore, in this mark scanning method, the speed at which the scanner is shifted may be changed according to the paper feed speed.

Further, it is preferable that a stepping motor is used for the shifter of the sheet feeder and the sheet feeding, the shifter of the sheet feeder is intermittently performed, and the cycle thereof is set to a constant multiple of the cycle of the intermittent feeding of the stepping motor of the sheet feeding.

Furthermore, in any of these mark scanning methods, it is desirable to change the shift amount of the scanner according to the length of the mark to be scanned in the paper feed direction.

[Work]

According to the mark scanning method in the mark printing / verifying apparatus of the present invention, if the shift amount of the scanner is s, l ≧ v ×
It is possible to scan with ts, and it is possible to scan even with a mark having a shorter length l in the paper feed direction than in the past.

Moreover, since the mark is scanned by the scanner while the paper is being fed, the printing / verifying speed (sloupt) of the apparatus is not reduced.

If the length l of the mark in the paper feed direction is the same, the paper feed speed v can be increased without shortening the scanning time t, and the printing / verification speed of the apparatus can be increased.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side view of a main part of a bar code printer which is a mark printing / verifying device embodying the present invention, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are a plan view and a side view of a mechanism part for shifting the scanner.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a platen, 2 is a thermal head, 3 is a ribbon guide bar, 4 is a ribbon peeling plate,
5 is a label paper, 6 is an ink ribbon, 7 and 17 are first and second stays, 8 ... Label holder, 9 is a scanner, and 18 is a base plate.

Then, the label paper 5 is superposed on the ink ribbon 6 at the position of the ribbon guide bar 3 and conveyed through the space between the platen 1 and the thermal head 2. The thermal head 2 transfers the ink of the ink ribbon 6 to the label paper 5. The barcode is printed as.

The ink ribbon 6 is peeled off from the label paper 5 via the ribbon peeling plate 4, conveyed in the direction of arrow A, and taken up by a take-up reel (not shown).

The label paper 5 is guided by a base plate 18 that is adjustably attached to a second stay 17 attached to a printer body (not shown), and is conveyed in the direction of arrow B by the platen 1 and the thermal head 2.

At that time, the label retainer 8 attached to the first stay 7 attached to the printer body suppresses the floating of the label paper 5.

Then, the scanner 9 arranged so as to face the base plate 18 is moved to the arrow B by a carriage (not shown).
While moving in the direction orthogonal to the direction (perpendicular to the paper surface), also in the direction of arrow B, shift from the position shown by the solid line to the position shown by the virtual line (s: shift amount), and label with the thermal head 2. The barcode (see FIG. 4), which is a mark printed on the paper 5, is scanned and read, and the print result is verified.

This scanner 9 includes a light source such as an LED that illuminates a scan target, a lens that collects reflected light from the scan target due to the illumination light, receives the collected light, and outputs a signal according to the amount of light. It incorporates a photodetector such as a phototransistor that outputs light.

The shift mechanism of the scanner 9 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

A carriage (not shown) is mounted with a shift motor 11 shown in FIG.
15 and 15 are fixedly mounted, and the rack 10 is rotatably attached to the rotary shaft 14 thereof.

Then, the tooth portion 10a formed in the arc shape of the rack 10
The tip end portion of the support shaft 15 is fitted into the arc-shaped guide hole 16 that extends along the line to regulate the swing range of the rack 10 around the rotation shaft 14 in the arrow C direction.

A coil spring 13 is attached between the pin 19 planted in the rack 10 and the tip of the rotary shaft 14 in order to eliminate looseness between the rack 10 and the rotary shaft 14.

A shift gear (pinion) 12 mounted on the rotary shaft of a shift motor 11 is meshed with a tooth portion 10a of the rack 10. The shift motor 11 is a stepping motor, and can rotate in the required rotation direction by the shift step and hold it at that position.

While the carriage (not shown) moves in the direction orthogonal to the paper feed direction and the scanner 9 scans the bar code on the label paper 5, the rack 10 is rotated in step by the step rotation of the motor 11. Is swung from the position indicated by to the position indicated by the phantom line, whereby the scanner 9 is also moved by the shift amount s from the position indicated by the solid line to the position indicated by the phantom line.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the relationship between the mark (bar code) printed on the label paper 5 and the scanning start and end lines by the scanning device 9.

Label paper 5 is platen 1 and thermal head 2 shown in FIG.
The mark (bar code) 20 is printed by
When the leading end of the carriage reaches the skian start line, a carriage drive motor (not shown) starts and the carriage moves in a direction orthogonal to the label paper conveyance direction, and the skier 9 scans the mark (bar code) 20. It

During the scan, the scanner 9 shifts in the label paper conveyance direction, and the scan is finished when the rear end of the mark 20 reaches the scan end line, so that the shift amount is s,
The length 1 of the mark that can be scanned in the label paper conveyance direction is l ≧ v × ts, ...

If l and the scanning time t are the same as in the conventional case, the paper feed speed v can be increased to increase the printing speed.
It should be noted that it is desirable to change the speed at which the scanner 9 is shifted according to the paper feed speed.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the relationship between the drive timing of the shift motor 11 and the drive timing of the paper feed motor that conveys the label paper 5.

In this embodiment, all the motors are stepping motors, and the shift motor 11 is driven by one step when the number of movement steps of the paper feed motor reaches seven steps.

By doing so, even if the paper feed speed fluctuates, it is possible to shift the scanner 9 so as to reliably scan the mark 20 without overshooting.

FIGS. 6 (a) and 6 (b) show the behavior of the scanner 9 in the paper feeding direction when 9 steps and 3 steps are driven (shifted) at the timing shown in FIG.

When the shift speed of the scanner 9 is constant and the paper feed speed (conveyance speed of the label sheet 5) is reduced or stopped, the scanner 9 is disengaged from the mark to be scanned, and scanning becomes impossible. If the scanner 9 is shifted and moved at a cycle that is a constant multiple of the paper feed (line feed) cycle as in this embodiment, the scanning can be completed even if the paper feed speed is reduced or stopped.

Even if the length l of the mark to be scanned in the paper feed direction is extremely short, if the mark is reached to the scan start line and the paper feed is stopped and scanning by the scanner 9 is started, the paper feed cycle Since the constant multiple of is infinite, the scanner 9 can complete scanning without being shifted.

It should be noted that the shift amount s of the scanner 9 may be changed according to the length 1 of the mark to be scanned in the paper feed direction so that the shift amount s is large when l is long and small when l is short.

In this way, when the mark is scanned and read by the scanner 9 and the verification result is bad, the main causes are the continuous lack of the mark and the partial defects that do not pose a practical problem as the mark. Be separated.

Therefore, when such a verification result is obtained, the conveyance of the label paper 5 is stopped with respect to the once-scanned mark, and the shift position of the scanner 9 is left unchanged or changed, and the mark is scanned again. By verifying the mark, the quality and print state of the mark can be known. If the ink ribbon 6 has a continuous defect, the defective mark can be continuously formed by stopping the printing. Can be prevented.

In addition, as a matter of course, when rescanning, the label paper 5 may be reversely fed and the scanning direction may be reversed to perform scanning.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the mark scanning method in the mark printing / inspecting device of the present invention, the length of the mark to be scanned in the paper feeding direction is l, the paper feeding speed (printing speed) is v, Assuming that the scanning time by the scanner is t and the shift amount of the scanner is s, it becomes possible to scan if l ≧ v × t−s, and even a mark having a shorter length l in the paper feeding direction can be scanned than before.

Moreover, since the mark is scanned by the scanner while the paper is being fed, the printing / verifying speed (sloupt) of the apparatus is not reduced.

If the length l in the paper feed direction is the same, the paper feed speed v can be increased without shortening the scanning time t, and the printing / verification speed of the apparatus can be increased.

Further, by changing the speed at which the skiner is shifted according to the paper feed speed, or by using a stepping motor for the shift and the paper feed of the skiner, the skiner is intermittently shifted, and the cycle is set to the step of the paper feed. By setting a constant multiple of the intermittent feed cycle of the ping motor, it is possible to reliably scan the mark even when the paper feed speed changes.

By changing the shift amount of the scanner depending on the length of the mark to be scanned in the paper feed direction, it is possible to reliably scan regardless of the length of the mark.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a main portion of a bar code printer according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 3 are plan and side views of a mechanism portion for shifting the scanner, and FIG. 4 is a label sheet. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the relationship between the mark (bar code) printed on 5 and the scan start and end lines by the scanner 9, and FIG. 5 is the drive timing of the shift motor 11 and the drive of the paper feed motor that conveys the label paper 5. Timing charts showing the relationship with the timing, and FIGS. 6 (a) and 6 (b) show the behavior of the sheet feeder in the paper feeding direction when 9 steps and 3 steps are driven (shifted) at the timings shown in FIG. It is a diagram showing. 1 ... Platen, 2 ... Thermal head 3 ... Ribbon guide bar, 4 ... Ribbon peeling plate 5 ... Label paper, 6 ... Ink ribbon 7 ... First stay, 8 ... Label holder 9 ... Scanner , 10 ... Rack 11 ... Shift motor, 12 ... Shift gear 13 ... Coil spring, 14 ... Rotating shaft 15 ... Support shaft, 16 ... Guide hole 17 ... Second stay, 18 ... Base plate 19 …… pin, 20 …… mark (bar code)

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Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A mark for printing a mark on paper and then scanning the mark while scanning the mark with a scanner in a direction orthogonal to the direction of the paper feed, and verifying the print result. In the mark printing / verifying device, the mark scanning method is characterized in that the scanner is shifted in the paper feeding direction during the mark scanning by the scanner. 2. The marking scanning method in the marking printing / verifying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a speed for shifting the scanner is changed according to a paper feeding speed. 3. The marking scanning method in the marking printing / verifying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a shifter for the sheet feeder and a sheet feeding stepping motor are used to intermittently shift the sheet scanner, and the cycle is fed. The method of scanning a mark, wherein the stepping motor is set to a constant multiple of the cycle of intermittent feeding. 4. The mark scanning method in the mark printing / verifying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the shift amount of the scanner is changed according to the length of the mark to be scanned in the paper feed direction. A marking scanning method characterized by: