Patent Publication Number: US-2011058185-A1

Title: Label printing device and label printing method

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2009-207334, filed on Sep. 8, 2009, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     FIELD 
     Embodiments described herein relate generally to a label printing device and a label printing method which may communicate with an external portable terminal through a communication function such as SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol). 
     BACKGROUND 
     There has been research for image forming devices which may receive printing data and a command from an external information processing device by using a communication function, and based on the so-received printing data and command, the image forming devices may form an image on a recording medium. For the image forming devices, research has been made to consider the communication security or communication load. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram showing an example of a label printing device. 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram showing an overview of an example of the label printing device. 
         FIG. 3  is an illustrative diagram illustrating an example of a connection state between peripheral devices and the label printing device. 
         FIG. 4  is a flowchart showing an example of a scanning process of the label printing device. 
         FIG. 5  is a flowchart showing an example of a transmission process of printing data of a portable terminal which communicates with the label printing device. 
         FIG. 6  is a flowchart showing an example of a printing process of the label printing device. 
         FIG. 7  is a block diagram showing an example of a printer with a scanner. 
         FIG. 8  is a block diagram showing an example of a portable terminal. 
         FIG. 9  is a flowchart showing an example of a process of a printer. 
         FIG. 10  is a flowchart showing an example of a process of a portable terminal. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In general, according to one embodiment, a label printing device includes a reading unit, a communication unit, and a printing unit. The reading unit is configured to read management data. The communication unit is configured to communicate with an external device by Connectionless Communication Protocol communication to acquire from the external device printing data corresponding to the management data. The printing unit is configured to print a label image on a recording medium based on the printing data. 
     Embodiments will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. 
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram showing an example of a label printing device according to one embodiment, and  FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram showing an overview of an example of the label printing device according to one embodiment.  FIG. 3  is an illustrative diagram illustrating an example of a connection state between peripheral devices and the label printing device according to one embodiment. 
     In one embodiment, as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 3 , a label printing device  1  may be connected to a portable terminal  3  or a host computer  4  via a network or the like. The label printing device  1  may include a CPU  11  that is configured to control the overall operation, and has function as a history information management unit. The label printing device  1  may further include an FROM  12  that is connected to the CPU  11 , and a RAM  13  to store management data indicated by a bar code or the like and printing data or the like corresponding to the management data. 
     The label printing device  1  may include a display control circuit  14 , a display  15  which is configured to display operation information or label information under control of the display control circuit  14 , and an audio notification unit  16  (e.g., a speaker or the like) to audibly notify a user or the like that scanning succeeded. The label printing device  1  may further include a motor control circuit  17 , a stepping motor  18  whose operation is controlled by the motor control circuit  17 , a key input unit  19  with which a user may input operation information or the like, a head control circuit  20  to print a label image on a medium such as a label or the like, a thermal head  21  whose operation is controlled by the head control circuit  20  and which may perform a printing operation on the medium of the label or the like, a power supply circuit  22  which may supply power to each part/unit, a battery  23  which may supply power to the power supply circuit  22 , a scanner control circuit  24 , and a scanner  25  as a reading unit, which is controlled by the scanner control circuit  24  to read the bar code or the like. The label printing device  1  may further include a communication control unit  28  as a communication unit configured to perform Connectionless Communication Protocol (e.g., SNMP) communication with a portable terminal  3  or the host computer  4  to thereby transmit/receive management data and printing data corresponding to the management data. The above-described elements may be respectively connected to the above-described CPU  11 . 
     For example, the portable terminal  3  may include a communication control unit  31  that uses the SNMP communication, a print command generation unit  36  in a transmission unit  33 . The portable terminal  3  may further include a data monitoring unit  34  and a data analysis unit  35  in a reception unit  32 . 
     The label printing device  1  having the above-described configurations may use SNMP communication at the time of transmitting data to the portable terminal  3  or the host computer  4  when printing a reduced price label. In this regard, the exchange between the hosts (the portable terminal  3  or the host computer  4 ) is required for making an inquiry about PLU information. The label printing device  1  may transmit management data of a bar code or the like read by the scanner  25  to the portable terminal  3  or the host computer  4 . The portable terminal  3  or the host computer  4  may generate a print command from the management data, and transmit the generated print command to the label printing device  1 . The label printing device  1  may issue a markdown label on which a label image is printed. 
     Here, when a general communication protocol is used, it is necessary to constantly maintain a connection state for communication between the label printing device  1  and the portable terminal  3  or the host computer  4 . This may interfere with other communication or may become the cause of a communication failure. 
     In one embodiment, TRAP communication of SNMP is used for communication from the label printing device  1 , and accordingly it is not necessary to constantly maintain the connection state for communication from the label printing device  1  to the host computer  4 . Here, the SNMP TRAP communication is used to manage a network using SNMP, and is used to deliver a status report from a terminal that is to be managed to a management server. This report may be transmitted to the portable terminal  3 , the host computer  4 , or the like when a pre-designated event is generated or a threshold value is reached in the label printing device  1  for which an SNMP agent is operating. 
     The label printing device  1  transmits management data that is read by the scanner  25  to the portable terminal  3  or the host computer  4  by the SNMP TRAP communication. Upon receiving the SNMP TRAP communication, the portable terminal  3  or the host computer  4  may generate a print command from the management data. When the print command is transmitted from the host (e.g., the portable terminal  3  or the host computer  4 ) to the label printing device  1 , a connection is established for the first time, communication is performed, and a disconnection is made. 
     Meanwhile, since SNMP is a kind of UDP (User Datagram Protocol), which does not have a connection concept, the reliability of receiving a reception acknowledgement from the host is not guaranteed. UDP is a protocol which serves as a basis for the Internet standard protocol TCP/IP. In TCP/IP, data is exchanged by a combination of IP of a network layer protocol and either TCP or UDP of the transport layer protocol. TCP starts the communication after establishing a session (connection), but UDP adopts a datagram scheme in which data is sent to a destination without establishing the session (connection). Accordingly, the protocol processing in UDP may be performed at high speed, but the reliability of UDP is relatively low due to the lack of an error correction/retransmission function as provided in TCP. Accordingly, UDP is usually used in a situation where high speed rather than reliability is necessary. 
     Accordingly, the case where scanning succeeded but its data is not transmitted to the host may not occur frequently. However, since the situation where scanned data may not be transmitted due to an error of UDP, the error may be shown to the user as if a scanning error occurred. The user may then smoothly re-scan. In this way, it is possible to avoid the inconvenience when the label printing device is used to scan a bar code or the like. 
     Hereinafter, a printing process of the label printing device  1  having the above-described configuration will be described with reference to the flowcharts.  FIG. 4  is a flowchart showing an example of a scanning process of the label printing device.  FIG. 5  is a flowchart showing an example of a transmission process of printing data of a portable terminal which communicates with the label printing device.  FIG. 6  is a flowchart showing an example of a printing process of the label printing device. 
     In one embodiment, as shown in the block diagram of  FIG. 1 , for example, an issuance system may perform label printing using the label printing device  1  and the portable terminal  3  (e.g., PDA) which generates an issuance command. As shown in the flowchart of  FIG. 4 , the label printing device  1  may scan management data of a bar code or the like by the scanner  25  under control of the CPU  11  (act A 11 ). Upon recognizing that scanning succeeded (act A 12 ), the CPU  11  may control an audio notification unit  16  (such as a speaker or the like) to audibly notify the user that the scanning succeeded (act A 13 ). The CPU  11  may transmit the management data of the scanned bar code or the like to the portable terminal  3  via the communication control unit  28  using the SNMP TRAP communication (act A 14 ). When the portable terminal  3  (e.g., PDA) needs to acquire information of a PLU or the like, the host computer  4  may be further arranged. 
     An application such as a data monitoring application, a data analysis application, a print command generation application, or the like may be installed in the portable terminal  3  (e.g., PDA). As shown in the flowchart of  FIG. 5 , the data monitoring unit  34  may monitor the SNMP TRAP communication of the label printing device  1  (act A 21 ). Upon receiving the TRAP communication, the data monitoring unit  34  may acquire scanned data by the data analysis unit  35  (act A 22 ). Next, the print command generation unit  36  of the portable terminal  3  may generate printing data using the acquired scanned data (act A 23 ). The transmission unit  33  and the communication control unit  31  of the terminal device  3  may transmit the printing data generated by the print command generation unit  36  to the label printing device  1  by using an SNMP SET request in the form of a signal indicating a format number, change data, and a label issuance request (act A 24 ). Here, the SET request is one of three SNMP communication methods of the SET request, GET communication, and TRAP communication, and the SET request has a function of setting a desired value in a certain storage region of a peer device which is a communication counterpart. It is desirable to set in advance an address of the portable terminal  3  (which is the communication counterpart) into the label printing device  1 . 
     In one embodiment, a plurality of formats of a label image may be pre-registered in a storage region of the RAM  13  or the like of the label printing device  1 , and, for example, a format number, change data, and a label issuance request may be transmitted from the terminal device  3  to the label printing device  1  by using the SNMP SET request. By virtue of one embodiment of the above-described method, it is possible to give instructions on printing data by giving instructions on the specifications of the format of the label image and any changes in the format of the label image, with the use of minimum communication capacity from the terminal device  3  to the label printing device  1 . 
     As shown in the flowchart of  FIG. 6 , the communication control unit  28  of the label printing device  1  may monitor whether there is an instruction signal indicating that there is printing data from the portable terminal  3  (act A 31 ). When the format number, the change data, and the label issuance request are received as the instruction signal indicating that there is printing data, the print command analysis unit  26 , under the control of the CPU  11 , may analyze the printing data to specify one of the pre-registered label image formats according to the format number, and change the format according to the change data (act A 32 ). The image drawing unit  27  may generate an image according to the label image format specified and changed by the print command analysis unit  26  (act A 33 ). Next, under the control of the CPU  11 , the head control circuit  20  and the thermal head  21  may perform a label printing operation on the label based on the image generated by the image drawing unit  27  (act A 34 ). 
     As described above, the SNMP communication uses UDP that adopts a datagram scheme in which data is sent to a destination without establishing a session (connection). Thus, protocol processing may be performed at high speed, while the reliability is relatively low due the lack of an error correction/retransmission function. Accordingly, communication may infrequently fail. 
     However, it is possible to respond to the infrequent communication failure by making a user clearly recognize that he or she should use the method of performing a re-scan at the time when a label is not issued immediately after scanning succeeded. That is, since the possibility of consecutive communication failures is low when the user performs re-scanning, communication by second scanning will succeed. Therefore, communication is performed between the label printing device  1  and the external portable terminal  3 , and a subsequent printing process may be smoothly executed. 
     Accordingly, the label printing device  1  according to one embodiment in which SNMP communication is applied to a communication protocol between the label printing device  1  and the external portable terminal  3  may perform communication by SNMP between the label printing device and the external device. Accordingly, the label printing device  1  is not required to constantly maintain the connection state for bar code scanning, thereby significantly reducing the communication load. In this way, overall, a communication state between the label printing device  1  and the external portable terminal  3  may be dramatically improved. 
     As described in detail above, in the label printing device  1  according to one embodiment, it is possible to provide a label printing device having a very low communication load since it is not necessary to constantly maintain the connection state for bar code scanning by using SNMP communication as a communication protocol in the communication control unit  28  for an external device such as the portable terminal  3 , the host computer  4 , or the like. 
     Hereinafter, another embodiment will be described with reference to  FIGS. 7 to 10 . Same reference numerals will be used to describe the elements that are shared with the above-described embodiment. Detailed descriptions for the above-described shared elements will be omitted. 
       FIG. 7  is a block diagram showing an example of a printer with a scanner  1 . The printer with a scanner  1  may include a CPU  11 , an FROM  12 , and a RAM  13  to store management data indicated by a bar code or the like and printing data or the like corresponding to the management data. The printer  1  may further include a display control circuit  14  that controls a display  15  configured to display operation information or label information, and include an audio notification unit  16  to audibly notify a user or the like that scanning succeeded. The printer  1  may further include a motor control circuit  17  to control a stepping motor  18  used to carry a recording medium at the time of printing operations, and include a key input unit  19  with which a user may input operation information or the like. The printer  1  may further include a head control circuit  20  to control a thermal head  21  that prints a label image on a medium such as a label or the like, and include a power supply circuit  22  which is connected to a battery  23  to supply power to each part/unit. The printer  1  may further include a scanner control circuit  24  to control a scanner  25  as a reading unit to read the bar code or the like. The printer  1  may further include a communication control unit  28  as a communication unit configured to perform SNMP communication with a portable terminal  3  or the host computer  4  to thereby transmit management data. The above-described elements of the printer  1  may be respectively connected to the CPU  11 . The printer  1  may further include a wireless LAN communication control unit  37  that is connected to the CPU  11 . 
       FIG. 8  is a hardware block diagram showing an example of a portable terminal  3 . The portable terminal  3  may include a CPU  41 , a ROM  42 , and a RAM  43  to temporarily store data that are received from the printer  1 , data that are generated by the portable terminal  3 , or the like. The portable terminal  3  may further include a display control circuit  45  to control a display  44  configured to display operation information or the generated data, and include a key input unit  45  with which a user may input operation information or the like. The portable terminal  3  may further include a wireless LAN communication control unit  47 , and a communication control unit  31  used for SNMP communication. The above-described elements of the portable terminal  3  may be respectively connected to the CPU  11 . 
     Herein, a data monitoring unit, a data analysis unit, and a print command generation unit, e.g., which are described with reference to the first embodiment, may be constituted by the CPU  41  and programs that are stored in the ROM  42 . 
     In the second embodiment, the printer  1  may use the SNMP communication to transmit the data scanned by the printer  1  to the portable terminal  3 , and then the printer  1  and the portable terminal  3  may exchange data with each other using a wireless LAN. 
     Hereinafter, a process of the printer  1  will be described with reference to  FIG. 9 . A user may operate the key input unit  19  that is provided with the printer  1  to thereby input a scan instruction (Act A 41 ). The scan control unit  24  may control the scanner  25  to emit laser light to scan a bar code (Act A 42 ). If the scanning of the bar code succeeded (e.g., the bar code reading is OK) (Act A 43 ), the CPU  11  may operate an audio notification unit  16  (Act A 44 ), and transmit the scanned data to the portable terminal  3  using the SNMP TRAP communication (act A 45 ). 
     The printer  1  may wait for a connection request from the portable terminal  3  to perform data communication by a wireless LAN (act A 46 ). If the printer  1  receives the connection request, the printer  1  may place communication circuits into a connection state (act A 47 ). The printer  1  may receive information on printing data generated by the portable terminal  3  (act A 48 ). If the printer  1  completes the reception of the printing data (act A 49 ), the printer  1  may operate the image drawing unit  27  to present the received printing data as image data, and operate the thermal head  21  to print a label onto a recording medium (not shown) while operating the stepping motor  18  to carry the recording medium (act A 50 ). Upon completing the label printing, the printer  1  may transmit data that notifies the completion of the label printing to the portable terminal  3  (act A 51 ), and exit from the connection state of the wireless LAN (act A 51 ). 
     A process of the portable terminal  3  will be described with reference to  FIG. 10 . The portable terminal  3  may monitor whether SNMP data is received (act A 61 ). Upon receiving the SNMP data, the portable terminal  3  may generate printing data based on the received SNMP data (act A 62 ). To perform communication via the wireless LAN, the portable terminal  3  may make a connection request to the printer  1  (act A 63 ). The portable terminal  3  may determine whether a communication line is placed into a connection state (act A 64 ). Upon determining the connection state, the portable terminal  3  may transmit the generated printing data to the printer  1  (act A 65 ). Upon checking whether printer  1  completed the label printing (act A 66 ) (i.e., the portable terminal  3  receives a label printing completion notification from the printer  1 ), the portable terminal  3  may exit from the connection state (act A 67 ), and complete the process. 
     In the second embodiment, the printer  1  may transmit the scanned data using the SNMP communication, which does not require the transition into the connection state, and then wireless LAN communication is placed into the communication state to thereby perform a communication using a wireless LAN. In this way, it is possible to place a communication state into a connection state for a time period, e.g., which is necessary for transmitting the printing data. Further, using a wireless LAN communication may make it possible to communicate at a high speed. Although the SNMP communication and the wireless LAN communication are used in the second embodiment, other wireless communication (e.g., SNMP communication and Bluetooth communication) may be used. 
     As used in this application, entities for executing the actions can refer to a computer-related entity, either hardware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or software in execution. For example, an entity for executing an action can be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and a computer. By way of illustration, both an application running on an apparatus and the apparatus can be an entity. One or more entities can reside within a process and/or thread of execution and an entity can be localized on one apparatus and/or distributed between two or more apparatuses. 
     The program for realizing the functions can be recorded in the apparatus, can be downloaded through a network to the apparatus and can be installed in the apparatus from a computer readable storage medium storing the program therein. A form of the computer readable storage medium can be any form as long as the computer readable storage medium can store programs and is readable by the apparatus such as a disk type ROM and a Solid-state computer storage media. The functions obtained by installation or download in advance in this way can be realized in cooperation with an OS (Operating System) or the like in the apparatus. 
     While certain embodiments have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the inventions. Indeed, the novel device and method described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the device and method described herein may be made without departing from the sprit of the inventions. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the inventions.