Label printing system and printer

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD [Detailed description of the invention]

【0001】

[Technical field to which the invention belongs]

The present invention relates to a label printing system, and more particularly to a system and a printer in which RFID tags are attached only to necessary display labels and printing and encoding are performed at the same time.

【0002】

[Previous technology]

Conventionally, there is known a technique for printing and encoding on a display label, a so-called smart label, in which RFID tags are attached to all labels, which are temporarily attached to a continuous release paper so as to be detachable. However, since RFID tags are attached to all labels in advance, the smart labels will be used even for labels such as articles and destinations that do not need to have RFID tags attached. Not only is the expensive RFID tag wasted, but it also has the disadvantage of being a resource loss.

【0003】

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

Therefore, in order to solve such a problem, the present invention determines the level of the printed content and attaches the RFID tag only to the necessary label, so that the mixture flows without distinguishing the presence or absence of the RFID tag. The idea of processing led to the completion of the present invention.

【0004】

[Means for solving problems]

The gist of the first invention for solving the above problems is a means for determining the level of printed content, a means for attaching an RFID tag to a label, a means for printing on a label, and a means for encoding to the RFID tag. If the level of the print content input from the higher-level device is determined, the RFID tag is attached based on the set value of the level, the label is printed, and the RFID tag is attached. It relates to a label printing system, characterized in that it encodes into the RFID tag. Further, the second invention has a means for determining the level of printed content, a means for attaching an RFID tag, a means for printing on a label, a means for encoding to an RFID tag, and a means for confirming the encoded content. The gist is a printer with a judgment function, which is characterized by this.

【0005】

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The "RFID tag" is expressed by various names such as "non-contact IC tag", "non-contact data carrier", "wireless IC tag", "non-contact IC", and "non-contact IC label". Therefore, in the present invention, the term "RFID tag" is typically used, and the name expressed as described above is also included.

【0006】

FIG. 1 is a plan view and a cross section showing an example of a label with RFID. (A) of FIG. 1 shows the surface of the smart label 1, and (B) shows the cross section thereof. The smart label 1 has a visible display unit 5 and a code printing unit 6 on the surface of the label substrate 2, and is composed of an RFID tag 10 and a release paper 4 on the opposite surface via an adhesive 3. Although FIG. 1 displays one smart label, it is actually temporarily attached to the release paper 4 in a detachable manner and continuously connected by the release paper 4. The smart label 1 may be provided with a protective layer on the surface of the label when the label base material 2 is required to be durable.

【0007】

The visible display unit 5 of the smart label 1 is attached to an article such as a product to visually display address information such as a name, address number information such as a telephone number, product information such as a product name, and manufacturing information such as a serial number. The code printing unit 6 is printed with a code such as identification of an article or a destination. The type of code is not particularly limited, and various barcodes, two-dimensional barcodes, OCR codes, etc. can be applied.

【0008】

A thermal transfer or a thermal sublimation transfer printing method can be applied to the printing method of the visible display unit 5 and the code printing unit 6. Using a heat transfer sheet in which a heat-meltable wax layer in which pigments and dyes are dispersed and a heat sublimation transfer layer in which a sublimation dye is contained in a binder are formed on a base sheet made of a plastic film such as a polyester resin. Printing is performed from the base sheet side of the sheet by heating with a thermal head.

【0009】

As the release paper 4, a known material called a so-called sepa paper, a separator, or a paper pattern obtained by applying a silicone resin to a high-quality paper or a paper impregnated or coated with a resin can be applied. Adhesive 3 may be a general type such as acrylic resin, vinyl acetate resin, urethane resin, etc., depending on the application of the label, the strength of cohesive force, strong adhesiveness, weak adhesiveness, re-peeling, etc. It may be selected as appropriate.

【0010】

Various materials can be used for the label base 2 of the smart label 1, and generally, papers such as high-quality paper and paperboard, synthetic paper, polyethylene and polypropylene, polyester, polyvinyl chloride, and cellulose-based resin are used. It is possible to use a general synthetic and natural plastic material such as, which has a thickness sufficient to maintain a constant flat state.

【0011】

When using a plastic material, the material itself should be opaque, such as white, or the surface should be coated with white ink, etc., so that the visible display can be easily seen with the naked eye and the barcode can be easily read by a machine. preferable. Further, an image receiving paper having an image receiving layer for thermal transfer or sublimation transfer on the printing surface is most suitable. The outer shape and dimensions of the smart label 1 are not particularly limited, but a substantially rectangular shape that is convenient for attachment to an article and handling is preferable.

【0012】

The RFID tag 10 can take various embodiments, but will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a plan view and a cross-sectional view of an RFID tag showing an example of the present invention. FIG. 2A is a plan view. The RFID tag 10 forms an antenna pattern 14 on the RFID tag base 17, and a resonance circuit is formed by the antenna pattern and the capacitive element built in the IC chip 11. When the resonance circuit receives a radio wave of a certain frequency from the reader / writer, the resonance circuit transmits the information stored in the memory to the reader / writer which is the source and returns the information.

【0013】

The antenna pattern 14 has a coil shape, and a jumping circuit is formed on the back surface of the RFID tag base 17 by the conductive member 13, and is connected to the bump or pad of the IC chip 11 by the coil connecting elements 15 and 16. Such an RFID tag 10 is formed by forming an antenna pattern 14 into a coil shape by photo-etching or etching a metal foil such as an aluminum foil laminated on an RFID tag substrate 17 after resist printing, and mounting an IC chip 11. be able to. The size can also be 50 mm x 50 mm or less. Specifically, the product name "accuwave" manufactured by Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. can be exemplified.

【0014】

Further, it is also possible to form a conductive ink in which the antenna is carbon, graphite, silver powder, or a mixture thereof dispersed in a vehicle by offset gravure silk screen printing. Further, the shape of the antenna pattern is not particularly limited, and may be a linear shape or a winding shape. The product name "Bistatix" manufactured by Motorola, which has the shape of the antenna pattern in the shape of two blades, can also be applied.

【0015】

The position where the RFID tag 10 is attached is not particularly limited, and is within a range that does not interfere with the printing operation on the visible display unit 5 code printing unit 6 of the smart label 1 and the reading of the visible information displayed after printing. Can be selected with. In general, the smart label 1 only needs to protrude to the outside, and the antenna pattern 14, which occupies most of the area, is a substantially flat surface, and there is no big problem even if it covers the visible display unit 5 and the code printing unit 6. Absent.

【0016】

The items to be displayed on the visible display unit 5 of the smart label 1 are not particularly limited, and for example, destination information such as postal code, address, company name, department name, job title, name, telephone number, facsimile number, electronic Address number information such as e-mail address, product information such as product name / grade name / model number / manufacturer, manufacturing information such as manufacturing number / manufacturing date / quality assurance and guarantee date / main specifications are attached. It may be displayed according to the item to be displayed. In addition, one printer 30 with a judgment function can print a plurality of different types for each label.

【0017】

Information such as the barcode of the code printing unit 6 of the smart label 1 can be selected as necessary from the above-mentioned destination, destination number, product, manufacturing information, and the like. In general, the identification number or address of an article is coded and printed to indicate frequent or most important matters. Even if you do not have a reader / writer for RFID tag 10, you can use it for sorting and selecting destinations with a simple barcode reader.

【0018】

In addition, a protective layer can be provided on the surface of the smart label 1. As the protective layer, a transparent film such as polyethylene terephthalate, polypropylene, or polyvinyl chloride can be laminated with an adhesive or a heat-sensitive adhesive, or an overprint layer can be formed by a thermal transfer method.

【0019】

FIG. 2B shows an RFID tag in a state in which the RFID tag 10 is continuously connected to the tag transfer substrate 4 in the form of a transfer ribbon. The long RFID tags 10 manufactured by articulation are heated to the long tag transfer base 4 via the thermal transfer layer 18 to form a laminated state, and only the RFID tag base 17 can be separated one by one. The cutting portion 19 is provided as described above.

【0020】

The tag transfer substrate 4 is a relatively tough plastic sheet such as polyethylene terephthalate, and a thickness of 6 to 50 μm can be applied. As the thermal transfer layer 18, a material obtained by removing the colorant from the ink layer of the thermal transfer sheet can be applied. Particularly preferred are various waxes that melt during printing and exhibit peelability. Suitable waxes include, for example, microcrystallin wax, carnauba wax, paraffin wax, fishertroph wax, various low molecular weight polyethylenes, wood wax, beeswax, whale wax, ibota wax, wool wax, cellac wax, candelilla wax. , Petrolactam, partially modified waxes, fatty acid esters, fatty acid amides and the like.

【0021】

Further, a release layer may be provided between the tag transfer substrate 4 and the ink layer, and a thin layer, for example, a thickness of about 0.1 to 2 μm is preferable so as not to reduce the sensitivity at the time of thermal transfer. In addition, in order to give good thermal conductivity and antistatic properties to the release layer within a range that does not significantly increase the melt viscosity, a carbonaceous substance such as carbon black or a thermally conductive substance such as metal powder is applied to the release layer. Can be blended. For this release layer, for example, acrylic resin, silicone resin, fluorine resin, silicone, or various resins modified with fluorine, which are excellent in peelability, can be used.

【0022】

The peeling layer and the ink layer can be formed by a hot melt method using gravure printing, a bar coater, or the like. Next, the thermal transfer layer surface of the long tag transfer substrate 4 provided with the thermal transfer layer 18 and the antenna surface of the elongated tag transfer substrate 4 provided with the RFID tag 10 continuously are heat-laminated and laminated. And. The RFID tag transfer ribbon 20 can be formed by providing a cutting portion 19 with a half-cutting machine so that only the RFID tag substrate 17 can be separated from the RFID tag 10 of the laminated body one by one. The ribbon is put in a cassette and supplied to a printer.

【0023】

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the printer function of the present invention. The printer 30 with a determination function has a control unit 32 via an interface unit 31, and a display unit 33 and an operation unit 34 are connected to the control unit 32. The control unit 32 includes a level determination unit 35, an RFID tag transfer unit 53, an RFID tag IC chip operation inspection unit 54, a printing unit 56, an IC chip encoding unit 57, an encoding inspection unit 58, and a functional unit of an ejection unit 59. It is composed of a label supply unit 51 that holds and supplies members, an RFID tag transfer body supply unit 52, and an ink ribbon supply unit 55.

【0024】

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of the system of the present invention. First, in step S1, the printer 30 with a judgment function is loaded with labels, RFID tag transfer ribbons, and printing ink ribbons into their respective supply units, and devices such as personal computers, servers, and networks for inputting data are connected. Turn on each power and set the level judgment. The level setting is, for example, if the name tag label is printed to manage the visitors to the exhibition, the RFID tag 10 is attached to the director level to make it a smart label, and other people use only the name tag label. In that case, it is to set the level of directors. The level setting is not limited to the classification of specific job titles, but is not limited to the classification of destinations for overseas and domestic, the classification of core products and spare parts, the classification of confidential documents and ordinary documents, and not particularly limited. Absent.

【0025】

In step S2, enter data from a personal computer or communication network. When the identification information such as a bar code is displayed on the guide letter of the exhibition, the data is also input from the personal computer or the bar code reader connected to the printer 30 with the judgment function of the present invention in the guide letter. be able to.

【0026】

In step S3, based on the above level setting criteria, if it is a director, it is determined that RFID tag 10 is necessary and the process proceeds to step 4. If it is not a director, it is determined that RFID tag 10 is unnecessary and the procedure is performed in step 5. Head.

【0027】

In step S4, it is determined that the level of the printed content requires an RFID tag, and steps S6, S7, S8, S9, S10, and S11 are executed from the control unit 32. The loaded label is unwound from the label supply section 51, and the label is temporarily peeled off from the release paper 4 while continuously moving by the RFID tag transfer member supply section 52. When the adhesive surface of the label is brought into contact with the RFID tag surface of the RFID tag transfer ribbon 20 unwound from the RFID tag transfer body supply unit 52 in step S6 and heated from the tag transfer substrate 21 side, the thermal transfer layer melts. , RFID tag 10 is transferred to the label. Then, when it is re-contacted with the release paper 4, it returns to temporary attachment.

【0028】

In step S7, the RFID tag 10 inspects whether communication is possible, continuity is possible, access to memory, and the like to see if it functions normally. If it passes, an error is displayed in step S8, and if it fails, an error is displayed, and the label is discharged without any further processing. The outflow of defective labels is prevented, and the occurrence of unprinted labels can be prevented by reprinting with an error display.

【0029】

Next, in step S8, destination information such as a predetermined name, destination number information such as a telephone number, product information such as a product name, manufacturing information such as a serial number, and the like are printed by a thermal transfer or sublimation transfer method. The printing by the ink ribbon drawn out from the ink ribbon supply unit 55 may be not only characters but also maps, photographic styles, illustrations, etc., and may be in color, and becomes the visible display unit 5. At the same time, a bar code in which the identification or destination of the article is coded is printed by a thermal transfer or sublimation transfer method to become the code printing unit 6.

【0030】

Moving to step S57, to the memory of the IC chip 11 built in the RFID tag 10, the destination information such as a predetermined name, the destination number information such as a telephone number, the product information such as the product name, and the manufacturing of the serial number, etc. Information etc. is written electrically. A product or the like is continuously used in the memory, and a list of parts and the like and its history can be written at the time of inspection / repair / repair, and the usage in the memory is not limited in any way. Similar to printing, one printer 30 with a judgment function can perform a plurality of different types of encoding for each label.

【0031】

In step S10, check if the encoding of S9 is successful. If the memory encoded in S9 is read and matched with the original data, the smart label that passed and completed is discharged to the non-defective box in step S11, and if it does not match, an error is displayed and the label is displayed. Is discharged to the defective box.

【0032】

The steps when it is determined that the RFID tag 10 does not need to be attached will be described. If it is determined that it is unnecessary in step S5, the process of steps S6 and S7 is not performed and the process passes through to step S8. In step S8, printing is performed on the visible display unit and the code printing unit in the same manner as described above. It passes through steps S9 and S10 without being processed, and is discharged to a non-defective box in step S11 to form a so-called tack label on which visible information and a barcode are displayed.

【0033】

In this way, by determining the level in advance, a label with or without RFID tag 10 attached is automatically created. It is possible to print a label without dividing a large amount of input data and keeping the mixed flow. In the past, it was necessary to replace the supplied label with a smart label with RFID tag 10 or a normal tack label one by one, or to classify and classify the input data and set each individually. In addition, in reality, smart labels are often used for all of them, resulting in a loss in terms of resources and money.

【0034】

[Example]

The label has a basis weight of 110 g / m²Product name made by Oji Yuka Synthetic Paper Co., Ltd. A receiving layer is formed by gravure printing on the surface of the visible display part of the base paper of YUPOTAC to form a label substrate, 90 g / m.²It is laminated with a sepa paper coated with silicone and an acrylic adhesive, and only the label substrate is cut to remove unnecessary parts to obtain a so-called tack label.

【0035】

The RFID tag 10 continuously connects the product name "accuwave" manufactured by Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. with the RFID tag base 17. Using polyethylene terephthalate with a thickness of 12 μm as a tag transfer substrate 21, gravure printing is performed by heating and melting an ink consisting of 45 parts by weight of carnauba wax, 45 parts by weight of paraffin wax, and 10 parts by weight of ethylene / vinyl acetate copolymer at 70 ° C. Then, the thermal transfer layer 18 is formed. The thermal transfer layer and "accuwave" continuously connected by the RFID tag substrate 17 are passed between heated rubber rolls and laminated to form an RFID tag transfer ribbon 20. As the ink ribbon, a commercially available ink ribbon for a bar code for thermal transfer is used.

【0036】

Load the above label, RFID tag transfer ribbon, and ink ribbon into each supply section of the printer 30 with judgment function shown in Fig. 3, connect it to a personal computer, turn on each power, and then from the personal computer, President A. I entered the data of Mr. and Mr. B. On Mr. A's label, a barcode corresponding to the company name, job title, and name was visually printed, and an encoded RFID tag was affixed. On the other hand, Mr. B's label was only visually printed with a barcode corresponding to the company name, job title, and name, and no RFID tag was attached.

【0037】

[Effect of the invention]

It is possible to perform label printing work by mixing the input data as it is without classifying the input data in which various levels are mixed. In general, the contents such as company, individual, address, product model number, manufacturing date, warranty, etc. are mostly mixed at various levels, and it is necessary to divide the levels, which required a lot of manpower and time. There is no, and efficiency is improved. In addition, there is no need to replace the label supplied according to the level with a smart label with RFID tag 10 or a normal tack label one by one, and there is no need to use smart labels for unnecessary ones, and expensive RFID tags. Do not waste.

【0038】

Furthermore, for example, if the product name, shipping number, barcode, etc. of the product group that moves continuously is read by another sensor, and the ID information is input from the host computer that stores the attribute information of the product ( It can be made more efficient than step S2) in Fig. 4. At the same time, this label can be peeled off from the release paper, attached to a mobile product, and flowed to a sorting line.

[Simple explanation of drawings]

[Figure 1]

It is a plan view and a cross section which shows an example of a label with RFID.

[Figure 2]

It is a plan view and a sectional view of the RFID tag which shows an example of this invention.

[Fig. 3]

It is a block diagram of the printer function of this invention.

[Fig. 4]

It is a flow chart of the system of this invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 smart label 2 Label base 3 Adhesive 4 Release paper 5 Visible display 6 Code printing section 10 RFID tag 11 IC chip 12 IC board 13 Conductive member 14 Antenna pattern 15, 16 connecting elements 17 RFID tag base 18 Thermal transfer layer 19 Cut 20 RFID tag transfer ribbon 21 Tag Transfer Ribbon 30 Printer with judgment function 31 Interface part 32 Control unit 33 Display 34 Operation unit 35 Level Judgment Department 51 Label supply section 52 RFID tag transcript supply unit 53 RFID tag transfer unit 54 IC chip operation inspection unit 55 Ink ribbon supply section 56 Printing section 57 IC chip encoding section 58 Encoding Inspection Department 59 Discharge