EP0495070B1 - Automatic equipment for the continuous composition and printing of short texts - Google Patents

Abstract

The equipment comprises a console (10) with a screen (12) and a control panel (13), and a microcomputer for processing instructions entered through the control panel (13) and transmitting them in part to the screen (12) and to a printer which prints the typeset text on a data medium, said microcomputer being further designed to control the whole of the equipment and the interaction thereof with the user. Said equipment is characterized in that the printer is a graphic-type printer; in that the actual composition of the text to be printed is controlled by customized software loaded into the microcomputer's memory; and in that the whole of said text is composed in advance by the user using said software (50) before being printed.

Description

The invention relates to a new automatic installation for the composition and continuous printing of small texts, such as in particular business cards. It also relates to an installation of the type in question for composition and continuous printing on traditional format, and in particular on A4 format.

Small printing machines have been proposed for a long time allowing non-professionals to quickly print small texts. However, although widely used, these installations require personnel and are not as fast as the consumer might wish.

Document FR-A-2 576 437 has described an automatic installation in which the user hits on a keyboard the elements which he wishes to appear on business cards, menus, etc., by viewing these elements on a screen. This installation also includes a printer which prints the text composed by the user on a relatively heavy paper support, stored in the form of a reel. A computer manages the operation of the machine and the printer. However, although constituting an important advance compared to known devices, this installation does not allow to compose at leisure the layout and only authorizes one type of format.

We have then described in French patent FR-A-2 621 153, an automatic installation of the same type, comprising elements similar to the previous installation, but in which the printer is capable of pivoting. 90 ° to allow printing of texts in at least two formats perpendicular to each other. However, the layout remains frozen so that the choice of the user remains very limited.

In addition, there is no known installation of the type in question capable of allowing, on request, the production of texts or parts of texts in A4 format, in variable series and in a short time.

• une console comportant :
  • . un écran, destiné à afficher les instructions opératoires et visualiser le texte composé ;
  • . un clavier de commande, destiné à transmettre les instructions opératoires et à composer le texte à imprimer ;
• un micro-ordinateur intégrant une interface apte à permettre l'échange d'informations entre l'écran et le clavier d'une part, et le micro-ordinateur d'autre part, ledit micro-ordinateur étant destiné à traiter les instructions transmises par le clavier, et à les transmettre en partie à l'écran et à une imprimante destinée à imprimer le texte composé sur un support, ledit micro-ordinateur étant en outre destiné à gérer l'ensemble de l'installation et l'intéraction entre celle-ci et l'utilisateur.

The invention aims to overcome all of these various drawbacks. It offers an integrated automatic installation for the composition and continuous printing of small texts or parts of texts, including:

• a console comprising:
  • . a screen, intended to display the operating instructions and view the composed text;
  • . a control keyboard, intended to transmit the operating instructions and to compose the text to be printed;
• a microcomputer integrating an interface able to allow the exchange of information between the screen and the keyboard on the one hand, and the microcomputer on the other hand, said microcomputer being intended to process the instructions transmitted by the keyboard, and to transmit them partly to the screen and to a printer intended to print the text composed on a support, said microcomputer being further intended to manage the entire installation and the interaction between that and the user.

• en ce que l'imprimante est une imprimante du type graphique, dont l'impression est gérée trame par trame par le micro-ordinateur, dans la mémoire duquel sont préalablement stockées sous forme numérique une ou plusieurs polices de caractères, chaque caractère imprimé correspondant à une pluralité de trames, pour chacune desquelles une séquence déterminée de pixels, stockés sous forme de signaux numériques, permet la restitution finale du caractère considéré,
• en ce que la composition proprement dite du texte à imprimer est gérée par un logiciel adapté à cet effet et chargé dans la mémoire du micro-ordinateur,
• et en ce que l'intégralité du texte à imprimer est préalablement composée par l'utilisateur avec l'aide dudit logiciel, puis est basculée dans une mémoire tampon associée au micro-ordinateur, apte à gérer l'impression de ce texte en basculant dans la mémoire de l'imprimante au fur et à mesure de l'impression les signaux numériques correspondant à chaque trame successive de l'imprimante, représentative de l'ensemble des pixels à matérialiser sur le support.

This installation is characterized :

• in that the printer is a graphic type printer, the printing of which is managed frame by frame by the microcomputer, in the memory of which one or more character fonts are previously stored in digital form, each printed character corresponding to a plurality of frames, for each of which a determined sequence of pixels, stored in the form of digital signals, allows the final restitution of the character considered,
• in that the actual composition of the text to be printed is managed by software suitable for this purpose and loaded into the memory of the microcomputer,
• and in that all of the text to be printed is previously composed by the user with the help of said software, then is toggled in a buffer memory associated with the microcomputer, capable of managing the printing of this text by toggling in the memory of the printer as and when printing the digital signals corresponding to each successive frame of the printer, representative of all the pixels to be materialized on the support.

In other words, the invention consists in providing a means capable of visualizing the composition of the text to be produced which, as a function of fonts stored in digital form in memory, manages the total space of the document, so that the 'We can obtain any type of printing in several possible formats and this, in both directions, namely both transversely and longitudinally on the support.

Fonts are created in digital form by scanning each of the full-size fonts, resulting in a scanned image of each of the characters, then by reducing the format by conversion, possibly supplemented by an individual manual finishing for each of the characters.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the installation comprises a payment member consisting of an electronic coin mechanism, capable of identifying the coins and of transmitting this information to the microcomputer via the interface, which then counts the sums actually paid.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the installation comprises an orientable camera, capable of photographing a character, typically the user, then transmitting the image obtained to a digitization card connected to the microcomputer, transmitting the information to the printer, so that we can produce texts with portraits in this way.

According to another characteristic of the invention, the printer of the installation comprises lateral gripping members of the paper support, made up of guides thus making it possible to use large varieties of supports, namely supports of variable width.

The graphic type printer of the invention has a quality of between ten and fifteen points per millimeter.

The graphic printer thermally prints on a continuous strip unwound from a reel, a paper support also in the form of a reel, said reel being cut to required dimensions, and comprising a pre-printed background provided with characters of different colors and / or a logotype.

• à analyser la surface d'une feuille comportant des motifs prédéterminés introduits par l'opérateur ;
• à numériser cette analyse et à transmettre l'information numérique au micro-ordinateur via l'interface, afin que ce dernier donne l'ordre à l'imprimante de l'imprimer dans un endroit préalablement sélectionné par l'opérateur, ou préalablement sélectionné dans le micro-ordinateur.

The installation also includes a scanner intended:

• analyzing the surface of a sheet comprising predetermined patterns introduced by the operator;
• to digitize this analysis and to transmit the digital information to the microcomputer via the interface, so that the latter instructs the printer to print it in a place previously selected by the operator, or previously selected in the microcomputer.

According to an advantageous form of this installation, the selection of the place of printing of the pattern or logo is carried out by means of an XY plan command. In addition, the size of this logo or motif can be adjusted by a potentiometer or a linear cursor, constituting an enlargement-reduction command, associated with the console.

• la figure 1 est une vue en perspective sommaire d'une installation conforme à l'invention ;
• la figure 2 est une représentation synoptique de la console caractéristique de l'invention ;
• la figure 3 est une représentation schématique plus détaillée de cette console ;
• la figure 4 est une représentation en perspective sommaire schématique d'une autre forme d'exécution de l'invention ;
• la figure 5 est une vue en coupe sommaire d'une autre forme de réalisation de l'invention ;
• la figure 6 est une représentation synoptique sommaire du fonctionnement de l'installation conforme à l'invention.

The manner in which the invention can be implemented and the advantages which ensue therefrom will emerge more clearly from the embodiment which follows, given by way of nonlimiting indication in support of the appended figures, in which:

• Figure 1 is a summary perspective view of an installation according to the invention;
• Figure 2 is a block diagram of the characteristic console of the invention;
• Figure 3 is a more detailed schematic representation of this console;
• Figure 4 is a schematic summary perspective view of another embodiment of the invention;
• Figure 5 is a summary sectional view of another embodiment of the invention;
• Figure 6 is a summary block diagram of the operation of the installation according to the invention.

The automatic integrated installation for the composition and continuous printing of small texts in accordance with the invention and / or parts of texts, comprises on the one hand, a panel designated by the general reference (1), comprising a flap (3) for example concave in shape, presenting different models (5,6,7) of composition, offered for reproduction as well as in (8) the essential operating instructions.

The installation also includes a console designated by the general reference (10), located just below the panel. This console, which has a screen (12) on top for displaying the operating instructions and viewing the composed text, also includes a control keyboard (13), intended for transmitting the operating instructions and for composing the text to be printed. In other words, the keyboard-screen assembly constitutes the member of interaction between the user and the installation. The screen (12) is of the black and white type but at high resolution. However, a 640 x 480 line color screen can be considered.

The keyboard (13) can be produced in any known manner. It can for example be a capacitive, mechanical keyboard or advantageously a keyboard consisting of superimposed membrane plates.

The console (10) also includes a payment member (14) such as an NRI type electric coin mechanism with vertical slot situated in a vertical plane, to avoid vandalism and the insertion of foreign bodies other than coins. It can also be combined with a LANDIS-GYR type ticket reader. This electronic coin mechanism is intended in a known manner to detect and identify predetermined coins, transmitting this information to a microcomputer (15), which then counts the amounts actually paid and initiates, when the account is good, the operating process.

• . (16) correspondant aux différentes lettres de l'alphabet, à savoir en majuscules et en minuscules ; si nécessaire, le clavier peut également comporter d'autres signes, tels que accents, trémas, etc.. ;
• . (17) les chiffres ;
• . (18) la ponctuation ;
• . et trois touches (19,20,21) de commande, respectivement de correction (19), d'espacement (20) et de validation (21).

The keyboard (13) comprises a series of keys respectively:

• . (16) corresponding to the different letters of the alphabet, namely in upper and lower case; if necessary, the keyboard can also include other signs, such as accents, umlauts, etc .;
• . (17) the numbers;
• . (18) punctuation;
• . and three keys (19,20,21) for controlling, respectively correcting (19), spacing (20) and validating (21).

The installation inside includes the microcomputer (15) already mentioned, connected by an interface (22) respectively to the coin mechanism (14), to the keyboard (13) and to the screen (12). Advantageously and known, the interface (22) is integrated into the microcomputer (15). It transmits the signals from the coin mechanism (14), the keyboard (13) and the screen (12), making them compatible with the microcomputer (15). In one embodiment, the assembly may consist of a specific electronic card.

The microcomputer (15) of the compatible type has a fast cycle time with a memory of at least one megabyte as well as an integrated floppy drive, not shown. This floppy drive is intended to receive a floppy disk containing software, which is loaded when the power is turned on. This microphone (15) is connected to a thermal printer (25), of the type known per se, in particular for printing characters, in graphics. Advantageously, a printer sold by TEC under the brand B 402 is used, having a definition of ten points per millimeter, and a principle of thermal transfer printing. This printer designated by the general reference (25), basically consists of a reel (26) for supplying a strip of determined and continuous grammage paper (27). It also includes a thermal film station, respectively a supply (28) and reception (29) coil of the thermal film (30). The print head (31) consisting of a bar of needles, comes into contact with the strip (27) and by selection and heating of the appropriate needles, induces the deposit of ink on the paper and this, frame by frame . Continuous scrolling of the paper support (27) and of the film (30) at the level of the print head (31) allows the production of the text to be printed. The creation of a character requires a plurality of printing frames. A cutting member (32) delivers the texts to the desired length. These cut texts are received in a receptacle (33). By an appropriate adjustment, in particular by means of a wheel, it is possible to obtain multiple cutting lengths of the strip (27), for example five centimeters for a business card, ten centimeters for menus, etc. .

In addition, the printer comprises lateral gripping members of the strip of paper (27) provided with slides, allowing the use of strips of different widths, and inducing the automatic centering of the strip relative to the center of the head. printing (31) of the printer.

In a variant of the invention shown in FIG. 4, the console (10) receives a camera (60) orientable in a hemisphere, intended to photograph the operator. This camera (60) acquires the image of the individual and transmits it to a digitization card (not shown) associated with the microcomputer (15), which in turn transmits this digitized image to the printer (25). It is thus possible to produce texts associated with portraits, and in particular personalized business cards or access cards.

Advantageously, the thermal printer (46) is equipped with a thermal film saver. This economizer, of the type also known, is based on the principle of declutching said printer if the latter is not used for a determined length of thermal film. In fact, it resumes on the next request to resume printing. Thus, it is then possible to print a text on any part of the sheet, in particular in the header or on the contrary at the bottom of the page, without requiring the unwinding of the thermal film for the entire center of the page. In this way, this printer is perfectly suited to the production of letterheads, commercial papers, in particular invoices, purchase orders, etc. In addition, it is sometimes desirable to provide order information also at the bottom of a sheet, such as the SIREN number, SIRET, APE code, etc.

Finally, the printer can advantageously be coupled to a folder, capable of folding the sheets after printing in two, three or even four folds.

According to an important characteristic of the invention, the various character fonts subject to the choice of the user, are stored in the memory of the microcomputer. The information in digital form stored in this memory is obtained in the following manner. First, we select a type of character. The latter are characterized by their size also called body, their fat, in other words their more or less great contrast and finally their shape. Each of the characters of the same font is then scanned, that is to say, is decomposed by scanning a matrix of photosensitive cells into a certain number of pixels, the character representative sequence of which is itself digitized. After scanning, these different characters are reduced by conversion using image processing software known for this application, then are displayed on a screen, suitable for viewing the character, that is to say, its representation after digitization. They can then be refined manually, in other words, it is possible, on a coarser matrix than the scanning matrix, materialized on the screen, to modify the digital signal corresponding to such or such pixel in order to perfect the shape of the character. on a coarser scale. This rough scale actually corresponds to the printing matrix.

Once each of the characters of the same font has been obtained in this format, each font is stored in the form of bytes in the memory of the microcomputer and this, under a specific reference.

In this way, when a determined font is selected by the user, the sequence of characters corresponding to the composed text to be printed is printed by successive scans of the printer frame by frame on the scrolling paper (27), c that is to say by printing for each frame of the sequence of pixels representative of all the graphic points of a line of text for the frame considered. While printing a frame, the printer memory is loaded with the next frame from the microcomputer buffer. At the end of a scan, the paper support as well as the thermal film advances by one step, corresponding to the spacing of the next frame in order to allow the production of all the characters, then of the composed text.

In addition, the composition of the text itself, in other words the distribution on the support, is defined by the user and managed by suitable software loaded in the microcomputer. This composition is loaded into a buffer of the microcomputer with which all of the different fields are filled. In this way, line-by-line management of the printer is made possible, so that one can obtain a final text printed in one or the other of the two perpendicular directions, corresponding respectively to the direction of travel of the paper. , or to a direction perpendicular to this direction, taking into account this overall management of the composition.

FIG. 6 shows a summary block diagram of the operation of the printer, in accordance with the invention. As already said, the keyboard (13) allows the realization of the interaction between the user and the microcomputer (15). He can notably select the format, the type of characters, the printing direction. In addition, he himself composes the composition of the text, with the help of suitable software (50), loaded into the memory of the microcomputer (15). This software firstly selects, at the user's request, the font retained in the memory (51) on the one hand, with a view to switching this font into the memory (52) of the screen (12 ), to allow viewing of the text, and possibly make corrections. Likewise, it selects this same font in the memory (53), with a view to switching this font into the buffer memory (54) of the microcomputer, in which the text is composed. The content of this buffer memory (54) is switched frame by frame in the memory (55) of the printer, so that it proceeds to print frame by frame, as described above.

The automatic integrated installation of the invention operates in the following manner. It is initialized by the payment of coins in the coin mechanism (14) of an amount determined according to the choice of the user. This initialization is materialized by the display on the screen (12) of a message indicating the procedure to be followed. The user must first of all, on the order of the messages on the screen, choose the type of card. Once this choice has been made, the user validates it with the "enter" key (21).

He must then choose the typeface which he also validates with the same "enter" key (21).

He then proceeds, always under the injunction of the messages on the screen (12), the sequences of which are themselves managed by the computer (15), with the introduction of the text he wishes or of his coordinates in the case of making business cards. Each new information is validated by the "enter" key (21). When all of the text is finished, and its composition is arranged according to its wishes, a verification is requested from the user who, if he accepts the proposed text and the composition shown on the screen (12), validates it by the "enter" key. Otherwise, he makes the corrections he wishes using the correction key (19) before confirming.

According to the type of format chosen, and according to the length of the text envisaged, the first card appears in the receptacle (33) after a period of time between 7 and 60 seconds. Then the following cards appear at the rate of one every one or two seconds.

In the embodiment shown in Figure 5, the printer (46) is provided according to the invention, a sheet feeder (47), in which is placed A4 paper. This charger (47) is a motorized charger, of the type used in photocopiers, and is provided at its upper level with a sensitive or cellular probe, associated with a paper pick-up roller (48) located at the level of the zone. bottom of the printer (46). In fact, the motorization of the feeder causes the ascent of the plate (9) constituting the feeder, then moving seldn the arrow A in order to bring the upper sheets to the level of said feeler. This probe transmits the information concerning the detection of paper to the printer, linked and managed itself by the microcomputer, so that if the total quantity of paper is insufficient, the operating process of printing cannot begin. The operation of this embodiment is similar to that described above.

The installation according to the invention has many advantages which essentially result from the fact that it consists of a fully automatic integrated assembly, not requiring personnel except personnel for maintenance and supply of consumable materials. In addition, the different formats and types of printing obtained from the particular management of the printer, allows a very large choice to be obtained, very quickly and at a modest price.

Claims (10)

1. Integrated automatic installation for the composition and the continuous printing of small texts or parts of texts, comprising :

   - a console (10) comprising :

   . a screen (12), intended for displaying the operating instructions and showing the composed text ;

   . a control keyboard (13) intended for transmitting the operating instructions and for composing the text to be printed ;

   - a microcomputer (15) including an interface (22) able to permit the exchange of data between the screen (12) and keyboard (13) on the one hand, and the microcomputer (15) on the other hand, the said microcomputer being intended for processing the instructions transmitted by the keyboard (13), and for transmitting them partly to the screen (12) and to a printer (25) intended for printing the composed text onto a medium, the said microcomputer (15) being additionally intended for managing the whole of the installation and the interaction between the latter and the user,

   characterized :

   - in that the printer (25) is a printer of the graphics type, in which printing is managed frame by frame by the microcomputer (15), in the memory of which are previously stored, in digital form, one or more character fonts, each printed character corresponding to a plurality of frames, in each of which a defined sequence of pixels, stored in the form of digital£signals, permits the final restoration of the character in question,

   - in that the composition proper of the text to be printed is managed by a program (50) adapted to this end and loaded into the memory of the microcomputer (15),

   - and in that the whole of the text to be printed is previously composed by the user with the aid of the said program, then is downloaded into a buffer memory (54) associated with the microcompwter (15) which is able to manage the printing of this text by downloading into the memory (55) of the printer, in step with the printing, the digital signals corresponding to each successive frame to be printed, representing the set of pixels to be reproduced on the medium.
2. Integrated automatic installation according to!claim 1, characterized in that the production of character fonts in digital form is carried out by scanning of each of the fonts at actual size, resulting in a digitized image of each of the characters, then by reduction of the format by conversion, possibly completed by individual manual finishing for each of the characters.
3. Integrated automatic installation according to one of claims 1 and 2, characterized in that it comprises a payment member constituted by an electronic coin box (14), able to identify the coins and to transmit this information to the microcomputer (15) via the interface (22), which then subtracts the sums actually inserted.
4. Integrated automatic installation according to one of claims 1 through 3, characterized in that it comprises a steerable camera (60), able to photograph an individual, especially the user, then to transmit the image obtained to a digitizing card connected to the microcomputer (15), transmitting the information to the printer (25), so as thereby to produce texts with portraits.
5. Integrated automatic installation according to one of claims 1 through 4, characterized in that the printer (25) comprises lateral gripping members for the paper medium (27), constituted by guides, able in addition to permit the centering of the said medium (27) with respect to the print head (31).
6. Integrated automatic installation according to one of claims 1 through 5, characterized in that the graphics-type printer (25) is of a quality of between ten and fifteen points per millimeter.
7. Integrated automatic installation according to one of claims 1 through 6, characterized in that the graphics printer (25) prints thermally, on a continuous web (30) unrolled from a reel (28), a paper medium (27) also in the form of a reel (26), the said reel being sectioned to required dimensions and comprising a preprinted background complete with characters of different colors and/or a logo.
8. Integrated automatic installation according to one of claims 1 through 6, characterized in that it additionally comprises a scanner intended :

   - for analyzing the surface of a sheet incorporating predetermined patterns introduced by the operator ;

   - for digitizing this analysis and transmitting the digital information to the microcomputer (15) via the interface (22), so that the latter gives the order to the printer (25) to print it at a site which has been previously selected by the operator, or previously selected in the microcomputer (15).
9. Integrated automatic installation according to claim 8, characterized in that the selection of the place of printing of the pattern or of the logo is carried out by means of an XY control plane, and in that the size of the pattern or of the logo to be printed is adjusted by means of an enlargement-reduction command associated with the console (10).
10. Integrated automatic installation for the composition and the continuous printing of a sheet of paper according to one of claims 1 through 3, characterized in that the printer (46), controlled by the microcomputer (15), is a printer incorporating a sheet-by-sheet loader (47).

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