JP2003280792A - Dial type operating device and printer equipped with the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide constitution that can realize even the long-distance movement of a cursor with a small operating quantity in an operating device capable of moving the cursor displayed on a display means, by a dial type operating means. <P>SOLUTION: When the detected operating angle of a dial type operating means is a prescribed value or less, the cursor is moved by the moving quantity equivalent to the operating quantity. In the case of exceeding the prescribed value, the cursor is moved by the moving quantity equivalent to the double of the operating quantity. The prescribed value is the operating angle required to move the cursor by the number of characters obtained by subtracting '1' from the maximum number of characters that can be displayed on the display means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to the structure of a dial type operating device for moving a cursor by dial type operating means. Furthermore, the present invention relates to the configuration of a printing apparatus including the operation device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a dial type operation means is rotated by displaying a cursor for editing the input character string on a display means such as a display capable of visually displaying the input character string. There is known a technique of a dial type operation device capable of changing the position of the cursor by operating. This dial type operation device can change the position of the cursor in the character string in proportion to the amount of rotation of the dial type operation means. For example, when it is desired to move the cursor displayed on the display means by two characters to the left, the operation means may be moved counterclockwise by two characters.

[0003]

However, for example, 100
When a character string longer than the character is entered,
In some cases, such as when moving the cursor from the beginning to the end of the character string, the cursor must be moved by a large number of characters. In this case, in the conventional operating device, the operating means would have to be rotated many times,
The user was forced to perform a complicated and time-consuming operation.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a dial type operating device capable of reducing the operation amount of the operating means even when the cursor has to be moved over a long distance, and a dial type operating device. To provide a printing device.

[0005]

The problem to be solved by the present invention is as described above, and the means for solving this problem will be described below.

In claim 1, (A) the character string is stored
Storage means for storing, and (B) a character string stored in the storage means
Is displayed visually and, at the same time, the
Display means for visually displaying the position of the cursor, and (C)
The position of the cursor displayed on the display means is the character string destination.
Rotate to move to the head or the end of the string.
Dial type operation means, and (D) before starting rotation operation
Position of the operating means detected in the
By calculating the detected position of the operating means,
The operation means calculates the operation angle B by which the operation is performed,
Calculating means and (E) the calculated operation angle is less than or equal to a predetermined value
The operating angle is B₁, The cursor in this case
The amount of movement of₁If the operation angle exceeds a specified value,
If the operation angle is B₂, The cursor movement in this case
ΔX₂And the cursor moves by one character
A is the unit angle amount of the operating means required for
ΔX ₁= B₁/ A, ΔX₂> B₂I will meet the relationship of / A
Movement amount ΔX₁, ΔX₂Just move the cursor,
And a solenoid position control means.

As a result, in the case of a small amount of movement such as when the cursor is to be moved by a few characters, the cursor moves accurately by the amount of movement of the dial type operation means, while the cursor moves to a far position. When it is desired to move the cursor, the amount of movement of the cursor is increased with respect to the operation amount of the dial type operation means, so that the object can be achieved with a small operation amount of the dial type operation means. As a result, the operability is excellent.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the cursor position control means of (E) calculates a moving amount ΔX ₂ of the cursor when the operating angle of the operating means exceeds a predetermined value, ΔX ₂ = k ×
It is determined so as to satisfy the relationship of B ₂ / A (k is a constant larger than 1).

As a result, the amount of movement of the cursor need only be multiplied, and the above-mentioned cursor position control means is unlikely to be overloaded. Further, even if the operation amount of the dial type operation means exceeds a predetermined value, the proportional relationship between the operation amount of the dial type operation means and the moving distance of the cursor is maintained. For example, the relationship that the cursor can be moved for a long distance is maintained, and there is an advantage that the operation method is easily familiar with the general feeling of the user.

In the third aspect, the constant k is 2.

As a result, the cursor movement calculation process is simplified, and when the operation amount of the dial type operation means exceeds a predetermined value, the cursor can be moved twice as much as the operation amount, and the processing speed can be increased. Can be planned.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the display means of (B) is constructed so as to be able to display a part extracted by a predetermined number of characters from the character string stored in the storage means, and (E). The predetermined value in the cursor position control means is 1 from the maximum number of characters that can be displayed by the display means.
This is the operation angle required to move the cursor by the number of characters minus.

Accordingly, when the cursor is moved within the number of characters displayed on the display means, if the operation amount of the operation means is a character, the movement of the cursor is also a character. The amount of movement can be accurately matched. On the other hand, when it is desired to move the cursor beyond the number of characters displayed on the display unit, the cursor can be moved over a long distance with a small amount of operation of the operating means. Therefore, in the movement within the number of display characters, it is possible to quickly and easily move the cursor more than the number of display characters of the display means, and to request that the cursor be moved accurately by operating the operation means by a certain number of characters. Any of the requests to do so can be reasonably met.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, (A) a storage unit for storing a character string, (B) a preset character group is displayed, and a character to be added to the character string is selected from the character group. Visually display the cursor position of,
A display means and (C) a dial type operation means that is rotated to move the position of the cursor, further comprising the means (D) and (E) of claim 1. Is.

As a result, when a group of characters is displayed in a list on the display means and the cursor is moved to select a character, a small amount such as when moving the cursor by two or three characters. When the cursor is moved, the cursor moves accurately by the amount of movement of the dial type operation means, while when it is desired to move the cursor to a distant position, the object can be achieved with a small amount of operation of the dial type operation means.
As a result, the operability is excellent.

In the sixth aspect of the present invention, the cursor position control means of (E) calculates the moving amount ΔX ₂ of the cursor when the operating angle of the operating means exceeds a predetermined value, ΔX ₂ = k ×
It is determined so as to satisfy the relationship of B ₂ / A (k is a constant larger than 1).

As a result, the amount of movement of the cursor need only be multiplied, and the above-mentioned cursor position control means is less likely to be overloaded. Further, even if the operation amount of the dial type operation means exceeds a predetermined value, the proportional relationship between the operation amount of the dial type operation means and the moving distance of the cursor is maintained. For example, the relationship that the cursor can be moved for a long distance is maintained, and there is an advantage that the operation method is easily familiar with the general feeling of the user.

In the seventh aspect, the constant k is 2.

As a result, the cursor movement calculation process is simplified, and when the operation amount of the dial type operation means exceeds a predetermined value, the cursor can be moved twice as much as the operation amount, and the processing speed can be increased. Can be planned.

In the eighth aspect, the display means of (B) is configured to display a part extracted from the character group by a predetermined number of characters, and in the cursor position control means of (E). The predetermined value is an operation angle required to move the cursor by the number of characters obtained by subtracting 1 from the maximum number of characters that can be displayed by the display means.

Thus, when the cursor is moved within the number of characters displayed on the display means, if the operation amount of the operation means is a character, the movement of the cursor is also a character. The amount of movement can be accurately matched. On the other hand, when it is desired to move the cursor beyond the number of characters displayed on the display unit, the cursor can be moved over a long distance with a small amount of operation of the operating means. Therefore, in the movement within the number of display characters, it is possible to quickly and easily move the cursor more than the number of display characters of the display means, and to request that the cursor be moved accurately by operating the operation means by a certain number of characters. Any of the requests to do so can be reasonably met.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, the printing apparatus is provided with the dial type operating device and further with a printing unit for printing the character string stored in the storage unit of (A). .

As a result, it is possible to provide the printing apparatus which is excellent in the operability of character input, especially the operability of cursor movement operation as described above.

[0024]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the overall configuration of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a liquid crystal display. Figure 3-
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing operation examples of the “character input mode”, the “cursor movement mode”, and the “symbol list selection mode”.

Printer 1 whose plan view is shown in FIG.
Is a label tape that has an adhesive layer on one side (print medium)
In FIG. 7, a character string including alphabets, numbers and symbols is printed.

The printer 1 has a selection dial (dial type operation means) 11 on one side of the upper surface of the main body case 2 and a liquid crystal display (display means) 3 on the other side. Label tape 7 on the body case 2
Built-in thermal head for printing on (not shown),
In addition, a cartridge that integrally includes the wound label tape 7 and the ink ribbon can be set in the main body case 2. The label tape 7 after printing is ejected as shown in FIG. 1, and by pressing the cut button 6, the label tape 7 can be cut by a cutting mechanism built in the main body.

The selection dial 11 has a circular dial and is rotatably provided on the upper surface of the main body case 2. An input button 12 is arranged at the center of the selection dial 11. A power key 13, a function key 14, and a print key 15 are arranged near the selection dial 11.

In the dial portion of the selection dial 11, there are two rows, the inner peripheral side and the outer peripheral side, and the alphabet "ABC.
"...", numbers "123 ..." and symbols "#! &..."
Characters such as “” are arranged side by side at equal intervals over the entire circumference (C ₁ · C ₂ ). A display member 4 made of a transparent synthetic resin is provided on the main body case 2, and the display member 4 has a shape protruding so as to partially cover the upper side of the selection dial 11. A lens portion 5 is formed on the display member 4 so that a character C ₁ on the outer peripheral side of the selection dial 11 that overlaps the lens portion 5 can be enlarged and displayed (FIG. In 1, the letter "A" is enlarged).

The liquid crystal display 3 is for displaying a character string input by the selection dial 11 and the input button 12, and is formed in a horizontally long rectangular shape. As shown in FIG. 2, which is an enlarged view of the liquid crystal display 3, eight dot-character type character display portions of horizontal 5 dots × longitudinal 7 dots are arranged side by side in the horizontal direction at the central portion in the vertical direction. The character display area 21 is capable of displaying 8 characters. Below the character display area 21 is a cursor display area 22, and eight horizontal line-shaped cursor display areas of 5 dots horizontally × 1 dot vertically are arranged corresponding to each of the character display areas.

Above the character display area 21, a "capital letter input mode" display section 23 _U , each of which has a triangular shape,
A "lower case input mode" display section _23L , a "numeral / symbol input mode" display section _23N , and a "cursor movement mode" display section _23M are arranged. Further, in the case of character modification such as outline, italic / bold, underline, and enclosing character, an inverted triangular display unit 24 _I · 24 _U · 2 for displaying that fact.
4 _A is arranged below the character display area 21.

This printing apparatus has three main modes: "character input mode", "cursor movement mode", and "symbol list selection mode". The "character input mode" is a mode in which a character can be selected by rotating the selection dial 11 and the input button 12 can be pressed to input the selected character at the cursor position. The "cursor movement mode" is a mode in which the position of the cursor can be changed by rotating the selection dial 11.
The “symbol list selection mode” displays a list of symbols that can be input on the liquid crystal display 3 together with the selection cursor, changes the position of the selection cursor by rotating the selection dial 11, and presses the input button 12. In this mode, the symbol at the selected cursor position can be added to the cursor position of the character string. That is, the selection dial 11 is used for both the character selection operation in the "character input mode" and the cursor movement operation in the "cursor movement mode" and "symbol list selection mode".

In the printing apparatus of this embodiment, the "character input mode" includes three modes of "uppercase input mode", "lowercase input mode" and "numeric / symbol input mode". The “capital letter input mode” is a mode in which the alphabet C ₁ attached to the outer peripheral side of the selection dial 11 is directly input in capital letters. "Lowercase input mode"
In this mode, the alphabet C ₁ attached to the outer peripheral side of the selection dial 11 is input in lower case. The "number / symbol input mode" is a mode for inputting a number, a symbol, or a pictogram C ₂ attached to the inner peripheral side of the selection dial 11. These "uppercase input mode""lowercase input mode"
To switch between "Numeric / Symbol input mode", select dial 11
After pressing the function key 14 arranged in the vicinity of, the operation can be switched by operating the selection dial 11 and the input button 12.

In these "uppercase input mode", "lowercase input mode" and "numeric / symbol input mode", the corresponding mode display section 23 _U
23 _L and 23 _N are configured to light up. Therefore, by checking the mode display portions 23 _U , 23 _L, and 23 _N , it is possible to know which mode is currently set,
As a result, it is possible to determine whether the input is an uppercase letter, a lowercase letter, a number, etc. when the input button 12 is pressed. In addition, in these three modes (character input mode), the cursor is displayed in the cursor display area 22 of the liquid crystal display 3 in a display form that is always lit.

A specific operation method in this "character input mode" will be described. In the "character input mode", when the selection dial 11 is rotated so that a desired character overlaps the position of the display member 4 and the input button 12 is pressed, the character displayed on the display member 4 is displayed. It can be input to the printing device and the character is inserted into the string. The position to be inserted is determined by the position of the cursor displayed on the liquid crystal display 3 described above.

Description will be made with reference to the example of FIG. In the character display area 21, the character string “BROHE
"R" is displayed, and at the same time, at the position of the letter "H",
A horizontal bar-shaped cursor 50 is displayed. It is assumed that the selection dial 11 is aligned so that the character “Q” comes to the position of the display member 4. When the selection dial 11 is rotated counterclockwise by three characters from this state, the character “T” is overlapped with the display member 4. When the input button 12 is pressed on that, the character “T” is inserted immediately before the character “H” where the cursor is displayed. As a result, the liquid crystal display 3
Is displayed as "BROTHER".

It should be noted that the selection dial 11 is provided with an icon C _D meaning "delete one character" (FIG. 1), and when a character is entered by mistake, this icon C _D is displayed on the display member. Select dial 11 to come directly under 4
By pressing the input button 12 together with, the character immediately before the cursor can be deleted.

In this "character input mode", the relative position of the cursor 50 with respect to the character string (that is, which character of the character string the cursor is located at) is fixed, and the cursor position cannot be changed. Can not. The mode for changing the position of the cursor is the above-mentioned "cursor movement mode". To switch from the "character input mode" to the "cursor movement mode", rotate the dial 11 so that the "cursor movement mode shift" icon C _M attached to the selection dial 11 overlaps the display member 4,
Then, the input button 12 may be operated.

In this "cursor movement mode",
Rotating the selection dial 11 clockwise moves the cursor to the right (that is, the end of the character string), and rotating it counterclockwise moves the cursor to the left (the end of the character string). Composed.

The cursor movement operation in this mode is
This will be described with reference to the example of FIG. In this example, the previously entered character string “BROHER” is the liquid crystal display 3
The cursor 50 is displayed at the position of the character "H". When the selection dial 11 is rotated counterclockwise by three characters from this state, the cursor moves to the left by three characters and is displayed at the position of "B". By pressing the input button 12 in this state, the cursor is fixed at the position of "B" and the "cursor movement mode" is switched to the "character input mode".

In the present embodiment, since the liquid crystal display 3 can display up to 8 characters at the same time, when a character string of 9 characters or more is input, the input character string is displayed in the character display area 21 of the liquid crystal display 3. Of these, 8 characters are extracted and displayed. When the selection dial 11 is still operated even when the position of the cursor 50 reaches the end of the display area, the display of the character display area 21 is scrolled to display the character string portion that is not displayed. Has been done.

However, the display position of the cursor 50 on the liquid crystal display 3 is fixed at the center position, and the cursor can be moved also by scrolling the display character string on the liquid crystal display 3 in accordance with the rotating operation of the selection dial 11. .

In this "cursor movement mode",
"Cursor movement mode" display 23 _MWhen lights up
The cursor 50 turns on / off at an appropriate time interval.
Is displayed on the liquid crystal display 3 in a display form in which
The user is currently in "cursor movement mode".
You can easily know that. In addition, in the example of FIG.
Moves the blinking cursor 50 at a
It is shown by the hatching of lines.

Next, the "character list selection mode" which is a special character input mode will be described. To shift to this mode, the selection dial 11 and the input button 12 may be appropriately operated after operating the function key 14 described above. In this mode, a list of symbols that can be input by the printer 1 and a selection cursor are displayed on the liquid crystal display 3. The user moves the selection cursor in exactly the same manner as in the above-mentioned “cursor movement mode”, positions the selection cursor at a desired symbol and presses the input button 12 to move the symbol to the position of the cursor in the character string. It can be added.

The operation in this mode will be described with reference to the example of FIG. In this example, a list of symbols “+ − ± ÷ × = / \! ...” Arranged in a predetermined order is displayed in the character display area 21 of the liquid crystal display 3, and the horizontal bar-shaped symbol selection cursor 51 is also displayed. Is displayed at the "+" position. By rotating the selection dial 11, the user
The symbol selection cursor 51 can be moved. When the desired symbol is not displayed on the liquid crystal display 3, the selection dial 11 is still rotated clockwise even when the symbol selection cursor 51 is at the right end so that the undisplayed portion appears in the character display area 21. Just scroll. Then, the symbol selection cursor 51 is placed under the desired symbol (in this example, "." (Period)), and the input button 12 is pressed on it. As a result, the symbol “.” Is inserted into the character string at the position of the cursor 50, and the “symbol list selection mode” is switched to the “character input mode”.

The structure for detecting the operation position of the selection dial 11 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a partial sectional view of a plan view showing the position detecting configuration of the selection dial.

Five photo interrupters 30 are arranged at appropriate positions in the main body case 2, and a pattern of arc-shaped light shielding ribs 31 is formed on the lower surface of the selection dial 11 in correspondence with the positions of the photo interrupters 30. It is formed in a concentric shape. The light-shielding ribs 31 provided on the respective concentric circles divide the central angle of the selection dial 11 into two equal parts.
The pattern is divided into equal parts, 8 equal parts, 16 equal parts, 32 equal parts, and is arranged in every other divided areas. The pattern of the presence or absence of the light shielding rib 31 is a series of code patterns. With this configuration, when the selection dial 11 rotates, the light shielding ribs 31 cut off across the optical paths of the five photo interrupters 30 according to the rotation angle. As a result, the code pattern of the light shielding rib 31 can be detected by the five photo interrupters 30, and from the detection result,
The operation position (angle position) of the selection dial 11 can be detected with a resolution of 2 to the 5th power (360 ° / 2 ⁵ = 11.25 ° resolution).

The characters and symbols C ₁ and C ₂ provided on the selection dial 11 are 2 ⁵ = 32 around the entire circumference of the selection dial 11 according to the resolution (2 ⁵ ) of position detection of the selection dial 11.
They are evenly spaced and equally spaced. Therefore, by detecting the code pattern of the photo interrupter 30, it is possible to determine which of the characters on the selection dial 11 overlaps the display member 4.

[0048] Further, within the main body casing 2 is formed a cylindrical portion on the selection dial 11, 2 ⁵ on the inner peripheral surface thereof
= 32 concave portions 41 and convex portions 42 are formed alternately at equal intervals over the entire circumference, while engaging claw bodies 43 that engage with the concave portions 41 are provided on the main body case 2 side. The engaging claw 43 is made of elastic metal or synthetic resin, and has a claw 44 that engages with the recess 41. With this configuration, select dial 11 to 11.2
Every time it is rotated by 5 °, the claw portion 44 engaged with one concave portion 41 rides over the convex portion 42 by the elastic deformation of the engaging claw body 43 and engages with the adjacent concave portion 41. Therefore, every time the selection dial 11 is rotated by one character, an appropriate catching feeling is transmitted to the user's hand along with the sound of "click".
The user can easily perceive how many characters the selection dial 11 has rotated, and the operation feeling is enhanced.

Next, the electrical construction of the printing apparatus 1 will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. FIG. 7 is a block diagram of the printing apparatus.

The printer 1 includes a CPU (central processing unit) 61, a ROM (read-only memory) 62, and a RAM.
A (writing / reading memory) 63 is provided. The CPU 61 performs various calculations and corresponds to the calculation means and the cursor position control means in the present invention. The ROM 62 stores various programs and fixed values, and specifically stores a main processing program and a subroutine program executed in the main processing (62a). Further, dot pattern data when printing on the label tape 7 by the thermal head 67 described later is stored in the form of a table 62b associated with the character code. Further, in the ROM 62, the correspondence between the operation position of the selection dial 11 and the characters attached to the upper surface thereof is stored as a conversion table 62c. Specifically, in this conversion table, the signal converted by the absolute value encoder 40 described later and the corresponding character code are provided for each of the above-mentioned “capital letter input mode”, “lowercase letter input mode”, and “numeric / symbol input mode”. It is associated and stored.

In the RAM 63, a storage area 63a for flags and counters, which will be described later, is secured, and is written or referred to when executing the program processing, and used for calculation by the CPU 61. Furthermore RAM
63 includes an input data buffer 63b and a print data buffer 63c. The input data buffer 63b stores information on the input character string and information on whether character modifications such as italics and bold letters have been made. Therefore, the RAM 63 corresponds to the storage means in the present invention in the present embodiment. The print data buffer 63c is
It is for temporarily storing data to be printed. That is, when the print key 15 is input, the character string data stored in the input data buffer 63b is written into the print data buffer 63c in the form of being converted into the dot pattern data described above, and according to the dot pattern data, Dot printing is performed by the thermal head 67.

The above-mentioned CPU 61, ROM 62, RAM 6
3 are connected to each other via a bus line 64,
This bus line 64 also has an I / O interface 65.
It is connected to the.

The I / O interface 65 is a standard for contacts in data communication between different devices, and is an electrical standard for connecting other devices to the CPU 61. The I / O interface 65 is provided with a photo interrupter 30 for reading the code pattern of the light shielding rib 31 of the selection dial 11, and an absolute value encoder 40.
Connected via. Further, the I / O interface 6
Various operation buttons such as the input button 12 and the print key 15 are connected to the display unit 5, and a display mechanism DM and a printing mechanism (printing means) PM are also connected to the unit 5.

The absolute value encoder 40 is for converting the pattern (code pattern) of the presence or absence of the light shielding rib 31 of the selection dial 11 detected by the photo interrupter 30 into an encoder signal. Based on this encoder signal, the CPU 61 determines to which position the selection dial 11 is currently operated, and further, the ROM described above.
Based on the conversion table 62b stored in 62,
The character code corresponding to this can be acquired.

The display mechanism DM is a known one having the above-mentioned liquid crystal display 3 and an LCD controller 66 having a display RAM for outputting display data to the liquid crystal display 3. This LCD controller 6
Reference numeral 6 is provided with a read-only memory (not shown), and stores the dot pattern data of horizontal 5 dots and vertical 7 dots to be displayed in the character display area 21 of the liquid crystal display 3.

The printing mechanism PM includes a drive circuit 70 for driving the tape feed motor 69 for feeding the label tape 7.
And a drive circuit 68 for driving the thermal head 67.

Next, the processing of the program will be described.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the main flow. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the "character input mode" subroutine. FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing the "cursor movement mode" subroutine. FIG. 11 is a flow chart showing a rotation direction determination processing routine of the selection dial. Figure 12 shows the operating position of the selection dial before rotation,
FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an operation position after rotation and an intermediate position, and FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of three intermediate positions stored in a subroutine.
FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of cursor position changing processing.

[Main Routine] The main flow is shown in FIG. In this main routine, when the power is turned on by the power key 13, various initialization processes are performed (step 101) and then the main loop is entered. In this main loop, first, it is determined whether the current mode is "character input mode", "cursor movement mode", or "symbol list selection mode" (step 1
02), a different subroutine is executed according to the determination result (steps 103, 104, 105). After that, a subroutine for updating the display of the liquid crystal display 3 is executed (step 106). Although detailed description of the processing of this subroutine is omitted, switching of the lighting / blinking display of the cursor, input of a character string or reflection of an editing result, scroll processing according to cursor movement, and the like are performed. After that, other processing common to each mode (for example, print processing according to the operation of the print key 15,
A process for switching to the "symbol list selection mode" is performed according to the operation of the function key 14 (step 107). In the present embodiment, the above steps 102 to 1
A series of processing of 07 is repeated every 0.05 seconds (0.05 seconds per loop).

[Character Input Mode Subroutine] FIG. 9 shows a subroutine for the “character input mode” processing executed in step 103. In this subroutine, it is first determined whether or not the input button 12 has been pressed (step 201). If the input button 12 is not pressed, nothing is done and the subroutine is exited.

When the input button 12 is pressed, the operation position of the selection dial 11 (hereinafter referred to as "dial position") is acquired based on the signal from the absolute value encoder 40 (step 202), and then the dial position is selected. Is branched depending on which is (step 203). When the cursor movement mode transition icon C _M is located on the display member 4, the current "character input mode" is switched to the "cursor movement mode" (step 204) and the subroutine is exited. When the one-character delete icon C _D is located on the display member 4, one character is deleted at the position immediately before the cursor currently displayed (step 20).
5) Exit the subroutine. In other cases, the character code is acquired based on the conversion table 62c described above (step 206), the character is added immediately before the cursor position in the character string (step 207), and the subroutine exits. The above is the subroutine executed in the “character input mode”.

As a result of the subroutine being constructed as described above, the following processing is performed in the "character input mode". That is, in the "character input mode", no particular processing is performed while the user is rotating the selection dial 11 for character selection unless the input button 12 is pressed (step 201). The position of the selection dial 11 is acquired for the first time by pressing the input button 12 after adjusting the selection dial 11 to the desired position (steps 202 and 203). Depending on this result, switching to the "cursor movement mode" or (step 20
4), character deletion processing (step 205) and character addition processing at the cursor position (steps 206, 20)
7), as an alternative.

[Cursor Movement Mode Subroutine] Next, FIG. 10 shows a subroutine for the “cursor movement mode” processing executed in step 104 of FIG. In this subroutine, first, the current position of the selection dial 11 is acquired (step 301), the content of the rotating operation flag is examined, and the process branches depending on whether the content is true or false (step 302). The in-rotating flag is for storing the state of whether or not the selection dial 11 is currently being rotated, and its storage area is previously allocated to the RAM 63.

When the rotating operation flag is "false",
In step 303, the current dial position of the selected dial 11 acquired in step 301 is set in the previous loop (specifically, in step 30 executed in the previous loop).
(At step 7), it is determined whether the dial position is different from the stored dial position. If they are different, it means that the rotation operation of the selection dial 11 has just started, and therefore the process proceeds to step 304 and the subsequent steps. That is, the dial position stored in the previous loop is stored as the pre-rotation operating position (step 304), and the content of the rotating operation flag is set to "true".
(Step 305), and further, the content of the counter n used for storing an intermediate position described later is set to zero (step 306). After that, the current dial position is stored (step 307) and the subroutine is exited.

In step 303, when the current dial position of the selected dial 11 matches the dial position stored in the previous loop, it means that the selected dial 11 is not operated and remains stationary. At this time, the process proceeds to step 308, and it is determined whether or not the input button 12 has been pressed. When the input button 12 is pressed, the character input mode is switched to the current cursor position (step 309) and the subroutine is exited. If the input button 12 has not been pressed, the current dial position is stored (step 307) and the processing of the subroutine ends.

When the rotation operation flag is "true" in step 302, the counter n is incremented by 1 (step 310), and the process branches depending on whether the counter n is 3 or less (step 311). ). If the counter n is 3
In the following cases, the dial position acquired in step 301 is stored in the RAM 63 as the nth intermediate position (step 312). As a result, the position of the selection dial 11 at 0.05 seconds, 0.10 seconds, and 0.15 seconds immediately after the rotation operation is started is the first intermediate position, the second intermediate position, and the third intermediate position. Will be stored as The stored intermediate position is used in the rotation direction determination process described later.

Next, it is determined whether or not the dial position of the current selected dial 11 obtained in step 301 is the same as the dial position stored in the previous loop (step 313). When this is different, it means that the operation of the selection dial 11 is not yet completed (that is, during rotation), so the determination counter C for determining the end of the rotation operation is reset to zero (step 314). ),
The current dial position is stored (step 307) and the processing of the subroutine ends.

On the other hand, when the dial positions are the same, it means that the selection dial 11 is stationary. Therefore, the judgment counter C is incremented by 1 (step 315) and the value of the counter C reaches 3. Is determined (step 31)
6). When the value of the judgment counter C is 2 or less, the current dial position is stored (step 307) and the subroutine is exited. When the value of the judgment counter C becomes 3 or more (that is, when the selection dial 11 is in a stationary state, 0.15
If it is held for more than a second), it is determined that the rotating operation has ended, the contents of the rotating operation flag are rewritten to "false" (step 317), and the dial rotation direction determination processing subroutine and cursor position change described later are performed. A processing subroutine is executed (steps 318 and 319).
After that, the current position of the selection dial 11 is stored (step 307), and the processing of the subroutine ends.
The above is the subroutine executed in the “cursor movement mode”.

As a result of the subroutine being constructed as described above, in the "cursor movement mode", the following processing is performed according to the operation of the selection dial 11. The rotating operation flag is "false" and the selection dial 11
When is stationary, the process proceeds from step 301 to 302
→ Go to 303. Since the selection dial 11 is stationary, it is determined in step 303 that the position of the selection dial 11 is the same as in the previous loop, so the process proceeds from step 308 to 307, and the process related to cursor movement is not performed.

Immediately after starting to rotate the selection dial 11,
Although the rotating operation flag is "false", the position of the selection dial 11 is different from that in the previous loop. As a result, the process proceeds in the order of 301 → 302 → 303 → 304,
The position of the selection dial 11 at the time of the previous loop (that is, immediately before the rotation operation is performed) is stored as the pre-rotation operation position. Further, the rotation operation flag is set to "true" (step 305), and the counter n is set to "0" (step 306).

In the next loop, the in-rotation operation flag is "true", so the process proceeds from step 301 to step 30.
Proceed to 2 → 310. Here, the counter n whose content is “0” is incremented by 1, and the result is “1”, and the step 3
At 12, the current dial position is stored as the first intermediate position. In the next loop, the counter n becomes "2", so that the current dial position is stored as the second intermediate position in step 312. Further, in the next loop, the counter n becomes “3”, so that the current dial position is stored as the third intermediate position in step 312. That is, the position of the selection dial 11 in the three loops immediately after the rotation operation is stored as the first, second, and third intermediate positions.

When the in-rotation flag is "true", in step 313, the dial position at the previous loop and the current dial position are compared in each loop. When the selection dial 11 is rotating, the dial position at the time of the previous loop and the current dial position are different, so the content of the determination counter C remains "0" (step 314).

After the rotation operation of the selection dial 11 is completed and the selection dial 11 is stopped, it is detected that the current dial position and the dial position at the time of the previous loop are the same, and the judgment counter C is incremented by 1 for each loop. (Step 31)
5). The contents of the judgment counter C are judged in step 316. When the content of the judgment counter C is “3”, it means that the stationary state of the selection dial 11 has continued for the time of three loops (0.05 × 3 = 0.15 seconds). Then, it is determined that the rotating operation of the selection dial 11 has been completed, the in-operation flag is returned to "false" (step 317), and steps 318 and 31 are performed.
The cursor is moved by the subroutine processing 9 (details will be described later).

In the next loop, the in-rotation operation flag is "false" and the selection dial 11 is stationary, so the processing is step 301 → 302 → 303.
→ Go to 308. When the input button 12 is pressed, the fact is detected in step 308, and the mode is switched to the character input mode (step 309).

[Rotation Direction Judging Subroutine] Next, referring to FIG.
The subroutine for determining the rotation direction executed in step 318 of step 0 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In this subroutine, the counter n is set to "1" as the initialization processing (step 40).
1), the forward / reverse direction determination counters P1 and P2 are both set to "0" (steps 402 and 403).
Then, when the selection dial 11 is rotated in the forward direction (in this embodiment, the counterclockwise direction) from the pre-rotation operation position stored in the RAM 63 in step 304 of FIG. 10, it is stored in step 312. Nth
A rotation amount (angle A1 shown in FIG. 12) required to position the intermediate position is calculated (step 404). On the other hand,
When the selection dial 11 is rotated in the reverse direction (clockwise direction) from the pre-rotation operation position, the rotation amount (angle A2 in FIG. 12) required to position the selection dial 11 at the n-th intermediate position is calculated (step 405). ). As is clear from FIG. 12, there is a relation of A2 = 360 ° −A1, and therefore A2 may be calculated based on this relation. Also,
It is not necessary to calculate both A1 and A2 as strict angle amounts, and it is sufficient to calculate how many characters the selection dial 11 can be rotated to reach the intermediate position.

Then, A1 and A2 are compared (step 406). If A1 is smaller, the forward direction determination counter P1 is incremented by 1 (step 407). Otherwise, the backward direction determination counter P2 is added. Is incremented by 1 (step 40
8).

By performing the series of processes of steps 404 to 408 in each case of n = 1, 2, and 3 while adding the counter n (steps 409 and 410), as shown in FIG.
The first intermediate position stored in step 312 of step 1,
A1, for each of the second intermediate position and the third intermediate position
A2 is calculated and compared, and the result of the comparison is accumulated in the forward direction determination counter P1 and the backward direction determination counter P2.

After the loop processing is completed, the forward direction determination counter P1 and the backward direction determination counter P2 are compared (step 411). When P1> P2, it is determined that the rotation operation of the selection dial 11 was in the forward direction (step 412), and otherwise, the selection dial 1 is rotated.
It is determined that the rotation operation of 1 was in the reverse direction (step 4).
13). The above is the "rotation direction determination processing" subroutine.

The process of the "rotation direction determination process" subroutine will be described in detail. FIG. 12 shows two positions of the selection dial 11, which are the pre-rotation operation position and the post-rotation operation position. It may be reached or rotated in the opposite direction. In this respect, the printing apparatus of the present embodiment can detect the operation position itself of the selection dial 11 by the photo interrupter 30 described above, but cannot directly detect the rotating direction of the selection dial 11.

Therefore, in order to provide the judgment of the rotation direction,
In the "cursor movement mode" subroutine,
The intermediate position (intermediate position) from the start to the end of rotation of the selection dial 11 is stored (step 312 in FIG. 10). This intermediate position is 0.05 seconds to 0.1 seconds after the rotation of the selection dial 11 is started.
Since it is acquired after a short time of 5 seconds, a case in which the selection dial 11 is rotated more than a half turn (180 °) within this short time cannot be realistically assumed. Therefore,
By calculating and comparing A1 and A2 described above, it is determined whether the pre-rotation operation position can be rotated in the forward direction or the reverse direction to reach the intermediate position with a smaller rotation amount, and the rotation amount is small. The rotation direction of the selection dial 11 can be determined by adopting the side direction (a positive direction because A1 <A2 in FIG. 12) as the determination result.

In the present embodiment, the light shielding rib 3
The operation position of the selection dial 11 is detected by the combination of 1 and the photo interrupter 30. Since this is a non-contact method, it has excellent durability, but also has a dimensional error in the light-shielding rib 31 and a photo interrupter 30.
An error in the position of the selection dial 11 will occur due to the error in the mounting position of. A typical case where this detection error occurs is that the selection dial 11 is located at the exact middle between the position corresponding to a certain character (for example, “A”) and the position corresponding to the adjacent character (for example, “B”). It is the case that is located in.

In this case, the photo interrupter 30
The boundary portion of the presence / absence of the light shielding rib 31 is located at. Ideally, the switching of the presence or absence of the light-shielding ribs 31 should be completely the same for all five photo interrupters 30, but due to manufacturing errors of the light-shielding ribs 31 and errors in the mounting position of the photo-interrupter 30, etc. It is inevitable that a shift will occur in the switching of the presence or absence of 31. Therefore, in the small angle area where this deviation occurs,
The desired code pattern was not obtained and the selection dial 11
The position of may be detected by mistake. That is, in the light of the above-mentioned example, there is a slight angular region in which the position of the selection dial 11 is erroneously detected as "Q" when the selection dial 11 is rotated from "A" to "B". To do. In particular, the selection dial 11 during rotation
In "Cursor movement mode" to get the position of
In many cases, the selection dial 11 is instantaneously positioned in the angle region, and the possibility of false detection increases.

In consideration of the possibility of such a detection error, in the present embodiment, the first, second and third three positions are obtained by shifting the intermediate position by 0.05 seconds. In the rotation direction determination process, the above-mentioned values A1 and A2 are calculated for each of the three intermediate positions, and both values A1 and A2.
I try to compare A2. Then, the result of the comparison is accumulated in the determination counters P1 and P2, and finally P1
By comparing with P2, the majority decision is made.

That is, since it is the intermediate position that acquires the position of the rotating selection dial 11 at that moment, there is a possibility that the above-mentioned error may occur when the intermediate position is detected (for example, However, it can be said that the probability of erroneous detection of two or more of the three acquired intermediate positions is extremely low. By utilizing this, the rotation direction is comprehensively determined from the three intermediate positions, thereby improving the accuracy of the determination.

Description will be made with reference to the example of FIG. In this figure, with respect to the operation from the start to the end of rotation of the selection dial 11, the position before rotation and the operation position after rotation, together with the three intermediate positions acquired and stored in the "cursor movement mode" subroutine of FIG. It is shown. In this figure, among the three intermediate positions, the first and third intermediate positions are located on the forward side of the pre-rotation operating position, while the second intermediate position is located on the reverse side of the pre-rotation operating position. .

At this time, in the above subroutine, P1 is incremented by 1 because A1 <A2 for the first intermediate position and P2 is added for A2 <A1 at the second intermediate position.
Is incremented by 1, and P1 is incremented by 1 because A1 <A2 at the third intermediate position. As a result, the content of P1 is "2", the content of P2 is "1", and since P1> P2, the rotation direction is determined to be the forward direction. The determination as described above means that “the first and third intermediate positions are normally detected, and the second intermediate position is due to an erroneous detection”. As described above, it can be said that the probability of false detection of two or more of the three acquired intermediate positions is extremely low.
The determination of this subroutine can be said to be a probabilistically appropriate determination, and is excellent in the rotation direction determination system.

[Cursor Position Change Subroutine] Next,
"Cursor movement mode" processing subroutine (Fig. 1
The subroutine for cursor position changing processing executed in step 319 of (0) will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In this subroutine, first, the dial rotation amount B is calculated from the pre-rotation operation position previously stored in step 304 of FIG. 10 and the current dial position (step 501). At this time, the rotation direction of the selection dial 11 determined by the rotation direction determination subroutine of FIG. 11 is used. The display member 4 is the selection dial 1
1 is configured to cover the outer peripheral side and a part of the upper surface of the display member 4. Therefore, even if the selection dial 11 is rotated 360 ° or more at a time, the display member 4 is rotated with respect to the operating finger.
Acts as an obstacle to prevent the operation. Utilizing this fact, in the present subroutine, the processing is simplified by calculating the dial rotation amount B described above assuming that the selection dial 11 is not rotated more than 360 ° at a time.

Then, the dial rotation amount B is a multiple of the unit angle amount A required to move the cursor by one character (A = 11.25 ° as described above in this embodiment), that is, how many characters. It judges whether it is a minute and branches (step 50).
2). If the number of characters is 7 or less, the cursor is moved by the number of characters as usual (step 503). The cursor movement amount ΔX _{1 at} this time satisfies the relation ΔX ₁ = B ₁ / A, where B ₁ is the operation angle of the selection dial. In addition, the above-described rotation direction determination subroutine (see FIG.
Of course, the selection dial 11 is moved in the direction corresponding to the rotation direction determined in 1). If it is 8 characters or more, it is determined that the user intends to move the cursor over a long distance, and the cursor is moved by an amount equal to double the number of characters (step 504). At this time, the cursor movement amount ΔX ₂ is calculated by setting the operation angle of the selection dial as B ₂ .
The relationship of ΔX ₂ = 2 × B ₂ / A (ΔX ₂ > B ₂ / A) is satisfied.

In step 502 described above, the criterion for judgment branching is set to 7 characters is that the liquid crystal display 3 described above is used.
This is because the distance required for the cursor to reach from end to end is seven characters. That is, since the liquid crystal display 3 of the present embodiment can display 8 characters at the same time, if the selection dial 11 is moved by 7 characters, the cursor on the edge of the liquid crystal display 3 will reach the other edge.
Conversely speaking, when the selection dial 11 is rotated by eight characters or more at a time, the scroll process is always performed.

That is, when the operation amount of the selection dial 11 for one operation is 7 characters or less, the user looks at the current display of the liquid crystal display 3 and the position of the cursor 50,
In many cases, it is confirmed that the target position to which the user wants to move the cursor 50 is, for example, two characters to the right of the current position, and based on that, the selection dial 11 is rotated by two characters. Therefore, if the selection dial 11 is moved by two characters, it is in line with the user's intention to move the cursor accurately by the number of characters (two characters). On the other hand, when the selection dial 11 is rotated at a time by exceeding 7 characters, the target position to move the cursor 50 before the rotation is the liquid crystal display 3
It is rare that the user operates the selection dial 11 thinking that he / she wants to move, for example, exactly 15 characters from the current position of the cursor 50, and it is rare to operate the selection dial 11 in that direction. It can be considered that the user's intention is that he wants the user to move the distance. In such a case, since the user often desires to move the cursor over a long distance, the cursor 50 is moved by a distance corresponding to twice the rotation amount of the selection dial 11. The user's intended purpose can be achieved with a small amount of operation of the dial 11.

The amount of movement of the cursor 50 is selected in the selection dialog.
2 times the manipulated variable of Rule 11 (ΔX ₂= 2 x B₂/ A)
Is an integral multiple, so rounding after the decimal point is unnecessary.
The load on the CPU 61 is small, and the multiplication operation is a bit
Since only the process of shifting one
It depends on what can be done quickly. However, it is limited to such processing
Not added, a fixed value is added to the dial operation amount, or other than 2
Multiply by a constant of (however, a number greater than 1. For example, 3)
It doesn't matter. In short, select dial 11 for 7 characters or less
Lower amount B₁The amount of cursor movement when turned by ΔX₁, 8
Amount B of characters or more₂The amount of cursor movement when turned is ΔX₂
And then ΔX₁/ B₁<ΔX₂/ B₂The relationship of
It only has to be.

In the present embodiment, the branch point for deciding whether or not to double the movement amount of the cursor 50 is 7 characters, but this corresponds to the maximum number of characters that can be simultaneously displayed on the liquid crystal display 3 is 8. This is because the maximum movement distance visible on the liquid crystal display 3 before the selection dial 11 turns the target position for cursor movement is 7 characters (when moving the cursor from one end to the other). .
Therefore, when the number of characters that can be simultaneously displayed on the liquid crystal display is different, this value may be appropriately changed accordingly. Further, it is not necessary to stick to the value obtained by subtracting 1 from the number of characters that can be displayed simultaneously on the liquid crystal display. For example, even if the liquid crystal display 3 of the present embodiment can display 8 characters, the selection dial 11 can be operated. The cursor movement amount may be doubled only when the amount is 10 characters or more.

Since the processing of the "symbol list selection mode" subroutine executed in step 105 of the main routine is almost the same as the "cursor movement mode" processing shown in FIG. 10, detailed description thereof will be omitted. . That is, FIG.
In the subroutine for the "cursor movement mode" processing of 0, the movement processing of the symbol selection cursor 51 is performed instead of the movement processing of the cursor 50 in step 318, and step 309 when the input button is pressed
If the process of adding the symbol on which the symbol selection cursor 51 is positioned to the position of the cursor 50 of the character string is performed before the process of, the process of the "symbol list selection mode" can be realized.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the configurations of the above embodiments, and various modifications are possible. For example, not only the "symbol list selection mode" for displaying a list of symbols but also a list of alphabets and numbers is displayed on the liquid crystal display 3, and a character to be added is selected from the list with a selection cursor. A character input form is also conceivable, and in this case, the operating device of the present invention can naturally be applied.

The dial type operating device of the present invention is not limited to the printing device for the label tape, but can be applied to other printing devices as well as any device that requires input of a character string.
For example, a mobile phone or a personal digital assistant capable of exchanging character string emails can be considered.

[0097]

Since the present invention is constructed as described above,
Even if the cursor has to be moved a long distance, the amount of operation of the dial type operation means can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the overall configuration of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a liquid crystal display.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an operation example in a “character input mode”.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an operation example of a “cursor movement mode”.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an operation example of a “symbol list selection mode”.

FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view of a plan view showing a position detection configuration of a selection dial.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a printing apparatus.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a main flow.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of “character input mode”.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of “cursor movement mode”.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a rotation direction determination processing routine of a selection dial.

FIG. 12 is a view showing a pre-rotation operation position, a post-rotation operation position, and an intermediate position of the selection dial.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of three intermediate positions stored in a subroutine.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of cursor position changing processing.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Printing device with dial-type operating device 3 Liquid crystal display (display means) 11 Selection dial (dial type operation means) Fifty cursors

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Sachiko Numata             15-1 Naedai-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya-shi, Aichi Prefecture             Within Lazer Industry Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 2C055 CC05                 2C061 CQ05 CQ14 CQ29                 5B020 AA03 AA17 CC12 DD05 FF53                       GG05 GG13 HH22                 5B021 AA30 PP04 QQ01

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A storage unit for storing (A) a character string, and (B) visually displaying the character string stored in the storage unit, and also displaying a position of a cursor for editing the character string. Display means for visually displaying, and (C) Dial-type operating means that is rotationally operated to move the position of the cursor displayed on the display means to the character string start side or the character string end side. (D) By calculating the position of the operation means detected before the start of the rotation operation and the position of the operation means detected after the end of the rotation operation, the operation angle B at which the operation means is rotationally operated. And (E) the operation angle when the calculated operation angle is less than or equal to a predetermined value, B ₁ , the movement amount of the cursor in this case is ΔX ₁ , and the operation angle is a predetermined value. If the operation angle exceeds the value, the operating angle is B ₂ , When the amount of movement of the cursor is ΔX ₂ , the unit angle amount of the operating means required to move the cursor by one character is A, and ΔX ₁ = B ₁ / A, ΔX ₂ > B ₂ / A A dial type operation device having cursor position control means for moving the cursor by the movement amounts ΔX ₁ , ΔX ₂ satisfying the relationship. 2. The dial type operation device according to claim 1, wherein the cursor position control means of (E) is a moving amount Δ of a cursor when an operation angle of the operation means exceeds a predetermined value.
A dial type operating device, wherein X ₂ is defined so as to satisfy a relationship of ΔX ₂ = k × B ₂ / A (k is a constant larger than 1). 3. The dial type operating device according to claim 2, wherein the constant k is 2. 4. The dial type operating device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the display means of (B) is a predetermined one from a character string stored in the storage means. A part extracted by the number of characters is configured to be displayed, and the predetermined value in the cursor position control means (E) moves the cursor by the number of characters obtained by subtracting 1 from the maximum number of characters that can be displayed by the display means. A dial type operating device, which is characterized in that the operating angle is necessary for the operation. 5. A storage means for storing a character string, and a cursor position for displaying a preset character group and selecting a character to be added to the character string from the character group. And (D) and ((C) of claim 1 further comprising: a display unit for visually displaying a message, and (C) a dial type operation unit that is rotated to move the position of the cursor. A dial type operating device provided with the means of E). 6. The dial type operation device according to claim 5, wherein the cursor position control means of (E) is a moving amount Δ of a cursor when an operation angle of the operation means exceeds a predetermined value.
A dial type operating device, wherein X ₂ is defined so as to satisfy a relationship of ΔX ₂ = k × B ₂ / A (k is a constant larger than 1). 7. The dial type operating device according to claim 6, wherein the constant k is 2. 8. The dial type operating device according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the display means of (B) extracts a predetermined number of characters from the character group. And a predetermined value in the cursor position control means of (E), the operation necessary for moving the cursor by the number of characters obtained by subtracting 1 from the maximum number of characters that can be displayed by the display means. A dial type operation device characterized by being an angle. 9. A dial-type operating device according to claim 1, further comprising a printing unit for printing the character string stored in the storage unit of (A). A printing device further provided.