JP2556238C - - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tape printer for printing characters and symbols on a tape, and more particularly to a tape printer for designating a block for each character or symbol of an arbitrary number of lines. In the case of printing by arranging in the longitudinal direction of the tape, the character size for printing a plurality of characters and symbols included in the block is selected for each block according to the number of printing lines of each block . 2. Description of the Related Art As described in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 1-85050, the applicant of the present invention has a tape (for example, a tape having a width of 10 mm and a width of about 24 mm) as a printing medium which can print characters and symbols. Although a printing device has been put to practical use, this tape printing device is suitable for producing a tape on which the file name to be attached to the spine of a file is printed. Further, the applicant of the present application has proposed a tape printing apparatus having a function of printing a plurality of lines of characters and symbols on the tape (see Japanese Patent Application No. 3-91492). In the above-described tape printer, the number of lines to be input must be set, and when there are a plurality of lines, data must be input by designating one line at a time. It is troublesome. In a conventional tape printer, the desired number of print lines set for document data stored in the text memory, for example, the character size when printing two or three lines is determined by one type in advance according to the number of print lines. Only set it. By the way, depending on the character strings to be printed on the tape, there are cases where it is desired to change the number of print lines and continuously print these character strings, for example, in a two-line print part and a three-line print part. In this case, a character string is printed in advance by setting a character size that enables tape printing with the maximum number of printing lines, so that even if the number of lines is changed, printing is performed with one type of character size. There is a problem that the character size of a character string having a small number of print lines becomes smaller with respect to the tape width, and overall appearance is reduced. The present invention provides a tape printer that prints a plurality of blocks of characters and symbols of an arbitrary number of lines arranged in the longitudinal direction of the tape, and sets a character size for printing a plurality of characters and symbols included in the blocks. The purpose is to select each block according to the number of print lines of the block, and to print each block with good appearance over the tape width. Tape printer according to the problem-solving means for the present invention includes an input means for inputting characters and symbols, a print head for printing by relative movement in the longitudinal direction of the tape in the tape as a print medium Printing means for inputting new block data for dividing a character or symbol of an arbitrary number of lines into one block and arranging a plurality of such blocks in the longitudinal direction of the tape; Detecting means for detecting data relating to the width of the tape to be performed; line number calculating means for obtaining the number of lines in the block for each block; and for each block, the number of lines based on the number of lines and the width of the tape. The size of the characters or symbols that can be printed on the block is specified for each tape width of the tape.
Refer to the size table that sets the character size that can be printed in the
And a print control unit for causing the printing unit to print the input character or symbol in the size of the selected character or symbol. The tape printing apparatus preferably includes a storage unit storing a plurality of size data of characters to be printed on the tape, and the size selection unit can be configured to select a predetermined size from the storage unit. The tape printing apparatus preferably further comprises a size setting key for manually selecting the size of the character or symbol to be printed on the tape, wherein the size setting key manually selects the size of the character or symbol; , The state of automatic selection can be switched. According to the tape printing apparatus of the present invention, characters and symbols are inputted by the input means .
When entering characters and symbols with a line feed key or block
In addition to arranging on multiple lines in the width direction of the
A number of blocks are arranged in the longitudinal direction of the tape. Line breaks and line breaks at any position in characters and symbols
Since a block is specified, characters and symbols can be easily arranged in a desired arrangement.
Then, at the time of printing, data relating to the width of the tape is detected by the detecting means, and
First, the number of lines in each block is calculated by the line number calculating means, and the number of lines and the tape width are calculated.
The size of characters and symbols that can be printed on the block based on the size selection means
Prints the printable character size for each tape width of the tape.
By referring to the size table set for each number, it is automatically selected for each block according to the number of print lines of each block. The printing control means creates dot pattern data based on the selected size and causes the printing means to print. Te In this way, the size of the order of the character printing in accordance with the number of the print line on a block-by-block basis
For each tape width of the tape, the character size that can be printed on that tape width is the number of printing lines.
Since the size is automatically selected by referring to the size table set for each block, even if the number of print lines increases or decreases, characters and symbols in each block can always be printed in a well-balanced and good manner with respect to the tape width. Preferably, the size of characters and symbols can be automatically selected as described above, and the size can be manually selected and printed on the tape, thereby increasing the degree of freedom in tape creation. Can be. Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, the present invention is applied to a tape printer exclusively for English which can print a large number of characters such as alphabetic characters and symbols on a printing tape (tape as a printing medium). As shown in FIG. 1 , a keyboard 3 is provided at a front portion of a main body frame 2 of the tape printer 1, a printing mechanism PM is provided in the main body frame 2 behind the keyboard 3, and a keyboard 3 is provided. A liquid crystal display 2 that can display characters and symbols behind
2 are provided. The keyboard 3 includes a character key for inputting alphabets, numbers and symbols, a space key, a line feed key for a line feed command, a line feed key for a line feed command,
Cursor movement keys to move the cursor right or left, document creation key to create document data, format setting key to set print format, size setting key to set print character size, font of print character A typeface setting key for setting, a print key for executing printing, a power key for turning on / off the power, and the like are provided. Next, the printing mechanism PM will be briefly described with reference to FIG. 2. A rectangular tape storage cassette CS is detachably mounted on the printing mechanism PM, and the tape storage cassette CS is made of a transparent film. A tape spool 6 on which a printing tape 5 having a width of about 24 mm is wound, a ribbon supply spool 8 on which an ink ribbon 7 is wound, a winding spool 9 for winding the ink ribbon 7, and a printing tape 5; A supply spool 11 on which a double-sided tape 10 having the same width is wound with the release paper outside,
A joining roller 12 for joining the printing tape 5 and the double-sided tape 10 is rotatably provided. At a position where the printing tape 5 and the ink ribbon 7 overlap with each other, a thermal head 13 is erected, and a platen roller 14 for pressing the printing tape 5 and the ink ribbon 7 against the thermal head 13; A feed roller 15 for pressing the double-sided tape 10 against the joining roller 12 is rotatably supported by a support 16. The thermal head 13 has 128 heads arranged in the vertical direction, that is, in the tape width direction.
A heating element group including a plurality of heating elements is provided. Therefore, when the joining roller 12 and the take-up spool 9 are driven in synchronization with each other in the predetermined rotation direction by the drive of the tape feed motor 24 (see FIG. 3 ) in the predetermined rotation direction, and when the heating element group is energized, printing is performed. On the printing tape 5, characters are printed by a plurality of dot rows while being sent in the longitudinal direction (tape feeding direction A), and after printing, the printing tape 5 is sent out with the double-sided tape 10 joined. The printing mechanism PM has the same configuration as that of a known configuration (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-106555). A cassette discriminating member 17 for setting the type of the tape accommodating cassette CS, that is, the tape width of the stored printing tape 5 is attached to the bottom wall of the tape accommodating cassette CS. A cassette discriminating sensor 18 (see FIG. 3 ) composed of a photo interrupter for detecting a projecting piece (not shown) is attached to the main body frame 2. Therefore, the tape width can be detected based on the discrimination signal from the cassette discrimination sensor 18. Also, set the tape width to "6mm
, "9 mm", "12 mm", and "18 mm", various tape storage cassettes CS around which the printing tape 5 is wound are separately prepared. Next, the control system of the tape printing apparatus 1 is configured as shown in the block diagram of FIG. A keyboard 3; a cassette discrimination sensor 18; a drive circuit 21 for a warning buzzer 20; a display controller (LCDC) 23 having a display RAM for outputting display data to a liquid crystal display (LCD) 22; A drive circuit 25 for driving the head 13 and a drive circuit 26 for driving the tape feed motor 24 are connected to an input / output interface 27 of the control device C, respectively. The control device C includes a CPU 29, an input / output interface 27 connected to the CPU 29 via a bus 28 such as a data bus, a CGROM 30, a ROM 31.
32 and a RAM 40. In a CGROM (pattern data memory) 30, dot pattern data for display is stored in association with code data for each of a large number of characters. In a ROM (outline data memory) 31, outline data (outline data) for defining the outline of the character for each of a large number of characters in order to print the character is a typeface (Gothic typeface, Mincho typeface, etc.). Each code is classified and stored in association with the code data. It should be noted that each of these multiple outline data stores a vertical dimension and a horizontal dimension of the print image. The ROM 32 prints from a display drive control program for controlling the display controller 23 in correspondence with character code data such as characters, numbers and symbols input from the keyboard 3, and outline data corresponding to each code data in the text memory 41. To print dot pattern data
And a print drive control program for sequentially reading data from the print buffer 47 and driving the thermal head 13 and the tape feed motor 24, and a tape print control control program unique to the present application. I have. Further, in the ROM 32, for each of the five types of tape widths of the printing tape 5, a size table TB in which the character size that can be printed on the tape width is set for each number of printing lines is stored in advance. For example, in the size table TB (24) having a tape width of “24 mm”, as shown in FIG. 4 , the character size is set for each of the printable line numbers “1” to “5”. The other four types of size tables T
Since the same applies to B, its illustration and description are omitted. The text memory 41 of the RAM 40 stores code data of characters and symbols input from the keyboard 3 as document data. Print format memory 42
Stores a plurality of print format information such as set character size data PZ and typeface data. The number of blocks N in the document data stored in the text memory 41 is set in the block number counter 43. The set size data PZ is stored in the character size memory 44. The print line number memory 45 stores the print line number L of the block document data. The work memory 46 stores the read block document data. The print buffer 47 stores dot pattern data of a plurality of characters and symbols developed as images. Therefore, the print buffer 47 is provided with a memory capacity of 128 bits (16 bytes) corresponding to 128 dots in the vertical direction (dot row direction) and predetermined bits of 50 characters in the horizontal direction. The dot pattern data of a line or a plurality of lines of print characters is developed.
The flag memory 48 stores the flag data of the auto flag AF which is set (the data is “1”) when the auto size is set as the character size. Further, the RAM 40 is provided with a buffer, a counter, a pointer, and the like for temporarily storing the calculation result calculated by the CPU 40. Next, the routine of the tape print control performed by the controller C of the tape printer 1 will be described with reference to the schematic in the flowchart of FIG. In addition, the symbol S in the figure
i (i = 10, 30, 60...) is each step. When the power is turned on by operating the power key, this control is started. First, after operating the document creation key, code data corresponding to the operated character key, space key, line feed key, and block feed key is input as document data. The document data input / edit processing is executed (S10). Next, a process for setting a print format such as a character size, a font, and a decoration designation is performed by operating the format setting key (S30). Therefore, the print format setting process includes a plurality of format setting processes such as a character size setting process and a font setting process. Next, a dot pattern data creation process for expanding the print dot pattern data for printing the document data in the print buffer 47 by operating the print key is executed (S60), and the dot pattern data read from the print buffer 47 is read. The data is output to the printing mechanism PM and the printing process is executed (S9).
0). Next, the routine of the character size setting process control included in the print format setting process will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When the size setting key is operated, this control is started, and first, a character size setting screen is displayed on the display 22 (S31). For example, as shown in FIG. 9 , the character size for printing is displayed as a point value corresponding to the numbers "1" to "6", and the auto size is displayed corresponding to the number "7". You. Next, when a numeric key valid for the character size setting is operated (S32 / S33: Yes), and when any character size other than the automatic size is set (S34: No), the auto size flag AF is reset. (S36), the set size data PZ is stored in the character size memory 44 (S37), and the control is terminated to return to the tape print control. However, when the auto size is selected (S34: Yes
), The auto size flag AF is set and the auto size mode is set (S
35) Similarly, the flow returns to the tape print control. Next, the routine of the print dot pattern data creation processing control executed by the S60, will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. At this time, as shown in FIG. 8 , the text memory 41 sequentially stores the document data of the first, second, and third blocks, and operates a new block key operation at the delimiting position of each block of document data. Are stored respectively. A character string for two-line printing is stored as document data of the first block, a character string for one-line printing is stored as document data of the second block, and five lines are printed as document data of the third block. Is stored (see FIG. 10 ). When this control is started, first, tape width data is read based on a discrimination signal from the cassette discrimination sensor 18 (S61). Then, the text memory 41
If there is document data to be printed in the block (S62: Yes), the number of blocks N is obtained based on the number of new block codes (S63), and the number of blocks N is stored in the block number counter 43 as the number of blocks BC. Is performed (S64). Next, when the auto size mode is set (S65: Yes), first, the block document data of the first block is read and stored in the work memory 46 (S66).
). For example, from the text memory 41 shown in FIG. 8 , the character string "WEA
First block document data composed of “K” and the character string “POINT” of the second print line is stored in the work memory 46. Next, the number L of print lines of the block document data is determined from the number of line feed codes and block feed codes, and the number L of print lines is stored in the print line number memory 45 (S67). Next, based on the size table TB corresponding to the tape width data and the number of print lines L, read-out size data for printing characters on the printing tape 5 in use is obtained as an auto size AP. The size AP is stored in the character size memory 44 (S68). For example, the tape width of the printing tape 5 in use is “24 mm”
In, when the number of print line L is "2", "20 points" is obtained as the auto size AP from the size table TB shown in FIG. Then, the base line position (base line position) of each print line is obtained based on the auto size AP, the tape width data, the number of print lines L, and the outline data (S69). Next, the code data of the character string of each print line is read from the work memory 46 based on the base line position of each print line, and the outline data is scaled up and down. Are created, and the dot pattern data is sequentially developed in the print buffer 47 (S70). Next, the block number BC is decremented by one (S71), and when the block number BC is not "0", that is, when the subsequent block document data exists in the text memory 41 (S72:
No), S65 and the subsequent steps are executed, and dot pattern data is sequentially created for the subsequent block document data and developed in the print buffer 47. When the dot pattern data has been created for all the block document data in the text memory 41 (S72: Yes), after this control is completed, the printing process is performed based on the dot pattern data stored in the print buffer 47. Is executed (S90). For example, from the text memory 41 shown in FIG. 8 , the following document data of the second block consisting of one print line is read out, and the document data of the third block consisting of five print lines is read out. So that
The dot pattern data is sequentially created and stored in the print buffer 47. As a result of the printing process, as shown in FIG. 10 , each of the first, second, and third blocks B1 to B3 is automatically selected in block units according to the number L of printing lines, and Even if the number L increases or decreases, characters and symbols in the blocks B1 to B3 can always be printed in a well-balanced and good manner with respect to the tape width. Further, the characters and symbols in each of the blocks B1 to B3 are printed in the same size, and the balance of the characters and symbols in each of the blocks B1 to B3 can always be improved. On the other hand, when the auto size mode is not set (S65: No),
Similarly to 66 and S67, first, the block document data of the first block is read, and the number L of print lines of the block document data is obtained (S73 and S74).
Then, based on the size data PZ, the tape width data, the number of print lines L, and the outline data stored in the character size memory 44, the total character height obtained by summing the character heights of the respective print lines is equal to the total character height of the print tape 5. When it is smaller than the printable area and printable (
S75: Yes), S69 and the subsequent steps are executed, and dot pattern data for each block document data is sequentially created and stored in the print buffer 47. If the document data to be printed does not exist in the text memory 41 at the start of this control (S61: No), or if the total character height is larger than the printable area and printing is not possible (S75: No), The buzzer 20 is sounded for a warning (S76), and the flow shifts to S10 for tape print control. Note that the number of print lines and the size stored in the size table TB are merely examples, and a plurality of print lines and various sizes can be set. In addition, tape width W is 24mm
It is also possible to use various printing tapes 5 other than the above. In addition, such as a tape printer that stores the print image of characters and symbols as dot pattern data,
Of course, the present invention can be applied to various tape printers. As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained. In other words, the size for character printing is automatically selected for each block according to the number of printing lines, and even if the number of printing lines increases or decreases, characters and symbols in each block are always balanced and good with respect to the tape width. Can be printed on Also, by selecting one size for each block by the size selection means, characters and symbols in each block are printed in the same size, and the balance of characters and symbols in each block can always be improved. In addition, the tape printing apparatus of the present invention can easily arrange characters and symbols in a desired arrangement by designating a line feed or block at an arbitrary position of the character or symbol when inputting the character or symbol, At the time of printing, the number of lines in each block is obtained, and the characters and symbols of the size selected based on the number of lines can be printed in a well-balanced manner as described above. In addition, when selecting the size of characters and symbols, the tape width is also referred to,
Printing can be performed in a balanced manner for any tape width. In addition to the automatic selection of the size of characters and symbols as described above, it is also possible to manually select an arbitrary size and print on the tape, thereby increasing the degree of freedom in tape creation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view of a tape printer. FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of a printing mechanism. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a control system of the tape printer. FIG. 4 is a table showing setting contents of a size table. FIG. 5 is a schematic flowchart of a tape print control routine. FIG. 6 is a schematic flowchart of a character size setting process control routine; FIG. 7 is a schematic flowchart of a printing dot pattern data creation processing control routine;
is there. FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a data configuration in a text memory. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a character size setting screen. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a print example in which a size is determined and printed in block units. [Description of Signs] 1 Tape printer 3 Keyboard 13 Thermal head 24 Tape feed motor 29 CPU 31 ROM 32 ROM 40 RAM 41 Text memory 44 Print buffer C Controller CS Tape storage cassette PM Printing mechanism TB Size table

Claims (1)

Claims: 1. An input means for inputting characters and symbols, a printing means including a print head for relatively moving a tape as a printing medium in a longitudinal direction of the tape and printing, and an arbitrary number of lines. Block designating means for inputting new block data for arranging the characters and symbols as one block and arranging a plurality of blocks in the longitudinal direction of the tape; and data relating to the width of the tape provided to the printing means Detecting means for detecting, line number calculating means for calculating the number of lines in the block for each block, characters and symbols printable on the block based on the number of lines and the width of the tape for each block To the tape width for each of the tape widths of the tape
Size selection means for selecting a printable character size by referring to a size table set for each number of printing lines, and causing the printing means to print the input characters and symbols in the size of the selected characters and symbols. A tape printer, comprising: a print controller. Wherein further comprising a storage means for storing a plurality of size data of the characters to be printed on the tape, the size selecting means according to claim 1, characterized in that selecting a predetermined size from the storage unit Tape printing device. 3. A size setting key for manually selecting the size of a character or a symbol to be printed on the tape, wherein the size of the character or symbol is manually selected with the size setting key, and the size is automatically selected by the size selecting means. 2. The tape printing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the state of the tape printing is switched.