JP2560297B2 - Output device - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an output device, and in particular, a space corresponding to an equal pitch is provided at both left and right ends of a specified range on an output medium such as a printing paper or a display. Output device for outputting characters and symbols at equal pitches.

(Prior Art) In a conventional printing device such as an electronic typewriter or a word processor, for convenience of printing an input character string to create a document, for example, FIG.
As shown in (b), the groove rows are aligned at both end positions of the pre-specified range, the characters at both ends of the character string are aligned, and the even allocation function of evenly allocating within the specified range, and both ends of document lines are preset. There are already known ones having a justification function that evenly allocates character strings in different positions (for example, JP-A-60-124270 and JP-A-60-41260).
No., Jitsukai Sho 60-119560).

In the conventional printing device having the uniform allocation function, the user specifies the uniform allocation range on the CRT display or the LCD display. Further, in the conventional printing device having the justification function, both ends of a line are collectively designated for the entire document over a wide range.

(Problems to be solved by the invention) When a document is created, for example, when a title is specially printed at a predetermined position on the top of the document, or when it is printed in a predetermined blank space of the already printed document. In some cases, it may be desirable to print characters at equal pitches within a desired or designated range.

However, in the conventional printing device having the uniform allocation function, for example, as shown in FIG. 7 (a), the characters "ABC" are printed at equal pitches in predetermined blank spaces (printing range) between * marks. In this case, if the position is set in advance and the character “ABC” is input and printing is performed at equal pitches, the character “A” is displayed at the left end position of the printing range as shown in FIG. 7 (b). The characters are printed adjacent to each other, and the character "C" is printed adjacent to the right end position of the same pitch. The equal printing pitch at this time is shown by "b".

At this time, when the print range is relatively wide and the number of print characters such as tiles is small, the space between the print characters is wide, and it is not possible to determine which is the title.

Therefore, when spaces are provided at both ends of the print range in order to facilitate the discrimination of the title, the print range may be set between'and 'in FIG. 7 (a). If spaces are to be provided at both ends of the print range, the operator must measure the print range, obtain the equal pitch value by calculation, and finely feed the carriage according to the equal pitch value to print two prints. There are problems that it cannot print at equal pitch and the operability is poor.

(Object of the Invention) An object of the present invention is to provide an output device capable of outputting a character string within a predetermined range on an output medium at an equal pitch accurately, simply and quickly.

(Means for Solving Problems) An output device according to the present invention, as shown in the functional block diagram of FIG. 1, outputs an input means for inputting characters and symbols and an output medium for characters and symbols. In an output device equipped with an output means and a control means for controlling the output means so as to output a character or a symbol corresponding to input data from the input means to the output medium, a range of equal pitch output on the output medium is set. A range setting means for setting is provided, and an equal pitch data memory for storing the equal pitch output data inputted from the input means is provided, and the range on the output medium set by the range setting means and the character string data of the equal pitch data memory are set. Spaces corresponding to an equal pitch obtained based on the number of divisions obtained by adding 1 to the number of characters are provided at the left end portion and the right end portion of the range to equip the equal pitch control means for outputting the character string at the equal pitch. It is a gift.

(Operation) In the output device according to the present invention, when a character or a symbol is input from the input unit, the control unit outputs the character or the symbol corresponding to the input data from the input unit to the output medium. Control means. In response, the output means outputs the character or symbol to the output medium.

On the other hand, the equal pitch output data input from the input means is stored in the equal pitch data memory. Further, the range setting means sets the range of equal pitch output on the output medium. When the setting of the output range is completed, the space corresponding to the equal pitch obtained based on the range on the output medium by the equal pitch control means and the number of divisions obtained by adding 1 to the number of characters of the character string data of the equal pitch data memory becomes the range. The output means provided at the left end and the right end are controlled so that the character strings are output at the same pitch.

(Effects of the Invention) According to the output device of the present invention, the left and right end portions of the output device are provided within a desired output range on the output medium, including the range setting means, the equal pitch data memory, and the equal pitch control means. Since a space corresponding to a constant pitch is provided to output characters and symbols at a constant pitch, it is possible to easily print at a constant pitch and improve operability. For example, when the output means is the printing means, as shown in FIG. 6 (b) according to the embodiment, spaces corresponding to equal pitches are provided at the left and right ends of the desired range designated on the print medium to input data. Can be printed at an equal pitch, so that when a title or the like is printed in a predetermined blank space of a printed document or the like, it can be easily discriminated which is the title and can be printed quickly and neatly.

(Example) Hereinafter, the Example of this invention is described based on drawing.

In this embodiment, the present invention is applied to an electronic typewriter.

As shown in FIG. 2, a keyboard 3 is arranged in the front part of the body frame 2 of the electronic typewriter 1, and a printing mechanism PM is arranged in the body frame 2 behind the keyboard 3. The keyboard 3 is provided with the following various keys. That is, the alphabet key 10 and the numeric key
Character key including 11 and symbol key 12, space key 13, back space key 14, return key 15, tab set key
16, a paper feed key 17, a paper return key 18, a repeat key 19, a cursor movement key 20, an even allocation key 21, an execution key 22 for executing uniform pitch printing, and the like. In addition, even allocation key
Reference numeral 21 is a key for instructing the shift to the even allocation mode peculiar to the present invention. The other various keys and the functions and operations obtained by operating them are almost the same as those of the existing typewriter, and therefore the description thereof is omitted here.

At the rear of the keyboard 3, an LCD display (liquid crystal display) 71 for displaying characters and symbols input by operating the character keys 10 to 12 and the space key 13 is provided.

In the printing mechanism PM, the platen 30 is driven by a platen drive motor or a platen knob 31 to print a sheet.
It is designed to feed 45. Also, the carriage 32
Is supported by two guide shafts 34 and 35, and the carriage
A character wheel drive motor 54 is arranged at 32, and a character wheel 37 is mounted on the motor shaft. The print hammer 40 that strikes the type 39 of the type wheel 37 arranged at the print position is driven by the print hammer solenoid 55.
The ribbon cassette 42 accommodating the print ribbon 41 is placed on the holder 43, and the correction ribbon 44 is arranged in the rear portion of the holder 43 which is formed one step lower. In addition, the print ribbon 41
Is placed at the printing position (FIG. 3), a resting posture (not shown) in which the printing ribbon 41 is moved below the printing position, and a correction posture in which the correction ribbon 44 is placed at the printing position ( A drive shaft rotated by a ribbon lift motor 53 and a known cam mechanism are provided to switch the position of the holder 43 (not shown).

Next, the overall configuration of the control system of the typewriter 1 will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG.

The drive unit of the printing mechanism PM includes a platen drive motor 50 and its driver 60, a carriage drive motor 51 and its driver 61, a ribbon feed motor 52 and its driver 62,
A ribbon lift motor 53 and its driver 63, a type wheel drive motor 54 and its driver 64, a print hammer solenoid 55 and its driver 65, and the like. The drivers 60 to 65 of the printing mechanism PM are connected to the controller C.

The display device D is a display CPU (central processing unit) 70 for display control, and an LCD display 71 for displaying characters and symbols.
And a display controller 73 for displaying on the LCD display 71. The display CPU 70 and the display controller 73 receive command data and character code data output from a main CPU (central processing unit) 76, which will be described later, via the interface 75, and output a display signal corresponding to the command data and character code data to the LCD display 71.

The control unit C is composed of a main CPU 76, a ROM (read only memory) 80 and a RAM (random access memory) 90 connected to the main CPU 76. The keyboard 3, the drivers 60 to 65 of the printing mechanism PM, and the interface 75 are connected to the main CPU 76 via a data bus or the like.

In the program memory 81 of the ROM 80, the motors corresponding to the data of each character input from the character keys 10 to 12 and the space key 13 of the keyboard 3 and the data of each function input from the various function keys are associated with each motor. A general control program such as a control program for controlling the display solenoids 50 and the printing hammer solenoid 55 and the display device D is stored. In addition, the program memory 81 stores a control program for controlling equal pitch printing as described later.

The RAM 90 is provided with the following memories in addition to various memories for temporarily storing the results of arithmetic processing by the main CPU 76. That is, the current position memory 91 that stores the current position of the carriage associated with the print position, the even allocation flag memory 92 that stores the even allocation flag that is set in the even allocation mode, and the uniform allocation (equal pitch printing) The print range flag memory 93 that stores the print range flag that is set when the print range of is set, the left end position memory 94 that stores the left end position of the print range of equal pitch printing, and the right end position of the print range are stored. Right end position memory 95
Equal-pitch print data memory 96 for storing characters and symbols input for equal-pitch print, and equal-pitch print data memory
A character number counter I for counting the number of characters and symbols written in 96 and a character pitch memory 97 for storing the result of counting the character pitch are provided.

Based on the control program, the main CPU 76 causes the printing mechanism PM to print the data of each character or symbol input from the character keys 10 to 12 of the keyboard 3. When the input data is command data from various function keys that operate each motor of the printing mechanism PM, the main CPU76
Outputs a control signal corresponding to the input data to each driver 60-65. Further, the main CPU 76 controls the equal pitch printing as described below.

Next, a flowchart of the equal pitch printing control performed by the control system of the typewriter will be described with reference to FIG.

This control is started when the typewriter is powered on, and in step S1 (hereinafter, simply represented by S1 and other steps are handled similarly), the control program is read from the program memory 81 to the main CPU 76, Flag 92/93
Is reset, initial settings such as clearing each memory 97/94 to 97 are executed, and the process proceeds to S2. In S2, it waits for a key input, and if there is a key input, it moves to S3. In S3, RAM90
Whether or not the even allocation flag is set based on the data of the even allocation flag memory 92 is measured, and when it is not set, the process proceeds to S4. In S4, it is determined whether or not the even allocation key 21 is operated. If it is determined that the key is not the even allocation key 21, display control and print control as a general typewriter are executed based on the key input in S5, and the process returns to S2.

Then, when the even allocation key 21 is operated, the determination at S4 becomes Yes, the process proceeds to S6, the even allocation flag is set and the mode is switched to the even allocation mode, and at the next S7, the number of characters printed at equal pitch is counted. Clear the character number counter I to return to S2.

At this time, for example, as shown in FIG. 6 (a), when the print range 1 between the * marks already printed on the print paper 45, that is, between, is set, the print range 1 shown in FIG. By operating the paper feed key 17, the paper return key 18, the space key 13, the back space key 14, etc., the print head is located at the position shown in FIG. 6 (a), and the tab set is used to set the left end of the print range. When the key 16 is operated, in S3
If it is determined to be s, the process proceeds to S8, it is determined whether or not the print range flag is set based on the data of the print range flag memory 93 of the RAM 90, and when it is not set, the tab set key 16 is selected in S9. The determination is made and the process proceeds to S10.

In S10, the data in the current position data memory 91 of the RAM 90 is written in the left end position memory 94, and the print range flag is set in the next S11, and then the process returns to S2.

Next, when the carriage movement key, for example, the space key 13 or the backspace key 14, is operated to set the right end of the print range, it is determined in S12 that the carriage movement key has been passed through S3 and S8, and the process proceeds to S13. The carriage 32 is moved according to the operated carriage movement key,
Return to S2. In the above case, the main CPU 76 outputs a control signal to the carriage drive motor driver 61. At this time,
The carriage 32 is located, for example, in (a) of FIG.

Next, when the tab set key 16 is operated again, S3 / S8
After S12, the process proceeds to S14, it is determined that the tab set key 16 is present, and the process proceeds to S15.

In S15, the data in the current position memory 91 is written in the right end position memory 95, and in the next S16, the print range flag is reset and the process returns to S2.

When it is determined No in S14, that is, when the carriage movement key or a key other than the tab set key 16 is operated, the process proceeds to S25, an alarm is output by a buzzer or a lamp, and the process returns to S2.

When the character keys 10 and 11 and the symbol key 12 are operated to print at an equal pitch within the print range set via S9 to S16, the process moves to S17 via S3, S8 to S9, and the printable key is selected. If there is a printable key, S18
Move to. In S18, the input data is stored in the equi-pitch print data memory 96, 1 is added to the counter I in the next S19, the input characters and symbols are displayed on the display 71 in the next S20, and the process returns to S2. At this stage, the processing of S17 to S20 is repeated every time a character is input.

When displaying the characters or symbols on the display 71, data of the characters or symbols is output from the main CPU 76 to the display CPU 70 via the interface 75, and the display CPU 70 reads the dot pattern data corresponding to the data from the display controller 73. Then, the display data is output to the display RAM of the display controller 73, and the display signal is output from the display RAM to the display 71. Here, it is assumed that "ABC" is entered.

When all characters necessary for printing are input and the execute key 22 is operated, the process proceeds to S22 via S3, S8, S17 and S21. S
In 22, the data in the leftmost position memory 94 and the rightmost position memory 95
Based on the data of 1) and the data of the character number counter I, the character pitch obtained by equally dividing the print range into (the number of print characters + 1) is calculated, and the character pitch is stored in the character pitch memory 97. That is, the character pitch is calculated so that spaces at equal intervals are inserted between the characters at both ends of the input character string and both ends of the print range.

In the next step S23, the characters input at equal pitches are printed in the set range on the printing paper based on the data in the equal pitch print data memory 96 and the character pitch memory 97. In this case, from the main CPU76 to each driver 61-65 of the printing mechanism PM.
Output a control signal to. In the example of FIG. 6, the title "AB
As shown in FIG. 6 (b), "C" is printed at an equal pitch a in the area sandwiched by * marks. When printing is completed, the even allocation flag 92 is reset in S24, the memories 94 to 97 are cleared, the display 71 is erased, and then the process returns to S2.

As described above, according to this embodiment, it is possible to accurately, easily and quickly perform uniform pitch printing within a desired printing range on a document.

The print range may be designated by a dedicated print range designation key instead of the tab set key 20.

Incidentally, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the case where the character string is printed in the desired range on the printing paper 45 with the equal pitch is explained. The invention can be similarly applied. However, since the display positions of characters and symbols are restricted by the mechanism of the display in both the CRT display and the LCD display, the pitch display is performed within the frame of the restriction.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of the printer of the present invention, and FIGS.
FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an electronic typewriter, FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional side view of a main part of the electronic typewriter, and FIG. 4 is a control system of the electronic typewriter. Block diagram, FIG. 5 is a flow chart of control routine, FIG.
FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an operating state, and FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram for explaining conventional evenly-spaced printing. 3 ... Keyboard, 45 ... Printing paper, 76 ... Main CP
U, 80 …… ROM, 81 …… Program memory, 90 …… RAM, 9
4 …… Left end position memory, 95 …… Right end position memory, 96 ……
Equal-pitch print data memory, 97 …… Character pitch memory,
PM: Printing mechanism.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. Input means for inputting characters and symbols, output means for outputting characters and symbols to an output medium, and output for outputting characters and symbols corresponding to input data from the input means to an output medium. An output device comprising a control means for controlling the means, a range setting means for setting a range of the equal pitch output on the output medium, and an equal pitch data for storing the equal pitch output data inputted from the input means. A space corresponding to an equal pitch obtained based on the memory, the range on the output medium set by the range setting means, and the number of divisions obtained by adding 1 to the number of characters of the character string data of the equal pitch data memory is set. An output device, comprising: an equal pitch control means which is provided at a left end portion and a right end portion of the range and outputs the character string at the equal pitch.