JP2716087B2 - Output device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an output device. [Prior Art] In general, many recording devices such as laser printers use only a single color toner such as black or brown as a recording material, and a print color instruction command is output from a host device such as an external information processing device. In this case, since this command cannot be responded to, the same recording as that without this command has been performed. [Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, the user of the information processing apparatus often uses the print color instruction command to emphasize the difference between the character related to the print color instruction command and other characters. In such a case, the conventional recording apparatus cannot sufficiently reflect the user's intention. An object of the present invention is to provide an output device capable of realizing different information processing so as to be identifiable depending on whether input information relates to a single-color character or a color character. [Means for Solving the Problem] An output device of the present invention is an output device for outputting a character pattern based on a character code input from the outside, and determines whether a color designation command has been input together with the character code. A first pattern is selected when the determination means determines that the color designation command has been input, and when the determination means determines that the color designation command has not been input. Comprises selecting means for selecting a second pattern, and output means for outputting a character pattern based on the character code using the first pattern or the second pattern selected by the selecting means. Features. According to the present invention, a character pattern that can be identified based on the same character code using first and second patterns according to whether or not a color designation command is input together with a character code as input information , The different information processing is realized so that the input information can be identified depending on whether the input information is related to a single-color character or a color character. EXAMPLES The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a printing apparatus using a single color toner will be described. FIG. 1 shows the configuration of one embodiment of the present invention.
Reference numeral 1 denotes an interface for transmitting and receiving data to and from the information processing device via the data bus 209; 202, a character code, print position, character size, color instruction, etc., transmitted from the interface 201 via the bus 210; A page memory for temporarily storing data, 203 is a bus from the page memory 202
This is a font memory that stores various dot patterns determined by a color instruction command and a character code transmitted via 211. In this embodiment, two types of fonts are used for one character code, that is, two types of fonts, that is, a gothic font for normal printing and a cursive font for printing characters related to color instruction signals.
The type of font is stored. 204 is a dot pattern memory that stores the dot pattern sent from the font memory 203 via the bus 212, 205 is the data that is sent from the dot pattern memory 204 via the bus 213 in units of rows, A line buffer 208 for transmitting an image signal to the recording unit 206 via the bus 214 is a display unit for notifying a user of the state of the recording apparatus. Reference numeral 207 denotes a main control unit in the form of, for example, a microcomputer.
The CPU 207A controls the CPUs 1 to 206, and has a ROM 207B that stores processing procedures executed by the CPU 207A. Main control unit 2
07 and the respective units 201 to 206 are connected by buses 215 to 220, respectively. FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a program stored in the ROM 207B in the main control unit 207. The processing procedure of the CPU 207A will be described with reference to FIG. In STEP1, the command and character data stored in the page memory 202 are received. In STEP 2, command analysis such as character size and print position is performed. In STEP 3, the presence or absence of a color instruction command is determined. Here, in the case of a negative determination, the process proceeds to STEP 6 to develop a normal dot pattern (Gothic), and then proceeds to STEP 7 to record the dot pattern in the recording unit 206 line by line via the line buffer 205. Is done. If an affirmative determination is made in STEP 3, the process proceeds to STEP 4 to instruct the font memory 203 to switch the font.
Further, the process proceeds to STEP 5 to display a warning on the display unit 208 to notify the switching of the font. Then, after developing the dot pattern (cursive) in STEP 6, the recording unit 206 records the dot pattern in STEP 7. Next, a specific operation example of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 shows a recording result according to the present embodiment when the information processing apparatus outputs a color instruction command for characters from the m-th line, fourth character to the n-th line, second character. . First, commands such as a character size, a printing position, and a color instruction and data such as a character code supplied from the information processing apparatus are stored in the page memory 202 in page units. Next, the main control unit 207 receives these data and performs processing according to the processing procedure described above. According to the result of this processing, the main control unit 207 instructs the font memory 203 to develop a Gothic or cursive dot pattern. As shown in the figure, the characters from the m-th line, the fourth character to the n-th line, the second character are developed into a cursive dot pattern, and the other characters are developed into a Gothic dot pattern. The dot pattern thus developed is stored in the line buffer 205 via the dot pattern memory 204 in units of rows, and is recorded on paper by the recording unit 206. Then, when recording is performed using a font (cursive) different from normal, the main control unit 207 displays the execution result via the bus 211 on the display unit 20.
8 to inform what font the character associated with the color instruction has been converted to. As described above, according to this embodiment, the characters from the first character on the first line to the third character on the m-th line and the characters from the third character on the n-th line are recorded in Gothic type. Since the characters from the fourth character to the second character in the n-th line are recorded in the cursive type, the difference between the character related to the color designation and the other characters can be recognized at a glance. In this embodiment, when a color instruction command is received,
The font is changed to emphasize the difference between a certain character string and another character string, but instead of changing the font,
The same effect can be obtained by changing the recording pattern such as inversion of black and white, appearance, addition of underrun, and the like.
In addition, in this case, not only a predetermined character but also an image data of any desired form can be handled. In the present embodiment, the font change is performed by the main control unit 207.
However, depending on the form of the color instruction command, it is also possible to configure only the hardware to change the font. Further, the application range of the present invention is not limited to a recording apparatus using a single color toner. If the present invention is applied to a color recording apparatus having a multi-color toner, for example, a recording apparatus having two color toners may be used. 2 when the color instruction signal is detected for one character and when it is not detected.
By making a change between the colors or making both the color and the recording pattern different from the other parts, the difference from the other parts can be further emphasized. [Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the same character code is used by using the first and second patterns in accordance with whether a color designation command is input together with a character code as input information. Therefore, different information processing can be realized so as to be identifiable depending on whether the input information relates to a single-color character or a color character.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing procedure executed by a main control unit shown in FIG. 1, FIG. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a recording result by the recording unit shown in FIG. 1; 201: interface, 202: page memory, 203: font memory, 204: dot pattern memory, 205: line buffer, 206: recording unit, 207: main control unit, 208: display unit.

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Reference number in the agency FI Technical display location H04N 1/29 B41J 3/12 R 1/46 H04N 1/40 D 1/60 1/46 C

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An output device that outputs a character pattern based on a character code input from outside, wherein a determination unit that determines whether a color designation command has been input together with the character code, and the color designation command is input by the determination unit Selecting the first pattern when it is determined that the color designation command has not been input, and selecting the second pattern when the determination means determines that the color designation command has not been input; Output means for outputting a character pattern based on the character code using the selected first pattern or second pattern.