JP2939968B2 - Printing device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus capable of modifying a character such as a character into an italic font and performing printing on a printing medium, and more particularly to changing the character direction of the character together with the printing of the character in the italic font. The present invention relates to a printing device capable of performing printing that can be performed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Hitherto, various printing apparatuses have been proposed which can modify a character such as a character into an italic type and change the character direction of the character. In such a conventional printing apparatus, for example, a character is modified to italic by the following method, and printing is performed.

[0003] A conventional method of modifying a character in italics and printing it will be described with reference to FIGS. 13 and 14 for horizontal writing and FIGS. 15 and 16 for vertical writing. FIG. 13 and FIG. 15 are explanatory diagrams schematically showing dot pattern data and pattern regions before modification to italics, and FIG. 14 and FIG. 16 schematically show dot pattern data and pattern regions after modification to italics. FIG.

First, a description will be given of a method of modifying a character in horizontal writing into an italic font and printing it. FIG.
13A, the dot pattern data is composed of a normal Gothic character “Laura”.
(B) shows pattern areas A, B, and C representing a range in which dot pattern data of each of the characters "B", "-", and "A" is created. That is, the dot pattern data of each character is created in each of the pattern areas A, B, and C. When such dot pattern data is printed via the thermal head, the Gothic character shown in FIG. 13A is printed as it is.

In order to modify such Gothic dot pattern data into italic, the lower end x, y, z of each of the pattern areas A, B, C can be changed by a predetermined amount without changing the position. (The ratio of the height of the pattern area to the amount of displacement in the horizontal direction is usually set to about 3: 1), and the pattern area A ′ tilted as shown in FIG. B 'and C' are secured, and the dot pattern data of each character is developed in each of the pattern areas A ', B' and C 'to create italic dot pattern data.

FIG. 14A shows the italic dot pattern data created as described above. When such italic dot pattern data is printed via a thermal head, the italic dot pattern data shown in FIG. A modified character is obtained.

Next, a method of modifying a vertically written character into an italic font and printing it will be described with reference to FIGS. In FIG. 15A, the dot pattern data is a normal Gothic character “Laura”.
FIG. 15B shows each character “B”,
Pattern areas A, B, and C representing ranges in which dot pattern data of "-" and "la" are created are shown. That is, the dot pattern data of each character is created in each of the pattern areas A, B, and C. When such dot pattern data is printed via the thermal head, the Gothic character shown in FIG. 15A is printed as it is.

In order to modify such a Gothic dot pattern data into an italic type, the right end s, t, u of each of the pattern areas A, B, C can be changed by a predetermined amount in the figure without changing the position. (In general, the ratio of the amount of inclination to the horizontal direction and the amount of shift to the height of the pattern area is set to about 3: 1), and the pattern area A ′ inclined as shown in FIG. B 'and C' are secured, and the dot pattern data of each character is developed in each of the pattern areas A ', B' and C 'to create italic dot pattern data.

FIG. 16A shows the italic dot pattern data created as described above. When such italic dot pattern data is printed via a thermal head, the italic dot pattern shown in FIG. 16A is obtained. A modified character is obtained.

[0010]

However, in the above-described method of modifying the printing apparatus to the italic type in the conventional printing apparatus, the lower end x, y, z or the right end s,
Since no special consideration is given to characters in which the positions of t and u are relatively large vertically and horizontally (in the case of horizontal writing) or left and right (in the case of vertical writing), it is assumed that the characters between italicized characters are not taken into account. However, there is a problem in that the intervals provided by the variance may vary.

For example, in horizontal writing, as shown in FIG. 14 (a), it is not possible to provide a proper interval between the character "b" and the character "-", and both characters become unnecessary. It will overlap. In addition, the space provided between the character "-" and the character "a" becomes unnecessarily large.

Similarly, in the case of vertical writing, FIG.
As shown in (1), an appropriate interval cannot be provided between the character "b" and the character "-", and both characters unnecessarily overlap each other.
In addition, the space provided between the character "-" and the character "a" becomes unnecessarily large.

As described above, when an appropriate space is not formed between the characters modified in italic, there is a problem that the appearance of each character is extremely poor and the character is difficult to read.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and it is possible to change the character direction of a character to be printed on a print medium when creating italic dot pattern data. It is another object of the present invention to provide a printing apparatus capable of printing an italic character having an excellent appearance by providing an appropriate interval between the characters.

[0015]

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a character input means for inputting characters and the like, a text memory for storing code data corresponding to the characters and the like input from the character input means, Character data storage means storing dot pattern data such as characters, and dot pattern data stored by the character data storage means developed and stored in a predetermined pattern area based on code data stored in a text memory. Buffer, an italic designating unit that specifies that characters and the like input from the character input unit are to be italicized, and a pattern region in the buffer that is tilted by a certain amount based on the designation from the italic designating unit and the pattern region Italic dot pattern data that creates italic dot pattern data according to the slope Forming means, character direction setting means for setting characters or the like input from the character input means to be printed vertically or horizontally on a print medium, and printing the contents of the buffer based on the settings from the character direction setting means. In a printing apparatus having printing means for printing on a medium, a reference position setting means for setting a reference position based on the setting from the character direction setting means, and in the pattern area based on the setting from the character direction setting means Area reference position setting means for setting an area reference position, and the pattern based on a shift between the reference position set by the reference position setting means and the area reference position set by the area reference position setting means. The amount of movement to move the area along the print direction
And a moving amount calculation means for calculating, the italic dot pattern data production means by said moving amount calculation means
It is configured to create italic dot pattern data in the pattern area while moving the pattern area according to the calculated movement amount.

[0016]

In the printing apparatus having the above configuration, code data corresponding to a character such as a character input from character input means is stored in the text memory. Next, a predetermined pattern area is secured in the buffer based on the dot pattern data stored in the character data storage means corresponding to the code data stored in the text memory, and the dot pattern data is developed in the pattern area. It is memorized.

If it is set via the character direction setting means to print characters or the like in vertical or horizontal writing, the reference position is set by the reference position setting means based on the setting, and the area reference position is set. An area reference position is set for the pattern area by the setting means, and
The movement amount for moving the pattern area in the printing direction is calculated via the movement amount calculation means based on the shift between the reference position thus set and the area reference position. Thereafter, italics dot pattern data production means, based on the designation from the italic specifying means, Starring by the movement amount calculating means
The pattern area is moved according to the calculated movement amount, and the italic dot pattern data is created in the pattern area according to the inclination while the pattern area in the buffer is inclined by a fixed amount. Then, the italic dot pattern data created in this way is printed on a printing medium via the printing means based on the character direction set by the character direction setting means.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, the present invention is applied to a tape printer for printing a large number of characters such as hiragana, kanji and symbols on a tape.

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, and a thermal printing mechanism PM is provided inside the main body frame 2 behind the keyboard 3. I have. A liquid crystal display (LCD) 4 is provided immediately behind the keyboard 3. The liquid crystal display 4 is controlled by a display controller (LCDC) 36, which will be described later, and is input from various keys arranged on the keyboard 3. Is displayed over a plurality of lines. Here, reference numeral 5
Is an operation knob for opening the cover case of the thermal printing mechanism PM.

The keyboard 3 has a plurality of character keys 6 for inputting characters such as hiragana, alphabetic characters, numbers, and symbols, a character size key 7 for specifying a character size, and an italic for designating a modification to an italic font. A start key 8 and an italic end key 9, a cursor key 10 for moving a cursor left, right, up and down; a return key 11 for issuing a line feed command or for commanding block division of an input character; a vertical writing setting key 12 for setting vertical printing; Print key 13 for instructing printing of the contents of text by thermal printing mechanism PM, power ON / OFF
A power key for operating the tape printer 1 and other various function keys necessary for operating the tape printer 1 are provided.

In the italic start setting process and the italic end setting process described later, the cursor key 10 has a function as a setting range change key, and the return key 11
Is provided with a function as a setting range fixing key.

Similarly, in a character size setting process described later, a function as a setting change key is given to the cursor key 10, and a function as a setting confirmation key is given to the return key 11.

Next, the thermal printing mechanism PM will be briefly described with reference to FIG. This thermal printing mechanism P
A rectangular tape cassette 14 is detachably mounted on M. The tape cassette 14 has a tape spool 16 around which a laminate tape 15 as a printing tape is wound, and an ink ribbon 17 wound around it. A ribbon spool 18, a ribbon take-up spool 19 for winding the ink ribbon 17, a supply spool 21 on which a double-sided tape 20 having the same width as the laminate tape 15 is wound with the release paper outside, A joining roller 22 that presses and joins the double-sided tape 15 and the double-sided tape 20 is rotatably provided.

A thermal head 23 is provided upright at a position where the laminating tape 15 and the ink ribbon 17 overlap, and a platen roller 24 presses the laminating tape 15 and the ink ribbon 17 against the thermal head 23.
And a feed roller 25 that presses the laminating tape 15 and the double-sided tape 20 against the joining roller 22 to feed the tape 27 while forming the tape 27, on a roller support 26 pivotally attached to the main body frame 2. It is pivotally supported. On the thermal head 23, 128 heating elements are vertically arranged in rows.

Therefore, the driving of the tape feed motor 39 in the predetermined rotation direction causes the joining roller 22 and the ribbon take-up spool 19 to be driven in synchronization with each other in the predetermined rotation direction while simultaneously driving the plurality of heating elements of the thermal head 23. When energized, letters and symbols are printed in a mirror image by a plurality of dot rows on the back side of the laminate tape 15, and the double-sided tape 20 is joined to the back side of the laminate tape 15 to form a tape 27. It is fed in the feed direction T and fed out of the main body frame 2 as shown in FIGS. For details of the thermal printing mechanism PM, see JP-A-2-106555.

Next, the control system of the tape printer will be described.
This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a control block diagram of the tape printing apparatus 1, and basically includes a control unit C, a keyboard 3, a thermal printing mechanism PM, and a display unit DM. Then, the keyboard 3, the thermal printing mechanism P
M and the display unit DM are input / output interfaces 30 respectively.
Is connected to the control unit C via the.

The control section C will be described. The control unit C is configured with a CPU 32 connected to the input / output interface 30 via a bus 31 as a core.
A CGROM 33 and a ROM 32 are further connected via a bus 31.
34 and the RAM 35 are connected.

The CPU 32 operates the tape printer 1 in accordance with various programs stored in a ROM 34 described later.
It performs various arithmetic processes necessary for the control of.

The ROM 34 stores various programs and the like necessary for controlling the tape printer 1. RO
The programs stored in the M34 include a text creation program for creating a text on a text memory 40 described later by using dot pattern data corresponding to code data of a character such as a key input character, and the like. A display control program for controlling the display controller 36 to display characters such as characters by using the thermal head 23 and the tape feed motor 39 when printing on a tape based on the contents of text.
And a variety of programs necessary for controlling the tape printing apparatus. Particularly, control programs shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 5, FIG. 6, FIG. 7, FIG.

In the CGROM 33 of the control section C, dot pattern data, character information, and the like are stored in correspondence with code data and character sizes for each of a large number of characters.

The RAM 35 of the control unit C is a CPU 32
Is used to temporarily store and use the execution result of each program in the ROM 34, and has various areas. Hereinafter, the area used based on the processing of the control program of FIG. 4 described later will be described.

A text memory 4 for storing a text created based on the input character as code data
0 is used in a text creation process described later. A character direction setting flag 41 for identifying that the character direction of the character at the time of printing is vertical writing (flag on) or horizontal writing (flag off) is used in a vertical writing setting process described later.

An italic setting area 47 for storing an italic setting flag for identifying for each character whether a character corresponding to each code data in the text memory 40 is modified to an italic type (flag on) or not (flag off). Are used for an italic start setting process described later and an italic end setting process described later. The character size memory 42 that stores the character size code of the character based on the set character size is used in a character size setting process described later.

In the printing process described below, in addition to the above-mentioned areas, the following areas are used. That is, the text memory 4
A position information area 43 for storing character information such as the size and position of the pattern area of the character 0, a text memory 4
A text pointer 44 for sequentially instructing each code data in 0, a development buffer 45 used for developing dot pattern data read from the CGROM 33 based on each code data in the text memory 40, and a development buffer 45. A decoration buffer 46 used when decorating the dot pattern data of the character in an italic font, a vertical development buffer 48 used when rotating the dot pattern data at the time of printing in vertical writing, and a state where the character is printed is indicated by a dot. The print buffer 49 stores pattern data, and the X position memory 50 stores information on the arrangement position of the pattern area of each dot pattern data stored in the print buffer 49. In addition, various storage areas required for controlling the tape printer 1 are provided.

The display unit DM in the control system shown in FIG. 3 comprises a display controller 36 connected to the input / output interface 30 and the liquid crystal display 4. Characters and the like are displayed on the liquid crystal display 4 via a display controller 36 that is driven and controlled by the control unit C.

The thermal printing mechanism PM in the control system shown in FIG. 3 is driven via a drive circuit 37 based on print data sent from the control unit C via the input / output interface 30 from the print buffer 49 of the RAM 35. Tape printing is performed in cooperation with the thermal head 23 and a tape feed motor 39 which is also driven via a drive circuit 38.

The keyboard 3 in the control system shown in FIG.
Is to input various characters to the control unit C via the input / output interface 30 in addition to the key input of the character.

Next, the operation of the tape printer 1 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. FIG. First, the basic processing flow of the tape printer 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The basic processing of the tape printer 1 is started by pressing a power-on switch, and ends with an interrupt by pressing a power-off switch.

When the power supply of the tape printer 1 is turned on, first, in step (hereinafter referred to as "S") 1, predetermined initial settings for clearing the liquid crystal display 4 and various areas in the RAM 35 described above are made. Becomes Next, in S2, the contents of the text memory 40 are displayed on the display. Immediately after power-on, nothing is displayed since the contents of the text memory 40 have been cleared. Then, a key input waiting state of S3 is set.

When there is a key input from the keyboard 3 (S
3: Yes) Proceed to S4, where it is determined whether or not the input key is the character key 6. If it is determined that the character key is the character key 6 (S4: Yes), the process proceeds to S5 and S5.
Then, a text creation process is executed, the input code data of the character key 6 is stored in the text memory 40, and
Return to 2. That is, the input character or the like is displayed on the liquid crystal display 4, and the flow returns to the key input waiting state of S3.

If it is determined in S4 that the key is not the character key 6 (S4: No), the process proceeds to S6, where it is determined whether or not the key input in S3 is the vertical writing setting key 12. If it is determined that the key is the vertical writing setting key 12 (S6: Yes), the process proceeds to S7, where a vertical writing setting process is executed. That is, the value of the character direction setting flag 41 in the RAM 35 is set to “1” (flag on). The character direction setting flag 41 is normally set to a value “0” (flag off), and is set to perform horizontal writing in a printing process S15 described later. Is set. When the vertical writing print setting process is completed, the process returns to S2 and waits for a key input in S3.

When it is determined that the key is not the vertical writing setting key 12 in S6 (S6: No), the process proceeds to S8, and in S8, S3
Then, it is determined whether or not the key input by is the italic start key 8. If it is determined that the key is the italic start key 8 (S8: Yes), the process proceeds to S9, where an italic start setting process is executed. That is, after the italic start code is stored at the position where the cursor is located in the text memory, the process returns to S2 and waits for the key input of S3.

If it is determined in S8 that the key is not the italic start key 8 (S6: No), the process proceeds to S10, where it is determined whether or not the key input in S3 is the italic end key 9. When it is determined that the key is the italic end key 9 (S10: Yes), the process proceeds to S11 and S1.
In step 1, italic end setting processing is executed. That is, the italic end code is stored at the position where the cursor is located in the text memory, and the value of the italic setting flag corresponding to the data code of a character such as a character sandwiched between the italic start code and the italic end code is set to “1” (flag on). ) Is stored in the italic setting area 47. After the italic end setting process is completed, the process returns to S2,
The process enters a state of waiting for key input in S3.

If it is determined that the key is not the italic end key 9 in S10 (S10: No), the process proceeds to S12 and S1.
In step 2, it is determined whether the input key is the character size key 7. When it is determined that the key is the character size key 7 (S12: Yes), the process proceeds to S13, where a character size setting process is performed. That is, the set character size is stored in the character size memory 42 as a character size code. The character size can be set for each block of characters such as characters.

As an example of a method for setting the character size in the character size setting process, when the character setting key 7 is pressed, first, "S" is displayed on the liquid crystal display 4.
One of four characters representing a fixed size of "M" and "L" and an auto size of "Auto", for example, "S"
Is displayed, and each time the cursor key 10 is pressed, the displayed alphabet is “S” → “M” → “L” → “Auto” →
The character size is changed to “S” and the size corresponding to the currently displayed character is set as the character size by pressing the return key 11. Here, the auto size is the maximum size that can be printed on the tape 27. The character size is calculated in a character size calculation process (S17) described later, and when the character size setting process is completed, the process returns to S2 and waits for a key input in S3.

If it is determined in S12 that the key is not the character size setting key 7 (S12: No), the process proceeds to S14 and S1.
In step 4, it is determined whether the input key is the print key 13. If it is determined that the key is the print key 13, (S
14: Yes) The process proceeds to S15, where a printing process described later is executed. When the printing process is completed, the process returns to S2,
The process enters a state of waiting for key input in S3.

If it is determined in S14 that the key is not the print key 13 (S14: No), the process proceeds to S16, and in S16, the process proceeds to S16.
Function processing corresponding to the key input in 3 is performed, and the process returns to S2. The display on the liquid crystal display 4 is switched as necessary, and the state of waiting for key input in S3 is entered. The above is the flow of the basic processing of the tape printer 1.

Next, at S15 described with reference to FIG.
Will be described. FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of the print processing program. First, in S17, character information corresponding to the character size code stored in the character size memory 42 is stored in the CGROM 3 for each character corresponding to the code data in the text memory 40.
3 and stored in the position information area 43.

Here, character information will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 10A, the contents of the text memory 40 are characters "L", "-",
It is assumed to be "la". For example, the character information about the character "B" is determined by the size of the pattern area A corresponding to the character size L, or the distance a in the printing direction between the leftmost end of the pattern area A and the leftmost end of the pattern area B of the character "-". Is stored in the number of dots. This distance a
Determines the position of the next character.

Here, the distance between the leftmost ends of adjacent pattern areas in the printing direction is referred to as a pitch amount of the X position. Specifically, the pitch amounts at the X position in each of the pattern areas A, B, and C in FIG. 10B are a, b, and c.

As shown in FIG. 10B, the position in the printing direction at the leftmost end of the pattern area serves as a reference for character arrangement. Hereinafter, the position of the leftmost position of the pattern area in the printing direction is referred to as an X position. Specifically, the X position in each of the pattern areas A, B, and C in FIG. 10B is XA, XB, and XC.

Hereinafter, the size of each of the pattern areas B and C, the pitch amounts b and c, etc. are similarly stored in terms of the number of dots for each of the characters "-" and "la". When the size is set to the auto size, the character information is transferred to the position information area 4 after calculating the maximum character size that can be printed on the tape 27.
3 and proceed to S18.

In S18, when the character size of the character corresponding to the code data in the text memory 40 is set for each block, the position information of the block is stored in the position information area 43, and the flow advances to S19.

In S19, the maximum print width when the contents of the text memory 40 are printed on the tape 27, that is, the position information of the print line is stored in the position information area 43. Specifically, the positions are the upper side HL and the lower side FL of the print line as shown by the two-dot broken line in FIG. 10B.

In this way, S17, S18, S19
After the position information relating to the character is stored in the position information area 43, a character position calculation process S20 described later is performed.

Next, the character position calculation processing S20 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of the character position calculation processing program. First, in S23, the text memory 40 stores the pointer value P of the text pointer 44 in the text memory 40.
The start address of the code data in the memory is stored.
The value of the position memory 50 is initialized, and the process proceeds to S24.

In S24, after the code data of the text memory 40 indicated by the pointer value P is read,
It is determined whether the code data read in step 25 is a line feed code. When the line feed code is not determined (S25: N
o), X position calculation processing described later is performed in S26.

Next, the X position calculation processing S26 in FIG.
It will be described based on. FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of the X position calculation processing program. First, in S29, it is determined whether or not it is instructed to use the italic start key 8 and the italic end key 9 to modify the font into an italic font. It is determined whether or not the value of the italic setting flag in the italic setting area 47 corresponding to the code data is “1”. If it is instructed to modify italic, that is, if the value of the italic setting flag is “1” (S29: Yes), the process proceeds to S30.

In S30, it is determined whether or not vertical writing printing has been instructed by pressing the vertical writing setting key 12, that is, whether or not the value of the character direction setting flag 41 is "1". When the vertical writing printing is instructed, that is, when the value of the character direction setting flag 41 is “1” (S30:
Yes) In S31, a quotient is obtained by dividing the shift between the upper side HL of the pattern area of the character corresponding to the code data indicated by the pointer value P and the upper side HL of the print line by 3.

The contents of S31 will be specifically described with reference to FIG. FIG. 12A is a diagram in which the character information of the characters “B”, “−”, and “La” shown in FIG. 10A are extracted. For the pattern area A, the quotient is 0 because the upper side of the pattern area and the upper side HL of the print line coincide, and for the pattern area B, the shift between the upper side of the pattern area and the upper side HL of the print line is g, The quotient is g /
It becomes 3. Further, in the pattern area C, the quotient is 0 since the upper side of the pattern area and the upper side HL of the print line coincide.
It is.

On the other hand, when vertical writing printing is not instructed in S30, that is, when the value of the character direction setting flag 41 is "0" (S30: No), the process proceeds to S32.
At 32, the lower side of the pattern area of the character corresponding to the code data indicated by the pointer value P and the lower side F of the print line
The quotient is obtained by dividing the deviation of L by three.

The contents of S32 will be specifically described with reference to FIG. FIG. 11A is a diagram in which character information of the characters “b”, “−”, and “la” shown in FIG. 10A is extracted. For the pattern area A, the quotient is 0 because the lower side of the pattern area and the lower side FL of the print line match, and for the pattern area B, the shift between the lower side of the pattern area and the lower side FL of the print line is f, The quotient is f /
It becomes 3. Further, the quotient of the pattern area C is 0 since the lower side of the pattern area coincides with the lower side FL of the print line.
It is.

In the following S33, S31 or S
The quotient obtained in S32 is added to the value of the X position memory, and the process proceeds to S34.

On the other hand, if it is not instructed in S29 to modify italic, that is, if the value of the italic setting flag is “0” (S29: No),
Proceed immediately to S34.

In S34, the value of the X position memory is stored in the position information area 43 as the X position of the pattern area of the character corresponding to the code data pointed by the pointer value P, and the program for the character position calculation processing of FIG. Return to S
Proceed to 27.

In S27, the pitch amount of the X position in the pattern area of the character corresponding to the code data pointed by the pointer value P is added to the value of the X position memory, and S28 is performed.
In S28, after one pointer value P is added,
It returns to S25.

On the other hand, when the code data read in S25 is determined to be a line feed code (S25:
In Yes), the process returns to the print processing program in FIG. 5 and the italic decoration processing S21 described later is performed.

Next, the italic modification processing S21 will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9 show a flowchart of the italic modification processing program. First, in S35 of FIG. 8, the head address of the code data in the text memory 40 is stored in the pointer value P of the text pointer 44. The code data of the text memory 40 indicated by P is read.

At S37, the character pattern area corresponding to the code data read in this way is
From the OM 33, a predetermined storage area of the development buffer 45 is secured and other areas are cleared, and the dot pattern data is developed.

Further, in S38, it is determined whether or not it is instructed to use the italic setting start key 8 and the italic setting end start key 9 to modify italic font, that is,
It is determined whether or not the value of the italic setting flag in the italic setting area corresponding to the read code data indicated by the pointer value P is “1”. If it is instructed to modify italic, that is, if the value of the italic setting flag is “1” (S38: Yes), S
Proceed to 39.

In step S39, in order to modify the dot pattern data stored in the development buffer 45 into italics, the decoration buffer 46 is inclined so that the ratio between the pattern height and the horizontal shift is 3: 1. The pattern area in the state of being cleared is secured, and other areas are cleared. Specifically, as shown in the pattern area A of FIG. 11B, the ratio between the height d and the displacement e in the horizontal direction is set to 3: 1. The same applies to the pattern areas B and C.

Thereafter, in S40, the decoration buffer 4
The italic dot pattern data is created by transferring the dot pattern data in the development buffer 45 into the inclined pattern area secured in 6, and from A in the flowchart in FIG. 8 to A in the flowchart in FIG. 9. And proceeds to S42.

On the other hand, if it is not instructed in S38 to modify italic, that is, if the value of the italic setting flag is "0" (S38: N
o), the dot pattern data stored in the development buffer 45 in S41 is transferred as it is to the decoration buffer 46, and the process proceeds from A in the flowchart of FIG. 8 to A in the flowchart of FIG. 9, and proceeds to S42.

In S42, it is determined whether or not vertical writing is instructed by pressing the vertical writing setting key 12, that is, whether or not the value of the character direction setting flag 41 is "1". When vertical writing printing is instructed, that is, when the value of the character direction setting flag 41 is "1" (S42:
Yes), in step S43, in order to convert the dot pattern data stored in the decoration buffer 46 in the vertical direction, the vertical development buffer 4 is rotated 90 ° to the left.
Transfer to 8.

Next, in S44, the dot pattern data stored in the vertical development buffer 48 is transferred to the print buffer 49. At this time, the pattern data is transferred into the print buffer 49 so that the leftmost end of the pattern area is arranged at the X position indicated by the pointer value P so that an appropriate interval is provided between the characters modified in italics,
Proceed to S46.

More specifically, as shown in FIG.
For the pattern area A, the leftmost end of the pattern area is located at XA, which is the X position indicated by the pointer value P. Regarding the pattern area B to be arranged next, the leftmost end of the pattern area is arranged at XB which is the X position indicated by the pointer value P. XB is obtained by adding the pitch amount a of the pattern area A to XA, which is the X position of the pattern area A, in S27,
Further, the value becomes a value obtained by adding g / 3 in S33. That is, XB is X
It has moved in the printing direction by (a + g / 3) from A.

As a result, as compared with the X position of the pattern area (indicated by a dotted line in FIG. 12B) when the modification to the italic font is not specified, the leftmost end of the pattern area B is g / That is, it has moved by 3 in the printing direction.
Therefore, when it is specified to modify italic, an appropriate space is provided between the pattern area A and the pattern area B.

For the pattern area C to be arranged next,
The leftmost end of the pattern area is located at XC, which is the X position indicated by the pointer value P. XC is a value obtained by adding the pitch amount b of the pattern area A in S27 to XB, which is the X position of the pattern area B, and further adding 0 in S33. That is, XC has moved in the printing direction by b from XB.

As a result, the leftmost end of the pattern area C is g / G, as compared with the X position of the pattern area (indicated by a dotted line in FIG. That is, it has moved by 3 in the printing direction.
Therefore, when it is specified to modify italic, an appropriate space is provided between the pattern area B and the pattern area C.

As described above, as shown in FIG. 12C, in the case of printing in vertical italics, an appropriate interval can be provided between the characters.

On the other hand, if the vertical writing is not instructed in S42, that is, if the value of the character direction setting flag 41 is "0" (S42: No), the dot stored in the decoration buffer 46 in S45. The pattern data is transferred into the print buffer 49. At this time, similarly to S44, the print buffer is set so that the leftmost end of the pattern area is arranged at the X position indicated by the pointer value P so that an appropriate space is provided between the characters modified in italics. Then, the process proceeds to S46.

Specifically, as shown in FIG.
For the pattern area A, the leftmost end of the pattern area is located at XA, which is the X position indicated by the pointer value P. Regarding the pattern area B to be arranged next, the leftmost end of the pattern area is arranged at XB which is the X position indicated by the pointer value P. XB is obtained by adding the pitch amount a of the pattern area A to XA, which is the X position of the pattern area A, in S27,
Further, the value becomes a value obtained by adding f / 3 in S33. That is, XB is X
It has moved in the printing direction by (a + f / 3) from A.

As a result, the leftmost end of the pattern area B is f / F, as compared with the X position of the pattern area (indicated by a dotted line in FIG. That is, it has moved by 3 in the printing direction.
Therefore, when the decoration is designated in italics, an appropriate space is provided between the pattern area A and the pattern area B.

For the pattern area C to be arranged next,
The leftmost end of the pattern area is located at XC, which is the X position indicated by the pointer value P. XC is a value obtained by adding the pitch amount b of the pattern area A in S27 to XB, which is the X position of the pattern area B, and further adding 0 in S33. That is, XC has moved in the printing direction by b from XB.

As a result, the leftmost end of the pattern area C is f / F, as compared with the X position of the pattern area (shown by a dotted line in FIG. That is, it has moved by 3 in the printing direction.
Therefore, when it is specified to modify italic, an appropriate space is provided between the pattern area B and the pattern area C. As described above, as shown in FIG. 11C, in the case of printing in the horizontal writing in italics, an appropriate interval can be provided between the characters.

In S46, it is determined whether or not the pointer value P of the text pointer 44 has reached the final value. If the final value has not been reached (S46: No), the pointer value P is incremented by one in S47, and then the process moves from B in the flowchart of FIG. 9 to B in the flowchart of FIG. 8 and returns to S36.

On the other hand, if the pointer value P has reached the final value (S46: Yes), the program returns to the print processing program of FIG. 5 and proceeds to S22, where the contents of the print buffer 49 are transferred via the thermal print mechanism PM. Printing is performed and the printing process ends. When the printing process is completed, the process returns to S2 of the basic processing program in FIG. 4 and waits for input of S3.

As described in detail above, in the tape printer according to the present embodiment, the italic start key 8 of the keyboard 3
When an italic modification command for each character such as a character is issued using the italic end key 9 and the pattern areas A, B, and C, the vertical
Based on the deviation between the reference position of the print line and the reference position of each pattern area according to the setting of the character to be printed, specifically, in the case of horizontal writing, between the lower side of the print line and the lower side of each pattern area In the case of vertical writing, each pattern area is moved along the printing direction by a value determined based on the shift between the upper side of the print line and the upper side of each pattern area. Therefore, when printing on a print medium by modifying each character to italic, even if the character direction of the character to be printed on the print medium is horizontal writing or vertical writing, the character spacing formed between the characters varies. It is possible to print a character modified to italic while providing an appropriate character interval between the characters.

As a result, the appearance is extremely good and
It can print easily readable italic characters.

The above embodiments are not intended to limit the present invention, and various modifications and improvements can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0091]

As described above, according to the present invention, when creating italic dot pattern data of a character such as a character, the character direction of a character to be printed on a print medium can be changed, and an appropriate By providing the intervals, it is possible to provide a printing apparatus capable of printing a very nice-looking italic character, and the industrial effect is great.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of a tape printer.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a state in which a tape cassette is housed in the tape printer shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a control block diagram of the tape printer.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a basic operation of the tape printer.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a printing process.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a character position calculation process.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of an X position calculation process.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of an italic decoration process.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of an italic decoration process.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing character information before it is modified into an italic font.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing dot pattern data and a pattern area after being modified to an italic type in horizontal writing in the tape printer of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing dot pattern data and a pattern area after being modified to an italic type in vertical writing in the tape printing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing dot pattern data and a pattern area before modification to an italic type in horizontal writing in a conventional tape printing apparatus.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing dot pattern data and a pattern area after being modified to an italic type in horizontal writing in a conventional tape printer.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing dot pattern data and a pattern area before modification to an italic type in vertical writing in a conventional tape printing apparatus.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing dot pattern data and a pattern area after being modified to an italic type in vertical writing in a conventional tape printing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Tape printing device 3 Keyboard 4 Liquid crystal display 6 Character key 7 Character size key 8 Italic start key 9 Italic end key 10 Cursor key 11 Return key 12 Vertical writing setting key 13 Print key 23 Thermal head 27 Tape 32 CPU 33 CGROM 34 ROM 35 RAM 40 Text memory 41 Character direction setting flag 42 Character size memory 43 Position information area 44 Text pointer 45 Expansion buffer 46 Modification buffer 47 Italic setting area 48 Vertical expansion buffer 49 Print buffer 50 X position memory C Control unit PM Thermal printing mechanism A , B, C pattern area XA, XB, XC X position of pattern area a, b, c Pitch amount HL Upper side of print line FL Lower side of print line f, g Deviation

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Sachiko Nakagawa 15-1 Naeshiro-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya-shi Inside Brother Industries, Ltd. (56) References JP-A-7-149005 (JP, A) JP-A-5 -292295 (JP, A) JP-A-8-99441 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B41J 3/36 B41J 2/485 G06F 3/12

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. Character input means for inputting characters and the like, text memory for storing code data corresponding to characters and the like input from the character input means, and character data storage for storing dot pattern data of characters and the like Means, a buffer for expanding and storing dot pattern data stored by the character data storage means in a predetermined pattern area based on the code data stored in the text memory, a character input from the character input means, etc. And italic dot pattern data for inclining the pattern area in the buffer by a certain amount based on the specification from the italic designating means and for creating italic dot pattern data according to the inclination of the pattern area Creation means and characters etc. input from the character input means A character direction setting unit that sets printing in a vertical or horizontal writing mode on a printing medium, and a printing unit that has a printing unit that prints the contents of a buffer on the printing medium based on settings from the character direction setting unit; Reference position setting means for setting a reference position based on the setting from the character direction setting means; and area reference position setting means for setting an area reference position for the pattern area based on the setting from the character direction setting means. Calculating a movement amount for moving the pattern area along the printing direction based on a shift between the reference position set by the reference position setting means and the area reference position set by the area reference position setting means. and a moving amount calculation means, wherein the italic dot pattern data production means before according to the movement amount calculated by the movement amount calculating means A printing apparatus for generating italic dot pattern data in the pattern area while moving the pattern area.