JP3038842B2 - Printing device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, and more particularly to a printing apparatus having a plurality of image memories, such as a color video printer.

[Conventional technology]

A conventional printing apparatus, for example, a color video printer having an image memory has a function of dividing the image memory into a predetermined number of memory areas and recording desired image data in each of the memory areas.

For example, in a color video printer having a four-division function, as shown in FIG. 7, the image memory 73 is divided into four to form memory areas 71a to 71d, and these memory areas 71a to 71d are formed.
In 1d, it is possible to record different images 72a to 72d, respectively.

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the above-described conventional color video printer, since the number of divisions is set to a predetermined value, the size of a desired image recorded in the image memory can be set to an arbitrary value. There is a problem that it is not possible to reduce or enlarge at a magnification of.

For example, when the image data of the images 72a to 72d corresponding to the memory areas 71a to 71d obtained by dividing the image memory 73 into four parts as shown in FIG. 7 are recorded, as shown in FIG. It was not possible to record an image by dividing the image memory 73 into 16 parts. Alternatively, as shown in FIG.
In 2d, the desired image could not be enlarged four times, that is, recorded on a full screen.

Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 8, the image memory 73 can be divided into 16 sections by using two color video printers.
The above-described processing cannot be performed by a stand, and even if two color video printers are used, the number of divisions cannot be set to a value other than the predetermined value.

Further, a memory area for holding image data of a desired image cannot be transferred, and an editing machine must be used to transfer a memory area for holding image data of a desired image. was there.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a printing apparatus capable of converting an image size of a desired image at an arbitrary magnification and transferring the new image data to another.

[Means for solving the problem]

According to the present invention, in a printing apparatus having at least two image memories, a selection means for selecting desired image data from one of the image memories, and a size of the desired image data selected by the selection means and read from the image memory Size conversion means for converting the image data at an arbitrary magnification, transfer destination specifying means for specifying a transfer destination of the desired image data or the size-converted image data converted by the size conversion means, and a transfer path based on the specified transfer destination. And a transfer path control means for controlling the printing device.

[Action]

Select the image memory holding the desired image from the image memory or select the memory area of the image memory to read out the image data of the desired image, and convert the image size at an arbitrary magnification, New image data representing the converted image is formed, and the new image data is transferred to another.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. In this embodiment, a color video printer is described as an example of a printing device.

1, the color video printer includes a system controller 1, a memory control circuit 2, image memories 3, 4, a print head controller 5, a print head 6, a printer drive system 7, a key It mainly comprises an operation unit 8, an A / D converter 9, a D / A converter 10, and the like.
A monitor 20 is connected to the outside of the color video printer via a terminal 19.

First, writing of image data into the image memories 3 and 4 will be described.

When a signal for controlling writing of image data is supplied from the key operation unit 8 to the system controller 1 by a key operation, the system controller 1 sends the signal to the memory control circuit 2.
A control signal is supplied to the CPU 11.

On the other hand, an image signal composed of the three primary color signals R, G, B is supplied to the A / D converter 9 via the terminal 12.

The A / D converter 9 converts the above-mentioned image signal into image data. This image data is supplied to the terminal 13a of the switch circuit 13 of the memory control circuit 2 and the terminal 14a of the switch circuit 14.
, Respectively.

The sampling timing of the A / D converter 9 is controlled by the CPU 11 of the memory control circuit 2. For example, when the image 45 of the full screen 15 as shown in FIG. 5A is reduced to (1/4) and captured, the sampling timing is set to (1/4) as compared with the normal case. And
If the full-screen image 45 is not reduced, the sampling timing is set as usual.

The memory control circuit 2 includes a CPU 11 and switch circuits 13, 1
4 and 16 and size conversion circuits 17 and 18 and the like.

The memory control circuit 2 is connected to the system controller 1 via a bus, and performs a control operation based on a control signal from the system controller 1 described above.
The connection states of the switch circuits 13, 14, and 16, the writing and reading of image data to and from the image memories 3 and 4, the enlargement of the read image data by interpolation, the reduction by thinning, and the connection between the image memories 3 and 4. The transfer of image data, the transfer of image data from the image memories 3 and 4 to the print head controller 5, and the like are controlled.

When writing image data to the image memories 3 and 4 that store image data and various control data, the switch circuit 13 and the
The connection state of 16 is controlled by the CPU 11 to be supplied to one of the image memories 3 and 4, and the above-described image data is written to one of the image memories 3 and 4 under the control of the CPU 11. .

For example, terminals 13a and 13b of the switch circuit 13 are connected,
When the terminals 16a and 16b of the switch circuit 16 are connected, image data is written to the image memory 3. And
When the terminals 13a and 13b of the switch circuit 13 are connected and the terminals 16a and 16c of the switch circuit 16 are connected, image data is written to the image memory 4.

Next, a description will be given of the contents of selecting a desired image and converting the image size, and transferring image data representing the image whose size has been converted between the image memories 3 and 4 or to the print head controller 5.

The user first reads out image data from the image memory in order to convert the image size of the desired image.
When a signal for controlling reading of image data is supplied from the key operation unit 8 to the system controller 1 by a key operation of the user, a control signal is supplied from the system controller 1 to the CPU 11 of the memory control circuit 2.

Under the control of the CPU 11, image data is read from one of the image memories 3 and 4, for example, the image memory 3, and supplied to the terminal 14c of the switch circuit 14 via the size conversion circuit 17. At this stage, the image size is not converted by the size conversion circuit 17 under the control of the CPU 11 as described later.

The image data from the image memory 3 is supplied to the D / A converter 10 by connecting the terminals 14c and 14b of the switch circuit 14. Note that, even when image data is read from the image memory 4 instead of the image memory 3, the signal processing is performed in exactly the same manner as described above, except that the image data is transferred to the terminal of the switch circuit 14 via the size conversion circuit 18. 14
d.

When the user wants to display the image data supplied from the terminal 12 via the A / D converter 9 on the monitor 20, the terminal 14a, 14b of the switch circuit 14 is controlled by the CPU 11 based on the operation of the key operation unit 8. Is connected, the image data is
It is supplied to the D / A converter 10.

In the D / A converter 10, the image data supplied via the switch circuit 14 is converted into analog three primary color signals R, G, B
Is converted into an image signal composed of
The image data is supplied to a monitor 20 via a monitor 19, and an image of the image data maintained in the image memory 3 is displayed on the monitor 20.

The user determines the memory area for storing the image data of the new still image when the user selects the conversion ratio of the image size of the image and the reduction, while watching the still image displayed on the monitor 20.

When the user specifies a magnification for image size enlargement or reduction and performs a key operation for specifying a memory area for storing image data of a new image, a key operation unit 8
A signal for designating an enlargement or reduction magnification and a memory area for storing image data of a new image is supplied to the system controller 1, and a control signal is supplied from the system controller 1 to the CPU 11.

The CPU 11 controls reading of the image data from the designated image memories 3 and 4 and control of the connection state of the switch circuits 23 of the size conversion circuits 17 and 18 and conversion of the image size.

Image data is read from a designated image memory, for example, the image memory 3 and supplied to the size conversion circuit 17.

The configuration of the size conversion circuits 17 and 18 is shown in FIG. Since the size conversion circuits 17 and 18 have exactly the same configuration and operation, only the size conversion circuit 17 will be described.

In the size conversion circuit 17, the read image data is
The signal is supplied to the terminal 23a of the switch circuit 23 via the switch 22.

The switch circuit 23 is connected to the CPU 11
The connection state is switched by a control signal from the terminal 23a, 23b are connected when the image size is enlarged,
Also, at the time of reduction, the terminals 23a and 23c are connected.

In the enlargement circuit 25, an interpolation value is formed based on a control signal supplied from the CPU 11 via the terminal 26 and image data supplied via the switch circuit 23 in order to enlarge the image size to a predetermined magnification. Then, image data forming a new image is taken out from the terminal 27.

Further, in the reduction circuit 28, in order to reduce the size of the image to a predetermined magnification, the image data is supplied based on the control signal supplied from the CPU 11 via the terminal 29 and the image data supplied via the switch circuit 23. Is performed at predetermined intervals, and image data for forming a new image is extracted from the terminal 27.

If the image size is not changed, that is, if the image data is output at the same magnification, the enlargement circuit 25 may be controlled not to form the interpolation value by the control of the CPU 11, or the reduction circuit may be controlled by the control of the CPU 11. At 28, the thinning operation of the image data may not be performed.

The image data output from the size conversion circuit 17 is supplied to a terminal 13c of the switch circuit 13, and the size conversion circuit 1
The image data output from 8 is the terminal 13d of the switch circuit 13.
Supplied to

Under the control of the CPU 11, the switch circuit 13 is connected to the terminals 13b and 13
Since c is connected and the switch circuit 16 is connected to the terminals 16a and 16c, the image data read from the image memory 3 and reduced or enlarged at the designated magnification is passed through the switch circuits 13 and 16. The data is transferred to the image memory 4.

In the image memory 4, under the control of the CPU 11, the supplied image data is captured and held in a specified memory area.

On the other hand, the size conversion circuit 18 read from the image memory 4
In the case of the image data supplied through the terminal, the terminals 13b and 13d are connected to the switch circuit 13 and the terminals 16a and 16b are connected to the switch circuit 16 under the control of the CPU 11. Are transferred to the image memory 3 via the switch circuits 13 and 16.

When a user wants to print out an image, a signal from a key operation unit 8 is supplied to the system controller 1 by a key operation, and various control signals from the system controller 1 are transmitted to the memory control circuit 2 and the printer drive system 7. Is supplied to the print head controller 5 and the like.

The image memories 3 and 4 are controlled by the CPU 11 of the memory control circuit 2.
Is supplied to the print head controller 5.

Image data is supplied to the print head 6 under the control of the print head controller 5. In addition, the movement of the printing paper and the color ribbon is controlled by the printer drive system 7 described above, and the print head 6 prints an image. In this embodiment, since two image memories 3 and 4 are provided, while image data is being read from one of the image memories, for example, the image memory 3, a new image memory 3 is provided in the other image memory 4. Image data can be captured.

 Next, the key operation unit 8 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 3, the key operation unit 8 includes a transfer key 31 for designating a transfer mode of image data between the image memories 3 and 4 and a memory page for selecting the image memories 3 and 4 to be used. Key 32, a frame / field key 33 for selecting a frame or a field, a return key 34 for selecting a source memory or a destination memory, a reduction key for reducing an image size
35, an enlargement key 36 for enlarging the image size, a full split key 37 for specifying the number of screen divisions, skip keys 39a and 39b for moving the cursor 38, a print key 40 for printing, and a print key A print stop key 41 for stopping in the middle, an input / memory switch key 42 for switching between a memory image for printing and an image being input, a memory-in key 43 for storing an image to be printed in memory, and a clear key 44 for deleting an image stored in memory It is configured.

Image enlargement and reduction, and image memory 3 for image data,
An example of transfer of image data between the four will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In the flowchart of FIG. 4, in step 101, it is determined whether or not the transfer key 31 is pressed, and if it is determined that the transfer key 31 is pressed, the transfer mode between memories is set to "none". Control the block. Then, the process proceeds to step 102.

In step 102, it is determined whether to reduce the image.

If it is determined that the image is to be reduced, the process proceeds to step 103; otherwise, the process proceeds to step 104. That is, when the reduction key 35 is operated, a signal corresponding to the reduction key 35 is supplied from the key operation unit 8 to the system controller 1.

In the system controller 1, based on the above signal,
By controlling each circuit block, the image size is reduced in step 103, and new image data of the reduced image is transferred between the image memories 3 and 4, and the process returns to the start.

 The reduction of a still image will be described.

For example, when the image data of the still image 45 shown in FIG. 5A is stored in the image memory 3, pressing the memory page key 32 causes the still image 45 to be read from the image memory 3.
Is read out and a still image 45 of the full screen 15 is displayed on the monitor 20 as shown in FIG. 5A.

At this time, the image memory 3 is displayed as "1A" at the bottom of the screen, and the image memory 4 is displayed as "1B". Then, a cursor 46 indicating that the image data of the currently displayed still image 45 is held in the image memory 3 is also displayed.

When the return key 34 is operated, the image memory 3 holding the image data of the still image 45 is set as the source memory. Accordingly, the cursor 46 is moved to “1B” representing the image memory 3 as the destination memory (transfer destination memory) from “1A” representing the image memory 3 as the source memory at the bottom of the screen.

Next, by operating the reduction key 35 and the full split key 37, the monitor 20 displays the full screen 15 on the monitor 20 as shown in FIG. 5B, for example, by dividing it into four and four display blocks 47a to 47d. It is formed.

At this time, the cursor 38 is displayed on the display block 47a. The cursor 38 indicates a memory area of the image memory 4 corresponding to the display block 47a. The full split key 37 performs a toggle operation in the order of, for example, the full screen 15, the 4-split screen 48, the 9-split screen (not shown), and the full screen 15.

When the skip key 39b is operated rightward from this state, the cursor 38 is moved from the display block 47a to the display block 47b as shown in FIG. 5C.

Then, when the memory-in key 43 is operated, the still image 45 shown in FIG. 5A and held in the image memory 3 as the source memory in the memory area of the image memory 4 corresponding to the display block 47b (1/4). ), The image data of the reduced still image 49 is transferred, the image data of the still image 49 is stored, and the image data of the still image 49 is read out. A still image 49 is displayed on the 20 display blocks 47b.

When the cursor 38 is moved to the display block 47c by operating the skip keys 39a and 39b and the return key 34 is operated, the output image data is changed from the image data held in the image memory 4 to the image memory 3 The image data is switched to the image data held on the monitor 20, and the still image 45 of the full screen 15 shown in FIG.
Is displayed.

When the memory-in key 43 is operated in the state shown in FIG. 5D, the image data of the still image 49 is stored in the memory area of the image memory 4 corresponding to the display block 47c as shown in FIG. 5E. At the same time, the image data of the still image 49 is read out, and as shown in FIG.
A still image 49 is displayed on the 20 display blocks 47c.

In step 104, it is determined whether to enlarge the image.

If it is determined that the enlargement is performed, the process proceeds to step 105, and if not, the process returns to the start. That is, when the enlargement key 36 is operated, a signal corresponding to the enlargement key 36 is supplied from the key operation unit 8 to the system controller 1.

In the system controller 1, based on the above signal,
By controlling each circuit block, the image size is enlarged in step 105, and new image data of the enlarged image is transferred between the image memories 3 and 4, and the process returns to the start.

Thereafter, by pressing the print key 40 as described above, the reduced image can be printed out.

 The enlargement of the still image will be described.

For example, the image data of the still image 50 shown in FIG. 6A is taken into the memory area of the image memory 3 corresponding to the display block 47a, and the image data of the still image 51 is displayed in the display block 47a.
It is assumed that the data is stored in the memory area of the image memory 3 corresponding to 47b. At this time, the cursor 46 is displayed below "1A" representing the image memory 3.

When the user wants to enlarge the still image 51 among the still images 50 and 51 shown in FIG. 6A, the cursor 38 is moved to the display block 47b by operating the skip key 39b. This state is shown in FIG. 6B.

Then, by pressing the memory page key 32, the full screen 15 is displayed on the monitor 20 as shown in FIG. 6C. When the return key 34 is operated, the image memory 3 holding the image data of the still image 51 shown in FIG. 6B is set as the source memory, and the cursor 46 is positioned below “1A” representing the image memory 3. Will be displayed.

Accordingly, the cursor 46 is moved from “1A” representing the image memory 3 as the source memory to “1B” representing the image memory 4 as the destination memory at the bottom of the screen.

Next, by operating the enlargement key 36 and the full split key 37, the full screen 15 as shown in FIG. 6C is displayed on the monitor 20.

When the memory-in key 43 is operated in this state, the image data of the still image 51 captured in the memory area of the image memory 3 corresponding to the display block 47b of FIG. In this case, the image data of the enlarged still image 52 is transferred to the image memory 3 and taken in. Then, the image data of the still image 52 is read and displayed on the monitor 20 on the full screen 15 as shown in FIG. 6D. This enlarged still image
52 is shown in FIG. 6D.

When the full split key 37 is operated in the state shown in FIG. 6C, the full screen 15 as shown in FIG.
47a to 47d are formed and displayed, and the cursor 38 is displayed in the display block 47a.

By operating the memory-in key 43 in this state, the image data of the still image 51 captured in the memory area of the image memory 3 corresponding to the display block 47b shown in FIG. Is transferred to and stored in the memory area of the image memory 4 corresponding to the display block 47a shown in FIG. 6, and the image data of the still image 51 is read out, and as shown in FIG. The still image 51 is displayed in the block 47a.

When the return key 34 is operated in this state, the output image data is switched from the image data stored in the image memory 4 to the image data stored in the image memory 3, and on the screen of the monitor 20, The still image 51 shown in FIG. 6B is displayed.

Thereafter, by pressing the print key 40 as described above, the enlarged image can be printed out.

In this embodiment, an example in which the still image 45 displayed on the full screen 15 is reduced to (1/4) as an example of reduction of the still image 45 will be described. 1 /
The example in which the still image 51 displayed in 4) is enlarged four times has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the reduction and enlargement magnifications can be set arbitrarily. (Magnification = 1), that is, it is also possible to copy the image at the same magnification.

In this embodiment, the transfer of the image data between the memories 3 and 4 is mainly described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the image data is transferred to the print head controller 5 and printed out. The same can be applied to this.

In this embodiment, a new image is obtained by converting the size of a desired image at an arbitrary magnification without using two color video printers or using an editing machine as in the related art.
Image data representing this image can be formed, and image data representing this new image can be transferred from the image memory 3 to a desired memory area of the image memory 4.

〔The invention's effect〕

According to the printing apparatus of the present invention, as in the prior art,
Without using a single color video printer or using an editing machine, there is an effect that a new image obtained by converting a desired image size at an arbitrary magnification and image data representing this image can be formed, and There is an effect that image data representing the new image can be transferred from the image memory.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a printing apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a size conversion circuit, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an arrangement of key switches in a key operation unit. 4, FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of reduction of a still image, FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of enlargement of a still image, and FIGS. It is a figure for explaining. Description of main symbols in the drawings 1: system controller, 2: memory control circuit, 3, 4, 73: image memory, 8: key operation unit, 11: CPU, 13, 14, 16: switch circuit, 17, 18: Size conversion circuit, 25: enlargement circuit, 28: reduction circuit.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A printing apparatus having at least two image memories, a selection means for selecting desired image data from one of the image memories, and a desired image data selected by the selection means and read from the image memory. Size conversion means for converting the size of the image data at an arbitrary magnification; transfer destination specification means for specifying a transfer destination of the desired image data or the size-converted image data converted by the size conversion means; A transfer path control unit that controls a transfer path based on a transfer destination.