JP3479359B2 - Tape printer - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention stores a text consisting of characters and the like input from a plurality of lines from an input means such as a keyboard in a text memory, and based on the characters of the text stored in the text memory. The present invention relates to a tape printer that creates dot image data and prints it on a long tape, and in particular calculates position information from a predetermined reference position for each character stored in a text memory, and based on the calculation result, a plurality of positions are calculated. By rearranging the characters in the text of a line according to the printing order, even if the characters stored in the text memory are not printed in the input order, the image buffer with a small storage capacity can be used to print the characters. The present invention relates to a tape printer that enables sequential printing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various types of tape printers have been proposed. In such tape printers, code data such as characters input from a keyboard is stored in a text memory in the order of input, and characters such as characters are stored. When printing, dot image data is created based on the code data such as characters stored in the text memory and transferred to the image buffer, and the dot image data in the image buffer is transferred to a long tape via the thermal head. It is configured to print.

At this time, the characters and the like are stored in the text memory in the order of input from the keyboard, and the code data of the characters and the like in the text memory are expanded into dot image data in the stored order. Therefore, the printing of each character or the like is performed in the order of the characters or the like stored in the text memory.

Since the image buffer used in such a conventional tape printer is expensive, a memory having a small storage capacity is used as the image buffer, and the dot image data is based on the code data of each character in the text memory. Is expanded and arranged according to the storage capacity of the image buffer, and while the dot image data expanded and arranged in the image buffer is being printed on the tape, the next dot image data is expanded and arranged sequentially in the image buffer. Etc. will be printed on the tape,
There is also a device having a so-called sequential printing function. In the tape printer having such a sequential printing function, since the relatively inexpensive image buffer is used, the cost of the entire device can be reduced.

[0005]

However, in the case of a text in which characters and the like are input over a plurality of lines, the storage order of the characters and the like stored in the text memory does not necessarily match the printing order of the characters and the like. Not necessarily. This point will be described based on FIGS. 10 and 11. Figure 10
FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing the storage state of characters and the like in the text memory, and FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing the storage state of characters and the like in the image buffer.

In FIG. 10, the text memory 100 stores a text in which characters and the like are input over two lines, and the text 101 on the first line is 3 of "Ai".
The text 102 on the second line is "1".
2345 ”. Further, a line feed mark 103 is entered between the text 101 on the first line and the text 102 on the second line. In such a text, for each character, first, “a” in the text 101 on the first line is input in the order of the characters, and then a line feed mark 103 is input, and then the text 102 on the second line is input.
“12345” in is input in the order of the characters.

In order to print each character of the text configured as described above, when each character is expanded into dot image data and arranged in the image buffer, at which position in the image buffer should be expanded and arranged. Position information is calculated for each character to determine Such position information is generally calculated at the time of printing each character, but depending on the calculated position information of each character, for example, dot image data is developed and arranged in the arrangement relationship as shown in FIG. There are cases. In FIG. 11, two lines of text consisting of the first line text 101 and the second line text 102 shown in FIG. 10 are expanded and arranged in the image buffer 104. When the characters of the text are expanded and arranged in this way, the dot image data are printed in the order in which they are expanded and arranged in the image buffer 104. Therefore, focusing on the printing order of the characters, the printing order is the text 102. Character "1", text 1
The character “01” of 01, similarly, the character “2”, the character “3”,
The order is the character "i", the character "4", the character "5", and the character "u".

On the other hand, the input order of the characters stored in the text memory 100 is, as described above, the characters "a" in the text 101 on the first line,
"I", "U", and then the characters "1", "2", "3", "4", "5" in the text 102 on the second line
Are entered in this order. As described above, in the case of the text over a plurality of lines, when the input order of the characters in the text memory 100 is different from the print order of the characters in the image buffer 104, when the characters are printed according to the character input order of the text memory 100, The dot image data of each character expanded and arranged in the image buffer 104 cannot be printed according to the dot image data.

Similarly, since the input order of characters and the printing order are different, when the sequential printing function is executed for texts over a plurality of lines, the text memory 1
In order to calculate the position information of each character in 00, the dot image data of each character cannot be expanded and arranged in the image buffer 104 in conformity with the printing order unless extremely complicated calculation processing is performed. As a result, the print processing speed is delayed, and as a result, in the conventional tape printer, the input order of characters in the text memory 100 and the image buffer 104 are caused by the fact that the text extends over a plurality of lines. If the printing order of the characters in (1) is different, there is a problem that the sequential printing function cannot be easily executed.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and calculates position information from a predetermined reference position for each character stored in a text memory,
By arranging the characters in multiple lines of text in the print order based on the result of the calculation, the image buffer with a small storage capacity can be used even when the characters stored in the text memory are not printed in the input order. It is an object of the present invention to provide a tape printer capable of sequentially printing characters and the like by using a simple structure.

[0011]

[Means for Solving the Problems] To achieve the above object
In the tape printer of the invention described in claim 1, a text input means for inputting a text consisting of characters or the like over a plurality of lines, and a text memory for storing the characters or the like of the text input from the text input means in the order of input. And a calculating means for calculating the position information from a predetermined reference position for each character stored in the text memory, and the position information calculated by the calculating means are compared with each other and each character etc. based on the comparison result. Arrangement order rearranging means for rearranging the arrangement order of the characters, data creating means for creating dot image data for each character according to the arrangement order rearranged by the arrangement order rearranging means, and each character created by the data creating means Image buffer that sequentially stores dot image data such as a predetermined amount, and the image buffer Printing means for printing the recorded dot image data on a long tape, and the dot image data in the image buffer for printing on the tape via the printing means, and following the printing, the dots are produced via the data creating means. And a print control means for creating image data and storing it in the image buffer.
Also, in the tape printer of the invention according to claim 2,
Means that the predetermined reference position in the calculation means is
Based on the tape width, a certain range of maximum printable range on the tape
It is a place and is decided as the origin. Further, in claim 3.
In the tape printer of the described invention, the calculation means is
Baseline based on the tape width of the tape and the number of lines of text.
Information and information such as each character along the baseline
Will be placed. In the tape printer of the invention according to claim 4,
In this case, the arrangement order rearranging means determines whether or not there is one character.
Equipped with a judgment means to turn off, only if there are multiple characters
It is designed to perform rearrangement of the layout order of characters etc.
It Further, in the tape printer of the invention described in claim 5,
Arrangement of each character in the arrangement order rearranging means
The rearrangement of the ranking is performed based on the comparison of the coordinate value of each character.
Be done.

[0012]

The operation of the invention according to claim 1 having the above construction.
In a printer, a text consisting of characters or the like input over a plurality of lines via the text input means is stored in a text memory in the order of input of the characters or the like, and a predetermined value for each character or the like is calculated by the calculating means. Position information from the reference position is calculated. Then, the positional information calculated by the calculating means is compared with each other via the arrangement order rearranging means, and the arrangement order of each character or the like is rearranged based on the comparison result. As a result, the arrangement order of the characters and the like can be matched with the printing order.
After that, the data creating means creates dot image data such as characters according to the rearranged arrangement order, and a predetermined amount of the created dot image data is sequentially stored in the image buffer. In such a state, the dot image data of each character or the like will be stored in the image buffer according to the printing order of each character or the like.

Then, the dot image data stored in the image buffer is printed on a long tape by the printing means. At this time, the printing control means causes the printing means to print the dot image data in the image buffer on the tape, and, following the printing, causes the data creating means to create the dot image data and stores it in the image buffer. As a result, regardless of the order of inputting characters or the like in the text memory, it is possible to always perform dot-image data printing in sequence according to the printing order of characters or the like. Also, in claim 2.
In the tape printer of the described invention, the calculating means is
The predetermined reference position of the tape is based on the tape width of the tape.
It is a fixed position within the maximum range that can be printed on the
Has been set, and the tape is placed in the appropriate position based on the tape width.
Each character can be placed. Furthermore, the test of the invention according to claim 3 is
In the printer, the calculation means is a tape
The baseline is determined by the width and the number of lines of text, and
Information such as each character is placed along the baseline of
And the arrangement of each character in multi-line printing is not done properly.
obtain. In the tape printer of the invention according to claim 4,
, The arrangement order rearranging means determines whether or not there is one character.
Equipped with a judgment means, each character etc. only when there are multiple characters
It is designed to execute the rearrangement of the placement order of
It will be easier. The tape of the invention according to claim 5
In the printing device, each of the arrangement order rearranging means
To rearrange the order of arrangement of characters, etc., compare the coordinate values of each character.
It is executed based on the above, and the arithmetic processing is easy.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A tape printer according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings based on an embodiment embodying the present invention. First, a schematic configuration of the tape printer according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a tape printer.

In FIG. 1, a keyboard 3 is arranged in the front part of the main body frame 2 of the tape printer 1, and a thermal printing mechanism PM is arranged inside the main body frame 2 behind the keyboard 3. . Further, at the right rear position of the keyboard 3, a liquid crystal display 4 capable of displaying characters, numbers, etc. input from the keyboard 3 over a plurality of lines (two lines in this embodiment) is arranged. Further, an operation knob 5 is provided at a substantially central position of the main body frame 2, and the operation knob 5 is the thermal printing mechanism P.
It is used when opening the M cover case.

The keyboard 3 constitutes a text input means, and is provided with various keys necessary for creating a text consisting of letters, numbers and the like. For example, a character key 6 for inputting characters, symbols, numbers, etc., a print key 7 for printing text, an execution key 8 for instructing execution of various processes, and other various keys necessary for the tape printer 1 are provided. ing.

Next, the thermal printing mechanism PM is shown in FIG.
It will be explained based on. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the tape cassette without the upper case. In FIG. 2, a tape cassette 10 is removably attached to the thermal printing mechanism PM, and inside the tape cassette 10, a tape spool 12 around which a laminating tape 11 which is a printing tape is wound, and an ink ribbon 13. Is wound around the ribbon spool 14, a take-up spool 15 that winds up the ink ribbon 13 pulled out from the ribbon spool 14 at the time of printing, and a double-sided tape 16 having the same width as the laminating tape 11 are wound with the release paper outside. A double-sided tape spool 17 and a joining roller 18 that presses and joins the laminated tape 11 and the double-sided tape 16 after printing are rotatably provided.

Further, a thermal head 19 is erected at a position where the laminating tape 11 and the ink ribbon 13 are overlapped with each other, and 128 heat generating elements are vertically arranged in line in the thermal head 19. Further, a roller support 22 is rotatably arranged so as to face the thermal head 19, and a platen roller 20 and a feed roller 21 are rotatably supported on the roller support 22. Here, the platen roller 20 has a function of pressing the laminating tape 11 and the ink ribbon 13 to the thermal head 19 in a superposed state at the time of printing, and the feeding roller 21 has the feeding roller 21 after the printing. Has a function of pressing the joining roller 18 against the joining roller 18 and feeding the tape 23 with characters while feeding the tape in the direction of arrow T.

When the character-attached tape 23 is produced in the above structure, the tape feed motor 45 (see FIG. 3) is driven in a predetermined rotation direction, and along with this, the joining roller 18 and the ribbon take-up spool 15 are synchronized with each other and predetermined. It is driven in the direction of rotation. When each heating element in the thermal head 19 is selectively energized, the laminating tape 11
Characters, numbers, etc. are printed in a mirror image relationship on the back surface side of the plurality of dot rows, and the back surface side of the laminating tape 11 (characters etc. are printed) by the cooperation of the joining roller 18 and the feed roller 21. The double-sided tape 16 is joined to the above to form the character-attached tape 23, and the character-attached tape 23 is fed in the direction of the arrow T. As a result, the character-provided tape 23 is sent to the outside of the body frame 2 (see FIGS. 1 and 2). The thermal printing mechanism PM configured as described above is a known one, and its detailed configuration is described in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-1.
Reference will be made to Japanese Patent Publication No. 06555, and detailed description thereof will be omitted here.

Next, the control system of the tape printer 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a control block diagram of the tape printer 1, which is configured with the controller C as a core. The control device C includes a CPU 32, a CGROM 33, and an R
It consists of OM34 and RAM35, these are bus 3
1, and also to the input / output interface 30.

The ROM 34 is for storing various programs, and includes a main processing program, a printing processing program, a character rearrangement processing program, a sequential printing processing program, and other tape printing apparatus 1 which will be described later.
Various programs necessary for control of are stored. Then, the CPU 32 performs various calculations based on various programs stored in the ROM 34.

The CGROM 33 has a keyboard 3
Dot image data corresponding to code data such as each character and number input from each of the above keys is stored,
The dot image data is read from the CGROM 33 based on the code data such as characters stored in the text memory 37 and then transferred to the image buffer 39.

Further, the RAM 35 is for temporarily storing various calculation results calculated by the CPU 32. The RAM 35 has a text memory 37, a text pointer 38, and a text pointer 38, as shown in FIG. Various memories such as an image buffer 39 and a text information memory 40 are provided.

Here, the text memory 37 stores code data corresponding to characters input from the keyboard 3 as text (document data). The text pointer 38 is a pointer that sequentially points each code data stored in the text memory 37, and sequentially points each code data when reading each code data from the text memory 37. Image buffer 39
Is for transferring and storing the dot image data read from the CGROM 33 based on code data such as characters in the text memory 37. The thermal head 19 follows the dot image data stored in the image buffer 39. Dot printing.
The image buffer 39 is composed of a so-called ring buffer. Further, the text information memory 40 is
It is a memory that stores code data corresponding to each character stored in the text memory 37 and position information of each character.
The code data and the position information in the text information memory 40 can be rearranged according to the rearranged character order when the character rearrangement processing program described later is executed. This point will be described later.

Now, returning to FIG. 3 and continuing the description of the control block diagram, the keyboard 3 is operated via the input / output interface 30, and the liquid crystal display 4 and the display controller 36 are operated via the input / output interface 36, respectively. When a character or the like is input through the character keys 6 of the keyboard 3 connected to the control device C, the text (document data) is sequentially stored in the text memory 37, and the dot pattern generation control program and Keyboard 3 based on display control program
A dot pattern corresponding to a character or the like input via is displayed on the liquid crystal display 4. Further, the thermal head 19 is driven through the drive circuit 43 to print the dot pattern data stored in the image buffer 39, and in synchronization with this, the tape feed motor 45 causes the drive circuit 44 to drive the character-attached tape 23. The feed control is performed.

Next, the operation of the tape printer 1 constructed as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 8. First, the main process performed by the tape printer 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a flow chart of the main processing program. First, in step (hereinafter abbreviated as S) 1, initialization such as clearing each memory in the RAM 35 is performed, and subsequently, the keyboard 3 is arranged in S2. The key input from each key is read.

Then, in S3, it is judged whether or not there is a key input from any of the keys on the keyboard 3, and if there is no key input from any of the keys (S3: NO), the process returns to S2 and the key is input again. Is read, while there is a key input from any key (S3:
If YES, it is determined in S4 whether the key input is from the print key 7. If the key input is from the print key 7 (S4: YES), the printing process described later is performed in S5, and then the process returns to S2.

If it is determined in S4 that the key input is not the print key 7 (S4: NO), it is determined in S6 whether the key input is from another function key provided on the keyboard 3. To be done. If the key input is from another function key, for example, the execution key 8 (S6: YES),
After the processing corresponding to the pressed function key is performed, S
Return to 2. On the other hand, if the key input is not from another function key (S6: NO), it is determined that the key input is from the character key 6, and the text input process is performed in S8. As a result, the code data corresponding to the character or the like input from the character key 6 is stored in the text memory 37 and the text is created. After this, S2 is returned to. The above is the main processing performed in the tape printer 1.

Next, the printing process performed in S5 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the print processing program. First, in S10, position information is calculated for all the characters stored in the text memory 37 and stored in the text information memory 40.

Here, the method of calculating the position information of each character performed in S10 will be outlined with reference to FIGS. FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing the storage state of characters and the like in the text memory 37, and FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing the storage state of characters and the like in the image buffer 39.

In FIG. 8, the text memory 37 has:
As in the conventional case (see FIG. 10), the text in which characters and the like are input over two lines is stored, and the text 50 on the first line is made up of three characters “Ai”. The text 51 on the line consists of five characters "12345". Further, a line feed mark 52 is input between the text 50 on the first line and the text 51 on the second line. In such text, each letter is first
“Ai” in the text 50 on the line is input in the order of the characters, then the line feed mark 52 is input, and then “12345” in the text 51 on the second line is input in the order of the characters.

When calculating the position information for each character input to the text memory 37 as described above, first, as shown in FIG. 9, the maximum printable value on the laminating tape 11 is based on the tape width of the laminating tape 11. Range 53
The lower left end position (indicated by the one-dot chain line in FIG. 9) is determined as the origin A (X coordinate 0, Y coordinate 0). And the margin B
X for arranging the character arrangement area D1 of the first character "A" by calculating the number of dots corresponding to the blank area C according to the number of dots corresponding to The coordinate position is determined. Also, based on the tape width of the laminating tape 11 and the number of lines of text, a baseline E for arranging the text 50 of the first line
1 (Y coordinate) is determined. After this, each letter "a",
The character arrangement areas D1, D2, and D3 of "i" and "u" are sequentially arranged from the character "a" to the character "u" with reference to the X coordinate position and the baseline E1 determined as described above. It

At this time, the position information of the character "A" is represented by the coordinate value (X coordinate value, Y coordinate value from the origin A) of the lower left end position F1 of the character arrangement area D1. The position information of “i” and “u” is also represented by the coordinate value of the lower left position F2 of the character arrangement area D2 and the coordinate value of the lower left position F3 of the character arrangement area D3. Then, the position information data of each character “A”, “I”, and “U” is stored in the text information memory 40 together with the code data of each character.

Regarding the position information of each character in the text 51 on the second line, the margin B is the same as above.
The X coordinate position for arranging the character arrangement area D4 of the first character "1" is determined at the position of the number of dots corresponding to, and based on the tape width of the laminating tape 11 and the number of lines of the text, A baseline E2 (Y coordinate) for arranging the text 51 on the second line is determined. After this,
The character arrangement areas D4, D5, D6, D7 and D8 of the respective characters "1", "2", "3", "4" and "5" are the X coordinate position and the baseline E2 determined as described above. With reference to, the characters “1” to “5” are sequentially arranged.

At this time, similarly to the above, the position information of the character "1" is represented by the coordinate value (X coordinate value, Y coordinate value from the origin A) of the lower left position F4 of the character arrangement area D4. Also, regarding the position information of each character "2", "3", "4", "5", the coordinate value of the left lower end position F5 of the character arrangement area D5 and the left lower end position F of the character arrangement area D6, respectively.
6, the coordinate value of the lower left position F7 of the character arrangement area D7, and the coordinate value of the lower left position F8 of the character arrangement area D8. And each character "1", "2", "3",
The position information data of "4" and "5" are stored in the text information memory 40 together with the code data of each character.

When the X coordinate values of the respective characters are focused and arranged in ascending order, the positions F4, F1, F5, F6, F2, F
The order is 7, F8, F3. Regarding the Y coordinate value, the Y coordinate value of each character in the text 50 on the first line is the same value (Y coordinate value of the baseline E1), and
Although the Y-coordinate value of each character in the text 51 of the line is the same (Y-coordinate value of the baseline E2), when the text 50 of the first line and the text 51 of the second line are compared,
The Y coordinate value of each character in the text 50 on the first line is
It is larger than the Y coordinate value of each character in the text 51 on the second line.

Now, returning to FIG. 5 and continuing the description of the printing process, as described above, the text memory 3 is sent in S10.
After the position information is calculated for each character of 7, the character rearrangement process is performed in S11. The character rearrangement process will be described with reference to FIG. The character rearrangement process is performed by the text 50 input in two lines based on the position information of each character calculated in S10.
51 is a process of rearranging each character in the printing order,
As a result, the dot image data of each character can be expanded and arranged on the image buffer 39 according to the printing order of each character.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of the character rearrangement processing program. First, in S20, it is judged whether or not only one character exists in the text memory 37. If there is only one character (S20: YES), the sequence does not need to be rearranged, and the process returns. On the other hand, if there are multiple characters (S20: NO), the first character in the text memory 37 is set in S21. With CH1 and the next character being CH2, the rearrangement process after S22 is performed.

At S22, it is determined whether the X coordinate value of CH1 is smaller than the X coordinate value of CH2. CH1 X
When the coordinate value is smaller than the X coordinate value of CH2 (S22:
In the case of (YES), it is not necessary to rearrange CH1 and CH2, so the process proceeds to S26, while the X coordinate value of CH1 is CH.
If it is greater than or equal to the X coordinate value of 2 (S22: N
In O), it is determined in S23 whether the X coordinate value of CH1 and the X coordinate value of CH2 are equal.

When the X coordinate value of CH1 and the X coordinate value of CH2 are not equal (S23: NO), the X coordinate of CH1 is C.
Since the order of CH1 and CH2 is reversed because it is larger than the X coordinate of H2, the order of CH1 and CH2 in the text information memory 40 is exchanged in S25, and then the process proceeds to S26. On the other hand, when the X coordinate value of CH1 and the X coordinate value of CH2 are equal (S23: YE
In S) and S24, the Y coordinate value of CH1 and the Y coordinate value of CH2 are compared. The determination in S24 is CH1
When the X coordinate values of CH2 and CH2 are equal to each other, printing is performed from the upper line. As a result of the comparison performed in S24, when the Y coordinate value of CH1 is larger than the Y coordinate value of CH2 (S24: YES), the printing is performed from the upper line, and thus the process proceeds to S26. In the case of (S24: NO), after the order of CH1 and CH2 in the text information memory 40 is exchanged in S25, the process proceeds to S26.

At S26, it is determined whether CH2 is the last character. If CH2 is not the last character (S
26: NO), CH2 is updated to the next character in the text information memory 40 in S28, and then the process returns to S22. If CH2 is the last character (S26:
If YES, CH1 is updated to the next character in the text memory 37 in S27. Then, in S29, it is determined whether or not CH1 is the last character, and if it is not the last character (S29: NO), CH2 is set to the next character of CH1 in S30 and then the process returns to S22. When it is determined that the updated CH1 is the last character in S27 (S29: NO), the process is returned.

Here, in order to facilitate understanding of the character rearrangement process described above, the character rearrangement process will be specifically described based on the example shown in FIG. When the character rearrangement process is started, the code data of each character is stored in the text memory 37 in the order shown in FIG. 8, and the text information memory 40 stores each character in the text memory 37. It is assumed that code data and position information of each character are stored in the order of.

First, CH1 is set to the character "A" and CH2 is set to the character "I" (S20: YES, S21), and the X coordinate value of the character "A" and the X coordinate value of the character "I" are compared. Then, the X coordinate value of the character "I" is larger than the X coordinate value of the character "A" (S22: YES), and the character "I"
Is not the last character (S26: NO), so CH
2 is updated and set to the character "U" (S28).
After this, the same processing as above (S22, S26, S28)
Is done. Then, when CH2 is set to the character "1" (S28), the X coordinate value of the character "1" is smaller than the X coordinate value of the character "A" (S22: NO), and each X coordinate value is Since they are not the same (S23: NO), the order of the character "1" and the character "a" is switched in the text information memory 40 (S25). At this time, the order of each character stored in the text information memory 40 is "1 Ia 2345". This character order is the character "a".
Is smaller than the X coordinate values of the characters "2", "3", "4", and "5" (S22: YES, S2).
6: NO, S28), CH1 does not change until it is set to the character "1".

Subsequently, when CH1 is set to the character "i" (S27, S29: NO, S30), the X coordinate values of the character "i" are the respective characters "a", "2", Since it is larger than the X coordinate value of the character “3”, the order of these characters is sequentially changed in the text information memory 40. As a result, the order of each character in the text information memory 40 is changed to "1 match 23 45" by the time CH1 is set to the character "u".

Further, when CH1 is set to the character "U" (S27, S29: NO, S30), the X coordinate value of the character "U" is within the X coordinate value of each character except the character "5". Since it is the largest, in the text information memory 40,
The order of these characters will be sequentially changed, and as a result, the order of each character in the text information memory 40 will be "1 23 4 5". At this point, the character "5" set in CH2 is the last character (S29: YES), so the character rearrangement process ends.

At this time, the order of the characters stored in the text information memory 40 is ascending order of the position information of each character (the X coordinate value of the lower left end positions F1 to F8 of each character arrangement area D1 to D8). , Are arranged according to the printing order of each character. As a result, by sequentially arranging the dot image data of each character in the image memory 39 according to the character order of the text information memory 40, it becomes possible to successively print as described later.

After the character rearrangement process is performed in S11 as described above, the sequential printing process is performed in S12. The sequential printing process will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the sequential print processing program. First, in S31, the dot image data that can be arranged in the image buffer 39 is read from the CROM 33 in accordance with the character order in the text information memory 40, and the read dot image is read. The data is expanded and arranged in the image buffer 39. Here, the amount of dot image data that can be arranged in the image buffer 39 depends on the storage capacity of the image buffer 39, but for example, dot image data for 5 dot rows is arranged. In this case, the storage capacity of the image buffer 39 may be the storage capacity of a 5-dot row.

When the dot image data is arranged in the image buffer 39 as described above, the image pointer (a pointer indicating the arrangement end position of the dot image data) indicates the image development end position. For example, when the dot image data for five dot rows is expanded and arranged, the image pointer points to the fifth row of the dot image data.

At S32, the print drive system (thermal printing mechanism PM) starts to be interrupted, whereby the print processing is interrupted at regular intervals and the dot image data arranged in the image buffer 39 is thermally printed. Mechanism P
Printing is sequentially performed on the laminating tape 11 via M.

In S33, the text information memory 4
It is judged whether the arrangement of the dot image data in the image buffer 39 is completed for all the characters in 0. If the arrangement of the dot image data of all the characters is not completed (S33: NO), the dot image data arranged in the image buffer 39 in S31 is printed in S34, so that the image buffer 39 is newly updated. It is determined whether or not the dot image data can be arranged. This determination is made because the ring buffer is used as the image buffer 39. If the new dot image data cannot be arranged (S34: NO), S3 is executed.
On the other hand, if the dot image data can be newly arranged while returning to step 3 (S34: YES), the pointed position of the image pointer is updated (S36: YES) after the dot image data for the allocable portion is arranged in the image buffer 39 in S35. After that, the process returns to S33.

On the other hand, in S33, the image buffer 3 for all the characters in the text information memory 40 is displayed.
When it is determined that the arrangement of the dot image data in 9 is completed (S33: YES), it is determined in S37 whether the printing by the print drive system (thermal printing mechanism PM) is completed, and when the printing is completed (S37). : YES)
Will be returned to.

As described in detail above, in the tape printer 1 according to the present embodiment, each character of the text stored in the text memory 37 over a plurality of lines is set with the lower left position of the maximum printable range 53 as the origin A. Etc., the left lower end positions F1 to F in the character arrangement areas D1 to D8
The X coordinate value and the Y coordinate value of 8 are calculated and stored in the text information memory 40, and the character order in the text information memory 40 is rearranged in ascending order of the X coordinate based on the position information of each character. Since the dot image data is sequentially developed and arranged in the image buffer 39 by a predetermined amount in accordance with the rearranged order of the characters, the dot image data is printed on the laminating tape 11 via the thermal printing mechanism PM. Even if characters are not printed in the order of input in the text stored in the memory 37 over a plurality of lines, the characters are sequentially printed with a simple structure by using the image buffer 39 having a small storage capacity. You can

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and it goes without saying that various improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0054]

As described above, the invention according to claim 1
In the tape printer, the position information from the predetermined reference position is calculated for each character stored in the text memory, and characters in multiple lines of text are rearranged in the printing order based on the calculation result. ,
To provide a tape printer capable of sequentially printing characters and the like with a simple configuration by using an image buffer having a small storage capacity even when the characters stored in the text memory are not printed in the input order. You can Well
In addition, in the tape printer of the invention according to claim 2,
Is the tape position of the tape when the predetermined reference position in the calculation means is
At a fixed position within the maximum range that can be printed on the tape based on the tape width
Yes Determined as the origin and based on the tape width of the tape
Each character can then be placed in the appropriate position. Further, claim 3
In the tape printer according to the invention described in paragraph 1,
Is based on the tape width of the tape and the number of lines of text
The line is determined, and information such as characters is
Information is arranged and each character in multi-line printing
Can be properly arranged. The invention according to claim 4
In the printer, the arrangement order rearranging means is one sentence.
Equipped with a judgment means to judge whether or not there are multiple characters
If you want to change the arrangement order of each character etc.
It is easy to control. Also, in claim 5.
In the tape printer of the described invention,
The rearrangement of the arrangement order of each character in the changing means is
It is executed based on the comparison of character coordinate values,
Easy to process.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a tape printer.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the tape cassette without an upper case.

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

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a main processing program.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a print processing program.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a character rearrangement processing program.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a sequential print processing program.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing a storage state of characters and the like in a text memory.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing a storage state of characters and the like in the image buffer.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing a storage state of characters and the like in a text memory in a conventional device.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing a storage state of characters and the like in an image buffer in a conventional device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 tape printer 3 keyboard 6-character input key 7 Print key 8 Run key 10 tape cassette 19 thermal head 32 CPU 34 ROM 35 RAM 37 Text memory 39 image buffer 40 Text information memory A origin D1 to D8 character arrangement area F1 to F8 Left bottom position

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Mika Oshige 15-1 Naeshiro-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya City Brother Industries, Ltd. (56) Reference JP-A-5-305750 (JP, A) JP-A 5-305749 (JP, A) JP-A-6-1000 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B41J 3/36 B41J 5/30 B41J 5/44 G06F 3 / 12

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A text input means for inputting text consisting of characters or the like over a plurality of lines, a text memory for storing the characters and the like of the text input from the text input means in the order of input, and each of the text memories stored in the text memory. Arrangement order sequence that compares the position information calculated by the calculation means with the calculation means for calculating the position information of characters etc. from a predetermined reference position and changes the arrangement order of each character etc. based on the comparison result. Changing means, a data creating means for creating dot image data for each character or the like according to the arrangement order rearranged by the arrangement order rearranging means, and a predetermined amount of dot image data for each character or the like created by the data creating means The image buffer that is sequentially stored and the dot image data that is stored in the image buffer are long Printing means for printing on a tape-like tape, and dot image data in the image buffer is printed on the tape via the printing means, and dot image data is created by the data creating means following the printing A tape printing apparatus comprising: a printing control unit that stores the data in a tape. 2. The predetermined reference position in the calculation means is
Of the maximum range that can be printed on the tape based on the tape width
It is a fixed position and is determined as the origin
The tape printer according to claim 1. 3. The calculation means is the tape width and the text of the tape.
And the number of lines in the
Characteristic information is placed along the inn
The tape printer according to claim 1 or 2. 4. Whether or not the arrangement order rearranging means has one character
If there are multiple characters,
It is adapted to perform the rearrangement of the placement order such as viewing each character
4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein
Tape printer. 5. Characters, etc. in the arrangement order rearranging means
The rearrangement of the arrangement order of is based on the comparison of the coordinate value of each character.
5. The method according to claim 1, which is executed.
The tape printer described.