JPH011555A - high speed printer - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to high speed printers capable of printing up to at least 350 pages per minute.

Description of the Prior Art Prior art printers that store digital images of the information to be printed generally come in two different types. The first type is based on hardware that processes pages very quickly to achieve standard printing functions, but is not capable of diverse printing functions. Assignee Mercurion
The ur 1on) printer is a high speed printer that uses a hardware base that can print up to 80 pages per minute. A second type of printer is based on microprocessor-control, which allows a high degree of programmability to implement different printing functions, but does not operate at high speeds. This type of system typically has a throughput of 10 to 20 pages per minute.

All of the aforementioned forms of prior art systems do not use a processing unit to issue commands to a character generator to retrieve characters stored as pixel matrices of words of pixels in a font storage memory. All addresses for retrieving a word of characters from memory are generated independently of the operation of the processing unit, which positions the word at a particular pixel location with respect to a word boundary in the page memory where the word is stored. , process the words of each searched character word, and
Only the absolute address of the page memory where the word is stored is specified; all of the absolute addresses of the page memory where the remaining words of each character are stored are generated independently of the processing unit. Prior art microprocessor
- The based system has control of all operations to support the microprocessor-assigned system, including address generation, which results in slower throughput when compared to the present invention; The processing unit is used to perform functions that support system operations without incurring the substantial overhead of generating addresses to operate system memory.

Prior art systems for duplex printing (printing on both sides of a page) have a font storage memory that stores four separate character orientations for each printed character. The first orientation is for the character used in portrait mode (the line runs across the width of the paper) represented by the character //A'' in Figure 1A, and the second orientation is , for characters used in landscape mode (characters run the length of the paper), represented by the letter "A" in FIG. 1B. Portrait mode is used in the field of book and similar types of printing to print characters on one side of a page. Landscape mode is used to print characters when displaying graphic data and other forms of information on one side of a page, where text sentences run in lines the length of the paper. This is desirable. the third and fourth orientations are rotations of 180 degrees from the aforementioned first and second orientations, respectively;
In the duplex printing mode for the portrait and landscape orientations described above, it is used to print on the back side of the page and is represented by the letter "A" in FIGS. 1c and 1D, respectively.

Although not illustrated in Figure 1A-ID, it should be understood that each character of each font is stored as a matrix of pixels that is read out in a manner similar to the raster of a television receiver's scanning pattern, and that the individual A pixel represents a point in a raster that is stored as a binary value, one of the two
One binary value indicates the light area and the other binary value indicates the dark area, and the net effect of all the binary values produces the visual representation of the character. A drawback of prior art methods of character storage, as shown in Figure 1A-ID, to achieve both simplex printing (printing only one side of the sheet) and duplex printing, is that each particular character It must be written in four separate orientations, requiring twice the amount of character memory required for printing alone.

In display or printing systems, systems are known for rotating stored images or individual characters by rotations that are multiples of 90 degrees.

A system of the type described above is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,271°47.
No. 6, No. 4.31: No. 2,045, No. 4,542゜3
No. 77, No. 4,545,069, No. 4,554゜63
No. 8, No. 4,560,980, No. 4,570°15'
No. 8, and No. 4.636,783. Patent! No. 4,271,476 is disclosed in patent no. 4.312., which features a system for rotating a stored digital image by 90 degrees from a horizontal 7-inch format to a vertical format.
No. 4,545,069 discloses a system for selectively rotating digital images by 90 degrees. Patent No. 4,544,638 features a display system that allows images to be rotated by multiples of 90 degrees. Patent No. 4,560.980 features a printer that allows selective rotation of characters by 90 degrees. Characteristic patent No. 4.
No. 570.158 is Patent No. 4, which features a system for writing images into memory either from left to right or right to left and then readable from either a top-to-bottom direction or a bottom-to-top direction. No. 636.783 discloses a system for rotating stored digital images by multiples of 90 degrees. The aforementioned patent discloses that in a first direction the individual pixels of each word are transferred in a parallel seven-order manner to a display or printing device in a first order, and that the individual pixels of each word are With the pixel order of each word reversed with respect to positional importance (i.e., the most significant pixel is swapped with the least significant pixel, the next most significant pixel is swapped with the next least significant pixel, etc.)
None discloses the selective reading of words stored in a second direction, opposite to the first direction, which are transferred in parallel 7-o-mat to a display or printing device.

No. 4,225,929 discloses that by reversing the order of addressing of storage frames in memory and the order of reading out individual pixels,
The address generation of Patent No. 4,225,929, which features a system for rotating a television frame by 80 degrees, allows only the entire frame to be read. Although extremely important in the printing system of the present invention, no preparation is made for the area within the frame that is to be read.
In this case, in the present invention, any of the individual characters is
read from the font storage unit in either the first orientation or the reverse orientation;
or for duplex printing of individual sheets or printing of sheets with holes printed on one side for storage in a ring binder, where portions of pages of information or entire pages of information stored in page memory are , 1st
It is read out either in orientation or in reverse orientation.

No. 4,555,763 discloses that a first microprocessor receives, controls, and formats characters representing digital data and associated control data received from an interface device; discloses a printer that controls the selection of characters from stored fonts and dual line storage of displayed data. Each character cell is
Read in 6 or 8 bit words.

Patent No. 4,452,136 discloses a printing system that uses two microprocessors.

The ml microprocessor controls communication with the host system, and the second microprocessor controls the operation of the motorized head that prints the dot matrix.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a high speed printer capable of proportional character spacing (of characters with different widths) with a throughput of at least 350 pages per minute. A printer of this capability performs a variety of tasks for controlling system operation without having the overhead of generating addresses to retrieve pixel storage words that define individual characters in font storage memory;
and by providing a processing unit for generating an address for controlling the location at which the search word defining each character is stored in a page memory storing textual information to be printed by an associated printing device. be done.

The processing unit performs several functions in processing the characters to be printed. A processing unit continuously receives text sentences to be printed and controls storage in a page memory that is part of a combined page memory and font storage unit. The processing unit then
It sequentially issues commands for retrieving individual characters stored in encoded form from the page memory and page memory of the font storage unit 7. By receiving each character from the page memory and the page memory of the font storage unit, the processing unit identifies the font to which the retrieved character belongs and identifies which character was retrieved. The geography unit then issues commands to the page memory and the font storage memory of the font storage unit to retrieve the pixel-matrix that defines the character. The individual characters are
Sequentially retrieved from character memory as a series of multi-pixel words, each character is typically allocated 2 or 3 words per line, with the last word per line having multiple lines, such as 40 lines. Proportional spacing is partially satisfied for characters. Each word is addressed by an address generator I which generates each of the addresses for retrieving the word independently of the operation of the processing unit. F
IFO (first in, first out) storage stores words retrieved from font storage before transfer to the processing unit.

Flags associated with FIFO storage signal when one or more words are stored and signal the processing unit to retrieve the first word.

The arithmetic logic unit of the geographic unit calculates the storage address of the first word of each character and the first pixel location of every word within the character with respect to word boundaries in the raster storage unit.

The absolute pixel address at which the first pixel of each word of each character is located in the processing unit's page memory is:
Calculated by the processing unit.

This address is incremented by the pixel width of each successive character and stored within the ender in each character's font storage memory. The absolute pixel address is divided by the number of pixels per word to determine the absolute word address of the line where the starting word is stored. The absolute word address for each consecutive word on the line is
It is calculated by incrementing the previous word address by one until all of the words for a single line have been processed. The remainder of the division operation of the previous character is
To achieve proper positioning, all of the words of the current character determine the number of positions that must be rotated to properly position the character within the page memory of the raster storage unit. Each word retrieved from a character stored in the font storage memory is rotated by a number of pixel positions equal to the remainder computed by the arithmetic logic unit of the processing unit and then merged by the processing unit with the remainder of the previous word. .

When the next character is retrieved from the font storage memory, the width in pixels is added to the aforementioned absolute pixel address of the first pixel of the first word of the current character. The same division operation above is performed to determine the address of the first word of the first line, and the remainder is the number of pixel positions rotated by the arithmetic logic unit for all of the words of the next character. Determine. The absolute address of the first word of each character is saved as a pointer by the processing unit. The pointer value is transferred to a raster storage unit. The address generator in the raster storage unit generates all the word addresses for writing the word into the page memory, and the address of the first word of each character is specified by the pointer value transferred from the processing unit. , and for writing a word to the page memory for each character, all subsequent addresses are generated by the addressing unit independently of the operation of the processing unit. raster·
The form storage unit is read from the page memory and is combined with the variable text by an OR gate.
Memorize more than one form. The output of the OR gate is applied to a bit reverser which functions as described below.

The addressing operations described above are performed independently of the processing unit, allowing high print throughput of up to 350 pages per minute or more, while other tasks such as execution of instructions received from the host computer or keyboard are performed. Freeing up processing units to perform functions.

The first bit inversion unit is coupled to the page memory and the output of the font storage memory of the font storage unit, and the second bit inversion unit I- is coupled to the output of the OR gate. A first hit reverser and a reversible counter in the addressing unit of the page memory and font storage unit have first and second reverse counters rotated 180 degrees with respect to each other.
In the orientation, it is possible to select the output of individually stored characters from the page memory and the font storage memory of the font storage unit, and furthermore the importance of the pixel position of each word is determined before storage in the page memory. Then, the pixel position is reversed from the first orientation to the second orientation. A second bit reverser and a reversible counter in the addressing unit of the raster storage unit enable the selection of the output of partial pages or full pages in the first and second orientations rotated 180 degrees relative to each other, and furthermore each word The importance of the pixel locations in the first orientation is reversed in the second orientation. The ability to select the aforementioned orientations allows duplex printing to be performed without the need for storing in font memory the four orientations for each character, as shown in Figure 1A-ID, and Additionally, without the memory of the four character orientations of Figure 1A-ID, holes can be punched in the face for storage in a ring binder by providing selective output of data in any of the four orientations. Enables you to print pages that have been created.

The printing system according to the invention comprises a raster storage unit comprising a page memory for storing at least one page of information to be printed, each page comprising a start line, a plurality of intermediate lines and an end line. comprising a plurality of lines of information, each line having one or more consecutive addressing words each having a plurality of pixels, a starting word having a lowest address and each consecutive word having a higher address; , the last word has the highest address; a reading system coupled to the page memory for reading words stored in the page memory in either a first direction or a second direction; is read from the first line successively through the intermediate and final lines, each line being read in the direction from the lowest addressing word to the highest addressing word; line and the first line, each line is read out in the direction from the highest addressed word to the lowest addressed word, and the importance of the pixel position of the pixel of the word read out in the second direction is The importance of the pixel position of the pixel of the word read in one direction is reversed; the page memory is written in the print medium with a top and a bottom tα
a printer for printing on first and second sides of a print medium coupled to a reading system for reading words to print pages of information printed on the print medium; Printing is performed by printing a page of information read from a page memory in one of the first and second directions while moving the print medium through a printing mechanism from top to bottom; printing of the second side of is performed by printing the page of information read from the page memory in the other of the first and second directions while moving the print medium from the bottom to the top; and include.

The printing system according to the invention comprises a font storage unit comprising a font storage memory for storing a plurality of characters to be printed, wherein each stored character has a first line, a plurality of intermediate lines and an end line. , each line having one or more consecutive addressing words, the starting word having a lowest address, and each consecutive word having a higher address. the last word has the highest address and each word has a plurality of pixels; a read coupled to the font storage unit for reading the word stored in the font storage memory in either the m1 direction or the second direction; a system, wherein the first direction is from the first line to the last line, each line being read in the direction from the lowest addressing word to the highest addressing word;
The direction is from the last line through the first line, each line being read in the direction from the highest addressing word to the lowest addressing word, and the storage of character words is one page of information to be printed. The page memory contained in the raster storage unit storing the above information is read from the font storage memory. Combined with a printer: Includes:

The printing system according to the invention comprises a processing unit 7 having an input for receiving data and commands specifying operations to be performed; successively issue commands specifying that the character is to be stored as a matrix of pixels in a series of addressing words, each word having a plurality of pixels; Process each retrieved word for each character, where each individual character marks a page of information to be printed.
a font storage unit coupled to the processing unit, wherein the first word of each character is stored in the memory for storing a page of information; Here, the font storage unit includes a font storage memory for storing one or more fonts of a character, each including a plurality of characters to be searched, and for processing commands issued from the processing unit, and includes a font storage memory for storing a specified font. The specified character of is searched for,
Words of specified characters are successively retrieved from storage in the font storage memory by addresses generated by the font storage unit and transferred to the processing unit; a raster storage unit coupled to the processing unit; The raster storage unit includes a page memory for storing processing words defining each character sent from the processing unit to create a page of information to be printed; an address generator for generating an address for a word position in a page in which each word of a character is stored, and a page for each character word at the generated address; The first word of each character is stored at the address specified by the processing unit, and all subsequent words of each character are stored at the address independently of the operation of the processing unit 1-. specifies that addresses generated by the generator are stored in a page memory; a printer coupled to a raster notation tα unit that successively prints pages of information stored in the page memory onto a print medium; ; including.

In a printing system having a processing unit controlling the retrieval of individually stored characters from the font storage memory of a font storage unit as a plurality of words, each of the plurality of words having a plurality of pixels, each character The searched characters have a plurality of lines and are stored in a page memory of a raster storage unit for storing pages of characters to be printed by the printer: a plurality of words of each searched character are stored according to the invention. an addressing V-stem that generates an address of a location in page memory stored by an address calculator located in the processing unit, where the address calculator is configured to:
Calculate the absolute address for storing the first word of each character retrieved from the font storage memory and transfer the calculated absolute address to the raster storage unit; each character in the page memory at the specified absolute address a memory management unit for controlling the storage of each retrieved word of each retrieved character, wherein the absolute address for storing the first word of each retrieved character is an absolute address transferred from the processing unit; All remaining absolute addresses of each retrieved word of each character are calculated by an absolute address calculator operating independently of the operation of the processing unit.

The printing system according to the invention comprises: a page memory for storing at least one page of information to be printed; wherein each stored page of information includes a start line, a plurality of intermediate lines and an end line; Contains multiple lines, each line having multiple consecutive addressing words each having multiple pixels, the starting word having a lowest address, each consecutive word having a higher address, and the last word having a lower address. a reading system coupled to the page memory of f-M) for reading words stored in the page memory in either a first direction or a second direction; The direction is from the first line successively through the intermediate line and the last line, each line being read in the direction from the lowest addressing word to the highest addressing word, and the second direction is from the last line to the first line. , each line is read out in the direction from the highest addressing word to the lowest addressing word, and the significance of the pixel position of the individual pixel of the word read out in the second direction is The importance of the pixel position of the pixel of the read word is reversed, and each page is
Addresses that extend between the minimum address and maximum address
field, and one or more addresses in the address field between the minimum address and the maximum address are read in either the first direction or the second direction; in either the first direction or the second direction. a printer coupled to the reading system for printing the plurality of lines of the read page onto a print medium;

A printing system according to the invention comprises a font memory for storing a plurality of characters, wherein each stored character includes a plurality of lines of information including a first line, a plurality of intermediate lines and an end line, and wherein each line has multiple consecutive addressing words each having multiple pixels, the starting word has the lowest address,
Each successive word has a higher address, the last word has the highest address: coupled to a font storage memory for reading a word stored in the font storage memory in either a first direction or a second direction. a reading system, wherein the first direction is from the first line through the last line, each line being read in the direction from the lowest addressing word to the highest addressing word;
The direction is from the last line through the first line, with each line being read in the direction from the highest addressing word to the lowest addressing word, and the position of the individual pixels of the word being read out in the second direction. The importance is reversed from that of the position of each individual pixel read out in the first direction, and the font storage memory has a plurality of individual pixels defined by an address field extending between a minimum address and a maximum address. A subfield of contiguous addresses of words having addressable word storage locations and defining a single character is read in either a first direction or a second direction: a plurality of words stored in a font storage memory; a printer coupled to a reading system for printing on a print medium;

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention is a high speed printer controller for a printing device that prints digitally stored images of pixels. The present invention is also a high speed printing system for printing digitally stored images. The system has proportional spacing of characters and has a throughput capability of up to 350 pages per minute or more.

The present invention provides the user with a wide selection of proportionally spaced character fonts (256 possible for the preferred embodiment);
These are known or newly developed fonts, which can be stored in a matrix of pixels in the font memory. Landscape printing and portrait printing are selected, and printing of stored pages in a ring binder is performed only by storing characters in two orientations rotated 90 degrees with respect to each other. The raster form storage unit allows simultaneous printing of 7 ohms of storage with variable data stored in the page memory of the raster storage unit. The processing unit is compatible with known page description and Graphink languages.

Referring to FIG. 2, the system IO includes a processing unit 1-
Centrally controlled by 12. Processing unit 12 is controlled by 80-bit wide instructions allowing high controllability for each word. Instructions are stored in high speed RAM. A partial summary of the commands executable by processing unit 12 is shown in the table below labeled "Command Summary".

Command Summary ■, Raster Form Storage Unit Selection for Printing (Full raster image map of pages up to II inches x l inches at resolutions of 240 or 300 pixels per inch) 2, Shade Defined Area Relative Mode (32
Level) 3, Raster form storage unit load control 4, Window definition for loading raster data 5, Set window mode 6, Start loading raster data 7, Horizontal position 8, Relative horizontal position 9, Vertical position IO1 relative vertical position 11, absolute horizontal, vertical position 12, horizontal/vertical line drawing 13, vector drawing 14, relative vector drawing 15, light mode selection (absolute, 'Or', 'and
') -816,0FFSET definition 17, raster form storage unit glue set 18, size unit selection (pixels, decipoints) 19, downloading special shading patterns 20, font selection (up to 999) 21, top margin selection 22 , left margin selection 24, bottom margin selection 256, number of copies selection 26, automatic rate feeder control (multiple feeders) 27, end of document (separator page or offset) 28, two inline/baseline directions, character orientation 30 , Duplex/Simblelinks (automatic page rebuild on error) These commands provide a high degree of programmability.

Referring to FIG. 2, processing unit 12 performs system memory section loading instructions as described below. The processing unit 12 performs address calculations for retrieving individual words of multiple pixels of a character each defined by a matrix of pixels in a page memory and font storage unit 24, and thus provides a raster image from each character only by providing Note tα
The overall operation of the system, except for operations requiring extended address calculations that are performed independently of the processing unit operations in the memory section, including address calculations for writing words to the page memory of unit 26. It performs multiple functions under the control of a centrally controlled microcoded program.

The processing unit 12 is further configured to position with respect to the word storage location of the page memory in the raster storage unit 26 by the specified paper margin or the location where the next character is stored as described in detail below. Each word of proportionally spaced characters retrieved from page memory and font storage unit 24 is processed. The processing unit 12 is preferably a microprocessor unit and is responsible for the current retrieval and rotation of the word to its exact storage location in the page memory and for storage in the page memory during the previous retrieval cycle of the font storage unit. The current fetched word during a single clock cycle can be set to any set value, as described below.
Facilitates fast positioning of characters for writing to page memory with respect to margin and proportional character position W.

Processing unit 12 also operates at high speed in processing graphics commands.

The host interface 14 is a standard 7 or 8 bit ASCII parallel interface (Data Products or Centronics) with additional status links for special applications allowing nodeling of communication with the host printer. . The host interface allows compatibility with a wide range of host computers. Additionally, it is compatible with previously developed form creation and graphics software for Assignee's Mercurion system.

ANSII I used by Mercurion I
[X 3.64 All graphics commands and
An extended instruction set for the page description language is provided.

The special status interface is the IBM 382
0 or 3800-3 to provide the functionality needed to emulate other systems.

Disk controller 16 is implemented using a standard microprocessor (Z-80). disk·
The functions of the controller are (1) to control the operation of the floppy disk 18 or the optional tape drive 20 and the optional hard disk 21;
2) controlling the loading of microcode to control the disk controller 16; (3) controlling the loading of microcode to the processing unit 12; (4) providing a link to the control panel 22; and (5) page memory and font storage unit 74 and raster storage unit 26 from disk.
control the loading of fonts into RAM. Floppy disk 18 and tape drive 20 provide large storage media and connect central processing unit 12 and disk drive 20.
Used to store microcode, fonts, diagnostic routines, user-defined i-forms, and graphics for the controller 16, providing a source of transportable fonts, forms, logos, syllables, etc., to facilitate failure analysis. and loading of special diagnostic routines for testing purposes.

The control panel 22 includes an alphanumeric display that displays status and allows for data entry on an easy-to-use, menu-driven basis.

The microprocessor for display 26 associated with the control panel is programmed to be compatible with the selected printing device. The page memory and font storage unit 24 stores the text to be printed (preferably 1-
8 pages) and all pixel memory maps of proportionally spaced characters in multiple selectable fonts. The page memory and font storage unit 24 primarily serves three different functions: storing multiple pages (pages 1-8) of encoded data, storing font information in all pixel map patterns, and storing font information in all pixel map patterns. Used to store small tag graphics, such as logos. Each of these functions is discussed below.

The storage of multiple pages of encoded characters in the page memory and page memory of the font storage unit 24 comprises:
Used for both error recovery and duplex printing. In the case of a paper jam or other error, the system must be able to reprint some pages without relying entirely on the printing system. The number of pages stored is a firmware issue, and the paper path length,
Changes to save memory, such as by simplex or duplex. In duplex systems, it is necessary to recover data in case of an error condition and to keep enough pages in memory so that the back side of a previously printed front page is replaced by a page from the printing system. Printed before release. for example,
The 8 pages of duplex printing by the system are printed in the order of pages 2.4.6.8, l, 3.5.7,
This allows four front side printed sheets to be stored in the paper path for later printing on the back side.

The stored font information is used as follows.

The font information is used to convert the selected character requested to be retrieved by a command received from the processing unit 12 into a pixel pattern that is read out from the page memory and font storage unit 24 that stores the requested character within the selected font. Needed. Each character is stored in character memory as a pixel matrix containing multiple addressable words. When the characters in a typeface are spaced proportionally (not all characters are the same width, but each character has a set width in pixels), each character has a width in pixels (e.g. , 24 pixels). Headers are used by processing unit 12 in positioning words of characters with respect to page memory word boundaries of raster storage unit 26, as described in detail below. Each character is fully defined by an integer multiple of 166 pixel words per line, with multiple lines per character. Associated with page memory and font storage unit 24 is an address generation unit, discussed in detail below with respect to FIG. The address generation unit generates an address for each word retrieved and transferred to the processing unit 12, independently of the operation of the processing unit, and generates an address for retrieving the word from the font storage memory from the processing unit overhead. release. The page memory and font storage memory of font storage unit 24 is implemented in RAM and is expandable for storage of additional fonts and small graphics. The font memory unit 7 is also
Small graphics such as sidnatures and logos are included for later use in both raster 7 ohm storage unit 28 and page memory pages “0” and “l” of raster storage unit 26, which will be discussed below. Effectively used for memorization. Small graphics are quickly transferred from font storage memory 24 to one of raster pages O and 1 of raster storage unit 26. The bit reverser 32 is enabled to reverse the order of importance of the pixels of each word of the character read from the font storage memory, from the top of the character to the bottom of the character or from the bottom of the character to the top of the character, respectively. enabling readout of stored data in either the first direction or the second direction, without the need to memorize the orientations of FIGS. 1C and 1D;
1A and 1B, allowing the creation of a character in an inverted 7-ohmanoto from the orientation shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B. A reversible counter is provided with a page memory and a font memory 24, allowing reading of words of characters in a first and a second direction. Any block of addresses within the total address space of page memory and font storage unit 24 may be read in either the first direction or the second direction.

Raster storage unit 26 functions to store the entire pixel map of two pages printed by a printing device of conventional design. Each word includes a plurality of pixels, sixteen in the preferred embodiment. Alternatively, pages 0 and 1
Generally, but not limited to, the individually stored pixels/matrix of the character stored in
Read out to a printing device on a page-by-page basis. When one of the pages is loaded, the other of the pages is read, which speeds up the operation of the raster storage unit 26. The raster storage unit 26, discussed below, includes two address generation units, the first of which is an absolute address generator in which each word of each character is stored in either page 0 or page l of page memory. Generate word address. The absolute address of the @l word of each character is specified by the processing unit 12, but all other absolute addresses of each word are generated by the address generation unit independently of the operation of the processing unit I2. The second address generation unit
Reads to the printer read forward or reverse from any word address in memory.
Generate an address. The timing of the second address generation unit is controlled by the printing device and is asynchronous to the processing unit. Generation of addresses by the address generation unit relieves processing unit 12 from the overhead of calculating storage addresses for very large words in page memory. The actual number of pixels allocated per page is a function of paper size and pixel density used by the printing device. In a preferred embodiment, the invention is not limited to a density of 240 or 300 pixels per linear inch.

The raster 7 ohm storage unit 28 provides a full pixel output for the selected output of the page of variable data from the page memory of the raster storage unit 26 to create a composite of the variable text sentence and the selected form. Functions to store at least one form in the map. Raster form storage unit 28 includes 7 ohm memory with up to 2 megabytes of storage in the preferred embodiment, which is used in a number of ways. The basic function of form memory is to output from one of the page memories of raster storage unit 26,
7 ohms (
or graphics) pixels/maps. Each of the one or more 7 ohms is held in a random access memory of the form memory, which requires a write cycle to the 7 ohm memory for each page of data to be printed. This allows selective printing of variable data (text) in successive pages read from the raster storage unit 26 without loss of speed. The 7 ohm image is enabled or disabled for printing without writing to form memory in the raster form storage unit 28. Alternatively, form memory is used to store small graphic ink as described above with respect to page memory and font storage unit 24.

Generally, when data is printed, the entire pixel map in one of the form memory of raster form storage unit 28 and the page memory of raster storage unit 26 is used to perform the logical processing of each pixel of each word being read. To do this, an OR gate 30 is applied. The generation of read addresses for the form memory of raster form storage unit 28 and one of the pages of raster storage unit 26 is synchronized by the printing device, so that the form memory of raster form storage unit 28 and the raster storage, respectively, are synchronized by the printing device. Words relating to the same desired position in one of the pages of unit 26 are read simultaneously. The output of the OR gate 30 is applied to a bit reverser 38 which is enabled as part of the system to reverse the order significance of the pixels of each output word from the OR gate 30, from the top of the page to the bottom of the page or vice versa. enabling the reading of stored data from one of the page memories and/or the form memory in either a first direction or a second direction from the bottom of the page to the top of the page, in a simplex or duplex manner as described below. Achieve printing selectively. The reversible counter is provided with an addressing unit to address the words stored in the raster storage unit 26 and the raster 7 ohm storage unit 28, and is provided with an addressing unit to address the words stored in the raster storage unit 26 and the raster 7 ohm storage unit 28, and to form and form any part of the page memory. Allows the memory to be read in two directions. The FIFO buffer storage 33 is
A 10 controller 36 is provided for accepting and storing words of data output from the bit reverser 32 until the data is ready for driving a conventional printing device, not shown.

The interface 40 is the disk controller 1
6 and a 16-bit wide bus 42.

Addressing units associated with page memory and font storage 24, raster storage unit 26, and raster form storage unit 28 are discussed in detail below, but the addressing units associated with page memory and font storage 24, raster storage unit 26, and raster form storage unit 28 are discussed in more detail below, and address the very large amounts of data necessary to both read and write data. facilitates movement of data between portions of system memory without requiring processing unit 12 to generate addressing information for the system. Processing unit 12
is freed up to perform operations using extremely high processing speeds, including rotating words of data for proper positioning with respect to word boundaries in pages of page memory, and is performed by independently operating addressing units. There is no slowing down of the overall processing operation in terms of word retrieval and memory pool addressing overhead, which is very large. The addressing unit includes page memory and font storage unit 2.
4. operating at a speed consistent with the operating speed of the random access memories of raster storage unit 26 and raster form storage unit 28 to transfer characters from page memory and font storage unit 24 to the processing unit; Freeing up the processing unit 12 to proceed with other tasks until it is ready for transfer from the processing unit to the raster storage unit 26 for storage.

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of a detailed implementation of the page memory of FIG. 2 and the page memory of the font storage unit 24. The page memory and font storage unit 24 is
2 having a page memory for storing text sentences to be printed in a coded format such as CII, and a font storage memory for storing all pixel matrices of each character of each font selectable by the printing device. It has a part memory 44. As mentioned above, the character is
Spaced proportionally, different characters have different pixel widths. In all of the figures of the drawings, the bus width in number of lines in the bus is ``ADD RESS'' to page memory and character memory 44.
It is indicated by the number adjacent to the bus, such as the number "20" associated with the input.

Only bus 42 is shown as a bus to simplify the illustration of the drawings. Address generator 46 converts the two 16-bit words received from bus 42 into a single
By processing the 0-bit address word, the page memory and font storage memory 44 are combined 2-vert.
Generate an address to access data anywhere in the address space. The 20-bit word value accesses the address space in either the page memory or the font memory of page memory and font memory 44. Page memory sections and font memory sections are allocated anywhere within the page memory and font memory 44 address spaces. The address generator 46 generates page memory and font memory 4 between the minimum address and the maximum address.
It has a reversible counter that counts a total equal to the number of words in the combined address space of 4. The counter is
It is used to generate a word read address for each character stored in the page memory and the font memory of font memory 44. The counter is
When a character with the orientation of FIGS. 1A and 1B is read, counting in ascending order between the lowest word address and the highest word address, and the character having the orientation of FIGS. 1C and 1D is When read, count in descending order between the highest word address and the lowest word address. The bit reverser 32 is described in detail below in conjunction with FIG.
“(output from 180 in FIG. 13) or order “0, l, .
, , 14.15" (output from 180 in FIG. The text is stored in the page notes section, and the individual pixel matrix of each of the font characters is The fonts are stored in the font memory section, as described in detail below in connection with the figures and FIG. Memory management unit 50 controls basic operations of page memory and character memory 44, including generation of timing signals, read signals, write signals, refresh signals, and the like. The input "CCMUX" is the condition code multiplexer of Figure 4 described below.
is the condition code applied to. Read FIFO memory 5
4 is provided for storing individual words from the search character, these words being read by the processing unit 12. Read FIFO storage 54 has a flag to indicate when it contains at least one word retrieved from a character in the page memory and font memory 44.

A memory management unit 50 is coupled to the bus 42 for receiving and receiving commands to be decoded and executed, including the storage of individual characters in the page memory and the page memory of the font memory. commands for retrieving a particular character from a particular font, and instructions for selecting either a first direction or a second direction for reading out words of characters stored in the page memory and font memory 44. Contains instructions for controlling the bit reverser 32 of. A counter in address generator 46 indicates that when reading a word in either the first direction or the second direction, address generator 4
Set to count address fields anywhere within the minimum and maximum addresses defined by the 20-bit address field output by .6.

FIG. 4 shows the main processing unit 12 generally shown in FIG.
A more detailed block diagram of FIG. Disk controller 16 is also provided with a processing unit, although not discussed in detail here. FIG. 4 is a simplified diagram of a practical implementation of the processing unit 12. Condition code multiplexer 60 receives a plurality of individual status flag inputs from various parts of the system including printing devices, paper buses, and the like. The output of the condition code multiplexer is single bit wide. A sequencer 62 is provided to generate addresses for microcode instructions stored in microcode/pipeline 64, either RAM or ROM.

Sequencer 62 functions as a state machine. Multiplexer 66 allows selective multiplexing of immediate data received from either microcode/pipeline 64 or bus 42 under control of the microcode pipeline. Immediate data is stored in arithmetic logic unit 6
Applies to 8.

Data is input and output from arithmetic logic unit 68 by bus 42. Clock 70 provides the basic timing signals for system operation.

FIG. 5 shows a more detailed functional block diagram of the processing unit 12 of FIG. Processing unit 12 includes an arithmetic and logic unit 68 for performing various mathematical and logical functions necessary for the operation of the system. The arithmetic logic unit 68 has ■
Performing rotation and merging functions in clock cycles, data is taken from page memory and font store 24 with respect to word boundaries in page memory of raster storage unit 26, as described below with reference to FIG. Allows extremely fast positioning of search word pixels. The position of the leftmost edge of the first character in the line of the page is generally the specified margin or the default if no margin is specified, such as 100 inches.
Determined by margin. Arithmetic logic unit 68 commands to place the next character at the specified position by adding the width of the search character in pixels stored in the helag of each character to the leftmost position of the previous character, or alternatively, to place the next character at the specified position. The leftmost position of each consecutive character is calculated by storing the specified leftmost position as the result of executing . The processing unit 12 further includes a word ? It has a pointer 82. The value of the word pointer is determined by dividing the absolute pixel address of the leftmost pixel of the first word of the character being searched by the number of pixels per word (e.g., 16) and storing the integer result. Ru. The remainder of the foregoing computation is stored in register 84 and is stored in page 84 of raster storage unit 26, as described below.
Used to position each of the words of the next character to be retrieved with respect to word boundaries in memory.

The value of pointer 82 is transferred to raster storage unit 26 prior to the beginning of storing each search character word in page memory. The values of registers 82 and 84 are updated once for each character retrieved from page memory and font storage unit 26. The value stored in register 84 determines the number of pixel positions and the new word being retrieved is rotated before merging with the remainder of the previous word. The remainder from the previous rotation takes the top pixel position. The rotation causes the pixel word in arithmetic logic unit 68 containing the most significant pixel location to be properly positioned and stored in the raster storage unit at an address generated as described below in connection with FIGS. 6 and 11. 26 pages of memory. A register 86 is provided to store the remainder of the most recently retrieved word. Register 86 stores up to 16 bits. The contents of register 86 are rotated by a number of pixels equal to the remainder stored in register 84 so that the leftmost first pixel of the search word with respect to the word boundary is properly positioned in the page memory in which the word is stored. After that, it is provided to arithmetic logic unit 68. Processing unit 12 also includes an execution section 8 that enables execution of individual instructions provided by microcode/pipeline 64.
It has an instruction to decode 8.

FIG. 6 shows a detailed block diagram of the raster storage unit 26 of FIG. A pair of page memories 88 and 90 each have storage for a complete page of pixels received from processing unit 12 for subsequent printing by the printing device. Page memory 88 is referred to as "page 0" and page memory 90 is referred to as "page l." Page memories 88 and 90 are alternately loaded with pages of information while the page of information stored in the other of the pages is read to drive the printing device;
Speed is increased. Multiplexer 92 alternatively includes page formatting address generator 9
4 and a page transfer address generator 96 are coupled to the addressing inputs of page memories 88 and 90. Page formatting address generator 94 transfers words received from processing unit 12 to page memories 88 and 9 with data in FIFO storage 98.
Controls the generation of word addresses for writing to zero. A page transfer address generator 96 controls the generation of word addresses for reading words from page memories 88 and 90. In particular, when page 0 memory 88 is written with a word taken from a search character stored in data FIFO store 98, page formatting address generator 94 is coupled to page 0 memory by multiplexer 92. Ru. At the same time, individual words stored in page l memory 90 are read under the control of addresses generated by page transfer address generator 96 coupled to page l memory by multiplexer 92. When the functions of page 0 memory 88 and page l memory 90 are toggled, multiplexer 92 applies the output signals from page 7 formatted address generator 94 and page transfer address generator 96 to page l memory 90, respectively. and invert it to page 0 memory 88. Data in FIFO storage 98 may be processed by processing unit 12 as described above prior to storage in either page memory 88 or page memory 90, depending on the state of the multiplexer toggled in conjunction with multiplexers 92 and 100. It serves to store each word processed by an arithmetic logic unit 68. FI
Data in FO store 98 has flags that signal when it contains one or more words.

Multiplexer 100 loads page 0 memory 88 and page l memory 90 for temporary storage of groups of words 102 before transfer to a printing device or read immediate register 112 as discussed below. Allows alternate loading of stored pages. The switching of multiplexers 92, 100, and 106 is synchronized under the control of processing unit 12. A write memory management unit 104 is provided to control the operation of write cycles to page 0 memory 88 and page I memory 90. The function of page formatting address generator 94 in generating absolute addresses is described below in connection with FIG. Write memory management unit 104 controls the writing of characters or other pixel data to pages memory windows that are smaller than the entire address space of page 0 memory 88 or page l memory 90. Both the page formatting address generator 94 and the page transfer address generator 96 receive two inputs from bus 42.
A 20-bit address is generated from the combination of two 16-bit words, with the last 12 bits of the second word being discarded. Control register 108 controls both write memory management unit 104 and read memory management unit 110. The read immediate register 112 is a page
Allows immediate output of words read from one of memories 88 and 90 onto bus 42.

FIG. 7 shows a detailed block diagram of the form storage unit 28 of FIG. Raster form storage memory 12
0 includes a complete pixel map for storing at least one page of information, allowing downloading of the form to a printing device and merging of the form with variable data stored in page memories 88 and 90. do. Form
One or more forms stored in memory 120 are input from write data registers 122 at word pace. The generation of the address is formed from the combination of two 16-bit words input from bus 42, the last 12 bits of the second word being discarded, and control of formatting address generator 124 which outputs a 20-bit address. It's below. The addresses generated by formatting address generator 124 control both writing data to raster form storage memory and reading stored data.

The reversible counter is a raster form storage memory 12
A formatted address generator 124 is provided that counts in ascending or descending order anywhere within the total address space of zero. The counter counts from high address to low address during the duplex mode of printing described below. Memory management unit 12
6 controls the operation of the raster form storage memory 120. The memory management unit 126, for the condition code multiplexer 60 described above with reference to FIG.
Outputs status based on condition code.

Memory management unit 126 also provides read, modify, and write information.
It controls the data stored in the launch 128 as part of the cycle, where the data is output from the latch to the memory management unit 126 and back to the data input of the raster form storage memory 120. The memory management unit 126 provides a latch 128 function to latch the word of data output from the raster form storage memory 120.
Controlled by The output of latch 128 is applied to a printing device in the manner described below in connection with FIG.

Read data register 130 allows data read from latch 12g to be placed on bus 42. Control registers 132 store control information for memory management unit 126 received from processing unit 12 . Memory management unit 126 has windowed addressing capabilities, as described above, and includes up to the entire address space of raster form storage memory 120.
Allows specification of boundaries between words being read.

FIG. 8 shows a printing device 148 with output from raster storage unit 26 and raster 7 ohm storage unit 28.
A detailed block diagram of the drive for is shown. Either page 0 memory 88 or page l memory 90 and the raster
Each individual pixel of the word retrieved from the form memory 20 (FIG. 7) is processed by an OR gate 140. Addressing of individual words read from page memories 88 and 90 and raster form storage memory 120 is performed by memory management units 110 and 12, respectively, based on requests from printing device 148.
Controlled by 6. FIFO storage 142 stores blocks of one or more words for driving a printing device. FIFO storage 142 is controlled by read memory management unit 11O of FIG. The output of the FIFO storage 142 is connected to a bit reverser 38 which is identical in configuration to the bit reverser 32 described above in connection with FIG.
and is described in detail below in connection with FIGS. 13 and 14. The function of bit reverser 38 is to enable selective reversal of the order of importance of the bits of a word output by FIFO storage 142. The significance of the pixel location output by the bit reverser when a word in either page memory 88 or 90 and/or raster form storage memory 120 is read from the top line of memory towards the bottom line of memory. The degree is memory (180 in Figure 13)
and when a word in either the page memory and/or the raster form storage memory is read from the bottom line of memory towards the top line of memory, the pixel The importance of the items is reversed from the order stored in memory (182 in Figure 13). Write status register 14
6 stores control information for printing device 148 and paper handler 150 received from processing unit 12 via bus 42 . Interface assembly 152 includes printing device 148, paper handler 15
0, the outputs of the fi-processing unit 12, page memories 88 and 90, and the raster form storage memory 120 to provide appropriate inclfaces. Read status register 154 stores status information regarding printing devices for transfer to processing unit 12. It should be understood that the printing device is any known printing device driven by digital storage images, including ion deposition, laser writing.

FIG. 9 shows a memory map of the page memory and font storage unit 24 having a page memory section 160 and a font storage section 162. As explained above, page memory 180 and font memory 162 are
It is addressed by a 20-bit address field 164 generated by address generator 46, as described above in connection with FIG. A word of data is input by input 166 and output 168
is output by Page memory 160 includes space for the storage of 1-8 pages of text, with individual characters preferably encoded in the position of the printed page by ASCII or equivalent codes.

The encoded characters are written to page memory 160 under the control of processing unit 12. Page memory 16
Addressing of storage locations for individual encoded characters within 0 is provided by address lines 164.

Font store 162 includes space for storing multiple fonts, each of which has a maximum of 256 possible characters. As above, each character has 1 line per line.
more than one word, in which case multiple lines are displayed for each character. Generally, each character is stored in 1 to 3 words per line, and each word is stored in 1 to 3 words per line.
It is 6 bits. Each character is generally 40 lines high, but any number of lines may be used. The characters are of arbitrary width so that the last word per character per line is usually not completely filled. Each character has address generator 4
6 is retrieved under the control of the address generated by
A single word is transferred to read FIFO storage 54 at a time. The generation of addresses for retrieving individual words of characters by address generator 46 frees processing units 1-12 to perform non-addressing functions, such as the character positioning described above in connection with FIG. operation is asynchronous.

FIG. 1O shows the font storage memory 162 which shows the function of retrieving words from the font storage memory defining representative characters.
This is the expansion section. It is assumed that each character is allocated two words wide (not necessarily completely filled) and has a total of 40 lines per character. It should be clearly understood that other character sizes are possible and the invention is applicable to any character size. Figure 1O shows the word O
Indicates addressing of a single character within a font, starting with . As shown in FIG. 10, word 0 contains the first 16 bits of the character, continuing from word 1, word 2 to word 79 as shown. Each consecutive word is
Addressed by an address generator 46 which increments the address retrieved by one. It should be understood that all of the remaining possible characters are similar to the memory map shown.

Figures 11A-F illustrate the sequence of data flow of individual words from font memory 162 to storage in page memory. Below each subfigure A-F is a legend identifying the location in the system of the content shown in the subfigure.
There is a system location. The numbers within each block are
The importance of pixel locations as determined from the pixel importance in the storage of words in memory 162, with the most significant pixel having position "15" and the least significant pixel having position "0". The number above the block indicates the block's importance in either data storage or data path, with the highest number identifying the most significant pixel location. M2O
As noted above with reference to the figures, the 16-bit pixel word is stored at the address specified by address generator 46, as shown in FIG. 11A.
FIFO memory 54 as shown in FIG. 11B.
is memorized. The presence of one or more words in FIFO storage 54 causes a flag to be set to indicate to processing unit 12 that the word is in a position to be retrieved. By retrieving a single word from FIFO tt54, processing unit 12 stores a number of positions equal to the number stored in register 84 to produce a pixel field of up to 31 pixels in length, as shown in FIG. 11C. After rotation by the arithmetic logic unit 68, the remainder of the word from the preprocessing cycle stored in register 86 is merged with the current word. The number of pixels remaining from the previous word is determined by the contents of register 84 in processing unit 12, as described above in connection with FIG. The preferred processing unit 12 rotates the current word by a number of pixel positions equal to the number stored in register 84 and then performs the merging with the remainder of the previous word in a single tarok cycle which increases the throughput of the present invention. is attracting attention. This rotational operation ensures proper positioning of the starting pixel of the word with respect to the word boundary of the page memory 88 or 90 in which the word is stored, as shown in FIG. 11D. The word defined by the most significant pixel of the rotated and merged contents of arithmetic logic unit 68 is transferred to the page address at the address specified by page formatting addressing generator 94C1g6), as shown in FIG. 11E. Storage in FIFO storage 98 precedes storage in memory 88 or 90.

Finally, FIG. 11F shows the storage of the current word, the previous word, and the next stored word in one of the page memories. The address for storage of each word is
Address generator-94, as described below.
determined by

FIG. 12 shows an expanded memory map of six characters located across two lines of text in either page memory 88 or 90 of raster storage unit 26. FIG. It is assumed to simplify the example that the first line of page text begins at word address 0 in the page memory 88 or 90 being loaded. Each square cell is a single word containing 16 pixels. Each character has a total of 80
Contained within a large rectangular box that stores words, each line is two words wide. Generally, character boundaries do not coincide with word boundaries in page memory requiring rotational operations of processing unit 12. Both simplifications (multiple word-wide characters and characters on word boundaries)
This was done to simplify the drawing. The addressing of individual words and each successive line is absolute. In other words, the first line varies from address "0-n" and the next line from address "n+1" to "2n", and the starting address of each successive line is the line number "2n" as shown. Equal to n+1" times.

Line 2 of page text begins at line 40n+1 and ends at line 79n+1. The above-mentioned absolute addressing can be used for page, 7-automated addressing,
The entire page 0, page I memory 88 and 90 are used to address the address generated by generator 94. The operation of page formatting address generator 94 in conjunction with processing unit 12 is described below in connection with FIG.

System in retrieving individual characters from page memory and font storage unit 24 and processing by processing unit 12 to position the characters in precise locations to be stored in page memory of raster storage unit 26. The operation is as follows. In this description, it is assumed that -paired characters are treated with different widths in pixels measured across the width of the character. The first and second characters are assumed to be letters "A" and "D" spaced adjacent to each other and are stored in page memory and page memory of font storage unit 24 in ASCII encoded format. and the character belongs to one of the fonts stored in the font storage unit. The character "A" is retrieved from the page memory and page memory of the font storage unit 24 and decoded by the processing unit 12 to determine the identity of the character and the font to which it belongs.

Then, Kiri Units 1-12 will be sent to the address shown in Figure 9.
A page that addresses specific fonts and characters by generating a 20-bit address applied to line 164.
A command is issued to the memory and font storage unit 24.

In conjunction with the address generator 46, the memory management unit 50 of the page memory and phono memory 44 (FIG. 3) provides sequential output of a plurality of words of pixels defining the character //A II. Letter “A”
Each of the addresses for a word of characters are sequentially output by address generator 46 independently of the operation of processing unit 12 to control the output of the word. For this example, bit reverser 32 transfers the word of character from the top line to the bottom line in page memory and font memory 4.
It is assumed that the addresses are constructed such that they are read from memory and the addresses are generated in ascending order. The bit reverser 32 under this mode of operation is
The bits are output to the read FIFO store 54 in the same order of importance as output from the DOUT terminal of the memory and font/memory 44 (output from 180 in FIG. 13). As soon as the first word of a character is entered into the read FIFO storage 54, the condition is such that the word is retrieved for processing by the processing unit 12 in order to position it with respect to a word boundary in the page memory of the raster storage unit 26. A flag is set to inform processing unit 12 that this is the case. The contents of register 84 (FIG. 5) of processing unit 12 control the number of positions each retrieved word of a character is rotated to properly position the word for storage in page memory 88 or 90. .

Register 8 for processing the first word in this example
The contents of 4 are computed from the previous word by dividing the address of the leftmost pixel of the previous word by the number of pixels per word and storing the remainder in register 84 as described above. The contents of the current word are rotated by a number of positions equal to the number stored in register 84 and then merged with the remainder in register 86 in one clock cycle. The word of pixel locations in arithmetic logic unit 68 is stored starting from the previously unfilled pixel location in the last word. The remainder from the current rotation is stored in register 86, subject to being merged with the next word to be retrieved. Processing of each word of character "A" continues in the manner described above until completion.

Prior to the retrieval of the character "D" after the character "A", the new contents of the register 84 are specified by the header associated with the character /l A II in the page memory and font memory of the font storage unit 24. It is calculated by adding the width of character "A" to the leftmost pixel address of the previous character and dividing the result by the number of pixels per word. Since characters are rarely an integer word width, the width of each character is variable in pixel width and is stored in register 84.
change the content of Thus, each of the words of character "B" is as previously described, except that the number of pixel positions to which each word is rotated is varied by the contents of register 84 calculated for character "A". It will be processed as follows.

It should be understood that some positions of characters are specified by directives that specify absolute positions on the page. To determine the absolute address of the first word of the character stored in pointer 82 (FIG. 5), the position designation is converted by processing unit 12 into the number of positions to which each word is rotated, and the above calculations are performed. This will be stored in the register 84.

FIG. 13 illustrates a preferred embodiment of the bit reversers 32 and 38 described above in connection with FIGS. 2, 3, and 8. Each bit reverser selectively outputs a word on the same output line depending on the importance of the pixel in a first order, or the same word according to the importance of the pixel in a second order in which the importance of the pixel position is reversed. perform the functions permitted by the A pair of 3-state buffers 180 with the same configuration
and 182 each process a number of lines equal to the number of pixels in the word applied to input 184. input 18
The importance of the lines of 4 and output 186 is such that the most significant line is identified by the highest number and the least significant line is identified by the lowest number. Each input to one of three-state buffers 180 and 182, when the buffer is enabled,
are combined into a single output with correspondingly numbered output lines identifying the importance of the output lines. When tri-state buffer 180 is enabled, the other is disabled so that a word applied to input 184 appears at only one output 186 of the tri-state buffer. When the three-state buffer 180 is enabled, the significance of the output from the buffer 180 at output 186 is the legend rla.

as identified by "output from". When three-state buffer 182 is enabled, the significance of the output from buffer 182 at output 186 is as follows:
182. Therefore, the three-state buffer 180
enables a word of pixels in a first order from most significant pixel to least significant pixel at output 186 which is used when the direction of readout is in a first direction, and enables tri-state pan 7a 182 to It can be seen that a word of pixels is output in a second fixed order, opposite to the first fixed order, from the least significant pixel to the most significant pixel at the output 186 which is used when the direction of readout is in the second direction.

Output 186 is applied to processing units 1-12 when the reverser functions as bit reverser 32;
or when the reparser functions as a bit reverser 38, an interface coupled to the printing device 148;
Either applies to assembly 152.

FIG. 14 shows a schematic diagram of the processing of input lines O and 15 of FIG. Top line D15 is applied to a three-state amplifier 188 that selectively outputs input pixel values when signal EN is high. The lowest line Do is the signal EN
is applied to a three-state amplifier 190 that outputs the pixel value applied to the input when is low level. 3-state amplifier 18
The respective outputs of 8 and 190 are combined together as shown in FIG.

FIG. 15 shows a block diagram of page formatting address generator 94 of FIG. 7oh 77
The formatting address generator 94 essentially calculates all addresses after the first address of the first word of each character is calculated by the processing unit and transferred to the formatting address generator 94. reduces the overhead of the processing unit 12 in calculating the address for storage of the word of the search character. The absolute address for storing the first word of each character retrieved from character memory is computed by processing unit 12 and transferred to the page by bus as described above in connection with pointer 82.
7 formatted address generator 96. All subsequent addresses for storing words of characters are generated by page formatting address generator 96 independent of the operation of processing unit 12. The width of each character in a word is
It is determined by the processing unit 12 by reading the betder stored for each character. Character widths are generally between 1 and 3 words, but other widths are possible, and the last word on a line is usually not grooved. Processing unit 12 also calculates the number of words defining each character in the font storage unit stored in counter 205. multiplexer
196 is the absolute address received from the bus 42 which is the storage address of the first word of the first character transferred from the register 82 by the processing unit J2 prior to the transfer of the first word of the character, or the following: The receiver selectively outputs the absolute address taken from the output of an adder 198 which functions to calculate the word address of the first word in each of the remaining lines of characters in the manner described in . The inputs on bus 42 from processing unit 12 are output from multiplexer 196 to absolute address counter 200 and latch 202 for storing the absolute address of the first word of the character. At all other times, the output from adder 3198 is routed through multiplexer 196 to counter 200 and latch 20.
Applies to 2. At the beginning of character processing, the total number of words per character is also transferred from the processing unit and stored in the decrement counter 205;
Each time a write cycle is performed to either page memory 88 or 90, the DONE signal is decremented by one to notify processing unit 12 that the count has reached zero and all characters have been stored. is done to generate.

At the beginning of processing each line of the character, counter 2
06 is loaded with the width of the processing character stored in latch 204. Counter 206 is decremented by ■ each time either page memory 88 or 90 is written until a zero count is reached. counter 206
When reaches zero, its output is applied to OR gate 208, which receives input from processing unit 12 when a new character's ml word is transferred. OR gate 208 enables the load function of absolute address counter 200 and latch 202 to store the address received from bus 42 or adder 198.

Both absolute address counter 200 and latch 202 are loaded with the address of the first word of the character on the line by application of the LD signal from OR gate 208. Additionally, absolute address counter 200 is incremented by l when the WRIT'E signal is generated by a write to page memory 88 or 90.

Each signal causes a new address to be output to address the location in page memory where the next word will be written. Launch 209 is loaded with the width of the print media in words. The width of the print medium in words is determined by the first word of the first character of the current line to calculate the absolute address of the first word of the character in the next line stored in counter 200 and latch 202, as described. adder 198 for the absolute address of
is added by

The operation of page formatting address generator 96 in calculating the storage address for each word of page memory 88 and 90 is as follows. Processing unit 12 transfers the absolute address of the first word of each character from register 82 through multiplexer 196 for storage in absolute address counter 200 and latch 202. Lunch 204 is loaded from processing unit 12 to store the width of characters in a word. Counter 205 is also loaded with the total number of words of the character transferred for storage at the beginning of the character's processing cycle.

The output from the OR gate 208 is sent to the counter 206.
Loads the character width in words. Counters 205 and 206 are decremented by ■, and absolute address counter 200 is incremented by one with each write cycle to page memory. A new absolute address is generated by absolute address counter 200 after each write cycle to page memory 88 or 90. Each successive WRITE cycle is executed by counter 206 until counter 206 counts to zero.
Decrement by 1. When counter 206 reaches zero, adder 198 adds the width of the print media in the word stored in latch 209 to the absolute address of the first word of the character stored in launch 202 and adds the width of the print media in the word stored in latch 209 to the absolute address of the first word of the character stored in launch 202 and Generate and launch a compute address for the first word. At the end of each line, the contents of counter 206 are updated with the number of character-wide words stored in latch 204. This process ensures that each word of the character across all of the lines is stored and that the processing unit 12
continues successively for each line until counter 205 counts zero.

FIG. 16 shows a block diagram of a suitable printing device for use in connection with the present invention. The printing device 148 is based on non-impact printing driven by digitally stored images, such as ion deposition, laser writing, or other techniques.
Use a variety of printing techniques. The preferred embodiment of the invention uses the Hitachi model L8028. Printing device 148
has an input bus 224 for accommodating new /-ts to be marked 11. Sensor 226 outputs a flag to processing unit 12 to indicate that the sheet is in a position to be printed in either simplex or duplex printing.

Printing device 148 also has a bus 228 used for duplex printing to transport sheets printed on the first side to a location where their back sides are printed. Bus 228 includes a paper flip that flicks the paper against the non-printing side and the top edge against the bottom edge. Paper sensor 232 senses when the back side of a sheet whose back side has not been printed is in a position to be printed during the duplex mode of mark it:'. The complete/multiplex or duplex printed sheet path 234 outputs a sheet that has completed a print cycle during either simplex or duplex printing.

The printing device operates such that the front sides of multiple sheets are printed until the paper path 228 is filled with notes. The sheets contained in paper path 228 are then sent back to the printing device for printing on the reverse side. Then, the next 4
The front side of one new sheet is sent to printing device 220 in pass 224 for new sheets to be printed 11, causing the front side to print and filling pass 228. Then the back side is printed, and so on. This order is the following sheet order, '■, 3.5.7.2.4.6.8.9.11.1
5.17.10.12.14.16", etc., where the pages are numbered sequentially in a book, so that the odd numbers are the front of the continuous sheet and the even numbers are , the back side of the continuous sheet.The processing unit 12 monitors the feed of the new n!- and determines when the required number of notes is fed through the printing device to cause the second side of the note to be printed. Seat sensor 2
32 and sensing by the processing unit 12 when the required number of new sheets is sent to the printing device for printing of the first side, the printing device 14g is activated;
Page memory and page memory of font storage unit 24 to page memory 8 of raster storage unit 26
The back side of the sheet is printed with the page of information downloaded to either 8 or 90.

Although the invention has been disclosed in terms of preferred embodiments, it will be appreciated that many modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the claims.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1A-ID shows a prior art memory map of individual characters stored for duplex printing. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the main components of the invention. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a preferred implementation of the page memory and font storage unit of FIG. 2; FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an implementation of the processing unit of FIG. 2; FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a processing unit showing various essential elements of the processing unit for processing a pixel word of a character retrieved from a page memory and a font storage unit. FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a preferred implementation of the raster storage unit of FIG. 2; 7 is a block diagram of a preferred implementation of the raster form storage unit of FIG. 2; FIG. FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a preferred implementation of the printing device/controller of FIG. 2; FIG. 9 is a memory map diagram of the font storage unit of the page memory and font storage unit. FIG. 1O is a memo map of individual characters in the page memory and font storage memory of the font storage unit. FIG. 11 is a flow sequence diagram illustrating the processing of a word of pixels retrieved from the font storage memory for storage in the page memory of the raster storage unit. FIG. 12 shows two pieces of text printed by a printing device.
FIG. 2 is an exploded partial view of a page memory showing storage of six characters in two consecutive lines; FIG. 13 shows a bit reverser used in connection with the output of characters from a font storage memory and forms from a raster 7 ohm storage unit and/or pages from a raster storage unit. Block diagram of the human reparser. FIG. 14 is a detailed wiring diagram of the processing of a single pair of pixels in the three-state buffer of FIG. 13; FIG. 15 shows the pages and pages of the raster storage unit in FIG.
Block diagram of the formatting address generator. No.! FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a printing apparatus according to the present invention for performing duplex printing. l2...Geography unit, 24...Page memory and font storage unit, 2
8... Raster form storage unit, 36...
. . . Printing device I10 controller, 44 . . . Page memory and font memory, 46 . . . Address generator, 68 . . . Arithmetic logic unit, 82 . Pointer to the absolute address of 84...Register for storing the number of search word rotation pixel positions, 86...Register for storing the remaining previous search word, 120
...Raster form storage memory, 148...
- Printing device, 198... Adder, 205... Total number of words counter. Change the content written on rXJ side L) Figure/A half-IC diagram boat rate telephone
$/D'] Figure 3 Figure 4\ Figure 5 No. 12 Close Figure 6 to 7 16 Figure 8 Figure 10 Country Word 73 Word 79 1I Portion Figure 72 Marge Paris Tenast, Line Development memo Hiroman 7
゜寥 13 figure character 2 characters 1A17
D'j's data word P1τ1 Fig. 15, 94 ゛ゝ20B

Claims (1)

Claims: 1. (a) raster storage means including a page memory for storing at least one page of information to be printed, wherein each page has a start line, a plurality of intermediate lines and an end line; line, each line having one or more consecutive addressing words each having a plurality of pixels, the starting word having a lowest address, and each consecutive word having a lower address. (b) means coupled to the page memory for reading a word stored in the page memory in either the first direction or the second direction; , where the first direction passes continuously from the first line to the intermediate line and the final line,
Each line is read out in the direction from the lowest addressing word to the highest addressing word, the second direction being from the last line successively through the intermediate line and the first line, with each line starting from the highest addressing word. The importance of the pixel position of the pixel from the word read out in the direction of the least significant addressed word is read out in the direction of the least significant addressed word, and the importance of the pixel position of the pixel from the word read out in the first direction is (c) a print medium having a top and a bottom coupled to means for reading out the words;
printing means for printing pages of information stored in the memory on first and second sides of a print medium, wherein printing of the first side of the print medium moves the print medium from a top to a bottom through a printing mechanism; While the first and second
The printing of the second side of the print medium is carried out by printing the page of information read from the page memory on one side of the direction, and the printing of the second side of the print medium is carried out by printing the page of information read from the page memory on one side of the page while moving the print medium from the bottom to the top. by printing a page of information read from a page memory in the other direction. 2. A page of information to be printed consists of characters selected from one or more fonts stored in a font storage memory, each character of each font being stored as a matrix of pixels addressable as a word, each character 2. The printing system according to claim 1, wherein each word consists of a plurality of pixels. 3. The page of information to be printed consists of one or more selected forms stored in a raster form storage means, each form being stored as a matrix of pixels addressable as a word, each word having a plurality of The printing system according to claim 1, comprising pixels of . 4. The information to be printed comprises: (a) characters selected from one or more fonts stored in a font storage means, each character of each font being stored as a matrix of pixels addressable as a word; (b) one or more forms stored in a selected raster form storage means, each form being stored as a matrix of pixels addressable as a word; 2. The printing system of claim 1, wherein each word is comprised of a plurality of pixels. 5. The printing means comprises: (a) a printing mechanism for printing the page stored in the page memory on a printing medium supplied to the printing mechanism; consisting of individual sheets each having a top end and a bottom end and first and second sides, the first and second pages of information being successively fed through a printing mechanism to print a (b) means for feeding individual sheets to a printing mechanism; wherein a first side of the sheet is fed into a position to be printed during a first time interval; A second side of the sheet is sent to a position to be printed during a second time interval, one end of the sheet is first moved through the printing mechanism during the first time interval to print the first side, and the second side is first moving the other end of the sheet through the printing mechanism during a second time interval for printing; (c) control means coupled to the means for reading out; reading a page of information stored in a page memory in one of the first and second directions when one of the sides is being printed; and reading the page of information stored in the page memory in one of the first and second directions when one of the two sides of the sheet is being printed; 2. The printing system according to claim 1, comprising: reading a page of information recorded in the page memory in the other direction of the second direction. 6. The control means comprises: (a) means for sensing the position of each individual sheet in the feeding means, wherein the means for sensing the position is such that a sheet having already been printed on its first side is printed on its second side; (b) means for sensing when the printing mechanism has completed printing the first side of the sheet; and (c) responsive to the two sensing means. and here the means to
a sheet whose first side is already printed and whose second side is positioned for printing is fed by the feeding means to the printing mechanism when each of the two sensing means senses the presence of the sheet; The printing system according to scope item 5. 7. (a) a page memory for storing a plurality of pages of information in the format of encoded characters to be printed; and a font storage memory for storing one or more fonts of selected characters; (b) a raster form storage memory having a plurality of characters, each character stored as a matrix of pixels addressable as a word, each word having a plurality of pixels; (b) a raster form storage memory for storing the selected one or more forms; and where each form is stored as a matrix of pixels addressable in words, and each word is
(c) a page memory for storing a full page of pixels of information to be printed; and a first page memory for storing a full page of pixels of information to be printed; The second page of
(d) the first page memory and the second page memory are alternately loaded with pages of information while being stored in the other of the first page memory and the second page memory; The page of information is read by the means for reading and printed by the printing means; (e) the means for reading the words include a first page memory, a second page memory and a raster form storage memory; and enabling reading of the first page memory, the second page memory, and the raster form storage memory in either the first or second direction. The printing system described in section. 8. The means for reading words comprises: (a) means for providing addresses of words to be successively read from a page memory, wherein the means for providing addresses of words are included in the page memory; the number of words can be counted in ascending order for any address field between the minimum address and the maximum address when read in the first direction; and countable in descending order within any addressing field between the maximum address and the minimum address when read in the second direction, each word having a plurality of pixels each having an address, the pixels being , taking a range in address from the most significant pixel to the least significant pixel; (b) selecting the output order of the pixels in a single word, in an output having a number of lines equal to the number of pixels in the word, coupled to the page memory; means for reversing the pixels in a first fixed order from the most significant pixel to the least significant pixel when the direction of readout is in a first direction, or when the direction of readout is in a second direction, the least significant pixel; 2. Outputting the pixels in a second fixed order, opposite the first fixed order, of the most significant pixel from , the output line being coupled to printing means. printing system. 9. (a) a font storage memory for storing a plurality of characters to be printed by a printing means, each character comprising pixels included in a plurality of lines having a start line, a plurality of intermediate lines and an end line; (b) a font with readout of words in either a first direction or a second direction; each line having one or more addressable words and each word having a plurality of pixels; means coupled to the storage means, wherein the first direction is from the first line through the last line;
Each line is read out in the direction from the lowest addressing word to the highest addressing word, the second direction being
From the last line through the first line, each line is read in the direction from the most significant addressing word to the least significant addressing word, and each stored character is read from the first or second font storage memory in the page memory. The printing system of claim 1 further comprising: readout in either direction. 10. The font storage memory has a first orientation;
The second orientation is rotated 90 degrees with respect to the first orientation.
10. The printing system according to claim 9, wherein each character is stored in an orientation comprising an orientation. 11. (a) the font storage memory has a number of individually addressable word storage locations defined by an address field extending between a minimum address and a maximum address; (b) defines a single character; 10. The printing system of claim 9, wherein subfields of adjacent addresses of words are read out in either the first or second direction. 12. The means for reading words comprises: (a) means for providing addresses of words to be successively read from the font storage memory; wherein the means for providing addresses of words count a sum equal to the number of words; a counter, the number of words contained in each character in any address field within the font storage location of the font storage memory;
When reading out in one direction, the number of pixels can be counted in ascending order from the smallest address to the largest address, and when reading out in the second direction, the number of pixels can be counted in descending order from the largest address to the smallest address, each word having a plurality of pixels, each having an address. and the pixels take an address range from the most significant pixel to the least significant pixel; (b) the output of the pixels in a single word at the output having a number of lines equal to the number of pixels in the word, coupled to the font storage memory; means for selectively reversing the order, when the direction of readout is in a first direction, in a first fixed order from the most significant pixel to the least significant pixel, or when the direction of readout is in a second direction; Claim 11 consisting of: outputting the pixels in a second fixed order, opposite the first fixed order, from the least significant pixel to the most significant pixel, the output line being coupled to a page memory; The printing system described in section. 13. (a) the page memory has a number of individually addressable word storage locations defined by an address field extending between the minimum and maximum addresses; (b) the page memory has a number of individually addressable word storage locations defined by an address field extending between the minimum and maximum addresses; If two or more adjacent addresses in the address field between
A printing system according to claim 1, which is read out in either direction. 14. (a) font storage means comprising a font storage memory for storing a plurality of characters to be printed, wherein each stored character has a plurality of font storage memories having a first line, a plurality of intermediate lines and an end line; Consisting of a matrix of pixels contained in lines, each line having one or more consecutive addressing words, the starting word having a lowest address, each consecutive word having a higher address, and the final word has a highest address and each word has a plurality of pixels; (b) reading a word stored in a font storage memory in either a first direction or a second direction, coupled to the font storage means; means, wherein the first direction is from the first line to the last line, each line being read from the least significant addressing word to the most significant addressing word, and a second direction is:
Each line is read from the last line through the first line in the direction from the highest addressing word to the lowest addressing word, and the stored character words are:
read from the font storage memory in a page memory included in the raster storage means for storing one or more pages of information to be printed; (c) printing the page of information stored in the page memory onto a print medium; A printing system comprising: a printing means coupled to a raster storage means; 15. (a) the font storage memory has a number of individually addressable word storage locations defined by an address field extending between a minimum address and a maximum address; (b) defines a single character; 15. The printing system of claim 14, wherein subfields of adjacent addresses of words are read out in either the first or second direction. 16. The means for reading words comprises: (a) means for providing addresses of words to be successively read from the font storage memory, wherein the means for providing addresses for counting a sum equal to the number of words; It has a programmed counter, and the number of words is read in the first direction in ascending order from the lowest address to the highest address, and in the second direction.
When reading in the descending order from the highest address to the lowest address, each word has a plurality of pixels, each having an address, and the pixels have an address range from the most significant pixel to the least significant pixel. (b) means coupled to the font storage memory for selectively reversing the order of outputting the pixels in a single word in an output having a number of lines equal to the number of pixels in a word; , in a first fixed order from the most significant pixel to the least significant pixel when the readout direction is in the first direction, or from the least significant pixel to the most significant pixel when the readout direction is in the second direction. 16. The printing system of claim 15, wherein the output line is coupled to a page memory, the output line being coupled to a page memory. 17. The font storage memory has a first orientation;
The second orientation is rotated 90 degrees with respect to the first orientation.
15. The printer system according to claim 14, wherein each character is stored in an orientation consisting of an orientation. 18. (a) a processing unit coupled to the font storage means and the raster storage means, wherein the processing unit controls the retrieval of characters from the font storage memory and the storage of the retrieved characters in the page memory; (b) means coupled to the page memory for generating an address at which a word of the character is stored in the page memory; wherein the address of a first word of a character stored in the page memory is processed; as claimed in claim 14, further comprising: all addresses of other words of a character specified by the unit are generated by means for generating addresses independently of the operation of the processing unit. printing system. 19. (a) a processing unit coupled to the font storage means and the raster storage means, wherein the processing unit controls the retrieval of characters from the font storage memory and the storage of the retrieved characters in the page memory; (b) means coupled to the font storage memory for generating a set of addresses, wherein the address of a word for a character to be retrieved is stored in the font storage memory in response to a character retrieval request from the processing unit; 15. The printing system of claim 14, further comprising: being retrieved from memory. 20. (a) a processing unit coupled to the font storage means and the raster storage means, wherein the processing unit controls the retrieval of characters from the font storage memory and the storage of the retrieved characters in a page memory; (b) means coupled to the page memory for generating an address at which a word of the character is stored in the page memory; (c) generating all of the addresses specified by the processing unit, but all the addresses of other words of a character are generated by means for generating addresses independently of the operation of the processing unit; , means coupled to a font storage means memory, wherein the address of a word for a certain character to be retrieved is retrieved from the font storage memory in response to a character retrieval request from the processing unit; The printing system according to claim 14. 21. (a) a processing unit having an input for receiving data and instructions specifying operations to be performed; sequentially issuing commands to specify the characters, where the characters are stored as a matrix of pixels in a series of addressing words, each word having a plurality of pixels, and the processing unit processes each retrieved word of each character. and positions each word with respect to a word memory location, each individual character in the word memory location being stored in memory to store and address the page of information to be printed, with the first of each character The word is stored in a memory for storing pages of information; (b) storing one or more characters/fonts, each containing a plurality of characters to be searched, and storing instructions issued from a processing unit; font storage means coupled to the processing unit, comprising a font storage memory for processing, wherein a specified character from a specified font is retrieved and the word of the specified character is stored in the font by an address generated by the font storage means; (c) a page storing processing words defining each character sent from said processing unit to create a page of information to be printed; - raster storage means coupled to the processing unit, comprising a memory, wherein the raster storage means:
means for generating an address of a word location in a page memory in which each of the words of the character is stored and storing the word of each character in the page at the generated address, the means for generating the address , the first word of each character is stored at an address specified by a processing unit, and every consecutive word of each character is stored at an address generated by means for generating addresses independently of the operation of the processing unit. (d) printing means coupled to the raster storage means for sequentially printing pages of information stored in the page memory onto a print medium; system. 22. The printing system of claim 21, wherein the processing unit includes means for specifying a location in page memory with respect to a word boundary at which the first pixel of the word of each character is stored. 23, (a) the processing unit has a pointer that identifies the word address at which the first word of each character is stored; (b) the processing unit has a pointer that identifies the word address at which the first word of each character is stored in the page memory with respect to a word boundary in the page memory; The computed location is used to specify a number of locations, and the word retrieved from character memory is stored before being transferred to page memory for storage.
Claim 22 Rotated by the processing unit
The printing system described in section. 24. (a) a first storage device coupled between the font storage means and the processing unit for storing each word retrieved from each character prior to transfer to the processing unit; (b) raster storage; (c) a second storage device coupled between the processing unit and the raster storage means for storing each word of each character prior to transfer to the printing means; 22. The printing system of claim 21 further comprising: a third storage device coupled between the raster storage means and the printing process for storing the stored one or more words. 25, (a) each of the first and second storage devices has a flag that is set to indicate when the storage contains information; (b) the processing unit has a flag that is set for indicating when the storage contains information; (c) the raster storage means reads the second storage only when a flag in the second storage is set; (d) the printing means reads the second storage only when the information to be printed is needed; (e) the reading of the storage device is asynchronous with respect to the issuance of a command specifying that individual characters from a specified font are to be retrieved from the font storage memory; 2
The printing system according to item 4. 26, (a) the retrieval of words from the font storage memory for transfer to the processing unit is carried out in consecutive addressing words addressed by addressing means operating asynchronously with respect to the processing unit, and (b) the page the word stored in the memory has the same number of pixels as the word addressed by the font storage means; (c) the processing of the retrieved word from the character by the processing unit does not occur at word boundaries in the page memory; (d) processing of each retrieved character by the processing unit further specifies the address at which the first word of the character is stored in the page memory; 25. The printing system according to item 24. 27, the processing unit comprises: (a) means for storing the remainder of the previous word not transferred to the page memory for storage; (b) means for storing the current word retrieved from the font storage memory by a number of pixel locations; arithmetic logic unit means for rotating and merging the rotated word with the remainder stored in the remainder storage means, wherein the remainder takes the most significant pixel position and is stored in a page memory of the raster storage means; (c) positioning the pixels of the merged remaining and current word in an arithmetic logic unit to be stored as a word in an arithmetic logic unit, the word of pixels having a most significant pixel position to be transferred to page memory; (c) a specified number; means for determining the pixel position of the word, the arithmetic and logic unit determining the specified position of the first word boundary of the immediately preceding character represented by the number of pixels and stored in the page memory of the raster storage means; 25. The printing system of claim 24, comprising: rotating the current word by dividing by the number of pixels. 28. The remaining pixels of the current word after rotation are not in the word stored in the page memory and are saved as the most significant pixels, immediately after the current word after rotation of the next word by the arithmetic logic unit means. 28. The printing system of claim 27, wherein the next word is merged with the next word. 29, a patent in which a processing unit determines an address for storage of a first word of a first character in a page memory of the start of a next line of printing in response to an end-of-line character or one or more additional commands. Claim No. 27
The printing system described in section. 30. (a) raster form storage means coupled to the processing unit and the printing means, wherein the raster form storage means is configured for printing by the printing means with information stored in the page memory; a raster form storage memory storing at least one form selected in the page memory, each stored form having a plurality of words of pixels, each word having a number of pixels stored in the word in the paged memory; (b) a processing unit for issuing commands to the raster form storage means and transmitting the stored forms to the printing means; . 31. means having an input coupled to the raster storage means and the raster form storage means and an output coupled to the printing means; 31. The printing system of claim 30, further comprising: logically processing the individual pixels of the word read out with the same importance from the means, and transmitting the logical result to the printing means. 32. (a) means coupled between the raster storage means and the printing means, the means for reading out words stored in the page memory in either a first direction or a second direction; , the first direction is from the first line of the page through the last line of the page, with each line being read from the lowest addressing word to the highest addressing word, and the second direction is from the last line through the last line of the page. In the direction through the first line, each line is read from the highest addressing word to the lowest addressing word, with each page having an address field extending between a minimum address and a maximum address; The subaddress field included between the address and the lowest address is the first
or in a second direction; and in this case (b) the printing means is readable in a single direction from the top to the bottom of the print medium in the plane of the print medium to be printed when fed to the printing mechanism. 22. The printing system of claim 21, further comprising: printing a page of information stored in a page memory. 33. The means for reading words comprises: (a) means for providing addresses of words to be successively read from page memory; wherein the means for providing addresses count a sum equal to the number of words; a counter programmed into the page memory, the number of words being countable in ascending order within any address field between a minimum address and a maximum address when read in a first direction; And when reading in the second direction,
Countable in descending order within any address field between the maximum address and the minimum address, each word is
having a plurality of pixels each having an address, the pixels taking an address range from the most significant pixel to the least significant pixel; (b) pixels in a single word at the output having a number of lines equal to the number of pixels in the word; means coupled to the page memory for selectively reversing the order of the outputs of the page memory;
in a first fixed order from the most significant pixel to the least significant pixel, or when the readout direction is in the second direction, in a second fixed order, opposite to the first fixed order, from the least significant pixel to the most significant pixel. 33. A printing system as claimed in claim 32, comprising: either outputting pixels, and the output line is coupled to printing means. 34, (a) a printing mechanism for printing successive pages of stored information on a print medium, wherein the print medium consists of individual sheets having first and second printed sides, and the successive pages are initially stored in a page memory of the font storage means; (b) means for feeding the individual sheets to the printing mechanism;
A first side of the sheet is sent to a printing mechanism in a position to be printed during a first time interval, and a second side of the sheet is sent to a printing mechanism in a position to be printed during a second time interval; the feeding means moves one end of the sheet first through the press groove during a first time interval and moves the other end of the page first through the printing mechanism during a second time interval; (c ) a control means coupled to the means for reading out the pixels, wherein the control means is adapted to control the page in one of the first and second directions relative to the printing means when one of the two sides of the sheet is printed; reading out a page of information stored in the memory, and when the other of the two sides of the sheet is printed, the page of information stored in the memory in the other of the first and second directions relative to the printing means; 33. The printing system of claim 32, further comprising: reading a page. 35. The control means comprises: (a) means for sensing the position of individual sheets in the feeding means; (b) means for sensing when the printing mechanism has completed printing the first side of the sheet; (c) means for sensing when the printing mechanism has completed printing the first side of the sheet; and wherein the responsive means causes the feeding means to feed the sheet having its first side printed at a position where its second side is to be printed, relative to the printing mechanism. , when the two sensing means each sense the presence of a sheet, the word reading means is moved in the direction opposite to the direction in which the page stored in the page memory is read out by the reading means during printing of the first side. 35. The printing system according to claim 34, wherein the page stored in the page memory is read out during printing of the second side in the direction. 36. (a) the font storage means has a page memory for storing a plurality of pages of information in encoded format; (b) the raster storage means has a page memory for storing pages of information to be printed by the printing means; (c) the first page memory and the second page memory alternately load pages of information; and (c) the first page memory and the second page memory alternately load pages of information. during which the page of information stored in the other of the first page memory and the second page memory is read out during printing by means for reading; a memory, a second page memory and a raster form storage memory, the first page memory, the second page memory and the raster form storage memory being coupled in either the first or second direction; 36. The printing system according to claim 35, wherein the printing system comprises; 37. In a printing system having a processing unit for controlling the retrieval of individually stored characters from the font storage memory of the font storage means as a plurality of words, wherein each of the plurality of words has a plurality of pixels, each (a) address calculation means arranged in the processing unit; , where the address calculation means calculates an absolute address for storing the first word of each character retrieved from the character memory and transfers the calculated absolute address to the raster storage means; (b) designation; means for controlling the storage of each retrieved word of each character in the page memory at an absolute address that has been transferred from the processing unit; an absolute address, and all remaining absolute addresses of each retrieved character are calculated by absolute address calculation means operating independently of the operation of the processing unit; An addressing system for generating addresses of locations in page memory where words of are stored. 38. Absolute address calculating means calculates the absolute address of the first word by incrementing the absolute address stored in the absolute address counter by one after storing each word across the line of characters retrieved in the page memory. 38. The addressing system of claim 37, which after calculation calculates an absolute address for each successive word across the line of retrieved characters. 39, (a) the absolute address transferred from the processing unit is stored in an absolute address counter; and (b) the number of words stored from each character over a single line is counted and all of the words are (c) calculating the absolute address of the stored first word of the character's next line; 39. An address generator as claimed in claim 38, comprising: means for storing the calculated absolute address of the first word. 40. means for calculating the absolute address of the first word of pixels to be stored from the next line, comprising: (a) means for storing the width, measured as a word, of the print medium on which the page is printed; (b) the current (c) an adder coupled to the means for storing the width of the print medium and the means for storing the absolute address; And the adder is
The width of the print media is added to the absolute address of the first word of the current line, and the sum of the calculations produced by the adder is added to the absolute address counter and the search value in the current line after the adder completes the addition. 40. An address generator as claimed in claim 39, comprising: means for storing the absolute address of the first word of the character entered; 41, (a) the processing unit calculates the number of words of each character to be sent to page memory for storage, and (b) the addressing system further loads the calculated sum of words transferred from the processing unit. The counter is described in paragraph 37 of the patent claim that is provided with a counter that is reduced by one by one, and the counter is reduced by one by one in the page / memory. printing system. 42. (a) a page memory for storing at least one page of information to be printed, wherein each stored page includes multiple lines of information including a start line, a plurality of intermediate lines, and an end line; , each line has multiple consecutive addressing words each having multiple pixels, the starting word has the lowest address, each consecutive word has a higher address, and the last word has the highest address. (b) means coupled to the page memory for reading a word stored in the page memory in either a first direction or a second direction;
The line is read out successively from the middle line to the last line, each line being read in the direction from the lowest addressing word to the highest addressing word, the second direction being from the last line through the first line, each line being read out in the direction from the lowest addressing word to the highest addressing word; The importance of the position of each pixel of the word read out in the direction from the most significant addressed word to the least significant addressed word in the second direction is determined in the first direction with respect to the importance of the pixel position. The significance of the pixel location of the individual pixels of the read word is reversed, and each page has an address field extending between the minimum and maximum addresses, and between the minimum and maximum addresses. one or more addresses in the address field of can be read in either the first or second direction; (c) print multiple lines of the page read in either the first or second direction; Printing means coupled to means for reading out words for printing on a medium; 43. The means for reading words comprises: (a) means for successively providing addresses of successive words to be read from page memory; wherein the means for successively providing addresses:
Contains a counter programmed to count a sum equal to the number of words contained in the page memory and in any address field between the minimum address and the maximum address when read in the first direction. and when reading in the second direction, can be counted in descending order in any addressing field between the maximum address and the minimum address, each pixel of the word has an address, and the pixel changes from the most significant pixel to the least significant pixel; (b) selectively reversing the order of output of the pixels in a single word in an output having a number of lines equal to the number of pixels in a single word; means coupled to the page memory, wherein the means for reversing the pixel in a first fixed order from the most significant pixel to the least significant pixel when the direction of readout is in a first direction; outputting pixels in a second fixed order, opposite to the first fixed order with respect to pixel importance, from the least significant pixel to the most significant pixel when in a second direction, the output line being coupled to a printing means; 43. The printing system of claim 42, comprising: 44. means for selectively reversing the output order of pixels comprises: (a) an input means coupled to the output of the page memory and having a number of inputs equal to the number of pixels in the word; means outputting the word retrieved from the page memory; (b) first gating means having a number of inputs equal to the number of pixels in the word and a number of outputs, each output having a number of outputs when the gating means is enabled; (c) a number of inputs and a number of outputs equal to the number of pixels in the word; (c) a number of inputs and a number of outputs equal to the number of pixels in the word; and second gating means, wherein each input is coupled to a different one of the inputs and selectively gates the values of the pixels of the inputs relative to the outputs when an enable signal is applied; (d) the outputs of the first and second gating means coupled together, the outputs forming an output means having a number of outputs equal to the number of pixels in one word; The importance of the order of combination of the outputs of the first gating means is reversed from the importance of the order of combination of the outputs of the second gating means with respect to the outputs of the output means; system. 45. (a) a font memory for storing a plurality of characters to be printed, wherein each stored character consists of a plurality of lines of information including a first line, a plurality of intermediate lines and an end line; The line has a plurality of consecutive addressing words each having a plurality of pixels, the starting word having a lowest address, each consecutive word having a higher address, and the last word having a highest address; (b) means coupled to the font storage memory for reading a word stored in the font storage memory in either a first direction or a second direction, wherein the first direction is from a first line to a last line; , each line is read in the direction from the lowest addressing word to the highest addressing word, and the second direction is from the last line to the first line, with each line being read from the highest addressing word to the lowest addressing word. the position of the individual pixels of the word read out in the direction of the addressing word and read out in the second direction is reversed from the position of the pixel read out in the first direction with respect to the significance of the pixel position; The font storage memory has a large number of individually addressable word storage locations defined by an address field extending between a minimum address and a maximum address, and a number of adjacent addresses of words defining a single character. (c) printing means coupled to the word reading means for printing a plurality of characters stored in the font storage memory on the print medium; A printing system consisting of; 46. (a) a page memory for storing pages of information to be printed, coupled to means for reading out words, wherein the page memory, in either a first direction or a second direction; storing individual characters read from a font storage memory storing a plurality of characters; (b) control means coupled to the means for reading out a word; A patent further comprising: selecting either one orientation or a second orientation and storing the selected character in a page memory in the first orientation or in a second orientation rotated 180 degrees with respect to the first orientation. The printing system according to claim 45. 47. The font storage memory has a first orientation;
The second orientation is rotated 90 degrees with respect to the first orientation.
47. The printing system of claim 46, wherein each character is stored in an orientation consisting of an orientation. 48. The means for reading words comprises: (a) means for providing addresses of successive words to be read from the font storage memory; wherein the means for providing addresses include a counter for counting a sum equal to the number of words; The word count is contained in the font storage memory and is capable of counting characters in ascending order from the lowest address to the highest address when reading is done in the first direction and from the highest address when reading is done in the second direction. (b) a number of lines equal to the number of pixels in a single word; each pixel of the word has an address, and the pixels vary from the most significant pixel to the least significant pixel; (b) a number of lines equal to the number of pixels in a single word; means coupled to the font storage memory for selectively reversing the order of output of pixels in a single word in an output having a first direction; At some time, in the first fixed order from the most significant pixel to the least significant pixel, or from the least significant pixel to the most significant pixel when the readout direction is in the second direction, the pixel importance is opposite to the first fixed order. , outputting pixels in any of a second fixed order, the output line being coupled to printing means. 49. Means for selectively reversing the output order of the words comprises: (a) outputting the word retrieved from the font storage memory and having a number of pixels coupled to the output of the character memory and equal to the number of pixels in the word; (b) first gating means having a number of inputs equal to the number of pixels in the word and a number of outputs, each output being a different one of the inputs when the gating means is enabled; (c) a second gate having a number of inputs and a number of outputs equal to the number of pixels in the word; and (c) a second gate having a number of inputs and a number of outputs equal to the number of pixels in the word. means, wherein each input is coupled to a different one of the inputs and selectively gates the pixel value of the input to the output when an enable signal is applied; (d) the first and the output of the second gating means, where the outputs form an output means having a number of outputs equal to the number of pixels in the word, and the importance of the order of combination of the outputs of the first gating means with respect to the outputs of the output means is , the importance of the coupling order of the output of the second gate means with respect to the output of the output means is reversed.