JPH01234245A - Multicolor printing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automatically perform multicolor printing even if no color indication command is used and to enhance throughput, by registering a character row printed by a color other than fundamental color in a register means beforehand and performing multicolor printing while the registered character row is referred to. CONSTITUTION:A character row register part 24 for registering a character row printed by a color other than a fundamental color and an operation mode change-over switch 23 for changing over a printing mode performing multicolor printing while the character row registered in said register part is referred to and a register mode registering a character row in the register part 24 are provided. A red printing character row is stored in the character row register part 24 and a usual printing mode is changed over to a red printing character row register mode by the operation mode change-over switch 23. By a control part 21, it is judged whether the character row received from a host computer 1 is registered and, when said character row is not registered, a pattern is developed on a black buffer 25 using a pattern conversion part 22 and black printing is performed by a dot printer 27. In the same way, red printing is performed from a red buffer 26.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Fields] The present invention is a multicolor printing device, in particular, it enables color specification registration for each character string, and when the character string is included in subsequent data, it automatically The present invention relates to a multicolor printing device that prints in colors other than basic colors.

[Prior Art] In conventional multicolor printing apparatuses, the only means for switching colors was to generate a color designation command or the like. For this reason, applications that cannot issue color specification commands can only perform monochrome printing.

On the other hand, even if it is possible to issue a color specification command, the method is to issue the color specification command just before the data you want to print in a color other than the basic color, and then issue the color specification end command when you want to return to the basic color. Multicolor printing was performed.

Therefore, even if the same character or character string that you want to print in a color other than the basic color appears, you must issue a color specification command and a color specification end command each time, which may reduce the overall throughput depending on the print data. It became.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] The present invention eliminates the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks, enables multicolor printing even when a color specification command cannot be issued, and when a color specification command can be issued, a color specification command. To provide a multicolor printing device which automatically enables multicolor printing without using a printer and improves throughput.

[Means for Solving the Problem] As a means for solving the problem, the multicolor printing device of the present invention is a multicolor printing device capable of printing in at least two colors, which prints in colors other than the basic colors. A registration means for registering a character string, a mode switching means for switching between a printing mode in which multicolor printing is performed while referring to the character string registered in the registration means, and a registration mode in which the character string is registered in the registration means. Be prepared.

[Operation] In this configuration, a character string to be printed in a color other than the basic color is registered in advance in the registration means, and multicolor printing is performed while referring to the character string registered in the registration means at the time of printing.

[Example] Hereinafter, this example will be described in detail using the drawings. In this embodiment, in order to simplify the explanation, an example of a two-color printing apparatus is used in which the basic color is black and the colors other than the basic color are red.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a multicolor printing apparatus according to this embodiment.

1 is a host computer that sends print data, etc.; 2 is a main multicolor printing apparatus; 21 is a control unit that controls the entire multicolor printing apparatus 2; It is equipped with a RAM 21c. 22 is a pattern conversion unit that converts input data into a corresponding pattern; 23 is an operation mode changeover switch that switches between normal print mode and red print character string registration mode; 24 is a character string registration unit that stores red print character strings; and 25 is a character string registration unit that stores red print character strings. This is a black buffer in which a pattern is developed by the control section 21, and the pattern developed here is printed in black by the dot printer 27. 26 is a red buffer similar to the black buffer 25, and the pattern developed here is printed in red. 27 is black buffer 25 or red buffer 26
This is a dot printer section that reads the developed dot pattern and prints it in black or red.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a red printed character string that is registered when the operation mode switch is set to the red printed character string registration mode. This example shows an example in which the "Japan" character and the "-" symbol are separated and registered with a semicolon;

FIG. 3 shows an example of print data transmitted after registering the red print character string of FIG. 2, [cr].

[ufl and [ffl represent carriage return 1 line feed and form feed, respectively.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing details of the color designation character string registration section, and shows the state after receiving the data shown in FIG. 2. “Japa
The character "n" and the symbol "-' are registered, indicating that they will be printed in red.

FIG. 5 shows the printing results output using the registration data shown in FIG. 2 and the print data shown in FIG. 3, where the slanted portions in the drawing are printed in red.

FIG. 6 is a processing flowchart of this embodiment, and will be described in more detail below using this flowchart.

First, in step S61, data transmitted from the host computer is received. Next, in step S62, the state of the operation mode changeover switch is determined, and if it is the red printed character string registration mode, the process advances to step S63, and the received character string is registered in the character string registration section 24. If it is the normal print mode, the process advances to step S64, and it is determined whether the received character string is a character string registered in the character string registration section 24.

If it is not registered, the process advances to step S65, and the pattern is developed in the black buffer 25 using the pattern conversion section 22. Moreover, if it is registered, the process advances to step S64, and the pattern is similarly developed in the red buffer 26.

As explained above, by adding an operation mode selector switch to the multicolor printing device and registering the character string you want to print in colors other than the basic colors before sending the print data, it is easy to use even with host computers and applications that cannot issue color specification commands. It became possible to print in multiple colors.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a multicolor printing apparatus according to another embodiment. 3 is a host computer that transmits registration commands, print data, etc.; 4 is the present multicolor printing apparatus; 41 is a control unit that controls the entire multicolor printing apparatus 4; a CPU 41a for processing;
and a ROM 41b for storing processing programs, and an auxiliary RAM 41c. 42 is a pattern conversion unit that converts input data into a corresponding pattern; 43 is a character string registration unit that registers the character string specified by the color specification character string registration command; and 44 is a black buffer in which the pattern is developed by the control unit 41. The pattern developed here is printed in black by the dot printer 46. 45 is a red buffer similar to the black buffer 44, and is printed in red.

46 is a dot printer section which reads the dot patterns developed in the black buffer 44 and the red buffer 45 and prints them in black or red.

FIG. 8 is an example of data for registering color specification character strings in another embodiment, where 81.84 is a command meaning to start registration in red, 82.85 is a character string to be registered, and 83
．． 86 is a command meaning to end the registration.

In this example, the same print data example as in FIG. 3 is output.

The color specification character string registration section for registering registration data is also the same as that shown in Figure 4, and the "Japan" characters and "-" which are currently printed in red are the same as those shown in Figure 4.
”The symbol is registered.

When the registration data shown in FIG. 8 is received and then the print data shown in FIG. 3 is received, the printing result will be as shown in FIG. 5, as in the previous example, and only the diagonally shaded areas in the figure will be printed in red.

FIG. 9 is a processing flowchart of another embodiment, which will be used to explain in more detail.

In step S91, the data sent from the host computer 3 is received, and in step S92, it is analyzed to see if the data is a color specification registration command. If it is a registration command, the process proceeds to step 393, and continues until the registration end command is received. Register as a string. If it is determined in step S92 that the command is not a registered command, the process advances to step S94, and it is determined whether the character string is registered in the character string registration section.

If it matches the registered character string, step S96
The process advances to step S95 and the pattern is developed in the red buffer. If they do not match, the process advances to step S95 and the pattern is developed in the black buffer.

As described above, in multicolor blinking, frequently used character strings can be registered by adding a color specification string registration command, and multicolor printing will be automatically performed in subsequent print data without using a color specification command. This makes it possible to improve throughput.

In the above embodiment, a two-color printer of black and red was described, but it is clear that the present invention can also be applied to a multi-color printer with two or more colors.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, multicolor printing is possible even when a color specification command cannot be issued, and when a color specification command can be issued, multicolor printing is automatically possible without using a color specification command. As a result, a multicolor printing device with improved throughput can be provided.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a block diagram of the multicolor printing device of this embodiment. Figure 2 is a diagram showing an input example of character string registration. Figure 3 is a diagram showing an example of print data. Figure 4 is a diagram showing the character string registration section. 5 is a diagram showing an output example. FIG. 6 is an operation flowchart of the multicolor printing device of this embodiment. FIG. 7 is a block diagram of the multicolor printing device of another embodiment. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an input example of character string registration according to another embodiment, and FIG. 9 is an operation flowchart of the multicolor printing apparatus according to another embodiment. In the figure, 1... host computer, 2... multicolor printing apparatus of this embodiment, 3... host computer, 4...
- Multicolor printing device of another embodiment, 21...control unit, 21
a...CP TJ, 2 l b・ROM, 21
c...RAM, 22...pattern conversion section, 23...
・Operation mode selector switch, 24...Character string registration section,
25...Black buffer, 26...Red buffer, 27.
...Dot printer section, 41...Control section, 41a...
・CPU, 4 lb・ROM, 41 c”・RAM. 42... Pattern conversion section, 43... Character string registration section,
44...Black buffer, 45...Red buffer, 46.
...This is the dot printer section. Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Funeral Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 7

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In a multicolor printing device capable of printing in at least two colors, a registration means for registering character strings to be printed in colors other than the basic colors, and multicolor printing is performed while referring to the character strings registered in the registration means. 1. A multicolor printing apparatus, comprising: a mode switching means for switching between a printing mode for printing and a registration mode for registering a character string in the registration means.