JPH01264866A - Data output apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To continuously output definite data without erasing the same even if a large quantity of data are inputted when memory capacity is small by constituting the title apparatus of the first memory region capable of repeatedly outputting memory content and the second memory region erased at each time when data is outputted. CONSTITUTION:An input buffer 10 can store the data inputted by a decision key 2 and a character selecting dial 3 in the quantity corresponding to 38 characters and addresses 1-30 become a holding region 11 wherein the content of the inputted data is held even if said data is outputted for printing any times and addresses 31-38 become a refresh region 12 wherein said content is erased. A printing key 4 is pushed in such a state that the holding region 11 is filled with data to perform printing operation and, after the finish of printing operation, the code of a discrimination mark 19 is written on the head address of the refresh region 12. When printing output is indicated after the code of the discrimination mark 19 is set, only the data of the refresh region 12 is outputted for printing but, since this data is erased immediately, new data is continuously written thereafter to make it possible to perform printing output indefinitely.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a data output device having a storage means for temporarily storing and outputting input data.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, such a data output device, taking the buffer of a typewriter as an example, has the function of temporarily storing data input from an input section and outputting the data to a printing device. Conventionally, the storage capacity of such a buffer has been extremely large, such as several hundred characters, in order to store a large amount of input data. In addition, in conventional buffers, when the storage capacity suddenly overflows, the input data after the overflow is written again from the beginning of the buffer, and the data written up to that point is erased. was.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, the above-mentioned conventional buffer requires a large storage capacity, necessitating externally connected RAM, etc., and has the problem that the device becomes expensive. Furthermore, after an overflow, the data written up to that point is erased sequentially from the beginning, making it impossible to print the same content again from the beginning later.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and even if a large amount of data is input when sufficient storage capacity cannot be secured, certain data will not be erased. Another object of the present invention is to provide a data output device that can output input data continuously without omission.

[Means for Solving the Problem] In order to achieve the above object, the data output device of the present invention has the following features:
Once written into the storage means, there is a first storage area where the stored contents are retained and can be repeatedly output, and a second storage area where the previous stored contents are erased every time data is output from the storage means. a determination means for determining whether or not data exists in the second storage area; and a determination unit that determines whether or not data exists in the second storage area; and output control means for controlling the output of either or both of the contents.

[Operation] In the above configuration, data to be re-outputted is written in the first storage means, and data that only needs to be outputted is written in the second storage means. Then, when outputting the written data, the output control means
The output of data in the first storage area or the second storage area is controlled depending on the determination result of whether data exists in the second storage area.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example embodying the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an overall circuit diagram of an embodiment in which the data output device is adapted to a tape printing device.

The key input section 1 includes a character selection dial 3 having a confirmation key 2 in the center, a print key 4, a clear key 5, an all clear key 6, a hold key 7, a kanji conversion key 8, and a non-conversion key 9.
The 0 selection dial 3 is annular and can be rotated.Characters such as letters, symbols, and codes are written on the surface of the 0 selection dial 3, and the character you want to input is moved to the arrow-shaped selection position P. When the center key 2 is pressed, the data of the selected character is entered.

The print key 4 is used to issue an instruction to print out data sequentially input by operating the selection dial 3 and confirmation key 2. The clear key 5 is a key for sequentially clearing input data one by one starting from the newest data. The all clear key 6 is a key for clearing all input data at once. Further, the hold key 7 is a key for determining the address up to the address where the data is written as the hold area 11 in order to store and hold the data sequentially inputted as described above in the input buffer 10 even after printing. The kanji conversion key 8 is a key for converting input data into kanji data, and the non-conversion key 9
displays the reversely displayed input data normally and displays it as input data as it is in input buffer 1.
This is the key to store in 0.

The CPU 18 performs processing according to the operation content of each of the keys 2 to 9 of the key manual section 1 based on a program stored in the ROM 13. The RAM 14 is provided with a hold flag memory 15, a hold position pointer 16, an input position pointer 17, and an area for storing intermediate processing data of the CPU 18 and the like. A flag indicating that the hold area 11 has been confirmed by operating the hold key 7 is set in the hold flag memory 15, and the fiP:address of the confirmed hold area 11 is set in the hold position pointer 16. is stored, and data indicating the address where new data at the end of the stored data in the input buffer 10 is to be written is written into the input position pointer 17.

The input buffer 10 includes the confirmation key 2 and the selection dial 3.
It has a small storage capacity that can store 38 characters of input data, and since one character has a data capacity of 3 bytes, it has a total storage capacity of 114 bytes. Of these 3 bytes for each character, 2 bytes represent a character code, and 1 byte represents additional data such as the height and width of the character.

In the following explanation, the above 3 bytes, that is, the storage area for 1 character, will be considered as the storage area for 1 address, and the storage areas for each 1 character will be referred to as 1st address, 2nd address, 3rd address, etc. 38th address. I'll decide.

Addresses 1 to 30 of this manual buffer 10, if the hold key 7 is not operated, once data is written, the contents will be retained no matter how many times the print key 4 is operated to print out the data. This becomes a hold area 11. On the other hand, addresses 31 to 38 of the input buffer 10 serve as a refresh area 12 whose contents are erased every time the print key 4 is operated. 31 to 38 in this refresh area 12
For example, the capacity for 8 characters of a street address is
This is to allow relatively long kana words such as "Uketamawaru" (6 characters) to be converted into kanji with plenty of time. Further, when the hold key 7 is operated, the area storing the data input up to that point is determined as the hold area 11, and the flag of the hold flag memory 15 is turned on. Furthermore, all subsequent storage areas become the fresh area 12 as described above. Further, by pressing the print key 4 while the hold area 11 is full of data, the code of the black triangular distinction mark 19 is written at the first address of the refresh area 12 after the printing operation is completed.

This distinction mark 19 is useful for distinguishing between data to be erased after printing and data to be stored when the contents of the input buffer 10 are displayed on a display device 20, which will be described later. The one distinction mark is not displayed yet when data is sequentially input to the input buffer 10 in a state where the input buffer 10 is all cleared, and the data overflows the hold area 11 and is written to the refresh area 12. However, this hold area 11
is displayed for the first time after the data in the refresh area 12 is printed out, and the refresh area 1 is displayed until it is cleared by the clear key 5 or all clear key 6.
The mother is displayed at the position corresponding to the first address of 2.

As long as this one distinction mark is displayed,
When displaying the print signal using the print key 4, hold area 1
Even if data is stored in 1, only the contents of refresh area 12 are printed out, and when the code of distinction mark 19 is cleared, the contents of hold area 11 and refresh area 12 are printed out.

The display device 20 is a compact device that displays the contents of the input buffer 10, and has a display area for only three characters.
The last three characters of the data within 0 are set in the display memory 21 and displayed on the display device 20. Thermal head 22
is for printing the contents of the input buffer 10, and C
Under the control of the PUl 8, character-lid data corresponding to the code data in the input buffer 10 is sequentially read out from the CG (character generator) ROM 23, sent to the thermal head 22 via the interface 24, and transferred to the thermal transfer ribbon (the path shown in the figure). ) characters are printed on the tape (path shown).

The tape feed motor 25 is a motor that sequentially feeds out the tape, and operates in conjunction with the operation of the thermal head 22.
It is driven by the PU 18 via a motor drive circuit 26.

The operation, operation, and effects of the data output device having the above configuration will be described below.

FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of a program related to printing processing, and FIG. 3 shows an example of input to the input buffer 10 and an example of its print output. If printing is performed after the hold area 11 is confirmed, all data will be printed (steps 318 to 523) (step S18 below will simply be referred to as S18, and the same applies to other steps), but in the second and subsequent printing, the refresh area will be printed. Only 12 is printed and erased (324). Even after the hold area 11 is confirmed, if the distinction mark 19 is cleared, the hold area 11 is printed again.
can be printed (S20.521), hold area 11
The contents of can also be changed.

Also, as long as input and printing are performed within address 30 of the human buffer 10 without determining the hold area 11, it can be used in the same way as a normal memory (818 to S2
1→S1).

When the power is turned on, the CPtJ 18 starts the process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 2, and first, the key force unit 1 determines whether or not there is a key force (St).

If you have the key manually, scan and determine which key the input operation was performed on.S2, S6, S11.313
, S18.525), if the operation key is the confirmation key 2,
It is determined whether the input buffer 10 is in a memory full state (S3), and if the memory is not full, code data corresponding to the character, symbol, etc. selected at the selection position P of the character selection dial 3 at that time is stored. is written into the input buffer 10, and the character is displayed in reverse on the display device 20 (34).Similarly, each time the selection dial 3 is turned and the enter key 2 is operated, the keys 81 to S4 are pressed. The manual processing is repeated, and character code data is sequentially written into the input buffer 10.

If the human buffer 10 is full at this time, error processing is performed (S5).

If you want to convert the reversely displayed character into kanji, just operate the conversion key 8.

Then, the CPU 18 reads the kanji code corresponding to the input code data being displayed in reverse from the dictionary memory (when shown), erases the characters on the display device 2o, displays the kanji instead, and selects one of the homophones. When a character is selected and confirmed, the kanji is switched from reverse display to normal display, the kanji code data is confirmed, and the code is stored in the input buffer 10 in place of the character's code data (36, S7). , Incidentally, this Kanji conversion process is a known technique, and detailed explanation thereof will be omitted.

If you do not want to convert kanji, you can operate the non-conversion key 9, and then the CPtJ18 switches the character being displayed in reverse to the normal display, confirms and stores the input code data as it is (S11 .312>
.

Next, the CPU 18 determines whether the hold area 11 has been determined, that is, whether the hold flag is on (
S8) is not finalized yet, so the next input buffer 1
It is also determined whether there is data at address 30 of 0 (S9
), but since only a few characters have been entered and not that much has been entered, the process returns to 81 (S10
．． 511), data can be input by repeating such manual operations of keys 81 to Sll. In this case, when the reverse display changes to the normal display, the input position pointer 17 will be incremented by one term +1 from "1".

In this way, up to address 10 of input buffer 10 "...
・Write “Co., Ltd.” and hold area 11 up to this point.
Assume that the hold key 7 is operated in order to do this. Then C
The PU 18 confirms that one distinction mark is not displayed yet (S13.514), and if there is a character in reverse display, change it to normal display (515), and sets "10" to the hold position pointer 16. A flag is set in the hold flag memory 15 and 10 of the input buffer 10 is set.
The area up to address 11 is determined as the hold area 11, and the area after address 11 is determined as the refresh area 12 (316).

At this time, if the hold flag has already been set and data has been set to the hold position pointer 16, this data will be canceled and new data will be set, and the hold flag will remain set. The area will be changed. This change can be made any number of times before the distinction mark 19 is displayed. If the hold key 7 is operated while the distinction mark 19 is already displayed, error processing is performed (317).

Next, if the keys are pressed one after another to input "First Division", the above-described manual key processing of 81 to S8 is repeated, and the code data of "First Division" is set in the refresh area 12. At this time, the hold flag has already been set and the hold area 11 has been determined, so the process returns to S1 after 88.

If you operate the print key 4 here, the above-mentioned S1, S2, S6 will be displayed.
．． After the key operation content determination process of 311, 313 and S18, the CPU 18 determines whether a code with one distinction mark is written at address 11 at the beginning of the refresh area 12 (S19).

Now, after data is written to the input buffer 10, -
Since the printout has not been performed yet, the distinction mark is still 1.
1 code is not set in input buffer 10,
The CPU 18 sequentially reads out all the data in the input buffer 10, sends the character data to the thermal head 22, and prints out "...First Division, Co., Ltd." (520), as shown in FIG. 3(2). , after determining that the hold area 11 is fixed because the hold flag is set (S21), the refresh area 12 is cleared (322>, and the first address of the refresh area 12 is the hold position point +1). A code with one distinction mark is written at address 11 (323).

Immediately after this, "company" at the end of the data in the input buffer 10 and the distinction mark 19 are displayed on the display device 2o, and the input position pointer 17 is set to "12".

In this way, when a printout instruction is received without the code of the distinction mark 19 being set in the input buffer 10,
All data in both the hold area 11 and the refresh area 12 are printed out.

Next, if you input the character data ``Dear Sir/Mrs.
As shown in FIG. 3 (3), the character data for "Dear Sir" is written in the refresh area 12 after the distinction mark 19. After this, when the print key 4 is operated, the CPU 1
8 is the above-mentioned Sl, S2, S6, Sll, 313, S18
After the key operation content determination process, it is determined whether the code of the distinction mark 19 is written in the first address 11 of the refresh area 12 (S19)', the contents of the input buffer 10 have already been printed once. Since it has been output, the code for one distinction mark has already been set in the refresh area 12, and the CPU 18 sequentially reads out only the "Dear Sir" data in the refresh area 12, sends the character data to the thermal head 22, and sends the character data to the third thermal head 22. As shown in FIG. 4, only the two characters "Dear sir" are printed, and the data after the code of the distinction mark 19 in the refresh area 12 is cleared (S24).

In this way, when a printout instruction is given after the code of the distinction mark 19 is set, only the data in the refresh area 12 is printed out, and since this data is immediately erased after the printout, a new Data can be written continuously and printed out indefinitely.

Next, when the clear key 5 is operated, the CPU 18, after the above-mentioned key operation content determination processing of S1, S2, S6. The code of the distinction mark 19 at address 11 of the input position point +1 at that time is cleared, the hold flag is turned off, and the hold position pointer 16 is cleared (326>, whereby the hold area 11 is cleared again.
will return to a state where it is not yet determined. Here, if you enter the character data "Patent Department" one character at a time,
The key manual processing of steps 81 to S9 described above is repeated, and the process shown in FIG. 3 (
As shown in 6), the code for "Patent Department" is written after "...Company".

After that, when the print key 4 is operated, the CPU 18 performs the key operation content determination processing of the above-mentioned S1, S2, S6, Sll, S13, and S18, and then the first 11 of the refresh area 12.
It is determined whether or not the code with the distinction mark 19 has been written to the address (Sl9). At this time, the code with one distinction mark has already been cleared, so the CPU 18 clears all the data in the input buffer 10. The character data is read out sequentially and sent to the thermal head 22, and as shown in FIG.
), hold area 1 based on hold flag memory 15
After determining whether 1 is confirmed or not, hold area 1
Since 1 is not confirmed, it returns to 81. At this time, the display device 20 displays the "patent section" at the end of the data in the input buffer 10.
is displayed, and the input position pointer 17 is set to "13".

In this way, by clearing the distinction mark 19, the stored data in the hold area 11 can be outputted again, and when printing items such as multiple departments or divisions with duplicate addresses or company names, , it is possible to omit the input of duplicated parts and perform efficient printing. Note that even if you do not operate the hold key 7, if you write data up to address 30 of the manual buffer 10, the area up to address 30 will automatically become the hold area 11 (Slop, and the above-mentioned 81, S2,
If the key operation content determination processing in S6, S11, and S13.318.325 does not correspond to any key, then only the all clear key 6 remains, and the CPU 18 clears all data in the input buffer 10. (327
).

In this embodiment, the black triangular distinction mark 19 is also displayed on the display device 20, so if you look at the display device 20, the area where data is currently being input is the hold area 1.
1 or the refresh area 12 can be clearly seen, and erroneous inputs can be reduced accordingly.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments,
For example, the configuration of the input buffer 10 may include a hold area 11 in front of the refresh area 12;
, the refresh area 12, and one distinction mark may have any positional relationship. Furthermore, as long as the data output device of the present invention has the hold area 11 and the refresh area 12, it is possible to use buffers other than the input buffer and other memories. It can be applied to any storage device.

[Effects of the Invention] As detailed above, according to the present invention, data that does not want to be erased is written in the first storage area of the present invention, and other data that is desired to be sequentially output is written in the second storage area. All you have to do is write, and even if a large amount of data is input when the storage capacity is small, a certain amount of data will not be erased, and the input data can be continuously output without omission without limit.

Furthermore, if the range of the first and second storage areas can be changed, it is possible to reliably store only the data that you do not want to erase in the first storage area, regardless of the size of the data that you do not want to erase. . Furthermore, if the input data is written to the second storage area when the input data overflows the first storage area, the first storage area can be used effectively until it overflows, resulting in an efficient method. It is possible to use memory, and even if the storage capacity is small, it can greatly demonstrate its power as a data output device.

Then, after the contents of the first storage area are output, the first
By outputting either or both of the storage contents of the second storage area and the second storage area, this data output device can be used in the same way as a normal storage means before the contents are output. In addition, the initially inputted content can be automatically stored and retained as it is even after being output.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 3 show an embodiment in which the data output device of the present invention is applied to a printing device. FIG. 1 is an overall circuit diagram of the data output device, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the program, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of input to the input buffer and an example of its printout. 2... Confirm key, 3... Selection dial, 4... Print key, 10... Input buffer, 11... Hold area, 12... Refresh area, 16... Hold position pointer , 18... CPU, 19... Distinction mark. Patent applicant Brother Industries, Ltd. Representative Patent attorney Makoto Wakahara

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a data output device having a storage means for temporarily storing and outputting input data, the storage means is such that once written, the stored contents are retained and can be repeatedly output. It consists of a first storage area and a second storage area in which the previous storage contents are erased every time data is output from the storage means, and the input data is stored in the second storage area of the storage means. a discriminating means for discriminating whether or not the discriminating means exists, and an output for outputting the memory content of the first storage area, the memory content of the second storage area, or both, according to the discrimination result of the discrimination means. A data output device comprising a control means. 2. The data output device according to claim 1, wherein ranges of the first and second storage areas are changeable. 3. The storage means writes the input data to the second storage area when the input data overflows the first storage area, and the determination means writes the input data to the second storage area when the input data overflows the first storage area. 3. The data output device according to claim 1, wherein the data output device makes the determination based on the stored state storage means. 4. The data input/output device according to claim 3, wherein said state storage means is activated when the contents of the first storage area of said storage means are output.