JPH0129709B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] Technical Field The present invention is a system that mixes languages written from left to right, such as English and Dutch, and languages written from right to left, such as Hebrew and Arabic. This relates to typewriters for printing.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Both typewriters capable of printing keyed data sequentially from left to right, ie in the forward direction, and typewriters capable of printing from right to left, ie in the reverse direction, are already known.

However, conventional typewriters can only print key-input data in either the forward or reverse direction. However, typewriters that are capable of printing in both forward and reverse directions are already known, in which key-input data is once stored in a memory and later read out and printed. However, in this type of typewriter, even when printing is performed in the reverse direction, data is not printed from right to left starting from the data inputted first.

On the other hand, there are languages in the world that are written from left to right, such as English, and languages that are written from right to left, such as Hebrew, and both can be mixed in one print line or on one sheet of paper. There may be cases where it is necessary to print the For example, it is often necessary to print a mixture of Dutch and Hebrew. However, until now, there has been no typewriter that can meet these requirements.

Purpose of the Invention In view of the above-mentioned circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a typewriter that can freely print data input by keys in the forward or reverse direction in the order of key input. It is what was done.

Structure of the Invention In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, as shown in FIG. a keyboard for outputting symbol signals and function signals; (b) a paper feeder for feeding printing paper; (c) a carriage for reciprocating along the printing line on the printing paper; and (d) supported by and with the carriage. (e) A print head that moves and prints characters, symbols, etc. on the printing paper; (e) connected to a keyboard, and drives the paper feed device, carriage, and print head in response to character/symbol signals and function signals from the keyboard; The present invention is applied to a typewriter that includes a control device and performs printing based on the operation of keys on a keyboard. That is, the mode selection means for selecting the first mode and the second mode is connected to the control device, and the control device is provided with the first mode control means, the second mode control means, and the mode switching control means. be. The first mode control means moves the carriage in the printing direction by one character after printing one character in response to a character/symbol signal inputted by a key while the first mode is selected by the mode selection means. The second mode control means sequentially stores code signals corresponding to the character/symbol signals in the memory in response to the character/symbol signals while the second mode is selected by the mode selection means. At the same time, only the carriage is moved one character at a time in the printing direction.
Further, the mode switching control means, when the mode selection means is switched from the second mode to the first mode,
Starting from the carriage position one character before the current carriage position, print operations corresponding to the code signals are performed sequentially in the opposite direction to the above print direction according to the order stored in the memory, and after the print operations for all code signals are completed. , after returning to the above current carriage position,
This causes the first mode control means to start control.

Effects of the Invention In the typewriter configured as described above, by selecting the first mode and the second mode by the mode selection means, the code signal can be sent in the forward or reverse direction in the order of key input. It can be printed arbitrarily.

Therefore, by equipping this typewriter with both print or pattern data for a language written from right to left and print or pattern data for a language written from left to right, it is possible to Languages written from left to right can be mixed and printed using a single typewriter.

Embodiment Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings.

2 to 4 show a typewriter capable of printing in a mixture of Hebrew and Dutch. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the arrangement of keys on the keyboard 10 of the typewriter, including a large number of character/symbol keys 12 that can selectively print Dutch characters and Hebrew characters, a space bar 14, and a back space. Function keys including a key 15, a line feed key 16, a shift key 18, a code key 20, etc. are arranged. Dutch characters and Hebrew characters are assigned to each character/symbol key 12, and selection between these Dutch characters and Hebrew characters is performed by operating the keyboard switch 22. keyboard switch 22
is a switch that can take three states; in the first state, Dutch letters are selected, and by operating the shift key 18 in this state, uppercase and lowercase letters are selected. In the second state of the keyboard switch 22, lowercase Hebrew letters are selected, and in the third state, uppercase Hebrew letters are selected. A printing direction selection switch 24 is further provided on the keyboard 10, and various other keys and switches are also provided, but illustrations and explanations thereof will be omitted since they are not necessary for understanding the present invention.

The keyboard 10 is provided at the front of the typewriter, and a printing mechanism is provided at the rear. Only this printing mechanism section is taken out and shown in FIG. In the figure, 30 is a main frame of the typewriter, and a platen 32 is rotatably supported by this main frame 30 on shafts at both ends. The platen 32 can be rotated by a paper feed motor 34, which is a pulse motor fixed to the main frame 30, through gears 36 and 38 in both forward and reverse directions at any angle. Further, a bail 42 equipped with a presser roller 40 is provided parallel to the platen 32, and is pressed against the platen 32 by a spring acting on a lever 44, and presses the printing paper 46 against the platen 32 and prints by the platen 32. It is designed to assist in feeding the paper 46. That’s all, platen 3
2. A paper feeding device is composed of the paper feeding motor 34, gears 36, 38, bail 42, and the like.

Two guide rods 50, 52 are arranged parallel to the platen 32, and a carriage 54 is slidably supported on these guide rods 50, 52. A type selection motor 56, which is a pulse motor, is mounted on the carriage 54, and a petal-shaped type wheel 58 is attached to the output shaft of this type selection motor 56. The type wheel 58 includes both Hebrew and Dutch type. A hammer 60 is provided behind one of these type characters located on the print line of the platen 32, and when a current is supplied to the solenoid, the type wheel 58
collides with the back surface of the printer, causing the printed characters provided on the front surface of the printer to collide with the printing paper 46 supported by the platen 32. As described above, the print head 62 is composed of the type selection motor 56, the type wheel 58, the hammer 60, and the like.

Also on the carriage 54 is a ribbon cassette 6.
4 is convertably attached to the printing ribbon 66 of the ribbon cassette 64 to the type wheel 58.
and the platen 32, and is configured to feed the print ribbon 66 by a predetermined amount in one direction in conjunction with the above-described printing operation by a ribbon feed motor (not shown).

Both ends of a drive wire 68 are connected to the carriage 54, and the drive wire 68 is wound around four guide rollers 70, and the middle portion is wound around a drive pulley 72.
This drive pulley 72 is fixed to the output shaft of a carriage drive motor 74, which is a step motor, and when the carriage drive motor 74 is rotated in either the forward or reverse direction, the carriage 54 moves along the printing line of the platen 32. It can be moved in either forward or reverse direction. The carriage drive device is constructed as described above.

The typewriter of this embodiment having the above structure is controlled by a control circuit shown in FIG. The aforementioned keyboard 10 is connected to a CPU (central processing unit) 80, and this CPU 80 has a
ROM (read only memory) 82 and RAM
(Random access memory) 84 is connected. A program as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 6 is stored in the ROM 82. On the other hand, the RAM 84 is provided with a memory 86 capable of storing a certain amount of code signals, and further includes a mode flag register 88 for setting a non-print mode flag, and a print direction indicating the moving direction of the carriage 54, that is, the printing direction. Various registers are provided, such as a printing direction flag register 90 for storing flags and a printing portion end position register 92 for storing the number of digits at the end of the already printed portion of one print line.

Driver circuits 94 and 96 are further connected to the CPU 80, and the driver circuit 94 is connected to the CPU 80.
0, the type selection motor 56;
Hammer solenoid 9 that operates the hammer 60
8 and a ribbon feed motor 100 for feeding the printing ribbon 66. on the other hand,
The driver circuit 96 is connected to the carriage drive motor 7.
4 and the paper feed motor 34.

Next, after Hebrew is printed from the right margin side as shown as part A in Figure 5, Dutch words shown as part B are printed from the left margin side, and then Hebrew in part C is printed from the right margin side. Taking the case of printing as an example, the operation of the typewriter of this embodiment will be explained according to the flowchart of FIG.

When the typewriter is powered on, initial settings are performed in step S1. That is, the keyboard switch 22 is placed in the second or third state, Hebrew is selected, and
Assuming that the reverse printing direction is selected by the printing direction selection switch 24, the content of the printing direction flag register 90 is set to [1], the reverse printing direction is set, and the carriage 54 is temporarily returned to its original position on the light margin side. , and then moved to the right margin. Also, the memory 86 is cleared and various registers such as the mode flag register 88 and the printing section end position register 92 are reset. After step S1 is executed, step S2 is repeatedly executed and the typewriter enters a state of waiting for key input. In this state, if the Hebrew characters to be printed in section A of Fig. 5 are keyed in, steps S3 to S5 are executed, but the results of these determinations are NO. Program execution moves to step S10. step
In S10, it is determined whether the typewriter is in the non-print mode, that is, whether the non-print mode flag is set in the mode flag register 88, but since it is not set at this stage, it is not possible to determine whether the typewriter is in the non-print mode. The result is NO
Then, step S13 is executed. So,
After the character corresponding to the keyed-in code signal is printed, the carriage 54 is moved one step to the left, that is, in the opposite direction by one character. After that, the above operation is repeated every time a code signal of Hebrew characters is inputted by the key, and printing of part A is performed in the reverse direction.

Then, when printing of part A is completed, the code key 20 and the N character/symbol key 12 are operated simultaneously. Then, the judgment result of step S3 is YES.
Therefore, the non-print mode flag is set in step S14. That is, the content of the mode flag register 88 is set to [1].

Thereafter, the keyboard switch 22 is switched to the first state, and the Dutch characters to be printed in section B of FIG. 5 are entered using the keys.
In this case, the determination result in S3 to S5 becomes NO, and step S10 is executed. The result of the determination in step S10 is YES because the non-print mode was previously set in step S14, and the code signal corresponding to the Dutch character entered by the key is stored in the memory 86, and then Step S12 is executed to move the carriage 54 one step to the left, ie, in the opposite direction. Note that no printing is performed in this case.
Thereafter, the above operation is repeated every time a code signal corresponding to a Dutch character is input by key, and the input code signal is stored in the memory 86, and the carriage 54 moves to the left one step at a time. be moved.

When the key input of the Dutch language to be printed on section B is completed, the code key 20 and the P character/symbol key 12 are operated simultaneously. Therefore, the determination result in step S4 is YES,
Step S15 is executed, and since the result of this determination is YES, it is determined in step S17 whether or not the printing direction is the forward direction. The current direction is in the opposite direction, so the judgment result is NO.
Step S20 is executed, and the contents of the memory 86 are read out in the order of input and printed in the forward direction. In addition,
Carriage 54 at the start of printing in the forward direction
The position is stored in the print section end position register 92. Then, when the printing in the forward direction in step S20 is completed, step S21 is executed, and the printing is performed at the printing section end position stored in the printing section end position register 92 as described above, that is, at section B in FIG. The carriage 54 is moved to the left end position of the Dutch printing section, and the printing section end position register 92 is reset. Thereafter, the non-print mode is reset in step S22, and the program execution returns to step S2.

Subsequently, the keyboard switch 22 is switched to the second or third state, and the code signals of the Hebrew characters to be printed in section C of FIG. 5 are keyed in, but these code signals are As in the case of section A described above, in step S13, printing is performed sequentially in the reverse direction.

As is clear from the above explanation, a code signal corresponding to a Hebrew character is keyed in while the first mode, which is the normal print mode, is selected, and the Hebrew character is printed in the opposite direction from the light margin. If it becomes necessary to print Dutch words that should be written in the forward direction, the second mode, which is a non-print mode, is selected by simultaneously operating the code key 20 and the N character/symbol key 12. , the code signal corresponding to the Dutch character is 1
The print head 62 is not activated each time a key is input, and the carriage 54 is moved one step in the opposite direction to ensure space for Dutch to be printed, and when the Dutch key input is completed. , the second mode is switched to the first mode by simultaneous operation of the code key 20 and the P character/symbol key 12, the code signal stored in the memory 86 is read out, and Dutch is changed in the forward direction. After printing, the printing head 62 is moved to the left end position of the printing section, and thereafter, printing is performed in the opposite direction every time a Hebrew character is inputted again.

The operation of the typewriter of this embodiment has been explained above mainly in the case where Dutch is required to be printed while Hebrew is being printed.
Conversely, if it becomes necessary to print Hebrew while Dutch is being printed, follow steps S6, S7, S8, and S9 in almost the same way as in the case above.
Then, steps S18, S19, etc. are executed, and the Hebrew word printed in the reverse direction is printed in the Dutch word printed in the forward direction.

In the embodiment detailed above, the print head 62 is equipped with a petal-shaped type wheel 58, but it is of course possible to use a ball-type print head in which type is arranged on the circumference of a sphere. It is also equipped with a wire dot type print head that prints by selectively driving multiple printing wires, and a plurality of heating elements, and prints by selectively generating heat from these heating elements. It is also possible to employ a printing head that performs dot matrix printing, such as a thermal head.

Further, in the above embodiment, the platen 32 serves both as a means for supporting the printing paper and as a means for feeding the printing paper, but it is also possible to separately provide a paper feeding device so that the platen 32 only supports the printing paper.

Further, the mode selection means for selecting the first mode and the second mode of the control device also selects the mode by simultaneously operating either the code key or the character/symbol key as in the above embodiment. It is also possible to select the mode not only by a switch, but also by an ordinary changeover switch.

It goes without saying that the present invention can be practiced with various modifications and improvements made to the specific configuration of the control device and the programs stored therein based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the arrangement of keys on a keyboard of a typewriter according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view showing only the printing mechanism of the typewriter. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the control circuit of the typewriter. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a situation in which Hebrew and Dutch are mixed and printed by the typewriter. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a program stored in the ROM of the control circuit shown in FIG. 10: Keyboard, 12: Character/symbol keys, 1
6: Line feed key, function key, 18: Shift key, function key, 20: Code key, function key, 22: Keyboard switch, 24: Print direction selection switch, 32: Platen, paper feed device, 34: Paper feed motor , paper feed device, 54: carriage, 56: type selection motor, 58: type wheel, 60: hammer, 6
2: Print head, 68: Drive wire, 72: Drive pulley, 74: Carriage drive motor, 80:
CPU (central processing unit), control unit, 82: ROM
(Read-on memory), control device, 84: RAM
(Random Access Memory), Control Device, 86: Memory.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A large number of character/symbol keys and function keys are arranged, and the characters/symbol keys corresponding to each key are arranged.
a keyboard that outputs symbol signals and function signals; a paper feeding device that feeds print paper; a carriage that reciprocates along the print line on the print paper; a print head that prints characters, symbols, etc., and a control device that is connected to the keyboard and drives and controls the paper feed device, carriage, and print head in response to character/symbol signals and function signals from the keyboard; In a typewriter that prints based on the operation of keys on a keyboard, a mode selection means for selecting a first mode and a second mode is connected to the control device, and a mode selection means for selecting a first mode and a second mode is connected to the control device. a first mode control means for moving the carriage in the printing direction by one character after printing one character in response to the character/symbol signal in a state where the first mode is selected; A second mode in which the code signals corresponding to the character/symbol signals are sequentially stored in the memory in response to the character/symbol signals while the second mode is selected, and the carriage alone is moved one character at a time in the printing direction. When the mode control means and the mode selection means are switched from the second mode to the first mode, the print direction is sequentially changed from a carriage position one character before the current carriage position according to the order stored in the memory. performs a printing operation corresponding to the code signal in the opposite direction to the above, returns the carriage to the current carriage position after completing the printing operation of all code signals, and then causes the first mode control means to start control. A typewriter characterized by being provided with mode switching control means.