JPH0193386A - Printer with function for collective correction of overlappingly printed part - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable collective correction of an overlappingly printed part, by correcting a printed part on the basis of printing data stored in a printing data storage means. CONSTITUTION:This printer comprises an overlap printing pattern synthesizing means which reads a plurality of pieces of printing data printed in an overlapping form at the same position of a printing paper from a printing data storage means, reads printing patterns corresponding to the pieces of printing data from a printing pattern storage means, and synthesizes a single overlap printing pattern from the printing patterns thus read, and an overlap correction instructing means for instructing a correcting means to perform correction according to the synthesized overlap printing pattern. With this construction, it is possible to collectively correct an overlappingly printed part. Therefore, correction time is shortened.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to a printing device capable of erasing a previously printed portion printed on printing paper based on print data stored in a print data storage means. It is something.

<Prior Art> The input means of such a printing device is capable of inputting print data and erasing commands, and the above-mentioned print data storage means stores the print data inputted from the input means at the print head position. It is designed to be temporarily stored in association with the . In addition, in general, in devices that print in dot patterns, the print pattern storage means stores in advance individual print patterns corresponding to the print data that can be input, and when certain print data is input, it corresponds to the print data. The print processing means prints on the print paper using the print pattern.

Then, in a device that is equipped with an erasure processing means for erasing printed data from the printing paper using the above-mentioned print data storage means, auto-correction is performed in the already printed area corresponding to the storage area of the print data storage means. It is possible.

That is, with the print head positioned on the printed area to be erased, based on an erase command from the input means, the erasure processing means reads out the print data of the printed area facing the print head from the print data storage means, Based on the print data, the already printed portion is erased.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> By the way, due to an input error or the like, for example, two different characters (first character and second character) may be printed in duplicate at the same position on the printing paper. be. Conventionally, in order to erase such duplicate printed areas from the printing paper, it was necessary to erase each of the first and second characters that were printed overlappingly, so two erasing processes were required. Therefore, there was a problem in that it took a long time to erase the overlapped printed area.

<Means for Solving the Problems> As shown in FIG. 1, the printing device according to the present invention includes the input means, print data storage means, print pattern storage means, print processing means, and erasure processing means as described above. The printing device is equipped with the following features: (1) Reads a plurality of pieces of print data printed in duplicate at the same position on the printing paper from the print data storage means, and corresponds to the print data. (1) duplicate print pattern synthesis means that reads the print patterns from the print pattern storage means and synthesizes them as one duplicate print pattern; and (2) duplicate erase command means that instructs the erase processing means to erase the synthesized duplicate print patterns. The point is that it is composed of

<Functions and Effects> In such a printing device, even if multiple pieces of print data are printed overlappingly at the same position on the printing paper, the print patterns of each of the overlapped print areas are combined when erasing. Based on the combined single overlapping print pattern, the overlapping print portions can be erased all at once. Therefore, even if there are duplicates, erasing is performed quickly, and the erasing time is considerably shortened compared to the conventional method.

<Embodiment> FIG. 2 shows an electronic typewriter which is an embodiment of the present invention. This typewriter is equipped with a keyboard 2 as input means and a printer 4 as print processing means. In this example, the printer 4 is of a thermal transfer type, and a printing gutter 6 uses heat to transfer ink from a printing ribbon 10 to a printing paper 12 as a carriage 8 moves, thereby printing characters and the like.

A collection blade 13 is provided adjacent to the printing gutter 6. When erasing, with the gutter 6 pressed against the object to be erased via the print ribbon 10, heat generation processing is performed in the same pattern as the object to be erased, and the collection blade 13 moves from the print head 6 to the print line. The printing ribbon 10 is attached to the printing paper 1 at a predetermined distance along the printing paper 1.
2, and collection is performed in this state. That is, in this example, the ink of the printing ribbon 10 becomes viscous at a temperature between the printing temperature and room temperature, and the ink that reaches the printing temperature due to the heat generated by the printing gutter 6 is collected by the printing gutter 6. While running between the printing ribbon 13 and the printing ribbon 13, the printing ribbon cools down to an intermediate temperature, becomes viscous, and the ink to be erased adheres to the printing ribbon 10 and is peeled off.

Keyboard 2 has alphabet keys 14°, space key 16. Including print data input keys such as numeric keys 18 for inputting print data, carriage return key 24 for moving the carriage 8 to the left margin. Many function keys are provided, such as a correction key 26 for performing autocorrection.

As shown in FIG. 3, the keyboard 2 is connected to the CPU 32 via a keyboard interface 3o, and the printer 4 is connected to the CPU 32 via a printer driver 34 and a printer interface 36. A ROM 38 and a RAM 40 are connected to the CPU 32.

The ROM 38 includes a program memory 42 which stores a program for controlling the operation of the entire typewriter, a dot pattern memory 44 in which dot matrix patterns such as inputtable characters are individually recorded in advance, and other necessary memories. It is provided. Tondo pattern memory 44
functions as a printing pattern storage means,
Since it is conventionally called a character generator, it will be referred to as such below.

On the other hand, the RAM 40 includes a correction buffer 46 that temporarily stores the code data of the input key, a dot pattern synthesis memory 48 that synthesizes dot patterns of a plurality of print data to be erased in order to erase duplicate print areas,
Head counter 5 indicating the position of the print head 6 on the print line
0, a start position register 52 that stores the start position of the collection buffer 46 in association with the head position,
Various registers and counters are provided.

The collection buffer 46 is an input buffer that functions as a print data storage means, and has a capacity that can store code data corresponding to a limited fixed number of characters (for example, about 20 characters), and corresponds key input data to the head position. In this embodiment, the correction buffer 46 is also used as a buffer for executing autocorrection. That is why it is called a collection buffer.

That is, if the print data to be erased is within the storage area of the collection buffer 46 (in other words, if the print data to be erased is in the already printed area corresponding to the storage area of the collection buffer 46), the print head 6 is erased. By pressing the collection key 26 while facing the object, the print data corresponding to the head position is transferred to the CPU 3.
2 from the collection buffer 46,
The above-described erasure operation is performed using the same pattern as the erasure target, and autocorrection is achieved.

In this embodiment, an erasing mechanism includes the collection blade 13 and the print ribbon 10 that becomes viscous at intermediate temperatures, and a CPU 32 that reads print data to be erased from the collection buffer 46 based on the operation of the correction key 26 and erases the data. constitutes the erasure processing means.

Next, the concept of the contents of the collection buffer 46 will be explained with reference to FIG. 4 and the like. If all the characters are of the same size, the character data input and printed in the format shown in the upper row of FIG. stored within. In addition to the printed character data, pinch information is added as data representing attributes related to the character data in association with the character data. Note that "-" in the figure means "Null" and is a code indicating that nothing has been written.

The pinch information represents the interval (distance) between a certain character and the next character, and is determined to be "1" for one printing pitch and '2J' for two printing pitches. When a character is printed overlapping another character (for example, rHJ and "I" in the figure), its pitch information becomes '-OJ. By adding pitch information, the position in the buffer can be associated with the head position, and the existence of a space can be known without putting the space code itself in the buffer, so more character data can be stored in the buffer. can be done. For example, if there is a space after rCJ in the diagram, the pitch information is set to "2", so
Spaces are stored in the form of pitch information. The space stored in place of pitch information in this way will also be referred to as a "compressed space" hereinafter.

As shown in Figure 5, when the sizes of characters are different, in addition to pitch information, character width information is added in association with the character data as data representing attributes related to the character data. . This character width information is determined such that the normal width is ``rl'', the half width is ``0.5 J'', the double width is ``2J'', and the triple width is ``3'', and this character width information is also incorporated. Pitch information will be determined.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the head position of the buffer is managed by the head position register 52 regardless of whether the characters are all the same size or different.

A state in which this buffer has reached its storage capacity limit (rF
ul IJ) shifts the data in the buffer to the left and stores the new data at the target position. During the shift, the head position register adds the pitch information to the position of the print head 6 (that is, the contents of the head counter 50).
This corresponds to the beginning position of the buffer.

The program stored in the program memory 42 of the ROM 38 will be described below with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 6, focusing on the parts related to the present invention. In the following description, reference numerals for members or elements will be used only when necessary.

In FIG. 6, when the power is turned on, initial processing is performed in step S1 (hereinafter referred to as S1; the same applies to other steps), and the collection buffer 46 is cleared in S2. In detail, the collection buffer clearing process is as shown in FIG.
This routine writes "ll" and further inputs the current head position to the head position register 52 in Sb2.

Then, at 83 in FIG. 6, the key input waiting state is entered, and depending on the type of key operated, for example, the alpha vent key 1 is pressed.
If it is a print data input key such as 4, the printing process of S5 is
If the correction key 26 is the correction key 26, the correction process in S7 is executed, if the carriage return key 24 is the key, the carriage return process in S9 is executed, and if it is any other key, the other processes of SIO are executed, and the process returns to S3.

The carriage return process, as shown in the routine in Figure 8, moves the print head to the left margin in Scl, and feeds a predetermined amount of line in Sc2, in other words, uses a predetermined paper feed motor to move the print paper perpendicular to the print line. This process consists of sending the data in the direction shown in FIG.

Further, FIG. 9 shows a detailed routine for the printing process in S5. First, it is determined whether the print data can be printed using Sal. If the print head is on the light margin, an alarm process of Sc9 is performed, but if printing is possible, S
Move to c2. In Sc2, it is determined whether the indicated position in the collection buffer corresponding to the print head position is an additional position. If this judgment is No, it means that in the print area corresponding to the storage area of the collection buffer, the print head is placed opposite to the already printed data on the print paper, and another data is printed overlappingly. means.

In addition, if the above judgment is YES, it means that the input is in a regular format that does not overlap, and in that case, the Sc
Move to 3.

In Sc3, the input data is a space (“SP” in the figure)
”), and if it is a space, it is 5a.
IO, it is determined whether it is possible to add 1 to the pitch information of the last data in the collection buffer, and the answer is YES.
If it is determined, by executing 5ail which adds 1, the space data is stored as the "compressed space" in the form of an increase in pitch information. If the limit number of compressed spaces that can be replaced with pinch information is exceeded, the judgment of 5alO is No, and the space will be stored as a single space code in the same way as a character.

The input print data is stored in the correction buffer, but the correction buffer is rF in Sc4.
It is determined whether it is UllJ or not, and "If it is Full IJ, the data in the collection buffer is shifted to the left along with attributes such as pitch information in Sc5. The data and attributes at the beginning of the buffer will overflow from the buffer and be erased. However, the pitch information at the head of the buffer is added to the contents of the head position register to maintain the correspondence between the head position and the head of the buffer.On the other hand, if the correction buffer is not rFullJ, Sa4 becomes No.
Skip Sa5.

In any case, the process moves to Sa6, and print data, pinch information, and necessary character width information are written to the end of the buffer that is free as a result of the left shift or is originally free.

Further, the process moves to Sa7, where printing is performed according to the print data and attributes, and the head counter increases in accordance with the amount of movement of the print head.

On the other hand, if Sa2 determines that it is not the buffer addition position, this means that printing will be performed in the same position as the data that has already been printed, and the buffer position corresponding to that head position has already been printed. Contains data. At step 5a13, existing data corresponding to the current head position is read out before the currently input data is stored in the correction buffer.

Then, in 5a14, it is determined whether the existing data is a compressed space, and if YES, the process moves to 5a15. In 5a15, it is determined whether the data input later is a space, and if so, the head is simply moved in Sa7 even if it overlaps with existing data, but if not, Sa 1.6 is executed. In other words, a space in which existing data is compressed means that the data itself is not stored in a buffer but in the form of pitch information, but when it comes to printing, new data is printed on the space (margin). The space will disappear. Therefore, in 5a16, the pitch information of the corresponding data in the buffer is decreased by 1,
'2J's is "1".

Furthermore, it moves to 5a17 and the collection buffer becomes rFu.
It is determined whether it is llJ or not. If YES, 5a
18, the data on the left side of the current head position is
Left-shifted along with its attributes. The data corresponding to the 2nd position, that is, the data that had the space facing the head position as pitch information, is shifted to the left, and the same is true for the similar steps in FIG. During this left shift, the pitch information at the head of the buffer is added to the head position register. If the determination in 5a17 is No, the process moves to 5a19, and the data on the right side of the current head position is shifted to the right together with its attributes. The data corresponding to the head position remains unchanged, and the data to the right is shifted to the right. The same applies to similar steps in FIG. Then, data and attributes are written in the space vacated by executing 5a18 or 5a19 in 5a20, and then the process moves to Sa7.

On the other hand, if the input is in the form of duplicate printing and the existing data corresponding to the head position is normal character data, the determination in 5a14 is No.

Here, if the data entered later is a space, 5
The process moves to Sa7 in the same way as the judgment at a15. On the other hand, if the input data is character data, the process moves to 5a25 via 5a24, and the collection buffer is set to rFu 1.
1J or not is determined.

"If it is not Fu 11J, 5a32 is executed to shift the data and attributes on the right side of the current head position to the right, and in 5a33, the data and attributes (excluding pitch information) are written in the empty space. Then, the process moves to 5a34. Then, there is a step of writing the pitch information attached to the data on the left side of the newly written data as the pitch information of the newly written data, and erasing (clearing to 0) the pinch information of the data on the left side. executed.

Since the earlier data on the left side and the later data, newly written data, are printed overlappingly at the same position, the pitch information is set to "0".

Also, at 5a25, the collection buffer is set to "FullJ
If it is determined that the head position does not correspond to the beginning of the buffer in 3a26, then 5a
30, the data to the left of the current head position is shifted to the left along with the attributes, and the pitch information at the head of the buffer is added to the head position register, and then the data at 5a33 described above is shifted to the left along with the attributes.
, 5a34 are executed.

If it is determined in step 5a26 that the head position corresponds to the head of the buffer, the input print data is overwritten at the head of the buffer, and as a result, the previous data at the head of the buffer is erased.

The data at the beginning of the buffer is replaced with new data. However, the previous pitch information of the first data remains unchanged.

In any case, 5a27 or 5a34, or 5
a20. If Si7 is executed after Si6 etc. and the input print data is at the buffer addition position, it is in the normal form.
If it is not an additional position, each piece of data is printed in an overlapping form at the same position as the previous data. Thereafter, the routine exits from this printing process and returns to 83 in FIG. Similarly below,
33. By going through a loop passing through S4 and S5, print data is sequentially written into the collection buffer and printing is performed.

Next, FIG. 10 shows the collection processing routine of S7. During auto-correction, the correction key is usually pressed with the print head facing the object to be erased on the print paper.
, it is determined whether collection by that key operation is possible. If the head position is outside the storage area of the correction buffer, alarm processing is executed in Si2, but if it is within the storage area, the process moves to Si2 and the character data is stored in the corresponding part of the collection buffer corresponding to the current head position H. It is determined whether it exists.

If YES, the process moves to step 5d13, where the CPU reads out the dot pattern to be erased from the character generator 44 and develops the pattern data in the dot pattern synthesis memory 48 of the RAM. Then, in step 5d14, it is determined whether there are any further printed characters at the same position facing the print heads, in other words, whether there are any duplicated characters. This is because the CPU determines whether or not "0" is added as pitch information to the print data in the corresponding part of the correction buffer corresponding to the head position. If YES, in 5d15, the dot pattern of the print data next to the print data to which 'OJ is attached is read out from the character generator in the same way as in 5d13, and is superimposed on the previous dot pattern in the dot pattern synthesis memory. .

For example, as conceptually shown in FIG. 11, rlJ and rH
If J is printed overlappingly, the rlJ dot pattern and the rHJ dot pattern are combined as shown in the lower part of the figure to form one dot pattern for collection. This can be said to mean that a composite pattern is generated in the form of a so-called logical sum (OR) of the portions where dots exist, with both dot patterns superimposed. After 5d15, the process moves to 5d14 again, and the dot pattern of characters printed in the same position is as follows.
All are developed in the dot pattern synthesis memory and made into one overlapping print pattern as a whole.

When the compositing process is completed, the process moves to 5d18 based on a NO determination at 5d14, and collection is executed according to the composite dot pattern.

For example, for the overlapping printing area of "H" and rIJ as shown in FIG. While traveling between the print head and the collection blade, the temperature drops to an intermediate temperature and becomes viscous, stripping the ink forming the overlapping print onto the print ribbon.

In this way, the print patterns of the duplicate print areas are combined and collection is performed according to the combined pattern, so
Duplicate printed areas can be erased all at once. Therefore, compared to the case where the individual characters of the overlapping print area are collected one by one, the time is shortened, the amount of printing ribbon used can be saved, and the collection operation becomes easier for the operator. In addition, in conjunction with this collection, the corresponding duplicate print data in the collection buffer is deleted.

Since the portion corrected in step 5d18 has the same form as a space on the printing paper, it is treated as a new space within the correction sketch. First, in 5d19, it is determined whether the pitch information of the print data that has been corrected can be added to the pitch information of the data one level above the location corresponding to the current head position in the correction buffer. . If addition is possible, the process moves to 5d20 and 1 is added to the upper pitch information.

In other words, it is stored as "compressed space." On the other hand, if the pitch information on the upper side has reached the specified value (if it cannot be added), the process moves to 5d21, and a space code is written at the beginning of the character data string corresponding to the corrected duplicate print area. , pinch information corresponding to the pinch information of the last character of the character data string is written at the beginning of the character data string. Note that if the corrected character is not a duplicate print portion but a single character, the above writing will be performed at the position in the buffer where the character data was written.

After 5d20 or 5d21, the process moves to 5d22, where it is determined whether there is an unnecessary area in the collection buffer. If a collection of duplicate print areas is performed,
Or, if 5d20 compresses 6 spaces, there is a so-called blank buffer area where no code is written, so in that case, 5d23
As a result, the lower data is shifted, and the unnecessary buffer area disappears.

Then, the process moves to Si5, and it is determined whether or not there is character data below the buffer position corresponding to the current head position. If this judgment is YES, it means that the space resulting from the collection is in the string, and in this case, the collection processing routine is exited and the 6th
Return to 83 in the figure. On the other hand, if the judgment of Si5 is No, it means that the space resulting from the collection is located at the end of the character string, and in this case, it is normal that further printing is performed in that part. Therefore, the buffer is not treated as space, and 5d20 or 5
The space information given in d21 is deleted. That is, if the space at the erase position is captured as compressed data, the pinch information corresponding to the compressed data is decremented by 1 through Si6 and Si7, and if it is written as code data instead of compressed data, Si
In step 2, the code data and attributes of the space are erased, and the collection process is completed.

Note that if Si2 determines that there is no character data in the buffer area corresponding to the current head position, Si3
The process moves to 5d12, where it is determined whether the data on the upper digit is a space, that is, whether there is character data on the upper digit. It is moved one digit higher, and then the process moves to steps 5d13 and subsequent steps as described above. In other words, if there is a character at the current head position, that character is collected (Si2-3d13...), and if not, the next higher character is collected (Si2→Si3→5d
12→5d13...).

Further, if there is no character at the current head position, and the higher-order digit is also a space instead of a character, the process moves to Si4 and the print head is moved to the higher-order position by one digit, resulting in a determination of Si5. If this judgment is NOl (that is, the space is located at the end of the string), for example, the operator inserts a space in the middle of printing, but then realizes that the space is unnecessary and presses the correction key. In such a case, the data of the space at the position after the head movement will be changed from Si6 to Si7 or S.
It is deleted from the collection buffer via i2. On the other hand, if the space is not the last space in the string but exists between characters, Si5's judgment is Y.
ES, the print head only moves at Si4, the space data is not erased, and the collection processing routine ends.

As is clear from the above explanation, in this embodiment, the RAM
Dofudo pattern synthesis memory 4 days and 5d1 in Fig. 10
A storage area of the program memory that stores steps such as 3, 5d14 and 5d15, and a CP that executes them.
U functions as duplicate print pattern synthesis means, and the storage area of the program memory storing step 5d18 in FIG. 10 and the CPU that executes this step function as duplicate deletion command means.

Note that the flowchart of the program described above is just one example, and the program configuration can be changed as appropriate depending on the model of the printing device.

Regarding the structure of the correction buffer, it does not use pinch information to correlate the buffer position and the head position, but rather stores an absolute position, or has a storage capacity for one line and stores a relative position. It can be changed as appropriate, such as a so-called pointer management method for storing the information.

It goes without saying that the present invention can be implemented with various other modifications based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a diagram conceptually showing the present invention, Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the external appearance of an electronic typewriter which is an embodiment of the invention, Fig. 3 is a professional socket diagram showing its control circuit, and Fig. 4. and FIG. 5 are diagrams showing the contents of the collection buffer in correspondence with printing examples of character data, FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an outline of the program stored in the program memory, and FIG. 7 is a collection in FIG. 6. 8 shows the carriage return process, FIG. 9 shows the printing process, and FIG. 10 shows the collection process.
The figure is a diagram showing an example of a composite pattern. 2: Keyboard 4 Print head: Print head 12: Print paper 26: Collection key 44: Dot pattern memory (character generator) 46: Collection buffer 48: Dorado pattern synthesis memory

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] An input means capable of inputting print data and an erasure command; a print data storage means for temporarily storing print data input from the input means in association with a print head position; A print pattern storage means for storing in advance individual print patterns corresponding to print data that can be input, a print processing means for printing on print paper with a print pattern corresponding to the input print data, and a print data storage means. In the printed area corresponding to the storage area, based on an erase command from the input means, the printed data of the printed part facing the print head is read from the printed data storage means, and the printed part is erased based on the printed data. The printing device is equipped with erasing processing means for reading out a plurality of print data printed in an overlapping form at the same position on the printing paper from the print data storage means, and corresponding to the print data. redundant print pattern synthesis means for reading out the print patterns from the print pattern storage means and combining them as one duplicate print pattern; and redundant erase command means for instructing the erasure processing means to erase the synthesized duplicate print patterns. What is claimed is: 1. A printing device having a function of collectively erasing duplicate printed portions.