JPH03274091A - Data storage device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To offer a data storage device in which line width data necessary for keeping the high quality of printing with small storage capacity is stored by compressing the line width data necessary for processing a line width and storing it into a memory. CONSTITUTION:A CPU 12 is provided with a data readout part 32, a line width data restoration processing part 34 being a data restoring means for restoring the compressed line width data, a line width processing part 35 for correcting the line width, and an outline conversion part 36 for converting outline data into dot data. Character data consisting of code data inputted from an input device 28 is stored in a text memory 18. The compressed width data is stored in a hint information memory 24 and the dot data obtained by the conversion part 36 is stored in a dot data memory 22. Then, the outline data of the character such as alphabet or KANJI(Chinese character), etc., and a mark, etc., is stored in a character ROM 14.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a data storage device that efficiently stores constituent lines of characters such as letters and symbols as data.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, as a device for generating characters such as letters and symbols, there is an outline method that uses outline data (hereinafter referred to as outline data) of characters and symbols. This method retrieves outline data from the storage unit according to an index code signal.
It reads line width data that improves the printing quality of characters, scales it to an arbitrary point size, processes the line width, and then converts it to dot data.The converted data is output from an output device such as a laser printer. Ta.

In this method, line width data was stored as follows.

Line width data for characters, symbols, etc., for example, r I (for the character J, as shown in Figure 9 (a), the line width direction (
It was defined by a flag indicating the distinction between the X direction and the Y direction, a bare coordinate value indicating the line width, or a single coordinate value and line width as shown in FIG. 9(b).

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, for fonts that require a large amount of line width information, such as Japanese outline fonts, storing line width data in a storage device using the above method requires a very large storage capacity. The problem was that it was necessary.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a data storage device that stores information necessary to maintain high quality printing with a small storage capacity.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve this object, the data storage device of the present invention has the following features:
The constituent lines constituting a character are defined by the position and width of each constituent line, and the data is stored. When storing each constituent line of the character, among the constituent lines,
a data storage means for grouping constituent lines having the same position data and storing each constituent line by common position data and width data of each constituent line for each constituent line having the same position data; and data restoration means for restoring the stored data of the configuration line.

[Operation] According to the present invention having the above configuration, when the data storage means stores each constituent line of a character, among the constituent lines,
Component lines with the same position data are grouped together, and each component line with the same position data is stored using common position data and width data of each component line. When using compressed and stored composition line data,
The data restoration means restores the compressed and stored configuration line data.

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

First, the configuration of a laser printer equipped with the data storage device of this embodiment will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram mainly showing a portion related to data conversion of a control circuit of a laser printer. The microcomputer section 10 which controls the main body of this control circuit is a C
PU12, character ROM14, program ROM1
6, a text memory 18, a working memory 20, a dot data memory 22, and a hint information memory 24 as data storage means. These CPU2 etc. are bus 2
6, and an input device 28 and a printing section 30 are also connected to the bus 26. The input device 28 is for inputting necessary data into the microcomputer section 10, and the printing section 30 is a section for printing with a laser printer device based on commands from the microcomputer section 10.

Note that the resolution of this laser printer is 300 dots/inch.

As conceptually shown in FIG. 2, the CPU 2 includes a data reading section 32, a line width data restoration processing section 34 that is a data restoration means for restoring compressed line width data, and a line width data restoration processing section 34 that is a data restoration means for restoring compressed line width data. A processing section 35 and an outline conversion section 36 for converting outline data into dot data are provided. The text memory 18 is for storing character data extracted from code data manually input from the human-powered device 28, and the working memory 20 is for temporarily storing data necessary for program execution. Further, the hint information memory 24 stores compressed line width data, and the dot data memory 22 stores dot data obtained by the outline conversion section 36. Further, the character ROM 14 stores outline data of characters such as alphabets and kanji, symbols, and the like.

Next, the operation of the data conversion apparatus of this embodiment will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 to 8.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the processing performed by the CPUI2.

First, in step SL (hereinafter abbreviated as SL; the same applies to other steps), outline data of characters, symbols, etc. are read out from the character ROM 14 of the outline font storage section.

In S2, line width data necessary to improve the printing quality of characters, symbols, etc. is read from the hint information memory 24. The line width data is compressed and stored in the hint information memory 24 in order to reduce data capacity. A method of storing line width data will be explained with reference to the kanji character "娃" shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5. The kanji character "娃" is composed of many constituent lines 40. The line width data is defined by the width direction of the constituent line, the position data of one side of the constituent line, and the width of the constituent line.

Here, the position data is the X coordinate value when the width direction is the X direction,
When the width is in the Y direction, it is expressed as a Y coordinate value. For example, in the line width data of the constituent lines in the diagonally shaded portion of FIG. 4, the width direction is y, the position data is yl, and the width is tl. The method of storing line width data according to the present invention is to store line width data in a manner that stores all width data of constituent lines with the same position data at once, instead of storing direction, position data, and width for each constituent line. Define. For example, in FIG. 4, among the line width data in the Y direction,
There are two sets of constituent lines whose widths are tl and 15 based on the position data yt, so as shown in Figure 5(a), the first byte is a flag indicating the width direction, and the second byte is the same position. Number of constituent lines relative to data.

The 3rd byte defines position data of the constituent line as a reference, and the 4th and 5th bytes define the line width of the constituent line.

Similarly, among the constituent lines, the reference position data yz, y3
Figure 5 (b), (c), (d) for °y4
Define it like this.

In S3, a process is performed to restore the line width data that has been compressed and stored. That is, the data structure shown in FIG. 5 is converted into a data structure that defines the direction, position data, and width for each component line. For example, since FIG. 5(a) shows the line width data of two sets of constituent lines, this can be restored and shown in FIG. 6(a).
al) and (a2), each component line is converted into a data structure having direction, position data, and width.

In S4, it is determined whether or not line width processing is to be performed, and if it is to be performed, step S5. If not processed, the process moves to S6. Here, the point size is used as the criterion for processing.

In S5, line width processing is performed. That is, when the number of pixels 42 in the width direction included in the two contour lines 44 indicated in the width direction of the component line specified by the hint information is not the number corresponding to the line width data (the seventh figure(
In a)), at least one of the two contour lines 44 is set to pixel 4.
The outline 44 is moved in the direction of the arrow in the direction and amount such that the number 2 corresponds to the line width data (FIG. 7(b)).
.

In S6, the outline data is converted to dot data. Conversion to dot data is performed using a pixel screen 52 shown in FIG.

Although the pixel screen is a computational device for converting outline data into dot data, it will be illustrated here as an actual entity for ease of understanding. In addition, a pixel here is the minimum printing unit when printing is performed by a laser, and the pixel screen 52
The pixels are defined by a plurality of pixel section lines p that are orthogonal to each other in the - plane, parallel to the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction, and provided at equal intervals. In this embodiment, the pixels are square, and printing is performed for each pixel to create dot data indicating whether or not to print. Also, passing through the center point of each pixel (hereinafter referred to as the pixel center point),
X-direction defining line X and Y-direction defining line Y, each parallel to the axial direction
The position of each pixel is expressed by the coordinates of the center of the pixel. Note that the pixels can also be rectangular or other shapes.

Although the pixel screen 52 is assumed to correspond to the printing surface of printing paper, one character is shown in FIG. 8 for ease of understanding. Therefore, in the entire pixel screen 52, the X direction defining line X,
The scale value actually attached to the Y direction regulation line Y is the value obtained by adding an appropriate integer to the scale value attached to the X direction regulation line X and the Y direction regulation line Y in FIG. Here, we will consider only one character.

The conversion of outline data into dot data is performed on the assumption that the character's outline is superimposed on a pixel screen, and in this embodiment, a dot is formed at each pixel within the character's outline. The bit data of that pixel is set to 1. All or part of one pixel is included within the outline, but in this embodiment, the bit data of a pixel whose center point is included within the outline is set to 1.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments detailed above, but
Various changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

For example, the present invention may be applied to printers other than laser printers.

It goes without saying that the present invention can be generally applied to devices other than printers that require converting outline data of characters such as letters and symbols into dot data.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the detailed description above, according to the present invention, line width data necessary for line width processing performed to improve printing quality is compressed and stored in memory, so that less data is required. This provides an industrially advantageous effect in that it is possible to provide a data storage device that stores line width data, which is information necessary to maintain high quality printing, with sufficient storage capacity.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 8 show embodiments embodying the present invention. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a control circuit of a laser printer equipped with a data storage device, and FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram of the configuration of a CPU. 3 is a flowchart showing the data conversion program, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing parameters defining line width data, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the line width data structure, and FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the data conversion program. Figure 5 shows the line width data restored from the compressed data. Figure 7 shows the outline movement in line width processing. Figure 8 shows the outline of the alphabet (I) and the alphabet superimposed on the pixel screen. 9A and 9B are diagrams showing a conventional storage method of line width data. In the figure, IO is a microcomputer, 12 is a CPU, 1
4 is a character ROM, 16 is a program ROM, 18
is a text memory, 20 is a working memory, 22 is a dot data memory, 24 is a hint information memory, 26 is a bus, 32 is a data reading section, 34 is a line width data restoration processing section, 35 is a line width processing section, 36 is an outline conversion section,
40 is a constituent line, 42 is a pixel, 44 is an outline, and 52 is a pixel screen. Figure 4 (a) Koni I ■■ Wataru Moyo (al) Four ■ Five ■ Yo (C1) Kuchi ■■ Tsukasa (C2) Koman ■ Tsukasa (dl) Four ■ Aji (d2) Shii Figure 7 A → Power'S9 figure

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In a data storage device that defines constituent lines constituting a character by the position and width of each constituent line and stores the data, when storing each constituent line of the character, Among the constituent lines, those with the same position data of the constituent lines are grouped together, and
data storage means for storing each constituent line with common position data and width data of each constituent line for each constituent line having the same position data; and restoring the compressed and stored data of the constituent line. What is claimed is: 1. A data storage device comprising: data restoration means for data storage;