JPH0351147A - Printing control system of dot printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate accumulation of fractional numbers of a line feed volume by setting various initial values based on control data contained in data to be received for printing and controlling the number of dots for each line based on this set initial value. CONSTITUTION:The number of dots for each line is calculated based on the number of lines (n) and a print dot density (j) for a specified cylinder is calculated, and thereby the integer part L and fractional part l of the number of dots are obtained. Next the number of lines (m) which enables the number of dots of the whole m line equals an integral value, and the cumulative value of fractional numbers for each line are obtained when m lines of L + l dots are printed. The obtained L, l, m, k are stored in a cycle area 46. When printing is actually performed, the m lines are controlled as a single cycle, and L + 1 dot is assigned to k line of the m lines, and L dot is assigned to the remaining m - k lines. After this, any k line is selected from among the m lines, and the selected number is indicated by a corresponding number from the head in the m lines. then this corresponding number is stored in a selected line recording area 44. Thus accumulation error is eliminated.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[Summary] Dora!・With regard to printers, the purpose is to provide a dot printer that does not accumulate fractions of line feeds, and the number of lines printed per unit length of the input character data to be printed is indicated by the number of printed lines per unit length and the number of printed dots per unit length. Based on the printed dot density, calculate the integer part and fraction l of the number of dots per printing line, and calculate ylx(L+j) when m (m is an integer) lines are printed with L-+l dots per line. Calculate the product k of m and l, where m is an integer, and calculate the L,
an initial setting means for setting l, m, and k as initial values; and selecting a line from m consecutive lines based on the initial values, and dotting (L-4 to 1) dots per line for the selected line. The apparatus is constructed to include a print control means for controlling printing of the remaining (m-k) lines in dots per line. [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a dot printer that prints characters, figures, and images as a dot matrix. [Prior Art] In a dot printer such as a dot impact printer, the dot density and minimum line feed amount that can be output are determined at the time of design, and these cannot be freely changed at the time of printing. On the other hand, when printing characters, the number of lines to be printed per line or the line pitch is specified, but the dot density and line feed amount may not correspond to the specified values. For example, the dot density is 160 dots/inch, the number of vertical dots for one character is 24 dots, and the minimum line break amount is 1/160.
Assume that printing is performed using an inch printer and specifying a line pitch of 6 lines per inch. In this case, the number of dots corresponding to the line feed amount, that is, the number of dots required per line, is the number of dots per inch divided by the number of lines, 160 + 6 = 26.6666 (dots), which is an integer value. It disappears. It is not possible to perform a line break with such a value, so if you round off the fractional part and print at 27 dots/line, the error per line will accumulate, which will cause problems when outputting graphics or images and text in a superimposed manner. , the relative positional relationship between characters and figures or images becomes misaligned. Furthermore, when only characters are printed, there is no problem with the relative positional relationship between the characters and figures or images, but if the cumulative error described in 1. is large, a situation may arise in which the characters extend beyond the planned printing area. [Problem to be Solved by the Invention] As described above, in conventional dot printers, when a fraction occurs in the number of dots corresponding to the amount of line feed, the error of this fraction accumulates and the content drawn on the bitmap This is especially a problem when outputting characters in a superimposed manner. In recent years, the demands on printing devices have diversified, and with the trend of printing overlapping images and characters, and the demand for more accurate output of printed content, the cumulative amount of line breaks mentioned above has increased. There is a strong demand for a dot printer that does not generate errors. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a dot printer in which fractions of line feed amounts do not accumulate. [Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention provides an initial setting means for setting various initial values based on control data included in received data to be printed, and initial setting means for setting various initial values based on control data included in received data to be printed. A printing control means is provided for controlling the number of dots per line based on the tll value. The present invention having the above configuration will be explained in detail with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, the initial setting means receives character data to be printed [■
], calculate the number of dots per line by j/n from the specified value n lines/inch of the number of lines per unit length included therein and the dot density of the printer j dots/inch, and calculate the integer part. and register the fractional part i. Furthermore, find the integer value m for which mx (1, +A is an integer) and the product k of m and l at that time, and register these [see ■]. When a certain number of lines are printed, the cumulative value of the fraction l is the number of lines that becomes an integer, and the value of m×l is the cumulative value of the fractions at that time.The pair of m and k that satisfies the above relationship is , a large number of lines can be filled, but it is practical to find the minimum value among them.Next, use the above m lines as a control unit, and select a line from among them [see ■].In actual printing In this case, the print control unit determines for each line whether or not that line corresponds to one of the lines selected above.
[Refer to ■], and if applicable, set the next line to L+1 dots [Refer to ■], and if it does not apply, set that line to L dots [Refer to ■], and according to this set number of dots, the bank will Controls printing [see ■]. Check whether the above processing has been completed for m lines, and m
If the line has not been reached, - do not repeat the above process [see ■]. Although this process is not shown, m rows of the control unit are
Repeat for each control 11 unit as a cycle. [Function] As mentioned above, when m lines are printed with L + J dots per line, m X l becomes an integer value, which means 1
If a line is printed with L dots, this means that there will be a shortage of k dots. Therefore, L+-1 dots are added by l dots for each row in m rows;! If I is attached, the above deficiency will be corrected within the m rows. That is, when printing is controlled as described above, the number of dots in the entire m rows is equal to the number of dots (m-k)L+k (L+1)=m L+k=rn(L+1). Therefore, errors due to fractional numbers are absorbed within m rows and do not accumulate. Furthermore, the positional deviation within m rows is extremely small and can be ignored. [Example] Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the dot printer according to the present invention. In the figure, 11 is a CPU (central processing unit), 12 is a receiving unit that receives a data stream from a host 1-2, a computer 1-2, and 13 is a device that uses RAM in most cases. 14 is a bitmap memory for developing a pattern of content to be printed; 15 is a printing section. ,” - Note 1? The AM 13 is provided with a program area 20 and a work area 40, and as described later, the 1 gram area 20 is provided with processing means for executing various processes of this embodiment, and the work area 40 is provided with the above-mentioned processing means. A storage area is provided for use by each processing means. Bitmap Memo January 4 also includes a data development area 50 for developing figures and images, and a data development area 50 for developing a pattern of one line of characters to be printed. character expansion line buffer 51
, and a transfer line 52 for storing one line of data to be transferred to the printing unit 15. Next, the operation of the dot printer configured as described above will be explained based on the detailed configuration diagram of FIG. 3 and the flowchart of FIG. 4.

[Refer to step #l]

First, the receiving unit 12 receives figure and image data from the host computer 2, and the drawing data area 41
Store in.

[Refer to step #2] The bitmap drawing unit 21 develops the data stored in the drawing data header 41 on the data display area 50.

[Refer to step #3] Next, the receiving unit 12 receives the character data from the host combination j, -2, and stores the text data in the character data area 42.
It's true.

[Refer to step #4] Based on the control data received at the same time as the character data,
The initial setting section 22 performs initial settings for printing control. That is, the specified number of lines per inch n and the printing dot density j
From this, calculate the number of dots per line, and find its integer part and fraction l. Next, find the minimum value of m and k such that the product k of the fraction l and the integer value m is an integer value. As mentioned in, this is L0j per line? This process calculates the number m of lines such that when m lines of dots are printed, the number of dots in all rn lines becomes an integer value, and the cumulative value of the fraction per line. L, l, m, and k determined as described below are stored in the cycle area 46. In this embodiment, during actual printing, control is performed by treating the m lines as one cycle, and 1, +! Allocate l dots, and allocate 1° dots to the remaining m- lines. Therefore, any 0)k rows are selected from the m rows, the number of the selected row is indicated as a relative number from the beginning of the m rows, and this is stored in the selected row recording area 44. Figure p5. p2. plo,. indicates this selected line number. Note that, in practice, a recording area is provided for each row, and whether or not an item has been selected is identified by writing 1 or 0 in the area.

[See step #5] Clear the cycle count area 43. Initial settings are completed in step 2, and from now on, print control is performed directly according to these settings. The operation of the printing control will be explained above.

[Refer to step #6] The row check section 23 refers to the selected row recording area 44, and
Check whether the character line to be printed is the selected line.

[Step #7. [See #8] In the case of a selected line, the dot number setting unit 24 sets the size of the character development line buffer 51 to L+1 dots, and in the case of a non-selected line to L dots. Write the number of dots in the dot number field 45.

[See Step #9] The character development unit 25 develops and edits the character data in the character development line buffer 51 set to the above size, and copies it to the transfer line buffer 52.

[See Step #10] The superimposing unit 26 extracts the contents of the bitmap memory by the same number of dots as the size of the character development line buffer, and superimposes them on the transfer line buffer 52.

[Refer to Step #11] The print data output unit 27 cuts out the contents of the transfer line buffer 52 according to the number of bins of the print unit 15 and outputs it to the print unit 15. The printing section 15 performs printing according to the received contents.

[Refer to step #12] The count unit 28 sets the contents of the cycle count area 43 to 1.
only increases.

[Refer to step #13] The cycle check section 29 operates in the cycle count area 4.
Depending on whether the value of 3 has reached m, it is determined whether the cycle has ended or not. If it has not ended, the process returns to step 6 and repeats the above processing.

[See step #14] If the cycle has ended, the data check unit 30 checks whether all data has been completed. If not, it returns to step 5 and repeats the above control from the beginning of the cycle. . If there is no more data, the printing operation ends. In the above explanation, for example, if the printing dot density j is 160
Dots/inches, and the number of lines per inch ri is 6 lines/inches, then
The number of dots per line is 26.666... Since there are dots, the number is 26.666. l is 0.666... In this case, m = 3 and = 2, so in this example, 3
One line is defined as one cycle, of which two lines are printed with 27 dots and the remaining line is printed with 26 dots. By controlling in this way, positional deviation errors due to fractional numbers are absorbed every three rows, and no errors are absorbed. In the embodiment described above, the initial setting section 22 functions as the initial setting means of the present invention, and the row check section 23. Do/nodo number setting section 241, character development section 25, superimposition section 26. Print data output section 27.゛Count section 28. Cycle check section 29
．． The data check section 30 constitutes a print control means. Juji - In the embodiment, an example was explained in which characters, figures, and images are superimposed, but even in the case of printing only characters, by appropriately changing the configuration of the initial setting means and print control means, and the processing procedure, The present invention can be used. [Effect of the invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, the +
There is no difference in A stacking and stacking, and the relative R7 misalignment between characters and pinot [・map memory contents can be suppressed to within the maximum l] - soto, and it is necessary to perform operations such as thinning out the bitmap memory contents. Therefore, the received data can be printed faithfully, and the printing quality is improved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of the present invention, Fig. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of an embodiment of the invention, Fig. 3 is a detailed configuration diagram of an embodiment of the invention, and Fig. 4 is an operation diagram of an embodiment of the invention. It is a flowchart which shows. In the figure, ■ is the driver 1-printer, 15 is the printing section, and 2 is the printer.
0 is a program area, 21 is a bitmap drawing section, 22
23 is an initial setting section, 23 is a line check section, 24 is a dot number setting section, 25 is a character expansion section, 26 is a superimposition section, 27 is a print data output section, 28 is a count section, 29 is a cycle check section, 30 is a data Chain part, 40 is a work area, 41
42 is a drawing data area, 42 is a character data area, 43 is a cycle count area, 44 is a selected line recording area, 45 is a dot number area, 46 is a cycle area, 50 is a data development area, 51 is a character development line buffer, 52 indicates the transfer line buffer. At the time of misfire/l lecture construction diagram

Claims (1)

[Claims] The number of dots per printing line is calculated based on the number of printing lines per unit length of input character data to be printed and the printing dot density indicated by the number of printing dots per unit length. integer part L of
In addition to finding the fraction l, calculate m such that m x (L + l) is an integer when m [m is an integer] lines are printed with L + l dots per line, and the product k of m and l. L, l, m
, k as an initial value; and selecting a line from among the m consecutive lines based on the initial value, and dots for the k lines with (L+1) dots per line and the remaining (
1. A print control system for a dot printer, comprising a print control means for controlling printing of L dots per line (m-k) lines.