JPH06250630A - Character output device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the character output device which diversifies a dot pattern constituting a character without increasing the amount of outline data when the character is varied in size and shape according to its precedent and follow ing characters and outputted and the character is expanded into the dot pattern on the basis of its outline data outputted. CONSTITUTION:The character output device stores data on the end point of an (n)th segment among plural successive segments constituting the outline of the character and data on the start point of the (n+1)th segment in a data table 171 for character pattern expansion by sharing and determines whether or not the character is developed in a character buffer 122 according to whether or not data on the end point of the final segment is made common to data on the start point of the first segment by blurring the character. Further, the character is varied in size, thickness, and position according to its precedent and following characters and expanded into dots by referring to a character layout information table LTB.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a character output device,
In particular, it relates to improvement of a character output device mounted on a word processor, a laser printer, a personal computer, or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 24 is a block diagram of a conventional character output device. In the figure, a character output device includes a keyboard 21 for inputting a character code, a CPU (central processing unit) 22 for centrally controlling the output device, a CRT (cathode ray tube) 23 for displaying characters, and an input. Text buffer 24 for storing processed characters, print buffer 25 for storing character data to be printed, print buffer 25
The printer 26 includes a printer 26 that prints out characters based on the data stored in the printer, and a character data memory 27 that stores in advance various data necessary for expanding the characters into output data in the print buffer 25.

In the character data memory 27, characters are stored as contour data (hereinafter referred to as outline data). As outline data, straight line outline data in which the contour of a character is approximated by a straight line and curve outline data in which a curve is approximated are proposed. The curve outline data includes data obtained by approximating the contour of a character with a spline curve or a Viget curve. In addition, as a method of storing outline data, there is also a method of treating the radicals and making of characters as parts and storing outline data for each part.

FIGS. 25 (a) and 25 (b) are views showing examples of character output using conventional outline data.
As shown in FIG. 25 (a), the CPU 22 obtains coordinate values from the outline data stored in the character data memory 27, and develops the closed outline in the internal memory by the dot matrix method using dots (see FIG. 25).
(See (a)), when the expansion is completed, the closed outline is filled with dots (see FIG. 25 (b)). When all are filled, this dot pattern is transferred to the print buffer 25, It is output to the printer 26.

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing an example of outline data in a conventional character output device, and FIG. 27 is a diagram showing FIG.
It is a figure which shows the dot pattern developed using the outline data of 6. When the outline data is a cubic Bézier curve, coordinate data for specifying the start point, two control points, and the end point four points is necessary as the outline data, and multiple curves composed of these coordinate data can be connected together. A closed curve is created and the inside is filled with a dot pattern (see FIG. 27).

[0006]

For example, when a character is to have a faint portion like a character written with a brush, the information for specifying the faint portion has an outline as shown in FIG. It was added to the data header. Therefore, there has been a problem that the amount of outline data increases and the memory capacity of the character output device becomes insufficient.

Further, when a person actually writes a character, for example, a character in a line typeface is arbitrarily changed in size, balance (position), etc. depending on the preceding and following characters. However, the conventional character output device has a problem in that it is impossible to change the size and balance of the characters depending on the characters located before and after.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a character output device which develops a character into a dot pattern based on the outline data and outputs the dot pattern, without increasing the amount of outline data. An object of the present invention is to provide a character output device capable of diversifying patterns.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a character output device capable of changing the size and shape of a character depending on the characters arranged in front and behind so as to output a character closer to a handwriting feeling.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a character output device in which a contour of a character is divided into a plurality of continuous line segments, and each line segment is based on a data group represented by a set of points. A device for expanding a contour into a dot pattern, a memory for storing the data group of each line segment so that the data of the end point of each line segment and the data of the start point of the next line segment are shared, and a dot pattern expansion After that, a determination is made as to whether the end point data included in the data group of the last line segment forming the contour is shared with the start point data included in the data group of the first line segment forming the contour and stored in the memory. And a means for developing the inside of the contour into a partially thinned dot pattern and outputting the dot pattern based on the result of the determination.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a character output device divides a contour of a character into a plurality of continuous line segments, and develops the contour into a dot pattern based on a data group represented by a set of points. And a table that stores a data group of each line segment and data that specifies the line type of the line segment corresponding to each data group, and line type data corresponding to each data group of each line segment from this table And a line segment expanding unit that expands a corresponding line segment into a dot pattern based on the read data group in response to the data group being read by the reading unit, and the expanding unit. Thereafter, a line type expanding unit for expanding the pattern expanded line segment into a dot pattern based on the corresponding line type data read by the reading unit.

A character output device according to a third or a fourth aspect is a device which develops a character into a dot pattern based on a data group indicating a contour of the character and outputs the dot pattern. A plurality of character pairs consisting of the second character that is subsequently output and information about dot pattern expansion determined by the above-mentioned first character of the second character included in the character pair corresponding to each character pair are provided. Every time a table to be stored and a character in a character string is output, corresponding expansion information is read from the above-mentioned table based on a character pair consisting of an output character and a character output immediately before the output character. It comprises a reading means and a developing means for developing the output character into a dot pattern using the expansion information read by the reading means and a data group indicating the contour of the output character.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the character output device, the pattern development information is relative to the second character size information, the character line thickness information, and the first character relative information. At least one of the location information
Composed of two.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in a character output device, a plurality of stroke groups each of which is composed of a stroke group that does not hinder the legibility of the stroke characters even if the strokes forming the stroke character are overlapped with each other and developed into a dot pattern. A device that divides the character into a dot pattern and outputs the character. A table that stores each of a plurality of stroke groups as a data group that shows the contour of each stroke group as a set of points, and a table Based on the data set,
A developing means for developing a character into a dot pattern by successively developing a plurality of stroke groups into a dot pattern, and when the pattern is developed by this developing means, some of the dots where the dot patterns of different stroke groups overlap each other are turned off data. And off data setting means for setting.

[0015]

According to the character output device of the present invention, the data group of each line segment forming the outline of the character is shared in the memory with the data of the end point of each line segment and the data of the start point of the next line segment. After developing the dot pattern, the determination means determines whether or not the end point data of the final line segment forming the contour is stored in the memory in common with the start point data of the first line segment forming the contour, Based on the result of this judgment, the output means develops the inside of the outline of the character into a partially thinned dot pattern and outputs it, so that the inside of the outline of the character is partially thinned without increasing the amount of data in the memory. It is possible to have information for developing into a different dot pattern, that is, faint information.

A character output device according to a second aspect of the present invention stores a data group of each line segment forming a contour of a character and data specifying a line type of each line segment in a table, and develops the contour into a dot pattern. In this case, since each line segment is expanded into a pattern corresponding to the line type specified by the line type data by the line segment expansion means and the line type expansion means, the outline of the character can be changed to an arbitrary line without increasing the data amount in the table. The pattern can be developed as a seed.

According to another aspect of the character output device of the present invention, each time a character in the character string is output, a character pair consisting of a character output by the reading means and a character output immediately before the output character. Based on the above, information about dot pattern development of the output character is read from the table, and the developing means develops the output character into a dot pattern using the read development information and a data group indicating the outline of the output character. The character in the character string can be expanded by the character output immediately before.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the character output device, the expansion information includes information regarding the size of the output character, information regarding the thickness of the character line, and information regarding the relative position with respect to the character output immediately before. Since at least one of the above is included, the size, the thickness of the character line, and the relative position to the character output immediately before are changed for the character in the character string depending on the character output immediately before. On the other hand, the pattern can be developed and the output character closer to handwriting can be obtained.

According to a fifth aspect of the character output device, the strokes forming a character are divided into a plurality of strokes each of which is composed of a set of strokes that do not interfere with the interpretation of the stroke even if the strokes are overlapped with each other and developed into a dot pattern. Then, when the developing means sequentially develops a plurality of stroke groups into a dot pattern and develops the character into a dot pattern, the off-data setting means causes a part of the dots in which the dot patterns of different stroke groups overlap each other to be off-data. Therefore, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the dot patterns of different stroke groups overlap each other and the characters cannot be read.

[0020]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a character output device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The character output device includes a keyboard 11 for inputting a character code and the like, a CPU 12 for centrally controlling the character output device, a CRT 13, a sentence buffer 14 for storing input and processed characters, and a line pattern for expanding outline data into a dot pattern. A print buffer 15, a printer 16 that prints out using the dot pattern data in the buffer 15, a character data storage memory 17 for storing data necessary for character output such as outline data, and data that specifies the thickness of character lines. Includes a character thickness designation register 18 for storing

The keyboard 11 is a vertical writing key 1 which is pressed to specify whether the output format of characters is vertical writing or horizontal writing.
11, the horizontal writing key 112, the size of characters to be output,
A character size designating key group 113, a character thickness designating key group 114, and a character line type designating key group 115, which are composed of a plurality of keys capable of designating a plurality of character line thicknesses and character line types;
The line feed key 11 that is pressed to output a line feed character
6. A blur specifying key 117 that is pressed to output a character line in a faint state like a character written with a brush and a character code input key group 118 that is pressed to input characters such as kana and kanji. Including.

In this character output device, characters are developed into a plurality of parts as described later. The parts forming a character are the parts of the character obtained by appropriately decomposing the outline of the character, for example, the strokes forming the character. The CPU 12 successively transfers and stores the component buffer 121 used for developing this component into a dot pattern, the dot pattern data of the component developed by the component buffer 121, and stores the dot pattern data for one character. It includes a character buffer 122 for storage.

The character data storage memory 17 stores a character pattern expansion data table 171 and a character layout information table LTB. The character pattern expansion data table 171 is used to expand the character corresponding to the character code input from the keyboard 11 into a dot pattern based on the outline data of the part, according to various designation information input from the keyboard 11. It consists of a set of data. Character layout information table L
The TB stores information necessary for changing the size and position of the preceding and following characters. Details of the character pattern expansion data table 171 and the character layout information table LTB will be described later.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the character pattern expansion data table 171 of FIG. On the table 171,
Curve data table B corresponding to a plurality of character codes CC
At least one or more component data BD including the TB and the curve type information table BNTB, and the hierarchical data HD corresponding to each component data BD are stored. Table BT
Details of B and BNTB will be described later. The details regarding the hierarchy of the parts regarding the hierarchy data HD will also be described later. In FIG. 2, for example, the character corresponding to the character code CCi is composed of two parts. Then, it can be seen that the component data BD and the hierarchical data HD of this component are set for each component.

In the character output device of FIG. 1, characters are input from the keyboard 11 and a kana-kanji mixed sentence is created by using a kana-kanji conversion device (not shown).
Store in 4. The input characters are also displayed on the CRT 13. When a print key (not shown) of the keyboard 11 is pressed, the CPU 12 takes out the contents of the text buffer 14 character by character and reads the data for character pattern development corresponding to the character from the table 171. Then, the character pattern is developed in the print buffer 15 based on the read data and the thickness data designated in the preset character thickness designation register 18. The developed dot pattern of characters is transferred to the printer 16 and printed.

FIG. 3 shows a display example of a screen for designating the overlapping of character parts according to the embodiment of the present invention. 4 (a) and 4 (b) show an example of the output character by the component overlapping designation, and FIGS. 5 (a) and 5 (b) show an example of the output character by the component overlapping designation when the character line becomes thick. Is shown, and FIG. 6 shows the relationship between the parts forming the character and their hierarchy. As shown in FIG. 3, the CRT shown in FIG. 1 displays a screen for designating the overlapping of character parts. C
When "no overlap" is selected by using a cursor (not shown) provided in association with the RT13, the overlapping part of the parts is filled in with a dot pattern and output as shown in FIG. 4 (a). It On the other hand, when “overlap required” is specified on the overlap specification screen shown in FIG. 3, the overlapping parts are clearly overlapped parts as shown in FIG. 4 (b). Only the dot pattern is not filled.

The hiragana "pa" is output as shown in FIG. 5A when the overlapping portion of the parts is filled with a dot pattern and the thickness of a normal character line is obtained. In this state,
If the character line is made thicker, the upper right "○" may be too close to other parts and the characters may not be readable. However, this character output device may cause such a situation in the parts hierarchy. It is avoided by overlapping the considered parts.
Referring to FIG. 6, the hiragana "pa" is made up of parts B1, B2 and B3. These parts are divided into upper layer parts B1 and lower layer parts B2 and B3. Parts B2 and B3
Is defined as a component belonging to the same lower layer because the character can be read even if the overlapping portion is filled with a dot pattern. Since it becomes difficult to read characters when the component B1 is overlapped with the component B2 or B3, the component B1 has a different layer from the component B2 or B3. A dot pattern of one character is obtained by pattern-developing the parts in order from the lower layer to the upper layer. In the hiragana “pa”, the lower layer components B2 and B3 are developed into a dot pattern, and then the upper layer component B1 is developed to obtain the dot pattern B.
Is obtained. In this way, the character is divided into multiple parts in consideration of the hierarchy, and the final character pattern is obtained by expanding each part into a dot pattern. It is possible to avoid the situation where characters are not legible due to overlapping.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of the character pattern development processing based on the parts forming the character and the hierarchy of the parts according to the embodiment of the present invention. With reference to the flowchart of FIG. 7, a character pattern development procedure based on a component forming a character and a layer of the component in the character output device will be described. The CPU 12 retrieves the character code stored in advance in the text buffer 14 (S1 in FIG. 7) and inputs the character size designated by the character size designation key group 113 (S1).
2) Based on the character code, the character pattern development data table 171 is accessed to read the corresponding component data BD and hierarchical data HD and temporarily store them in the internal memory (S3). Next, the character buffer 122 and the component buffer 121 are cleared (S4, S5), the hierarchy level is initially set to the lowest layer level of the hierarchy data HD read from the table 171 (S6), and the component data is sequentially read from the internal memory of the CPU 12. BD is extracted (S7), and if the hierarchical data HD corresponding to the component data BD matches the current hierarchical level (S8), the component buffer 121 develops a dot pattern based on the component data BD (S1).
2). On the other hand, if the hierarchical levels are different (S8), the current dot pattern data developed in the component buffer 121 is transferred to the character buffer 122 (S9). Transfer dot-off data, which will be described later, is also stored in the character buffer 1 at this time.
Since the data is transferred to No. 22, the overlapping portion of parts having different layers is whitened (dotted off). Subsequently, the hierarchy level is increased (S10), and the component buffer 121 is cleared to develop the component data of the next hierarchy level (S10).
11), the component is developed into a dot pattern based on the component data BD having the next hierarchical data HD (S12). After that, the next part is taken out (S7), and the dot pattern is developed in the same manner. If all the parts that form the character corresponding to this character code are expanded (if there are no parts to be taken out), it means that the dot pattern of the character corresponding to this character code is expanded in the character buffer 122.

FIGS. 8 (a) to 8 (c) are diagrams showing dot patterns in the case where one dot is off in component superposition of different layers. 8A shows the dot pattern of the lower layer component, and FIG. 8B shows the dot pattern of the upper layer component. FIG. 8B also shows transfer dot-off data that is transferred at the same time when it is transferred to the character buffer 122. FIG. 8 (c) shows FIG.
The dot pattern data when the lower layer data of (a) and the upper layer data of FIG. 8 (b) are transferred to the character buffer 122 and overlapped with each other are shown. As shown in FIG. 8C, the transfer dot-off data is shown in the OFF state in the dot pattern, so that the overlapping state of these two different parts can be clearly understood.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a display example of a screen for designating the thickness of a dot-off portion in overlapping parts on different layers. When the screen as shown in FIG. 9 is displayed on the CRT 13, the dot-off width of the overlapping portion can be designated to a desired width by using a cursor (not shown) of the keyboard 11 or the like. FIGS. 10A to 10C are diagrams showing dot patterns in the case where two dots are off in component overlapping of different components. After the dot pattern data of the component of FIG. 10A is transferred from the component buffer 121 to the character buffer 122, the dot pattern data of the component of FIG. 10B is transferred from the component buffer 121 to the character buffer 122. In this case, since the transfer dot-off data having a width of 2 dots is also transferred to the character buffer 122 as shown in FIG. 10B, the overlapping portion of these two parts as shown in FIG. 10C. Is 2
It is clearly shown using the dot width off data.

FIGS. 11A to 11D are diagrams showing character line blurring information and a dot pattern developed based on this information according to one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 11
A curve data table BTB is shown in (a). The outline of the character part is represented by a closed curve composed of a plurality of line segments. The table BTB is coordinate data of a line segment number SN for uniquely identifying each line segment corresponding to each of a plurality of line segments forming a closed curve of a part, a start point P1, two control points P2 and P3, and an end point P4. Store as. Since it is assumed that the line segment that constitutes the component is a cubic Bézier curve, four points P1 to P4 are required to develop the curve, as described above. In the character output device according to this embodiment, the curve data table BTB is used.
If the data of the end point P4 of the last line segment to be registered in is registered, the component is developed into a faint dot pattern. This blur means a blur of a character line that occurs when a character is written with a brush. The position of the blur on the part corresponds to the coordinate position corresponding to the first point representing the closed curve of the part. Curve data table BP of FIG.
B stores data without blur, and a dot pattern based on this data is shown in FIG. Figure 11
The curve data table BTB shown in (c) stores data with blur, and the dot pattern developed based on this data is shown in FIG. 11 (d). Figure 11
As shown in (d), the coordinates of the first point of the closed curve forming this part, in other words, the starting point P of the line segment number SN = 1
A blurred portion C is formed at the position 1.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart of character line blurring processing according to an embodiment of the present invention. The blurring process of the character line is performed by thinning out the dots of the dot pattern that fills the closed curve forming the character part.
In this process, the curve data table BTB shown in FIG. 11 is referred to. The character line blurring process will be described with reference to the table BTB of FIG. 11 according to the flowchart of FIG. First, a character code to be expanded is obtained, the character pattern expansion data table 171 is accessed based on the character code, and the corresponding curve data table BTB is taken out (S20). Next, the start position coordinates of the curve are saved (S21). Since the curve data table BTB of FIG. 11 is referred to, the start position coordinate is (4, 0) in this case. Next, it is checked whether the line segment having the start position coordinates saved immediately before is the last line segment registered in the table BTB (S22), and if it is not the last line segment, the coordinates of the starting point P1 of the next line segment. The data is fetched from the table BTB and used as the data of the end point P4 of this line segment (S23). Conversely, if the line segment this time is the final line segment (S22), the number of points stored in the table BTB corresponding to the line segment is checked (S29). If the check result is 3 points, the first saved start position data is shared with the final line segment end point P4 data (S30). As a result, points P1 to P4 were obtained, and 3 points were obtained at these 4 points.
The next Bézier curve is expanded in the component buffer 121 (S2
4). Next, it is determined whether or not the data has been taken out from the table BTB (S25), and if there is data to be taken out, the process returns to S21 again, and so on. When there is no data to be extracted and the data has been extracted, the number of points used to develop the final Bézier curve is determined (S2
6) If there are three points (corresponding to the case of the table BTB in FIG. 11A), the closed curve developed in the component buffer 121 is represented by a dot pattern as shown in FIG. 11B. Fill (S28). On the other hand, if there are four points (Fig. 1
1 (c) (corresponding to the case of the table BTB in FIG. 1C), the closed curve developed in the buffer 121 is filled with a dot pattern, and then the dots at the end point P4 of the final curve are thinned out to obtain the pattern shown in FIG. (S27).

As described above, in the character output device, the end point P4 of the n-th line segment and the start point P1 of the (n + 1) -th line segment are set for the plurality of line segments forming the outline of the part.
, And the last data where the final line loops,
That is, the result of determination as to whether the end point P4 is uniquely (not shared) or not is used as the blurring presence / absence information of the component.

FIG. 13 is a structural diagram of the character layout information table LTB shown in FIG. The character output device is
A character layout information table LTB is provided to change the size of characters, the thickness of character lines, and the position of characters according to the preceding and succeeding characters and develop them into dots. Table LTB
As shown in FIG. 13, consists of a two-dimensional array specified by the character code H and the character code J, and stores a plurality of character information Ii as array elements. When a character code Ji is output next to a character code Hi when a character is output, the character size, character line thickness, and character position of the character code Ji are output immediately before. It is determined according to the character information Ii determined by the character code Hi.

FIG. 14 shows the character information Ii shown in FIG.
It is a figure explaining. The information Ii is specified by pressing the vertical writing key 111 or the horizontal writing key 112 of the keyboard 11, and the character sizes D41 and D51 for vertical writing and horizontal writing, respectively, and the thickness D4 of the character line.
2 and D52 and the character positions D43 and D53 relative to the previous character.

FIG. 15 is a flow chart for expanding a character while changing the size of the character, the thickness of the character line and the position of the character according to the embodiment of the present invention. A procedure for expanding characters by the preceding and following characters will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, the CPU 12 initially sets the expansion position of the character in the character buffer 122, and extracts and sets the initial character size from the preset format information and the like (S).
31, S32). Then, the character code of the character stored in advance in the text buffer 14 is extracted (S33), and whether the vertical writing output or the horizontal writing output is desired is selected by pressing either the vertical writing key 111 or the horizontal writing key 112. It is determined based on whether or not there is (S34). After discrimination
According to the character code output immediately before from the character layout information table LTB, the character information Ii corresponding to the character code
Is read out, and when vertical writing is designated, the size D41 as shown in FIG. 14 is read from the read character information Ii,
The thickness D42 and the position D43 are read and set, but when the horizontal writing is designated, the size D51, the thickness D52 and the position D53 are read and set from the read character information Ii (S35, S36, S37). Next, the size of the character corresponding to the character code is determined from the read and set information (S38), and the thickness of the character line is determined (S3).
9) Determine the output position relative to the previous character (S4
0), the character is expanded in the character buffer 122 based on the determined information (S41). In the expansion of this character, the component is first expanded in the component buffer 121 based on the component data BD and the hierarchical data HD read from the table 171 based on the character code. After the expansion of all of these parts, the character buffer 122 is in the expanded state. After expanding the character, it is determined whether or not the line to be output is changed (S42). If the line is not changed, the expansion position of the character is updated only in the column direction (S43), and the next character is expanded. For this purpose, the next character code is retrieved from the text buffer 14 (S33). The same processing is performed thereafter. On the other hand, if there is a line change (S42), the expansion position in the row direction is updated (S44), the expansion position in the column direction is initialized (S45), and it is checked whether or not the character data to be expanded is completed. (S46). If further expansion of characters is necessary, the process returns to S31 and the same process is repeated.

As described above, the size of the character, the thickness of the character line, and the position of the character can be changed and expanded into dots by the character output immediately before, so that the character string as shown in FIG. Output is possible.

Next, a process for designing and outputting a line segment included in a character such as a wavy line or a double line will be described. FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an output example in which a line segment included in a character is double-lined according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 17, since a part of the character line included in the character “A” is doubled, a new line segment E1 is generated. Since the outline data amount of the character "A" in FIG. 17 increases by the line segment E1 from the normal character "A", the curve data table BTB corresponding to the character "A" is expanded accordingly and the memory 17 May run out of space. In order to avoid such a situation, the character output device according to this embodiment includes design information such as a wavy line and a double line of a character line segment in compact data called additional information of the line segment. The amount of data stored in the data table BTB hardly increases as compared with that of ordinary characters in which character lines are not designed.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram of a curve type information table BNTB relating to designing character lines according to an embodiment of the present invention. The table BNTB has a configuration in which a line type number Sn is newly added in correspondence with each line segment to the information stored in the curve data table BTB of FIG. Line type number S
n is numerical data for identifying the type of the corresponding line segment. FIG. 19 shows the structure of the line type table STB according to an embodiment of the present invention. Table STB is CP
A plurality of line type numbers stored in an internal memory (not shown) of U12 and line type data SD corresponding to each line type number.
And are registered. The data SD includes information on normal lines, double lines, white lines and wavy lines. FIG. 20 shows an example of developing a dot pattern by double lines of parts.

21A to 21D show a part of a dot pattern developed according to the line type data according to the embodiment of the present invention. 21A shows a dot pattern of normal lines, and FIG. 21B shows a dot pattern of double lines. Double lines are obtained by providing dot-on rows with dot-off outlines in between. Figure 21
The white line in (c) is a dot-off line of the outline. FIG. 21D shows a dot pattern of wavy lines.

FIG. 22 is a flow chart of the component developing process according to the curve type information table BNTB according to the embodiment of the present invention. 23 (a) and 23 (b) are views for explaining a part of the procedure for developing the dotted line into the dot pattern according to the embodiment of the present invention. The curve type information table BNTB is provided corresponding to each character code CC in the character pattern expansion data table 171 as shown in FIG. The component expansion processing according to the curve type information table BNTB will be described with reference to FIG. First, the coordinate data of the start point P1, the two control points P2 and P3, and the end point P4 are fetched from the table BNTB (S50), then the corresponding line type number Sn is fetched, and the table STB is accessed based on the fetched number Sn. The line type data SD to be specified is specified (S51). Then, based on the four points read from the table BNTB, the line segment is developed into a dot pattern that follows a cubic Vizier curve (S52). The obtained line type data SD is a normal line (line type number Sn =
In cases other than 1), the normal direction of the expanded line segment is calculated (S53), and a dot pattern is expanded and added in the normal direction based on the line type information according to the line type data SD (S5).
4). This state is shown in FIGS. 23 (a) and 23 (b). It is confirmed whether or not the development of the dot pattern is completed for all the line segments stored in the table BNTB (S
55) If it is not completed, the same process is performed for the next line segment, but if it is completed, the expansion process of the line segment forming the part is completed.

Then, the inside of the obtained closed curve is filled with a dot pattern in consideration of the presence or absence of blurring processing. As a result, one component according to this table BNTB has been pattern-developed. The pattern development of this part,
By repeating this process for all the parts forming the character, a design character as shown in FIG. 17 is obtained by developing the dot pattern.

In this embodiment, the part data BD is shown in FIG.
Although the curve data table BTB and the curve type information table BNTB are provided as shown in, the contents of the tables BTB and BNTB are partially overlapped, and only the table BNTB is provided. You may aim at the directed utilization of the memory 17.

Further, in this embodiment, the line type is a double line as shown in FIG. 18, but this line type designation corresponds to the line type designated by the character line type designation key group 115. As the number Sn is set in the table BNTB,
Line type number Sn stored in the curve type information table BNTB
May be arbitrarily changed according to an external operation.

[0046]

According to the character output device of the present invention, the data group of the line segment forming the outline of the character is stored in the memory as the data of the end point of each line segment and the data of the start point of the next line segment. After the dot pattern has been developed, the output means stores the end line data of the final line segment forming the contour in the memory in common with the start point data of the first line segment forming the contour. Based on the determination result of whether or not the character outline is expanded and output in a dot pattern in which some parts are thinned out, that is, the character is blurred and output, so it is possible to determine whether the character is written without increasing the amount of data in the memory. It is possible to easily develop the pattern of the slip state and output it.

According to the character output device of the second aspect,
The data group for each line segment forming the outline of the character and the data for specifying the line type of the line segment are stored in the table in association with each other, and the outline of the character is designated by the line segment expanding means and the line type expanding means when the pattern is developed. Since the dot pattern is developed for each line type, the contour of the character can be developed for the dot pattern by diversifying the line type without increasing the amount of data in the table.

According to the character output device of the third or fourth aspect, every time a character in the character string is output, the expansion means expands the output character into a dot pattern according to the character output immediately before. The character in the character string can be output in harmony with the character positioned in front, and the character string closer to the handwriting feeling can be output.

According to the character output device of claim 4,
Each time the character in the character string is output, the size of the character, the thickness of the character line, and the output position can be changed according to the character output immediately before. To match the size of the character that was output immediately before,
It is possible to output a character string closer to a handwritten character by changing the thickness of the character line and the position relative to the character output immediately before.

According to the character output device of claim 5,
When the character pattern is expanded by the expansion means, the data setting means sets the dots in the part where the dot patterns of different stroke groups overlap to each other as off data, so the patterns of different strokes are overlapped and the pattern is expanded. Unreadable characters are prevented.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a character output device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a data table for expanding a character pattern in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a display example of a screen for designating a character component stack according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B are diagrams showing an example of an output character designated by component superposition.

5 (a) and 5 (b) are diagrams showing an example of output characters by component superposition designation when a character line becomes thick.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating parts that form a character and their hierarchy.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a character pattern development process based on parts that form a character and a hierarchy of parts according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 8A to 8C are diagrams showing dot patterns in the case where one dot is off in a component stack of different layers.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a display example of a screen for designating the thickness of a dot-off portion in overlapping parts on different layers.

FIG. 10A to FIG. 10C are diagrams showing dot patterns in the case where two dots are off in overlapping parts of different parts.

11A to 11D are diagrams showing character line blurring information and a dot pattern developed based on this information according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of character line blurring processing according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a configuration diagram of a character layout information table shown in FIG. 1.

14 is a diagram illustrating the character information shown in FIG.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart of a process for expanding a character while changing the size of the character, the thickness and the position of the character line according to the preceding and following characters according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is an example showing an output example when a character is expanded while changing the character size, character line thickness, and position depending on the preceding and following characters.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an output example in which a line segment included in a character is doubled according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a configuration diagram of a curve type information table regarding a designed character line according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a configuration diagram of a line type table according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example of developing a dot pattern by a double line of a component.

21A to 21D are diagrams showing a part of a dot pattern developed according to line type data according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 22 is a flowchart of a line segment expansion process that configures a component according to the curve type information table according to the embodiment of the present invention.

23 (a) and 23 (b) are views for explaining a part of a procedure for developing a wavy line into a dot pattern according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 24 is a block diagram of a conventional character output device.

FIG. 25A and FIG. 25B are diagrams showing a character output example using conventional outline data.

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing an example of outline data in a conventional character output device.

FIG. 27 is a diagram showing a dot pattern developed using the outline data of FIG. 26.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 keyboard 12 CPU 17 character data storage memory 121 parts buffer 122 character buffer 171 character pattern expansion data table CC character code BD parts data HD hierarchical data BTB curve data table BNTB curve type information table LTB character layout information table Ii character information In the drawings, the same reference numerals indicate the same or corresponding parts.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A character output device for dividing a contour of a character into a plurality of continuous line segments, and developing the contour into a dot pattern on the basis of a data group showing each line segment as a set of points. A data group for storing the data so that the data of the end point of each line segment and the data of the start point of the next line segment are shared, and after the dot pattern development, the final line segment forming the contour Determining means for determining whether or not the end point data included in the data group is stored in the memory in common with the start point data included in the data group of the first line segment forming the contour; A character output device, comprising: an output unit that develops the inside of the contour into a partially thinned dot pattern based on a determination result and outputs the dot pattern. 2. A character output device that divides a contour of a character into a plurality of line segments that are continuously connected, and develops the contour into a dot pattern based on a data group that represents each line segment in the character output device. Table for storing the data group of the line segment and data for identifying the line type of the line segment corresponding to the data group, the data group of each line segment from the table, and the corresponding line type data in order. Reading means for reading, line segment developing means for developing the line segment into a dot pattern based on the read data group in response to the reading of the data group, and the line segment A character output device comprising: a line type expansion unit for expanding the pattern expanded line segment into a dot pattern based on the corresponding line type data read by the reading unit after the expansion by the expansion unit. 3. A character output device for developing a character into a dot pattern and outputting the character based on a data group indicating the contour of the character, wherein a character output first and a character output subsequent to the first character are output. A table for storing a plurality of character pairs consisting of two characters and information about the expansion determined by the first character of the second character included in the character pair corresponding to each character pair; Read-out means for reading out the corresponding expansion information from the table based on a character pair consisting of an output character and a character output immediately before the output character, each time the character in the column is output; A character output device comprising: expansion means for expanding the output character into the dot pattern using the expansion information read by the means and a data group indicating the contour of the output character. 4. The expansion information includes at least one of information about a size of the second character, information about a thickness of a character line, and information about a position relative to the first character. Item 3. The character output device according to item 3. 5. A dot pattern obtained by dividing a character constituting a character into a plurality of character groups, each of which is a set of characters which does not hinder the reading of the character even if the characters are overlapped with each other and developed into a dot pattern. A character output device for expanding and outputting the data, wherein a table for storing each of the plurality of stroke groups as a data group showing the contour of each stroke group as a set of points; and a table based on each data group in the table A developing means for developing the character into a dot pattern by successively developing the plurality of stroke groups into a dot pattern; and a dot in a portion where the dot patterns of different stroke groups overlap each other when the pattern is developed by the developing means. And an off-data setting means for setting a part of the data to off-data.