JPH06290177A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily know a line in an input character string at which a cursor is positioned even in the display part of, for instance, one-line display in a printer to be used at the time of printing the character string like a sentence, etc., made arbitrarily on a seal-form tape. CONSTITUTION:The number of lines (1) of the input character string stored in a RAM by key input processing is managed by a number of lines register, and simultaneously, the existence line (n) of the cursor K to instruct of a individual character in the input character string displayed on a liquid crystal display part 15 is managed by a cursor line pointer, and the bar layout display of the number of bars corresponding to the number of the lines (1) of the input character string or numeral layout display in which the number of the lines (1) is made a denominator number and the cursor existence line (n) is made a numerator number is executed, and simultaneously, in the bar layout display, a bar display part corresponding to the cursor existence line (n) is flickered, and besides, in the numeral layout display, a numerator number part corresponding to the cursor existence line (n) is flickered.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus used for printing a character string such as an arbitrarily created sentence on a sticky tape.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as one of the devices for making an original index label which is attached to an audio cassette or a video cassette and describes the contents thereof, or a name label which is attached to various belongings and describes the owner thereof, for example, A printing device is provided.

This printing apparatus has a document creation function provided with a large number of character input keys, and text data or the like consisting of a character string arbitrarily created by this document creation function is printed on a sticky tape as data to be printed. The character string, which is printed by thermal transfer printing and is output by operating the character input key, is displayed on, for example, a small liquid crystal display unit that displays a maximum of one line and six characters.

Therefore, when a line feed operation is performed on the input character string, a plurality of lines are not displayed on the display section, and a line feed mark is inserted between the character strings subjected to the line feed operation.
The line is displayed.

Here, the printing device is, for example, 24 × 2.
When the standard print mode for printing using the 4dots standard character font (for printing) is specified, it is possible to input and print a character string of up to 4 lines.
When a reduced print mode for printing using a small character font (for display) of 6 × 16 dots is designated, it is possible to input and print a character string of up to 8 lines.

Therefore, in the above-mentioned conventional printing apparatus, when the text data spanning a plurality of lines is created, in order to recognize how many lines of the character string have already been input, the line feed mark appearing by scrolling the display section is displayed. It was necessary to confirm that there was a drawback that the operability was very poor.

[0007]

Therefore, as an improved type of the above-mentioned conventional printing apparatus, a partial area on the display unit is used,
A layout display is practically used to show how many lines an input character string is composed of.

However, even in the printing apparatus having the layout display function, the content of the layout display only indicates how many lines of character strings are input, and therefore, especially in the case of correction in the middle of a sentence or the like. , There is a problem that it is very difficult to know which line of the whole sentence the cursor indicating the current character input position is located.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems,
For example, it is an object of the present invention to provide a printing device that allows a user to easily know the line in the input character string where the cursor is located even in the display unit for displaying one line.

[0010]

That is, a first printing apparatus according to the present invention displays an input character string and a layout of the character string, and detects the line in which the cursor is located in the input character string. And a cursor line blinking control unit for blinking a display portion in the layout display corresponding to the line on which the cursor detected by the cursor line detecting unit is located.

The second printing apparatus according to the present invention is
In the first printing device, the layout display of the input character string on the display means is performed by the bar display until the input character string reaches a certain line, and by the numerical display when the input character string exceeds the certain line. It is configured.

[0012]

That is, in the layout display state of the bar display, the bar corresponding to the line on which the cursor is positioned blinks, and in the layout display state of the numerical display, the number corresponding to the line on which the cursor is positioned blinks. Will be displayed.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the external structure of the printing apparatus.

The apparatus main body 10 of this printing apparatus has an upper housing 11 and a lower housing 12 which are integrally opened so that the upper housing 11 and the lower housing 12 can be divided into upper and lower parts by operating the lock button 13. A key input unit 14 and a small liquid crystal display unit 15 are provided in the.

The key input unit 14 includes a power key and an arbitrary character string (document) to be print target data for printing.
A number of character input keys such as kana character keys, number keys, and symbol keys for inputting and creating
Various function keys such as Kanji conversion key, selection / execution key, and character magnification designation key are provided.

The key input unit 14 has, for example, 2 keys.
A standard print mode that allows printing of up to 4 lines using a standard character font of 4 x 24 dots (for printing), for example 16 x
Up to 8 using 16dots small character font (for display)
A "mode" key 16 for switching between reduced print modes capable of printing lines, and cursor keys "←" 17a, "→" for moving the cursor K indicating the character input position on the display unit 15 in the forward and backward directions. 17b, and a "line feed" key 18 for line feed of the input character string.

The small liquid crystal display section 15 has, for example, one row and six rows.
A liquid crystal dot matrix display element for displaying characters is used, and a character string key-input corresponding to the position of the cursor K is sequentially displayed and scrolled. The character display area E1 in the display unit 15 is displayed below. It is set to half, and in the upper right part, for example, 8 dots vertically × 16 do horizontally
A layout display area E2 composed of ts and a print magnification display area E3 are set to the left of the layout display area E2.

The line feed state in the character display area E1 is displayed by inserting a line feed mark corresponding to the line feed position.

On the other hand, an ink ribbon cassette 19 is mounted inside the apparatus main body 10, and the lock button 1
By operating 3 to open and close the upper and lower casings 11 and 12 separately, they can be appropriately attached and detached.

The ink ribbon 19a of the ink ribbon cassette 19 is wound up together with a feeding operation of a seal tape (not shown) arranged along the exposed portion thereof, and thermal transfer printing corresponding to print data is performed. Along with this printing operation, the printed seal tape fed from the apparatus body 10 in the direction indicated by the arrow X, for example, is appropriately cut and separated by a cutter (not shown) provided along the inner side wall of the apparatus body 10. .

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the electronic circuit of the printing apparatus.

In this printing apparatus, in response to a key operation signal output from the key input unit 14, the CPU 21 reads the R
The system program stored in advance in the OM 22 is activated to control the operation of each part of the circuit.
1 includes a RAM in addition to the key input unit 14 and the ROM 22.
23, a cursor control unit 24, a liquid crystal display driver 25, a thermal head 26, and a motor driver 27 are connected.

The ROM 22 stores in advance various system programs for controlling the document creating process and the printing process centered on the CPU 21, and the display character font (16 dots × 16 dots) developed in the created document.
And a character font (24 dots × 24 dots) for printing are stored in advance.

The RAM 23 is provided with a document information storage area in which character string data key-inputted in the document creation process is sequentially stored as a character code, and an input character string stored in this document information storage area is also provided. The number of lines (l: L) is added and written in accordance with the operation of the "line feed" key 18, and the line number register 23a, the cursor K
A line (n) in the input character string in which is located is written by addition and subtraction according to the operation of the "new line" key 18 and the passage of a new line mark in the input character string of the cursor K, and the cursor line pointer 23b, A cursor pointer 23c is provided in which a position (c) in the input character string designated by the cursor K is added / subtracted according to the movement of the cursor K and written.

The cursor control unit 24 outputs a cursor movement signal to the liquid crystal display driver 25 in response to the operation of the cursor keys "←""→" 17a, 17b, and moves the cursor K with respect to the liquid crystal display unit 15. This cursor K is used to control and scroll the display character string.
The cursor position (c) on the input character string at the cursor pointer 23c is added or subtracted according to the movement of the cursor K, and the presence of the cursor in the input character string at the cursor line pointer 23b according to the passage of the line feed mark accompanying the movement of the cursor K. Row (n) is added or subtracted.

The thermal head 26 is arranged along the surface of the exposed portion of the ink ribbon opposite to the seal tape, and is read from the ROM 22 in accordance with individual character codes forming the document data stored in the RAM 23. The document data is driven to generate heat corresponding to the character font. The document data is sequentially converted into a seal tape by controlling the stepping motor 28 to rotate via the motor driver 27 in synchronization with the heat generation control of the thermal head 26. It is printed by thermal transfer and output.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a layout display state of a key input character string in the layout display area E2 of the printing apparatus. FIG. 3A shows a bar layout display when the input character string is one line. The figure (B) -a shows the bar layout display when the input character string is two lines and the cursor K exists on the second line, and the figure (C) -a shows the input character string three lines. Also, a bar layout display when the cursor K is present on the third line is shown, and (D) -a in the figure shows a bar layout display when the input character string is the fourth line and the cursor K is present on the fourth line. (E) shows a numeric layout display when the input character string is 8 lines and the cursor K is on the 2nd line.

That is, the layout display area E2 of the liquid crystal display section 15 in the printing apparatus of this embodiment has a vertical length of 8 dots.
Since it is a display, the bar layout display is performed up to 4 lines of the input character string, and the numeric layout display is performed from 5 lines to 8 lines.

In this case, in the above bar layout display,
The bar display portion corresponding to the line in which the cursor K exists is displayed in a blinking manner.
The number part corresponding to the existing line of is blinked.

As shown in FIG. 3 (A), (B), and (C) after b, the printing magnification of the input character string is double angle, 3
You can also input double-width characters. In that case, you can use multiple dots vertically in one line of the character string so that even if double-width characters are included, a bar with the thickness corresponding to the double-width number will be displayed. May be.

Next, the operation of the printing apparatus having the above configuration will be described.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the overall operation of the printing apparatus.

That is, when various character input keys and function keys of the key input unit 14 are operated to input an arbitrary character string in order to create print data for printing, the character corresponding to each key operation is input. The input process, the kanji conversion process, the input character string display process, and the like are repeated, and the key input character string is sequentially stored in the document information storage area in the RAM 23 as a character code, and the liquid crystal display unit 15 displays the character. The key input character string is displayed in the display area E1 and the layout display of the key input character string is displayed in the layout display area E2 (steps A, B and C).

When the print key in the key input unit 14 is operated, the character font stored in advance in the ROM 22 is associated with each character code forming the document data stored in the RAM 23 by the character string input processing. Are read out and sequentially sent to the thermal head 26 to be printed out on the seal tape (steps D → E).

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the updating process of the line number register 23a and the cursor line pointer 23b accompanying the operation of the "line feed" key 18 of the printing apparatus.

That is, along with the character string input in the key input processing steps A and B during the overall operation, the "line feed" key 18 is operated and a line feed mark is inserted in the input character string to increase the number of lines. Then, each time the "line feed" key 18 is operated, the number of lines (l) of the input character string managed by the line number register 23a of the RAM 23 is added, and the cursor existing line managed by the cursor line pointer 23b is added. (N) is added (steps B1 and B2).

FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing the layout display process of the printing apparatus.

FIG. 7 shows the cursor key "←" of the printing device.
It is a flowchart which shows the update process of the cursor line pointer 23b and the cursor pointer 23c accompanying operation of "->" 17a, 17b.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an input character string of the printer and its layout display state. FIG. 8A shows a bar layout display and FIG. 8B shows a numerical layout display.

That is, in the character string input process during the entire operation, the layout display process is activated for each character input process. In this layout display process, first, the line number register 23a in the RAM 23 is used. The number of lines (l) of the managed input character string is read, and whether or not the number of lines (l) has reached 5 or more, that is, the number of lines (l) of the input character string is determined by the liquid crystal display unit 15. In the layout display area E2, it is judged whether or not the number of lines which can be displayed in the bar layout is exceeded (steps C1 and C2).

In step C2, "No", that is, when the input character string is in the range of 1 to 4 lines, as shown in FIG.
As shown in, the bar layout display is performed corresponding to the number of lines (l) of the input character string read in step C1 (in this case, l = 4), and management is performed by the cursor line pointer 23b in the RAM 23. The bar display portion corresponding to the existing line (n) of the cursor K in the input character string (in this case, n = 3) is blinked (steps C2 → C3).
C4).

On the other hand, in step C2, "Ye
s ”, that is, in the range where the input character string is five lines or more,
As shown in (B), the line number (l) of the input character string read in step C1 (1 in this case, l = 5) is displayed as a denominator, and at the same time, the cursor line pointer 23b in the RAM 23 is displayed. The line where the cursor K is present in the input character string managed by (n) (n, in this case, n = 1) is displayed as a blinking number, and a numerical layout is displayed (step C2). → C5, C6).

Here, in the character display area E1 of the liquid crystal display unit 15, the cursor K for pointing an individual input character is
When the cursor keys “←” “→” 17a and 17b are operated and moved, the cursor pointer 2 in the RAM 23
The cursor position (c) managed by 3c is sequentially added or subtracted (step b1).

When the cursor K moves to pass a line feed mark inserted in the input character string, the cursor existing line (n) in the input character string managed by the cursor line pointer 23b is displayed. ) Is added or subtracted (steps b2 → b3).

Therefore, when the cursor existing line (n) is changed, in the bar layout display processing in the steps C3 and C4, the bar display blinking portion is changed corresponding to the changed cursor existing line (n). In the numerical layout display processing in steps C5 and C6,
The number of molecules is changed corresponding to the changed cursor existing line (n) and is displayed in blinking.

Therefore, according to the printing apparatus having the above configuration, the RAM 2 is processed by the key input processing from the key input unit 14.
The number of lines (l) of the input character string stored in the document information storage area 3 is managed by the line number register 23a, and each character in the input character string displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 15 is designated. The existing line (n) of the cursor K is managed by the cursor line pointer 23b, and the bar layout display of the number of lines corresponding to the number of lines (l) of the input character string is displayed, or the number of lines (l) is used as a denominator, and the cursor is displayed. In addition to performing a numeric layout display with the number of molecules in the existing line (n), the bar display portion corresponding to the cursor existing line (n) blinks in the bar layout display, and the cursor existing line in the numerical layout display. Since the number of molecules corresponding to (n) is made to blink, for example, even in the small liquid crystal display unit 15 which displays 6 characters per line, it is possible to recognize how many character strings are input. Ku, in particular upon modification or the like in the middle of a sentence, the cursor K indicating the current character input position so that it is possible to easily know whether the located line number of the total.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of an electronic circuit of a printing apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the layout type register 2 is used for the RAM 23.
3d is added and the layout display type is type A
Is displayed as a bar layout display and type B as a numerical layout display.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing the layout type setting process of the printing apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an input character string and its layout display state of the printing apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11A shows a bar layout display and FIG. Indicates a numerical layout display.

That is, in the character input process in the key input process steps A and B of the overall operation, the standard print mode in which the maximum print line is 4 lines is set according to the operation of the "mode" key 16 in the key input unit 14. In this case, since the type A is written in the layout type register 23d in the RAM 23, the number of character string lines (l) in step C2 is not determined in the layout display process shown in FIG. The bar layout display as shown in FIG. 11A is always displayed (steps S1 → S2).

In addition, in the character input processing in the key input processing steps A and B of the overall operation, the key input unit 14
When the reduced print mode in which the maximum print line is 8 lines is set according to the operation of the “mode” key 16 in
Since the type B is written in the layout type register 23d in the AM 23, the number of character string lines (l) in step C2 is not determined in the layout display process shown in FIG. The numerical layout display as shown in () is performed (step S1 →
S3).

Here, when the reduced print mode is set, a reduced print mode mark "8" indicating that eight lines can be printed is displayed adjacent to the display area E2 of the numeric layout. To be done.

Therefore, there is no switching between the bar layout display and the number layout display according to the number (l) of lines of the input character string as shown in the above-mentioned embodiment, and the setting contents of the print mode are not changed. Accordingly, either the bar layout display or the number layout display is fixedly set.

In the number layout display in each of the above-described embodiments, the number of molecules indicating the line where the cursor is present is made to blink, but in this number layout display, blinking control of the number of molecules is not performed. May be

[0056]

As described above, according to the first printing apparatus of the present invention, the input character string and the layout of the character string are displayed, and the line in which the cursor is located in the input character string is detected. And a cursor line blinking control unit for blinking a display portion in the layout display corresponding to the line on which the cursor is detected detected by the cursor line detecting unit. According to the second printing device of No. 2, in the first printing device, the layout display of the input character string on the display means is performed by the bar display until the input character string reaches a certain line, and the input character string is displayed. When the number of lines exceeds a certain line, it is displayed numerically. For example, even in the one-line display section, it is possible to easily know the line in which the cursor is located in the input character string. That.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an external configuration of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an electronic circuit of the printing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a layout display state of a key input character string in a layout display area of the printing apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the overall operation of the printing apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a process of updating a line number register and a cursor line pointer in accordance with an operation of a “line feed” key of the printing device.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a layout display process of the printing apparatus.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a process of updating a cursor row pointer and a cursor pointer in accordance with an operation of cursor keys “←” “→” of the printing apparatus.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an input character string of the printing apparatus and a layout display state thereof.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an electronic circuit of a printing apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a layout type setting process of the printing apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an input character string and its layout display state of the printing apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Printer main body, 11 ... Upper housing, 12 ... Lower housing, 13 ... Lock button, 14 ... Key input part, 15 ... Small liquid crystal display part, 16 ... "Mode" key, 17a ... "←"
Cursor key, 17b ... "→" Cursor key, 18 ...
"Line feed" key, 19 ... Ink ribbon cassette, 21 ... C
PU, 22 ... ROM, 23 ... RAM, 23a ... Row number register, 23b ... Cursor row pointer, 23c ... Cursor pointer, 23d ... Layout type register, 24 ...
Cursor control unit, 25 ... Liquid crystal display driver, 26 ... Thermal head, 27 ... Motor driver, 28 ... Stepping motor, K ... Cursor, E1 ... Character display area, E2
... Layout display area, E3 ... Print magnification display area.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A printing apparatus comprising a display unit for displaying an input character string and a layout of the character string, a cursor line detecting unit for detecting a line in which the cursor is located in the input character string, and a cursor line detecting unit. And a cursor line blinking control unit for blinking a display portion in the layout display corresponding to the line where the cursor is located detected by the means, and notifying the user of the line where the cursor is located. apparatus. 2. The layout display of the input character string on the display means is performed by a bar display until the input character string reaches a certain line, and is displayed by a numerical display when the input character string exceeds a certain line. The printing device according to claim 1. 3. A printing apparatus comprising a display unit for displaying an input character string and a layout of the character string, a print mode specifying unit for specifying a print mode including standard printing and reduced printing, and the print mode specifying unit. A printing apparatus, comprising: display control means for displaying the layout of the input character string by bar display when standard printing is designated and by numerical display when reduced printing is designated.