JPH06328786A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enlarge a basic printing font stored in a printing data storage means and improve the printing quality at the time of instructions of enlargement magnification by providing a printing control means and the like for producing an output to a printing means. CONSTITUTION:A display unit 15 constituted of a liquid crystal dot matrix and the like displays data to be displayed which are sent from a CPU 11, in accordance with key input manipulation of a key input unit 12, and a picture for the selection of enlargement magnification is displayed by the manipulation of an enlargement key 12a. A printing unit 16 has a line-type printing head of 64 dots, which is disposed in the width direction of a label tape which serves as a medium to be printed. Therefore, when data to be printed are sent from the CPU 11 in accordance with the manipulation of a printing key of the key input unit 12, the data are synchronized with the feeding operation of the label tape, and the printing output is sequentially produced in the form of dot lines one by one from the left end of the font data in the case of lateral printing and from the upper end of the font data in the case of vertical printing.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer equipped with, for example, a label printer and having a line type print head.

[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, Although a label printer is provided, the printing section of this label printer is generally provided with a line-type print head.

That is, the line-type print head is arranged corresponding to the width direction of the label-shaped tape which is the medium to be printed, and the data to be printed is sequentially 1 dot line in synchronization with the feeding operation of the label-shaped tape. The line-type print head normally prints a number of dots.
The number of dots that make up the basic print font is 24 dots x 2
While it is 4 dots, it is a non-integer multiple of 64 dots.

In the printing section of such a conventional label printer, when the enlargement designation magnification is 2 times when performing the enlargement printing, the basic print font is simply doubled to 4 times.
It is enlarged to 8 dots x 48 dots and printed 1 dot line at a time. However, when the designated enlargement ratio is 3 times, if the basic character font is simply enlarged to 72 dots x 72 dots, the print head Maximum number of print dots (64
The actual printing magnification is set to a non-integer multiple of about 8/3 times (2.66 ... times) so that the number of font dots after enlargement is within the maximum number of printing dots above. Enlargement printing of 63 dots x 63 dots is performed.

[0005]

However, like the conventional label printers described above, when, for example, 3 times enlarged printing is designated, a non-integer multiple printing magnification is set in accordance with the maximum print dot number of the print head. When the enlargement printing is performed by setting, the dot data actually enlarged to 3 times and the dot data enlarged to 2 times are set in the vertical direction for each dot data which constitutes the basic print font before enlargement. Since they are mixed in the horizontal direction, there are many different portions between the font shape before enlargement and the font shape after enlargement, and there is a problem that print quality is degraded.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems,
When the number of print dots on the print head is a non-integer multiple of the number of font dots in either the vertical or horizontal direction of the basic print font, improve the print quality when specifying the enlargement ratio that exceeds the maximum print dot number of the print head. It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing device capable of performing the above.

[0007]

That is, a printing apparatus according to the present invention comprises a print data storage means for storing a basic print font in a bitmap format, and a basic print font stored in the print data storage means. A printing means having a print dot number which is a non-integer multiple of the number of font dots in one of the vertical and horizontal directions, an enlargement specifying means for specifying an enlargement ratio of the print size, and the number of print dots of the printing means by the enlargement specifying means. If a magnification greater than is specified, the print magnification in one direction for the above basic print font is set to the non-integer multiple, and the print magnification in the other direction is set to the integer multiple corresponding to the designated magnification. And a basic print font stored in the print data storage means according to the print magnification set by the print magnification setting means. Is constructed by a print control means for outputting the large teeth said printing means.

[0008]

That is, even if the basic print font, for example, is enlarged in the vertical direction by a non-integer multiple print magnification according to the print head, it is enlarged in the horizontal direction by an integral multiple print magnification according to the designated enlargement magnification. Therefore, it is possible to perform the enlargement printing process without breaking the shape of the basic print font as much as possible.

[0009]

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 block diagram showing the configuration of an electronic circuit of a label printer equipped with the printing apparatus of the present invention.

In this label printer, the control unit 11 controls the operation of each part of the circuit.
Includes a key input unit 12, a character font ROM 13, an enlarged character font RAM 14, a display unit 15, and a printing unit 16.
Are connected.

The key input section 12 is provided with various character / symbol input keys for creating print data for a label tape (not shown), a "kana / kanji conversion" key, etc., and enlarges the print data. Various function keys such as an "enlargement" key 12a for setting a magnification and a "print" key for starting a printing process are provided.

In the character font ROM 13, a large number of basic character font data such as hiragana, katakana, kanji, English symbols, alphanumeric characters, etc., which can be input by the various character / symbol input keys of the key input section 12, are each 24 dots. × 2
It is stored in a 4-dot bitmap format.

In the enlarged character font RAM 14, the basic font stored in the character font ROM 13 when the enlargement ratio of the data to be printed is set according to the operation of the "enlargement" key 12a of the key input unit 12. Enlarged font data obtained by enlarging the character font data is stored in a bitmap format.

The display unit 15 is composed of, for example, a liquid crystal dot matrix, and displays the display data given from the CPU 11 in response to the key input operation of the key input unit 12, and the "enlargement" key 12a is operated. At this time, a screen display for selecting the enlargement ratio is displayed.

The printing unit 16 is arranged in a width direction of a label tape (not shown) serving as a print medium.
A dot line type print head is provided, and when print data is given from the CPU 11 in response to the operation of the "print" key of the key input unit 12, the print data is synchronized with the feeding operation of the label tape. Is printed out one dot line at a time from the left end of the font data in the case of horizontal writing and from the upper end of the font data in the case of vertical writing.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of basic character font data stored in the character font ROM 13 of the label printer. That is, one character font data consists of vertical 24 dots (3 bytes) x horizontal 24 dots (3 bytes), and when specifying the standard print size, this basic character font data is printed in a dot pattern of the same size. Is output.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a state of enlargement in the vertical and horizontal directions for one byte of the basic character font when the above-mentioned label printer designates the three-fold enlargement. That is, the 1-byte data a to h before enlargement is approximately 8/3 times (2. 3 times) in accordance with the maximum print dot number of the print head in the case of vertical enlargement corresponding to the line direction of the print head in the printing unit 16. 66 ... Enlargement processing is performed, and each 1 dot data is tripled or doubled to be 21 dot data a ′ after enlargement.
~ H '.

That is, the 3-byte vertical width of the basic character font data is expanded to 63 dots. Further, in the case of lateral enlargement corresponding to the sub-scanning direction of the print head in the printing unit, that is, the length direction of the label tape, enlargement processing is performed at 3 times as much as the designated magnification, and all 1 dot data is 3
After being doubled and enlarged, 24 dot data a ″ to h ″ are obtained.

That is, the 3-byte width of the basic character font data is expanded to 72 dots. Therefore, when the designated magnification ratio is 3, the above vertical 24 dots x horizontal 2
4-dot basic character font is 63 dots vertically x 72 pixels horizontally
The dots are enlarged.

Next, the operation of the label printer having the above structure will be described. FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the enlargement printing process of the label printer. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an enlargement magnification setting procedure associated with the enlargement printing process of the label printer.

That is, after operating the various character / symbol input keys and various function keys of the key input unit 12 to input the print data, the "enlargement" key 12a is operated, as shown in FIG.
As shown by, when the "function" and "format" keys are operated, the format setting screen X is displayed on the display unit 15.

Here, as shown in FIG. 5B, when the "size" prompting the setting of the print character size is selected by operating the cursor keys, the character size selection screen Y is displayed on the display unit 15.
Is displayed, and as shown in FIG. 5C, when "enlargement" is selected, an enlargement magnification designation screen Z is displayed.

"Daizen" on the enlargement magnification designation screen Z
"3x enlargement designation of a full-width basic character font of 24 dots in the vertical direction x 24 dots in the horizontal direction" indicates "most" indicates a triple enlargement specification of a half-width basic character font of 24 dots in the vertical direction x 12 dots wide. , “Large 1 × 2” indicates a 5 × enlargement designation of a full-width basic character font of 24 dots vertically × 24 dots horizontally.

That is, in the case of selecting "Large", "Most" or "Large 1x2" on the enlargement magnification designation screen Z, the number of vertical dots after enlargement is the same as that of the print head in any case. It is set in accordance with the maximum number of print dots (64 dots), and here, for example, when the "large size", that is, the triple enlargement specification of the full-width basic character font of 24 dots vertically x 24 dots horizontally is selected, Is set to 8/3 times (2.6 times) the vertical enlargement print ratio for the above-mentioned full-width basic character font, and the horizontal enlargement print ratio is the specified enlargement ratio (3 times in this case). Is set to the register A and is set in the register A (steps S1 to S3).

FIG. 6 is a view showing the font data before enlargement and the font data after enlargement in comparison with the case of designating 3 times enlargement for the full-width basic character font of the label printer. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a three-fold enlarged printing state on the label tape of the label printer.

That is, through the processes of the above steps S1 to S3, the vertical print magnification (8/3 times) and the horizontal print magnification (3 times) at the time of designating 3 times enlargement for the full-width basic character font are registered in the register of the CPU 11. When set to A, the full-width basic character font read from the character font ROM 13 in accordance with the set printing magnification is enlarged in the vertical direction corresponding to 64 dots corresponding to the maximum print dot number, as shown in FIG. At the same time, the horizontal direction is simply tripled to 72 dots and written in the enlarged character font RAM 14 (steps S4 → S5).

In this case, although the vertical direction of the character font to be printed is enlarged to 8/3 times in accordance with the maximum print dot number (64 dots) of the print head, the horizontal direction is multiplied by an integer according to the specified enlargement ratio. Therefore, the character font shape after the enlargement can be enlarged with respect to the basic character font shape before the enlargement at least in the horizontal direction.

Then, the enlarged character font RAM 14
The enlarged character font data written in the CPU 11
Then, the data is read out to the printing section 16 and is printed on the label tape 17 as shown in FIG. 7 (step S6).

Therefore, according to the label printer having the above structure, for example, the maximum number of print dots of the line type print head is 64 dots, and the length and width are 3 bytes (24 dots × 2).
(4 dots) basic character font, if a magnification of 3 is specified, the actual printing magnification is the maximum printing dot in the vertical direction corresponding to the main scanning (line) direction of the line type print head. Set to 8/3 times in accordance with the number, and the horizontal direction corresponding to the sub-scanning direction of the line-type print head, that is, the length direction of the label tape that is the print medium is an integral multiple according to the specified enlargement ratio. Since the enlargement processing is performed by setting the size to 3 times, the size is enlarged as much as possible without breaking the shape of the basic character font, without being enlarged by a non-integer magnification of 8/3 times in both length and width as in the conventional label printer. The processing can be performed, and the enlarged print quality can be improved.

[0030]

As described above, according to the present invention, the printing data storage means for storing the basic printing font in the bitmap format, and either the vertical or horizontal direction of the basic printing font stored by the printing data storage means. Printing means having a print dot number that is a non-integer multiple of the number of font dots in the direction, enlargement specifying means for specifying the enlargement ratio of the print size, and enlargement ratio that exceeds the print dot number of the printing means by this enlargement specifying means If is specified, the print ratio in one direction for the basic print font is set to the non-integer multiple, and the print ratio in the other direction is set to the integer multiple corresponding to the specified enlargement ratio. Means and the basic printing font stored in the printing data storage means in accordance with the printing magnification set by the printing magnification setting means and output to the printing means. When the number of print dots of the print head is a non-integer multiple of the number of font dots in one of the vertical and horizontal directions of the basic print font, the maximum print dot number of the print head is set. It is possible to improve the print quality when specifying the enlarging magnification to exceed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an electronic circuit of a label printer according to an embodiment of a printing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of basic character font data stored in a character font ROM of the label printer.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a vertically and horizontally enlarged state of 1 byte of a basic character font when a 3 × enlargement is designated in the label printer.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an enlargement printing process of the label printer.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a procedure for setting an enlargement ratio associated with enlargement printing processing of the label printer.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the font data before enlargement and the font data after enlargement when the enlargement is designated for the full-width basic character font of the label printer, in comparison with each other.

FIG. 7 is a diagram of label tapes of the above label printer.
The figure which shows a double-magnification printing state.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 ... CPU, 12 ... Key input section, 12a ... "Enlargement" key, 13 ... Character font ROM, 14 ... Enlarged character font RAM, 15 ... Display section, 16 ... Printing section, 17 ... Label tape, A ... Enlargement magnification setting register.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A print data storage means for storing a basic print font in a bit map format, and a non-integer with respect to the number of font dots in either the vertical or horizontal direction of the basic print font stored in this print data storage means. A printing means having double the number of print dots, an enlargement designating means for designating a print size enlargement magnification, and an enlargement magnification exceeding the number of print dots of the printing means by the enlargement designating means A print magnification setting means for setting the print magnification in one direction for the print font to the non-integer multiple and a print magnification in the other direction to an integer multiple corresponding to the specified enlargement magnification, and the print magnification setting means. Print control means for enlarging the basic print font stored in the print data storage means according to the selected print magnification and outputting it to the print means. Printing apparatus characterized by the.