JPH0640081A - Printing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible to connect a high density printer instead of a conventional low density printer without changing program for a host computer widely by adding an operation code at the leading part of the program for the computer. CONSTITUTION:Control information data to be inputted to an I/F 14 of a host device contains operation code, control command, and character code. The inputting data are stored in a communication buffer 15 once, thereafter, outputted to a command analyzing section 16 at every data for 1 page. To the analyzing section 16, a mode control section 17, a pitch conversion control section 13, a character size control section 12, and a character control section 18 are connected. The data inputted from the I/F are sorted so as to output to prescribed sections. To the mode control section, the operation code is inputted. The mode control section controls native mode, actual dimension mode, contraction mode, B4 form mode, and A4 form mode to be designated by the code. When once a mode is designated by the operation code, the mode is fixed until a next mode is designated.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus that prints based on data from a host device such as a computer, and more particularly to a printing apparatus that can be replaced with a printer having a different dot density.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A so-called impact printer, in which characters hit a ribbon on a sheet to perform mechanical printing, has been used as a standard terminal device for computer output for many years. The print density of this impact printer is 180 dots per inch, and printing is usually performed using 24 pins.

On the other hand, a so-called non-impact printer, which does not perform mechanical printing, is capable of high-speed printing, and it is possible to obtain a high-quality printed image due to a high density of 240 dots per inch, for example. Therefore, this non-impact printer is now being used instead of the impact printer.

[0004]

However, it is inconvenient to connect a printer that drives printing at a density of 240 dots per inch to a host computer that simply controls a conventionally used printer having a printing density of 180 dots / inch. Occurs.

For example, suppose that a printer having a recording means (hereinafter referred to as a font) for forming a 24 × 24 dot print per character with a density of 240 dots / inch is connected to a host computer for controlling a conventional printer. Figure 2
The characters printed by the 180-dot / inch printer shown in (a) are reduced to 3/4 as shown in (b) in the figure. Also, when printing is controlled by the so-called designation signals CPI and LPI that specify the number of characters or lines per inch for the pitch designation, as shown in Figure (c), the space between each character is not reduced and only the characters are Is reduced, and the reduced characters are separated, resulting in extremely difficult-to-read print. Also, for example, if a printer with a font of 32 x 32 dots per character at a density of 240 dots / inch is connected to the host computer, the character size is the same as that printed by a printer with 180 dots / inch. become. However, when the character spacing is specified in dots, if printing is performed as instructed by the host computer, adjacent characters will overlap each other and printing will not be possible, or they will be very close as shown in Figure (d). The print is very difficult to read.

Therefore, in order to replace the low-density printer with the high-density printer and print with the same character size and the same form, it is necessary to drastically change the program of the host computer.

Further, a printer is usually used as a form paper for printing the output of the host computer by 280 mm (11 mm
Inch x 380 mm (15 inch) paper is often used. The form of printing on such form paper is 136 characters per line, 66 lines, but in the same form as this form B4
When printing with a printer using paper of size (257 mm x 364 mm), both paper sizes are different as shown in Figs. 3 (a) and 3 (b). There is a drawback that the information cannot be stored.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, the present invention allows a high-density printing printer to be connected without significantly changing the program of a host computer or the like which is supposed to connect a conventional low-density printing printer. Even if the printer uses a cut sheet,
An object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus capable of storing information to be printed in one page of form paper in one page of required B4 size or A4 size paper.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is a printing apparatus capable of printing based on control information input from a host device, wherein the control information is lower than the print dot density of the printing unit of the printing apparatus. Means for identifying whether or not the control information is for a supposed printer that prints at a print dot density; and the print data that the supposed printer prints out on a single page of a first size paper according to the identification result of the identifying means. A unit for selecting a font that can be printed on a sheet of a second size smaller than the first size, and the assumed printer is provided with the print pitch designation information included in the control information according to the identification result of the identification unit. The print pitch designation information that allows the print data to be printed out on one page of the size paper to be printed on the second size paper smaller than the first size is printed. And having means for conversion, and a print control means for printing by the print pitch designation information character information is the converted and the selected font contained in the control information.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a circuit of a printing apparatus of the present invention having a function of printing at a density of 240 dots per inch and including a CG (character generator) font section 11, a character size control section 12, a pitch conversion control section 13 and the like. It is a block diagram.

Data as control information input to the I / F (interface) section 14 from a host device (not shown) includes an operation code (command for specifying a mode to be described later), a control command and a character code. After being stored in the communication buffer 15, each page of data is output to the command analysis unit 16.

The command analysis unit 16 includes a mode management unit 1
7, a pitch conversion control unit 13, a character size control unit 12, and a character control unit 18 are connected to select the data input from the I / F unit and output it to the above-mentioned predetermined units.

The operation code described above is input to the mode management section, and the native mode, the actual size mode, the reduction mode, and the B mode, which will be described later, are designated by the operation code.
Five modes, that is, the 4 table mode and the A4 table mode, are managed, and once the mode is designated by the operation code, the mode is fixed until the next mode is designated.

Each mode will be described below. Native mode is a mode when connecting this printer to a host device assuming that the print density of the connected printer is 240 dots / inch. The control code and character code of the input data are Prints without any conversion or conversion.

[0015]

[Table 1]

Here, the default setting in the native mode is landscape landscape printing, and the other default settings differ depending on the paper size used, and the initial settings of B4 size, A4 size and B5 size are as shown in Table 1, for example. Specify a different character pitch and line feed pitch, and execute with font B, font A, and font B, which will be described later (however, the characters in parentheses in the table indicate Chinese characters, and the effective printing area is the actual printing on the printing paper. The effective print area and the unit of each pitch are dots.) Next, the actual size mode will be described. In the actual size mode, even if the host device is assumed to be connected to a printer with a print density of 180 dots / inch as an assumed printer, the operation code for specifying this mode can be added without changing the program of the host device. The same character size and the same form of printing as the dot / inch printer can print
This mode is possible with a 240-dot / inch printing device.

Next, in the reduction mode, even if the host device is supposed to be connected to a printer of 180 dots / inch, this mode can be specified by the operation code.
Dot / inch printer's print form as it is 3/4
The size of the cut sheet of A4 and the cut sheet of B4 is about 3/4.
It is a mode in which it is possible to reduce the form of printing in 4 size to A4 size and print.

Next, the B4 book table mode is a mode in which the contents printed on one page of 280 mm (11 inches) x 380 mm (15 inches) form paper are stored in the B4 cut sheet. By specifying, landscape landscape printing is specified, and as shown in Table 2, the used font, character pitch, and line feed pitch are selected.

[0019]

[Table 2]

Next, the A4 book table mode is a mode in which the contents printed on one page of form paper are stored in the A4 cut sheet, and landscape landscape printing is specified by specifying this mode with the operation code. Then, as shown in Table 3, the used font, character pitch, and line feed pitch are selected.

[0021]

[Table 3]

A CG font designation command is input to the pitch conversion control unit 13. Further, the pitch conversion control unit 13 stores the initial settings other than the CG font in each mode as a command for specifying each initial setting, and outputs the initial setting of the mode specified by the input operation code each time the operation code is input. When the control command is input, the character pitch designation command and the line pitch designation command (collectively referred to as pitch designation command) included in the control command are converted or converted according to the mode managed by the mode management unit 17 described above, and the dot unit Output to the print control unit 19. The control commands that are not related to each mode are output to the print control unit 19 without being converted.

The character size controller 12 includes a mode manager 17
The font of the CG font unit 11 is designated according to the mode managed by the. The CG font unit 11 converts a character code and character pattern data, and the character control unit 1
When the character code is input from 8, the dot pattern of the character corresponding to the character code is output from the font designated by the character size control unit 12.

The CG font unit 11 has two types of fonts, font A and font B, as built-in fonts, and the types of characters of font A and font B are alphabets, numbers, katakana, special characters, and simple graphics, respectively.

The body face structure of the font A (width × height) is 16 × 24 dots, and the body face structure of the font B is 20 × 28 dots. As an externally connected font, a Kanji font having a body face of 24 × 24 dots can be used alone, or a Kanji font having a body face of 24 × 24 dots and a Kanji font having a body face of 32 × 32 dots can be used. Both can be connected.

Further, when the 32 × 32 kanji font is to be designated and the 32 × 32 kanji font is not connected to the CG font part 11, the 24 × 24 kanji font is designated, which is 4/3 times as described later. The circuit 20 is designated to execute the "4/3 magnification method" described later.

When the font to be used is specified by the command analysis unit 16 in the native mode, the specified font is specified in the CG font unit (however, when the font is specified in other modes, it is ignored. However, the font determined by the mode remains selected).

A character code is input to the character control unit 18 from the command analysis unit 19, and the character control unit 18 outputs the above-mentioned character code to the CG font unit 11, and the CG font unit 1
1 converts a character code into dot pattern data corresponding to the character code by the font designated by the character size control unit 12 and outputs the dot pattern data to the 4/3 times circuit 20.

The 4/3 times circuit 20 is a character size control unit 12
If the execution of "4/3 times enlargement method" is specified by, the "4/3 times enlargement method" described later is executed and 24 x 24 dot pattern data is enlarged to 32 x 32 dot dot pattern data. Is output to the character control unit 18, and if the execution is not designated, the input pattern data is directly input to the character control unit 1.
Output to 8.

The print control unit 19 forms a print signal from the control command output from the pitch conversion control unit 13 and the dot pattern data output from the character control unit 18, and outputs the print signal to the print unit 21.

The printing unit 21 prints on the printing paper according to the above-mentioned printing signal. Next, the processing in the pitch conversion processing unit will be described with reference to FIG. When data is input from the command analysis unit 16 (ST1), it is determined whether the data is an operation code (ST2). If the input data is an operation code, a command specifying the initial setting of the mode specified by the operation code is read and output (ST3). A command designating the initial setting is input to the print control unit 19, and the print control unit 19 normally processes (executes) the above command (ST4).

If the input data is not an operation code, the input data is a control command, then it is judged whether or not the current mode is the native mode (ST5), and if it is the native mode, the input control is performed. The command is normally processed by the print control unit 19.

That is, in the native mode, the control command input is normally processed without any conversion.
In ST5, if the current mode is not the native mode, then it is determined whether or not the current mode is the book table mode (including both the B4 book table mode and the A4 book table mode) (ST6). If so, whether the input control command is a pitch designation command (including both character pitch designation command and line pitch designation command), whether it is a command that designates the number of characters in one line, Whether or not the command specifies the number of lines is determined (ST7, ST8, ST9). If yes, the input control command is not normally processed, and if no, the input control command is the print control unit 19. Normally processed in (ST
4).

In ST6, if the current mode is not the book table mode (that is, if the current mode is the actual size mode or the reduction mode), the input control command is the pitch designation command (character pitch designation command or line pitch designation command). (Including both) (ST10),
If the command is not the pitch designation command, the input command is normally processed by the print control unit 19 (ST4).

If the input control command is the pitch designation command, it is judged whether or not the current mode is the actual size mode (ST11), and if it is the actual size mode, whether the pitch designation command is specified in dot units. It is judged whether or not (ST12), and if the dot unit is specified, the specified value is set to 4/3.
Double (for example, if 30 dots are specified, 30 x 4/3 = 40 and 40
Convert to dot specification. As a result, the pitch is designated to the same length as the printer's pitch of 180 dots / inch) (ST13) and is normally processed by the print controller (ST13).
4) If the dot unit is not designated, it is converted into the dot unit (ST14) and the print control unit 19 performs normal processing (S14).
T4).

In ST11, if the current mode is not the actual size mode (that is, if the current mode is the reduction mode), it is judged whether the pitch designation command is designated in dot unit (ST15), and the dot unit is designated. If so, the print control unit 19 performs normal processing, and if not specified in dot units, it is converted into dot units (ST16), and the converted value in dot units is multiplied by 4/3 (ST17).
(For example, when 6 CPI or 6 LPI is specified, 240/6 = 40, and a character pitch or line pitch of 30 dots is specified and the print control unit 19 performs normal processing).

Regarding the mode before the mode designation command is first input, the OS may be set to a predetermined mode when the power of the printing apparatus is turned on. However, by providing a changeover switch and changing the switch, It is desirable that the power-on mode can be selected from a native mode and an actual size mode.

Next, the above-mentioned "4 / 3-fold enlargement method" will be explained. The "4 / 3-fold enlargement method" means that the 24 × 24-dot Chinese character CG is output as shown in FIG. 6 (a). The dot pattern data 41 of × 24 dots is enlarged to create the dot pattern data 42 of 32 × 32 dots. For example, as shown in FIG. If the dot pattern 41a is extracted as a block, and this block is the pattern shown in the figure, this pattern 41a is converted into a 4 × 4 dot pattern 42a. At this time, there are various 3 × 3 dot block patterns, and the number of these patterns is 2 ⁹
= 512 types exist. Therefore, a 4 × 4 dot pattern corresponding to each individual pattern is stored in the ROM and conversion is performed as necessary. The same conversion is performed for each extracted block, and by converting 64 blocks, 24 ×
32 × 32 dot dot pattern data is created from 24 dot dot pattern data.

[0039]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, by adding an operation code to the head of the host computer program, the conventional printer for low density printing can be carried out without the program of the host computer being significantly changed. In addition to being able to connect a printing device for high-density printing, it is also possible to reduce the size printed by the conventional 1/180 inch 24-pin printer, and print on foam paper. It is also possible to store information for pages in a desired B4 size or A4 size cut sheet.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram of a printing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a conventional printing example.

FIG. 3 is a diagram comparing sizes of foam paper and cut sheets.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a main part flow of a pitch conversion control block.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a character pitch, a line pitch, and a print effective area.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a “4/3 magnification method”.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 printing paper 2 foam paper 3 B4 paper size 4 A4 paper size 31 line pitch 32 character pitch 33 effective print area vertical 34 effective print area horizontal 41 24 × 24 dot pattern 41a 3 × 3 dot pattern 42 32 × 32 dot Pattern 42a 4x4 dot pattern

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Sai Yamazaki 2-229 Sakuragaoka, Higashiyamato-shi, Tokyo Casio Electronic Industry Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A printing device capable of printing based on control information input from a higher-level device, wherein the control information is control information for an assumed printer that prints at a print dot density lower than the print dot density of a printing unit of the printing device. And a second size smaller than the first size, the print data output by the assumed printer on one page of the first size paper according to the result of the identification by the identification unit. A unit for selecting a font that can be printed on a sheet of paper, and a print for printing out the print pitch designation information included in the control information on one page of the first size sheet of paper in accordance with the identification result of the identifying unit. A means for converting the data into print pitch designation information capable of being printed on a sheet of a second size smaller than the first size; A print control means for printing character information according to the selected font and the converted print pitch designation information.