JPH078589B2 - Recording control device - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a recording control device for recording an image pattern formed of a character pattern generated based on a character code from a host computer.

[Prior Art] By aligning the left and right digit positions on the paper that has been conventionally mounted on the recording device, the left margin and the printing operation that determine the start position of the printing operation of the carriage are performed in order to perform beautiful printing. A recording device is generally used in which the write margin that determines the end position can be adjusted. Furthermore,
In many page printers that use cut paper instead of roll paper, the top margin and bottom margin are also adjustable. Particularly, in a recording control device such as a laser beam printer, which has recently attracted attention as a page printer capable of obtaining high-quality images, a vertical and horizontal margin adjusting function is one of the functions basically provided.

These upper, lower, left, and right margin position designations are usually sent from the host computer as a command at the start of printing, as shown on the left. However, since these margin positions are not visible, it is not known where they are on the actual paper until the text is printed.Printing starts from an unexpected position, and the margin position is changed in a hurry to print again. When I repeated "," I made many mistakes. Especially at the write margin position, the line length of the main text is usually different, so if lines that do not reach the write margin position continue at the beginning of the document, it is difficult to determine the correct write margin position even after the printing operation has started. . Therefore, after printing a few pages, a long line of data is input, and the second half of the line runs out of the expected area, and it was wasteful to redo all the pages printed up to that point from the beginning.

[Object] The present invention is proposed in view of the disadvantages of the above-described conventional recording control device, and is set to the left before the document is actually recorded based on the character code from the host computer. Another object of the present invention is to provide a recording control device that allows a user to visually recognize a printable area on a recording medium defined by a margin, a write margin, a top margin, and a bottom margin.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the recording control apparatus according to the present invention is a means for inputting a character code from a host computer (in the embodiment described later, the input buffer 5 (second
(Corresponding to FIG. 2)) and pattern generating means for generating a character pattern based on the character code (also corresponding to the character generator 12 (FIG. 2)).
And margin setting means for variably setting the left margin, right margin, top margin and bottom margin (also corresponding to the left margin register 6, right margin register 7, top margin register 8 and bottom margin register 9 (FIG. 2)). Yes), a judgment means for judging whether or not to execute the test recording operation mode (also corresponding to step S8 in the flowchart of FIG. 3), and a case where the judgment means judges not to execute the test recording operation mode. Is generated on the basis of the character code input from the input means in the printable area on the recording medium defined by the left margin, right margin, top margin and bottom margin set by the setting means. First to record an image pattern consisting of character patterns Control means (also corresponding to steps S1 to S7 in the flowchart of FIG. 3) and the judgment means judge visually the printable area of the character pattern on the recording medium when the test recording operation mode is determined to be executed. In order to inform the user, the left margin, the right margin set by the setting means,
Second control means for generating and recording an image pattern that graphically represents the top margin and the bottom margin without depending on the character code input by the input means (also in steps S9 to S10 in the flowchart of FIG. 3). (Corresponding).

Preferably, the determination means determines to execute the test recording operation mode based on an instruction from the host computer or an operation of a switch for instructing the test recording operation mode.

[Examples] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of the margin position. Paper 20 in the figure
If the rectangle 21 written on the
With the upper left corner of 20 as the origin, m ₁ is called the left margin and m ₃ is called the top margin. In addition, the difference between the horizontal length of the paper 20 and m ₂ is usually called a write margin, but here, m ₂ is the write margin for the sake of the unified description with the upper left corner as the origin. Similarly, let m ₄ be the bottom margin.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a control mechanism in which the present invention is applied to a laser beam printer. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a CPU that controls the timing of various operations and controls this device by communicating with the host computer 2 side.
(Central controller). Reference numeral 3 is an input / output port for transmitting and receiving various input / output signals such as timing control signals, and a signal of a margin print test switch 4 described later is input through the input / output port 3. An input buffer 5 temporarily stores character codes and commands sent from the host computer 2. Reference numerals 6 to 9 are margin registers for storing margin values (m _{1 to} m ₄ ), 6 is a left margin register, 7 is a right margin register, 8 is a top margin register, and 9 is a bottom margin register. The values of the margins m ₁ , m ₂ , m ₃ , m ₄ shown in FIG. 1 correspond to the values stored in the registers 6 to 9, respectively. Further, 10 is a digit counter and 11 is a line counter, which plays a role of memorizing the current position during normal printing operation. A character generator 12 generates a dot image by a character code. An output page buffer 13 stores an output image of one page sentence in a dot form. Reference numeral 14 is a printer interface unit for converting the contents of the output page buffer 13 into a video signal. Reference numeral 15 denotes a printing unit that prints while turning on / off the laser light according to the video signal.

Next, the operation of the laser beam printer via such a control circuit will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, in step S1, the CPU1 is the host computer 2
It is determined whether or not the character code sent from is received in the input buffer 5 and is temporarily stored. If the character code is stored, the process proceeds to step S2 and the character code is read from the input buffer 5. Next, in step S3, the CPU 1 uses the character generator 12 to obtain the corresponding dot image according to the read character code. Thereafter, this dot image is stored at the current position indicated by the digit counter 10 and the row counter 11 in the output page buffer 13 in step S4. Next, in step S5, the line and column positions are adjusted in preparation for the next printing. Specifically, the digit counter 10 is incremented by the character width, and the line counter 11 is incremented by the line feed pitch when a line feed is to be performed. In this adjustment work, it is of course necessary to check whether the next position is within the range of the value of the margin register given by 6-9. Then move to step S6,
It is judged whether the data in the output page buffer 13 has been prepared for one page. This determination is made by determining whether or not the value of the row counter 11 exceeds the value stored in the bottom margin register 9 in the operation of the previous step S5. If one page has not been completed, the process returns to step S1, which is the first start state, and the next cycle starts.
When one page has been completed, the process proceeds to step S7 to perform the printing operation. That is, rotate the photosensitive drum (not shown) in the printing unit 15,
A video signal is generated through the printer interface unit 14 to form an image for one page.

Consider the case where the margin print test switch 4 is pressed in addition to the above-described normal print operation. If there is no received data and the margin print test switch 4 has not been pressed, the step S1 and step S8 are repeated, and the printer is in the idle state. However, when the margin print test switch 4 is pressed, the control operation of the printing device goes to step 9. Move. At step S9, the values of the margin registers 6 to 9, that is,
m ₁ ~m ₄ is read. Next, in step S10, a rectangular dot image is stored in the corresponding position in the output page buffer 13. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the details of the operation in step S10 in more detail.

First, in step S101, m ₁ is added to the digit counter 10
11 m ₃ each are set. Next, at step 102, the dot image "", which is part of the corner of the rectangle, is recalled from the character generator 12 and stored in the output page buffer 13 (step 103). The memorized position is
It is indicated by the value already set in the digit counter 10 and the row counter 11. In step S104, it is checked whether the rectangular data determined by the margin values m _{1 to} m ₄ has been completed in the output page buffer 13. This judgment is a line counter
This is done by determining whether the value of 11 exceeds the value (m ₄ ) stored in the bottom margin register 9. If the rectangle image is not completed, the process returns to step S101 again to count up the value previously set in the digit counter 10 by one. If the value exceeds m ₂ at this time, the line counter
11 is incremented by ₁ and the value of digit counter 10 is reset to m ₁ . Then, if a new margin position (for example, m ₄ ) is set, the necessary dot image is called in step S102 and is output to the output page buffer 13
Store in the position indicated by the digit counter 10 and the row counter 11 in. However, the dot image called at this time is
Depending on the values of the digit counter 10 and the row counter 11, it is necessary to generate the line segment elements of the upper, lower, left, and right corners, which are rectangular components, of two horizontal and two vertical line segments. By repeating such operations, the store of a predetermined rectangular image is completed. Next, in step S11, this rectangular image is printed on paper. After printing, step again
Return to S1 to start the next cycle. The method of printing the margin frame is not limited to the one described above.For example, without using the character generator 12, the CPU 1 directly outputs the margin to the page buffer 13 for output based on the coordinates obtained from m ₁ , m ₂ , m ₃ and m _4. You may write a frame.

In the above-described embodiment, the margin printing test switch 4 shifts from the normal printing operation to the margin frame printing operation, but the above operation may be performed by a command from the host computer.

Further, the case where the present invention is applied to a laser beam printer has been described, but the applicable range of the present invention is not limited to this, and it is needless to say that the present invention can be applied to a printer of another system.

[Effect] As described above, according to the present invention, by setting the left margin, right margin top margin, and bottom margin before the actual recording of the document based on the character code from the host computer, The printable area on the specified recording medium can be visually recognized by the user.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of a margin position, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a flow chart for explaining an operation example, and FIG. 4 is a more detailed description of operation contents of step S10. It is the flow chart shown. Here, 1 ... CPU, 2 ... Host computer, 3 ...
… I / O port, 4 …… Margin printing test switch,
5 ... Input buffer, 6 ... Left margin register,
7 ... Write margin register, 8 ... Top margin register, 9 ... Bottom margin register, 10 ... Digit counter, 11 ... Line counter, 12 ... Character generator, 13 ...
Output page buffer, 14 …… Printer interface,
15 ... Print section.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A means for inputting a character code from a host computer, a pattern generating means for generating a character pattern based on the character code, and a margin for variably setting a left margin, a right margin, a top margin and a bottom margin. Setting means, judgment means for judging whether or not to execute the test recording operation mode, and left margin and right set by the setting means when the judgment means judges not to execute the test recording operation mode. First control means for recording an image pattern consisting of a character pattern generated based on a character code input from the input means in a printable area on a recording medium defined by a margin, a top margin, and a bottom margin. And executing the test recording operation mode by the judging means. When it is determined, the left margin, the right margin, the top margin, and the bottom margin set by the setting means are graphically displayed so as to visually inform the user of the printable area of the character pattern on the recording medium. And a second control means for generating and recording the image pattern shown in <1> without depending on the character code input by the input means. 2. The recording control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the judgment means judges whether to execute the test recording operation mode based on an instruction from the host computer. 3. The recording control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the judging means judges whether to execute the test recording operation mode based on an operation of a switch that commands the test recording operation mode.