JPS5898262A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To control the shape and alignment of characters so that they can be easily read by storing information designating the width of a character together with character codes in a memory wherein character codes are stored. CONSTITUTION:A character code memory 1 has a memory capacity capable of storing character codes corresponding to the maximum number of characters of one page, and character codes are edited and stored by an edit circuit in accordance with format control information and character print information transferred from an upper device. At this time, each character code is added with a unit of information designating its print width and stored in the character code memory 1. When the print width of a character is controlled by the unit of 8 steps, each is one unit, the width of a character of which print width is wide such as[W]is designated as 8 units, and that of a character of which width is narrow such as[I]is designated as 3 units.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a printing device that prints characters in a dot matrix, and particularly to controlling the printing width of characters.

There are many printing devices such as laser printers, CRT printers, and wire dot printers that print characters in a dot matrix, regardless of whether they are non-impact type or impact type. Conventional printing apparatuses employing such a dot matrix printing method print one character in a dot matrix in a rectangular area of a fixed size, such as an add-on dot or a 30 x 48 dot. For example, a conventional laser printer prints one character in a rectangular area of 30 (horizontal) x 48 (vertical) dots, regardless of the character type, as shown in FIG.

On the other hand, in general printed matter, narrow characters such as ``■'' and ``;'' are printed with a narrower printing width than wider characters such as ``M'' and ``W'', that is, in the line direction ( It is printed double-spaced. This is called proportional space printing, and the shape and arrangement of the characters are natural and easy to read.

On the other hand, if the printing width of all characters is made uniform as shown in Figure 1, characters such as "■"and; and characters such as "W" and ~
The spacing between characters such as I''' becomes irregular.

For this reason, documents printed in dot matrix using conventional printing devices have a problem in that the shape and arrangement of characters are more unnatural than in general printed matter, and the documents are less readable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a dot matrix printing type printing device that solves the above-mentioned problems.

However, the main feature of the present invention is that in a dot matrix printing type printing device, such as a laser printer or a CRT printer, the character printing width is specified together with the character code in the memory for storing the character code of the character to be printed. The second method is to store information and to provide means for controlling the print width for each character in accordance with character print width designation information read together with the character code from this memory.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing only the main parts of a dot matrix printing type printing apparatus according to the present invention.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a character code memory for storing character codes, and has a storage capacity capable of accommodating character codes corresponding to the maximum number of characters on one page. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, it is a memory of m characters x n lines. A character code is edited and stored in the character code memory 1 by an editing circuit (not shown) according to format control information and character print information transferred from the host device. At this time, information specifying the printing width of the character (character printing width specification information) is also added to each character code and stored in the character code memory 1 (2).In this example, the printing width of the character is 8 units
Control in stages. For example, the printing width of wide characters such as "W" and "M" is specified as 8 units, and the printing width of narrow characters such as "I" and 1;'' is specified as 3 units. The printing width of a character such as 1N'', which has an intermediate character width, is specified as 6 units.Such printing width is determined in advance when designing the dot matrix of each character and is registered in the editing circuit described above. , the corresponding print width designation information (unit, number) is added to each character code during editing.

When printing, character code memory 1 is DMA- (direct).
(memory access). This 1) M A
A character counter 2 and a line counter 3 are provided as address control means for this purpose.

Character counter 2 generates a character address corresponding to a character position on a character line, and line counter 3 generates a line address corresponding to a character line (2). The character code corresponding to the character position on the character line to be processed is read out (sequentially from the two-character code memory 1) together with the character print width designation information.

4 is a character generation circuit that generates a character dot turn signal, which includes a character dot/turn memory 5, a shift register 6 for parallel/serial conversion, a pixel counter 7, a main scanning counter 8, a sub-scanning counter 9, etc. Become. The character dot pattern memory 5 is a memory that stores the dot pattern of each character, and inside it, the dot pattern of one character is expressed as 32 (horizontal) x 48 (vertical) bits of information as shown in Figure 4. ing. The character dot pattern is read into a shift register 6 in 8 bits in parallel and outputted, and sent to printing means (not shown) as a bit serial character dot pattern signal at the timing of a clock provided by a clock selector 10.

The pixel counter 7 divides the clock frequency given by the clock selector 10 into 1/8 and sends it to the shift register 6.
is a modulo 8 counter that generates a timing signal to the load input LD of the LD. Main scanning counter 8 is modulo 4
The pixel counter output signals are counted and the main scanning address of the character dot pattern is generated. The sub-scanning counter 9 generates a sub-scanning address for character dots/turns, and counts the Noculus 5YNC synchronized with the sub-scanning of a printing means (not shown) by modulo 48.

The character counter 2 counts the carry output of the main scanning counter 8, and the line counter 3 counts the carry output of the sub-scanning counter 9. Furthermore, counters 2°7.8 except counters 3 and 9 are each cleared by the sub-scanning synchronization pulse VSYNC.

The clock selector 10 receives a pulse H8YNc (frequency fo) synchronized with the main scanning of the printing means and a frequency '1+'2t f3+'4 generated by the pulse generator 11.
Five types of pulses of +f5, a total of six types of pulses, are input, and character print width designation information read from the character code memory 1 is input as a selection control signal. When the printing width is specified as 3, 4°, 5.6, or 7.8 units by this character printing width specification information, the clock selector 10
5 + '4 + '3 + 'O+ '2+f
1 input pulse is selected and outputted as a clock.

Here, f5=2fO,'4=3/2fOI'3=
6A'o l f2 ''= 677 'o+ f1
There is a relationship of ==3/4'o.

The printing means prints characters in a dot matrix by rask scanning in the C2 main scanning direction parallel to the character line, and in this example, the number of main scanning lines per character line is 48. Examples of such printing means include those conventionally used as printing mechanisms of laser printers and CRT printers. Therefore, description of the specific configuration of the printing means will be omitted.

Next, the printing operation will be explained.

It is now assumed that the character code memory 1 stores character codes and character printing width designation information as shown in FIG. 3 (2).

At the start of scanning of the first scanning line of the first character line, counter 2 (7
, 8) are also cleared. Therefore, the address of the first character in the first row of the C character code memory 1 is accessed.

This address has a character code SP that indicates a blank character.
(Blank) Code is stored. Fig. 3 (Although 2 is not shown, printing width designation information indicating, for example, 6 units is added to the SP code. This SP code is given to the character dot pattern memory 5 as a pattern address, and the character printing width The designation information is given to the clock selector 10.

The SP dot pattern at the address specified by the SP code is read out from the character dot pattern memory 5 in parallel pits starting from the bytes specified by the main and sub-scanning addresses, and is loaded into the shift register 6 in parallel pits. be done. In this case, the first scanning line of the first character line is being scanned, so byte 1-1 of the SP dot pattern
1-4 (see FIG. 4) are read out in order. At this time, 6 units is specified as the character printing width, so
A clock with frequency f is output from clock selector 10. Therefore, byte 1- of the SP dot pattern
1 to 1-4 are transferred in pit series from the shift register 6 to the printing means at a speed of frequency fO.

When the main scanning counter 8 outputs a carry after bytes 1-4 are read from the character dot pattern memory 5,
The character counter 2 counts up by one, and the first and second characters of the character code memory 1 are accessed. This character is also an SP code, so similarly to the above, bytes 1-1 to 1-4 of the SP dot number (turn) are sequentially read out from the character dot pattern memory 5 to the shift register 6,
It is transferred to the printing means at a speed of frequency fo.

Similarly, the third character of the first line of character code memory 1 ~
The mth character is sequentially accessed, and bytes 1-1 to 1-4 of the first scanning line of the SP dot pattern are read out from the character dot pattern memory 5 and sequentially transferred to the printing means.

The second scanning line to the 48th scanning line of the first character line (the same applies to 2-C. However, in the second scanning line, the sub-scanning counter 9
is counted up by one by the VSYNC signal, so SP
Bytes 2-1 to 2-4 of the second scanning line of the dot pattern (
(see FIG. 4) is read out. Similarly, in the 48th scanning line, SP dot pattern pie) 48-1 to 48-4
is read out.

When a carry output is output from the sub-scanning counter 9 after completing the scanning of the 48th scanning line of the first character line, the line counter 3 counts up by one. Therefore, the addresses of the first character to the mth character in the second row of the character code memory 1 are sequentially accessed. Each character on the second line is also an SP code.

Therefore, the SP dot patterns are sequentially read out from the character dot pattern memory 5 in the same manner as for the first character, and transferred to the printing means at the frequency fo.

When the scanning of the 48th scanning line of the second character line is completed, the line counter 3 counts up by one, and reading of the character code of the third line of the character code memory 1 begins.

The 1st to 5th characters in the third line are the letters "N", ・
These are character codes of "W" and "M u, 1", and character print width designation information for designating the number of units as shown in parentheses in FIG. 3 is added to each character code.

The 6th and subsequent characters are SP codes.

First, when the 1N" code of the first character is read out, bytes 1-1 to 1-4 of the dot pattern of the character "'N" are shifted in 8-bit parallel order from the character dot pattern memory 5 that received this character code. Read out to register 6.

At this time, since the character print width specification information read together with the @N# code specifies 6 units, the clock selector 1o outputs a clock of frequency fo. Therefore, the dot pattern of the first scan line of the character 1N''' is transferred bit-by-bit to the printing means at a rate of frequency fo.

Bytes 1 to 4 of the N# dot pattern are read from the character dot pattern memory 5: and when the character counter 2 counts up by one due to the carry output of the main scanning counter 8, the 3rd row and 4th row of the character code memory 1 are read out. Two character addresses are accessed and the "I" code and character print width designation information (3 units) are read out. Therefore, from the character dot pattern memory 5, bytes 1-1 to 1-4 of the dot pattern of the character 1'' are sequentially read out and transferred to the printing means through the shift register 6 in series of pits.However, the character printing width is Since 3 units are specified, the clock selector 1o has a frequency e and a frequency f5 (=2fo
) is output, and the dot pattern is transferred at a speed of frequency f5, which is twice the speed in the case of a width of 6 units.

After reading bytes 1-4 of the dot pattern of the character "■", the character counter 2 counts up by one, and the code of the character "W" and the character print width designation information (8 units) are read from the character code memory 1. . Therefore, bytes 1-1 to 1-4 of the dot pattern of the character "W" are stored in the shift register 6 from the C1 character dot pattern memory 5.
Bits are read out sequentially in parallel. At this time, the frequency f1 (
= 3/4 fo ) clock is clock selector 1
0, the dot pattern is transferred to the printing means at a speed of frequency f1.

The same operation is repeated thereafter.

In this way, the transfer speed of the character dot pattern is controlled for each character (according to the character print width specification).Of course,
In accordance with this change in transfer speed, C, the load timing of the shift register 6, and the cycle of updating addresses of the character code memory 1 and character dot pattern memory 5 are also controlled. Therefore, the print output by the printing means is a proportional print as shown in FIG.

In this embodiment, as described above, the frequency of the clock that determines the transfer timing of the character dot pattern is controlled according to the print width specified by the character print width designation information, thereby controlling the print width for each character. However, the method of controlling the character print width is not limited to this, and it is obvious that any method that takes into account the configuration of the printing means, etc. can be adopted. It is also possible to switch the printing width of each character to be narrower or coarser.

As described in detail above, the present invention can provide a printing device that can perform proportional space printing similar to that of general printed matter, and its effects are remarkable.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of printing by a conventional printing device, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing only the main parts of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
The figure is an explanatory diagram of the character code memory, Figure 4 is an explanatory diagram of a single character dot pattern in the character dot pattern memory, and Figure 5 is an explanatory diagram of the one character dot pattern in the character dot pattern memory.
The figure is a diagram showing an example of printing according to the same embodiment. 1...Character code memory, 2...Character counter, 3
... Line counter, 4... Character generation circuit, 5... Character dot pattern memory, 6... Shift register, 7
... Pixel counter, 8... Main scanning counter, 9...
・Sub-scanning counter, 10...Clock selector, 11
...Pulse generator. -1 Agent Patent attorney Makoto Suzuki, ゛) Figure 1 2]; 1 Figure 1.41゛<1□ Main 7

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Printing in which character codes of characters to be printed are sequentially read from a memory and supplied to a character generation means, and characters are printed in a dot matrix by a printing means according to a character dot pattern generated from the character generation means. In the apparatus, character print width designation information is stored together with the character code in the memory, and means is provided for controlling the print width for each character according to the character print width designation information read together with the character code from the memory. A printing device characterized by: 2. The means for controlling the printing width of characters controls the printing width of characters by changing the transfer speed of the character dot pattern to the printing means according to the character printing width designation information. The printing device according to scope 1.