JPS6097432A - Character generator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To change typefaces easily and safely by constituting a character generator as a cartridge. CONSTITUTION:A drawer 2 with a handle 3 is provided to a side part of the main body 1 of a nonimpact printer. A guide rod 4 and a stopper 5 are provided at both side parts of the drawer 2, and a male type card edge connector 6 is provided to its rear part. When the drawer 2 is inserted to the maximum, the card edge connector 6 is connected to a female type card edge connector 7 provided in the printer body 1. A connection printed board 11 to be connected to the card edge connector 7 is arranged at the bottom part of the drawer 2 and female card edge connectors 12 are mounted on the printed board 11 at plural positions. Then, the male type card edge connector 15 of a cartridge type character generator 14 is attached to the card edge connector 12 detachably.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field] The present invention relates to a character generation device for an electronic printer.

[Prior art]

There are two types of electronic printers: impact type and non-impact type.

Impact printers include, for example, type cylinder type,
There are type ball type and type wheel type.

Many of these printers have cylinders, balls, or wheels that can be easily replaced. Therefore, in such a printer, even an operator can easily change the font.

On the other hand, non-impact printers include, for example, thermal type, inkjet type, electrostatic type, and electrophotographic type. In such printers, electrical manual signals (signs)
Characters, symbols, etc. corresponding to the above are output in hard copy form using non-impact means. For this reason, in such a printer, for example, a ROM-based character generation I
It is equipped with C. However, in conventional printers like this, character generation ICs are mounted on the printed circuit board built into the main body, so when changing the font, the device must be disassembled. could not be done. Furthermore, even when an operator performs this, there are problems with reliability in terms of electrical safety and whether or not the character generation IC is properly mounted.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a character generating device of a non-impact type that allows changing the font extremely easily and safely.

[Structure of the invention]

The present invention includes a drawer provided in the printer main body so that it can be pulled out freely, and a drawer provided in the drawer that is electrically connected to a control section in the printer main body when the drawer is pushed into the printer main body, and disconnected when pulled out. It is equipped with a printed circuit board and a cartridge-type character generator that is removably attached to the printed circuit board, and the IJ-type character generator can be replaced with the drawer pulled out. This is how it was done.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to Examples.

FIG. 1 shows the external appearance of a non-impact printer to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 shows a part of it, and FIG. 3 shows a cross section taken along line II[-1 in FIG. It is something.

The main body 1 of this printer is designed to be installed on a desk or the like via legs (not shown) provided at the four corners of its lower surface. A drawer 2 is provided on the side of the printer body 1. A handle 3 is provided at the front of the drawer 2, a guide bar 4 and a stopper 5 are provided at both sides thereof, and a male card edge connector 6 is provided at the rear thereof. The drawer 2 has a guide rod 4 connected to a guide rail (not shown) provided inside the printer body 1.
It is designed so that it can be moved in the directions of arrows A and B by being guided by. When drawer 2 is pulled out to a certain extent, stopper 5
is a stopper (not shown) provided inside the printer body 1.
It comes into contact with the holder and cannot be pulled out any further. When the drawer 2 is pushed in to its maximum extent, the CardEdge connector 6 is connected to a female CardEdge connector 7 provided within the printer body 1. The card edge connector 7 is mounted on a control printed circuit board 8 provided within the printer body 1.

A printed circuit board 11 for connection is provided at the bottom of the drawer 2. The printed circuit board 11 is connected to the card edge connector 7. The card edge connector 7 may be separate from the printed circuit board 11, or may be formed from an edge portion of the printed circuit board 11. Female card edge connectors 12 are mounted at a plurality of locations, for example, three locations, on the printed circuit board 11. An engagement wall 13 is provided at a predetermined location of the insertion portion of the card edge connector 12. A male card edge connector 15 of a cartridge type character generator 14 is detachably attached to the card edge connector 12.

FIG. 4 shows the appearance of this character generator 14, and FIG. 5 shows a part of it. The character generator 14 includes a printed circuit board 16 for character generation, which is provided with a female card edge connector 15. Engagement grooves 17 are provided at predetermined locations on the card edge connector 15. On the printed circuit board 16, a plurality of, for example three, character generation ICs 3, which are formed into a ROM, are mounted. The portion of the printed circuit board 16 other than the card edge connector 15, that is, the portion where the character generation ICl 3 is mounted, is housed in a case 19 and molded with a botting material 20 such as silicone resin.

In this character generator 14, fonts with - sets are stored in three character generation ICs 3, and their types are displayed on the display section 21. A plurality of character generators 14 with different fonts are prepared.

It is now assumed that three arbitrary character generators 14 are stored in the drawer 2 of this printer and pushed into the printer main body 1. These three character generators 14 include, for example, J
Assume that Gothic, Qing Dynasty, and Mincho fonts are stored as IS codes. In this state, when any one of the three font selection buttons 22 to 24 provided on the printer main body 1 is pressed, a predetermined one of the three character generators 14 stored in the drawer 2 will be pressed on the printed circuit board 11, etc. It is electrically connected to the printed circuit board 8 via. Therefore, in this state, by appropriately selecting the font selection buttons 22 to 24, printing will be performed in one of the Gothic, Qing Dynasty, and Mincho fonts according to the JIS code.

When changing the font with this printer, first pull out drawer 2 and use the character generator 14 stored in it.
Remove. At this time, the card edge connector 6 of the drawer 2 comes off from the card edge connector 7 of the printed circuit board 8, ensuring electrical safety. After this, the desired ASCII code or extended binary coded decimal code (E
A character generator 14 in which a character set corresponding to BCDIC) is stored for each typeface is stored in a drawer 2. At this time, the engaging groove 1 of the card edge connector 15 of the character generator 14
By engaging the card edge connector 7 with the engagement wall 13 of the card edge connector 12, incorrect insertion is prevented. Next, the drawer 2 is pushed in, and its card edge connector 6 is connected to the card edge connector 7 of the printed circuit board 8. This completes the font change work.

FIG. 6 shows an example of the contents stored in the character generation ICl3 of the character generator 14.

In this character generation ICI 8, in addition to a predetermined character pattern area 31, the header is provided with an attribute information area for the font. In the attribute information area, ASCII (
ASCII code, etc. application code area 32, information area 33 in the height direction of the character as shown in Figure 7, information area 3 in the width direction of the character as shown in Figure 8 or 9.
There is a 4th prize.

If the font attribute information is stored in the character generation ICl 3 in this way, it can be read out by the control unit of the printer. Therefore, it is no longer necessary to instruct parameters of the printer's control unit to be changed due to a change in font from a switch on the operation panel or from the host, and labor savings can be achieved.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, the character generator can be converted into a card (IJ) and can be replaced in an electrically safe state, making it extremely easy and safe to change the font. be able to. Therefore, even an operator can easily change the font while ensuring reliability.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is an external view showing the main parts of a non-impact printer to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied, Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing a part of the printer, and Fig. 3 is a line taken along line III-III in Fig. 2. Figure 4 is an external view showing the character generator, Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view along the
The figure is a front view showing a part of the character generator, and FIGS. 6 to 9 are diagrams for explaining an example of the contents stored in the character generator. 1...Printer body, 2...Drawer, 6...Male card edge connector, 7...
...Female card edge connector, 8...
・Printed board for control, 11... Printed board for connection, 12... Male card edge connector, 14... Character generator, 15...・・Male card edge connector, 16
...Printed circuit board for character generation, 18...
...Character generation IC1 19...Case, 20...Botting material. Applicant Fuji Serotox Co., Ltd. Agent Patent Attorney Umeo Yamauchi Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 0 Figure 5 Figure 1/R)

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A drawer provided in the printer main body so that it can be pulled out freely, and a drawer provided in the drawer that is electrically connected to a control section in the printer main body and pulled out when the drawer is pushed into the printer main body. 1. A character generator comprising: a printed circuit board that is cut when the circuit board is cut; and a cartridge-type character generator that is detachably attached to the printed circuit board. 2. The character generator is constructed by mounting a character generation IC on a printed circuit board with a connector function on the edge portion, and housing and molding the IC in a case. Character generator according to item 1.