JPS61151687A - Image output unit - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field] The present invention relates to an image output device equipped with a pattern generation device.

[Prior Art] Among conventionally used output devices capable of generating a plurality of different patterns, many recording devices other than type printers convert character code data given from a host computer into characters corresponding to each character in advance. It is designed to print by converting it into a dot pattern. For example, non-impact printers such as thermal printers, wire dot printers, and laser beam printers fall under this category. These printers record characters in different fonts by having character generators for different fonts (for example, italic, bold, etc.), and these character generators are particularly It tends to be implemented in printers that record English characters with a small number of characters. Furthermore, recently there are devices in which a ROM or RAM, which is a character generator, is made into a cartridge, and a socket is provided in the output device, so that the cartridge can be attached or removed. As a result, the user side can freely select the font, which increases its usability, and the manufacturer side no longer needs to expand the character generator built into the recording device without limit. Since the number of fonts that can be supplied with a cartridge is limited, cartridges must be replaced frequently if the users are different or if many fonts are to be recorded on one page. Another disadvantage is that if you forget to replace the font, it is not guaranteed that the font will be recorded in the specified font. In order to solve this problem, it is possible to create an apparatus in which a plurality of cartridges can be installed at once, but this has the disadvantage of increasing the cost of the apparatus itself.

[Objective] The present invention was made in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks, and an object of the present invention is to provide a low-cost image output device that can output a desired pattern.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an image output device that can output a desired image and has excellent operability.

[Example] Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

Figure 1 shows various body parts, and Figure 1 (L
) is a regular one. Figure 1(b) shows italic type, and Figure 1(C) shows bold type.

Typefaces are changed in a variety of cases, but in most cases the intention is to emphasize a certain string of characters for some reason. In particular, italic fonts as shown in FIG. 1(b), bold fonts as shown in FIG. 1(C), etc. are used to emphasize character strings. Specifically, changing the font is usually accomplished by issuing a font change command to the recording device and switching the designated address of the character pattern to the address of the character generator of the designated font in accordance with the command.

Figure 2 shows a control circuit diagram for character pattern generation in this embodiment, in which character code data and control commands sent from a host computer are input to a page printer such as a laser beam printer. In Figure 0, which shows the case of recording a character pattern, 201 is a computer (host computer) that generates character code data and control instructions, 202 is an input buffer that temporarily stores character code data and control instructions, and 203 is a general-purpose computer. 204 is a built-in character generator that generates character dot patterns according to character code data; 205 is a cartridge-type removable character generator; 206 is a socket for connecting the character generator 205; 210; converts the character dot pattern into character generator 2
05.204 or a RAM for copying and using it from yourself, 207 is a RAM with the number of dots for one page
211 is a management RAM for storing information regarding registered character pattern sets (described later); 208 maintains an interface with the printer; The printer interface part that occurs,
209 is a page printer which is an output device that receives the video signal and actually records an image, and 214 is a CPU board.

Next, the operation of the circuit shown in FIG. 2 will be explained in detail.

In the configuration shown in FIG. 2, character code data and character pattern set copy commands sent from the computer 201 are stored in a temporary input buffer 202. Here, the format of the character pattern set copy command in this embodiment is the third
As shown in the figure, first, 5sourceID301
(Identifier number of the character pattern set to be copied) and Destination ID302 (Identifier number of the new character pattern set to be created by copying)
is input first, and then the registration command 303 is input. As a result, the character pattern set indicated by source ID 301 is
The data structure of the zero-order character pattern set copied and registered as the character pattern set indicated by D302 will be explained.

Now, when we consider the printing of English text, etc., the code system is as shown in Figure 4, and as shown in Figure 1, each character, symbol, etc. is 21 to 7E (in this example, each code is shown for the sake of explanation). 1
6. It is expressed in the base system. ) code. Further, in this embodiment, the character pattern set is, for example, the fifth character pattern set.
The information is stored in a memory such as RAM or ROM in a system as shown in the figure. The character pattern set consists of a character pattern set information section 501 and a character pattern section 502, and the character pattern section 502 stores patterns (dot patterns) corresponding to each code 21 to 7E in a specified size. At this time, one character set (codes 21 to 7)
Information regarding E) is stored in the character pattern set information section 501, and this character pattern set information section 501
Information such as character pattern cell ID, character height, character width, character pitch, and code system (7 bits, 8 bits, etc.) is stored in the field. Also, the size of each character (or symbol) in the character pattern section 502 is determined by the character pattern set information 1.
11501, (character height x
Character width) is determined by the size of 78 bytes. A certain character 1 For example, “A” corresponding to the code “41” shown in 503
The character is represented by a dot matrix of a size specified by the character height and character width in the character pattern set information section 501, and as shown in the figure, the character is divided into 8 bits from the left end of the point with a character height of 1 and stored in the RAM. Or registered on ROM. In addition, the capacity of the character pattern set information section 501 is fixed (in bytes), but the capacity of the character pattern section 502 is variable length determined by the code system (7 bits, 8 bits, 2 bytes, etc.). Management R is used to manage such character pattern sets.
A management pattern table is created using the AM 211, and its format is shown in FIG. 6, for example.

The following three items are registered in the management pattern table for one character pattern set. The first item is the character pattern set identifier (character pattern set ID)
) SQL, which is used when registering a character pattern set or specifying a single character pattern set to determine the font to be used. The second item is the starting address 6
02, which indicates the start address where the character pattern set information section 501 exists. The third item is type 603, which indicates the type of medium on which the character pattern set exists.

That is, the character pattern set indicated by the character pattern set identifier 601 is stored in the built-in ROM 204 and the registration RAM 210.
, indicates in which of the cartridges 205 the file is stored.

The algorithm for copying and registering a character pattern set will be explained below using the flowchart shown in FIG. still,
The flowchart in FIG. 7 is executed by the CPU 203.

In this embodiment, for example, a character pattern set of a certain typeface stored in the cartridge 205 is stored in the RAM 210.
By copying and registering character patterns in a variety of fonts, it is possible to use them. Therefore, according to this embodiment, even if a cartridge is removed or replaced with another cartridge, character pattern sets of multiple types stored in multiple cartridges can be copied and registered. can be used as needed.

In the command parsing routine, 5sourceID30
When L is input, it is analyzed in step 5701), and it is determined whether the specified character pattern ID exists in the management pattern table of the management RAM 211, and if it does not exist, copying cannot be executed, so the process ends. If it exists, move to step 5702 and display the Desk
When the i nation ID 302 is input, it is analyzed and it is determined whether the specified character pattern ID 302 already exists on the management pattern table.

If it already exists, copying cannot be performed and the process ends. If it does not exist, copy registration is executed.
At this time, find the start address of the corresponding character pattern set information section from 5sourceID, and the information therein (character pattern height "b" bits, width 'W" bits, number of characters that can be printed according to the code system "n") 1 character pattern set The byte length required for copying is “C” according to the information department byte length “Tachi”)
is determined in step 5703 using the following calculation formula.

C=i+nx (bX (w/8)) And the unused area for this byte length is the RAM210
It is determined in step 3704 whether or not the file exists in the file, and if it does not exist, copying is not performed.

If it is determined in step 5704 that copying can be performed, the character pattern set specified by 5sourceID is copied and stored in an unused area in the RAM 210, and only the white character pattern set ID of the copied character pattern set is Dest i nati onI
D (Step 2 5705), and then as a management pattern table update routine, the newly registered character pattern set ID and the first address of the registration destination are written to the management RAM 211, and the newly registered character pattern set is Set a flag that it is RAM (
Step 5706), thus completing the character pattern set copying operation. Incidentally, if the cartridge 205 is removed, all information on the character pattern set existing as a cartridge on the management pattern table is deleted from the table. When a cartridge is inserted, the start address, ID number, and cartridge pattern of each character pattern set stored in the cartridge are registered in the management pattern table. Further, when the power is turned on, information (starting address, number from character pattern set, etc.) of both the built-in ROM 204 and the cartridge (if a cartridge is inserted) is registered in the management pattern table.

Next, the recording operation in this embodiment will be described using the flowcharts of FIGS. 8 and 9.

After the CPU 203 initializes a digit counter (not shown) indicating the horizontal recording position and a line counter (not shown) indicating the vertical recording position in steps 5901 and 5902,
The CPU 203 inputs the input buffer 20 in step 5903.
2, the 1 unit code (1 unit code corresponds to a dot pattern of 1 character) is read. At step 5904, it is determined whether reading of all the need data has been completed, and if it is determined that it has not been completed, At step 5905, it is determined whether there is a command regarding a font change. If it is determined that this command does not exist, a character dot pattern corresponding to the character code is generated in the output page buffer 207 in step 5906. This character dot pattern is obtained from the currently specified character pattern set, which is properly positioned by the CPU 203 as described later, and the dot pattern for one character is placed in the output page buffer 2.
07.

The position of the next character to be generated will be explained using FIG. FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the contents of the output page buffer, in which 801 is the number of left margins (JLm), 80
2 is the number of body digits (n), 803 is the number of right margins (rm), 80
4 is the number of top margins (tm), 805 is the number of body lines (fL), 8
06 is the number of bottom margins (bm), 807 is the number of dots in the line pitch (yp), 808 is the number of dots in the character pitch (xp), a
O9 indicates the number of dots (XS) of the horizontal character width.The upper left corner of the page is the origin (0, 0), and the value of the digit counter is Xc.
, when the value of the line counter is Yc, the position (Xo+"lo) of the lower right edge of the character dot pattern of the 1-occurring character is found by the formula: As c and Yc change, the position of the generated character is determined.

After a character is generated in step 8906 using the method described above, the value of the digit counter is incremented by 1 in step 5907, and a check for digit overflow is performed in step 3908.If there is no overflow in step 8908, that is, If the value of the digit counter is smaller than the number of body digits (n), the process returns to step 5903 and the next 1-unit code is read.

Generate character dot patterns one after another in the same way,
If a digit error occurs in step 5908, the value of the row counter is increased by 1 in step 3909, and step 59
After initializing the digit counter in step 10, step 5911
If it is determined that the page is not overflowing, that is, if the value of the line counter is equal to or smaller than the number of body lines (Jl), it is determined that there is still room in the output page buffer. Step 8903
The process returns to and continues the creation process of the output page buffer 207. Conversely, if it is determined in step 5911 that there is a page overflow, the output page buffer 20 for one page is
Assuming that the creation of step 7 has been completed, the dot images for each scan line are displayed in the printer interface section 2.
The video signal is transferred to 08, converted into a video signal in the circuit section, and then recorded by a page printer 209, which is an output device. Similarly, from step 5903 to step 5913
Pages are created one after another by repeating this process.

By the way, when the font change command is read in step 3905, the character pattern set ID that the command has as a parameter is stored in the management RAM 21 in step 5914.
Check whether it exists in the management pattern table of No.1. If it exists, in step 5915 the CPU
The contents of the base register 203 are changed from the address of the character pattern set accessed just before to the address of the character pattern set specified this time, and the process returns to step 5903. Then, by entering the next 1-unit code process, it is possible to record with a character pattern whose font has been changed.

According to the process flow explained above, recording is performed according to the font change command and character code data, but information indicating the end of data (for example, a code indicating the end of a job, a code indicating the end of a file, etc.) 5904
If it is recognized in step 5916.5917,
Only when the content of the output page buffer 207 currently being created is not empty, that is, when the line counter is 2 or more or the digit counter is 1 or more, the data in the buffer is printed and all processing is completed.

FIG. 10 shows a schematic sectional view of a laser beam printer to which the present invention can be applied.

In FIG. 1θ, 21 is an exposure device equipped with a scanner and a laser unit. 22 is a developing unit that visualizes the latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 23. 2
3 is a photosensitive drum, 24 is a paper feed cassette, and 5 is a paper feed roller that feeds sheets of paper one by one from the paper feed cassette 24 to the conveying roller 6. 7 is a registration shutter, and the paper conveyed via the conveyance roller 6 is temporarily stopped by this registration shutter 2 tough, and the projection of the laser beam and the rotational operation of the photosensitive drum 23 are synchronized with the sheet feeding. is taken. Reference numeral 8 denotes a feed roller for feeding the paper to the transfer section 9. 10 is a fixing section that fixes the toner image transferred onto the paper, and 11 is a stacker section that receives the discharged paper. Further, as mentioned above, 205 is a detachable character generator, 206 is a socket, and 214 is a CPU.
203, CPU with output buffer 207 etc. installed
It's a board.

In the laser beam printer configured in this way,
A sequence controller 13 controls a series of operation timings such as conveyance of paper and development. Additionally, this laser beam printer has a printer interface section 208.
A visible image is formed on the photosensitive drum 23 by turning on/off the laser beam according to the video signal output from the photosensitive drum 23.

Note that in this embodiment, the character pattern set to be copied is specified by the character pattern set identifier.
The currently used character pattern set may be registered as a new character pattern set by changing only the character pattern set identifier.Also, in this embodiment, the recording device is used as the terminal device. However, a CRT terminal device or the like may also be used.Also, in this embodiment, copy registration of character pattern sets is performed by commands from a host computer, but it can also be performed by, for example, operation keys attached to a recording device. It's okay.

[Effects] As explained above, according to the present invention, it is possible to newly register patterns such as letters, etc. 1. For example, even if a change in font is requested, the necessary image can be output without any unnecessary operations. It is something that can be done.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, necessary patterns can be registered, thereby preventing inconveniences such as unnecessarily installing a large number of built-in character generators with different fonts and having to frequently replace cartridges. These are diagrams showing various typefaces of English characters, in which Figure 1(a) shows a regular typeface, Figure 1(b) shows an italic typeface, and Figure 1(c) shows a bold typeface. 2 is a control circuit diagram in this embodiment, FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the format of a copy command for a character pattern set, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a code system for English, etc., and FIG. 5 is a character pattern set FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of the management pattern table, FIG. 7 is a flowchart for character pattern set copy registration in this embodiment,
FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the contents of the output page buffer, FIG. 9 is a 70-chart of the recording operation in this embodiment, and FIG. 10 is a schematic configuration diagram of a laser beam printer to which the present invention can be applied.

Here, 201 is a calculator, 202 is an input buffer, 203
2 is a CPU, 204 is a built-in character generator, 205 is a removable character generator, 206 is a socket, 207 is an output page buffer, 208 is a printer interface unit, 2
09 is a page printer, 210 character pattern set storage RAM, and 211 is a management RAM.

Figure 6 End Figure 7 Concave Figure 8 Procedural amendment form) May 23, 1985 1. Display of the case 1988 Patent Application No. 276930 2) Name of the invention Image output device 3. Person making the amendment Relationship to the incident Patent applicant address 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Name (100
) Canon Co., Ltd. Representative Ryu Kaku 3 Part 4, Agent address: 3-30-25 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo 146, Date of amendment order (shipment date) April 30, 1985 6, Maps subject to amendment Side 7, Contents of amendment As shown in the engraving of the drawing originally attached to the application (no change in content)

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) An image output device that generates a pattern according to input information, including a first pattern generation means that generates a predetermined pattern, a second pattern generation means, and a predetermined pattern generated from the first pattern generation means. The second
1. An image output device comprising means for copying and registering a pattern in a pattern generating means. (2) The image output device according to claim 1, wherein the first pattern generating means is removable.