JPS6150787B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Technical Field] The present invention responds to digitally coded input data and generates characters or arbitrary figures (hereinafter referred to collectively as "characters") corresponding to the coded data. '') (in the present invention, display on a screen and recording on a recording medium are collectively referred to as output),
In particular, the present invention relates to an information output device that provides diversity and flexibility in character display formats, ie, formats regarding the size, spacing, display position, font, etc. of displayed characters.

[Prior art]

This type of information output device that outputs characters is becoming an extremely important element in the peripherals of data processing devices such as computers or as terminal devices. It is often required to convert to An example of an information output device that satisfies this requirement is an impact printing device that selects a piece of type or other embossed mark corresponding to each input character code and prints by striking a printable medium. For example, line printers have traditionally been used.
One of the drawbacks of this type of printing device is that there are serious limitations in terms of the variety of character display formats mentioned above, i.e. there is a physical limit to increasing the number of type pieces in the printing device. Moreover, it is necessary to interrupt the printing operation for a long time in order to change the character type and select another set of character pieces.

Furthermore, another drawback of the above-mentioned impact printing device is that since the input character code and the type pieces in the printing device usually have a one-to-one correspondence, there is no flexibility in the relationship between the character code and the printed characters. This is the point where it is controlled.

Furthermore, as non-impact type information output devices, there have been conventional examples such as inkjet type printing devices, but at present the above-mentioned limitations have not been completely eliminated even in these devices.

〔the purpose〕

A first object of the present invention is to provide an information output device that eliminates the drawbacks of the above-mentioned conventional example and has functions that are rich in diversity and flexibility.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a display information output device that can display characters having various different character display formats in a mixed manner on the same page or in the same line.

That is, the present invention provides a character code storage unit (FIGS. 6 and 7) that stores character codes indicating characters to be output.
6-5 in FIG. 8), and a dot pattern storage section (FIGS. 6, 7, 6-10 in FIG. 10) that stores a group of character dot patterns corresponding to the character code.
and a display format information storage section (7th section) that stores a plurality of display format information indicating display formats of characters to be output.
Figure 10, Figure 8-6) and a first diagram showing the storage position of each dot pattern in the dot pattern storage section.
an index storage section (Figs. 6, 7, 6-5) in FIG. 8, the index storage unit is referred to based on the character code read from the character code storage unit, and the first and second
information for reading the address information of the character code, reading the character dot pattern and display format information corresponding to the character code from the dot pattern storage section and the display format information storage section based on the first and second address information, and outputting the character. It provides an output device.

〔Example〕

3 and 4 show an outline of a preferred embodiment of the information output device according to the present invention.

A Overview of equipment in online printers Part 3
The figure shows an embodiment as a so-called online printer.

4-5 is a well-known computer, and channel 4-9 of the computer 4-5 includes, in addition to the online printer 4-1 according to the present invention, a magnetic tape device, a magnetic disk device, a card reading/punching machine, a keyboard operating console, etc. Normally, commonly used input/output devices 4-6 are connected.

Connect channel 4 of computer 4-5 to channel connection section 4-4 of online printer 4-1.
-9 is connected. The channel connection section 4-4 is further connected to an image signal processing section 4-3 via a second signal line 4-8, and the image signal processing section 4-3 is further connected to a printing section via a third signal line 4-7. 4-2
connected to.

The channel connection unit 4-4 receives a channel command from the computer via the channel 4-9, and sends character code information to be printed to the image signal processing unit 4-3 via the second signal line 4-8. It provides form control information, character bit pattern information, and other commands necessary for print output, and its operating mode is, for example, International Business Machines.
Published patent publication with Corporation as applicant
No. 51-71026.

The image signal processing section 4-3 stores at least one page worth of various data input from the second signal line 4-8, and processes the control signal input from the second signal line 4-8 and the third signal line 4-7. The screen of the page to be printed is assembled based on the horizontal and vertical synchronizing signals sent from the printing unit 4-2 through the printer, and the serial bit pattern signals of the screen are sequentially sent through the three signal lines 4-7. This is applied to the printing unit 4-2 and causes the printing unit 4-2 to display a visible image on the printing paper, and by repeating this operation, the printing unit 4-2 displays the same screen or a screen that changes one after another. This causes the output to be repeated.

B Outline of equipment in offline printer No. 4
The figure shows an embodiment as a so-called offline printer.

5-1 shows the overall configuration of an offline printer, and the offline printer 5-1 includes a magnetic tape device 5-5, a magnetic tape device connection section 5-4, an image signal processing section 4-3, a printing section 4-2, a first Signal line 5-9, second signal line 4-8, third signal line 4-7
Consists of. Note that elements having the same functions as those shown in the third figure are given the same numbers, and the same applies hereinafter.

Reference numeral 5-5 is a well-known magnetic tape device, and by setting the magnetic tape output in the computer system, necessary control information related to character code data to be printed and print control information to be described later can be transmitted to the computer system. 1 signal line 5-9, magnetic tape device connection section 5-4, 2nd signal line 4-8
The image signal processing unit 4-3
It is sent to

The magnetic tape device connecting section 5-4 receives data from the magnetic tape device via the first signal line 5-9, converts it into a signal in a form that is easy to handle by the image signal processing section 4-3, and sends the data to the second signal line 4-8. At the same time, data is sent to the image signal processing unit 4-3 via
A first signal line 5-9 receives a control signal from the image signal processing unit 4-3 via a second signal line 4-8.
The operation of the magnetic tape unit 5-5 is controlled by supplying the signal to the magnetic tape unit 5-5 through the ROM, and is a well-known device that is commercially available as a formatter or a magnetic tape control unit.

3 and 4, a printing section 4-2, an image signal processing section 4-3, a second signal line 4-8, a third
The same numbers are given to the signal lines 4-7. This is because this part of the invention is basically the same whether it takes the form of an on-line printer or an off-line printer.

Connect the second signal line 4-8 to the channel connection section 4-8
Depending on whether it is connected to the magnetic tape device connection section 5-4 or the magnetic tape device connection section 5-4, slight changes are required to the processing program within the image signal processing section 4-3 and the control line within the second signal line 4-8. However, this has nothing to do with the essence of the present invention, and if necessary, the channel connection section 4-4 can be channel-connected so that it can be seen from the second signal line as if it were a magnetic tape device connection section 5-4. It is also possible to configure the connection part 4-4, and by this, the second signal line 4-8 can be connected regardless of the form of the online printer.
It is possible to make the following parts completely the same.

C Configuration of printing section Next, referring to Figures 1 and 2, printing section 4-2
The configuration will be explained in detail.

FIG. 1 schematically shows the basic configuration of this embodiment. A laser beam emitted from a laser oscillator 1-1 is passed through a lens 1-2 and an A/O modulation element 1- which utilizes the known acousto-optic effect.
3. The light enters a light modulation system composed of lenses 1-4. Here, the lens 1-2 functions to focus and project the laser beam onto the Bragg reflection surface generated within the A/O modulation element, and the lens 1-4 functions to project the laser beam which is being diffracted and diverging from the Bragg reflection surface. It functions to convert into parallel light flux.

When using an A/O modulation element that utilizes the electro-optic effect of optoelectronics, lens 1-2 and lens 1-
4 is unnecessary, and it goes without saying that the above-mentioned optical modulation system can be omitted if the laser oscillator is a gas laser or the like capable of current modulation.

The laser beam emitted from the lens 1-4 becomes a flat beam and enters the beam expander 1-7, where the beam diameter is expanded while remaining a parallel beam.

Furthermore, the laser beam whose beam diameter has been expanded is incident on a polyhedral rotating mirror 1-8 having one or more mirror surfaces. The polyhedral rotating mirror 1-8 is mounted on a shaft supported by a high-precision bearing (e.g. air bearing) and rotates at a constant speed (e.g. hysteresis synchronous motor, DC servo motor).
It is driven by a motor 1-9. The laser beam horizontally swept by the polyhedral rotating mirror 1-8 is imaged as a spot on the photosensitive drum 1-14 by an imaging lens 1-13 having f-θ characteristics. Incidentally, the imaging lens 1-13 is described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 51-99938, so a detailed explanation thereof will be omitted.

As described above, the deflected and modulated laser beam (2-2 in the second diagram) is transmitted to the photosensitive drum 1-14.
After being irradiated and visualized using an electrophotographic processing process, it is transferred and fixed onto plain paper and output as a hard copy. As an example of an electrophotographic process applied to this embodiment, a photosensitive plate whose basic constituents are a conductive support, a photoconductive layer, and an insulating layer, as described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 42-23910 of the present applicant. The surface of the insulating layer 1-14 is uniformly charged positively or negatively in advance by a first corona charger 1-16, and the charged polarity is applied to the interface between the photoconductive layer and the insulating layer or inside the photoconductive layer. Then, the surface of the insulating layer to be charged is irradiated with the laser beam, and at the same time, an AC corona discharge is applied by the AC corona discharger 1-17, and the charging process is performed according to the light and dark pattern of the laser beam. A pattern based on the resulting difference in surface potential is formed on the surface of the insulating layer, and the entire surface of the insulating layer is uniformly exposed with a front exposure lamp 1-18 to form a high-contrast electrostatic latent image on the surface of the insulating layer. Form. Furthermore, after the electrostatic latent image is developed and visualized by a developing device 1-19 using a developer mainly consisting of charged colored particles, a fan-hold paper ( Transfer the visible image to the charger 1-2 (hereinafter referred to as paper) 1-30
2, and then the transferred image is fixed by a fixing means as described below to obtain an electrophotographic print image. On the other hand, after the transfer is performed, the surface of the insulating layer is cleaned by a cleaning device 1-23 to remove remaining charged particles, and the photosensitive plate 1-14 is used repeatedly.

As yet another example, the present applicant's
An electrophotographic electrostatic image forming process such as that described in Japanese Patent No. 42-19748 is applied. That is, a photosensitive plate having a conductive support, a photoconductive layer, and an insulating layer as basic components is used, and the surface of the insulating layer is uniformly positively or negatively charged in advance by a first corona discharge, and the photoconductive layer A charge having a polarity opposite to the charged polarity is captured on the surface of the insulating layer or inside the photoconductive layer, and an alternating current corona discharge is applied to the charged surface to attenuate the charge on the surface of the insulating layer. The process of irradiating the laser beam as a signal, forming an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the insulating layer according to the brightness of the laser beam, and then developing the electrostatic image is the same as in the first embodiment. It is.

Note that 1-15 is a pre-discharge charger 1-16 which is a pre-exposure lamp, and the pre-discharge charger 1-15 keeps the surface potential of the photosensitive drum 1-14 constant and uniform. These make the characteristics constant and uniform, and these work together to erase various previous history, such as residual potential, that remains on the photosensitive drum 1-14 after passing through the cleaning device 1-23, so that a stable image is always obtained. It is useful for

The present applicant has proposed an electrostatic latent image stabilization method disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 111562/1984 as a means of always obtaining stable and good images in the electrophotographic process applied to this embodiment.

Reference numeral 1-21 is an electrostatic electrometer for realizing such a means, and the photosensitive drum 1-14 is provided with bright areas, that is, areas exposed by scanning with a laser beam, and dark areas, and the electrostatic potential of each is measured. .

1-20 is a carrier removing device and developing device 1-1
This prevents carriers mixed in the developer in the developer from adhering to the photosensitive drum 1-14, adhering to the paper, or being mixed into the cleaning device 1-23.

FIG. 2 shows the arrangement of the optical system in FIG. 1 three-dimensionally, and parts having the same functions in the explanation of FIG. 1 are given the same numbers. (The same applies hereinafter) In FIG. 2, 2-1 consists of a small entrance slit and a photoelectric conversion element (for example, a PIN diode) with a fast response time. The scanning start position of the laser beam 2-2 being swept by the beam detector is detected, and this detection signal is used to start a modulation control signal for providing desired optical information on the photosensitive drum 1-14 as described later. determine the timing.

Note that the scanning direction of the laser beam 2-2 in FIG. 2 is indicated by an arrow 2-3.

Next, to describe the conveyance of printing paper (hereinafter abbreviated as paper), 1-30 is an unprinted paper like the one normally used for output from computers, etc., and has feed holes at both ends in the width direction. It is.

Reference numeral 1-32 is a holding rod provided to help convey the paper smoothly, reference numeral 1-33 is a light source such as a light emitting diode, reference numeral 1-34 is a light receiver such as a photodiode, and 1-33, 1-34 are cooperative The paper end detector is configured by moving the paper end detector.

Reference numeral 1-35 is a known tractor in which pins that engage with the feed holes are arranged, and the pins are rotated by the rotation of a tractor shaft (not shown) to convey paper. Reference numeral 1-37 is a tractor for conveying paper. It is a guide roller.

1-38, the paper is transferred to the transfer roller 1-38 as described later.
39, photosensitive drum 1-1 due to the operation of 1-40.
4 and is brought into close contact with the photosensitive drum 1-14 by the operation of the transfer charger 1-22. Transfer ends and the transfer charger 1
-22 stops working and transfer roller 1-39,1
-40 is a separating claw for separating paper stuck to the photosensitive drum 1-14 regardless of the distance from the photosensitive drum 1-14.

Transfer rollers 1-39 and 1-40 operate simultaneously in the same direction to press the paper against the photosensitive drum 1-14.

Reference numeral 1-41 is a guide roller that also serves to absorb the tension applied to the paper when it changes more than a specified value when the paper is conveyed, and 1-42 is a hollow cylindrical shape with a heater etc. installed in the center of the cylinder. A fixing roller 1-43, which is a preheating roller having a heat source for fixing the toner transferred to the paper, and a back-up roller 1.
-44 constitutes a fixing device.

A fixing roller 1-43 has a hollow cylindrical shape and has a heat source such as a heater in the center of the cylinder.
This back-up roller is in pressure contact between the fixing roller 1-43 and the fixing roller 1-43 to facilitate the transmission of heat from the fixing roller 1-43 to the toner and paper, and also applies high pressure to the toner to perform fixing.

Reference numerals 1-45 and 1-46 are discharge rollers for discharging the paper on which fixing has been completed, and 1-47 is a paper on which printing has been completed.

In Fig. 1, the moving bar 3-2, the chain 3-5, the gears 3-6, 3-7, 3-8, 3-9
The location of is shown.

In addition, in the above operation, the fixing roller 1-4
Needless to say, the transfer rollers 1-39, 1-40, the transfer charger 1-22, and the guide roller 1-39, 1-40, the transfer charger 1-22, and the guide roller 1-39, 1-40, transfer charger 1-22, and the guide roller 1-39, 1-40, transfer charger 1-22, and the transfer roller 1-40, transfer rollers 1-39, 1-40, transfer charger 1-22, and discharge roller 1-22, and the discharge roller 1-45 escape upward to provide a gap between them. 1-37, each shaft is connected to the photosensitive drum 1- by a mechanism (not shown).
It is set at a position approximately perpendicular to the central axis of 14.

Next, the feed hole of the paper is engaged with the pin of the tractor 1-35, and then the tractor is rotated by an operation member (not shown) to set the perforation of the paper at the transfer position.

Next, the transfer charger 1-22 is moved to the position shown in the figure, that is, the charging wire of the transfer charger 1-22 is connected to the photosensitive drum 1.
-14 axis and transfer roller 1-3
9, 1-40 and the guide roller 137 have their respective axes in the same position, and the paper is placed on the photosensitive drum 1-14.
It is set at a position where it can maintain a distance of several mm from the position where it is pressed into contact, that is, at a standby position. Further, the fixing roller 1-43 and the backup roller 1-44 are held at a position where they do not contact the paper, while being spaced apart from each other as described above, and the preheating roller 1-42 is also held at a position where it does not come into contact with the paper.

A modulation control signal, which will be described later, is applied to the laser beam from the laser oscillator 1-1 from the input terminal 1-6, which is applied to the modulation element 13 via the modulation circuit 1-5, and the modulation element 1-3 modulates the light amount. The received image is scanned while forming an image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 1-14 by the deflection action of the rotating polygon mirror 1-8. The rotating polygon mirror 1-8 is driven at a constant speed by a drive output from a drive circuit 1-10 to which the output of a crystal oscillation circuit 1-11 including a crystal oscillator 1-12 is applied. The printing/positioning in the row direction on the paper is horizontally synchronized after a preset time has elapsed from the time when a signal is generated from the beam date taker 2-1 installed corresponding to the scanning start position of the deflected laser beam. The adjustment is made by generating a signal and applying a modulation control signal generated based on the horizontal synchronization signal.

The above-mentioned preset time can be set digitally by a counter or the like using an appropriate clock signal, or can be set by a one-shot multiplexer. Also beam detector 2-1
It is also possible to use a clock signal source, such as a locked oscillator, which starts oscillating with a signal from the clock.

In the above-mentioned means, the oscillation frequency of a signal source such as a clock signal or a locked oscillator can be correlated to the scanning speed of a laser beam, and a left margin can be set and displayed in units of distance, for example, mm.

The paper starts traveling by the tractor 1-35 in relation to the point in time when recording on the surface of the photosensitive drum 1-14 begins.

In general, the printing position in the column direction relative to the paper perforations is arbitrary, and therefore, the start of paper feeding is determined by a top-of-page signal (hereinafter referred to as the TOP signal vertical synchronization signal) that is generated prior to the modulation control signal from the data processing device. (named)).

In other words, from the time the TOP signal is generated, the photosensitive drum 1
-14 laser beam scanning position is photosensitive drum 1
After a certain period of time determined by the circumferential speed of −14, the conveyance of the paper starts after a time t ₁ has elapsed until the transfer position to the paper is reached.

As is clear from the above explanation, the time t ₁ from the time when the TOP signal is generated to the time when paper transport starts
By changing , it is possible to adjust the printing position in the column direction on the paper. As such adjustment means, it is possible to use means similar to the row direction adjustment means described above.

Transfer roller 1 corresponds to the start of paper conveyance.
-39, 1-40 move further toward the photosensitive drum 1-14 from the standby position and transfer the paper to the photosensitive drum 1-1.
4.

Also, almost at the same time, the transfer charger 1-22 starts operating, and transfer to the paper is performed.

Furthermore, the fixing roller 1-43 and the back-up roller 1-44 are activated almost simultaneously with the start of conveyance of the paper.
rotates while being in pressure contact with the paper, fixing the toner transferred to the paper and transporting it. The sheet further advances and is conveyed by discharge rollers 1-45 and 1-46, becoming a printed sheet 1-47.

Next, to explain the stopping of the paper, the paper is moved to the tractor 1-35 and the fixing roller 1-4.
The three backup rollers 1-44 stop rotating at approximately the same time. In this case, the time relationship of the above-mentioned operations is controlled so that the perforations of the paper coincide with the transfer positions in preparation for subsequent printing. The fixing roller 1-43 and back-up roller 1-44 are then moved to positions where they do not come into contact with the paper, and the preheating roller 1-42
will also move to the same position. Transfer roller 1-3
9, 1-40 moves to the standby position and the separation claw 1
-38 operates to separate the paper from the surface of the photosensitive drum 1-14, and the transfer charger 1-22 also stops operating. The photosensitive drum 1-14 rotates within a predetermined time _t2 from the time when the paper is conveyed _.
Printing is possible during this time. After the elapse of time _t2 , the photosensitive drum 1-14 is further rotated for a predetermined time _t3 , and the electrophotographic process conditions are kept constant during this period.

When the unprinted paper 1-30 runs out, when the end of the paper passes the end detector constituted by the light source 1-33 and the light receiver 1-34, the light receiver 1-
The light from the light source 1-33 is incident on the light source 34, and the conveyance of the paper is stopped by a signal obtained thereby.

In the explanation so far, an example of a printer has been described as the printing section 4-2. However, printing section 4-
It is clear that 2 is not limited to a printer, and can be directly replaced with a well-known long afterglow type or storage type cathode ray tube, a display device equipped with a refresh memory device, or a plasma display device using a cathode ray tube.

D. Configuration of Image Signal Processing Unit Next, the configuration of the image signal processing unit 4-3 in FIG. 3 or 4 will be explained in detail.

The following description of the image processing section 4-3 will be more clearly understood by referring to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 51-99938 filed by the present applicant.

FIG. 5 shows the internal configuration of the image signal processing section 4-3.

The data input terminal 6-13 has a second signal line 4-8.
is connected to the print data output terminal 6-23, and a third signal line 4-7 is connected to the print data output terminal 6-23.

Inside the image signal processing section 4-3, a first data line 6-14 is connected to the data input terminal 6-13.
and the first control line 6-20 are connected.

In this embodiment, among the characters or other figures to be printed (hereinafter, to simplify the description, any figures other than characters that can be specified by an appropriate code are also referred to as "characters"). ,
Data output as a result of computer processing, that is, a group of character codes (hereinafter also referred to as variable data) is input to the data input terminal 6-13 via the second signal line 4-8. .

On the other hand, among the characters to be printed, the character code (hereinafter sometimes referred to as identification data) that corresponds to the image of the format of "paper with a format applied in advance" used in well-known impact printers The group is the same as the fluctuating data.
A floppy disk device 6-3 is input to the data input terminal 6-13 via the signal line 4-8, or is included in the image signal processing section 4-3.
generated from.

Inside the image signal processing section 4-3, the internal first
The variable data and fixed data received through the data line 6-14 are sent to the main storage device 6-2 under the control of the main controller 6-1.

The main controller 6-1 has a data input terminal 6-13.
Or to transfer data from the floppy disk device 6-3 to the main storage device 6-2, or from the main storage device 6-2 to the page storage device 6-2.
5, 6-5', rewritable character generator 6-1
It includes a direct memory access mechanism for performing 0,6-10' data transfers.

The above rewritable character generator 6-10, 6-1
To further explain 0', this device can write bit pattern information, similar to the variable pattern generator 18 disclosed by the applicant in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 52-32330, and the written bit pattern can be written into the variable pattern generator 18. By presenting the stored address, the bit pattern can be derived. Therefore, by associating the address with the character code signal, when a certain character code signal is applied, it is possible to obtain the bit pattern of the character corresponding to the character code signal.

The main control device 6-1 controls the print section 4--based on the program stored in a part of the main storage device 6-2.
In order to generate a desired image by performing step 2, the following five tasks are controlled.

1 Load data from the data input terminal 6-13 into the main storage device 6-2.

2. Load the data from the floppy disk device 6-3 into the main storage device 6-2.

3. Take out the character code group in the main memory and transfer it to the page memory 6-5 or 6-5'.

4 Retrieve the character bit pattern group and the character bit pattern index table described later from the main memory, transfer the character bit pattern index table to the page storage device 6-5 or 6-5', and read the character bit pattern The group is transferred to the rewritable character generator 6-10 or 6-10'.

5 The commands necessary for the operation of the image signal processing device 4-3 are sent to the data input terminal 6-13, the floppy disk device 6-3, the operation panel 6-4 for manually inputting information, and the first Sub-control device 6-6 or 6-6', second sub-control device 6-9 or 6-9', and printing section 4-2
These devices are controlled so that the printing section 4-2 generates a desired image.

Here, the numbers shown with a ``' are given the same number because there are two devices with the same function, and the number is shown as is for one series, while the other are distinguished by adding ``''' to them.

E Types of Information Loaded into the Main Storage Device Information loaded into the main storage device 6-2 from the data input terminal 6-13 or the floppy disk device 6-3 can be roughly classified into the following six types.

1 Control program 2 Form information 3 Print control information 4 Character bit pattern information 5 Character code group 6 Special control command E-1 Control program Among these, the "control program" is normally stored from the floppy disk device 6-3 to the main storage device 6.
−2.

At this time, a program for operating the floppy disk device 6-3 and storing the control program, which is the content thereof, in a predetermined location of the main storage device 6-2 is arranged in a part of the main storage device 6-2. prestored in read-only memory.

The control program is executed by the image signal processing device 4-
This is a program that directly or indirectly controls all of the operations of image signal processing device 4.
-3 is turned on, it is first loaded into the main storage device 6-2, and the main controller 6-3 is
It works as a microcomputer program included in 1.

Therefore, by changing the control program in the floppy disk device 6-3, it is possible to easily create an image signal processing device with specifications that can meet the various demands of users.

E-2 Form information The next "form information" is information that determines the format of the image to be printed, and includes form control information corresponding to the carriage control tape in a normal impact printer, The horizontal direction of the image is determined by the line pitch specification information that specifies the line pitch of each line to be printed, and the address in the rewritable character generator that corresponds to the character to be printed at which address in the line buffer (described later) is loaded. When masking is specified using the print position control information and print control information that control the print position, the printed characters are changed in a part of the screen, for example, the characters are deleted and replaced with blank characters, and the line appears as if it were a normal shock type line. Mask position specification information that specifies the position of characters that should be masked to perform the same operation as printing on partial carbon paper of biplane paper in a printer, characters with the same character code but different fonts, character sizes, etc. When the character code is transferred from the main memory to the page memory for printing, an appropriate number set in advance is added or subtracted from the character code to print the code at a different address in the rewritable character generator. Character display format conversion specification information that specifies converting the internal character code to access the character bit pattern of the character display format, the vertical length of one page of paper to be printed, that is, the normal line Paper information that specifies the length between perforations in fanfold paper used in printers, a group of form image character codes for assembling images equivalent to form printing, and form numbers for distinguishing and specifying different form information. information,
It includes character bit pattern information number designation information that designates a specific set of character bit pattern information among a plurality of sets of character bit pattern information used in a form image printed based on the form information.

The form information is normally transferred from the floppy disk device 6-3 to the main storage device 6 prior to a series of printing operations in which printing is performed in the same format.
-2 is written. Of course, it is also possible to take in from the data input terminal 6-13 like other data.

E-3 Print control information The next "print control information" is information that controls the print output mode, and it includes:
In other words, form number specification information that specifies what form information should be used to print, page number specification information that specifies how many copies of the same page should be output,
This information includes file copy number specification information that specifies how many copies of the same file should be output, mask specification information that specifies whether masking should be performed, and reduced print specification information that specifies whether a reduced print should be performed.

The print control information is written into the main storage device 6-2 prior to a series of printing operations in which printing is performed in the same format, and is interpreted and executed by the main control device 6-1.

Print control information is usually provided on the operation panel 6.
-4, but like other data, it can be given from the data input terminal 6-13 or from the floppy disk device 6-3.

Print control information is input to the data input terminal 6-13.
By inputting the data from the image data before other data, it is possible to automate the operation of the image signal processing section 4-3 of this embodiment.

E-4 Character bit pattern information The next "character bit pattern information" includes information that is the content of the rewritable character generator used for printing fixed data and variable data, that is, it includes information for each character code. It includes a set in which corresponding character bit patterns are sequentially arranged one byte at a time for one character, and the necessary number of characters are collected and appropriately arranged (hereinafter referred to as a character bit pattern group). Furthermore, in addition to the main character bit pattern group, the character bit pattern information includes character bit pattern information number information for specifying the character bit pattern information to distinguish it from other character bit pattern information, and a written character bit pattern information. A character generator index table (hereinafter referred to as CG index table) consisting of character generator address information for associating the addresses of character bit patterns in the replaceable character generator with each character code and character display format designation information (described later). omitted).

The character bit pattern information is stored in the floppy disk device 6-3 before the printing operation is performed.
Or input from the data input terminal 6-13, written once to the main storage device 6-2 under the control of the main controller 6-1, and then re-entered into the main storage device 6-2.
-2, the bit pattern group to be used for printing fixed data is sent to the rewritable character generator 6-10, and the character bit pattern group to be used for printing variable data is sent to the rewritable character generator 6-10. Loaded into character generator 6-10'. At this time, if the CG index table is for fixed data, the page storage device 6-
5 and in the case of variable data into part of the page store 6-5'.

E-5 Character code group The next "character code group" is the print data itself consisting of character codes that assemble the image to be printed, and includes a part of the command code that specifies the number of line spaces and the lines to be printed.

The character code group for printing fixed data is usually treated as part of form information.

E-6 Special Control Instructions The next "special control instructions" are for causing the main controller 6-1 to distinguish between the various types of information mentioned above, and provide the necessary discrimination information to carry out processing according to each content. .

F Information written to the main storage device and subsequent flow The content and subsequent flow of information written to the main storage device 6-2 from the data input terminal 6-13 or floppy disk device 6-3 will be explained in more detail. For example, in Figure 6, 7-1
indicates one type of information written to the main storage device 6-2, and is a unit of information amount called one block.

F-1 Configuration of unit of information amount (one block of information) One block of information 7-1 consists of one or a collection of information amount units called one record, and one record of information 7-1 is composed of one or more units of information amount called one record.
2 further consists of a multi-byte code.

Number of code bytes in one record and 1
Currently, the number of records in a block has a variety of configurations, and in this embodiment as well, by replacing the control program in the main storage device 6-2, it is possible to correctly record the number of records in a block. It can be adapted to perform printing operations.

Collection of code bytes 7-3, 7-4, 7
-5, 7-6 is 1 of the contents of 1 record 7-2
This shows an example, and 7-3 is the specified code,
7-4 is a special control command code, 7-5 is an information discrimination code, and 7-6 is control information.

Command code 7-3 has the same purpose as that used in well-known line printers,
It has a function and is used to specify the number of line spaces or print lines.

Command code 7-3 is shown as one byte in Figure 6, but it uses multiple bytes to indicate the number of code bytes in one record, and in the case of the first record, also indicates the number of records in one block. In some cases.

F-2 Command code and special control command The designation code 7-3 becomes a command that means that the record is not a character code group to be printed if the following special control command code 7-4 exists. The function of specifying the print line is lost, and in combination with special control command code 7-4, it specifies that the record is a record containing special control commands, such as "Skip to channel 1", which is used to control a line printer. Directives are used.

If the command code 7-3 is a "skip to channel 1" command and the content of the code 7-4 is, for example, an array of character codes "NPLBP", then 7-4 is regarded as a special control command code, The record in which special control command code 7-4 was recognized and the record following it are special control commands in which special control command code 7-4 is recognized again, special control command code 7-4 is recognized, and special control command is instructed to end the special control command. All information until a record containing code 7-4 appears is treated as information based on a special control command.

The information that is distinguished from the character code group of the variable data by the special control command is form information, print control information, and character bit pattern information. It is determined whether the information is print control information or character bit pattern information.

F-3 Indication of form information If form information is to be specified, a character code of "FM", for example, is used as the information discrimination code 7-5. If the record is form information, control information 7
-6 sequentially includes form number information, paper length specification information, character bit pattern information number specification information, form control information, line pitch specification information,
Code bytes such as print position control information, mask position designation information, character display format conversion designation information, etc. are arranged, and a group of character codes for a form image, that is, fixed data, for assembling an image corresponding to form printing is arranged in the subsequent record. Ru.

F-4 Structure of 1 record 1 record 7-2 usually consists of the number of bytes equivalent to the number of prints in one line plus the number of bytes of the command code, and as an example, the number is 137 bytes. , control information 7-6 does not usually fit within one record. Therefore, in this case, the necessary number of subsequent records are used for the control information 7-6, after which records of character code groups of fixed data are arranged.

Command code 7- as an example of another record
3' is followed by a character code group 7-7.

For example, since the content of the code 7-3' is a command to "print as one line space" and the following character code group does not indicate a special command code, the main controller 6-1 cancels this command and prints. After printing the image and spacing one line, the character bit pattern group specified by the character code group 7-7 is controlled to be printed for one line.

G Writing and reading information to the main memory The information input from the data input terminal 6-13 or the floppy disk device 6-3 is written in blocks, and an appropriate number of successive blocks are written to the main memory 6-2. written.

In this embodiment, an area for two blocks is secured in the main storage device 6-2, and after one block of information is written, the main controller 6-1 reads out the information and processes it according to the contents. While doing so, a new 1 is added to the remaining 1 block area.
Block information is written. After the processing of the previous block is completed, if writing to a new block is completed, the main controller 6-1 performs processing according to the contents of the new block, and in the meantime, the new block is written to the previous block. written to the area.

In this way, information is written into and read from each of the two blocks of the main memory 6-2 alternately, and as the read processing progresses, new blocks of information are written to the main memory one after another. 6-2.

One block of information read from the main storage device 6-2 is processed by the main controller 6-1 according to its contents. That is, if it is print control information, the control information necessary to execute the content is output from the main controller 6-1,
Via the first control line 6-20, the first sub-control device 6-6 or 6-6', the second sub-control device 6-
9 or 6-9', an operation panel 6-4, a floppy disk device 6-3, a printing section 4-2, etc. If it is form information, form number information, paper length information, character bit pattern information, number specification information, form control information,
Line pitch specification information, print position control information, mask position specification information, character display format conversion specification information, etc. are stored in separate storage locations in the main memory 6-2 so that they can be referenced when necessary by the program that performs printing operations. The form image character code group, that is, the fixed data is transferred to the page storage device 6-5.

G-1 Transfer of character code group to page storage device Fixed data is transferred from main storage device 6-2 to page storage device 6
-5, the command code attached to each record is interpreted and the address indicating the storage position of the first byte of each record, that is, the row first byte address, is stored in the page storage device 6-5. Along with line pitch designation information corresponding to the line number to be printed in the record, a page storage device index table (hereinafter referred to as PM index table) provided at a specific storage location in the main storage device 6-2 in FIG. 7-9.

In the PM index table 7-9, in addition to the row start byte address and row pitch specification information of each record in the page storage device 6-5,
The start byte address of the blank line and the line pitch designation information of the blank line, which have been previously stored in the page storage device 6-5, are stored. A blank line is a line in which a character code specifying a character bit pattern that does not include any black dots (that is, a blank character) is arranged in bytes equivalent to one line. (Regarding this technology, the patent application filed in 1973 by the present applicant is
20491) Depending on the interpretation of the command code attached to each record, for example, "Print with 3 spaces"
When a command is issued, the first byte address of the blank line in the page storage device 6-5 and the line pitch designation information are repeated twice and stored in the PM index table 7-9.
After that, the first byte address of the record and its line pitch designation information are stored.

In other words, PM index table 7-
9, while interpreting the command code, addresses and line pitch designation information in the page storage device 6-5 for print lines and blank lines are arranged in the same manner as the actual print line configuration, and one page or more is stored. A table is constructed using the row start byte address and row pitch specification information.

Code bytes 7-10, 7-11, 7-
12, 7-13 indicate the row start byte address and row pitch specification information for any one row in the PM index table 7-9, 7-10 indicates 1 byte of row pitch specification, 7
-11 is the most significant 1 of the first byte address of the row
Byte, 7-12 is medium 1 byte 7-13
is the lowest 1 byte.

Thus, PM index table 7-9
Inside, there is a table of line start byte addresses and line pitch specification information for at least one page and up to several dozen pages, depending on the storage capacity of character code bytes of the page storage device 6-5 and the print content, as well as blank lines. It is formed in a manner that indicates the actual printing position within the page. On the other hand, in the page storage device 6-5, a group of character codes for each record transferred from the main storage device 6-2 is stored in sequence, usually with command codes removed. Page storage device 6-
The character code groups sequentially stored in the page storage device 6-5 do not include records in which only blank character codes that form blank lines are lined up; Only blank lines are stored, and the first byte address of the blank line is
It is repeatedly used and located in the PM index table, thereby saving the storage capacity of the page storage device 6-5.

If the record read from the main storage device 6-2 and the record following it are a character code group for variable data, the command code for each record is interpreted and the 7-
Another PM index table is created in addition to 9, and the page storage device 6-5' is normally created with the command code removed.
A group of character codes are stored in sequence.

In other words, the difference in processing between character code groups for variable data and character code groups for fixed data is that each has its own PM index table in the main memory 6-2, and in the case of fixed data, the page memory 6-5, while variable data is transferred to the page storage device 6-5', and the page storage device 6 stores fixed data during a series of printing operations in the same format. -5 is never rewritten, whereas the contents of the PM index stable and page storage device 6-5' regarding variable data are written to information indicating new pages one after another as the printing operation progresses. In this embodiment, variable data uses an 8-bit character code and fixed data uses a 16-bit character code, so the capacity of the page storage device is different.
The manner in which the PM index table is created, the manner in which information is transferred to the page storage device 6-5 or 6-5', and the first sub-control device 6, which will be described later.
-6 or 6-6', second sub-control device 6-
The manner in which the printing operation is performed by 9 or 6-9' is exactly the same for both variable data and fixed data.

Therefore, in the explanations so far, the number with "'" attached is for fluctuating data, and "'"
The one without the `` has been used for fixed data, but
Of course, it is also possible to switch the positions of the two and use the one with the ``''' for fixed data and the one without the ``'' for variable data.
This can be easily realized by replacing the control program in the main controller 6-2.

H Transfer of character bit pattern If the record read from the main storage device 6-2 and the record following it are character bit pattern information used for printing fixed data, the character bit pattern of the character bit pattern information is transferred. Information number information is stored in the main storage device 6-
2, the CG index table is written to an appropriate storage location in the page storage device 6-5, as shown at 7-15 in FIG. 6, and the remaining character bit pattern groups are The characters are sequentially loaded into the rewritable character generator 6-10.

H-1 CG Index Table The CG index table 7-15 contains character bit patterns for each character stored in the rewritable character generator 6-10 (for example, 7-21, 7-23, 7 shown in FIG. 7). -25, the first byte of the character bit pattern for each character consisting of various numbers of bytes), that is, the character 7-21 shown in the seventh figure is 7-
22, 7-24 for character 7-23, 7-26 for character 7-25, the address indicating the storage location, that is, the first byte address of the character bit pattern, the vertical and horizontal bit configuration of the character bit pattern, and the character It stores character display format designation information that designates the space bit configuration, etc. to be added around and printed.

The first byte address of the character bit pattern and the character display format specification information are set in the order of character code, for example, for an 8-bit character code, "00000000", "00000001", "00000010",
"00000011", "00000100", ......
"11111011", "11111100", "11111101",
The character codes "11111110" and "11111111" are arranged in the order of 4 bytes each, and the character codes read from the page storage device 6-5 by the first sub-control device 6-6 are used to correctly identify the character codes. The character bit pattern is read out.

When a character bit pattern corresponding to a certain character code does not exist, or when it is unnecessary and there is no need to load it into the rewritable character generator 6-10, those character bit patterns are not loaded. Character generator 6-1 in which only character bit patterns for necessary character codes can be rewritten sequentially without gaps
Loaded to 0. Therefore, there is no need to waste the storage capacity of the rewritable character generator by loading unnecessary character bit patterns or alternative suitable bit patterns that occupy storage locations in the rewritable character generator 6-10.

In the CG index table, regardless of whether the character bit pattern corresponding to the character code is loaded or not, the combination of the first byte address of the character bit pattern and the character display format specification information is mechanically set in 4-byte units in code order. That is, the CG index information is loaded into the CG index table 7-15.
The content of character codes that are not used at this time may be arbitrary. Sequentially arranging the CG index information in the order of character codes is necessary as a means for knowing the address in the rewritable character generator 6-10 of the character bit pattern corresponding to the character code.

H-2 CG index information When a certain character code is given, CG index information corresponding to the character code 7-1
6, 7-17, 7-18, 7-19 are CG
Since the index information is fixed at 4 bytes for each character code and is arranged regularly in the order of the character codes, it can be easily read out from the CG index table 7-15.

Of the CG index information for a certain character code, 7-16 is 1 byte of character display format specification information, and 7-17 is the beginning of the character bit pattern corresponding to the character code in the rewritable character generator 6-10. These are the most significant 8 bits of the byte address, and 7-18 are the middle 8 bits.
Bits 7-19 are the lowest 8 bits.

Each first byte address in the CG index table 7-15 does not indicate the correct first byte address for each corresponding character when the bit pattern of that character is loaded into the rewritable character generator 6-10. must not.

The CG index table and character bit pattern are created in advance by a computer (not shown) in such a way that the first byte address in the CG index table can indicate the address of the first byte of any character bit pattern. By combining the index table and the character bit pattern group and treating them as one character bit pattern information, the above-mentioned condition for the CG index table to indicate a correct address is satisfied.

If the record read from the main storage device 6-2 and the record read from it are character bit pattern information used for printing variable data, the character bit pattern information number information of the character bit pattern information is The CG
The index table is the page storage device 6-5'
The remaining character bit patterns are sequentially loaded into the rewritable character generator 6-10'. The operation mode in other respects is exactly the same as in the case of character bit pattern information for fixed data.

I Overview of printing operation for one page Rewritable character generators 6-10 and 6-1
All character bit patterns necessary for 0 are loaded, and 1 is stored in page storage devices 6-5 and 6-5'.
After a page or more of character codes have been stored, the data is sent from the printing section 4-2 to the second sub-control devices 6-9 and 6-9' via the data output terminal 6-23 and the first control line 6-20. Based on the input horizontal synchronization signal and vertical synchronization signal, the main control device 6-1, the first sub-control devices 6-6 and 6-6', the second sub-control device 6-
9 and 6-9' work, and in order to print the desired image via the printing section 4-2, the serial bit pattern signal is sent to the printing section via the sixth data line 6-19 and the print data output end 6-23. 4-2
sent to.

Device 6-5, 6-6, 6-7, 6-8, 6-
9,6-10,6-11,6-15,6-1
6, 6-17, 6-18, 6-21, 6-22
and device 6-5' indicated by adding "'" to the above number,
6-6', 6-7', 6-8', 6-9', 6-1
0', 6-11', 6-15', 6-16', 6-
17', 6-18', 6-21', and 6-22' operate in parallel at almost the same time in the printing operations described below, and their operating modes are also the same, so the numbers '' The operation of the series of devices not marked with a ``'' will be explained, and the explanation of the series of devices marked ``' will be omitted.

I-1 Preparation for arranging information related to the first line in the first line buffer 6-7 Before starting the printing operation for one page, the main controller 6-1 first stores the information in the main memory 6-2.
The line start byte address and line pitch designation information corresponding to the first line of the page to be printed are extracted from the PM index table in the PM index table in the page storage device 6-6 in the first sub-control device 6-6. The starting byte address of the row is set in the address counter for 5, and the row pitch designation information is set in the row pitch register constituted as a part of the first row buffer 6-7.
Furthermore, the main controller 6-1 inputs the first character of one line of information to be stored in the first line buffer into the address counter for the first line buffer 6-7 in the first sub-control unit. The address containing the CG index information for is set.

I-2 Move the information on the first line in the page storage device to the first line buffer. In this way, the information on the first line is transferred to the first line buffer.
When ready to arrange in row buffer 6-7,
The main control device 6-1 instructs the first sub-control device 6-6 to start moving the information on the first line in the page storage device 6-5 to the first line buffer.

The first sub-control device 6-6 retrieves the character code of the first digit of the first line from the page storage device 6-5 based on the preset address of the page storage device 6-5, and retrieves the character code of the first column of the first row. Based on the code, the first byte address of the character bit pattern in the rewritable character generator 6-10 corresponding to the character code from the CG index table 7-15 in the page storage device 6-5 and the character display of the character The format designation information is extracted and stored in the addressed position of the first line buffer that has been set in advance.

The address of the page storage device 6-5, which has been set in advance based on the PM index table, is given to the page storage device by the second control line 6-21, and the character code taken out from the page storage device 6-5 is given to the page storage device by the second control line 6-21. is the second data line 6-1
5 to the first sub-control device 6-6. Based on the character code from the page storage device 6-5, the address of the CG index table in the page storage device 6-5 is set to the first sub-control device 6-5.
6 to the page storage device 6-5 via the second control line 6-21, and the beginning of the character bit pattern in the rewritable character generating device 6-10 corresponding to the character code is sent from the CG index table to the page storage device 6-5. The byte address and character display format designation information for the character are taken out and loaded into the first row buffer 6-7 via the second data line 6-15.

When the CG index information in the first digit of the first row has been loaded into the first row buffer 6-7, the address counter for the page storage device 6-5 in the first sub-control device 6-6 is loaded. The address counters for the first row buffers are each incremented by one address, and the CG index information in the second digit is loaded into the first row buffer in the same manner as the CG index information in the first digit. The first sub-control device 6-6 and its operating mode will be described in detail later.

I-3 Start of printing operation In the same manner, when all the CG index information of the first line is prepared in the first line buffer, the main controller 6-1 starts printing the second sub-control device 6
-9 to start printing the page.

The second sub-control device 6-9 is the main control device 6-
Based on the instruction to start printing from 1 and the vertical and horizontal synchronization signals from the printing unit 4-2, the CG index information is sequentially extracted from the first address of the first line buffer, and the rewritable character generating device extracts CG index information sequentially from the first address of the first line buffer, and based on the CG index information. 6-10, character bit patterns are taken out one byte at a time, converted into a time-series serial bit pattern signal by a parallel-to-serial converter 6-11, and provided to a mixer 6-12.

The address for reading the CG index information from the first row buffer 6-7 is given from the second sub-control device 6-9 to the first row buffer 6-7 via the third control line 6-22. The CG index information read from -7 is read into the second sub-control device 6-9. Based on the CG index information from the first line buffer 6-7, the address of the rewritable character generator 6-10 is set to the second sub-control device 6-9.
is applied to the rewritable character generator 6-10 via the third control line 6-22. The character bit pattern from the rewritable character generator 6-10 is loaded one byte at a time via the fourth data line 6-17 to the parallel-to-serial converter 6-11.
A 1-byte character bit pattern is generated by the second sub-control device 6-9 in the parallel-to-serial converter 6-11 in synchronization with the horizontal synchronizing signal, and then sent to the third sub-control device 6-9.
Parallel to serial converter 6-1 via control line 6-22
1 is converted into a serial bit pattern signal based on the image sending clock signal given to the 5th bit pattern signal.
It is applied to mixer 6-12 via data line 6-18.

The second sub-control device 6-9 and its operating mode will be described in detail later.

The mixer 6-12 is also supplied with a serial bit pattern signal of fluctuating data, that is, a serial bit pattern signal from a series of devices whose numbers are appended with "'", from the fifth data line 6-18'. The combined serial bit pattern signal is mixed or summed within the sixth data line 6-1 as print data.
9. The print data is applied to the printing section 4-2 via the print data output terminal 6-23.

While the second sub-control device 6-9 sequentially reads CG index information from the first row buffer and sends out print data from the print data output terminal 6-23 based on the CG index information, the first sub-control device 6-9 transfers the CG index information of the second line to the second line in the same manner as previously performed for the first line buffer 6-7.
Prepare row buffer 6-8.

I-4 Printing from the second line onwards When the second sub-control device 6-9 finishes sending out the serial bit pattern signal of the number of horizontal scanning lines based on the line pitch designation information given for the first line, That is, when printing of the first line is finished, this is communicated to the main controller 6-1 via the first control line 6-20, and the second
The CG index information is extracted from the row buffer 6-8 and the rewritable character generator 6-1
0, the parallel/serial converter 6-11 is activated to start printing the second line.

When the main controller 6-1 learns that printing of the first line is completed, it instructs the first sub-control device 6-6 to prepare the CG index information of the third line in the first line buffer. The first sub-control device 6-6 then prepares the third row CG index information in the first row buffer 6-7.

When the second sub-control device 6-9 finishes printing the second line, it continues to print the first line buffer 6-7.
The printing of the third line is started by reading the CG index information from the CG index information, and the main controller 6-1 is notified that the printing of the second line has been completed.

The main controller 6-1, knowing that the printing of the second line has been completed, causes the first sub-control unit 6-6 to transfer the CG of the fourth line to the second line buffer 6-8.
Prepare index information.

Similarly, the first row buffer 6-7 and the second row buffer 6-8 are connected to the first sub-control device 6-8.
6 and the second sub-control device 6-9 alternately access to complete printing of one page.

I-5 Completion of printing of page 1 The main controller 6-1 prepares the data for the next page in the page storage device 6-5 at the time when printing of page 1 is completed or immediately before the end of printing. If so, the first sub-control device 6-6 and second sub-control device 6-9 are started to print the next page, and if the data for the next page is not ready, the preparation is completed. At that point, the first sub-control device 6-6 and the second sub-control device 6-9 are started to print the next page.

J Details of the printing operation centered on the first sub-control device and the second sub-control device Next, using FIGS. 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11, -6 and 2nd
The printing operation mode centered on the sub-control device 6-9 will be explained in detail.

FIG. 7 shows a more detailed block diagram of an embodiment of the above operating portion of the present invention. This block diagram shows the page storage device 6-5, first line buffer 6-7, second line buffer 6-8, rewritable character generator 6-10, and parallel-to-serial converter 6-11 shown in FIG.
The parts not shown have the same structure as in FIG. 5. Components having the same functions as those in FIG. 5 are given the same numbers.

In FIG. 7, the page storage device 6-5 includes a portion 6-52 (hereinafter referred to as character code portion) that stores character codes of at least one page of characters as described above.
The storage part 6-51 of the CG index table (hereinafter referred to as
It is divided into two parts (referred to as the CG index section). Each 4 of the latter CG index section 6-51
The byte, that is, the CG index information, includes one byte that indicates information specifying the character display format (hereinafter referred to as character display format specification information) as described below, and the address in the rewritable character generator that the character bit pattern corresponds to. Three bytes (hereinafter referred to as CG first byte address) are included to indicate whether the data is stored from the position. Address control section 8
-4 is the character code section 6-5 of the page storage device 6-5
2 is specified, and the read character code is subjected to appropriate calculations, and the address is set as the address.
This is a device for addressing the CG index section 6-51.

1st row buffer 6-7 and 2nd row buffer 6
-8 switches between the writing side and the reading side every time one line of printing is completed as described above, but the switching operation is controlled by a control signal from the main controller 6-1 via the buffer selector 8-3. It will be done.

When a certain line is being printed, the second sub-control device 6-9 generates a serial bit pattern signal at an appropriate timing from the contents of the line buffer on the reading side via the rewritable character generator 6-10, etc. However, in the meantime, the page storage device 6-
CG index information for the next line is input from the CG index section No. 5 to the line buffer on the writing side. At this time, in the case of a character designated as an uppercase character, an uppercase character designation bit is added by the uppercase character modifier 8-5 and input into the line buffer. The row buffer transfer timing control unit 8-1 is a device that controls the timing from reading the page storage device 6-5 to writing the row buffer,
What is the main controller 6-1? The main controller connection line 8-1
1.

Read from the row buffer on the read side
CG index information is stored in character display format storage section 8
-6 and is input to the character generator address converter 8-7. The character display format storage section 8-6 is as described above.
It is addressed by one byte of character display format specification information in the CG index and outputs specific character display format information of the character bit pattern, and its contents can be rewritten by the main controller 6-1. be.

The character generator address converter 8-7 inputs the character display format information and 3 bytes indicating the address of the rewritable character generator 6-10 in the CG index information, that is, the CG first byte address, and further inputs the vertical and Horizontal timing control section 6-
This is for sequentially addressing appropriate positions of the rewritable character generator 6-10 in accordance with the serial bit pattern signal output timing by signal input from the rewritable character generator 6-10.

Addressed rewritable character generator 6
The data output from -10 is input to the parallel-to-serial converter 6-11 at an appropriate timing, and then becomes a serial bit pattern signal 8-8, one bit at a time, by the image clock, and is converted into a bit pattern signal 8-8 in the mixer 6 in FIG.
-12 and then sent to the printing section 4-2.

The blocks shown in FIG. 7 described above operate in the following order when actually printing one page.

First, when the main controller writes at least one page worth of character codes into the page storage device 6-5, the main controller 6-1 issues a row buffer transfer command to the row buffer transfer timing control section 8-1. . In response to the line buffer transfer command, the line buffer transfer timing control unit 8-1 stores each CG index information corresponding to the character code of one line of the first line to be printed on the page storage device 6-5. In order to transfer data from the address control section 8-4 to the row buffer on the writing side, a control signal is given to the address control section 8-4, the upper case modification section 8-5, and the row buffer on the writing side of the two row buffers. When the CG index information for one line of characters is thus prepared in one of the line buffers, the line buffer transfer timing control section 8-1 issues a transfer end signal to the main controller 6-1.

As a result, the main controller issues a command to the printing section 4-2 to prompt the generation of vertical and horizontal synchronization signals, and at the same time reverses the states of the two row buffers on the write side and the read side.

Upon receiving the vertical synchronization signal 8-9 from the printing section, the vertical/horizontal timing control section 8-2 starts outputting one page of printed image, and furthermore, the laser beam is sent every scan of the laser beam in the printing section 4-2. The serial bit pattern signals of the first row are sequentially sent to the printing section 4-2 in accordance with the timing of the horizontal synchronizing signal 8-10. At this time, first, start from the row buffer on the reading side, that is, the row buffer in which the CG index information for the first row has already been written.
The character CG index information is read out, and a rewritable character display format storage section 8-6 is addressed according to the character display format designation information therein.
One type of information specifically indicating a plurality of types of character display formats included therein is selected and output, and input to the character generator address converter 8-7.

The CG start byte address in the CG index information of the first character read from the row buffer is also input to the character generator address converter 8-7, and the CG start byte address in the CG index information of the first character read from the row buffer is inputted, and the CG start byte address is inputted according to the first scanning line of the first character of the first row. Character generator 6- that can rewrite an appropriate address
10 in sequence.

Addressed rewritable character generator 6
The content output from -10 is the parallel to serial converter 6-
11, and then converted into serial data under the control of the vertical/horizontal timing circuit 8-2 and sent to the printing section 4-2 as a serial bit pattern signal 8-8.

In this way, when the first scan of the first character in the first row is completed, the contents of the second character in the row buffer are read out, and the image output for the first scan of the second character in the first row is similarly performed. will be carried out. From now on, the third
When the first scan of characters, fourth characters, etc. is completed, the contents of the first character are read out from the row buffer again after waiting for the next horizontal synchronization signal, and this time the character bit pattern corresponding to the second scan is read out. is generated. Similarly, when the second scan of all characters is completed, the third scan begins, and then image output for the fourth scan, fifth scan, and so on is performed. When all scanning of the first row is completed, the vertical/horizontal timing control section 8-2 issues a one-row image output end signal to the main controller 6-1.

Meanwhile, during the image output of the first row, the main controller 6-1 issues a second row buffer transfer command to the row buffer transfer timing control section 8-1, which is used to read out the first row. Insert the characters of the second line into the line buffer on the writing side.
The main controller 6-1 transfers the CG index information, and upon receiving the above-mentioned one-line image output end signal, immediately reverses the write side and read side of the two line buffers.
From the next horizontal synchronization signal, it is possible to output images for the first scan, second scan, etc. of the second line, and also to output the characters of the third line to the line buffer transfer timing control unit 8-1. Commands to transfer CG index information to the row buffer that has become the writing side.

By repeating the above operations, the first, second, third, and so on lines of one page are printed continuously, and when the last line is printed, the vertical and horizontal lines are printed. The timing control unit 8-2 ends the page print image output operation and waits for the arrival of the next vertical synchronization signal.

K Details of row buffer write/read operation For the purpose of clarifying the features of this embodiment in the above print image output operation, FIG. 8 shows the row buffer write operation, and FIG. 10 shows image output from row buffer read. The operations leading up to this will be explained in detail.

FIG. 8 is a more detailed block diagram of the part responsible for the process of reading out the page storage device and writing to the row buffer according to the contents in this embodiment. Parts with the same numbers and not shown are shown in Figures 5 and 7.
It consists of the same configuration as shown in the figure.

K-1 Process from when the main controller issues a row buffer transfer command until completing row buffer writing for one line In FIG. 8, one line after the main controller 6-1 issues a row buffer transfer command The process until the writing of the row buffer is completed is performed as described below.

The line buffer transfer command sent from the main controller 6-1 is input to the timing controller 9-1, but at the same time or just before that, the main controller 6-1 inputs the character code part address counter 9-6, Command information for performing line buffer transfer is input to the line buffer write address counter 9-13 and the line buffer write character number counter 9-14. Furthermore, appropriate commands or data are sent to two types of registers that are attached to the row buffer and whose write and read sides are alternately inverted at the same time as the row buffer, namely, the last row mark flag 9-12 and the row pitch information register 9-11. The former last line mark flag indicates that the line written to the line buffer this time is the last line on the page, and the latter line pitch information register similarly indicates how many scanning lines the line written to the line buffer this time consists of. These registers are used to indicate rows and enable mixing of row pitches within a page, which is one of the features of the present invention, and are referenced later when the row buffer is read out.

Upon receiving the row buffer transfer command sent from the main controller 6-1 with the various commands or data described above, the timing control unit 9-1
First, the page storage device address selector 9-7 selects the output of the character code section address counter 9-6, thereby causing the page storage device 6-7 to select the output of the character code section address counter 9-6.
Specify address 5. The address in the page storage device 6-5 containing the character code of the first character of the corresponding line has already been input from the main controller 6-1 to the character code part address counter 9-6, and therefore the page The address specification output by the storage device address selector 9-7 specifies the address of the character code of the first character in the corresponding line.

As mentioned above, the explanation of this embodiment describes the case of fixed data processing in which the character code is represented by 2 bytes (16 bits), so the character code address of the first character specified above is the character code This shows the stored address of the first byte of the two bytes.

The first byte of the character code of the first character thus addressed is temporarily stored in the character code buffer 9-2.

Next, the timing control section 9-1 increments the character code section address counter 9-6 to address the second byte of the character code of the first character, and transfers the contents to the character code buffer 9-2 again. . At this stage, the character code of the first character is completely stored in the character code buffer 9-2.

As the next step, the above-mentioned CG index information corresponding to that character code is read out, but before that, a capital character judger is used to check whether the character code just read out is a special code indicating the upper or lower part of a capital letter. 9
Judgment is based on -3.

The uppercase enlargement function means the following functions. That is, the upper case special code is different from the character code indicating the type of normal character, and is a type of special code defined in advance, and includes an upper case special code and a lower case special code. When a character code data group is input from a computer or magnetic tape device in advance, if you insert the above special code at the top or bottom of the capital letter before the normal character code, this printer will insert the special code immediately after the special code. The upper half or lower half of the character indicated by the character code is enlarged twice and printed. Perform this operation over two lines, and in the upper line, the upper half of the specified character is
By printing twice, and printing the lower half of the same character twice in the lower row, it is possible to completely enlarge and print the character twice. Of course, add more special codes 2
It is also possible to print characters of any size, such as not only double, but triple, quadruple, etc.

Referring to Japanese Patent Application No. 51-21911, and returning to the explanation of FIG. It is determined whether or not it is a special code, and the result is sent to the timing control section 9-1. If this is an uppercase special code, the timing control section 9-1 further increments the character code section address counter 9-6 in order to read the normal character code that follows, and transfers the read character code to the character code buffer 9-1.
2. Further, if the first character code read is not an uppercase special code, the operation for the above-mentioned uppercase special code is not performed and the process directly proceeds to the next step.

K-2 CG index information Next, the address calculator 9-4 performs an appropriate calculation based on the character code stored in the character code buffer 9-2, and the result is used as the CG index information.
The data is input to the index unit address counter 9-5. The calculation result here indicates the address where the first byte of 4 bytes of CG index information corresponding to the given character code in the CG index section in the page storage device 6-5 is stored. In this example, CG
Since the index information is arranged at the youngest addresses in the page storage device 6-5 and arranged in 4-byte units in the order of character codes, the address calculator 9-4 can respond by simply multiplying the input character code by 4. The configuration is such that the address of the first byte of CG index information can be obtained.

K-3 Writing CG index information of CG index buffer CG index section address counter 9-5
When an appropriate value is input to , the timing control section 9-1 causes the page storage device address selector 9-7 to select the address of the CG index section, and further increments the CG index section address counter 9-5 sequentially. CG the 4 bytes of CG index information corresponding to the first character while counting
The data is input to the index buffer 9-8.

K-4 Writing CG index buffer contents to row buffer Furthermore, the timing control unit 9-1 writes the CG index buffer contents into the row buffer 9-10 addressed by the row buffer write address counter 9-13. The contents of the text buffer 9-8 are written, but if the character in question is accompanied by a special code at the top or bottom of the capital letter, information corresponding to each is written to the capital letter instruction bit generator 9-9 at the same time. Give instructions to write in Batshua. That is, as shown in FIG. 9, 1 at an address with a row buffer
CG index information about characters 10-
1 is 2-bit uppercase character designation information 10-3, character display format designation information 10-4, CG first byte address 10-5, and parity bit 1.
Consists of 0-2.

Also, row buffer write address counter 9
-13, the address of an appropriate row buffer writing start position is input from the main controller 6-1 as described above. Therefore, writing of the first character starts from this position, and when reading this row buffer later, reading starts from the first address of the row buffer, so CG index information indicating a blank character is written in advance in the entire area of the row buffer. If written in advance, it is possible to print the first character in the middle of one line in accordance with the writing address to the line buffer during actual printing. That is, by changing the address of the above line buffer writing start position, the horizontal position of image printing can be arbitrarily adjusted.

K-5 Transfer of second and subsequent characters When the CG index information of the first character is written to the specified address in the row buffer, the timing control section 9-1 transfers the CG index information of the first character to the character code address counter 9-6. and increment the row buffer write address counter 9-13,
Further line buffer writing character count counter 9-
Subtract 14 and start transferring the second character.

Do the same for the 3rd and 4th characters.
The CG index information is sequentially transferred to the line buffer until the line buffer writing character count counter 9-14 reaches zero, and when the count is reduced to zero, a transfer end signal is output to the main controller 6-1. At the same time, the timing control unit 9-1 also stops the transfer up to this point and waits until the next transfer command is issued.

K-6 Operation from Row Buffer Readout to Image Signal Output Section Next, the operation mode from row buffer readout to image signal output section will be explained in more detail with reference to FIG.

FIG. 10 shows one of the two line buffers on the reading side in the embodiment of FIG. 7, a character display format storage section 8-6, a character generator address converter 8-7, and rewritable characters. Generator 6-10, parallel-serial converter 6-1
1. Furthermore, vertical/horizontal timing control section 8-
2, which is further detailed as a block, and the unillustrated portions have the same structure as in FIGS. 5, 7, and 8. Components that are the same as those in FIG. 5 or FIG. 7 are given the same numbers.

In this figure, the last line mark flag 11-
1 and the row pitch information register 11-2 are both attached to the row buffer 11-3 and alternately switch between the write side and the read side.
In this figure, only the set of row buffers on the read side is shown, but appropriate information has already been written to these as described above.

K-7 Process from reading the row buffer to obtaining the serial bit pattern signal The process from reading the row buffer to obtaining the serial bit pattern signal 8-8 in this embodiment will be described below, and its features will be explained in detail.

First, at the start of printing one page, a vertical synchronizing signal 8-9 is generated from the printing unit 4-2 which receives a command from the main controller 6-1, and this signal is sent to the in-line scanning line counter 11-6. , the count value is set to zero, and the output of the vertical gate signal generator 11-11 is set to "1" to open the vertical gate. The vertical gate signal is a signal that is input to the gate circuits 11-15 for the purpose of supplying an image signal to the printing section only during the printing period of one page, and the horizontal gate signal is similarly input to the printing period ( That is, the gate of the image signal is opened only during the period during which the laser beam scans a portion of the printing paper corresponding to the horizontal range to be printed, and is generated by the horizontal gate signal generator 11-12.

With the vertical gates thus opened, each unit starts its operation to output an image signal upon arrival of the horizontal synchronizing signals 8-10. The horizontal synchronizing signal is first sent to the reference pulse generator 11-1.
4, which serves as the source of the image clock and outputs a reference pulse of a constant frequency that is synchronized with the horizontal synchronization signal, and also outputs a reference pulse of a constant frequency that is input to the reference pulse counter 11.
-13 is cleared, and a command is given to the horizontal gate signal generator 11-12 to open the horizontal gate in the gate circuit 11-15. The horizontal gate is then closed when the output of the reference pulse counters 11-13 reaches the count value corresponding to the end of scanning the print area, and in the same way, when opening the horizontal gate, the reference pulse counter It is also possible to have a configuration in which the openings are opened after the counters 11-13 reach a certain count value.

Furthermore, the horizontal synchronizing signal 8-10 is input to the image timing control section 11-8, and data processing from reading out the row buffer to outputting the image signal is started.

First, clear the count value of the row buffer read address counter 11-4 and read the row buffer 1.
The first character stored at address zero of 1-3
Read CG index information. As mentioned above, the CG index information includes character display format designation information, CG first byte address, and 2 bits of uppercase character designation information added when writing the line buffer. Storage section 8-
6, the CG first byte address is sent to the character generator address control unit 11-7, and the uppercase character designation information is sent to the character generator address control unit 11.
-7 and the image clock generator 11-10 and the image timing controller 11-8. The character display format storage section 8-6 inputs the above specified information and outputs a specific bit configuration regarding the size of the character pattern, etc. An example of the content of the output information is shown in FIG. 11.

K-8 Pattern cell specified in character display format storage unit In this embodiment, one character to be printed has a pattern configuration as shown in FIG. 12a. That is, the entire character box 12-1 (hereinafter referred to as a character pattern cell) including the blank part that determines the spacing between adjacent characters contains data that is actually stored in the rewritable character generator 6-10. This has nothing to do with the part 12-2 (hereinafter referred to as the actual pattern part) that can be either a black bit or a white bit depending on the memory contents of the character generator, and the rewritable character generator around it. A blank portion 12-3 (hereinafter referred to as a virtual pattern portion) in which white bits are arranged is included.

The structure of the character pattern cell is expressed by information directly or indirectly representing five types of bit numbers, Xp, Xs, Xc, Ys, and Yc, as shown in FIG. 11a. The character display format storage unit 8-6 stores a plurality of sets of these five types of information as shown in FIG. 11b.
Any one of these sets is selected and output according to input character display format designation information, and therefore it is possible to mix characters having various character pattern cells in the same line.

Since the character display format specification information is included in the CG index information corresponding to the character code input from a computer or magnetic tape, it can be made identical by rewriting the CG index information by the main controller 6-1. It is possible to specify another character or another character pattern cell with the character code, and by rewriting part of the contents of the character display format storage section 8-6, the actual pattern section can be specified with the same character code. It is also possible to specify character pattern cells that are the same but differ only in the configuration of the virtual pattern section. Naturally, it is also possible to obtain a printing result in which the same character is obtained using different character codes.

That is, as in this embodiment, the page storage device 6
- Providing a CG index information table, that is, a CG index table in 5 and a character display format storage section 8-6, makes it possible to easily and quickly change the type, size, pitch, etc. of printed characters. This brings the advantage of being able to

Further, the rewritable character generating device 6-10 does not store the character bit pattern of the entire character pattern cell, but stores only the actual pattern part,
The information of the virtual pattern section can save the memory element of the rewritable character generator 6-10 by storing several types of configurations to be used for the time being in a concise form in the character display format storage section 8-6. There is also the effect of gaining.

Furthermore, instead of addressing the rewritable character generator 6-10 directly from the character code,
Since the CG index information is used in between, even if the actual pattern part information of each character in the rewritable character generator 6-10 is variable length information that should realize a variety of character display formats, the actual pattern of each character is It becomes possible to tightly pack the pattern part information without any gaps, and therefore it becomes possible to further save on memory elements.

K-9 Character Generator Address Control Unit and Image Timing Control Unit Returning to the explanation of FIG. 10 again, the character display format information output from the character display format storage unit 8-6 having the above-mentioned functions is the character generator address. It is input to the control section 11-7 and the image timing control section 11-8.

In addition, the character generator address control unit 11-7 receives the CG first byte address and uppercase character designation information in the CG index information from the row buffer 11-3, and the in-row scanning line counter 1.
The output from the line pitch information register 11-6 and the output from the line pitch information register 11-2 are sent to the rewritable character generator according to the timing control of the image timing control section 11-8 based on these information. Appropriate advice is sequentially designated for 6-10. In the rewritable character generator 6-10, the bit information of the actual pattern part in the character pattern cell is stored in groups of 8 bits horizontally, that is, 1 byte, starting from the upper left bit for one scanning line. Next, the second scanning line section and the third scanning line section are arranged in order up to the lower right bit. The CG first byte address is information that indicates the first byte of each character in the actual pattern section. Therefore, when printing the first scanning line section of the actual pattern section, the CG first byte address is used as is. It is sufficient to read the character generator from the address of Addressing needs to be changed.

This operation is controlled by the character generator address control section 11-7, and for this purpose, the count value of the in-line scanning line counter 11-6 and information from the character display format storage section 8-6 are input. ing.

First, when printing starts on page 1, that is, when printing starts on the first page, the first
During the first scan of a character, the image timing control section 11-8 separates the character display format information of the corresponding character, and when the first scan starts from the virtual pattern section, the character generator address control section 1
Blank data generator 11- for 1-7
9 to specify an address for access.
In order to select and access the blank data generator 11-9, for example, if the most significant bit of the address output from the character generator address control section 11-7 is "0", the rewritable character generator 6-1 is selected to output the contents of the byte addressed by the other lower bits, and if the most significant bit is "1", the blank data generator 11- is selected regardless of the lower bits.
9 may be selected to output data with all bits "0".

The blank data thus output is input to the parallel-to-serial converter 6-11 according to instructions from the image timing control section 11-8, and is sent to the gate circuit 11-15 as a serial bit pattern signal of one bit in accordance with the image clock. guided by.

If the first scan of the first character is entirely within the virtual pattern, blank data in 8-bit units as described above is repeatedly output, and the character pattern clock counter 11-1
When the count value of 6 matches the width of the character pattern cell of the first character, that is, the value of Xp, the printing of the second character starts in the first scan. However, the time point at which the above-mentioned count values match does not have to be at the end of serialization of 8 bits of blank data in units of 8 bits, but may be at any point in the middle.

In addition, in the case of a character pattern configuration in which the actual pattern portion is printed during the first scan of the first character or from the beginning, the count value of the clock counter 11-16 during the character pattern starts printing the actual pattern portion. When the count value corresponding to the desired position is reached, the image timing control unit 11-
8 to character generator address control section 11-7
A command is given to address the first byte of the first scan of the actual pattern portion of the first character. The first byte is the CG first byte address itself read from the row buffer 11-3 as described above, so the character generator address control unit 11-7 does nothing regarding the address of this byte. Outputs the CG byte start address as is without any modification.

However, in order to access the rewritable character generator 6-10, it is necessary to add the most significant bit "0" as described above.

K-10 Output from the 2nd byte of the 1st line The contents of the 1st byte of the 1st scan of the actual pattern part of the 1st character thus addressed are arranged in accordance with the command of the image timing control unit 11-8. The signals are input to a serial converter 6-11, serialized in sequence, and guided to gate circuits 11-15.

When all 8 bits are output, the second
To output bytes, the address output of the character generator address control section 11-7 is increased;
The contents of the second byte are returned to the parallel to serial converter 6-1.
1 is input. Similarly, the data of the third and fourth bytes are sequentially output, but in the meantime, the character pattern clock counter 11-1
When the count value of 6 indicates the end of the actual pattern section, the image timing control section 11-8 enters the blank data generation mode, and when the first scanning of the first character is completed, the line buffer read address counter 11-8 enters the blank data generation mode. 4 is incremented to output the CG index information of the second character, and the character pattern clock counter 11-16
is cleared and the printing operation of the second character begins.

The second and third characters are printed in the same manner in the first scan, but if the CG index information read from the line buffer specifies either the upper part of a capital letter or the lower part of a capital letter, the entire The image clock generator 11-10 operates to reduce the frequency of the image clock which determines the image output timing of the character to half its frequency only when printing that character. This is explained in the second section below.
The same applies to scanning after the scanning line. That is, the horizontal expansion of uppercase letters is realized only by switching the frequency of the image clock, and the vertical expansion is achieved by halving the in-line scanning line count in the character generator address control section 11-7, as described later. It can be obtained by the following operations.

K-11 Second scan of the first row The image output operation of the first scan line of the first row progresses as described above, and when the laser beam scan reaches the end of the predetermined image printing area, as described above, The horizontal gate signal generator 1 detects the corresponding count values of the reference pulse counters 11-13.
1-12 closes the horizontal gate in the gate circuit 11-15 to complete the image output of the first scan, but after this, the reference pulse oscillator 11-14 stops outputting pulses, and therefore the image clock also stops generating. , and an in-row scanning line counter 11
-6 is incremented and the next horizontal synchronization signal 8-10
wait for the arrival of

When the second horizontal synchronization signal is input, the reference pulse starts outputting as in the first case.
When the horizontal gate is opened, the row buffer read address counter 11-4 is cleared and the CG index information of the first character is read out again.

The first difference between the first scan and the second and subsequent scans is how to respond to uppercase letter designations. When an uppercase character is specified, horizontal expansion can be achieved by halving the frequency of the image clock as described above, but vertical expansion requires outputting the same data every two scanning lines. In other words, in the case of specifying the upper part of a capital letter, the normal 1st scan data is used during the 1st and 2nd scans, the normal 2nd scan data is used during the 3rd and 4th scans, etc. Output, enlarge the upper half of the character pattern cell twice by scanning in one line, and then expand the second
When specifying the uppercase lower part of the line, the first scan and the second
When scanning, the data of the first scan of the lower half of the normal uppercase pattern cell is used for the third and fourth scans.
When scanning, use the second scan data in the lower half...
. . . and enlarges the lower half of the character pattern cell twice by scanning one line. To realize this operation, for example, in the case of specifying the upper part of a capital letter, the character generator address control section 11-7 and the image timing control section 1
1-8 operates to judge the counted value of the in-line scanning line counter 11-6 as if it were 1/2 (the remainder is rounded down) and output the image data of the resulting scanning line. This becomes possible.

In addition, in the case of specifying the lower part of a capital letter, the line pitch information register 11-2 is added to the in-line scanning line count value.
The contents of , i.e., the number of scanning lines that make up the row, are added up (i.e., one row is considered to be continuously scanned from the row above), and the sum is halved (the remainder is rounded down). This is possible by determining the result as an in-line scanning line for convenience.

Next, when outputting the image data of the second scan of the first row, there is a slightly different operation from that of the first scan. That is, the character generator address control unit 11-7 is the rewritable character generator 6.
-10 is different from the method of specifying the address when outputting the information of the actual pattern part of the character.

If the character pattern cell of the first character should already print the information of the actual pattern part from the first scan, that is, if Ys is 0, the information corresponding to the second scanning line of the actual pattern part will be printed in the second scan. Must be output. (However, as mentioned above, if an uppercase character is specified, the second scan is essentially determined to be the first scan, and the same operation as the first scan is performed.) In such a case, the rewritable character generator 6- 10, the character generator address control unit 11-
7 does not directly address the rewritable character generator with the input CG first byte address, but adds the number of bytes already read in the first scan to the CG first byte address,
You must specify that reading starts from the resulting address. This is also the case after the third scanning line, and in order to output the information of the actual pattern part of the character during the scan, add the number of bytes read before that scan to the CG first byte address of the character. The rewritable character generating device 6-10 may be addressed using the result.

The above operation is performed in the character generator address control unit 11-7 based on the actual in-line scanning line count value, character display format information, including consideration of uppercase characters, and the CG first byte address. will be carried out.

In the operating mode as described above, the second scan, the third scan, the fourth scan, etc. are printed, and the in-line scanning line counter 11-6 is incremented each time each scan is completed. However, the counter 11-
The output of line pitch information register 11-2 is constantly compared with the output of line pitch information register 11-2 by comparator 11-5, and when they match, the printing operation for the first line ends.

K-12 Line pitch information In this embodiment, line pitch information (this is referred to as Vp) can be specified independently of character display format information (Fig. 11).
Therefore, Ys+Yc (see FIG. 12a) of all characters in one line is not necessarily equal to the above Yp. That is, if Ys＋Yc＞Yp in that line
If there is a character, a matching signal is output from the comparator 11-5 in Fig. 10 before all pattern cells of that character are scanned and printed, and printing of that line is completed, and the pattern cells of that character are scanned and printed. The result is that the lower part can be omitted. Conversely, if there is a character in the line that satisfies Ys+Yc<Yp, the character generator address control unit 11-7 determines that the count value of the scanning line in the line is Ys+ when printing that character.
For scanning when Yc is exceeded, blank data is selected and generated. Therefore, a virtual pattern section is added below the pattern cell of that character.

Such a function makes it possible to mix different characters of Ys + Yc in each line, and since it is not necessary to maintain the relationship of Ys + Yc = Yp for all characters in a line, it is possible to display a dedicated character for each character depending on the line pitch. This has the effect of eliminating the need to prepare characters with a style.

K-13 Printing operation for the second and subsequent lines On the other hand, when the printing operation for the first line is completed, the match signal from the comparator 11-5 clears the in-line scanning line counter 11-6 and scans the next line. While preparing for line counting, it sends a one-line printing end signal to the main controller 6-1 to urge the main controller 6-1 to switch the set of the line buffer, line pitch register, and last line mark flag to the set that has been on the write side so far.

The main controller 6-1 immediately switches the row buffer set before the next horizontal synchronization signal arrives, and then switches the second row written in the new row buffer set when the next horizontal synchronization signal arrives. Printing operation starts.

The second line is printed in exactly the same way as the first line, and when uppercase letters are specified, the printing is done by modifying the scanning line count value in the line as described above, except for whether the uppercase letter or lowercase letter is printed. Printing is performed in the same manner as in the case of one line.

After the second line is printed, the third and fourth lines...
. . . is printed successively, but during this time, the vertical gate generator 11-11 outputs the last line mark mark 11-1 every time a printing end signal for one line is generated.
1, and when an indication mark indicating that the line is the last line is detected, the vertical gate is closed at that point to complete the entire printing operation for one page. As mentioned above, the last line mark flag is set by the main controller 6-1 to set the CG for one line in the line buffer.
When writing index information, the line is 1
It only needs to be set if it is the last line in the page.

When the printing of one page is thus completed, the apparatus shown in FIG. 11 waits for the input of the next vertical synchronization signal and starts printing the next page.

〔effect〕

Although the configuration of the embodiment of the display device of the present invention has been described in detail above, the present invention is characterized in that it has great flexibility in the relationship between input character codes and displayed characters.

According to this embodiment, even with the same character code, CG
By rewriting the contents of the index section, that is, the character display format designation information and the CG first byte address, it is possible to display characters with different character display formats or actual pattern section information.

For example, when displaying one page, in addition to the normal character display format information and actual pattern part information for all characters to be displayed on the page, character display corresponding to characters that can be enlarged at the same magnification If format information and actual pattern section information are stored in advance in the character display format storage section and rewritable character generator, respectively, by rewriting all or part of only the contents of the CG index section, the normal version of the page can be changed. It is possible to easily enlarge and display the entire page or some of the characters on a page that is displayed in uppercase characters.

Furthermore, not only enlargement but also reduction can be realized in the same way, and these can be enlarged or reduced at any ratio.

Furthermore, it is obvious that it is possible to easily change the font and display the text.

Furthermore, as mentioned above, when a set of CG index table and character bit pattern group is created in advance by a computer, character codes of different character code systems (for example, EBCDIC and ASCII) can be created by changing only the contents of the CG index table. It is also clear that data entry can also be easily accommodated. As explained above, according to the present invention, it is not necessary to add display format information to all the character codes in the character code storage section, so it is possible to prevent the capacity of the character code storage section from increasing.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing the configuration of the printing section applied to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the arrangement of the optical system included in FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing how the output device is connected to a computer channel together with other input/output devices as a so-called online output device;
The figure is a block diagram showing a mode in which the information output device according to the present invention is coupled to a magnetic tape device as a so-called offline output device, and FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the image signal processing section shown in FIG. 3 or FIG. 4. , FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the information input to the image signal processing section from the data input terminal or the floppy disk device shown in FIG. 5, and the subsequent flow of information. 5 is a block diagram for explaining the operation of the first sub-control device and the second sub-control device shown in FIG. 5, and FIG. 8 is a block diagram for explaining the operation mode from reading the page storage device to writing to the row buffer. More detailed block diagram of No. 9
The figure shows one character to be written on the line buffer.
An explanatory diagram showing an example of specific contents of CG index information, FIG. 10 is a more detailed block diagram for explaining the operation mode from reading the row buffer to obtaining an image signal output, and FIG. 10
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the structure of character display style information stored in the character display style storage unit shown in the figure and a character pattern cell indicated by the information. Here, 4-3 is an image processing section, 4-2 is a printing section, 6-1 is a main control device, 6-2 is a main storage device,
6-5 is a page storage device, 6-7 is a first row buffer,
6-8 is a second row buffer, 6-10 is a rewritable character generator, 6-11 is a parallel-serial converter, 6-12
is a mixer.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A character code storage unit that stores a character code indicating a character to be output, a dot pattern storage unit that stores a group of character dot patterns corresponding to the character code, and a plurality of display formats that indicate display formats of characters to be output. a display format information storage section for storing information; first address information indicating the storage location of each dot pattern in the dot pattern storage section; and second address information indicating the storage location of each display format information in the display format information storage section. an index storage section storing address information in a predetermined order corresponding to the character code; the index storage section is referred to based on the character code read from the character code storage section; Reads second address information, reads character dot patterns and display format information corresponding to the character code from the dot pattern storage section and the display format information storage section based on the first and second address information, and outputs characters. An information output device characterized by: