JPS6157349A - Controller of printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To avoid inconvenience such as a drop of an electric power source of a printer resulting from an increase of power consumption for printing, by a method wherein when a number of printing dots is increased extremely to a letter pattern to which expansion or deformation treatment has been performed, printing duty of the letter pattern is mitigated automatically. CONSTITUTION:When development treatment of an image of a letter to be printed is performed, whether expansion magnification developed based on notched widths dXL, dYL set up on registers 91, 92 exceeds reference expansion manification to be decided by a number of allowable dots (consumption power for printing) or not is decided after a letter pattern has been developed to a line buffer 13 and when it is revealed to be true, printing dots are thinned by putting a zigzag mask over a developed letter pattern of a line buffer 13. With this construction, inconvenience wherein a number of printing dots is increased extremely, power consumption for the printing exceeds a regulated value and a printer 14 is made into a state wherein an electric power source is dropped is avoided and the inconvenience wherein density of an expanded pattern becomes extremely high is avoided.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to an enlarged or deformed dot matrix (IJ).
The present invention relates to a printer control device used in a serial printer that prints out character font information including double-byte characters mixed with full-width characters.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems]

In serial printers, when controlling printing by mixing full-width characters and enlarged characters, there has conventionally been some restriction on the line feed pitch. For example, when attempting to print enlarged characters of 48 dots in height using a printer with a print head of 24 dots in height, paper must be fed in between.

That is, once the 24 dots in the upper half of the enlarged character are printed, the paper is fed for 24 dots, and then the 24 dots in the lower half of the enlarged character are printed, and the printing of the enlarged character is completed. do.

In this way, when a predetermined character dot matrix/zetern is enlarged or transformed so that the number of vertical dots becomes larger than the vertical width of the image line buffer, multiple dots are required to complete the printing of the character pattern. At least one print head movement operation and at least one paper feed operation corresponding to the vertical print width are involved.Furthermore, at this time, the pattern is enlarged or transformed, and as a result, the number of print dots that turn on is reduced. If there is too much power and the permissible printing duty of the printer mechanism is exceeded, the power consumption during printing will exceed the permissible range, causing a problem that the power of the printer mechanism will be turned off. Specific g
For example, if a horizontal line with a width of 2 dots is enlarged 16 times, it will become a horizontal line with a width of 32 dots, and this will be expanded to 24
Dot-width printing - When printing with a printer that has a rad, all dot printing elements in the print head must be driven simultaneously and continuously, resulting in an extreme increase in printing power consumption. This causes an inconvenience in that the permissible value is exceeded and the power of the printer mechanism is cut off.

At this time, all dot printing elements of the print head are simultaneously
Moreover, by equipping the printer with a power supply that has a sufficient capacity to handle continuous driving, it is possible to prevent the power outage mentioned above. The structure is very large and expensive, and even if we exclude problems such as heat generation compensation due to the continuous drive of the dot printing elements of the print head, it is difficult to realize economic efficiency, compactness, etc. in actual commercialization. Various inconveniences occur.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention was developed in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and in the mixed printing control of full-width characters and enlarged or modified characters, the number of printed dots increases dramatically for the arm turn of the enlarged or modified character. The printing duty of the character I lean can be automatically reduced even when the printing power consumption is extremely high, thereby reliably avoiding inconveniences such as power failure of the printer due to an extreme increase in printing power consumption. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a printer control device with a configuration that is easy to use.

[Summary of the invention]

The present invention provides an arm turn processing means for enlarging or transforming a character pattern having a predetermined dot matrix structure, and a turn processing means for enlarging or transforming a character pattern having a predetermined dot matrix structure. In a printer control apparatus, the output character pattern processed by the pattern processing means is expanded at a predetermined reference magnification magnification. means for determining whether or not the output character exceeds a reference magnification magnification, and when it is determined by this means that the output character cross-turn exceeds a reference magnification magnification, the printed dots of the output character cross-turn are thinned out and expanded into an image line buffer; means to automatically reduce the printing duty of the character pattern when the character/IP turn processed by the TSUKUTAN initial purpose means exceeds a predetermined enlargement magnification, thereby reducing printing power consumption to an extreme level. This makes it possible to reliably avoid inconveniences such as power failure of printers due to the increase in the number of printers.

[Implementation sequence of the invention]

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 10 is a CPU that controls the entire system, 11 is a main memory (MM), and 12 is a CPU path. 13
1 is an image line buffer (hereinafter simply referred to as a line buffer), and 14 is a serial dot printer.

No. 2 is the size (Valz
22 is a register representing the size (Hslze) corresponding to the width in the main scanning direction. 23 generates underline, sideline C, and to-ha turns with lengths according to the contents of the register 21, and stores them in the line buffer 1.
3 is the underline/sideline control section. Reference numeral 24 denotes a trigonometric function table that stores nine angle information (trigonometric functions a7h-ta) according to specified angles when italicizing or rotating characters. 25
is for specifying the kth zone where the character pattern is divided into zones based on the standard character height when the character I lean after the non-turn conversion process exceeds the vertical width of the line buffer 13, that is, the standard character height. This is a register. 26 and 27 are dotted according to the enlargement/reduction magnification of the characters! (dx, dy
) e storage register, 28 is an offset register for selectively giving an offset in the range of 0 to 7 dots to the next character after the initial conversion, 29 is a register for storing offset data (not shown) with the number of dots according to the offset value of the offset register This is an offset data generation unit that generates the number "O" representing "0".

31 to 49 each constitute a borrowing element for generating a dot interpolation address, 3 is a register that stores the dot increment width DXI in the sub-scanning direction including the X component, and 32 is a register in the main scanning direction including the X component. Dot increment @DX27' (storing register; 33 is a register that stores the initial value in the main scanning direction (initial address: 35 is a register that stores the dot step width DY2 in the main scanning direction including the X component; 36Fi7
Initial value in the sub-scanning direction including the component (initial address;
YJ tntt ) tF? This is a register. The dot interpolation addresses stored in the registers 31 to 36 each consist of integer part data and decimal part data.

37 is an adder circuit ADD-A for adding the contents of the register 31 and the contents of the register 42 indicating the dot position in the sub-scanning direction including the X component, and 38 is the register ? Adder circuit ADD-B 39 adds the contents of register 44 indicating the dot position in the main scanning direction including the X component and the contents of dot 8 in the sub-scanning direction including the X component. The adder circuits ADD-C and 4Q add the contents of the register 46 shown above and the contents of the register 48 indicating the dot position in the main scanning direction including the X component. .

A data selector 41 selects the contents of the register 33 at the start of dot interpolation processing for one character, and thereafter selects the output of the adder circuit 37 every time - times of main scanning are performed.
2 is a register that is selected by the data selector 41 and stores a new dot address during dot interpolation represented by an integer part and a decimal part including a fix component; 43 is a register that selects the contents of the register 42 at the start of main scanning; A data selector 44 selects the output of the adder circuit 38 for each interpolation process for one dot, and is a register for storing a new dot address selected by the data selector 43 during dot interpolation including the ft-X component. 45 is a data selector that selects the contents of the register 36 at the start of dot interpolation processing for one character, and thereafter selects the output of the adder circuit 39 every time - times of main scanning is performed; 46 is a data selector 45; selected 7
? : A register that stores a new precise dot address during dot interpolation, which is expressed by an integer part and a decimal part including the A data selector 48 selects the output of the adder circuit 40 at each time, and a register 48 is a register that stores a new dot address selected by the data selector 47 during dot interpolation including a 7ty component. 49 is each data selector 4 mentioned above.

This is a selection control circuit SC that controls 43, 45, and 47.

50 is a comparison value for comparison with an interpolation value to be described later;
That is, it is a register that stores the threshold value th.

51 is a predetermined dotma that includes kanji) IJ x unit ([F
Character pattern data (for example, 24 x 24 dots) is stored in the fixed kanji pattern memo IJ KPM. Reference numeral 52 is a high-speed RAM that stores one character's worth of doratono turns read out from the kanji pattern memory 51.
This is a character buffer, in which a dot pattern for one character is stored with the surrounding area filled with an off-dot "O" bit pattern. 53 is stored in the one-character buffer 52, and of the t character pattern data, registers 44 and 48
This is a bit selection circuit that selectively outputs dot information of four points in one lattice surrounding a new dot according to the value of each integer part. 54 is a register that stores 4-bit information that is output multiple times from the bit selection circuit 53. ◎ 55 to 57 are patterns tg+a of dot information that are output multiple times from the bit selection circuit 53, and are surrounded by four dots. This is a component of the dot pattern recognition unit DSP that selectively switches and controls the interpolation value of a new dot.Register 55 recognizes the dot pattern states of four points from the contents of a 540-bit register, and detects a specific dot pattern state as described later. At a certain time, a discrimination control circuit 56 which controls the bit selection circuit 53 to sequentially select the dot information of two specific grids around the dot information is read out under the control of the discrimination control circuit 55 and stores t4 bits of information. Register 57 is a discrimination control circuit 55
7t according to the dot information of the register 54 and the dot information of the register 54 read out under the control of
This is a dot discrimination circuit that outputs a 1-bit interpolation value switching selection signal.

58 is the value of the 99 decimal part stored in register 44 (main scanning direction offset value including 5-bit X component) and register 5.
Using the dot information of the 4 points stored in 7'C and the 1-bit interpolation value switching selection signal outputted from the dot discrimination circuit 57 as input information, The interpolated value Qxy t of the new friend dot is an interpolation table ROM that outputs (
Using a mask ROM of 32K x 8 bits, the following 1
It is a 5-bit read address, so 8 bits (0 to 25
Outputs interpolated values (5 levels). 59 is interpolation table R
This is a comparator that compares the interpolated value output from the OM 58 with the 7'C threshold stored in the register 50, and indicates an on-dot (bright spot) when the interpolated value exceeds the comparison value, that is, the threshold. Outputs a 1″ level signal. 60 sequentially stores the dot information outputted from Konno 4V-Y 59, and the bit unit of memory (9 turns of one character) is expanded (
This is a shift register that outputs to the CPU path 12 in units of 8 bits here.

7Q is a character information storage buffer for storing character codes to be printed and character attribute information, and has information processors 701 for n characters. This character information storage buffer 7
Details of the information block 701 in 0 will be described later based on FIG.

90 is a printing direction control flag DIRF for specifying the printing direction (bidirectional/unidirectional), and is only used when specifying the so-called bidirectional printing mode in which a total of two lines are printed in one reciprocating movement of the print head. , set CDIRF="1'
) to be done. 91.92 is a dot expansion 7c in order to avoid the inconvenience that the magnification magnification exceeds the preset 9 standard magnification magnification, the number of printed dots increases extremely, and the power consumption during printing process exceeds the specified value. These are a pair of registers that store dot step widths dxL and dyL corresponding to the adjustment magnifications in the X and Y directions for adjusting the printing duty of /4 turns.

Figures 2 to 10 each illustrate the dot interpolation processing operation for obtaining enlarged or modified characters that are printed out mixed with full-width characters (standard characters), which are the object of the present invention. This is a diagram.

Figures 2 (,) to (f) respectively show dot information (dot pattern) of four points in one grid surrounding a new dot generated by interpolation processing, level divisions and table types of interpolation values set in the interpolation table ROM 58. In this figure, the interpolated values are expressed in luminance levels (brightness levels) of 0 to 255, and some of the divided areas are shown in terms of constant height.

Figure 3 shows the 4-point dora of the l lattice) l? Of the turns,
This is the ninth item explaining the table type selection switching row when only one dot is ON 11IT+ or OFF 1llall. )'.

When only one point among D3 is off, that is, "O" (DO shown in white in the figure), the on/off state tg of D, , Db is recognized. , p
,, Db = "l" TV, Figure 2 (d) Select the corner table TI'jf as shown in Itc, and if at least one of % Da + Db is "0", the second A diagonal type table TO as shown in Figure (f) is selected. In this way, the interpolated value of a new dot located within the four-point dot area is further determined by the state of the surrounding dots when the four dots form a specific pattern as described above.

Figures 4(,) to (d) show various pattern conversion sequences. In the figures, Sm indicates the main scanning direction, Sa indicates the sub-scanning direction, and Fig. 4(a) shows the true form (the support is the long body). , Chigi), Figure (b) shows an italic type, Figure (c) shows a bottom aligned italic type, and Figure (d) shows a rotating body.

FIGS. 5(a) and 5(b) are diagrams for fully explaining the relationship between the output target of dot interpolation processing, that is, the image output target, and the main scanning direction Sm and sub-scanning direction Ss during the dot interpolation. Figure (a) shows the main scanning and sub-scanning directions during dot interpolation during CRT display, and Figure (b)
is the main scan during dot interpolation during printout,
and the sub-scanning direction. IC like this
% In the dot interpolation processing at the time of CRT display output and the dot interpolation processing at the time of print act, the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction are interchanged and become compatible.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the correspondence between each of the bias setting data.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the relationship between a character whose pattern has been converted (by dot interpolation processing) and a rectangle (square gold frame) circumscribing the character.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of setting the character pitch CP and line pitch LP for various modified characters.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an underline development sequence for various modified characters.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the zone designation operation.

FIG. 11 shows the character information storage buffer 7 shown in FIG. 1 above.
Showing the details of information professional, ri701... in 0VC1
2. In the figure, 80 is a flag section that stores a control flag CNTF indicating the state of the information block 701 itself, 81 is a character code section that stores a print character code C0DEi, and 82
83 is a relative distance storage section that stores the relative distance dH between the upper end of the print head and the lower end of the printed character dot, 84
85.86 is a pointer section indicating the write start address dP of the line buffer 13; 85.86 is a step size storage section storing dot step widths ax and dy according to the character enlargement/reduction magnification;
Reference numeral 87 denotes an attribute information storage unit that stores attribute information ATR of character transformation, such as rotation angle information when obtaining rotated characters.

Figures 12 and 13 are for explaining the mixed printing operation of full-width characters and enlarged or modified characters obtained by the above dot interpolation process in one embodiment, respectively. 14 is a t-th diagram illustrating the relative distance dH between the print head and the lower end of the developed character dot, in which th is to print, dot width, and te.
is the paper feed amount. Here, the relative distance i shown in ■ in the figure
1gdH is the state immediately after printing the first zone of enlarged characters, and dH=Ah. Also, the relative distance dH shown in ■
After the above ■, the paper is fed by a certain paper feed amount te#)
is executed, and dH=Ah-to (however, Lm
≦th).

Figure 13 shows an example of a mixed seal with full-width characters and enlarged or transformed characters; here, 10 full-width characters
0... and the enlarged character 200... which is double the height and double the width of the character J (70...) are printed on warm cloth with gold center alignment.'
The print HJ in the case of fc is shown.

Figure 14 shows the LP (paper feeding execution) in the above embodiment.
FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the process, and FIG.
It is a flowchart which shows a (print start) process.

Figure 16 is a detailed flowchart of the process of developing characters into images.
This corresponds to the processing part *2 in the figure.

This will explain the operation of the − implementation sequence.

First, when explaining the printing control operation for mixed characters in one embodiment, referring to FIGS. Explain the operation.

By inputting the character code string to be printed from the outside together with the attribute information attached to each code, each of these pieces of information is under the control of the CPU 10.

The information processor in the character information storage buffer 770 for each character,
It is set to 701... That is, information block 7
The character code C0DE to be printed is set in the character code section 81 of 02..., the attribute information ATR is set in the attribute information storage section 87, and the control flag section 80 is set. In addition, the threshold value (th; interpolation table ROM S 8
comparison value for comparison with the interpolated value generated by
, Furthermore, various dot interpolation specification information such as character pattern enlargement/reduction magnification for each character code above can be found in Main Memo I.
stored in a predetermined working area of Jl 1.

Furthermore, during dot interpolation, the CPU J o reads the control data of each information program 701 . Create and information professional,
Based on the contents of the fields 701, . . . , initial settings are made for each shelf register for dot and dot interpolation in units of one character to be expanded. That is, the CPU io sets the tth comparison value, that is, the threshold th, to be compared with the interpolated value generated from the table ROM 5B in the register 5Q, and then sets the specified next value. The dot step size (d''p dy: inverse value of the enlargement/reduction ratio) which is the standard according to the enlargement/reduction magnification is calculated, and this is stored in the step size storage section of the corresponding information block 701 in the character information storage buffer 70. 85.86
Set up the PC. Further, the CPU J,0 extracts the information block 70J for one character to be expanded first from the character information storage buffer 70, and changes the attribute information in the attribute information storage section 87 to rotated or italicized characters. When deformation is indicated, trigonometric function data sin according to the specified angle
, cos, tan t-trigonometric function table 24
Set to . After that, these registers 26, 27 and the setting data gin, co of the trigonometric function table 24 are
Initial value for generating a dot interpolation address based on n and tan (initial address: XJ 1nlt
, Yl 1nit), and dot step width DXI
, DYI, DX2, DY"2 and set these data in the registers 31 to 36. At the same time, the V size and H size due to variations in character height and character width caused by pattern conversion such as busyness, enlargement, and rotation are calculated. Each 2-ta Vslz
e.

Hsize is calculated and set in the registers 21 and 22. Furthermore, when zoning occurs, the number of zones is calculated and this data is set in the register 25.

Furthermore, when moving dot-interpolated characters within the range of VC1 to 7 dots and dots when outputting them (for example, dot-interpolated ruby characters, half-width characters, etc.) When moving up and down),
Or - The number of dots in the main scanning direction of the pattern-converted t character is not a multiple of the write width (8 dots) of the target image memory and needs to be aligned with the byte boundary (write width) on the image memory side. If this occurs, an offset value within the range of 1 to 7 dots is set in the offset register 28.

In addition to the settings of each a7-ta for the above dot interpolation processing, information DIRF for specifying bidirectional/unidirectional printing mode is set in the printing direction control flag 9o as control data for printing processing. In addition to being set, register 91. ),! Then, the dots are expanded and 7'tno! It is subject to adjustment processing of turn printing r neaty. Dot step widths dxr, , dyL corresponding to the reference magnification are set. Here, the print direction control flag 90 includes one of the print heads.
DIRF is set only when specifying the so-called bidirectional printing mode, which prints a total of two lines (reciprocating motion and returning).
1". Registers 91 and 92 also contain settings for adjusting (thinning) the number of printed dots so that the number of printed dots for enlarged characters does not become too large and the power consumption during printing processing does not exceed the specified value. For this purpose, dot increments dx1., dy, which correspond to a reference adjustment magnification for performing a preset printing duty adjustment process, are set.

After completing the initial settings of each register as described above,
The PU 10 starts dot interpolation address generation processing as shown in 5 below.

Here, first, when dot interpolation is performed on the true body (or long body, Chigi) as shown in Figure 4(a) as the output target (for example, simple enlargement/reduction), we will show the operation of the entire seven planes in a row. Explain. During this dot interpolation, the register 31
"0" in register 32, dot step width r dx J
, Initial value rsxJ of register 33VC main scanning direction Sm
, the dot step width r dx J is set in the register 34, "0" is set in the register 35, and the initial value r sy J of the sub-scanning direction Ss is set in the register 36, respectively.

Here, the dot step widths dx and dy set in the registers 32 and 34 are given as reciprocal values of the scaling factor. Also, the register 33 contains [” Ix = (a
x-1)/2] is given as an initial value 3x, and the register 36 contains CIy=(dy-1)/2)
I7 is given as the initial value 3y, and dx
Or when dy is less than "1" (that is, when expanding), Ix or I7 becomes negative and indicates an address outside the original character pattern storage area of the one-character buffer 52, and dx or dlr becomes "1".
'' (that is, at the time of reduction), lx or I7 becomes positive and indicates an address within the original character pattern storage area of the one-character buffer 52. Also, interpolation table RO is stored in register 5Q.
M513) Comparison value or threshold value at an arbitrary level (0 to 255 levels) for comparing with the output interpolated value and determining which level or higher of new dots is considered a meaningful dot. th is set.

Furthermore, the CPU lO stores the character information storage buffer 70.
According to the character code C0DEs of the character code section 8 of the information block 70 for the first character extracted, one character's worth of dot/line data to be subjected to dot interpolation is extracted from the kanji/f-turn memory 51. The character pattern data is read and written into the one-character buffer 52. At this time, in the one-character buffer 521C, as described above, one character's worth of pattern data to be subjected to dot interpolation is surrounded by meaningless 0'' dots and stored in the following state.

After setting the data to the registers 31 to 36 and taking out the interpolation target character no.
．． Data BX is the initial dot address stored in 36.

ay are selected by selection circuits 41.45 and stored in corresponding registers 42.46, respectively.

Furthermore, at the start of main scanning, the registers 42 and 46 are
Data stored in 8X, $7 is selection circuit 43.4
7 and the respective corresponding registers 44.4
It can be stored in 8.

Data SX stored in this register 44.48,
The value of the integer part of fig is given to the bit selection circuit 53, and the value of the decimal part is given to the interpolation table ROM 511.

The bit selection circuit 53 receives the above input 7? : Based on the value of the integer part, dot information of four points in the L1 grid is selected from the one-character buffer 52 and supplied to the interpolation table ROM 5g. At this time, when enlarging (dx, dy<1), a negative value indicating an address outside the original character pattern storage area of the one-character buffer 52 is given to the bit selection circuit 53. Dot selection starts from the dot information of four points in the L grid, including dots outside the storage area.

Also, at the time of contraction (dx, dy, >1),
Since the bit selection circuit 53 is given a positive value indicating the address in the original character pattern storage area of the one character buffer 52, it starts dot selection from the dot information of four points in one grid in the original character pattern storage area. .

The interpolation table ROM 5B is stored in the register 44°4.
As input information, each offset value from 8 (10 bits in total), dot information of the surrounding 4 points from the bit selection circuit 53, and a 1-pit interpolation value switching selection signal from the dot pattern recognition unit DSP are input. An 8-bit interpolated value Qxy is output according to the content. At this time, the dot pattern of four points per grid outputted from the bit selection circuit 53 is recognized by the dot recognition section DSP, and as shown in FIG.
When it is a specific dot/turn, the on/off state of specific dots in the surrounding grid is recognized and a 1-bit interpolation value switching selection signal corresponding to the dot state is output. That is, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, there are four surrounding dots DO and DI.

D2. When only one point among D3 is off, that is, lO+ (DO shown in white in the figure), the on/off state t- of Da, Db is recognized, and the on/off state t- of Da, Db is recognized. If ="1", then Figure 2(d)
Corner type table Tlt-select as shown in
If at least one of Da and Db is "0", an interpolation value switching selection signal is output to select the diagonal type table TO as shown in FIG. 2(f). Also, the surrounding four points DO, TODO, DI, D2. Of D3,
When only one point is on, that is, 1" (DO indicating a black point in the figure), the specific dots oa, D of the surrounding grid are
Recognize the on/off state of I), Da, Db=″O
”, select a corner type table Tlf shown in FIG. 2 (, ), and select Da.

If at least one of Db is "1", an interpolation value switching selection signal is output to select a diagonal type table TO as shown in FIG. 2(e) IC. In this way, 4
The interpolated value of the nine fr dots located within the dot area of a point is further determined by the state of the surrounding dots when the four dots form a specific pattern as described below.

Then, the interpolated value of 8 bits, II Outputs the signal.

On the other hand, after the interpolation value of one dot is outputted from the interpolation table ROM 58, the contents of the register 44 and the contents of the register 32 are added by the adder circuit 3BIC, and the contents of the register 48 and the contents of the register 35 are added together. circuit 4
0 are added, and the data of each addition result is selected by the corresponding data selectors 43 and 47tlC under the control of the selection control circuit 49, and stored in the register 44.
It can be stored in 48. At this time, dot increments in the main scanning direction @
Of the registers 32 and 350 that indicate the Therefore, the contents of the register 44 (dot address) are set to "0" as described above, and therefore, the contents of the register 44 (dot address) are determined by the dot step width dxi according to the specified 9 enlargement/contraction magnification for each interpolation process of 1 dot. Although it is updated sequentially, the contents of the register 48 are not updated as a result, and the data at the time of initial setting is held as is. or,
Every time K when one main scan ends, the contents of register 42 and the contents of register 3 are added by an adder circuit 37, and the contents of register 46 and the contents of register 34 are added by an adder circuit 39, The data resulting from each addition is selected by the corresponding data selectors 41 and 45 under the control of the selection control circuit 49, and
Stored at 2°46. At this time, among the registers 31 and 34 indicating the dot step width in the sub-scanning direction, the register 34
' is set with the dot step width ay according to the specified n-th scaling factor, but the register 31 is set with the dot increment width ay according to the specified n-th scaling factor. is set, and therefore, the contents of the register 46 (dot address) are updated each time one main scan is performed with a dot increment width dy according to the specified next enlargement/reduction ratio, but the contents of the register 42 are As a result, the data at the time of initial setting is retained without being updated.

In this way, from the interpolation table ROM 68,
An interpolated value for the new dot address is output, and this interpolated value is compared with the threshold value th of the register 50 by the comparator 59 to generate new dot information.

(-L) The new dot information output from the comparator 59 and subjected to t interpolation processing is sequentially stored in the shift register 60 and sent to the CPU path 12 in units of 1 byte.

At this time, when the character pattern data that has been subjected to dot interpolation processing and is sent onto the CPU path 12 is written to the line buffer 13 for printout, and an offset within the range of 1 to 7 dots is stored in the offset register 28. If the value is set (for example, when printing out ruby characters with dot interpolation, t(i=1.2°...
, 7) When moving dots downward), or the number of dots in the main scanning direction of the pattern-converted character is not a multiple of the write width (8 dots) of the image memory to which it is output, and the image memory side byte boundary (write width)
It became necessary to match the offset register 2BIC,
When the offset value (1) is set, the offset value (7) of the register 28 is set.
According to 1), offset data (one "o") is generated by the offset data generation unit 29, and this data is set in the shift register 60IC before the start of main scanning, and then the data is dot-interpolated. That is, the conversion process is performed and the next character pattern dot is written.

゛The above operation was performed in the case where the entire body (or long body, Chigi) was output, but for example, when the rotating body was the output target and the dot interpolation address generation process was performed, registers 31 to 36 Data is set in which the predetermined trigonometric function data in the trigonometric function table 24 according to one specified rotation angle is included as one element.

That is, assuming that the specified nine rotation square gold [θo], the number of dots in the X direction of the original font are (a+1.I, and the number of dots in the y direction of the original font t-Cb+11), the DXI
=-dx-sinθ.

In the register 32, DX2=dx-CO8θ.

The register 34 contains DYI=dy9aosθ.

In the register 35, DY2 = dy-slnθ.

are set respectively.

Further, in the register 33 (XJ 1nit) and the register J6 (YJinit), (1) 0°≦θ. When ≦90', Xi 1nlt7-H(a+1-dx) coo
200(2) When 90°≦0°≦1800, (3
) 180'≦θ. When ≦2700, (4) 2
70'≦θ. ≦360' f), set respectively.

As described above, the turning angle θ. Each setting value D including the triangular relationship data according to the dot step size, initial address, etc.
XI, DX2. DYI, DY2゜Xi 1nit,
After calculating Yl 1nlt t and setting it in the corresponding registers 31 to 36, the specified angle θ is determined by sequentially executing the dot interpolation address generation process 't in the main scanning direction and sub-scanning direction as described above. . You can obtain inverted character no-turn dots according to the following.

Also, when generating a dot interpolation address in the following case when an oblique character is to be output, predetermined trigonometric function data in the trigonometric function table 24 according to the specified slope angle is stored in a specific register among the registers 31 to 36. Data containing this as one element is set.

That is, the specified nine oblique angles [θ. ], the number of dots in the X direction of the original font is (a+1), and the number of dots in the y direction of the original font is (b+1), then in the range of 00≦θ≦90', the register 31Vc holds DX1=dx-tanθ.

The register 32 contains DX2=dx The register 34 contains DYJ=dy Register 35 contains DY2=0 are set respectively, Also, in the register 33, In the register 36, are set respectively.

As described above, the inclination angle θ. Each setting value D including the trigonometric function data according to the dot step width, initial address, etc.
XI, DX2. DYJ, DY2゜XJ 1nit,
Yl knit is calculated and each corresponding register 3
After setting it to 1 to 36, change the main scanning direction as described above,
By sequentially executing dot interpolation address generation processing in the sub-scanning direction), italic character pattern dots that are obliqueized according to the designated angle θ are obtained.

Trigonometric functions according to the specified angle 0° as described above ・f
- Setting values for dot increments, initial address, etc.DXJ, DX2, DYJ, DY2゜XI 1n
it, YJ 1nit f, sequentially executes the dot interpolation address generation process in the main scanning direction and sub-scanning direction as described above, and generates new dot information based on the generated precise dot interpolation address. obtain. This discontinuous dot information is stored in the shift register 60 sequentially in the same way as above, and is sent to the line printer 771BVC of the print control section 17, which is the output target, via the CPU path 12 in units of bytes (8 bits). It will be done.

At this time, the line buffer 13 is configured with a bit width corresponding to the dot configuration of the normal printed character height (for example, 8 x 3 vertically = 24 dots). However, the 24-dot size cannot be accommodated except in the case of reduced patterns. Therefore, in such a case, when initializing the cursor register as described above, in order to divide the characters and 9 turns generated at the intersection into multiple zones, the CPUJ (7) The number of zones for the character converted based on the angle, scaling factor, etc. is 7n1thIL, and the data representing this number of zones is set in the register 25 for specifying the zone.
Every time 74 turns are written in a zone unit, the contents of the register 25 are decremented (-1) L, and until the contents become "0", the /4 turn data of each zone is treated as the same character pattern. That is, for the zone designated by the zone designation register 25, continuous dot printing is designated without intervening blank areas (ie, line spacing) between each pattern. In this case, the zone division - [FII
t-shown in FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the above zone number calculation means calculates the x
- Find the size of the rectangle (including the square) in the y direction, find the number of dots on each of the two sides that touch each other (the number of x-y dots), and use this as described above when initializing the friend register. ,
By setting registers 21 and 22 VC as data of V size (Vaize) and H size (Hsize), FJR can be easily performed. In other words, for a character that has been converted with an angle of During dot compensation sensing, the number of zones can be easily determined by dividing the H size (Hslze) data stored in the register 22 by the bit width "24" of the line buffer 18. , during dot interpolation processing during display output, register 2
By dividing the data of 7tV size (Vsiz・) stored in 1tIC by the bit width of 1 display line "24",
The number of zones can be easily determined.

Furthermore, by fixedly assigning arbitrary zone designation data to the zone designation register 25, the image data of the designated friend zone can be continuously and repeatedly developed into an image. From this, the next character pattern modified by the above-mentioned dot interpolation processing can be further printed out as a modified character pattern in which part or all of it is made redundant.

Also, as mentioned above, 7tV size (Vaizθ) - H size ()
(slze) data is lower! when setting the character pitch. /
It is also referenced when processing side lines.

That is, the following characters, such as diagonals and inversions, obtained by dot interpolation with arbitrary inclination angles in the scanning direction are:
The height (character height) and width (character width) of the entire character change variously depending on the inclination angle, and in addition to that, the enlargement/reduction magnification.

Therefore, the above-mentioned and following modified characters can be changed to the normal line and column direction (X
, 7 directions) when outputting an image with t-t, character pitch, underline/sideline, etc. cannot be determined using existing fixed grammeter designation means.

Therefore, here, the letter pitch, lower i! ! / For processing such as side lines, the circumscribed rectangle as described above is treated as the face of the character.

below! /c Explanation of these processing means First, the character pitch processing operation will be explained. As described above, the dot interpolation process for one character is performed, and the dot image for one character generated at the intersection is developed into the line buffer 181C in the print control unit 17 to be output ( % CPU J o determines whether the contents of the register 21 (Vslzs) have been updated.

If the contents of the register 21 have not been updated, the register 2111C is stored and the next data (Vsiza
) K, and data obtained by adding 1/2 of the value is supplied to the print control section J1 as control data indicating the character pitch, and the pitch of the characters developed on the line buffer 18 is controlled. Also, when the contents of the register 21 are updated, the data before the update is stored in a specific register area, and during the update, the data before the update and the updated data stored in the specific register area are The value of 1/4 of the sum of degrees is further added to the updated data stored in the register 2, and this is supplied to the print control unit 17 as control data indicating character pitch, and expanded on the line buffer 18. Controls the pitch of the displayed characters.

In this way, for characters converted with an angle of width (Vsizs for print acts.

In the case of display output, the pitch between adjacent characters is determined based on Hsiz, a). The same pitch control as described above is also performed for the line pitch. The character pitch cp and line pitch LP setting column 'Ik for various modified characters at this time are shown in FIG.

The pitch control described above always takes into consideration the area (circumscribed rectangle) t occupied by adjacent characters, and the pitch is determined by the ratio. ) may be used as a control means to determine the busy pitch based on the value.

Next, based on the above circumscribed rectangle, underline/side #i
! We will explain the operation when printing out.

At this time, the data stored in register 2111C ('V
size) is referenced. The underline/sideline control unit 23 is
In accordance with the underline/side line instructions included in the print control information input via the CPU bus 12, underline or side line dots are developed on the line buffer annotation 3, but deformed characters such as inverted or italic characters as described above are displayed. cannot be handled by line expansion using normal character width. Therefore, the contents of register 21 (Vsize) are constantly input, and when there is an underline/sideline instruction, the line length according to the updated data contents of register 2 at that time is set to the lower #! / Generates a sideline dot-no-za-turn, and develops a pattern on the line buffer 3 corresponding to the corresponding character. FIG. 9 shows an example of the development of underlines for various modified characters at this time.

Next, the print control operation when printing out a mixture of enlarged or modified characters obtained as described above and other dot-configured characters, such as full-width characters, is shown in FIGS. 1 and 11 to 16. Explain with reference to.

Here, as shown in Fig. 13, we will explain the case in which enlarged characters and full-width characters that have been enlarged twice vertically and twice horizontally are printed out in a center-aligned state by the above-mentioned dot interpolation process. do.

When printing double-height and double-width enlarged characters and full-width characters in a center-aligned state as shown in FIG. 13, the following printing instructions are given from the outside.

(1) Set the magnification (here, 2x vertically and 2x horizontally).

(2) Send character codes "A", "B", and "C" and a CR (print start) code.

(3) Paper feed amount t1 (here z1=th/2)
(4) Return the enlargement magnification to the standard magnification, that is, the magnification of 1x vertically and 1x horizontally, which specifies full-width characters.

(Sends 52-character code ``a'', ``u'', ``o'' and CR code.

(6) Send paper feed j5 i tl.

(7) Send the character code 1 or the CR code.

Note that here, the character information storage buffer 20 is provided independently of the main memory 11, but if the character information storage buffer 70 is placed in the main memory 11, each of the above character codes is stored in the main memory. Each information block in the buffer area in 11 is written.

On the other hand, in response to the slippage, the following printing process control is performed inside the printer control device.

a) Based on the CR code basic idea in (2) above, the character A is enlarged (twice vertically and twice horizontally) by the dot interpolation process described above.
The images of zone O (upper half) of B and C are sequentially developed in the line buffer 13 and printed out.

Next, in preparation for printing enlarged characters A, B, and C in zone 1,
The contents of the corresponding information block 701 in the character information storage buffer 70 are updated. Here, the zone designation section 82
In, ZONE=1. In the relative distance storage unit 83, dH=th
are registered respectively. The details of the CR processing at this time are explained in the first section.
This is shown in the flowchart of FIG.

b) In contrast to (3) above, perform t paper feeds.

C) After executing the paper feed at t1, the information block 70
The paper feed amount t1 is subtracted from the value dH of the relative distance storage section 8.3 within 1 . LF at this time (execution of use)
The details of the process are shown in the flowchart of FIG.

d) Upon receiving the OR code in (5) above, images of the full-width characters "A", "U", "1", "A", "U", "1", and (See flowchart in Figure 15).

R For the paper feed amount t2 in (6) above, this feed 9
To prevent tt 2 from exceeding the printing range of sheet 71 of the enlarged characters (A, B, C), 1) Execute paper feed by the value of dH without 't0 2) Enlarged characters "A""B" Print zone 1 of “C”.

3) Since printing of the enlarged characters (A, B, C) is now completed, the block information of the enlarged characters (A, B, C) registered in the character information storage buffer 70 is discarded.

4) Execute the remaining sheet feeding (here, t2-dH).

Details of the LF (paper feed execution) process at this time are shown in the flowchart of FIG.

f) Upon reception of the CR code in (7) above, the full-width characters "K", "K", "〈" and "K" are sequentially expanded into line buffer 13 VC images in units of t-1 characters, and printed out (70-chart in Figure 15) reference).

In this way, the center-aligned character printing process in which full-width characters and enlarged characters (many of which are modified characters) are mixed as shown in FIG. 13 is sequentially executed.

Here, with reference to FIGS. 14 to 16, the above-mentioned 7?
- Print mode processing operations in LP (paper feed execution) processing and CR (print start) processing, and dot number adjustment processing operations for enlarged A4 turn will be explained.

In the LF process shown in FIG. 14, the minimum value tmin is calculated from the relative distances dH... stored in the relative distance storage units 83... of the information blocks 701... in the character information storage buffer 70. The relative pressure 1lIl (
When dH: 7m1n) does not exceed the paper feed ')tLk, paper feed is executed for tmin, and after t, tmin is subtracted from the relative distance dH.

The operations up to this point are the same as those already explained.

After the above paper feeding) is executed and the relative distance dH is updated, the printing direction control flag 9Q is checked. Here, if the printing direction control flag 90 is set, that is, if the flag is set, the bidirectional printing mode (bidirectional printing by both forward and reverse simultaneous feeding of the print head) is activated. When it is determined that this has been specified, the printer mechanism of the serial dot printer 14 is set to bidirectional printing mode, and image development processing of the characters to be printed is started. Maf
c. If the printing direction control flag 90 is not set, it is determined that the unidirectional printing mode is specified, and the printer mechanism of the serial dot printer 14 is set to the unidirectional printing mode, and the character to be printed is Start the image deployment process.

A detailed processing flow of the image development process to the line buffer 13 at this time is shown in FIG. Here, after developing the character pattern in the line buffer 13, it is set in registers 91.92 and the next increment m dxc l dy
Based on L money, it is determined whether or not the expanded magnification factor exceeds the reference magnification factor determined by the allowable number of printed dots (printing power consumption). That is, here, the step width dxi in the X direction of the nine-character pattern developed in the line buffer 13 is
and the X direction step size dXL stored in the register 91,
Similarly, the Y direction step width dyl of the character pattern and register 9
The Y-direction step size dyL stored in It is determined that the character pattern in the line buffer 13 has a zigzag pattern, and the printed dots are thinned out by applying a staggered mask to the developed character pattern in the line buffer 13. As a result, it is possible to avoid the inconvenience that the number of printed dots increases extremely and the printing power consumption exceeds the specified value, causing the serial dot printer 14 to turn off. It is possible to avoid the inconvenience that the paper surface becomes completely blank due to continuous dot printing. ' Also, in the CR process shown in FIG. 15, the character string to be printed is a character pattern that is completed in one print head movement operation (a single zone character pattern that is not divided into zones). If it is determined whether or not there is a print head, and if printing is completed with one print head movement operation, a bidirectional print mode is set for the printer mechanism regardless of the instruction content of the print direction control flag 90. As a result, character patterns that can be printed in one print head movement can be printed in both directions, reducing printing time and performing high-speed printing, and can be enlarged or transformed into multiple zones. For text, if you want to print at high speed without placing emphasis on printing quality, you can set the printing direction control flag. , high-speed printing is performed by bidirectional printing processing, and at t7t, to eliminate the deterioration of printing quality due to pattern deviation between zones, and to obtain enlarged or modified character prints with high printing quality, the printing direction control flag 90 is set to υ. By setting this and specifying the unidirectional printing mode, it is possible to obtain enlarged or modified characters/4 turns with high print quality without pattern deviation between zones.

In addition, in FIGS. 14 and 15 above, confirmation of completion of image development is performed using fl-H5ize as described above.

It is judged based on the value and the value of the next busy zone.If one zone @ is lined up, it becomes 24゛dots, and if it becomes 24x (zone value))Hsizs, it is judged that the image development is completed. .

In the real jlii sequence above, the dot interpolated character /4
This avoids the inconvenience that occurs when the turn magnification is set in advance and the number of printed dots increases excessively when the turn magnification exceeds the nine standard magnification, and the power consumption during printing exceeds a specified value, causing the printer to shut down. Therefore, the printing dots may be thinned out using a staggered pattern, and the printing may be performed in t-2 printings, as shown in FIG. 17, for example.

In this case, in the example of FIG. 17, the first printing ′
Sometimes, the image K, "A, A"(@1010.1010") developed in the line buffer 13 is ANDed in t byte units, and the image is developed in the line buffer 13, printed, and after t, the previous Expand the same pattern to the line buffer 13 again, then perform a logical AND operation on the expanded next image in units of @5,5''("0101,0101'') ft bytes, and transfer that image to the line buffer 13. Expanded and printed.

With such a print processing means, as in the case of the above embodiment, it is possible to avoid the inconvenience that power consumption during print processing exceeds a specified value and causes a power outage of the printer. However, in this printing processing means, as a printing result, a 9-dot pattern generated by the above-mentioned dot interpolation processing is faithfully printed out, rather than a t-pattern by thinning out printing dots.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As detailed above, according to the printer control device of the present invention, there is provided a cross-turn processing means for enlarging or transforming a character/four turns in a predetermined dot matrix configuration, and a vertical dot of i4 turns obtained by this pattern processing means. In a printer control device comprising means for developing an image in zones each having a predetermined dot width, when the number of dots becomes larger than the vertical width of the image line buffer, processing is performed by the turn processing means. If the output character pattern exceeds the predetermined standard magnification
means for determining whether the output character pattern exceeds a reference magnification magnification, and when the means determines that the output character pattern exceeds a reference magnification magnification, thinning out the printed dots of the output character pattern and developing it in an image line buffer; and means for said i
When the character pattern processed by the 4-turn processing means exceeds a predetermined enlargement magnification, the printing power consumption of the character pattern is automatically reduced, thereby preventing an extreme increase in printing power consumption. Inconveniences such as power failure of the printer can be reliably avoided, and a comparatively small-capacity power source can be effectively used to realize an economically advantageous grid/grid configuration.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of the main parts in one embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 2 to 16 are diagrams showing dot interpolation to obtain enlarged or modified character patterns in the above embodiment, respectively. This is the ninth item explaining the processing means, and is shown in Figure 2(a).
to (f) fi respectively, the dot information (dot/arm turn) of 4 points in 1 grid surrounding the new dot generated by the dot interpolation processing, the level classification of the interpolation value set in the interpolation table ROM, and the table type. Diagram showing relationships, 3rd
The figure is the kth figure explaining the table type selection switching operation, Figures 4(,) to (d) are diagrams showing the f-turn conversion string, respectively, and Figures 5(a) and (b) are CRT displays. Figure 6 is a diagram showing the relationship between various setting data, and Figure WI7 is a diagram showing the main and sub-scanning directions during printout compared to the main and sub-scanning directions during printout. A diagram showing the relationship between a turn-converted t character and a rectangle circumscribing the character, Figure 8 is a diagram showing examples of character pitch and line pitch settings for various modified characters, and Figure 9 is a diagram showing examples of setting the character pitch and line pitch for various modified characters. FIG. 10 is the next diagram for explaining the zone designation operation. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the structure of one information block in the character information storage bar and file in the above embodiment. Figures 1 to 16 are diagrams for explaining the operation of the above-mentioned embodiment, respectively, and Figures 12 and 13 are diagrams for explaining the printing side control operation in the above-mentioned embodiment, respectively.
4 to 16 are flowcharts showing the operation processing flow in the above embodiments, respectively, and FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing the operation processing flow in another embodiment of the present invention. 0...CPU, 1...Main memory (M
M), 12... CPtJ bus, 13... Line buffer (image line buffer), 14... Serial dot printer, 21, 22, 25, 26, 27゜21
1.31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36°42.44
,46.4g,50,54.5G. 91.92...Register, 23...Underline/sideline control section, 24...Trigonometric function table, 29...Offset data generation section, 37.3B, 39.40...Addition circuit (Ap6- A, ADD-n, ApD-c, Ano-D
), 41°43, . 45.47...Data selector,
49... Selection control circuit (SC)% 51... Kanji pattern memo 17 (KPM), 52... Bow character buffer,
53...B, G selection circuit, 55...Discrimination control circuit,
57...Do, G discrimination circuit, 58...Interpolation table R
OM, 59... Comparator, 50 River shift register, 70... Character information storage buffer, 701...
- Information block, 80 - Control flag section, 8th... Character code section, 82... Zone designation section, 83... Relative distance storage section, 84... I inter section, 86, 116...
・Step width storage unit, 87... Attribute information storage unit, 9o...
-Print direction control flag. Applicant's Representative Patent Attorney Takehiko Suzue Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 (a) (b) Figure 6 Figure 7 Figure 8 Figure 9 Figure 10 Figure 11 Figure 12 Figure 13, Figure 14, Figure 15, Figure 16, Figure 7, Contents of the amendment, Procedure, Work of the amendment document, 4□. 69.2・%48 Commissioner of the Patent Office Manabu Shiga1, Indication of the case, Patent Application No. 179650/19832, Name of the invention Printer control device3, Person making the amendment Relationship to the case Patent applicant (307) Stocks Company Toshiba 4, Agent January 29, 1985 The drawing number in Figure 14 of the drawing is “No. 14” as not shown in the attached sheet.
``Figure 2'' and ``Figure 14 Part 1''.

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A pattern processing means for enlarging or transforming a character pattern having a predetermined dot matrix configuration; In a printer control device comprising means for developing an image divided into zones of dot width units, whether the output character pattern processed by the pattern processing means exceeds a predetermined reference magnification magnification. and means for thinning out printed dots of the output character pattern and developing them in an image line buffer when it is determined by the means that the output character pattern exceeds a reference magnification magnification. A printer control device characterized by: (2) The printer control device according to claim 1, which thins out the print dots of the output character pattern in a staggered manner and outputs the printout. (3) The same character pattern is generated twice, and the thinned out dots of the first character pattern and the thinned out dots of the second character pattern are made different from each other, and the first and second printed dots are thinned out. 2. A printer control device according to claim 1, which prints character patterns in a superimposed manner on the same print line.