JPS62129887A - Character processor - Google Patents

Abstract

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

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] Technical Field The present invention relates to a character processing device, particularly a character processing device that creates new characters not stored in a storage device in a Japanese word processor, a typewriter with memory, an office computer, a translation machine, etc. It is related to.

As a device for creating new characters that are not registered in the Aimai Gai memory device, so-called external characters, there is a known device that inputs handwritten characters using OCR and recognizes the handwritten characters to create external characters. ing. this is.

OCR breaks down input characters into strokes made up of straight line segments, recognizes the bias and structure, searches for and reads out the bias and structure from a dictionary, which is an external storage device, and calculates these bias and structure. They are used to create characters by combining them.

Such devices require an OCR device as an input device, and since there is a lot of information such as the length, thickness, density, direction, etc. of each stroke that makes up a character, complicated operations are required to recognize a single character. did. Furthermore, when the number of strokes of handwritten characters to be input increases, it becomes difficult to recognize the characters.

Other custom character creation devices include those that create characters by inputting dot patterns of custom characters on a CRT screen. This device displays a large number of dot areas for forming a character dot pattern on a white surface 1,
A character is created by specifying the dot positions that make up the dot pattern of the character to be created using the keyboard. This device has the disadvantage that it requires many operations and is time-consuming because it is necessary to specify all the positions of a large number of dots representing the thickness of the characters to be created.

OBJECTS It is an object of the present invention to provide a character processing device that eliminates the drawbacks of the prior art and can efficiently create characters with simple operations.

Structure In order to achieve the above object, the present invention displays a dot pattern area on the screen of an output means, and creates a new character by displaying a dot pattern in the area upon input from an input means. In the processing device, the input means is movable so as to draw a locus representing a line that constitutes one character, and by moving the input means, the direction and amount of movement are input, and the attributes of each part of the line that constitutes the character are specified. The device further includes: movement determining means for determining the moving direction and amount of movement of the input means input from the input means; and attribute determining means for determining a signal indicating an attribute input from the input means. The present invention is characterized in that a dot pattern is displayed in the area in response to signals from the movement determining means and the attribute determining means to create characters having attributes. Hereinafter, a detailed explanation will be given based on one embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, one embodiment of the character processing device of the present invention is shown in a conceptual functional block diagram. As shown in the figure, this embodiment has an input device 2 such as a keyboard and a pointing device.

The pointing device 200, as shown in FIG.
It has two switches 204 and 206 on the top side 202 and a pressure sensor 210 on the side 208. Further, although not shown, casters are provided on the bottom surface 212. When operating the pointing device 200, the operator grasps the pointing device 200 with one hand, sets the switches 204 and 208, and presses the pressure sensor 20 with a finger.
Move pointing device 200 over input g1 (not shown) while pressing 0 to the desired strength. The direction and amount of movement of pointing device 200 is detected by rotation of the casters. Further, the pressure sensor 21G detects the amount of pressure pressed by the operator's finger. switch 2
From 04 and 208, a dot instruction or a dot release instruction is input as will be described later.

The input device 2 inputs the movement amount of the pointing device 200 and the switch 204 of the pointing device 200 to create external characters.
, 20El on/off and the amount of pressure detected by the pressure sensor 210 of the device 200 are input. The input device 2 also has keys for inputting character input designations, character registration designations, and other control keys for controlling the device.

The device also has an output device 4, which may be, for example, a CRT character display device, on which dot patterns and the like for creating external characters are visually displayed.

The device also has a dictionary 6, which is a file storage device in which the created external characters are stored, e.g.
, an internal memory such as ROM, or an external storage device such as a fixed disk or floppy disk may be used.

Elements other than those shown in FIG. 1 are advantageously constructed by a processing system such as a microprocessor, and are shown in blocks according to their functions in the figure.

A character input designation for creating a custom character is input from the input device 2 to the character input section 8. The 0 character input section 8 is input to the input section M.
The character storage unit IO is initialized by the character input designation input from 2. The initialized character storage section 10 displays an area the size of the dot pattern and the dot position on the screen of the output device 4 via the screen display section 12, and waits for the dot pattern to be input by the pointing device 200.

Next, a dot pattern of external characters is inputted from the input device 2 using a pointing device 200 shown in FIG. The pointing device 200 is manually moved by the operator on the board so as to draw the pattern of the external characters to be created, and the locus of movement of the pointing device 200 on the input panel is the pattern of the external characters to be created. Become.

The amount of movement of the pointing device 200 on the input panel is input to the pointing device movement determining section 14 .

Switch 204.20 of pointing device 200
6 are turned on and off, and when the switch 204 is on, the dot pattern of the area to which the pointing device 200 has moved is specified, and when the switch 20El is on, the dot pattern of the area to which the pointing device 200 has moved is deselected. be done. switch 20
4 and 208 are input to the pointing device switch on/off determination section 16.

Moreover, the pressure sensor 21 of the pointing device 200
Depending on the amount of pressure with which the operator presses 0 with his or her finger, the thickness of the line forming the external character (dot a) is specified. For example, specifying the thickness of the line (the number of dots) depending on the amount of pressure,
Detects five levels of pressure as shown in figures (a) to (e),
The number of dots is divided into five levels as shown in the figure, depending on the detected pressure. A signal from the pressure sensor 210 of the pointing device 200 is input to the pressure sensor determination section 18.

The pointing device movement determining section 14 determines the amount and direction of movement of the pointing device 200 based on the signal from the pointing device 200, and outputs a signal representing these to the cursor control W section 20.

The pressure sensor determination unit 18 uses the pointing device 20
The amount of pressure detected by the pressure sensor 210 is determined based on the signal input from the pressure sensor 210 of No. 0, and is output to the cursor control section 20 and the dot creation section 22.

The pointing device switch on/off determination unit 16 includes a switch 204 of the pointing device 200,
It is determined whether the switches 204 and 20& are on or off based on the signal from the dot generator 208, and the result is output to the dot generator B22.

The cursor control unit 20 determines the position of the cursor displayed on the screen of the output device 4 based on the signal indicating the movement amount and direction of the pointing device 200 from the pointing device movement determination unit 14, and the pressure sensor determination unit A signal indicating the amount of pressure from 18 determines the length of the cursor. The cursor control unit 20 determines the position and length of the cursor in this way, and outputs a cursor designation signal to the screen display unit 12 and the character storage unit 1O.The screen display unit 12 controls the output device 4 using this cursor designation signal. As shown in Figure 4.

A cursor 42 of a predetermined length is displayed at a predetermined position on the screen 40 of the output device 2!14.

The dot creation section 22 creates dots based on the pressure amount from the pressure sensor determination section 18 and the on/off signal of the switch 204.20Ei from the pointing device switch on/off determination section 1B. That is, when the switch 204 is on, the designation of the number of dots corresponding to the amount of pressure is output to the character storage section IO, and the dots are stored in the character storage section IO. Then, a signal from the character storage unit 10 sends a single screen display g[112 to the screen 4 of the output device 4.
0, the dot is displayed at the position of the cursor 42 as shown in FIG.

For example, when the switch 204 is on and the pressure is at its lowest level, the position of the cursor 42 on the screen 40 is as shown in FIG.
One dot is displayed as shown in a), and switch 2 is pressed.
When 04 is on and the pressure is at its highest stage, screen 4
At the position of the 0 cursor 42, five dots are displayed in the horizontal direction as shown in FIG. 3Ce). When the switch 206 is on, the dot is canceled, so if a dot is displayed at the position of the cursor 42 on the screen 40, the displayed dot is deleted.0 The dot on the screen 40 is deleted. When the dot is deleted, the dot stored in the character storage section 10 is also erased.

If both switches 204 and 208 are off, neither dot designation nor cancellation is performed, so if a dot is displayed on the screen 40, it remains displayed, and if no dot is displayed, it remains displayed. remains hidden from display.

In this way, using the pointing device 200, the amount of movement of the pointing device 200 can be determined.

An external character is created based on the direction of movement, the on/off status of switches 204 and 208, and the amount of pressure detected by pressure sensor 210. When the switch 204 is on, external characters are created on the screen 40 as shown in FIGS. 5A to 5C as the pointing device 200 is moved.

After the external characters are created on the screen 40, the operator registers the external characters by inputting a character registration designation from the input device 2 such as a keyboard. This character registration designation is sent to the character registration section 24, and the character registration section 24 thereby outputs a character registration instruction signal to the dictionary access section 28. The dictionary access unit 26 registers the external characters stored in the character storage unit 10 in the dictionary 6 in response to the character registration instruction signal. To register this external character, the 24x24 dot pattern of the character stored in the character storage section 10 is scanned in the column direction, and 72 bytes of each 8 bits are registered in the dictionary 6 using the designated external character code.

Note that the pressure sensor 21 of the pointing device 200
In addition to the thickness of the line constituting one character, attributes such as C degree and color may be specified by pressure input from 0. Furthermore, such attributes may be specified by input other than pressure. good.

The operation will be explained using the flowchart shown in FIG.

A character input designation is input from the input device 2 to the character input section 8 (102), and the character input section 8 is thereby input to the character storage section I.
The character storage section 1o initializes the screen 4o of the output device 4 via the screen display section 12 (104).

When the pointing device 200 is operated to input external character data from the input device 2 (10B), the movement amount of the pointing device 200 is input to the pointing device movement determination unit 14 (108), and the pointing device movement determination unit 14 The moving direction and number of moving dots are calculated (110) and output to the cursor control section 20. Pressure sensor 2 of pointing device 200
The amount of pressure detected by 10 is determined by the pressure sensor determination unit 1B.
(112), the pressure sensor determination section 18 calculates the length of the cursor and the number of dots (114), and outputs the length of the cursor to the cursor control section 20 and the number of dots to the dot creation section 22.

Switch 204°20 of pointing device 200
6 is input to the pointing device switch on/off determination unit 16 (llfl), and the pointing device switch on/off determination unit 16
4, the on/off state of the dot is determined from the on/off state of 208 (118), and the result is output to the dot creation section 22.

The cursor control unit 20 moves the cursor to a predetermined length based on the cursor movement direction and number of moving dots input from the pointing device movement judgment unit 14 and the cursor length manually input from the pressure sensor judgment unit 18.
0) , the screen 40 of the output device 4 via the screen display unit 12
(12J.

The dot creation section 22 creates dots based on the number of dots input from the pressure sensor determination section 18 and the dot instructions input from the pointing device switch on/off determination section 1B (122), and sends the 0 character storage section 10 to the character storage section 10. creates a character using the cursor designation signal from the cursor control section 20 and the dot signal from the dot creation section 22 (124), and displays it on the screen 40 of the output device 4 via the screen display section 12 (1213).

It is determined whether there is any more data to be inputted from the pointing device 200 (128), and if there is more data to be inputted, the process returns to step 10B and the pointing device 200 is operated to input the external character data from the input device 2. . If there is no data to be input from the pointing device 200, input a character registration designation from the input device 2 to the character registration section 24 (130), the character registration section 24 outputs a character registration instruction to the dictionary access section 26, The created external characters stored in the character storage section 10 are registered in the dictionary 6 (132).

According to this embodiment, since the external characters are created as described above, the external character pattern can be created by simply operating the pointing device 200 and moving along the external character pattern, and the pressure applied to the pressure sensor 210 can be adjusted. By doing this, you can change the thickness of the line. The pointing device 200 can be easily moved by holding it with one hand, and the pressure applied to the pressure sensor 210 can be changed by pressing the pressure sensor 210 with a finger while moving. is easy to create.

The conventional external character creation device shown in FIG.
is read by OCR, decomposed into strokes 52, read out strokes 54, imperial 56, etc. from an external dictionary, and combine these to create characters. In such a device, it is necessary to register the bias 54, imperial 56, etc. used to create external characters in an external dictionary;
In consideration of the balance of the characters when combining the characters 54 and 5B, it was necessary to store multiple types of sizes for the characters 54 and 56, and editing the characters required a great deal of operations. Also,
Even with a1@, which allows you to freely change the size of the bias 54 and force 56 patterns, the size of the bias 54 and force 56 patterns must be changed in consideration of the balance of the characters, which requires complicated operations. And so. Furthermore, when the number of strokes of the input handwritten characters 50 increases, it is difficult to recognize the characters.

On the other hand, according to this embodiment, since an OCR device is not required, character recognition does not become difficult even if the number of strokes of a character increases. Furthermore, according to this embodiment, the pointing device 200 is moved according to the character pattern, and the cursor 42 that moves according to the movement is moved on the screen 40. display on the screen 40, and use the pointing device 200 to create characters.
Since the thickness of the line can be changed by adjusting the pressure applied to the pressure sensor 210 of It is possible to create characters in various fonts that have the characteristics of the individual operator. Therefore, the created external characters can be used as personal signatures6.Furthermore, in the conventional system shown in Figure 7, in which characters are created by inputting the dot pattern of the external characters on a CRT screen, It was necessary to specify all of the numerous dot positions that make up the dot pattern of the character.

According to this embodiment, such a large amount of effort is unsettling;
Pointing device 200 according to the character pattern
Since characters can be created on the screen 40 by moving the cursor 42 and displaying the cursor 42 that moves according to the movement on the north side of the screen 40, external characters can be created with a simple operation. Since the thickness of the line can be changed by adjusting the pressure applied to the pressure sensor 210 of the pointing device 200, it is easier to create characters than specifying dots. Particularly when pointing to a thick line part of a character, if the pressure applied to the pressure sensor 210 of the pointing device 200 is increased, the cursor 42 on the white surface 4θ becomes longer, and the pointing device 200
Since a large number of dot patterns are displayed along the movement of the dot, there is no need to input a large number of dot patterns as in the conventional method, which is efficient.

Effects According to the present invention, characters can be created efficiently with simple operations.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual block diagram of an embodiment of a character processing device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a pointing device. FIGS. 3(a) to 3(e) are diagrams showing examples of changing the number of dots according to the amount of pressure. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the cursor and the number of dots on the screen. FIGS. 5(a) to 5(f) are diagrams showing examples of character creation on one screen; FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a conventional character creation method. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing another example of the conventional character creation method, and FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment of FIG. Explanation of symbols of main parts 2 Input device 4 Output device 6 Dictionary 10 Character storage section 14 Pointing device movement determination section 1G Pointing device Device switch on/off determination unit 18, Pressure sensor determination unit 20, Cursor control unit 22, Dot creation unit 24, Character registration unit 42, Cursor 200, Pointing device 204.2
08 , Switch 21G , , Pressure sensor

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a character processing device that displays an area the size of a dot pattern on the screen of an output means, and creates a new character by displaying a dot pattern in the area according to input from an input means. , the input means is movable so as to draw a locus representing the lines forming the character, and the movement of the input means inputs the direction and amount of movement, as well as the attributes of each part of the lines forming the character. The device further includes: movement determining means for determining the moving direction and amount of movement of the input means input from the input means; and a signal input from the input means for instructing the attribute. What is claimed is: 1. A character processing device comprising: an attribute determining means for determining a character; and a character processing device for creating a character having the attribute by displaying a dot pattern in the area based on signals from the movement determining means and the attribute determining means. 2. In the device according to claim 1, the input means further includes an instruction to display a dot pattern at a position on the screen specified by movement of the input means;
A character processing device characterized in that it is possible to input any one of instructions for canceling a displayed dot pattern. 3. The character processing device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the input means inputs a pressure that indicates the thickness of each part of a line forming the character. 4. In the apparatus according to claim 3, the output means displays a cursor on the screen, displays a dot pattern at the position of the cursor, and inputs the length of the cursor to the input means. A character processing device characterized by changing depending on the pressure applied.