JPS6243876B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION When printing with a printer, the present invention not only enables printing in both horizontal and vertical writing, but also makes it possible to underline a specific character when writing horizontally. The present invention relates to a printing device that is capable of attaching a side line to a specific character in vertical writing.

Underline horizontal text,
Also, in vertically written texts, there are often parts that need to be emphasized by drawing sidebars. Furthermore, there are many cases where it is desired to print using a printer connected to a host device and emphasize the printed characters by underlining them. When drawing underlines with this printer, an "underline printing method" that allows underlines to be drawn without the need for graphic processing using software was filed by the same applicant as this invention (Japanese Patent Application No. 53-92363).
No.) was done.

Here, this underline printing method will be briefly described. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing its configuration. In FIG. 1, character codes in units of one line are stored in a character code line buffer 1 from the host device. When the character code line buffer 1 is able to store a line's worth of character codes, the character codes stored in the character code line buffer 1 are sequentially transferred to the character pattern memory in response to a print command from the host device. Then, a character pattern on a predetermined line is selected from among the character patterns stored in the character pattern memory, and a selection signal for selecting the print pattern is sent from the print data control section 4 to the print pattern selection circuit 5. As a result, the print pattern selection circuit 5 selects a predetermined line of character patterns from among the character patterns stored in the character pattern memory and transfers them to the printer. The printer receives this one line of character pattern and prints one line.

In this way, when the processing of character codes for one line is completed, the print data control section 4 detects whether or not attribution bit information is set in the attribution bit storage area 2, and sets this attribution bit information. When it is detected that the attribution bit information is set, the print data control unit 4 transfers the attribution bit information set in the attribution bit storage area 2 to the underline data generation circuit 6. . Accordingly, underline data is generated from the underline data generation circuit 6 and transferred to the print pattern selection circuit 5. Further, the print data control unit 4 outputs a paper feed request that allows underline printing to the paper feed control unit 7.

Note that the paper feed control unit 7 simply feeds paper by a specified amount from the host device when there is no underline processing, and when underline processing is performed, the paper feed control unit 7 simply performs a paper feed operation by a specified amount from the print data control unit 4 when underline processing is performed. The printer is caused to feed the paper by subtracting the paper feed amount based on the paper feed request.

As described above, with the underline printing method shown in Figure 1, underline processing can be performed without performing graphic processing, but in the case of Figure 1, horizontal writing and vertical writing are There is no distinction between the two, and even if you want to add a side line in vertical writing, you can only do the same processing as above. Therefore,
In normal Japanese writing, the underline in horizontal writing does not match the fact that in vertical writing, the side line is drawn to the right of the character.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a printing device that has not only an underline processing function for horizontal writing but also a sideline processing function for vertical writing.

Embodiments of the printing device of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of one embodiment. In FIG. 2, 11 is a central processing unit (hereinafter referred to as CPU) as a host device. A set input terminal of a command flip-flop circuit 12 (hereinafter referred to as command FF) is connected to this CPU 11. Command FF12 is set when a horizontal writing start command and a vertical writing start command are transferred from the CPU 11.

Further, character codes are transferred from the CPU 11 to a character code line buffer 13. Attribution bit storage area 1 is stored in a predetermined location of this character code line buffer 13.
4 is provided. Character code line buffer 11 stores character code data, and attribution bit storage area 14 stores attribution bit information.

These character data and attribution bit information constitute a data format as shown in FIG. That is, the character code 15 is transferred line by line from the CPU 11 to the character code line buffer 13 and the attribution bit storage area 14. This character code 15 is composed of a data section 15a and attribution bit information 15b.
5a is an area composed of character data printed by a printer (not shown), and attribution bit information 15b is bit information having a specific meaning in the character code, such as underline in horizontal writing or vertical writing. This is set by the CPU 11 when it is desired to add side lines.

Now, returning to the explanation in Figure 2, CPU1
When setting the attribution bit information from 1 to the attribution bit storage area 14, the CPU 11 sets an attribution flip-flop circuit 16 (hereinafter referred to as attribution FF). . When the attribution FF 16 is set, the output is transferred from its output terminal to a print control circuit 17 and a paper feed control section 18 (both of which will be described in detail later).

The character code stored in the character code line buffer 13 is transferred to the character pattern memory 19 in response to a print start command from the CPU 11. In addition, the output of the command FF12 is sent to the paper feed control unit 18 and the vertical/horizontal rotation circuit 20.
and is output to the print control circuit 17. The print control circuit 17 and the attribution bit storage area 14 are configured to exchange data.

The print control circuit 17 is a circuit that performs print control to transfer an underline pattern or a sideline pattern to the printer and execute an underline or sideline printing operation based on the output of the command FF12 and the output of the attribution FF16. It is. That is, the print control circuit 17 reads attribution bit information from the attribution bit storage area 14 based on the output of the attribution FF 16, and reads out the attribution bit information and the output of the command FF 12 (vertical or horizontal writing). The underline pattern or side line pattern is output to the selector 21 based on the signal indicating the mode.

Further, the paper feed control section 18 controls the paper feed of the printer by outputting the command FF12 or the attribution FF16. In other words, the paper feed amount is controlled depending on whether an underline is drawn or not when writing horizontally, and the paper feed amount is controlled depending on whether a side line is drawn or not when written vertically. It is something to do.

Furthermore, the vertical/horizontal rotation circuit 20 is controlled by the command FF1.
2, in the case of horizontal writing, a predetermined character code for one line that has been transferred to the character pattern memory 19 is selected and transferred to the character pattern buffer 22. In the case of vertical writing, after selecting a predetermined character pattern transferred to the character pattern memory 19, this character pattern is rotated 90 degrees and transferred to the character pattern buffer 22.

The character pattern buffer 22 stores the character pattern from the vertical/horizontal rotation circuit 20 and then transfers it to the selector 21. selector 2
1 selects the character pattern from the character pattern buffer 22 and the attribution bit information from the print control circuit 17, and selects the printing pattern based on the character pattern or the underline or side line based on the attribution bit information. and then transfer it to the printer.

That is, when there is no underline when writing horizontally, and when there is no side line when writing vertically, a printing pattern based on the character code is selected from the character pattern buffer 22 and transferred to the printer, and when writing horizontally when there is an underline, If there is a side line during vertical writing, underline or side line information based on attribution bit information is transferred to the printer.

Next, the operation of the printing apparatus of the present invention constructed as described above will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, when starting printing in step A of Fig. 4, the CPU 11
The character code 15a in units of one line is stored in the character code line buffer 13. When the character code line buffer 13 finishes storing character codes for one line, a print command is issued from the CPU 11 and the character codes stored in the character code line buffer 13 are sequentially transferred to the character pattern memory 19. do. This print command is command FF
12 and sets command FF12. As a result of the setting (that is, checking), if the print command is horizontal writing, the signal line 12a
generates an output on the signal line 12b in the case of vertical writing.
generates output. Step B in FIG. 4 shows the check stage based on this command FF12.

First, for convenience of explanation, we will start with the case of horizontal writing. Now, in step B, as a result of checking the command FF12, horizontal writing is determined, so the output is transferred from the output terminal of the command FF12 to the print control circuit 17 and the vertical/horizontal rotation circuit 20 through the signal line 12a. At this point, the attribution bit information has not yet been output (printing and underlines or side lines are not printed at the same time), so the print control circuit 17 does not operate at this point. Then, the output of command FF12 is the vertical/horizontal rotation circuit 2.
0, the vertical/horizontal rotation circuit 20 selects a predetermined one-line character pattern from among the character patterns stored in the character pattern memory 19 and transfers it to the character pattern buffer 22.
The character pattern for one line transferred to the character pattern buffer 22 is transferred to the printer via the selector 21. The printer receives this one line character pattern and prints one line. Thus, the process from step B to step C in FIG. 4 is completed.

When printing of one line of character codes is completed in this way, the process moves from step C to step D in FIG. In this step D,
Attribution FF16 checks whether attribution bit information has been transferred from CPU11. In other words, if the attribution bit information is not transferred from the CPU 11 to the attribution bit area 14, the attribution FF 16 will not be set, and when the printing of the character code for one line described above is completed, the process will proceed from step D to step D. Then, the process moves from step E to step F. In step F, since the attribution FF 16 is not set, the paper feed control section 18 issues a paper feed command to the printer to carry out the normal paper feed amount (4/24 inch).

Further, in step D, when the attribution FF 16 checks that the attribution bit information has been transferred to the attribution bit storage area 14 by the CPU 11, the attribution FF 16 is set. By setting the attribution FF16, this attribution FF16
The output is sent to the print control circuit 17 and paper feed control section 16. As a result, the process moves from step D to step G, and the paper feed control section 18 issues a paper feed command to the printer by the paper feed amount (1/24 inch) for underlining. Along with this, the printer feeds the paper by the amount of paper feed for this underline.

Next, the print control circuit 17 reads attribution bit information (ie, underline information) from the attribution bit storage area 14 based on the output of the attribution FF 16. As a result, the print control circuit 17 selects the underline pattern and transfers it to the printer via the selector 21. That is, step G in FIG.
Then, the process moves to step H, and the underline printing operation is executed by the printer based on the attribution bit information. Figure 5a
shows this underlined state. In other words, after printing one line of horizontal writing,
A specific character 23 from this one line is taken out and an underline 24 is printed below this character 23.

In this manner, when the underline 24 is printed, the attribution FF 16 is reset. Then, the operation moves from step H to steps E and F described above, and the series of operations of printing one line of character code and underline printing is completed, and the next line of character code is printed. Move to action.

In this way, the underline is printed. Once the underline is printed, the paper feed distance to print the next line of character code is 3/24 inches. .

Next, the case of performing vertical printing will be explained. In this case, in step B of FIG. 4, if it is determined that vertical writing is the result of checking command FF12, then from the output end of command FF12,
The output is sent to the print control circuit 1 through the signal line 12b.
7 and the vertical/horizontal rotation circuit 20. By sending the output of the command FF12 to the vertical/horizontal rotation circuit 20, the vertical/horizontal rotation circuit 20 selects a predetermined character pattern from among the character patterns stored in the character pattern memory 19 and horizontally rotates it by 90 degrees. , transfers this 90 degree horizontally turned character pattern to the character pattern buffer 22. This character pattern buffer 22 temporarily holds a character pattern that has been turned horizontally by 90 degrees.

Next, move from step B to step I,
Check for side lines. That is, in the case of vertical writing, when adding a side line, the line is usually drawn on the right side of the character. However, in this invention, when writing vertically, horizontally writing characters are
If you rotate the paper 90 degrees, print, then rotate the paper another 90 degrees to read the printed text, it will be the same as reading normal vertical text. Therefore, in this invention, when drawing a side line in vertical writing, the side line is first drawn above the character, and then the 90
This means that characters that have been flipped over will be printed.

Therefore, while holding the character pattern that has been turned horizontally by 90 degrees in the character pattern buffer 22, step I
, check whether there is a side line. Checking the presence or absence of this side line is based on the attribute mentioned above.
Performed by FF16. That is, if attribution bit information (information on the side lines) is transferred from the CPU 11 to the attribution bit storage area 14, the attribution FF 16 is set, and if this attribution bit information is not transferred, Attribution
FF16 is not set.

Attribution FF16 is not set,
When the attribution bit information, that is, the side line information is not transferred, the output of the attribution FF 16 is not sent to the print control circuit 17 and paper feed control section 18, and printing without side lines is performed. Therefore, in this case, the process moves from step I to step J in the same manner as in the case of horizontal writing without underlining.

In this step J, one line of character patterns held in the character pattern buffer 22 and turned horizontally by 90 degrees is selected by the selector 21 and transferred to the printer. As a result, the printer prints this 90-degree horizontal character pattern. FIG. 5b shows a predetermined character 25 extracted from one line in this case of vertical writing. As is clear from FIG. 5b, in the case of vertical writing, the print is horizontally rotated by 90 degrees compared to the case of horizontal writing.

In this way, when one line of character code is printed horizontally by 90 degrees in step J, the process moves from step E to step F, in the same way as in the case of horizontal writing. Feeds paper to print character codes for lines. The paper feed amount at this time is regardless of the presence or absence of side lines, and the paper is fed by the side line printing space even when there is no side line printing.
Next, when executing a paper feed command sent from the CPU 11, correction is made for the paper feed for sideline printing.

Next, the case of drawing side lines in vertical writing will be explained. In this case, command FF12
With the output of , the vertical/horizontal rotation circuit 20 selects and reads out the character code for one predetermined line from among the character codes stored in the character pattern memory 19, rotates it horizontally by 90 degrees, and converts it into a character pattern buffer. The operation until it is temporarily held at 22 is the same as in the case of vertical writing when there is no side line. The operation up to this point is the part shown by step I in FIG.

When drawing this side line, the side line is printed before the character code is printed.
Therefore, in step I of FIG. 4, the presence or absence of side lines is checked. In other words, attribution bit information (information on side lines) from the CPU 11
It is checked whether the attribution bit information has been transferred to the attribution bit storage area 14 or not, but since we are currently drawing a side line, this attribution bit information is not transferred to the attribution bit storage area 14. ing. Then, the attribution FF 16 detects this and is set, and the output is sent from its output terminal to the print control circuit 17 and paper feed control section 18.

The print control circuit 17 is an attribution control circuit.
Based on the output of the FF 16, attribution bit information (ie, side line information) is read out from the attribution bit storage area 14. This results in
The print control circuit 17 selects the side line pattern,
The data is transferred to the printer via the selector 21. That is, the process moves from step I to step K in FIG. 4, and based on the attribution bit information,
The printing operation of the side lines will be executed by the printer. FIG. 5b shows a case where a side line 26 is printed above a predetermined vertically written character.

Once the side lines have been printed, the process moves from step K to step L in FIG. 4, where the paper is fed a predetermined amount (1/24 inch) in order to print the side lines 26 and one line's worth of character codes. Prior to this paper feeding, when the printing of the side lines 26 is completed, the attribution FF 16 is reset and its output is stopped. As a result, the paper feed control unit 18 now feeds the paper by a predetermined amount to the printer. When this paper feeding is completed, the process moves from step L to step J, and the same operation as that for printing one line of vertically written character code in the case where there are no side lines described above is performed.

That is, one line of horizontally overturned character patterns held in the character pattern buffer 22 is transferred to the selector 21, and from this selector 21 to the printer. In this way, one line of overturned character pattern is printed, but in this case,
Of this one line of characters, specific characters are printed corresponding to the side lines, as shown in FIG. 5b. In other words, a side line 26 is attached in advance to correspond to a specific character. At this step J, when a horizontally overturned character pattern for one line is attached, the process moves from step J to steps E and F, and at step F, the paper feed control section 18 instructs the printer to print the next print. In order to do this, paper feed control is performed by a predetermined amount.

When reading paper printed in the above manner, if it is written horizontally, it can be read as is, or if it is written vertically, the characters 25 are printed horizontally by 90 degrees, as shown in Figure 5b. Therefore, by rotating the paper further 90 degrees (further rotating 90 degrees to the right from the state shown in Figure 5b), it can be read in the same way as normal vertical writing.

As described in detail above, according to the printing device of the present invention, attribution bit information having a specific meaning is attached to the character code, and in the case of horizontal writing, when there is this attribution bit information, An underline is printed under a specific character, and in the case of vertical writing, the character pattern for one line is printed horizontally by 90 degrees, and when drawing side lines in the case of vertical writing, the attribution view is After printing side lines in advance based on the side bit information, one line of characters horizontally rotated 90 degrees is printed below the side lines, so you can easily and reliably print underlines and vertical lines for horizontal writing without performing any graphic processing. This allows you to draw side lines when writing.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a conventional underline processing method, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the character device of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a character code applied to the same embodiment. FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the same embodiment. FIG. 5a is a diagram showing the underline printed in horizontal writing according to the same embodiment. b is a diagram showing a state in which side lines are printed in the case of vertical writing in the same embodiment. 11...Central processing unit, 12...Command flip-flop circuit, 13...Character code line buffer, 14...Attribution bit storage area, 16...Attribution flip-flop circuit, 17... ...printed control circuit,
18...Paper feed control unit, 19...Character pattern memory, 20...Vertical/horizontal rotation circuit, 21...Selector, 22...Character pattern buffer, 23, 25
...Character, 24...underline, 26...sideline.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 An attribution memory that stores attribution bit information, a line buffer that stores character codes, a character pattern memory that stores character patterns, and a character pattern buffer that stores character patterns read from this character pattern memory. , a vertical/horizontal rotation circuit for converting a character pattern read from the character pattern memory into a vertical writing pattern based on a vertical writing print command and storing it in the character pattern buffer; and an attribute indicating an underline from the attribution memory. a print control circuit that generates an underline pattern based on viewing information and a horizontal print command, and generates a side line pattern based on the attribution information and a vertical print command; a selection means for selecting a character pattern from the front panel and outputting it to the printer; and a selection means for underline printing after printing the character pattern from the selection means when underline attribution is set at the time of the horizontal printing command. paper feed control means for feeding the paper for character pattern printing after printing the sideline pattern from the selection means if an underline attribution is set at the time of the vertical printing command; A printing device characterized by comprising: