JPS6345077A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable proportional spacing, clean characters string constituting a word and print patterns easy to read, by providing a storage means for storing type width information on the type width for each character in terms of binary code and a carriage feed controlling means. CONSTITUTION:At the time of printing a character 'm', a printing mechanism is moved to a printing position, matched to spacing, based on a space quantity 1 from the leading edge 'edg' to a center line 'cent' of the character, and the character is printed. In this case, a space quantity 2 for the latter half of the character 'm' from the center line 'cent' to the trailing edge 'edg' is stored into a storage circuit. To subsequently print a character 'i', the space quantity 2 for the latter half of 'm' and a space quantity 3 for the former half of the character 'i' to be printed are judged and processed by a circuit, the printing mechanism is moved in an optimum space quantity 2+3, and the character 'i' is printed. In this case, also, a space quantity 4 for the latter half of the character 'i' is stored.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Technical Field The present invention relates to a printer that uses a standard type head to produce an easy-to-read print string, and in particular, it relates to a printer that uses a standard type head to produce an easy-to-read line of print. This relates to a printer that enables so-called proportional spacing by moving

In general, when the width of the printed characters differs depending on the character pattern, as in the case of European printers, there is a problem that the printed characters are difficult to read because the spacing between them is uneven.

Figure 1 shows that using a standard type head, e.g.
In one drawing, which is an example of a conventional print column with a fixed spacing of 4 mm (1/10 inch), the solid cent line indicates the center line of the typeface.

Thus, if the print mechanism is sent by a fixed amount of space, the print string rmiddleJ that forms one word will produce a character with a wide typeface, such as rmJ, and a character with a narrow typeface, such as "i". Since the printed characters are combined, the spacing between the printed characters will be uneven.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are diagrams showing an example of a print pattern by a conventional proportional spacing printer.

Hitherto, in order to solve the difficulty of reading due to such irregularities, so-called proportional spacing printers have been known that can produce print patterns such as those shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, for example.

In this conventional printer, as shown in FIG. 2A,
For the typeface rmidLeJ having different widths, a special typeface is used in which the reference end std of the printed character pattern is at the same position.

Then, when each printing is completed, move it in the printing direction by a space amount of 5 pac corresponding to the width of each type,
I am trying to get a print string like the one shown in Figure 2B.

However, in order to match the ends sjd of the printed character patterns as shown in FIG. 2A, the type head must be specially designed, which is time consuming and costly.

Purpose Therefore, the printer of this invention has a proportional printer.
To obtain a print pattern in which a print string forming one word is clean and easy to read by making spacing possible.

Structure This invention provides a storage means for storing type width information regarding the type width of each character in binary code, and a storage means for storing type width information regarding the type width of each character in a binary code, and a storage means for storing type width information of the character printed immediately before for the next printing in a series of printing. a carriage feed control means for controlling the feed of the carriage based on type width information of a character printed on the board, and the movement of the carriage is controlled based on a combination of a character printed immediately before and a character to be printed next. At the same time, when printing the first character at the beginning of a line, the carriage feed control means moves the carriage by an amount corresponding to the first half of the character. It is characterized by printing with the left side of the first character at the beginning of each line aligned.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an example of a print pattern and spacing regarding a print string forming a word according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the drawing, the solid line in cent is the center line of the typeface, the dotted line in edg is the edge line of the typeface,
Also, ■~[shares] indicate the respective space amounts.

For example, when printing one character "m", the printing mechanism is moved to a printing position that matches the spacing according to the space amount ■ from the front end edg of the character to the center line cer+j, and printing is performed.

At this time, the space amount ■ in the latter half of the printed character r m J from the center line cent to the rear end edg is stored in the memory circuit.

Next, when printing the character riJ, the amount of space in the second half of the previously stored character rmJ and the amount of space in the first half of the character "l" to be printed next are determined using a circuit. Then, move the printing mechanism by the optimal amount of space ■+■. After the printing mechanism has finished moving, "i" is printed. In this case as well, the amount of space ■ in the latter half of the letter "i" is stored.

For the following characters, the amount of space in the second half of the printed character and the amount of space in the first half of the next character are determined in the same way.

In other words, between "i" and "d", the space amount ■+■,
between rd" and rdJ (Φ+■, between rdJ and "1" as ■+■, and between rlJ and reJ as ■+■,
By determining the optimum amount of space and performing a movement operation of the printing mechanism and a printing operation at each center line cenj, the character pattern string rmiddleJ shown in FIG. 3 is printed.

By controlling in this manner, the character pattern forming one word will not have any irregularities such as extra spaces or overlapping characters in the middle, and an easy-to-read proportional spacing printing operation will be performed.

Figures 4A and 4B show a character pattern printed without aligning the left side of the first character of a line and a printer of the present invention to explain the spacing operation when printing the first character at the beginning of a line. It is a figure which shows the character pattern by.

As explained earlier, when printing the first character,
Move the printing mechanism by the amount of space in the first half, then
Perform printing operation.

In this case, if you print without aligning the left side of the first character of the line, the characters "A", "I", "b" will appear as shown in Figure 4A.
Like J, the width of each character causes confusion, and the leading edge edg of the first character becomes irregular.

On the other hand, in the embodiment of the present invention, the front end of the character
To perform spacing based on g.

No disturbance occurs in the first character as shown in FIG. 4B.

This relationship holds true not only for printing at the beginning of a line (but also for cases where a print code is input after an SP (space) code is input).

For example, move rmiddleJ in Figure 3 after another word,
Even when printing with a predetermined space, only the amount of movement by the SP code is ensured accurately, and the space between words is always constant.

If a function of pre-reading input data is added, it becomes possible to perform the spacing operation at once by adding the movement amount by the SP code and the first half space amount by the next print coat.

In addition, even when the space amount in the second half of the printing code and the SP code are input in the reverse order, by adding this look-ahead function, the space amount in the second half of the printing code and the amount of movement by the SP code can be input. The spacing operation can be performed at once by adding the above.

For example, in the case of rmiddlej in Figure 3, the characters "
The spacing operation is performed at once by adding the space amount [phase] in the latter half of "e" and the movement amount of the SP code.

Furthermore, in the case of a BSP C backspace) code, it is calculated by adding a minus by the amount of movement by normal SP, or by moving it to the left by the amount of space in the first half of the previously printed code. You may also do so.

FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram showing an embodiment of the control section in the printer of the present invention. In the drawing, 1 is an interface circuit, 2 is a fixed storage device for code conversion, for example, R○~1.3 is a spacing amount control circuit, 4 is a code judgment control circuit, 5 is a buffer memory, and 6 is a carriage feed amount determining means. adder, 7 is a print control circuit, 8 is a spacing control circuit, 9 is a paper feed control circuit, 1
0 is a ribbon shift control circuit, 11 is a selection control circuit, 12 is a hammer control circuit, 13 is a ribbon feed control circuit, Ll is an input line for a printed character code such as an ASCII code, and L2 is an input line for a ROM switching command. , L3 is the output line of 1st to 4th output of ROM2, L4 is the output line of 5th to 8th output of ROM2, and L5 is the output line of buffer memory 5. L6 is the output line of the adder 6, and Ll is the output line of the spacing amount control circuit 3 for giving the spacing amount in the case of the SP code.

A printer that uses the control unit shown in FIG. 5, like a normal printer, has a platen that holds printing paper, a paper feeding mechanism that moves the platen to feed the printing paper, and a paper feeding mechanism. It is equipped with a paper feed motor to be driven, and is controlled by a paper feed control circuit 9.

In addition, the printer is equipped with a standard type head consisting of a selection motor for selecting type according to the input character code, a hammer for printing, and an ink ribbon feed motor for transferring characters to printing paper. These mechanisms are controlled by a print control circuit 7, a selection control circuit 11, a hammer control circuit 12, a ribbon hood control circuit 13, and the like.

Note that the selection control circuit 11 also controls sensor signals from a sensor attached to the selection motor. Furthermore, the ribbon shift control circuit 10 drives the ribbon shift magnet to perform ribbon shift.

Furthermore, it is provided with a carriage for moving the printing mechanism and a carriage motor for driving this carriage, and a spacing control circuit 8 drives the carriage motor and controls sensor signals from a sensor attached to this carriage motor. .

In the printer using the control section shown in FIG. 5, sequence control is performed according to interface conditions based on signals applied from input/output lines.

In a serial impact type printer that uses type on a rotating wheel or a rotating cylinder, the method of selecting the type position is to input a printing character code, for example, an ASCII code, and then store it in a fixed storage device, such as a ROM (readable memory). The position address code indicating the location of the type on the type wheel is read from the font-only memory), and the contents of a counter is counted up or down for each type on the wheel, and the output of the counter is used as the current position of the type wheel. A known method is to select a type by comparing the position address code read from the ROM with the current position code of the wheel and controlling the rotation of the type wheel until the two match. . Since such a method of selecting the position of a typeface is not a direct object of the present invention, a detailed explanation of the conventionally known method will be omitted.

In this embodiment, in order to control the feed amount of the carriage, the type width information for the first and second half of the type of type to be printed is determined in advance according to the type of type to be printed. The width information of the second half of the type and the width of the first half of the next printed character are used and added each time. Then, based on the resulting number, the carriage feed amount is controlled each time one print character code is input.

Further, the first half and second half type width information is represented by binary code information, and is stored in a fixed storage device 2 such as a ROM, in the same way as the target position address indicating the position of the type on the rotating wheel.

An adder 6 is provided to add the character width information for the second half of the character printed immediately before and the character width information for the first half of the character to be printed next.

In the circuit shown in FIG. 5, first, a printed character code of the ASCII code is input to the ROM 2 from the input line L1 via the interface circuit l.

This ROM 2 stores the target position address code of the rotary wheel and the first half and second half font width information corresponding to the font width. One bit is used for a ROM switching command to switch between the target position address code and type width information.

The ROM switching command given from the input line L2 is as follows.

When reading the type width information, the address of the ROM 2 is specified, which is given by, for example, logic rOJ and stores the type width information corresponding to the inputted print character code. The first half and second half type width information read from the ROM 2 is sent to the adder 6 and the buffer memory 5 through output lines L3 and L4.

The buffer memory 5 is a memory for storing type width information of the latter half of the character code printed immediately before. Further, the adder 6 adds the type width information of the second half of the print code that was printed immediately before and which is stored in the buffer memory 5, and the type width information of the first half of the print code that is currently input and printed. The resulting number is provided to the spacing control circuit 8 via the output aL6. The contents in this case are used as control information for the carriage feed amount.

Further, when printing the first character of a line, if the contents of the buffer memory 5 are set to "0", the carriage is moved by the first half of the character width information. At the same time, buffer memory 5 contains
Stores the font width information for the second half of the character code currently printed.

Next, sp (space), TAB (tabulation),
If a code that does not involve printing operations such as BSP (backspace) or CR (carriage return) is input, the first half and second half of the print width information will be output as "0",
This is added by an adder 6 to the character width information in the latter half of the previously printed print code. The addition information of this adder 6 is given to the spacing control circuit 8 from the output line L6, and at the same time, the carriage is moved via the spacing control circuit 8 together with the information given from the output line L7 as the amount of movement by the SP code etc. .

Next, change the ROM switching command given from the input line L2 to logic "1" to change the address of ROM 2,
Read the target position address code corresponding to the input print character code.

The read target position address code is output A! iL
3 and L4 to the code judgment control circuit 4, and from the code judgment control circuit 4 to the print control circuit 7.

In this way, when the selection of the type on the type wheel and the movement of the carriage are completed, the hammer is operated by the hammer command and printing is completed.

Then, when the next new print character code is input, the first half and second half of the type width information and target position address are read from the ROM 2 by the same operation, and the first half of the type width information is stored in the buffer memory 5. It is added to the second half of the type width information of the type printed immediately before.

The resulting number indicates control information for the carriage feed amount before printing.

In this way, in the printer of this embodiment, the first half space amount and the second half space amount corresponding to each type width are set in advance by 2.
The spacing operation is performed by calculating the optimal spacing amount from the information converted into data based on the relationship between the inputted previous court and the next code. If the next input code is a print coat, the printing operation is performed after the spacing operation is completed.

Furthermore, even when a code such as SP, TAB, BSP, CR, etc. that does not involve a printing operation is input, the optimal spacing operation is performed based on the relationship between these two input codes.

Furthermore, by separating the spacing for the first half and the spacing for the second half in one printing operation, the first printing position of the printing line can be accurately regulated, so there is no misalignment in the starting position of the line. , the spacing between words is also kept accurate.

Furthermore, if there are not only European characters but also Japanese characters such as hiragana with voiced or half-voiced marks, it is possible to prevent irregularities in the printed string by changing the amount of space between the first half and the second half.

As explained in detail above, according to the printer of the present invention, it is possible to perform proportional operation without using a special typeface based on the left or right edge of the character position, and to print characters with different widths. As for the characters, we were able to obtain prints that were easy to read, and extremely easy-to-read prints were made possible.

Furthermore, printing ghosts do not occur, so high printing quality can be obtained, and since the impact point is near the center of the type, it is highly durable, and there is no need to use special typefaces. , is advantageous in terms of cost,
Many excellent effects can be achieved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 shows that using a standard type head, e.g.
An example of a conventional print string with a fixed spacing of 4 mm + (1/10 inch); Figures 2A and B are diagrams showing an example of a print pattern by a conventional proportional spacing printer; FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an example of a printing pattern and spacing regarding a string of prints forming a word according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 4A and B show the printing of the first character at the beginning of a line. Figure 5 is a diagram showing a character pattern printed without aligning the left side of the first character of a line to explain the spacing operation when performing the spacing operation, and an example of the character pattern produced by the printer of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing an example of a control unit in a printer. In the drawing, 1 is an interface circuit, 2 is a fixed storage device for code conversion such as ROM, 3 is a spacing amount control circuit, 4 is a code judgment control circuit, 5 is a buffer memory, and 6 is an adder as a carriage feed amount determining means. ,7
8 is a print control circuit, 8 is a spacing control circuit, 9 is a paper feed control circuit, 10 is a ribbon shift control circuit, 11 is a selection control circuit, 12 is a hammer control circuit, 13
is the ribbon feet control circuit. No. Monument 3 Figure Material 4 Figure

Claims (1)

[Claims] A platen, a feeding means for the platen, a type body having type, a type selection means for rotating the type and selecting a type, and a carriage for moving the type selection means and the type. a storage means for storing type width information regarding the type width of each character as a binary code; a carriage feed control means for controlling the feed of the carriage based on type width information of a character printed on the board, and the movement of the carriage is controlled based on a combination of a character printed immediately before and a character to be printed next. At the same time, when printing the first character at the beginning of a line, the carriage feed control means moves the carriage by an amount corresponding to the first half of the character. A printer characterized by printing with the left side of the first character at the beginning of each line aligned.