JP3060443B2 - Printing device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, and more particularly to a printing apparatus capable of printing characters and symbols of various character sizes on the same printing line in one of a set mode of bottom alignment, center alignment, and top alignment. And a printing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Hitherto, various printing apparatuses provided with a print head for printing on a print medium in a dot pattern have been developed and put into practical use. Further, the applicant of the present application is a print head for printing in a dot pattern, the print head having a plurality of print elements arranged in a line and having a fixedly provided print head, and a tape as a print medium. We have proposed and put to practical use a tape printing device configured to print on paper. For example, print the "title" and "contents" of a file on a tape and paste the tape at a predetermined position in the file, or "name"
Is printed on a tape and affixed to a name plate, and this printing apparatus is applicable to various uses. In general, conventional printing devices, including the tape printing device, can set the size of characters and symbols at printing to various sizes, and print characters and symbols of various sizes on the same print line at the bottom alignment. It is configured as follows.

[0003]

However, in the conventional printing apparatus, characters and symbols of various sizes on the same printing line can be printed only at the lower end alignment, so that the printing layout lacks flexibility. There's a problem. In particular, in a tape printer, it is desirable that the printed tape can be printed not only at the lower end but also at the center or at the upper end, because the tape is used for various purposes.

It is an object of the present invention to provide one of a bottom mode in which characters and symbols of various sizes on the same print line are printed with bottom alignment, a center mode in which printing is center-aligned, and a top mode in which top printing is performed. An object of the present invention is to provide a printing device which can be set alternatively.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing apparatus including a printing unit including a printing head for printing a dot pattern on a printing medium, as shown in a functional block diagram of FIG.
Input means for inputting characters, symbols and various commands,
Data storage means for storing input character and symbol data, and print control means for receiving the data from the data storage means, creating dot pattern data using data read from the character generator, and causing the printing means to print the dot pattern data. In a printing device equipped with a printer, size specification means for storing size specification data for specifying a character size in the data storage means in association with character and symbol data, and various sizes of characters and symbols on the same print line are aligned at the bottom. Mode setting means for selectively setting one of a bottom mode for printing in, a center mode for printing with center alignment, and an upper mode for printing with top alignment, and the printing control means,
It is configured to create dot pattern data in which each character or symbol has a size designated by the size designation data, and to print the dot pattern data in the mode set by the mode setting means, and to cause the printing means to print the dot pattern data. This print
The control means, when creating the dot pattern data,
Characters of the maximum size that can be printed in the print area are
Center line and the top and bottom widths are equal.
And the maximum size of the characters in each line
And set the printing reference position.
Based on the mode set by the mode setting means.
It is configured to arrange the characters on each line .

A printing apparatus according to a second aspect is the printing apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the printing medium is a tape,
The printing means has a plurality of printing elements arranged in a line and has a fixedly provided printing head, and a plurality of the tapes which are synchronized with a printing operation of each dot row of the printing head. Tape feeding means for feeding in a direction orthogonal to the column direction of the printing elements.

[0007]

In the printing apparatus according to the first aspect, characters and symbols input by the input means are stored in the data storage means. The size specification data for specifying the character size of the character or the symbol is stored in the data storage unit along with the character or symbol data by the size specification unit. One of lower mode, center mode, upper mode by the mode setting means
When one of them is set as one of the alternatives, the print control means sets the dot pattern data designated by the size designation data for each of the characters and symbols of various sizes on the same print line, and is set by the mode setting means. The dot pattern data for the mode is created, and printing is performed in the mode set by the printing means based on the dot pattern data. In this manner, characters and symbols of various sizes on the same print line can be printed in the mode set by the mode setting means, so that the degree of freedom of the print layout increases and the practicality of the printing apparatus can be improved. The print control means is a printable maximum.
Large size characters are centered on the center line of the print area.
Since the lower width is arranged evenly,
For example, when printing on a tape of
Printed in the center of the loop. Further, the printing control means includes:
Print based on the largest character in each line
Set the reference position, and set the printing reference position and the
Since the characters on each line are arranged based on the mode,
Set the printing reference position of
Can be arranged.

In the printing apparatus according to the second aspect, basically the same operation as that of the first aspect is obtained. In addition, the printing medium is a tape, the printing means is a fixedly provided printing head having a plurality of printing elements arranged in a row, and a printing operation of each dot row of the printing head. And a tape feeding means for feeding the tape in a direction orthogonal to the row direction of the plurality of printing elements in synchronization with the printing medium, so that one of a lower end mode, a center mode, and an upper end mode is selected for the tape as a printing medium. Printing can be performed, and the practicality of a printing device for printing on tape can be greatly improved.

[0009]

According to the printing apparatus of the present invention, the following effects can be obtained as described in the above operation. According to the printing apparatus of the present invention, the size specifying means and the mode setting means are provided, and the printing control means is dot pattern data for setting each character or symbol to the size specified by the size specifying data. Since the dot pattern data in the mode set by the mode setting means is created and printed by the printing means, characters and symbols of various sizes on the same print line can be printed in the mode set by the mode setting means. Printing can be performed and the degree of freedom of the printing layout can be increased, and the practicality of the printing apparatus can be improved. And printable
The largest sized character is within the center line of the print area.
Since it is arranged so that the top and bottom widths are even in the center, printing media
When printing on a tape as
It is always printed at the center of the tape. And the character of each line
Set the printing reference position based on the largest character
Based on the print reference position and the set mode.
Because the characters on each line are arranged, the printing reference position on each line
Set the position properly, and place the character string of each line properly
Can be printed on the tape with good appearance.
To increase the degree of freedom of layout and enhance the practicality of the printing device.
Can be.

According to the printing apparatus of the second aspect, basically the same effects as those of the first aspect can be obtained. In addition, since the printing medium is a tape and the printing unit is configured to print on the tape, one of the lower end mode, the center mode, and the upper end mode is selected and printed on the tape as the printing medium. Therefore, the practicality of a printing apparatus using a tape as a printing medium can be greatly improved.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, a printing tape is used as a printing medium, and the present invention is applied to a printing device exclusively for English (hereinafter referred to as a tape printing device) capable of printing a large number of characters such as alphabetic characters and symbols on the printing tape. Is the case. As shown in FIG. 2, a keyboard 3 is provided at a front portion of the main body frame 2 of the tape printer 1, a printing mechanism PM is provided in the main body frame 2 behind the keyboard 3, and a keyboard 3 is provided. A liquid crystal display 4 capable of displaying characters and symbols is provided at the rear.

The keyboard 3 has character keys for inputting alphabets, numbers and symbols (hereinafter referred to as characters),
Cursor movement key, document creation key for creating document data, creation end key for instructing the end of document creation, size key for setting size specification mode when specifying character size for printing, same A mode setting key for setting a print mode for printing characters of various sizes on a print line; a bottom mode key for setting the print mode to a bottom mode in which the print mode is aligned at the bottom as shown in FIG. 5; As shown in FIG. 6, a center mode key for setting a print mode to a center mode for printing with center alignment, and as shown in FIG. 7, an upper mode for setting a print mode to an upper end mode for printing with upper edge alignment A key, a print key for instructing printing, a space key for providing a space between characters, a power key for turning on / off the power, and the like are provided.

Next, the printing mechanism PM will be briefly described. As shown in FIG. 3, a rectangular tape storage cassette CS is detachably mounted on the main body frame 2, and a printing tape 5 made of a transparent film and having a width of about 24 mm is wound around the tape storage cassette CS. A tape spool 6 mounted thereon, a ribbon supply spool 8 on which an ink ribbon 7 is wound, and a winding spool 9 for winding the ink ribbon 7
And a supply spool 11 in which a double-sided tape 10 having the same width as the printing tape 5 is wound with the release paper outside, and a joining roller 12 for joining the printing tape 5 and the double-sided tape 10 are rotatable. It is provided in. At a position where the printing tape 5 and the ink ribbon 7 overlap, a thermal head 13 is fixedly provided upright.
Roller 14, which presses ink and ink ribbon 7 against thermal head 13, printing tape 5 and double-sided tape 10
And a feed roller 15 that presses against the joining roller 12 is rotatably supported by a support 16. The thermal head 13 is provided with a heating element group 13a (see FIG. 8) composed of 128 heating elements arranged in one line in the vertical direction. By rotating and driving the tape feed motor 24 to synchronously drive the joining roller 12 and the take-up spool 9 in a predetermined direction, respectively, and applying a current to the heating element group 13a a plurality of times at a predetermined timing in synchronization with this, A character having a dot pattern composed of a plurality of dot rows is printed on the printing tape 5, and then a double-sided tape 10 is attached to the printing surface of the printing tape 5 and fed in the feeding direction A. The details of the printing mechanism PM are described in
See ─106555.

As shown in FIG. 8, the printing tape 5 includes
A print area PE corresponding to the heating element group 13a is set,
The print area PE can be printed in various character sizes every five points from a minimum of 10 points to a maximum of 50 points. In addition, among a plurality of characters of various sizes, the character of the maximum size is printed so that the vertical width becomes equal around the center line CL, and the character “A” in FIG.
Even if the character is printed at a character size of 50 points, the characters are printed on the lower print limit line BL and the upper print limit line TL.
Each is printed on the inner side by a predetermined number of dots dT.

Next, a control system of the tape printer 1 will be described. As shown in FIG. 4, a display controller (LCD) having a keyboard 3 and a display RAM for outputting display data to a liquid crystal display (LCD) 4
C) 23, a driving circuit 25 for driving the thermal head 13, a driving circuit 26 for driving the tape feed motor 24, and a driving circuit 21 for the buzzer 20 for warning are input and output of the control device C. Each is connected to the interface 27. The control device C includes a CPU 29 and the CPU 29
And a CGROM 30, a ROM 31, and a RAM 40, which are connected to each other via a bus 28 such as a data bus.

The CGROM 30 contains 5 points from a minimum of 10 points to a maximum of 50 points for each of a number of characters.
The dot pattern data of the character size for each point is stored in association with the code data, and the display controller 23 outputs character code data of a predetermined size to be displayed on the display 4 from the CGROM 30. The ROM 31 has a control program for tape printing control including data input processing control, display processing control, printing processing control, and mode setting processing control for setting a printing mode unique to the present application, and a table of printing reference positions shown in FIG. As shown in (1), in each of the print modes of the lower end mode, the center mode, and the upper end mode, the number of upward dots from the print lower limit line BL is stored as the data of the print reference position for each character size.

The printing reference position is set on the basis of a character having a maximum size among characters in one line. For example,
When printing the character string "AD" in the lower end mode with the character size of "A" set to 30 points and the character size of "D" set to 15 points, as shown in FIG. The character "D" other than the maximum size is disposed at the printing reference position shifted upward by the dot of B30 set from the printing lower limit line BL. When these character strings “AD” are printed in the center mode, as shown in FIG. 11, the character “D” is positioned above the lower-limit printing line BL by a dot of C (for example, 64 dots). It is arranged at the shifted printing reference position. Furthermore, when printing these strings to "AD" above end mode, as shown in FIG. 12, the letter "D" print reference position by dots shifted above the T30 set from the print limit line BL It is arranged in.

As shown in FIG. 13, the line buffer 41 of the RAM 40 temporarily stores, for each character input from the keyboard 3, character code data and character modification data such as size designation data for designating the character size. Is stored. The text memory 42 stores data transferred from the line buffer 41. Size specification data is temporarily stored in the size memory 43. The flag memory 44 stores flag data of a lower end mode flag BF set when the print mode is set to the lower end mode and a center mode flag CF set when the print mode is set to the center mode. Is stored. The printing reference position memory 45 stores data of one printing reference position read from the printing reference position table. One address of the text memory 42 is stored in the print pointer (this content is referred to as a print pointer P) 46 for reading character code data to be printed. The print buffer 47 stores print data of a plurality of characters developed into dot pattern data.

Next, the routine of the tape print control performed by the controller C of the tape printer 1 will be described with reference to FIGS.
This will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Note that reference numerals Si (i = 10, 11, 12,...) In the figure indicate each step. Further, in the following description, as shown in FIG. 7, when a character string “ABCDEFGHIJKL” is printed on one line, each character of “ABC” is set to 30 points and “D
When printing each character of "EF" at 25 points, each character of "GHI" at 20 points, each character of "JKL" at a character size of 30 points, and printing with the print mode set to the top mode Will be described. This control starts when the power is turned on by operating the power key,
First, initial settings such as clearing the memories 41 to 47 are executed (S10), and when the document creation key is operated (S10).
11 · S12: Yes), data input processing control (see FIG. 15) for inputting data input by operating the character keys is started (S13).

When the data input processing control is started and the size key is operated to instruct the size designation mode (S2)
0: Yes), as shown in FIG. 18, the character size of every five points from 10 points to 50 points is sequentially displayed on the display 4 by operating the cursor movement key (S21), and the numeric keys indicating the character size are operated. Thus, the character size is set (S22). That is, when the number key “5” is operated to set the character size of each character of the first “ABC” to 30 points, size designation data indicating 30 points is stored in the size memory 43.

Next, when a character key is operated (S20:
No, S23: Yes), the character code data of the character is sequentially stored in the line buffer 41 (S24), and the character is displayed on the display 4 (S25). In this way, when each character of "ABC" is input, and then the size key is operated to set the character size of each character of "DEF" to 25 points (S20: Yes),
The size designation data stored in the size memory 43 is stored in the line buffer 41 along with the character code data of each character of “ABC”. Hereinafter, similarly, S21
Steps S25 to S25 are repeated, and the character code data and the size designation data are stored in the line buffer 41. In this manner, when the character input is completed and the creation end key is operated (S20 / S23: No, S26: Yes), the size designation data stored in the size memory 43 is stored in the line buffer 41 in the form of the character of each character. The data of the line buffer 41, which is stored together with the code data, is transferred to the text memory 42 (S27), and then the process proceeds to S11. When a key other than the creation end key is operated (S26: No), the buzzer 20 is sounded for warning (S28), and then the process proceeds to S20.

Next, when the mode setting key is operated (S
11: Yes, S12: No, S14: Yes), and the mode setting process control (see FIG. 16) for setting the print mode is started (S15). When this control is started and the character code data is stored in the text memory 42 (S30: Yes) and the lower end mode key is operated (S31: Yes), the lower end mode flag BF is set and the center mode flag is set. When the CF is reset (S32) and the center mode key is operated (S31: No, S33: Yes), the center mode flag CF is set and the lower end mode flag BF is reset (S34), and the upper end mode key is turned off. When operated (S31 / S33: No, S35: Ye
s), lower end mode flag BF and center mode flag C
F are both reset (S36). In this embodiment,
Since the print mode is set to the upper end mode, both the lower end mode flag BF and the center mode flag CF are reset. If the character code data is not stored in the text memory 42 in S30, the buzzer 20 is sounded for warning (S37). And the S
32, S34, S36 The process returns with the end of any of the processes of S37 and shifts to S11.

Next, when the print key is operated (S11:
Yes, S12 / S14: No, S16: Yes), and the printing process control (FIG. 17) is started (S17). When this control is started, first, the maximum character size is searched from the size designation data for each character in the text memory 42 (S40). In this case, "ABC" and "JKL"
Are searched as the maximum character size from the size designation data of each character. Next, when the lower end mode flag BF is set (S41: Yes),
Based on the searched maximum character size, the data of the print reference position in the lower end mode corresponding to the character size is read out from the table of the print reference position and is stored in the print reference position memory 45.
(S42), and when the center mode flag CF is set (S41: No, S43: Ye)
s) Based on the searched maximum character size, data of the print reference position in the center mode corresponding to the character size is read from the print reference position table and stored in the print reference position memory 45 (S44). Mode flag B
When both F and the center mode flag CF are reset (S41 / S43: No), based on the searched maximum character size, the data of the print reference position of the upper end mode corresponding to the character size is obtained from the table of the print reference position. It is read and stored in the printing reference position memory 45 (S45).

Next, the head address of the text memory 42 is set to the print pointer P (S46).
The data pointed by the print pointer P is read (S
47) Based on this data, the data is developed in the print buffer 47 as dot pattern data (S48). That is, in this case, the CGROM 30 generates dot pattern data of 30 points based on the character code data of the first character "A" and the size designation data of the character modification data. Based on the data of the printing reference position stored in the position memory 45, the dot pattern data is developed in the printing buffer 47 as shown in FIG. Next, the print pointer P
Is incremented (S49), and the text memory 42
If there is character code data in (S50: Ye
s), the flow proceeds to S47, and S47 to S50 are repeated. For each character of "BCDEFGHLJKL", the print buffer 4 is aligned at the upper end based on the data of the print reference position.
7, dot pattern data is developed. In S50, a space input between characters is determined as character code data, and the flow shifts to S47.

When all the characters have been developed as dot pattern data (S50: No), the tape feed motor 24 is driven to rotate, so that the joining roller 12 and the take-up spool 9 are driven to rotate synchronously, and printing is performed. Based on the dot pattern data of the buffer 47, the heating element group 13a is energized at a predetermined timing to print characters on the printing tape 5 by a plurality of dot rows, and the double-sided tape 10 is printed on the printing surface of the printing tape 5. (S
51). Thereafter, when printing of all characters is completed, execution of a predetermined amount of tape feeding processing and cutting processing is instructed (S5).
2), end this control and return.

As described above, characters of various sizes in one print line can be selectively set to one of the lower end mode, the center mode, and the upper end mode for printing. The degree increases, and the practicality of the tape printer 1 can be improved.

It should be noted that printing is not limited to one-line printing, and printing can be performed on a plurality of lines, such as two or more lines. In this case, the printing reference position may be set for each printing mode in the same manner as described above according to the number of printing lines. Further, a CGROM may be separately provided for printing, and the CGROM may store outline data for each character instead of the dot pattern data.
In addition, the character size can be set to various character sizes other than the character size. In the above-described embodiment, the tape printer has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to the tape printer, but can be applied to various printers such as a word processor and a typewriter.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the tape printer.

FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of a printing mechanism.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a control system of the tape printer.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of printing in a lower end mode.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of printing in a center mode.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a print example of an upper end mode.

FIG. 8 is a partial front view of a printing mechanism showing a printing tape and a thermal head.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a table of data of a character size and a printing reference position.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a printing reference position in a lower end mode.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of a printing reference position in a center mode.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of a print reference position in an upper end mode.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing data in a line buffer.

FIG. 14 is a schematic flowchart of a routine of tape print control.

FIG. 15 is a schematic flowchart of a subroutine of data input processing control.

FIG. 16 is a schematic flowchart of a subroutine of mode setting processing control.

FIG. 17 is a schematic flowchart of a print processing control subroutine.

FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram showing a character size designation screen.

19 is a schematically shown to view the dot pattern data in the print buffer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 tape printing device 3 keyboard 29 CPU 30 CGROM 31 ROM 40 RAM C control device PM printing mechanism

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of front page (56) References JP-A-1-152070 (JP, A) JP-A-62-199457 (JP, A) JP-A-57-64875 (JP, A) JP-A-3-152 47766 (JP, A) JP-A-63-293066 (JP, A) JP-A-62-71657 (JP, A) JP-A-3-177875 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. ⁷ , DB name) B41J 21/00 B41J 2/485 B41J 3/36 G06F 3/12 G06F 17/21 G09G 5/32

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A printing means including a print head for printing a dot pattern on a printing medium, an input means for inputting characters and symbols and various commands, and a data storage for storing data of the input characters and symbols. And a printing control means for receiving data from the data storage means, creating dot pattern data using data read from the character generator, and causing the printing means to print the dot pattern data. Size specification means for storing data in the data storage means in association with data of characters and symbols, and bottom mode for printing characters and symbols of various sizes on the same print line with bottom alignment, and center mode for printing with center alignment Mode setting means for selectively setting one of an upper end mode in which printing is performed at the upper end. The control means creates dot pattern data in which each character or symbol has the size designated by the size designation data, and forms the dot pattern data in the mode set by the mode setting means, and causes the printing means to print the dot pattern data. is configured, the print control means, the creation of the dot pattern data
When printing, characters of the maximum size that can be printed in the print area are printed
So that the vertical width is even around the center line of the area
And the maximum size of the characters on each line
Set the printing reference position based on the character, and
Position and the mode set by the mode setting means.
A printing apparatus for arranging the characters in each line based on the information . 2. The printing medium according to claim 1, wherein the printing medium is a tape, and the printing means includes a plurality of printing elements arranged in a line and a printing head fixedly provided, and each dot of the printing head. 2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a tape feeder for feeding the tape in a direction orthogonal to a row direction of the plurality of printing elements in synchronization with a row printing operation.