JPH01178458A - Character pattern conversion 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 [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a character pattern conversion processing device, and particularly to one that converts an original character pattern into character patterns of different sizes.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, printers that print in dot patterns, such as dot printers and thermal printers, are equipped with character generators that store original character patterns made up of dot patterns for many characters, and are capable of printing enlarged or reduced characters. Sometimes, a character pattern conversion processing device converts an original character pattern into a character pattern of enlarged or reduced characters, creates character pattern data, and prints using the data.

Various types of character pattern conversion processing devices have been proposed and put into practical use.

For example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 57-27478, Japanese Patent Publication No. 58-
16189 and Japanese Patent Publication No. 58-54395, additional information indicating the rows and columns to be inserted or deleted in order to enlarge or reduce the characters is added to each original character pattern consisting of a predetermined number of rows and columns. A character pattern generation method is described in which dot pattern data of characters of different sizes is generated by storing the original character pattern and enlarging or reducing the original character pattern based on the additional information.

Japanese Patent Publication No. 56-15555 discloses that the dot pattern of the original character pattern is divided into row groups or column groups of the number of rows or columns to be added plus 1, and the logic of adjacent rows or columns is determined by dividing. A dot matrix conversion device is described in which when the signal is "1", dots are added between the divided rows or columns to enlarge the character.

[Problems to be solved by the invention] Said Japanese Patent Publication No. 57-27478, Japanese Patent Publication No. 5B-16
In the character pattern generation methods described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 189 and Japanese Patent Publication No. 58-54395, when dot pattern data is prepared and stored in the dot pattern data memory, each of all characters to be stored is inserted or deleted. It is necessary to determine additional information regarding rows or columns in advance by some means and input and store that additional information together with dot pattern data, which requires an enormous amount of work and requires extra memory capacity to store the additional information. Although the additional information is effective when enlarging or reducing characters of a specific size, there is a problem that it cannot be enlarged or reduced to characters of any other size.

In the dot matrix conversion device described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 56-15555, an original character pattern is divided approximately equally into a number of rows or columns determined as described above, and additional rows or columns are added at the division locations. Therefore, in Figure 3 of this publication, only one of a pair of vertical lines that should be the same size becomes thicker, such as the 6th vertical line and the 7th vertical line of the character "su". There is a problem that balanced enlarged characters cannot be obtained.

[Purpose of the invention]

An object of the present invention is to be able to preserve the original form of an original character pattern as much as possible and convert it into a well-balanced enlarged or reduced character, to convert the original character pattern to a desired size, and to simplify the original character pattern. An object of the present invention is to provide a character pattern conversion processing device that can perform conversion under easy control.

[Means for solving problems]

The character pattern conversion processing device according to the present invention converts an original character pattern consisting of a dot pattern in a predetermined number of rows and columns.
In the character pattern change processing means for converting into a character pattern of a different size by duplicating or deleting rows and/or columns, a detection means detects the number of dots in each row and/or each column of character pattern data and stores it in a dot memory. and receiving the data of the number of dots from the dot memory,
selection means for selecting one row and/or column having the minimum number of dots; and weighting by adding a predetermined number to the number of dots in rows and/or columns adjacent to the selected row and/or column; and/or changing processing means for changing the number of dots in the dot memory of the column, and excluding the selected row and/or column, the selecting means Each process by the change processing means is repeated, and the position of the row and/or column to be inserted or deleted is determined based on the selected row and/or column.

[Effect]

In the character pattern conversion processing device according to the present invention, the detection means detects the number of dots in each row and/or each column based on the character pattern data of the original character pattern, and stores the number of dots in the dot memory. The selection means receives the dot number data from the dot memory and selects one row and/or column having the minimum number of dots. Furthermore, the change processing means weights the number of dots in the row and/or column adjacent to the row and/or column selected by the selection means by adding a predetermined number to the number of dots in the row and/or column in the dot memory. Process changes. Excluding the selected row and/or column, the selection means selects one row and/or column having the minimum number of dots, and the change processing means stores the weighted number of dots in the row and/or column in the dot memory. The process of changing rows and/or columns is performed in sequence for the number of rows and/or columns to be inserted or deleted, and the rows and/or columns to be inserted or deleted are determined.

Therefore, character patterns of different sizes can be converted by inserting or deleting determined rows and/or columns.

In other words, the rows and/or columns to be inserted or deleted are determined by sequentially selecting the required number of dots, starting with the rows and/or columns with the least number of dots, so it is possible to insert the rows and/or columns that have the least impact on the original character pattern. Or it will be deleted. Moreover,
Each time a row and/or column with the minimum number of dots is selected, it is weighted by adding a predetermined number to the number of dots in the adjacent row and/or column, so the rows and/or columns to be inserted or deleted are not concentrated. Distributed in a well-balanced manner overall.

Therefore, the original character pattern can be enlarged or reduced in a well-balanced manner as a whole while preserving the original form as much as possible.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the character pattern conversion processing device according to the present invention selects rows and/or columns to be inserted or deleted with priority given to rows and/or columns with the smallest number of dots, and The original form of the original character pattern is determined by determining the row and/or column to be inserted or deleted by repeatedly weighting the number of dots in rows and/or columns adjacent to the row and/or column with the minimum number of dots. It is possible to expand or reduce the original character pattern in a well-balanced manner by inserting or deleting it in a well-balanced manner as a whole while preserving as much as possible. Due to the weighting, the lines constituting the original character pattern do not become excessively long or short, and a balance is maintained.

Further, in this character pattern conversion processing device, since the number of repetitions of the processing by the selection means and the change processing means can be freely set, it is possible to enlarge or reduce the character size to any desired size.

Furthermore, the control performed by the detection means, selection means, and change processing means is relatively simple, and the configuration of these means is simple.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in the block diagram of FIG. 1, the thermal printer control device l to which the present invention is applied basically consists of a CPU (
It consists of a central processing unit) 2, a character generator 3 connected to the CPU 2 via a data bus, a ROM (read only memory) 4, and a RAM (random access memory) 5. Also, CPU2
is connected to an input device 6 (keyboard), a drive section 7 having a plurality of drive circuits for each motor and thermal head of the printing mechanism 8, and a display device 9 having a display. The print head is a thermal head capable of printing in a row of 36 dots.

The character generator 3 has 24 (rows) x 24 (columns) dot patterns (
Dot pattern data of an original character pattern composed of a dot matrix) is stored in correspondence with code data such as characters and symbols. For example, as shown in Figure 2, the original character pattern for the character "hiki" is 24 (rows) x 24
It is stored as dot pattern data consisting of (rows) of dot patterns. Note that the don't data corresponding to the ■ part of the character "hiki" is stored as "l", and the tod data of the white background part is stored as "0".

The ROM 4 stores a control program for controlling pattern conversion processing to convert character patterns of different sizes, which will be described later.

The RAM 5 includes a dot data memory that stores the number of dots in each row in association with the row number or the number of dots in each column in association with the column number, and various types of memory that temporarily stores the results of calculations performed by the CPU 2. Memory is provided.

Next, a pattern conversion processing control routine performed by the control device 1 will be explained based on the flowchart shown in FIG. In addition, in this control, a case will be explained in which the vertical and horizontal directions of the character are respectively enlarged at the inputted enlargement magnification.

When code data is input to the CPU 2 from the input device, this control is started, and first, dot pattern data corresponding to the input code data is read out from the character generator 3 (Sl).

Then, based on the input magnification data, the number of rows and columns to be (duplicated) (N number of selections N) is calculated according to the calculation formula: N = 24X (enlargement magnification) - 24 (S2), and the number of selections is N is written to the counter (S3). Next, regarding the dot pattern data of each row, the number of dots in each row is determined by counting the dot data of "1", and the number of dots is stored in the dot data memory of the RAM 5 in association with the row number (S4). .

Next, based on the dot number data read from the dot data memory, one row with the minimum number of dots is selected among the rows excluding the previously selected rows, and the row to be inserted is determined (S5). . Note that when there are multiple lines with the minimum number of dots, the one with the smaller line number is selected preferentially.

Then, for the rows excluding the previously selected row, two adjacent rows in the dot data memory are selected.
The number of dots in each row is changed by adding "1" and the weighting is processed (36), and 1 is subtracted from the count value ■ of the counter ■ (S7), and when the count value ■ is not 0, (S8), 35 to S8 are repeated N times,
When the count value becomes 1-0 and all the rows to be inserted have been determined, the process moves to S9.

For example, as shown in Figure 4, the character "hiki" shown in Figure 2
The number of dots is determined for each row and stored in the dot data memory. The number of dots in the first row is "3", the number of dots in the second row is "2", . . . the number of dots in the 24th row is "4". Then, when the enlargement magnification is 1.5 times, the number of selections "12" is calculated according to the calculation formula, and in the first selection, the second row with the minimum number of dots "2" is selected, and the Weighting is performed by adding "1" to the number of dots in the first and third rows adjacent to the second row, respectively. As a result, the number of dots in the first row is "4",
The number of dots in the third row is "3". In the second selection, the third row with the minimum number of dots of "3" is selected among the previously selected rows other than the second row, and the third row other than the previously selected second row is selected. The weighting process is performed by adding "1" to each of the numbers of dots in the first and fourth rows adjacent to the third row. As a result, the number of dots in the first row is "5" and the number of dots in the fourth row is "6". Thereafter, it is executed in the same way 12 times in order, and the 1st line, the 2nd line, the 3rd line, the 6th line, the 8th line, the 10th line, the 12th line, the 15th line Twelve rows, including row 1, 17, 19, 20, and 24, are selected, rows to be inserted are determined, and the row numbers of these rows are stored in the memory of the RAM 5.

Next, the number of selections N is written to the counter ■ (39),
Regarding the dot pattern data of each column read from the character generator 3, the number of dots in each column is determined by counting the number of dot data of "1", and the number of dots is associated with the column number and stored in the dot data of the RAM 5. Stored in memory (SIO).

In Sll-S14, the columns to be inserted are selected and determined N times in the same way as 35 to S8, and the column numbers of these columns are set to RA.
It is stored in the memory of M5, and the process moves to S15.

For example, as shown in Figure 5, the character "hiki" shown in Figure 2
The number of dots is determined for each column.

The number of dots in the first column is "0", and the number of dots in the second column is r
2. , . . . The number of dots in the 24th column is "2".

In the first selection, the first column where the minimum number of dots is "0" is selected, and the second column adjacent to the first column is selected.
Weighting is performed by adding "1" to the number of dots in the column. As a result, the number of dots in the second column is "2". In the second selection, the second column with the minimum number of dots of "1" is selected in the columns other than the previously selected first column, and the columns other than the previously selected first column are selected. The weighting process is performed by adding "1" to the number of dots in the third column adjacent to the second column.

Note that when the number of dots is the same, the column with the smaller column number is selected. As a result, the number of dots in the third column is "14". Thereafter, the execution is repeated 12 times in the same way. Twelve columns, the 15th column, the 17th column, the 19th column, the 22nd column, and the 24th column, are selected, columns to be inserted are determined, and these column numbers are stored in the memory of the RAM 5.

S15 is a step of creating a dot pattern of the enlarged conversion pattern based on the row and column data to be inserted determined as described above and the dot pattern data of the original character pattern. To explain the expansion, the data for the 12 line numbers determined to be inserted as described above is read from memory, while the dot pattern data of the original character pattern is read in order from the first line, and then the data for the insertion is performed. For the line that has been determined to be the same, a copy of the dot pattern data of the line is created and inserted between the line and the next line of the original character pattern, so that the dot pattern data of the vertically expanded character pattern is created. It is determined.

Next, to explain the addition of columns, while the column number data of the 12 columns determined to be inserted as described above is read from the memory, the dot pattern data of the character pattern expanded in the vertical direction is added to the first row. For the column determined to be inserted in the dot pattern data of each row, a copy of the data of the bit corresponding to the column is created, and the data of the bit and the vertically enlarged dot pattern are Insert between the next bit and the next bit. In the manner described above, dot pattern data of a character pattern enlarged both vertically and horizontally is determined.

The character pattern conversion process for one character or symbol is completed by the routine from 31 to S15, and the process returns from S15 to 31 to execute the conversion process for the next character or symbol.

For example, as shown in Figure 6, the conversion pattern for the character ``hiki'', which is enlarged 1.5 times vertically and horizontally relative to the original character ``hiki J'' (see Figure 2), is 36 rows x 36 columns. dot pattern data is created.

In addition, when reducing the length and width of a character by the respectively input reduction magnification, N rows and N columns determined according to the selection times iN determined by the calculation formula are deleted. As a result, dot pattern data of a converted pattern that is reduced by the reduction magnification with respect to the original character is created.

Note that when enlarging or reducing only the vertical direction, it is only necessary to determine the rows to be inserted or deleted, and when enlarging or reducing only the horizontal direction, insert or delete only the columns. All you have to do is decide on the column.

As explained above, while sequentially selecting and inserting or deleting rows and/or columns with a smaller number of dots, the number of dots in rows and/or columns adjacent to the selected row and/or column is The rows and/or columns to be inserted or deleted are determined by adding 1 and weighting as many times as necessary.
The original form of the original character pattern is preserved as much as possible, lines and/or columns to be inserted or deleted are dispersed throughout, and the lines of characters and symbols are not excessively long or short, resulting in a well-balanced character pattern. It can be enlarged or reduced.

Furthermore, the routine for this conversion process is relatively simple, and the burden on the CPU 2 is light.

Note that the weighting value for the row and/or column adjacent to the selected row and/or column may be set to a value other than "1", and the weighting value may be changed depending on the character to be enlarged or reduced. You may also do so.

Note that the pattern conversion processing control by this control device 1 is performed by 2
Of course, the present invention can also be similarly applied when enlarging or reducing an original character pattern composed of dot patterns other than the 4 rows x 24 columns dot pattern.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a control device for a thermal printer, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a control device for a thermal printer.
3 is a flowchart of the pattern conversion processing control routine, FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the process of selecting lines to be duplicated, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the dot pattern of the original character pattern.
The figure is an explanatory diagram illustrating the process of selecting columns to be duplicated, and FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an enlarged dot pattern of the character "hiki". 1. Control device, 2. CPU, 3. Character generator, 4. ROM. Patent applicant Brother Industries, Ltd. Figure 3 Figure 2 (row) Figure 6 (row)

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In a character pattern conversion processing device that converts an original character pattern consisting of a dot pattern of a predetermined number of rows and columns into a character pattern of a different size by inserting or deleting rows and/or columns, the character pattern a detection means for detecting the number of dots in each row and/or each column of data and storing it in a dot memory; and receiving data on the number of dots from the dot memory and selecting one row and/or column having the minimum number of dots. a selection means for weighting by adding a predetermined number to the number of dots in a row and/or column adjacent to the selected row and/or column, and changing the number of dots in the dot memory in the row and/or column; and a change processing means for repeating each process by the selection means and the change processing means for the number of rows and/or columns to be inserted or deleted, excluding the selected row and/or column, ta line and/
A character pattern conversion processing device characterized in that the position of a row and/or column to be inserted or deleted is determined based on the character pattern conversion processing device.