JPH03138168A - Recorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable a mixture image of an image picture and a character code to be recorded in a short time by a method wherein a pattern generating means which generates an image picture as dot information and an assigning means which assigns a recording position to a memory medium of the image picture are provided. CONSTITUTION:A recording position of a drawing image is set with a position assigning encoder 1, and whether a data exists or not in a text buffer 3 is judged. When the data is judged to exist, the data is read, and whether a present recording position is at preliminarily set position (within a range) or not is judged. When the data is judged to be outside a set position, a corresponding character pattern is generated with soot, and developed in an image buffer 7. Further, when the data is judged to be at the set position, a drawn image generated from a ROM card 9 is developed in the image buffer 7. Thereby, a mixture image of an image picture and a character code can be recorded in a short time.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a recording device for recording characters and symbols on a recording medium.

[Prior Art] An example of this type of printer is an inkjet printer.

FIG. 6 shows the printing mechanism of this device.

In the figure, 115 is recording paper, 116 is a print head, and 117
119 is a control board including a circuit for controlling or driving the print head 116; 120 is a flexible wire for transmitting signals to control (distribute) the print head 116; It is.

FIG. 7 shows an overall block diagram of this device.

In the figure, 100 is a printing device, and 101 is print data (
This is a host computer that outputs character codes, etc.).

The character code output from the host computer 101 is temporarily stored in the receive buffer 102 of the printing apparatus 100. And the receive buffer 102
The data is sequentially read out from the text buffer 103 and modification information is added thereto.

This data is sent to the control unit 105 that controls the operation of the entire device.
be taken in. Then, the control unit 105 generates a character pattern corresponding to the character code in the CGROM 106 and develops it in the image buffer 107.

In this way, the character pattern for one line is stored in the image buffer 1.
07, the image data is sequentially output to the printing unit 108. The printing unit 108 receives this data and forms a visible image on the recording paper 115 by driving the print head 116 on the carriage 117 which is in scanning motion.

Note that a character pattern for one line is developed in the image buffer 107 when the presence of a carriage return and line feed code is detected in the received data, or when the carriage 117 of the printing device 101 moves once. This occurs when the maximum number of characters that can be printed is reached.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] By the way, in such a configuration, if we consider the case where information in which character codes and image data (illustrations) are mixed is received and recorded, the receive buffer 10
2 has a limited capacity and is usually small, so the host computer 102 side has to divide this information into small pieces and send them out. Therefore, the time it takes for the host computer to finish outputting all the print information and the time involved in actual recording are much longer than in the case of recording only character codes.

The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and an object thereof is to provide a recording device that can record a mixed image of image images and character codes in a short time.

[Means and effects for solving the problem] In order to solve this problem, the recording device of the present invention that receives a character code and records a visible image on a recording medium generates at least one image as dot information. a pattern generating means for
designating means for designating a recording position of the image image on the recording medium, and when a visible image is being recorded on the recording medium based on the character code, when the recording target position is at the position designated by the designating means; When it is determined, it is recorded based on the dot information generated by the pattern generating means.

[Embodiments] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Description of the First Embodiment> FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram of a printing apparatus in the first embodiment. In the embodiment, a serial printer that prints on recording paper by reciprocating a carriage will be described as an example.

In the printing device 1, 2 is a host computer 102.
3 is a text buffer for adding modification information (underline, etc.) to each character code stored in receive buffer 2; 5 is the entire printer 1; It has an in-page position information management unit 4 that manages the return and line feed positions of the carriage (recording head) in the printing unit 8 and the current recording position. Reference numeral 6 denotes a CGROM which stores dot patterns of characters, symbols, etc. (hereinafter simply referred to as character patterns) corresponding to character codes, and when a character code is received from the control unit 5, a corresponding character pattern is generated. 7 is an image buffer capable of developing an image printed by one scan of the recording head; 8 is a printing unit that forms a visible image according to the image data in the image buffer 7; Reference numeral 9 denotes a ROM card that stores one drawn image, and is removable from the device. Reference numeral 11 designates the recording position of the image stored in the ROM card 9 with respect to the recording paper. If a plurality of drawn images are stored in the ROM card 9, a switch is also provided for selecting one of them.

Although the explanation is confusing, 1 stored in the ROM card 9
Each drawing image is composed of a character box whose minimum unit is one character pattern shown in FIG. 2(A). Usually, several of these are collected to form one drawn image. In the case of Figure 2 (B), there are 4 boxes and 1
This shows that the drawn image is composed. The position information designated by the position designation encoder 11 is output to the page position information management section 4 and the insertion position display section indicated by 12. The fitting position display section 12 is for allowing the operator to confirm the specified position. In addition, 10 is the control unit 5
This switch is operated under the control of the CGROM 6 and selects either the character pattern from the CGROM 6 or the drawn image from the ROM card 9.

The operation in the above configuration will be explained.

First, the operator scans the position specifying encoder 11 to specify the recording position of a desired drawn image on the recording paper. Note that the recorded position is displayed on the insertion position display section 12, so it can be confirmed.

After this, character codes are sequentially sent from the host computer 102, and by counting the number of character codes received at this time, the in-page position information management unit 4 determines the current recording position (image buffer 7). (deployment position). If it is determined that this recording position has not yet reached the position specified by the position specifying encoder 11, the received modified character code is output to the CGROM 6 to generate a character pattern, and the character pattern is transferred to the image buffer. Expand to 7. Naturally, during this time, the switch 10 is switched toward the CGROM 6.

On the other hand, when the recording position reaches the designated position, the switch 10 is switched to the ROM card 9. Then, the drawn image registered in the ROM card 9 is read out and developed in the image buffer 7. Note that the designated position corresponds to the rectangular area 91 (area occupied by the character pattern) in FIG. 2(B). This allows the drawn image to be recorded at the specified position.

The above-mentioned processing will be explained with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. When print data is output from the host computer 101, an interrupt signal is output to the control unit 5 from an input ink face (not shown). It is assumed that a receiving process is executed in which data (character code) is fetched, stored in the receive buffer 2, and modified information is added and stored in the text buffer 3.

First, in step S1, the position specifying encoder 11
Set the recording position of the drawn image. When this setting is completed, the process proceeds to step S2, and it is determined whether or not there is data in the text buffer 3, in other words, if the host computer
01 to determine whether print data is being received.

If it is determined that there is data, the process advances to step S3 to read out the data, and in step S4 it is determined whether the current recording position is within the previously set position (within the range). If it is determined that the position is other than the set position, step S
A character pattern corresponding to ROM card 9 is generated using soot, and the character pattern is developed in the image buffer 7; when it is determined that the character pattern is at the set position, a drawn image generated from the ROM card 9 is developed in the image buffer 7.

In any case, the process proceeds to step S7, where it is determined whether one line of image has been developed into the image buffer 7. Then, character patterns are developed in response to character codes received one after another, or drawn images generated from the ROM card 9 are developed, and the amount of image data that can be recorded by one scanning movement of the carriage of the printing section 8 is created as an image. Once built into buffer 7, processing proceeds to step S
Proceed to step 8 to perform actual printing processing.

As explained above, according to the first embodiment, the host computer 102 only needs to output the character code. Therefore, compared to outputting data containing a mixture of character code and image data, the time required to transfer the data to the printing device can be significantly shortened.

In the embodiment, the ROM card 9 contains a drawn image (see FIG.
Although the illustration shown in B) has been described as an example, it is also possible to prepare a standard document form.

<Description of the second embodiment> FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the second embodiment.

Reference numeral 13 denotes a character box generator that generates a space for a character code, and since the other components are the same as in the first embodiment, their explanation will be omitted.

After specifying the recording position of the drawing using the position specifying encoder 11, the serial printer starts recording by pressing an operation check button (not shown).

The control unit 5 sends and records the character code of the space sent from the character box generator 13 to the CGROM 6 until the specified position is reached. When the designated position is reached, necessary image data for drawing is read out from the ROM card 9 and recorded. The other operations are the same as those in the first embodiment, so their explanation will be omitted.

As an effect of the above, it becomes possible for the serial printer to record a drawn image independently, and it becomes possible to check the arrangement of the drawn image. As in the first embodiment, this drawn image may be in the format of a standard document.

Description of the third embodiment> FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the third embodiment.

Reference numeral 14 denotes a position information detection unit which reads out necessary drawing image data from the ROM card 9 when a character code consisting of one of the character codes sent from the host computer 1 is input. By providing the information detecting section 14, the position specifying encoder 11 and the fitting position display section 12 in the first embodiment become unnecessary.

The other configurations are the same as those in FIG. 1 of the first embodiment, so explanations will be omitted.

Next, the operation will be explained.

Some rarely used character codes are assigned to dip switches (not shown).

When the character code specified by the date switch is input from among the character codes sent from the host computer 1, the position information detection unit 14 reads out the necessary image data from the ROM card 9. and record it. The other operations are the same as those in the first embodiment, so their explanation will be omitted.

As a result of the above, it becomes possible to extract the drawings from the ROM card 9 in the same way as character codes without requiring application software.

In addition, although the above-mentioned first to third embodiments have been explained using a serial printer as an example, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, it may be a laser beam printer.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, it is possible to record a mixed image of an image and a character code in a short time.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a block configuration diagram of the printing device in the embodiment of wooden tablet 1. Figure 2 (a) is a diagram showing a character pattern for one character. Figure 2 (b) is a drawn image and character pattern for one character. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation processing procedure in the first embodiment, FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the printing device of the second embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the third implementation side. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the path configuration; FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a printing mechanism section in an inkjet recording device; FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a conventional printing device. Quist buffer, 4... In-page location information management department, 5
...Control unit, 6...CGROM, 7...Image buffer, 8...Printing section, 9...ROM card, 9
1...Character box for specifying drawing placement position, 10.
...Switch, 11...Position specification encoder, 12.
. . . Fitting position display unit, 13 . . . Character box generator, 14 . . . Position information detection unit, 101 . . . Host computer.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A recording device that receives a character code and records a visible image on a recording medium, comprising: pattern generation means that generates at least one image image as dot information; and recording of the image image on the recording medium. and a specifying means for specifying a position, while recording a visible image on a recording medium based on the character code,
A recording apparatus characterized in that when it is determined that a recording target position is at a position designated by the designation means, the recording is performed based on dot information generated by the pattern generation means.