JPH04131259A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To output a legible printing by a construction wherein when a subscript character is contained in a predetermined character group, data for a printing height position of the subscript character is changed in accordance with the pattern type of characters other than the subscript character in the character group. CONSTITUTION:Inputted code data is divided into predetermined units of character by a character group detection means 1. Whether each of the code data is a character code or a control code is discriminated. When the code data is discriminated to be a character code, a pattern type corresponding to the character code is discriminated. When the code data is discriminated to be a control code, a process corresponding to the control code is conducted. With respect to the character code, data for developing the character code on a page memory as a bit map is generated. The generated data is stored in a printing data storage part 6. When a control code of a subscript printing command exists in the code data, data for a printing height position of the subscript character is changed by a pattern type discriminating means 3. In this manner, in the printing of a subscript character, harmonious printing can be obtained.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (a) Industrial Application Field This invention inputs code data from an external device, develops a pattern corresponding to the data as a bitmap in a page memory configured in units of one page, and The present invention relates to a device for printing content, and more particularly to a printing device capable of printing subscript characters using a control code representing a subscript print command in code data.

(b) Prior Art Among English and European characters, there are characters such as the character rAJ which are composed only of parts above the baseline, and characters such as the character ryJ which have a part below the baseline. When printing English and European characters, it is necessary to align the baselines of each character, so the character pattern in the font is made up of the baseline (only the upper part), like the character rAJ, as shown in Figure 5. The character pattern is formed without using the lower part of the character pattern area.
'', which has a portion below the baseline mark, the portion below the baseline α is formed at the bottom of the character pattern area.

By the way, some printing devices have a function of printing superscript characters and subscript characters. In such a printing device, when printing a superscript character (superscript character), for example, the superscript character of the number 2, as shown in Fig. 6, the development start position P of the character pattern is changed from that of a normal character. This is done by printing a similar pattern in the upper left corner, which is 1/2 times the normal pattern vertically.

To print subscript characters, as shown in Figure 6, if the total number of dots in the height (vertical) direction of the pattern area is m, then the position m/2 dots lower than the character pattern is This is done by printing a normal pattern 1/2 times vertically as the development start position P. Therefore, the printed subscript characters are also expanded to the portion below the baseline.

(C) Problems to be Solved by the Invention In this way, conventional subscripts are expanded to parts below the baseline α, so that normal characters in a predetermined character group including subscripts are If all characters are composed only of patterns above the baseline, the lower edges of the regular characters and the subscript characters will be uneven, giving an unnatural appearance.

Therefore, as shown in Figure 7, it may be possible to print by setting the development position P of all subscripts so that the bottom edge of the subscript is aligned with the baseline α, but from the baseline magazine If you print side by side with the character pattern that uses the lower part, the subscript will appear raised, so
It will look strange.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a printing device that can print subscript characters without causing any discomfort.

(d) Means for Solving the Problems The printing device according to the present invention develops a pattern corresponding to code data input from an external device into a page memory configured on a page-by-page basis as a bitmap, and prints the contents. In a printing device capable of printing subscript characters using a control code representing a subscript printing command in code data, a character group detection means for dividing manually input code data into predetermined character group units; code discrimination means for discriminating whether each code data in the character group separated by the character group detection means is a character code or a control code; when the code data is discriminated as a character code by the code discrimination means, the code data corresponds to the character code; Pattern type determining means for determining the type of pattern When the code data is determined to be a control code by the micode determining means, the control code processing means performs processing corresponding to the control code, and the code determining means determines that the code data is a character code. the code,
a character print data generation unit that creates data for bitmap development in page memory; a print data storage unit that stores data generated by the character print data generation unit;
In addition, if a subscript printing command control code exists in the code data of the character group separated by the character group detection means, the print data storage section The present invention is characterized by comprising means for changing data regarding the print height position of subscript characters stored in the subscript character.

(E) The input code data is divided into predetermined character groups by the character group detection means. It is determined whether each code data in the character group separated by the character group detection means is a character code or a control code. When code data is determined to be a character code, the type of pattern corresponding to the character code is determined, and when code data is determined to be a control code, processing corresponding to the control code is performed. Further, regarding the character code, data for bitmap development of the character code in the page memory is created, and the generated data is stored in the print data storage section.

If a subscript printing command control code exists in the code data of the character group separated by the character group detection means, the print data storage section The data regarding the print height position of subscript characters stored in is changed.

1) Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a printing device.

In this embodiment, it is assumed that subscript designation is performed only for numbers. Further, a control code indicating subscript printing designation is sent immediately before a character code indicating a character to be made into a subscript.

Further, in this embodiment, two types of positions can be set as the pattern development start position (print height position) of the subscript character. First, as shown in FIG. 2, the pattern development start position P of the subscript is set so that the lower end of the subscript is aligned with the base line. The pattern development start position P in this case will be referred to as the first subscript character development start position. Second, as shown in FIG. 3, the development position P of the subscript is set so that the lower end of the subscript is aligned with the lower end of the character pattern area. The pattern development position P in this case will be referred to as the second subscript character development start position.

In FIG. 1, a character group detection unit 1 recognizes code data sent from an external device and selects a predetermined character group, such as a character group consisting of one word, a character group consisting of a - line sentence, etc. Determine whether it is the beginning or end of. The code discrimination section 2
Each code data in the character group is distinguished into a character code and a control code. When the code determining unit 2 determines that the character pattern type is either code data or character conid, the character pattern type determination unit 3 determines whether the pattern corresponding to the character code is a character no-no-turn consisting only of parts above the baseline, or
Alternatively, it is determined whether the character pattern has a portion below the baseline. The control code processing section 4 performs processing corresponding to the control code when the code is determined to be a control code by the code discriminating section 2.

The character print data generation section 5 generates data necessary for bitmap development of character codes.

The character print data storage section 6 temporarily stores the data generated by the character print data generation section 5. Font ROM
7 stores patterns corresponding to character codes.

The page memory 9 stores patterns corresponding to code data from an external device in units of one page. Deployment processing section 8
Based on the data stored in the character print data storage section 6, the pattern of the font ROM 7 is developed into the page memory 9.

When the end of a character group is detected by the character group detection unit 1, the subscript height position resetting unit 10 resets the subscript height based on the data from the character pattern type determination unit 3 and the control code processing unit 4. Character pattern development start position (printing height position)
and corrects the data regarding the subscript character pattern expansion start position stored in the character print data storage section 6.

The operation of the printing device will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 4.

Code data input from an external device to the printing device is sent to a character group detection section 1 and divided into predetermined character groups such as words or lines. Here, for convenience of explanation, it is assumed that each word is divided into character groups separated by space codes, commas, periods, etc.

When the code data is sent to the character group detection section 1, it is determined whether the sent code is a delimiter code or not (step Sl). If it is not a delimiter code, the code is sent to the code discriminator 2, and it is discriminated whether the code is a character code or a control code (step S2). If the code is a character code, the character code is sent to the character pattern type discrimination section 3, and if it is a control code, the control code is sent to the control code processing section 4.

When the control code is sent to the control code processing unit 4, it is determined whether the control code specifies subscript printing (
Step S3), if subscript printing is specified, a subscript printing specification flag indicating that is set (step S3).
4). If the control code does not specify subscript printing, the process corresponding to the control code is performed (step S5).
.

When a character code is sent to the character pattern type determination unit 3, it is determined whether the pattern corresponding to the character code is a character consisting only of parts above the baseline or characters having a part below the baseline. (step S6
). If the pattern corresponding to the character code is a character that has a portion below the baseline, a flag indicating that there is printing below the baseline is set (
Step S7). The character code is then sent to the character print data generation section 5.

The character print data generation unit 5 first determines whether or not subscript printing has been designated for the character code based on the state of the subscript printing designation flag (step S8). If the subscript printing designation flag is not set, data for developing the character code into a normal character pattern is generated and stored in the character print data storage section 6, with the expansion start position as the normal character expansion start position. (
Step S9). After the printing position is moved to the next printing position (step 5IO), the process returns to step S1.

In step S8 above, if the subscript printing designation flag is set, the expansion start position is set to the first subscript expansion start position (see Figure 2) (step 511), and then the subscript It is determined whether the character designation flag is set (step 512). If the subscript designation flag is not set, data for expanding the character code into a subscript pattern is generated using the first subscript expansion position set in step S11 as the expansion position. and stored in the character print data storage section 6 (step 514).

If the subscript specification flag is set, the character code pattern in the same character group that has been processed up to that point includes a character that has a part below the baseline. Therefore, the development start position is set to the second subscript development start position (see FIG. 3) (step 813). Then, with the second subscript character development start position as the development start position, data for developing the character code into a subscript pattern is generated and stored in the character print data storage section 6 (step 514).

When the data for developing into a subscript pattern is stored in step 514, the printing position is moved to the next printing position (step 515), and then the subscript printing flag and the baseline below printing flag are set. It is reset (step 516) and returns to step S1.

In step S1, if the sent code is a delimiter code, whether or not the character group delimited by this delimiter code and which has already been data-processed includes a character having a portion below the baseline. If a character having a portion below the baseline is included, it is determined whether a subscript character is included in the character group (step 518).

If a character group includes a character with a portion below the baseline, and a subscript character is included in the character group, the expansion position of the subscript character is set to the second expansion position. The data in the character print data storage section 6 is corrected so that (
step 519).

Then, the baseline below print flag is reset (
step 520).

If the character group does not include a character with a portion below the baseline, or if the character group does not include a subscript, step S20 is performed without performing the correction in step 519. Proceed to , and the below baseline print flag is reset.

In this way, data processing is performed for each character group, and 1
When the data processing of the page text is completed, the expansion processing unit 8 converts the font RO according to the contents of the character print data storage unit 6.
The corresponding data is read from M7 and the pattern of one page sentence is developed in the page memory 9. When a one-page sentence pattern is developed in the page memory 9, its contents are transferred to a printing section (not shown) and printed.

Each time data processing for one character group is completed, the corresponding pattern is read from the font ROM 7 and the pattern is developed in the page memory 9, and when the pattern of one page sentence is developed in the page memory 9, its contents are printed. Alternatively, the information may be transferred to the department.

According to the above embodiment, if a character group includes a subscript character and the character group includes a character that has a part below the baseline, the subscript character in the character group The pattern development start position of the subscript character is set as the second subscript character development start position. Therefore, in the character group, the lower ends of the subscript characters and the characters included in the character group having portions below the baseline are aligned, so printing that does not give an unnatural feeling can be obtained.

In addition, if a subscript is included in a character group, and all characters other than the subscript in the character group are characters that are only above the baseline, the character group The pattern expansion start position of the middle subscript character is set as the first subscript character expansion start position. Therefore, in the character group, the lower edges of the characters other than the subscripts and the subscripts are aligned, so printing that does not give an unnatural feeling can be obtained.

(F) Effect of the Invention According to this invention, when a subscript is included in a predetermined character group, the subscript is changed according to the pattern type of characters other than the subscript in the character group. Since the data regarding the print height position is changed, it is possible to set the print height position of the subscript character suitable for the pattern type of characters other than the subscript character in the character group, and it becomes possible to perform easy-to-read printing.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIGS. 1 to 4 show embodiments of this invention, and FIG.
A block diagram showing the configuration of the printing device, FIGS. 2 and 3 are schematic diagrams showing printing patterns of two types of subscript characters, and FIGS.
The figure is a flowchart to explain the operation of the printing device.
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing character patterns stored in the font ROM, and FIGS. 6 and 7 are schematic diagrams showing conventional subscript printing patterns, respectively. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...Character group detection unit, 2...Code discrimination unit, 3...Character pattern type discrimination unit, 4...Control code processing unit, 5...Character print data generation unit, 6... Character printing data storage unit, 7... Font ROM. 8... Development processing section, 9... Page memory, 10... Subscript character printing height position resetting section. Figure 2 Figure 3

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A device that develops a pattern corresponding to code data input from an external device into a page memory configured in page units as a bitmap, and prints the contents,
In a printing device that can print subscripts using a control code representing a command to print subscripts in code data, character group detection means for separating input code data into predetermined character groups; code discriminating means for discriminating whether each code data in a group of characters is a character code or a control code; when the code discriminating means determines that the code data is a character code, the code discriminating means determines the type of pattern corresponding to the character code; A pattern type determining means, a control code processing means for performing processing corresponding to the control code when the code data is determined to be a control code by the code determining means, and a page memory for storing the code determined to be a character code by the code determining means. A character print data generation unit that creates data for bitmap development in a character print data generation unit, a print data storage unit that stores data generated by the character print data generation unit, and code data of character groups separated by the character group detection means. If a control code for a subscript printing command exists in the subscript printing command, data regarding the print height position of the subscript character stored in the print data storage unit is based on the type of pattern determined by the pattern type determining means. A printing device comprising means for changing the .