JPH0712720B2 - Output device - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an output device such as a printer that generates and outputs output information based on input information input from the outside.

[Prior Art] As a conventional output device having a pattern generator, there are a type printer and a non-type printer. In a non-printing type printer, characters and figures are represented by a set of points called dots. In the case of a non-printing type printer, for example, based on input information (for example, character code) sent from a host computer, it is converted into a character dot pattern corresponding to each character code, and output information (for example, dot image) is generated. It is configured to print. For example, a wire dot printer, a thermal printer, an inkjet printer, a laser beam printer, etc. correspond to this.

Output devices such as these printers do not store only one type of information used when generating output information, but store multiple types of information. For example, multiple types of information (Mincho,
An output device that can use multiple types of character patterns with different typefaces and different sizes by storing multiple types of character patterns such as Gothic characters and character groups that refer to groups of symbols) in a character generator. To do.

Further, by allowing an external storage means such as an IC card or a memory cartridge storing information used when generating output information to be attached to and detached from the output device, the user can select desired information.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] When using an output device that generates and outputs output information using a plurality of types of information as described above, a user sends a selection instruction command for selecting information from a host computer. Alternatively, the information stored in the internal storage means in the output device or the information stored in the external storage means detachable from the output device can be freely selected by instructing selection with a switch or the like on the output device. , The usability of the user side is improved, and the maker side does not need to store plural kinds of information in the output device.

However, since the type of information that can be supplied by one external storage means is limited, if the users are different or, for example, 1
When the output information is generated using a lot of information in a page, the external storage means must be replaced frequently, and when the output is forgotten, unintended output information is generated and output. There was a problem that it would end up.

In view of the above-mentioned problems, the present invention copies (registers) information stored in an external storage unit detachable to an output device to an internal storage unit in the output device, and then other external storage unit and internal storage unit. It is an object of the present invention to provide an output device that can generate and output output information based on input information input from the outside using.

[Means for Solving the Problems] An output device according to the present invention is an output device that generates and outputs output information based on input information input from the outside, and is connected with a removable external storage means. Connection means for reading, the storage control means for reading the information used when generating the output information from the external storage means connected to the connection means, and copying it to the internal storage means in the output device; and the output. In order to generate information, the information copied to the internal storage means is read out, or the information different from the copied information is read from another external storage means different from the external storage means. And a read control means for controlling whether to read without copying to the internal storage means.

[Operation] With such a configuration, the information stored in the external storage means detachable from the output device is copied (registered) to the internal storage means in the output device, and another external storage means and internal storage means are used. Then, the output information can be generated and output based on the input information input from the outside.

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

FIG. 1 shows various typefaces, and FIG. 1 (a)
Shows a regular body, FIG. 1 (b) shows an italic type, and FIG. 1 (c) shows a bold type.

This is because the typeface is changed in various cases, but most of them have the intention of emphasizing a certain character string for some reason. Particularly, an italic type as shown in FIG. 1 (b) and a bold type as shown in FIG. 1 (c) are used for character string enhancement. Specifically, the change of the typeface is usually realized by issuing a command for changing the typeface to the recording device and switching the designated address of the character pattern to the address of the character generator of the designated typeface according to the command.

FIG. 2 shows a control circuit diagram for generating a character pattern in the present embodiment, in which character code data and a control command sent from a host computer are input to a page printer such as a laser beam printer. The case where a character pattern is recorded is shown. In the figure, 201 is a computer (host computer) that generates character code data and control commands, 202 is an input buffer that temporarily stores character code data and control commands, 203 is a CPU that is a general-purpose microprocessor, and 204 is a character. Built-in character generator that generates character dot patterns according to code data, 205
Is a cartridge type removable character generator, 206 is a socket for connecting the character generator 205, 210 is a RAM for copying and using the character dot pattern from the character generator 205, 204 or itself, 207 is an output page buffer including a RAM having the number of dots for one page, 211 is a management RAM for storing information about a registered character pattern set (described later), and 208 is an output for maintaining an interface with a printer. A printer interface unit that generates a video signal from the dot information of the page buffer 207 for use, a page printer 209 that is an output device that actually receives the video signal and records an image, and a CPU board 214.

Next, the operation of the circuit shown in FIG. 2 will be described in detail.

In the configuration of FIG. 2, the character code data and the character pattern set copy command sent from the computer 201 are accumulated in the temporary input buffer 202. Here, the format of the copy command of the character pattern set in this embodiment is as shown in FIG. 3. First, SourceID301 (identifier number of the copied character pattern set) and DestinationID302.
(The identifier number of the new character pattern set created by copying) is input first, and then the registration command 303 is input. As a result, the character pattern set indicated by the SourceID 301 is copied and registered as the character pattern set indicated by the DestinationID 302. Next, the data structure of this character pattern set will be described.

Considering the printing of English sentences, the code system is as shown in Fig. 4, for example. As can be seen from the figure, each character, symbol, etc. is 21 to 7E (in this example, each code is 16 It is expressed in the base system). In the present embodiment, the character pattern set is stored in a memory such as RAM or ROM according to the system shown in FIG. 5, for example. The character pattern set is the character pattern set information section 50.
1 and character pattern part 502, and character pattern part 502
A pattern (dot pattern) corresponding to each code 21 to 7E is stored in the designated size. At this time, information about one character set (codes 21 to 7E) is stored in the character pattern set information section 501, and this character pattern set information section 501 has a character pattern set ID, a character height, a character width, and a character pitch. , Code system (7 bits or 8 bits, etc.) and the like are stored. Further, each character (or symbol) size of the character pattern portion 502 is indicated by the character pattern set information portion 501,
(Character height x character width) / Determined by the size of 8 bytes. A character, for example, the character "A" corresponding to the code "41" shown in 503 is represented by a dot matrix of a size specified by the character height and character width in the character pattern set information section 501, and is shown in the figure. As described above, 8 bits are delimited from the left end of the character height 1 point and registered in the RAM or ROM. Further, the capacity of the character pattern set information section 501 is fixed (1 byte), but the character pattern section 502 has a variable length determined by the code system (7 bits, 8 bits, 2 bytes, etc.). In this embodiment, a management pattern table is created using the management RAM 211 in order to manage such a character pattern set. Its format is shown in FIG. 6, for example.

The following three items are registered in the management pattern table for one character pattern set. The first item is the character pattern set identifier (character pattern set ID)
601 is used when registering a character pattern set or when designating a typeface by designating a character pattern set. The second item is a start address 602, which indicates the start address where the character pattern set information section 501 exists. The third item is type 603
This indicates the type of medium in which the character pattern set exists. That is, the character pattern set identifier 60
The character pattern set indicated by 1 is built-in ROM204, R for registration
It indicates which of the AM 210 and the cartridge 205 is stored.

The algorithm for copying and registering a character pattern set will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG. still,
The flowchart of FIG. 7 is executed by the CPU 203.

In this embodiment, for example, a character pattern set of a certain typeface stored in the cartridge 205 is copied to the RAM 210 and registered so that various types of typeface character patterns can be used. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, even if the cartridge is removed or replaced with another cartridge, the character pattern sets are stored in the plurality of cartridges by copying and registering the character pattern sets. Can be used as required.

In the command analysis routine, SourceID301 is analyzed at the input stage (step S701), it is determined whether the specified character pattern set ID exists in the management pattern table of the management RAM 211, and if it does not exist, the copy is executed. I can't do it, so it ends Step if present
The process shifts to S702, the destination ID 302 is analyzed at the input stage, and it is determined whether the specified character pattern set ID already exists in the management pattern table. If it already exists, copying cannot be executed, and the process ends. If it does not exist, copy registration is executed.
The start address of the corresponding character pattern set information part is obtained from the urceID, and the information in that is determined (character pattern height “b” bits, width “w” bits, number of printable characters “n” according to the code system, character pattern set information part). The byte length "c" required for copying is obtained from the byte length "l") in step S703 by the following formula.

c = 1 + n × (b × W / 8)) Then, in step S704, it is determined whether or not an unused area of this byte length exists in the RAM 210. If it does not exist, copying is not performed. If it is determined in step S704 that copying is possible, the character pattern set specified by SourceID is copied and stored in an unused area in RAM 210, and only the character pattern set ID in the copied character pattern set is set as the Destination ID. Replace with the value (step S705). Then, as a management pattern table update routine, the newly registered character pattern set I
D, the start address of the registration destination is written in the management RAM 211, and a flag that the newly registered character pattern set is RAM is set (step S706). In this way, the copy operation of the character pattern set is completed. Incidentally, if the cartridge
When 205 is removed, all information on the character pattern set existing as a cartridge on the management pattern table is deleted from the table. When a cartridge is inserted, the start address, ID number, and cartridge pattern of each character pattern set stored in the cartridge are registered in the management pattern table.
Further, when the power is turned on, both the information (start address, character pattern set ID number, etc.) of the built-in ROM 204 and the cartridge (if the cartridge is inserted) is registered in the management pattern table.

Next, the recording operation in this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.

After the CPU 203 initializes the digit counter (not shown) indicating the horizontal recording position and the line counter (not shown) indicating the vertical recording position in steps S901 and S902, the CPU 203 reads from the input buffer 202 in step S903. 1 unit code (1 unit code corresponds to a dot pattern of 1 character) is read. In step S904, it is determined whether or not all the code data has been read, and if it is determined that the code data has not been read, it is determined in step S905 whether or not there is a command for changing the font. If it is determined that this command is not present, step
In step S906, the character dot pattern corresponding to the character code is generated in the output page buffer 207. This character dot pattern is obtained from the currently specified character pattern set, which is properly positioned by the CPU 203 as will be described later, and the dot pattern for one character is stored in the output page buffer 207.

The position of the character generated next will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the contents of the output page buffer. In the figure, 801 is the number of left margins (lm), 802 is the number of body digits (n), 803 is the number of right margins (rm), and 804 is the top. Number of margins (t
m), 805 is the number of text lines (l), 806 is the number of bottom margins (bm), 807
Represents the number of dots in the line pitch (yp), 808 represents the number of dots in the character pitch (xp), and 809 represents the number of dots in the horizontal character width (xs). If the upper left corner of the page is the origin (0,0), the value of the digit counter is Xc, and the value of the line counter is Yc, the position (x _o , _yo ) of the lower right corner of the character dot pattern of the generated character is x _o. = lm + (Xc × xp) y o = tm + calculated by (Yc × yp) becomes equation, Xc, the position determination of the occurrence characters according Yc changes are made.

After the characters are generated in step S906 by the above method, the value of the digit counter is incremented by 1 in step S907, and the overflow is checked in step S908. Step S9
If there is no overflow in 08, that is, if the value of the digit counter is smaller than the number of digits (n) in the text, the process returns to step S903 to read the next one unit code.

In the same way, generate character dot patterns one after another,
If a digit overflow occurs in step S908, step S909
The line counter value is incremented by 1 and the digit counter is initialized in step S910, and then page overflow is checked in step S911. If it is determined that there is no page overflow, that is, if the value of the line counter is equal to or smaller than the number of lines (l) in the text, it is determined that there is still room in the output page buffer, and the process returns to step S903 and the output page buffer 207 Continue the creation process. On the contrary, if it is determined in step S911 that the page is in the overflow state, it is assumed that the creation of the output page buffer 207 for one page is completed,
A dot image for each one scan line is transferred to the printer interface unit 208, converted into a video signal in the unit, and then recorded by the page printer 209 which is an output device. Similarly, pages are created one after another by repeating steps S903 to S913.

By the way, when the typeface change command is read in step S905, it is confirmed in step S914 whether the character pattern set ID which the command has as a parameter exists in the management pattern table of the management RAM 211. If it exists, in step S915, the contents of the base register in the CPU 203 are changed from the address of the character pattern set that was accessed until immediately before to the address of the character pattern set specified this time, and the process returns to step S903. By entering the processing of the next one-unit code, it is possible to perform recording with the character pattern with the changed font.

Recording is performed according to the font change command and the character code data according to the flow of processing described above, but information indicating the end of data (for example, a code indicating the end of work, a code indicating the end of a file, etc.) If it is recognized in S904, the process proceeds to steps S916 and S917, and when the contents of the output page buffer 207 currently being created are not empty, that is, when the line counter is 2 or more or the digit counter is 1 or more, the data in the buffer is output. Is printed and all processing is completed.

FIG. 10 shows a schematic sectional view of a laser beam printer to which the present invention can be applied.

In FIG. 10, reference numeral 21 is an exposure apparatus including a scanner and a laser unit. Reference numeral 22 is a developing unit that visualizes the latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 23. Reference numeral 23 is a photosensitive drum, 24 is a paper feed cassette, and 5 is a paper feed roller that feeds paper one by one from the paper feed cassette 24 to the transport roller 6. Reference numeral 7 denotes a registration shutter, which temporarily stops the sheet conveyed through the conveyance roller 6 by the registration shutter 7 so that the projection of the laser light, the rotation operation of the photosensitive drum 23, and the sheet feeding are synchronized. Be taken. 8
Is a feeding roller for feeding the paper to the transfer unit 9. Reference numeral 10 is a fixing unit that fixes the toner image transferred onto the paper, and 11 is a stacker unit that receives the discharged paper. As mentioned above, 205 is a removable character generator, 206
Is a socket, and 214 is a CPU board to which the CPU 203, the output buffer 207, etc. are attached.

In the laser beam printer configured in this way,
A sequence controller 13 controls a series of operation timing control such as sheet conveyance and development. Also, this laser beam printer forms a visible image on the photosensitive drum 23 by turning on / off a laser beam according to a video signal output from the printer interface unit 208.

In this embodiment, the character pattern set to be copied is specified by the character pattern set identifier.
The currently used character pattern set may be used as a new character pattern set, and only the character pattern set identifier may be changed and registered as it is. Further, in this embodiment, the recording device is used as the terminal device,
A CRT terminal device or the like may be used. Further, in the present embodiment, the copy registration of the character pattern set is performed by a command of the host computer, but it may be performed by an operation key or the like attached to the recording device.

As described above, according to this embodiment, a character dot pattern or the like used when generating output information can be newly copied (registered) in the output device, so that it can be used, for example, when generating output information. Even if it is requested to change the information to be output, the intended output information can be generated and output without any extra operation.

Further, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to copy (register) necessary information such as a character dot pattern to the output device, so that plural kinds of information may be stored in the storage means (for example, the built-in character generator 204) unnecessarily. It is possible to prevent the inconvenience that the external storage means such as the cartridge (for example, the removable character generator 205) must be frequently replaced.

Further, in the present embodiment, the character dot pattern is used as the object of copy registration, but it can be applied to copy registration of control information (line feed, etc.) or vector data (coordinate information representing a character), for example.

[Effects] As described above, according to the present invention, by copying (registering) the information stored in the external storage means detachable to the output device to the internal storage means in the output device, a plurality of types of external storage devices can be obtained. The information stored in the storage means can be registered in the output device,
This has an excellent effect that output information can be generated and output based on input information input from the outside by using various kinds of information.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing various typefaces of English characters. FIG. 1 (a) shows a regular type, FIG. 1 (b) shows an italic type, and FIG. 1 (c). Shows a bold type, FIG. 2 shows a control circuit diagram in the present embodiment, FIG. 3 shows an explanatory diagram of a format of a copy command of a character pattern set, FIG. 4 shows a code system such as English, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a character pattern set, FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a management pattern table, FIG. 7 is a flowchart for character pattern set copy registration in this embodiment, and FIG. 8 is a description of the contents of an output page buffer. FIG. 9 is a flow chart of the recording operation in this embodiment, and FIG. 10 is a schematic configuration diagram of a laser beam printer to which the present invention can be applied. Here, 201 is a calculator, 202 is an input buffer, 203 is a CPU, 20
4 is a built-in character generator, 205 is a removable character generator, 206
Is a socket, 207 is an output page buffer, 208 is a printer interface unit, 209 is a page printer, 210 is a character pattern set storage RAM, and 211 is a management RAM.

Front page continuation (72) Inventor Satoshi Nagata 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Kenya Sato 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Yoshiaki Kawamura 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Soichi Shibuya 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Yutaka Murakami 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (56) References JP-A-47-24232 (JP, A) JP-A-61-129685 (JP, A)

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. An output device for generating and outputting output information based on input information input from the outside, the connection device connecting a detachable external storage means, and the connection device connected to the connection means. Storage control means for reading the information used for generating the output information from the external storage means and copying it to the internal storage means in the output device; and the internal storage means for generating the output information. Controls whether to read the copied information or to read information different from the copied information from the other external storage means different from the external storage means without copying the information to the internal storage means. And a read control unit for controlling the output device. 2. The output device according to claim 1, wherein the input information is a character code. 3. The output device according to claim 1, wherein the output information is dot information and is stored in output storage means. 4. The output device according to claim 1, wherein the information used when the output information is generated is a character pattern set. 5. The output device according to claim 1, wherein the information used when the output information is generated is control information. 6. The output device according to claim 1, wherein the copying process is instructed by a command from another device. 7. The output device according to claim 1, wherein the copying process is instructed by a switch on the output device. 8. The output device according to claim 1, wherein the instruction information for instructing the copy processing includes identification information for specifying information for performing the copy processing. 9. The read control means controls the read with reference to a management storage means for managing information usable when the output device generates the output information. The output device according to claim 1. 10. The output device according to claim 1, wherein the output device is a printer.