JPS61170781A - Image output unit - 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 [Technical Field] The present invention relates to an image output device equipped with a pattern generation device.

[Prior Art] Among conventionally used output devices capable of generating a plurality of different patterns, many recording devices other than type printers convert character code data given from a host computer into characters corresponding to each character in advance. It is designed to print by converting it into a dot pattern. For example, non-impact printers such as thermal printers, wire dot printers, and laser beam printers fall under this category. These printers record characters in different fonts by having character generators for different fonts (for example, italic, bold, etc.), and these character generators are particularly It tends to be implemented in printers that record English characters with a small number of characters. Furthermore, recently there are devices in which a ROM or RAM, which is a character generator, is made into a cartridge, and a socket is provided in the output device, so that the cartridge can be attached or removed. As a result, the user can freely select the font, which increases the usability, and the manufacturer does not have to expand the character generator built into the recording device without limit. However, since the number of typefaces that can be supplied with one cartridge is limited,
If the users are different or if you want to record in many fonts on one page, you must change the cartridge frequently, and if you forget to change the cartridge, you will have to change the cartridge in the specified font. The disadvantage was that records were not guaranteed. In order to solve this problem, it is possible to create an apparatus in which a plurality of cartridges can be installed at once, but this has the disadvantage of increasing the cost of the apparatus itself.

[Objective] The present invention was made in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks, and an object of the present invention is to provide a low-cost image output device that can output a desired pattern.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an image output device with excellent operability and functionality that can output a desired image.

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

Figure 1 shows various typefaces, and Figure 1 (a)
Figure 1 (b) is in italics, Figure 1 (
e) indicates bold type.

Typefaces are changed in a variety of cases, but in most cases the intention is to emphasize a certain string of characters for some reason. In particular, italic fonts as shown in FIG. 1(b), bold fonts as shown in FIG. 1(C), etc. are used to emphasize character strings. Specifically, changing the font is usually accomplished by issuing a font change command to the recording device and switching the designated address of the character pattern to the address of the character generator of the designated font in accordance with the command.

Figure 2 shows the character pattern generation in this embodiment.

. , □□o,. 1a9, oh. In Figure 0, which shows a case where character code data and control commands sent from a computer are input and a character pattern is recorded by a page printer such as a laser beam printer, 201 is a computer that generates character code data and control commands. (host computer), 202 is an input buffer that temporarily stores character code data and control instructions, 203 is a CPU consisting of a general-purpose microprocessor, 204 is a built-in character generator that generates a character dot pattern according to character code data, 205 is a cartridge-type removable character generator, 206 is a socket for connecting the character generator 205, and 210 is a RAM for copying character dot patterns from the character generators 205, 204 or from itself. , 207 is an RA with the number of dots for one page.
211 is a management RAM for storing information regarding registered character pattern sets (described later); 208 maintains an interface with the printer; and 211 is a management RAM for storing information regarding registered character pattern sets (described later); 208 maintains an interface with the printer; 209 is a page printer which is an output device that receives the video signal and actually records the image, and 214 is a CPU board.

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

In the configuration shown in FIG. 2, character code data and character pattern set copy commands sent from the computer 201 are stored in a temporary input buffer 202. Here, the format of the character pattern set copy command in this embodiment is the third
-1 As shown in figure 1, first 5sourceID3
01 (Identifier number of character pattern set to be copied)
and Destination ID 302 (identifier number of a new character pattern set created by copying) are first input, and then a registration command 303 is input. As a result, the character pattern set indicated by 5sourceID301 is
The data structure of the zero-order character pattern set copied and registered as the character pattern set indicated by the ID 302 will be explained.

Now, when we consider the printing of English text, the code system is as shown in Figure 4, for example, and as you can see from the figure, each character, symbol, etc. is 21 to 7E (in this example, each code is shown for the sake of explanation). 1
It is expressed in hexadecimal notation. ) code. Further, in this embodiment, the character pattern set is stored in a memory such as RAM or ROM in a system as shown in FIG. The character pattern section 502 stores patterns (dot patterns) corresponding to each code 21 to 7E in a specified size. At this time, 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 includes information such as character pattern sera) ID, character height, character width, character pitch, code system (7 bits, 8 bits, etc.). ) and other information is stored. Further, the size of each character (or symbol) in the character pattern section 502 is determined by the character pattern set information section 5.
01, and is determined by the thickness of (character height x character width)/8 bytes. A certain character, for example, the character "1A" 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 shown, it is registered on the RAM or ROM in 8-bit increments from the left end of a point with a character height of 1.Also, the capacity of the character pattern set information field 501 is fixed (Cl bytes), but regarding the character pattern field 502 is the code system (7 bits, 8 bits, 2 bytes, etc.)
In this embodiment, a management RA is used to manage such a character pattern set.
A management pattern table is created using M211, and 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 a character pattern set identifier (character pattern cellar ID) 601, which is used when registering a character pattern set or specifying a character pattern set to determine the typeface to be used. The second item is a start address 602, which indicates the start address where the character pattern set information section 501 exists. Third
The item is type 603, which indicates the type of medium on which the character pattern set exists.

That is, the character pattern set indicated by the character pattern set identifier 601 is stored in the built-in ROM 204 and the registration RAM 210.
, which one of the cartridges 205 is stored in.

Algorithms for copy registration and deletion of a character pattern set and registration and deletion of arbitrary character patterns in a certain character pattern set will be explained below using the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 7-1 to 7-3. In addition, Figure 7-1~
The flowchart in FIG. 7-3 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 stored in the RAM 210.
By copying and registering character patterns in a wide variety of fonts, you can use them. Therefore, according to this embodiment, even if a cartridge is removed or replaced with another cartridge, character pattern sets of multiple types stored in multiple cartridges can be copied and registered. can be used as needed.

FIG. 7-1 is a flowchart for registering a copy of a character pattern set, and FIG. 7-1 will be explained below.

In the command parsing routine, 5sourceID30
At step 5701), it is determined whether the specified character pattern ID exists in the management pattern table of the management RAM 211, and if it does not exist, copying cannot be executed and the process ends. If it exists, the process moves to step 5702 and the Dest
When the i nat i OnID 302 is input, it is analyzed and it is determined whether the specified character pattern ID already exists on the management pattern table.

If it already exists, copying cannot be performed and the process ends. If it does not exist, copy registration is executed.
At this time, the start address of the corresponding character pattern set information section is obtained from 5sourceID, and the information therein (character pattern height "h" bits, width °I W = - bits, number of characters that can be printed according to the code system "n°゛ 9 In step 5703, the byte length "C" required for copying is determined from the character pattern set information part byte length "Tachi") using the following calculation formula.

c=JL+nX (hX (w/8))---(1)
The unused area for this byte length is the RAM210
It is determined in step 5704 whether or not the file exists in the file, and if it does not exist, copying is not performed.

If it is determined in step 5704 that copying can be performed, the character pattern set specified by 5sourceID is copied and stored in an unused area in the RAM 210, and only the white character pattern set ID of the copied character pattern set is Dest. 1nat 1onID (step 5705), and then as a management pattern table update routine, manage the newly registered character pattern sera) ID and the start address of the registration destination.
“The newly registered character pattern set is written to the operational RAM 211 and a flag indicating that it is RAM is set (step 5706), thus completing the character pattern set copying operation.Next, the algorithm for deleting the character pattern set will be explained.0 The format of the deletion command for a character pattern set is as shown in Figure 3-2. First, the deletion character pattern cell ID304 (identifier number of the character pattern set to be deleted) is input, and then the deletion command is input. .The deletion operation is explained below.
This will be explained in detail using the flowchart shown in FIG. 7-2.

In the command analysis routine, when the deletion character pattern set ID 304 is input, step 571 is executed.
0), the specified character pattern Sera) ID is the management RA
It is determined whether it exists on the management pattern table of M211, and if it does not exist, there is no need to delete it and the process ends. If the character pattern set ID exists, the process moves to step 5711, and it is determined whether the storage medium of this character pattern set ID is the RAM 210 or not.
The determination is made by looking at item 603. If the specified character pattern set is stored in the RAM 210, the process moves to step 5712, but if it is not stored in the RAM 210, the cartridge 205 or built-in ROM 204 is used.
The character pattern set stored in cannot be deleted, so the process ends. Next, in step 5712, the byte length "C" of the top -2 tote of the character pattern to be deleted is calculated using the above-mentioned equation (1). At this time, the byte length "C" is calculated based on the data in the character pattern set information section 501. Then, in the next step 5713, R
The second item 602 of AM211 is used to release the data for the byte length "C" obtained above from the start address of the character pattern set to be deleted, so that another character pattern set can be registered next. do. Finally, information 601, 6 regarding the currently deleted character pattern set
Delete 02,603 from the management pattern table (
Step 5714).

In this way, the character pattern set deletion process is completed. By configuring as described above, character pattern sets with a low usage rate or unnecessary character pattern sets can be deleted, and character pattern sets with a high usage rate or necessary can be newly registered. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a decrease in the memory efficiency of the RAM 210, and it is possible to eliminate the inconvenience that the memory capacity is insufficient due to copy registration of a modified character pattern set.

Next, an algorithm for registering and deleting arbitrary character patterns in a certain character pattern set will be explained. The formats of the registration and deletion commands for arbitrary character patterns are shown in Figures 3-3 (a) and (b), respectively. First, the character pattern set ID (identifier number) 310 is input, and then the character pattern code is input. 311, deletion instruction 312
Alternatively, either the registration command 313 is input. When the registration command 313 is input, character pattern data (dot data) 314 to be registered subsequently is input.

The registration and deletion operations will be explained below using the flowchart of FIG. 7-3. When the character pattern set ID 310 is input in the command analysis routine, it is determined whether the specified character pattern set ID exists on the management pattern table of the management RAM 211, and if it does not exist, the process ends (step 3720). )
, if it exists, the process moves to step 5721, and it is determined by looking at the third item 603 of the RAM 211 whether the storage medium for this character pattern set is the RAM 210. The specified character pattern set is stored in RAM21.
If it is stored in 0, processing continues, but RAM2
If the character pattern is not stored in the cartridge 205 or built-in ROM 204, it is not possible to delete or register the character pattern stored in the cartridge 205 or built-in ROM 204, and the process ends.

Next, in step 5722, the validity of the character code to be registered or deleted is examined.The 0 character code system is 21)1 to 7E for the 7-bit system, and 21.0 for the 8-bit system. ~7
Since data other than EH, AIH-FEH cannot be registered or deleted, if the input character code is a code other than the above, the code is ignored and the process is output. If the input character code is valid, it is determined in step 5723 whether the control command is registered. If it is a registration command, the number of data bytes of the next transmitted character pattern to be registered is calculated based on the information included in the registration command. Then, in step 5724, character pattern data corresponding to the calculated number of data bytes is inputted from the computer.

However, at this time, if the actual number of input data is less than the calculated value b = h is greater than the value of "b" above, the extra data is skipped.

Then, in step 5725, the above “b” bytes −
The data is stored in the corresponding character code part of the character pattern section 502. At this time, the address of the newly stored character pattern is determined as a displacement from the first address of the character pattern set.

That is, d = 1 + (code - 21) Based on the byte length of one character pattern to be registered, the starting address of a newly registered character pattern is determined as a displacement from the starting address of the character pattern set. (Here, the code system shown in FIG. 4 is explained as an example.) If it is determined in step 5723 that it is not registered, the process moves to step 5726, and it is determined whether or not it is to be deleted. If No here, the analysis ends.

If YES, use equation (2) above to find the start address of the character pattern to be deleted, and clear all "b" byte character pattern areas to "0" based on this found address. . Therefore, even if a character code corresponding to the deleted character pattern is sent thereafter, a blank space will be printed. However, if you register another pattern, you can print with that pattern.

By configuring as described above, unnecessary character patterns can be deleted. Also, since any character pattern in a character pattern set can be rewritten as needed, there is no inconvenience such as having to prepare another character pattern set to use a special character. can be resolved. Furthermore, once a character pattern set that cannot be rewritten and is stored in a built-in ROM is transferred to the RAM 210, any character pattern can be rewritten as needed. By the way, if the cartridge 205 is removed, all information on the character pattern set existing as a cartridge on the management pattern table is deleted from the table.

In addition, when a cartridge is inserted, the first address of each character pattern set stored in the cartridge, I
The D number and the fact that it is a cartridge pattern are registered in the management pattern table. Further, when the power is turned on, information (starting address, character pattern set ID number, etc.) of both the built-in ROM 204 and the cartridge (if a cartridge is inserted) is registered in the management pattern table.

Next, the recording operation in this embodiment will be described using the flowcharts of FIGS. 8 and 9.

After the CPU 203 initializes a digit counter (not shown) indicating the horizontal recording position and a direction counter (not shown) indicating the vertical recording position in steps 5901 and 5902,
The CPU 203 inputs the input buffer 20 in step 5903.
2, one unit code (one unit code corresponds to one character dot pattern) is read. At step 5904, it is determined whether reading of all the code data has been completed, and if it is determined that it has not been completed, At step 5905, it is determined whether there is a command regarding a font change. If it is determined that this command does not exist, a character dot pattern corresponding to the character code is generated in the output page buffer 207 in step 590B. This character dot pattern is obtained from the currently specified character pattern set, which is properly positioned by the CPU 203 as described later, and the dot pattern for one character is placed in the output page buffer 2.
07.

The position of the next character to be generated will be explained using FIG. FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the contents of the output page buffer, in which 801 is the number of left margins (m), 802
is the number of body digits (n), 803 is the number of right margins (rm) + 804
is the number of top margins (tm), 805 is the number of body lines (fL), 80
6 is the number of bottom margins (bm), 807 is the number of dots in the line pitch (
7P), 808 is the number of dots of character pitch (x p),
809t**'PM****fllll(1) l'-/
) a / (X S), 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 direction counter is Yc, the position of the lower right corner of the character dot pattern of the generated character (Xo + yo) is Xo = 1m+
(XcXxp)yo=tm+(YcXyp)The position of the generated character is determined as Xc and Yc change.

After a character is generated in step 5906 using the method described above, the value of the digit counter is incremented by 1 in step 5907, and a check for digit overflow is performed in step 5908. If the value of the digit counter is smaller than the number of body digits (n), the process returns to step 5903 and the next 1-unit code is read.

Generate character dot patterns one after another in the same way,
If a digit error occurs in step 8908, the value of the row counter is increased by 1 in step 5909, and step 59
After initializing the digit counter in step 10, step 5911
Check for page blur. If it is determined that the page is not overflowing, that is, the value of the line counter is the number of text lines (0) - Tobei 1 chair ~ V Kamizume Nanai ΔKami Jumura Izuka It is determined that there is room in the page buffer and step 590
Returning to step 3, the process of creating the output page buffer 207 is continued. Conversely, if it is determined in step 3911 that there is a page overflow, the output page buffer 2 for one page is
07 is completed, the dot images for each scan line are transferred to the printer interface section 208, converted into a video signal by the circuit section, and then recorded by the page printer 209, which is an output device. Similarly, from step 5903 to step 591
Pages are created one after another by repeating step 3.

By the way, when the font change command is read in step 5905, the character pattern set ID that the command has as a parameter is stored in the management RAM 21 in step 5914.
Check whether it exists in the management pattern table of No.1. If it exists, in step 5915 the CPU
Change the contents of the pace register in 203 from the address of the character pattern set that was accessed just before to the address of the character pattern set specified this time.Step 5
Return to 903. Then, by entering the next 1-unit code process, it is possible to record with a character pattern whose font has been changed.

According to the process flow explained above, recording is performed according to the font change command and character code data, but information indicating the end of data (for example, a code indicating the end of a job, a code indicating the end of a file, etc.) 3904
If it is recognized in step 5916.5917,
Only when the content of the output page buffer 207 currently being created is not empty, that is, when the destination counter is 2 or more or the digit counter is 1 or more, the data in the buffer 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, 21 is an exposure device equipped with a scanner and a laser unit. 22 is a developing unit that visualizes the latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 23. 2
3 is a photosensitive drum, 24 is a paper feed cassette, and 5 is a paper feed roller that feeds sheets of paper one by one from the paper feed cassette 24 to the conveying roller 6. Reference numeral 7 denotes a registration shutter, and the paper conveyed via the conveyance roller 6 is temporarily stopped by this registration shutter 7, and the projection of the laser beam, the rotational operation of the photosensitive drum 23, and the paper feeding are synchronized. Be taken. Reference numeral 8 denotes a feed roller for feeding the paper to the transfer section 9. 10 is a fixing section that fixes the toner image transferred onto the paper, and 11 is a stacker section that receives the discharged paper. Further, as mentioned above, 205 is a detachable character generator, 206 is a socket, and 214 is a CPU 2.
03, a CPU board to which an output buffer 207 and the like are attached.

In the laser beam printer configured in this way,
A sequence controller 13 controls a series of operation timings such as conveyance of paper and development. Further, 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 a printer interface section 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 registered as a new character pattern set by changing only the character pattern set identifier.Also, in this embodiment, a recording device is used as the terminal device. There are, but
A CRT terminal device or the like may also be used.Also, in this embodiment, the copy registration and deletion of character pattern sets or the registration and deletion of character patterns are performed by commands from a host computer. This may also be done using operation keys or the like.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, character dot patterns are used as targets for copy registration and deletion, but copy registration and deletion of vector data (coordinate information representing characters) and form patterns (control information such as line breaks) can also be performed in the same way. can.

[Effect] As explained above, according to the present invention, it is possible to newly register patterns such as characters, so even if, for example, a change in font is requested, the necessary image can be created without any unnecessary operations. It is something that can be output.

Further, according to the present invention, since necessary patterns can be registered, inconveniences such as unnecessarily providing a large number of built-in character generators with different fonts and having to frequently replace cartridges can be prevented.

Further, according to the present invention, registered patterns can be removed when they are no longer needed, so it is possible to prevent an increase in memory capacity and improve memory usage efficiency.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a diagram showing various typefaces of English characters, Figure 1 (a) is a diagram showing a regular typeface, Figure 1 (b) is a diagram showing an italic typeface, Figure 1 (C) is a diagram showing an italic typeface. 2 is a control circuit diagram in this embodiment, FIG. 3-1 is an explanatory diagram of the format of a character pattern set copy command, and FIG.
Figure-2 is an explanatory diagram of the format of a character pattern set deletion command, Figures 3-3 (a) and Cb) are explanatory diagrams of the format of character pattern deletion and registration commands, respectively, and Figure 4 is an English code etc. Figure 5 is a diagram showing the structure of the character pattern set, Figure 6 is the configuration diagram of the management pattern table, Figure 7-1 is a flowchart for copying and registering the character pattern set in this embodiment, and Figure 7-1 is a diagram showing the system. Figure 2 is a flowchart for character pattern set deletion, Figures 7-3 are flowcharts for registering and deleting character patterns, Figure 8 is a diagram for explaining the contents of the output page buffer, and Figure 9 is a flowchart for character pattern set deletion. FIG. 1θ, a flowchart of the recording operation in the embodiment, 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
2 is a CPU, 204 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, 2
09 is a page printer, 210 character pattern set storage RAM, and 211 is a management RAM. Patent applicant Canon Co., Ltd. 0123456789ABCDEFGH Engineering JKLMNO
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(5th curse

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) An image output device that generates a pattern according to input information, including a first pattern generation means that generates a predetermined pattern, a second pattern generation means, and a predetermined pattern generated from the first pattern generation means. The second
An image output device comprising: means for copying and registering a predetermined pattern in the second pattern generating means; and means for removing a predetermined pattern registered in the second pattern generating means. (2) The image output device according to claim 1, wherein the first pattern generating means is removable.