JPS61202854A - Printer controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable plural line of character to be printed collectively by providing a synthesizing means to synthesize printing data required for plural lines of print to be supplied to a printing head and printing data for lap printing. CONSTITUTION:Within the printing data stored in a band buffer 24, the 5th printing data 242 of eight bits from the top is stored in a memory 252 for holding the preceding data. When the 5th printing data 332 for lap printing which is now being input from a front memory 23, is stored ina memory 251 for holding the current data, printing data is input to an OR gate 255 as an AND gate 254 is open. Printing data 32 is synthesized in the OR gate 255. At this timing, the same address is designated and an enable signal is transmitted to the band buffer 24 where its printing data is written. Thus the printing data updated corresponds to synthesized characters.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION "Field of Industrial Application" The present invention relates to a printer control device for an apparatus that records documents or the like on recording paper using a print head.

2. Description of the Related Art In devices such as facsimile machines and word processors, characters and the like are printed using a print head such as a thermal head or a wire head using thermal recording paper or a transfer type recording medium.

FIG. 8 shows a character string being printed by a so-called serial type thermal head.

On the thermal recording paper 10, a character string 11 of numbers and alphabets is printed. This thermal head 12 has a linear heating element 1 on the surface facing the thermal recording paper 10.
3 is provided. This heating element is divided into sections each having a length corresponding to one pixel, and electric pulses are selectively supplied to each section to generate heat. This division will hereinafter be referred to as a unit heating element.

For example, if one character is composed of 32 x 32 dot pixels, this thermal head has 32 unit heating elements arranged in a row, and when any unit heating element generates heat, it comes into contact with this on the thermal recording paper 10. The affected area turns black.

The thermal head is aligned with the character string to be printed in the direction of arrow 1 in the figure.
The character string is printed line by line while moving in the direction of 4.

FIG. 9 shows a different type of thermal head from that shown in FIG.

This thermal head 12 has a heating element in which a larger number of unit heating elements are lined up, and is configured to be able to print three lines of character strings at once. If such a thermal head capable of printing multiple lines at once is used, printing can be performed at a higher speed.

On the other hand, in scientific and technical documents, a suffix or a dash (') is often added to letters and numbers. If subscripted characters are prepared in advance as independent characters in the character pattern memory, no special effort is required for printing operations. However, this requires a large capacity memory to store all the various character patterns, and is not practical for simple printers.

Therefore, after printing one line of characters, so-called overprint printing is performed in which subscripts and the like are printed separately.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram thereof. That is, at the beginning, the letters "
After printing one line of character strings including "A", the print head is returned to the print start position without line breaks, and only Darashi:L(') is printed at this character rAJ. For example, the character ``
A composite character can also be created by overstriking the letter "C" and the letter "I."

When printing one line at a time, the print head is returned to the printing start position by instructions from the Carriage Return (hereinafter abbreviated as CR) right and the Line Feed (hereinafter abbreviated as LF), and the recording paper is Lines are fed. In the overlapping printing operation, the next line is printed without this LF.

Similarly, if you try to make the print head of a 3-line batch print type as shown in Figure 9 perform the following operation,
The result is as shown in FIG. In this figure, character 1 in the top line of the three lines is not overstruck. The other lines are printed in the same manner as in FIG.

"Problems to be Solved by the Invention" However, the first problem is that the print head 12 shown in FIG.
In order to perform the operation as shown in Figure 1, the order in which print data is transferred must be determined in advance. That is,
After three lines of print data are supplied to the print head, it is necessary to supply three lines of print data for overprinting.

In the case of an apparatus that uses the print head 12 as shown in FIG. 8 to perform overprint printing as described in FIG. 10, one line of print data is immediately followed by overprint data. Therefore, relatively complicated processing is required, such as distinguishing the print data for three lines from the print data for overprinting, appropriately rearranging the data, and then supplying the data to the print head.

Moreover, as shown in Figure 12, when there is often only one line that requires overprinting out of three lines of data, the advantage of using such a print head for high-speed printing is will be damaged.

The present invention has been made with attention to the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a printer control device that takes advantage of a print head that can print multiple lines of character strings at once.

"Means for Solving the Problems" The printer control device of the present invention includes a print head that prints multiple lines of character strings at once while moving in the direction of the character string to be printed; A memory means for storing the print data required for printing multiple lines to be supplied to the print head, and when the print data for overprinting is input, this print data and the print data stored in the memory means are combined and the memory is stored. The apparatus is characterized by comprising a synthesis means for updating data stored in the means.

This synthesis means includes, for example, a previous data holding memory that stores print data to be updated, a current data holding memory that stores print data for overprinting, and a previous data holding memory and a current data holding memory. A gate is provided to synthesize the stored print data.

1. As shown in FIG. 11, for example, the printer control device of the present invention does not perform the first and second printing operations in two steps, but rather combines the printing data in the storage means in advance. ,
Overlapping printing is performed in one go.

Therefore, it is possible to maintain high speed by printing multiple lines at once. Moreover, there is no need to store subscripted characters and the like as character patterns in the memory.

"Embodiment" (Block Description) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a printer control device of the present invention.

In the figure, the common bus 20 includes a microprocessor 2
1. Control memory 22, FONT memory 2
3. Storage means 24, composition means 25, address counter 2
day and interface (1/F) 27 and storage section 28
are connected.

The common bus 20 is shown integrally including a data bus, an address bus, and other control lines.

The microprocessor 21 is composed of a known integrated circuit or the like that controls the reception process of print data inputted to this apparatus from an external device via the interface 27, the transfer process of the print data to the recording section 28, and the like.

The control memory 22 is constituted by an element such as a read-only memory (ROM) in which a program indicating the operating procedure of the microprocessor 21 is stored.

The font memory 23 is a memory element that outputs print data corresponding to a character pattern based on the character code input from the interface 27, and is a memory element that outputs print data corresponding to a character pattern based on the character code input from the interface 27. It stores a predetermined group of character patterns.

In this embodiment, the storage means 24 is an element such as a random access memory (RAM) that temporarily stores print data corresponding to character patterns of three lines of character strings. Hereinafter, this element will be referred to as a band buffer or buffer in the drawings.

The recording unit 28 receives the print data stored in the storage means 24 in the order of addresses designated by the address counter 26, and uses a known print head that prints three lines at once as shown in FIG. It is a recording device.

The composition means 25 performs the operation of combining the print data stored in the storage means 24 with the next inputted print data for overprinting, and storing the data in the storage means 24 again.

FIG. 2 shows a detailed block diagram of this synthesizing means 25 and its peripheral blocks.

In this embodiment, the combining means 25 includes a current data holding memory 25. and a previous data holding memory 252, and a flip-flop 25 for controlling the output of print data stored therein. and and gate 254 and or game)
It consists of 25s. The previous data holding memory 252 and the current data holding memory 25. Each of them is composed of a latch circuit or the like that stores data of the number of bits necessary for one printing operation of the print head provided in the recording section 28 shown in FIG.

(Operating Principle) The printer control device of the present invention having the above configuration operates as follows.

First, the microprocessor 21 connects to an external communication line or a convenience store via the interface 27.
Accepts data consisting of a predetermined character code. A character pattern is read from the font memory 23 based on this character code.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the operating principle of this synthesis means.

Now, assume that a character code corresponding to the character "C" is input to the microprocessor. The font memory 23 outputs 8×8 dot matrix print data 31 to the band buffer 24.

do. The band buffer 24 stores this print data 31 as it is, and also stores character patterns to be input one after another, thereby storing print data for one line of character strings.

If there is no overprint printing, the control data for CR and LF is input at the end of one line of printing data.When overprinting is performed, only the control data for CR is input, and the combining means 25 starts operating.

First, the first 8 bits 331 of the print data corresponding to the first input character code of one line are stored in the current data holding memory 251. Then, at exactly the same timing, the first 8 bits of print data 24. of the print pattern 33 already stored in the band buffer 24. is stored in the previous data holding memory 252 (
This case is not shown). In the case of this embodiment, since one print of one line of characters by the print head is 8 bits, the current data holding memory 251 and the previous data holding memory 252 are constituted by 8 bit memories.

ANDGATE 25. T-! , when the output from the flip-flop 253 is "1", the gate is opened, and when it is "0", the gate is closed. free knob flop 2
53 is controlled by the microprocessor 21 (FIG. 1) so that it becomes "1" only during overprint printing.

Therefore, as you can see from Figure 2, the flip-flop is “
0", the print data is transferred from the font memory 23 to the current data holding memo 'J25.' and the OR gate 25.
．． The signal is directly input to the band buffer 24 via the .

Now, as shown in FIG. 3, among the print data stored in the band buffer 24, the fifth 8-bit print data 242 from the top is stored in the previous data holding memory 252, and the current data is transferred from the font memory 23. The fifth print data 332 for overprinting that is being input is a memo for holding the current data! I
25. Suppose that it is stored in .

At this time, AND gate 25. is in an open state, so
Both print data is OR gate 25. , the combined print data 32 is obtained.

At this timing, a write enable signal (not shown) is sent to the band buffer 24 while specifying the same address, and this print data 32 is written. The print data thus updated corresponds to the character shown in FIG. 10 in which "C" and rIJ are combined.

For other characters on the same line that follow this character,
Similar compositing processing and updating is performed. This process is performed in an extremely short time compared to the printing operation of the print head, so
This process does not cause the printing time to become longer than before.

The print data updated in this manner is transferred from the band buffer 24 to the print head in units of three lines, that is, 8×3 bits, and is printed.

This operation will be explained later using FIG. 5.

(Flowchart) The composition means in the printer control device of the present invention operates as described above, and the microprocessor controls this according to the flow shown in FIG. A program corresponding to this flow is stored in the control memory 22 shown in FIG.

First, when a code is input via the interface 27 (FIG. 1) (step 2), it is determined whether it is a character code or a control code (step 2).

If the input code is a character code, the font memory 23 (FIG. 1) is read to obtain character pattern data (step 2). And flip-flop 25. but"
It is determined whether it is "0" or "1" (step 2), and if it is "0", the character pattern data just read from the font memory is written into the band buffer 24 (FIG. 1). If the flip-flop 25 is "1", read the print data in the band buffer 24;
After performing the synthesis process (step ■) explained in Fig. 3,
Write the updated data into the band buffer (step ■
). After one line of character string print data, only CR or CR and LF are always input successively. Based on the judgment (step ■), if only CR is input, the flip-flop is set to "1", and if CR and LF are input, the flip-flop is set to "0" (step 0 or 0), and the buffer address is Initialize (step ■).

This initialization means setting the address to the first address of the line written to the buffer memory immediately before.

The 8-bit print data explained in FIG. 3 is written to the band buffer 24 in these steps, and then the address of the band buffer 24 is counted up (step 0). Then, print data is written one after another, three lines of print data have been input, and after it is determined that overprinting processing is not in progress (steps 0 and @), the printing operation begins.

(Printing Operation) The printer control device of the present invention operates according to the flow described above, and an example of printing in a 32×32 bit dot matrix for one character will be described with reference to FIG.

The band buffer 24 includes three memory blocks 24.
243 are provided, and the memory block 24 stores the print data of the first line, and the memory block 242 and the memory block 243 similarly store the print data of the second and third lines. . After the printing operation starts, print data 42. ~423 are transferred. In the area corresponding to between each line, 8-bit space data 4
2. is supplied, and printing is repeated once for a total of 120 pixels, thereby printing three lines at once as shown in FIG. 9.

As explained earlier, for example, the memory blocks 242 and 243 have already stored the combined print data for overprinting, so the print data as shown in FIG. It is possible to print composite characters.

“Modification” The band buffers shown in the above embodiments all have a third
As shown in the figure, when a character is decomposed into a matrix of pixels, a vertical portion of the character can be processed in parallel.

However, when handling a character pattern with a 32x32 bit configuration, parallel processing of 32-pit print data is not necessarily a good idea in terms of circuit design.

Therefore, as shown in Figure 6, the character pattern for one character in the font memory is stored in units of 8 bits per line (1, 2, 3,
. . . 8, . . . ) and read out 8 bits at a time in the order of numbering shown in FIG. This print data is sequentially stored in the band buffer 24 in 8-bit units as shown in FIG.

During printing, one character's worth of print data is transferred to the print head four times in 8-bit increments, then space data as explained in Figure 5 is transferred, and the remaining two are transferred in the same way.
Transfers print data for a line. In this way, the memory configuration and data transmission path can be configured at low cost.

"Effects of the Invention" The printer control device of the present invention described above can print composite characters at high speed using a print head that can print multiple lines at once.

Moreover, since it is possible to process the same print data as it is supplied to the print head, which conventionally prints one line at a time, there is no need for complex data processing circuits, and characters with subscripts can be used as character patterns. Does not require large amounts of memory to store.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overview of the printer control device of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a specific block diagram of its synthesizing means.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the operating principle of this synthesis means, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the operation of the printer control device of the present invention.
5 is an explanatory diagram of the printing operation, FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating another configuration of the storage means used in the printer control device of the present invention, FIG. 7 is a memory configuration diagram thereof, and FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of the conventional printer control device. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of the printing operation of the print head suitable for carrying out the present invention, and FIGS. 10 to 12 are explanatory diagrams of the overprinting operation. 11...Character string, 12...Print head, 25...Composition means, 25,...Memory for holding current data, 25□...
...Memory for holding previous data, 25, ...Gate. Applicant Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. Agent Patent Attorney Ume Yu Yamauchi 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 7 Figure 8 Figure 9 Figure 10 Prisoner/Rho Prisoner Rojuro Takun 11 Figure 12

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A print head that prints multiple lines of character strings at once while moving in the direction of the character string to be printed; and A storage means for storing print data necessary for printing, and when print data for overprinting is input, this print data and the print data stored in the storage means are combined to update the data stored in the storage means. A printer control device characterized by comprising a composition means. 2. The combining means includes a previous data holding memory that stores print data to be updated, a current data holding memory that stores print data for overprinting, and the previous data holding memory and current data holding memory. 2. The printer control device according to claim 1, further comprising a gate for synthesizing print data stored in the printer control device.