JPH035994B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to electronic equipment, and particularly to, for example, a dot matrix printing device.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, in the information processing field, the devices that output information in a form that is visible to the human eye are devices that combine dots to form characters and output them, and devices that combine dots to form characters or their constituent parts. There is a device that outputs The former combines dots in accordance with character patterns (fonts), so it is convenient for outputting a wide variety of characters. In the latter method, characters or their constituent elements are prepared in the form of letters or the like, so high-quality output can be obtained, but increasing the number of types of characters increases the price, and there is also a limit to the number of types.
Therefore, in the information processing field, printing devices that output many types of characters, such as those that output kanji characters, often have characters composed of dot patterns.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a conventional example of a dot matrix type printing apparatus. Floppy disk section 3 is for programming
It consists of FPD3A, FPD3B for data files, and FPD3C for storing character patterns (kanji font). The control section 4 includes a CPU section 5 and a storage section 6. Furthermore, a display section 2 and a floppy disk section 3
is connected to the control unit 4 via signal lines 7 and 8 and is controlled by the control unit 4. The printing device 10 includes a printing section 11, a control section 12, and an interface section 14.
The printing section 11 and the control section 12 are connected to a signal line 15.
The dot pattern of the characters to be printed and the printing are controlled by the control section 12 via the signal line 15.

Signals sent from the main system 1 via the signal line 17 are received by the interface unit 14 and sent to the control unit via the signal line 18. This signal may be a pattern read from the character pattern storage FPD 3C by the control section 4 of the main system 1, or a control signal for the printing device by the control section 4 of the main system 1 according to a program.

Now, this system processes the program in the FPD 3A under the control of the control unit 4 of the main system 1. At this time, characters are displayed on the display section 2 as necessary. Here, to output the characters on the display section 2, a dot pattern of the characters is required as in the printing device 10, and the control section 4 obtains this from the FPD 3C and outputs it to the display section 2. Also, the necessary data
It is obtained from the FPD 3B, processed, and the processed output is stored in the FPD 3B again. Furthermore, when printing is required, the dot pattern of printed characters and a control signal are sent to the printing device via the signal line 17, and the printing is performed.

Now, here is the dot configuration of one kanji character in 24×24
In the case of dot, if there are 3000 types of characters, including JIS level 1 kanji and other special characters, then 24
×24×3000=1728000 dots. That is,
To store this, a part that stores character patterns of at least 216,000 bytes is required.

Until now, it has been common practice to store a 216,000-byte character dot pattern (kanji font) in an FPD3C, since it would be very expensive to have it as a ROM due to the high price of ROM.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the conventional example described above, character patterns (dot patterns, character fonts) corresponding to each character are stored and prepared on a floppy disk in order to configure characters using dot patterns. method, and character data was transferred from the main system to the printing device in a dot pattern.
It had the following shortcomings.

(1) Generally, in expensive kanji printing devices, the printing device itself has the dot pattern of the character.
In the field of small computers, in order to reduce the price, this dot pattern is stored in a floppy disk or the like, and is configured to be taken out from the floppy disk and sent to an output device as needed. However, due to advances in semiconductor manufacturing technology, devices using this floppy disk have
In the future, ROM (CG) that stores dot patterns will become cheaper, and if this is to be used as a replacement for floppy disks, the hardware will have to be redesigned.

(2) When transferring character data from the main system to the printing device using a dot pattern, for example, 1
Assuming a printing device that can print 90 characters per line, the number of bytes transferred per line is (24 x 24) ÷ 8
×90=6480 bytes. That is, when the information is transferred in units of bytes, the transfer time per line of this information is the time obtained by dividing the number of bytes by the transfer speed. Also, a buffer of at least 6480 bytes is required on the printing device side. However, unless there is a change in the way dot patterns are transferred to printing devices, in the future when data is transferred to high-speed printing devices, the amount of data to be transferred will increase and a communication network will occur between the main system and the printing device. , which hinders speeding up printing time.

(3) Furthermore, since it is expected that the price of ROM will become cheaper in the future, it will be possible to have a character dot pattern in the main system 1 using ROM (CG). Therefore, by providing a character generator on the printing device side, it is possible to speed up the printing time.
However, even with this configuration, the kanji characters must be displayed on the display unit 2 on the main system 1 side, so the main system 1 also requires a font using FPD or CG. Therefore, from the perspective of the overall system, there are two CGs in one system, resulting in a meaningless system configuration that is only expensive.

The present invention has been made in view of the above conventional example,
The purpose is to avoid such hardware redesign in the future and to provide electronic equipment that enables mass production of the same hardware over a long period of time.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, an electronic device of the present invention has the following configuration. That is, display means for displaying a pattern by dots;
It has a program storage means for storing a program, and a main body control means for generating a read command for character pattern data or controlling display by the display means based on the program stored by the program storage means. A main body part, a storage means which is separate from the main body part and which stores character pattern data to be output, a printing means which prints a pattern by dots, and a print control means which controls printing by the printing means. and a printing section having a printing section, different types of printing sections can be connected to the main body section via an interface so as to be replaceable, and the printing section from the main control means is transferred via the interface. Based on the read command, the print control means in the currently connected printing section reads necessary character pattern data from the storage means, and transfers the character pattern data to the main body section via the interface. and the main body control means:
The electronic device is characterized in that it controls display of a corresponding dot character pattern on the display means based on the transferred character pattern data.

[Operation] With the above configuration, the present invention reads out the character pattern stored in the storage means of the printing unit based on a read command issued from the main body of the electronic device to the printing unit via the interface, The information is transferred to the main body via the interface and operated to be displayed on the display means of the main body.

[Embodiments] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a printing apparatus that is a typical embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 2, a character generator (hereinafter referred to as CG) 13 is connected to a control section 12 in the printing apparatus 10 via a signal line 16.

The printing unit 10 is connected to the main system 1 via a transmission line 17 that transmits signals, and when the main system 1 outputs the JIS code together with a CG read command or signal, the control unit 12 in the printing device 10
reads the font from the CG 13 and outputs it to the main system 1 via the interface 14.

With this kind of configuration, there is no need to have CG that is compatible with the printer on the main system 1 side, and various modifications of the printing device, such as 18×18 or 16×16
Even if you connect an inexpensive printing device with a small number of dots such as It can be constructed.

Therefore, according to this embodiment, compared to the conventional example shown in FIG. 1, there is no FPD 3C in the main system 1, but when it is necessary to process external characters, it is possible to provide an FPD 3C as in the conventional example. can be,
In this case, the characters in CG13 do not require fonts, so the processing ability for external characters is improved.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, character codes are transferred from the main system to the printing section without changing the hardware of the main system, so printing time can be increased. , and since various variations are possible, the same hardware can be manufactured over a long period of time.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a conventional example of a printing device.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a printing apparatus that is a typical embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 2...display device, 10...printing device, 13...
It is a character generator.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Display means for displaying a pattern by dots, program storage means for storing a program, and generation of a read command for character pattern data based on the program stored by the program storage means. Alternatively, the main body includes a main body control means for controlling the display by the display means, a storage means separate from the main body for storing character pattern data to be output, and a dot pattern for printing the pattern. A printing section having a printing means and a printing control means for controlling printing by the printing means, and connected to the main body through an interface,
Different types of printing units can be connected interchangeably, and based on the reading command from the main body control unit transferred via the interface, the printing control unit in the currently connected printing unit controls the reading necessary character pattern data from the storage means and controlling the transfer of the character pattern data to the main body section via the interface; . An electronic device characterized by controlling display of a dot character pattern corresponding to the display means. 2. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the printing section includes a generation means for generating a dot pattern based on the character pattern data stored by the storage means.