JPH0411115B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a printer suitable for printing postal address labels and the like. [Prior Art] Generally, when displaying addresses and names on direct mail etc., it is common practice to first print these on a label using a printer, and then affix this label. Furthermore, in this type of printing, it is common to specify a printing format and print according to that format. [Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Generally, a plurality of printing formats are available, and their contents are also diverse. Therefore, if the printing format is incorrectly specified, there is a risk that the maximum number of characters in a line specified by the format will be less than the number of characters to be printed, and characters at the end of the line will be missing. Particularly when writing an address book, missing characters can cause problems such as mis-delivery, so the above-mentioned missing characters must be avoided at all costs. In view of the above circumstances, it is an object of the present invention to provide a printer that can avoid missing characters even if the print format is incorrectly set. [Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a printer that prints preset print data, in which print format data instructing a print mode to be printed is changed to a different print mode. A print format table that stores multiple print formats along with link codes with other print format data that instructs
A search means comprising the means (a) and (b) below, and which searches for a printing mode that matches the printing data by alternately activating the means (a) and (b) below, and the matching printing pattern. 1. A printer comprising a printing means for printing according to a mode. (a) Judgment means for determining whether the print data conforms to the print mode; (b) Print format data for instructing the print mode when the print data does not conform to the print mode; Reference means for referring to the other print format data specified by the link code based on the link code stored together with the link code [Embodiment] Next, this invention is applied to a printer exclusively for address labels in English-speaking countries. An applied example will be described. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, and numeral 1 shown in the figure is a CPU (central processing unit) that controls each part of the device. 2 is a ROM consisting of a program area 2a, a print format table 2b, and a character generator 2c, and within the program area 2a is a preset control program 2a-1 that is activated when printing data is set, and a preset control program 2a-1 that controls printing operations. A print control program 2a-2 is stored therein, and a plurality of types of print formats for instructing the print mode of print data are stored in the print format table 2b. Here, the contents of the print format data stored in the print format table 2b will be explained. First, Fig. 2 is a diagram for explaining print format data. In this figure, 3 is a label as printing paper, and two printing areas B and B are provided on this label 3. shall be. That is, arbitrary characters are printed within these printing areas B and B. Further, the lower left point P of these printing areas B and B is used as a reference position, and the position of the printing area is determined by the coordinates (X, Y) of this reference position P. In this case, the above coordinates are the lower left point of label 3
These are rectangular coordinates with P ₀ as the origin and the lower end and left end of the label 3 as the X and Y axes, respectively.
Further, the distance (X, Y) from the origin is expressed by the number of printed dots, the X direction corresponds to the arrangement direction of heating resistors r ₁ to _{r o} of the thermal head 8, which will be described later, and the Y direction corresponds to the label transport direction. It corresponds to Note that print control performed using print format data is explained in detail in Japanese Patent Application No. 59-252472 filed by the applicant on November 29, 1980. Next, FIG. 3 shows the print format table 2b.
FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of a data block in the data block.
This print data block consists of 22 format blocks FB1 to FB22, and 22 types of print format data are stored for one print format. The main types of print format data will be explained below. FB1 Here, the position (Y _MAX ) of the upper left point Q of the label 3 shown in FIG. 2 described above on the Y coordinate is stored as the label size. FB2 Here, the maximum number of characters in the print area for printing the company name and its address (including the department to which it belongs) is stored as the address print area size. In addition, in this example, based on the customary practice of addressing letters, the recipient data is divided into three data blocks: company name, address and department, and recipient's name, and is divided into three data blocks: address 1, address 2, and attention. It is named. Therefore, FB2 stores the maximum number of characters that can be printed in the print area for printing address 1 and address 2. What you need to be careful about here is that in this example, there are two types of font size: normal size and enlarged size, so the number of prints when printing in normal size is memorized here, and when printing enlarged size fonts, must be treated as two characters. In this embodiment, the size of the print area is defined based on the number of characters, but it is also possible to define the size of the print area based on the number of print dots. This also applies to FB4 and FB5 below. FB3 Data indicating the orientation of the printing area B shown in FIG. 2 mentioned above is stored here as the printing direction. That is, as shown in FIG.
can be printed by rotating 90°, 180°, and 270° with respect to point P, and prints "0", "1", and "2".
and “3” data, respectively 0°, 90°, 180° and
Compatible with 270° rotation command. FB4 Here is the other party's name, i.e. (attention)
The maximum number of characters in the print area for printing is stored as the attention print area size. FB5 Here, the maximum number of characters in the print area for printing the issuer is stored as the issuer print area size. FB6 Here, the numbers of other format data associated with each other are stored in advance. In other format data associated in this way, the maximum number of characters in each print area specified by it (for example, address print area size shown in FB2 in Figure 3) is different from that of the original format data. There are more and more. FB7 Here, the reference position (X, Y) of the printing area where the date is printed and the character size (M) are stored as the date printing position. Here, the reference position (X, Y) is the position of the lower left point (reference position) of the printing area where the date is printed, on the coordinates shown in FIG. 2 described above. Further, the character size (M) indicates whether the print size is standard or enlarged. That is, as shown in Fig. 5, two sizes can be selected: standard characters of 5 x 7 (dots) and enlarged characters of 10 x 14 (dots), and the data of "0" and "1" are Each corresponds to standard and extension directives. Note that if "0" is set as each of the X and Y data, this data indicates that this data will not be printed. The same applies below. FB8 Here, the reference position (X, Y) of the printing area where the destination name (company name) is printed and the character size (M) are stored as the address 1 printing position. In this embodiment, a maximum of three lines of printing areas are prepared for the name of the other party, and the printing positions of these three lines of printing areas are stored in FB10, FB11, and FB12, respectively. FB13 Here, the reference position (X, Y) of the printing area where the destination name (attention) is printed and the character size (M) are stored. In this embodiment, one line of printing area is prepared for the other party's name. FB14 Here, the reference position (X, Y) of the printing area where the destination address and the department to which it belongs and the size of the characters (M) are stored as the address 2 printing position. In this embodiment, a maximum of 4 lines of printing areas are prepared for the recipient's address and affiliated department, and the printing position of each of these 4 lines of printing area is
It is stored in FB14, FB15, FB16 and FB17. FB18 Here, the reference position (X, Y) of the printing area where the publisher is printed and the character size (M) are stored as the publisher printing position. In this embodiment, a maximum of three lines of print areas are prepared for each publisher, and the print positions of these three lines of print areas are stored in FB18, FB19, and FB20, respectively. The above are the details of the print format table 2b, and the print format table 2b stores a plurality of print format data having different contents. That is, the printing format table 2b stores many types of printing format tables 2b with different storage contents, and the optimum printing format can be selected depending on the number of characters of the recipient, whether or not date data is to be printed, etc. is now available for selection. To explain further, for example, if the size of the label 3 differs, the label size (FB1) will naturally also change. Also, depending on the destination, three lines may not be necessary for address 1.
Furthermore, there are cases where it is particularly desirable to enlarge and print the name of the other party. As described above, there are many different types of address writing, and one type of printing format cannot be adapted to all types.
Therefore, a wide variety of print formats with different contents are prepared so that the most suitable print format can be selected depending on the manner of destination printing. Next, dot patterns of printed characters are stored in the character generator 2c. in this case,
In this embodiment, the address is written to an English-speaking country, and therefore, the printed characters are mainly alphabetic. Note that in this example, as mentioned above, two types of character sizes are considered: standard size and enlarged size, and the structure is such that an enlarged size dot pattern is obtained by performing arithmetic processing on the standard size dot pattern. It is also conceivable to store a plurality of types of dot patterns with different character sizes, and to select and use a dot pattern of a predetermined size in accordance with the character size information M. Next, 4 shown in FIG. 1 is a RAM, which is composed of a work area 4a, a preset memory 4b, a screen memory 4c, and a register memory 4d. In this case, the preset memory 4b is backed up by a battery (not shown) and serves as a non-volatile memory. Here, preset memory 4
The contents of each memory, ie, the screen memory 4c and the register memory 4d, will be explained. Preset memory 4b This preset memory 4b is a memory in which destination data is stored in advance by the user before printing a destination label. FIG. This preset data can be divided into two tables PT ₁ and PT ₂ , and these tables PT ₁ and PT ₂ are divided into six blocks PT ₁ -1 to PT ₁ -6 and three blocks PT ₂ -1 to PT 2 respectively. It consists of PT _2-3 . In table PT ₁ , blocks PT _1-1 , PT _1-2 , and PT _1-3 each store a branch number, code number, and format number, and these branch numbers, code numbers, and format numbers are It is designed to be preset by the person. Here, the format number is a number that specifies one of the print format tables 2b stored in the ROM 2 mentioned above.
Further, the number of printed labels to be issued is updated and stored in the block _PT1-4 by the CPU 1 each time the labels are issued. Next, at table PT ₂ , block PT ₂ −
1, PT ₂ -2 and PT ₂ -3 respectively contain the name of the destination (corresponding to address 1 shown in the print format table 2b in Figure 3) and the name of the destination (corresponding to the attention shown in the print format table 2b in Figure 3). (corresponding), the address of the other party, and the department to which it belongs (corresponding to address 2 shown in the print format table 2b) are stored, and the name of the other party, the name of the other party, the address of the other party, etc. It is set to correspond to the branch number and code number of table PT ₁ . In this case, block PT ₂ -1 corresponds to the code number, and blocks PT ₂ -2 and PT ₂ -3 correspond to the branch numbers. Screen Memory 4c The screen memory 4c is a memory whose storage space corresponds to the above-described printable area 1, and is a buffer memory for printing. Register Memory 4d The register memory 4d is composed of various registers and is used for temporary storage of various data. Next, in FIG. 1, 5 is a timer, which serves as a reference clock. The CPU 1 updates the date based on the output of the timer 5. On the other hand, 6 is a printer section, which includes a pulse motor 7 that drives the paper, a thermal head 8 consisting of heating resistors _r1 to _r0 , a drive circuit 9 that drives the thermal head 8, and a shift register 10 that shifts and stores print data. and a printer interface 11 that exchanges data with the CPU 1. In this case, the printer interface 11
Based on the control data of the CPU 1, a drive pulse MCP for driving the pulse motor, a print pulse DP to the drive circuit 9, a clock pulse CP to the shift register 10, and print data DATA are output. Next, reference numeral 12 denotes an operation section, which, as shown in FIG. It has become. Reference numeral 13 denotes a dot-type liquid crystal display section, which displays input data, messages from the CPU 1, and the like. Here, FIG. 8 shows details of the display section 12 and the key group 12a. In this figure, cylinder switch 12b is used to select five modes. That is, mode Z is used to instruct the printout of the number of sheets to be issued, and mode PRN is used to instruct the printout of the destination label. Also, the mode TEM is
It is used to instruct data not stored in the preset memory 4b. That is, in this mode TEM, print data is input to the key group 12a.
, and then print it. In this case, the input print data is stored in preset memory 4.
It is not stored in b and is erased at the same time as printing ends. Furthermore, mode . Reference numeral 14 shown in FIGS. 7A and 7C is a paper feed section, which is used for label paper (a printing paper on which a number of labels are fixed on a mount so that they can be peeled off at regular intervals) with respect to the printer section 6 shown in FIG. It is intended to supply The paper feed section 14 is of a removable cassette type, and a roll of label paper is stored in this cassette. This cassette is prepared with a plurality of different label papers. Regarding cassette type printers,
Patent application filed by the applicant on March 8, 1980
No. 59-44876 provides further details. Further, as shown in FIG. 7C, a paper feed unit removal handle 15 is provided, and when removing the paper feed unit 14, turn the paper feed unit removal handle 15 in the direction of the arrow shown in the figure. The paper feed section is configured to be detachable from the main body. Further, in FIG. 7A, 16 is a delivery port through which the label paper after printing is sent out. Next, 17 shown in Figure 1 is the external device and CPU.
This is an external equipment interface for exchanging data with the main unit, and as shown in Figure 7B, the signal line of the external equipment is connected to the connector 17a provided on the back of the main unit. . This interface 17 is used to connect an optional keyboard for inputting characters, or to input preset data from a cassette tape recorder. The operation of the printer having the above configuration will be explained. (1) Preset data setting When setting preset data, switch the cylinder switch 12b shown in FIG. 8 to PGM mode. The process will be explained below according to the flowchart shown in FIG. The CPU 1 displays 〓PROG-MODE〓 on the display section 13 in step SP1 to inform the operator that it is in the preset data setting mode, and then waits for data input in step SP2. Next, when the operator inputs a code number and a branch number from the operation unit 12, the CPU 1 reads them in step SP3 and stores the numbers in a register of the register memory 4d (this register is referred to as a code branch register for convenience). . Next, the CPU 1 moves to step SP4, displays the characters 〓FORMAT〓 on the display section 13, prompts the user to input a format number, and then waits for the input at step SP5. When the operator inputs the format number from the operation section 12, the CPU 1 performs the following in step SP6.
Read this and save the number to register memory 4d.
(This register is called a format register for convenience). Then CPU1
At step SP7, the format data corresponding to the input format number is read from the print format table 2b and stored in the work area 4a. Next, the CPU 1 moves to step SP8, displays the characters 〓ADDRESS1〓 on the display section 13, prompts the user to input the name of the other party (company name), and then waits for the input at step SP9. When the operator inputs the name of the other party from the operation section 12, the CPU 1 moves to step SP10. To enter this destination name, use the numeric keys on the operation unit 12.
Enter the code. Also, press the ENTER key at the end of the line. The CPU 1 selects the format block shown in FIG. 3 from among the number of characters for one line input in step 10 and the format data stored in the format register in step SP6.
Compare this with the maximum number of characters in FB2 to determine whether all of the input characters can be printed. If all the characters can be printed, the process moves to step SP15, but if all the characters cannot be printed, that is, the number of characters for one line exceeds the maximum number of characters in the format block FB2, the process moves to step SP11.
Among the format data stored in the format register, the format block shown in Figure 3
It is determined whether or not other format data numbers are stored in FB6. If the numbers of other format data are not stored, the process moves to step SP13, where an error message is displayed on the display section 13, prompting the user to restart the setting operation from the beginning, and the number of other format data is stored. If so, the process moves to step SP12, stores that number in the format register of the register memory 4d, then moves to step SP14, reads out the format data corresponding to that number from the print format table 2b, and stores it in the RAM 4. is stored in the work area 4a. Further, at this time, the operator may be notified by display or sound that the print format is no longer the set format. Next, the process moves to step SP10, where the number of characters is compared as described above. If the number of characters for one line exceeds the number of characters in this way, the format data registered in association is read out sequentially and a print format that can print all the characters for one line is searched for. Once you have found a printable format, proceed to step SP.
In step 15, the input destination name is stored in a register of the register memory 4d (this register is referred to as an address 1 register for convenience). Then,
The CPU 1 moves to step SP16, refers to the format register, and checks the number of lines prepared for the destination name. For example, in the format data shown in Figure 3, for the destination name,
Three lines, FB10, FB11 and FB12, are prepared. Next, in step SP16, the CPU 1 determines whether or not all of the confirmed lines have been input. If there are still blank remaining lines, the CPU 1 moves to step SP8 and inputs the next line. While prompting, if input has been made for all lines, the process moves to step SP17. CPU1 uses this step SP.
At step 17, the characters 〓ATTENTION〓 are displayed on the display section 13 to prompt the user to input the other party's name. From then on,
The processing for inputting the other party's name is the same as the processing in steps SP9 to SP14 described above, and the explanation thereof will be omitted. Then, the CPU 1 stores the input partner's name in a register of the register memory 4d (this register is referred to as an attention register for convenience). Next, the CPU 1 prompts for the input of the recipient's address (including the department to which it belongs), performs similar processing on the input, and then stores the input recipient's address in the register of the register memory 4d. For convenience, the register is referred to as the address 2 register). Next, CPU1 moves to step SP18.
Wait for the END key to be operated, and if the END key is operated, proceed to step SP19 and store the contents of the code branch register in blocks _PT1-1 and _PT1-2 of table _PT1 in the preset memory 4b. , and stores the contents of the format register in blocks _PT1-3 of the table _PT1 . Furthermore, the contents of the address register, attention register, and address register are stored in the blocks of table PT ₂ corresponding to table PT ₁ above.
Stored in PT ₂ -1, PT ₂ -2 and PT ₂ -3. (2) Printing When printing, switch the cylinder switch 12b shown in Figure 8 to PRN mode, and
Enter the code number and branch number.
When the code number and branch number are input, the CPU 1 searches the blocks PT 1-1 and PT 1-2 of each table PT ₁ in the preset memory 4b of the RAM 4, and searches the blocks PT _1-1 and PT _1-2 of each table PT 1 for the same code number and the same branch number. is stored in the table PT ₁
Search for. When the target table PT ₁ is retrieved, preset data is read from the table PT ₂ paired with the table PT ₁ and stored in a predetermined register of the register memory 4d. Next, the CPU 1 reads the format number from the target table PT ₁ , reads the format data corresponding to this number from the print format table of the ROM 2, and stores it in a predetermined register of the register memory 4d in the RAM 4. Next, the CPU 1 converts the preset data into a dot pattern by the character generator 2c, and further develops the converted dot pattern in the screen memory 4c in accordance with the read format data. Next, the CPU 1 sequentially reads out the contents of the screen memory 4c and supplies them to the printer 6 for printing. In this way, all the set characters are printed without missing them. In this embodiment, the format was checked when setting the preset data, but
It may also be done at the time of printing. That is, at the time of setting, the setting is allowed unconditionally without checking the number of characters. When printing, the number of characters to be printed in the specified format is checked when reading the preset data, and if no characters appear to be missing, printing is performed in that format. If so, printing is performed using that format, but if characters are missing, another format is read from the block FB6 of that format and the number of characters is checked for that format. In this way, a format that matches the preset data is found during printing, and
Print in that format and print all of the set characters. Further, in this embodiment, only the number of characters is checked, but there are other cases where the preset data does not conform to the format, for example, when the number of lines is exceeded. That is, this is a case where the number of lines set as preset data is greater than the number of lines in the format. Even in such a case, as shown in FIG. 10, formats with a large number of lines are read out in sequence to find the optimal format. Also, in the operation explanation above, we explained the case where multiple sheets of the same address are printed.
It is also possible to print letters for many people belonging to different departments within the same company. In this case, enter one code number and multiple branch numbers in PRN mode. For example, after entering the code number "12", enter the branch number "01""~""50". As a result, letters of address are continuously printed for a large number of people belonging to different departments within the same company. [Specification of Print Format] Here, points to be considered regarding other formats set in the format block FB6 will be explained. For the sake of simplicity, the other formats mentioned above will be referred to as child formats, and the format in which this child format is set in format block FB6 will be referred to as a parent format.It is preferable that the parent and child formats have the same label size. . If that's not the case,
The operator must always be careful about changing the label size when printing. In addition, in the above embodiment, for convenience, the print data is set to address 1,
The configuration was such that the data was divided into three parts: address 2 and attention, and each data was input according to instructions from the device. In such a case, the child format is
Care must be taken to ensure that the data of the print block that has already been input does not exceed the number of characters to be printed. Note that when the print data is divided into blocks as in the above embodiment, instead of checking for excess number of characters to be printed as described above for all of the blocks, it is necessary to check only blocks where the number of input characters is expected to vary, such as the example above. Then, it is conceivable to check only address 2, or to set a child format for each block. Furthermore, it is preferable that the parent and child formats be as similar as possible. In the above embodiment, the maximum number of characters to be printed is set as the printable area in format data blocks FB2, FB4, and FB5, and when printing enlarged characters, it is treated as two characters, but the character size If there are many types of data blocks FB2, FB4 and FB
5, it is preferable to set the printable area to the maximum number of print dots. [Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, one format is associated with other formats, and these are sequentially referred to in order to search for a format that matches the preset data. Even if there is an incorrect setting,
All preset data is printed without missing characters. As a result, when printing a destination label, the address, name, etc. are printed reliably, and there is no fear that the label will be sent incorrectly. This also reduces the burden of setting the print format.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a printing area on a label, FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of format data, and FIG. The figure is a front view showing the types of printing directions on the label, Figure 5 A and B are diagrams to explain the character sizes handled by the same printer, and Figure 6 A and B are each a diagram of the preset data. A conceptual diagram showing an example; FIGS. 7A, B, C, and D are respectively a front view, rear view, right side view, and left side view showing the external appearance of the printer; FIG. 8 is a front view showing details of the operation unit 12. 9 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the printer, and FIG. 10 is a front view of a label used for explaining the operation of the printer. 1...CPU (judgment means, reference means, search means),
2b...Print format table, 6...Printer section (printing means).

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In a printer that prints preset print data, print format data that instructs the print mode to be printed, together with a link code with other print format data that instructs a different print mode. It is equipped with a printing format table that stores multiple numbers, and the following means (a) and (b), and the following (a),
(b) search means for searching for a printing mode that matches the printing data by alternately activating the means;
A printer comprising a printing means for printing in accordance with the compatible printing mode. (a) Judgment means for determining whether the print data conforms to the print mode; (b) Print format data for instructing the print mode when the print data does not conform to the print mode; Reference means for referring to the other print format data specified by the link code based on the link code stored together with the print format.