JPH0486274A - Pattern generation system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To ensure that pattern information on required writing style and characters is stored in any address by allowing address information from a pattern information storage device which stores pattern information on characters and bar codes to be generated so that said address information corresponds to internal character codes obtained by conversion of character and writing style codes. CONSTITUTION:A code conversion part 24 outputs internal character codes corresponding to character and writing style codes. A pattern address storage memory unit 25 writes head address information from a register circuit 30 using the internal character codes as address information. A pattern control part 26 outputs address information from font memory 27 and writes pattern information in font memory 27 by each 16 dots from CPU via the register circuit 31. Each set of address information which is output from the pattern control part 26 is added each time a write signal is issued by CPU 10. Therefore, a single print pattern is written in the register circuit 30.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a pattern generation method for generating character and barcode patterns according to print data.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, in this type of pattern generation method, a pattern information storage means such as a font memory usually stores pattern information of all characters composed of different fonts in a predetermined area. The pattern information is read out from the pattern information storage means according to a designated 2-byte character code such as a JIS code, and a print pattern of a predetermined character is generated. In addition, the barcode pattern information is
It was registered as a private character in another area.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the conventional pattern generation method described above, all character patterns of all fonts are stored in memory, regardless of whether they are necessary or not. There is a problem in that information storage memory is required. Furthermore, since the barcode pattern information is registered separately as an external character, the registered contents are different for each pattern generation device, and the print data is not compatible. moreover,
Since the dot configuration of external characters is fixed, the barcode pattern information, which would normally require a small area, now requires a large area.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the conventional method, and to read pattern information of characters and barcodes stored in memory using character codes and font codes. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a pattern generation method that not only makes it possible to efficiently use the area, but also makes it possible to easily generate barcode printing patterns by using the same code system for barcodes as for characters. .

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the object described in item 1, the present invention provides a pattern information storage means for storing baton information, and a print pattern information storage means for storing print data having a character code and a font code of a print pattern. data storage means, which associates predetermined upper bits of the character code with predetermined characters and barcodes, associates the font code with predetermined fonts of characters and barcodes, and stores pattern information from the pattern information storage means. When reading, the designated character code and font code are read from the print data storage means, the read character code and font code are converted into internal character codes, and the character code and font code corresponding to the converted internal character code are read. generating address information of the pattern information storage means, generating predetermined pattern information according to the address information, and
It is detected whether the read character code and font code are abnormal codes.

(Operation) Address information of a pattern information storage means for storing pattern information of characters and barcodes is generated in correspondence with internal character codes converted from character codes and font codes.

Therefore, in the present invention, necessary typeface and necessary character pattern information can be stored at any address.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings of FIGS. 1 to 4.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic structure of a pattern printing apparatus according to the present invention. In the figure, the control unit (CP
U) 10 reads print data via a magnetic recording medium or a communication line using a keyboard 11 and a display 12, converts the print data into print data that can be analyzed by the pattern generation section 13, and converts the print data into the print data. is transferred to the pattern generating section 13 page by page. The pattern generation unit 13 performs predetermined enlargement and rotation processing on the character or barcode pattern according to the transferred print data, generates print pattern information for one page, and uses the generated print pattern as described above. Based on the control signal from the printing section 14, which will be described later, the information is sent to the printing section 1 as CPU10.
It is output to 4.

The printing unit 14 is, for example, a print link having a fine printing density, and performs a printing operation to print a predetermined character or barcode pattern on a recording paper or the like according to the above-mentioned imported printing pattern based on an operation control signal from the CPU10. conduct.

FIG. 2 is a configuration block diagram showing the configuration of the pattern generation section 13 used in the pattern generation method according to the present invention. In the figure, the main control unit 20 for the pattern generation unit is a CPU]
, O and operation control signals from the printing section 14, all memories and control sections constituting the pattern generation section 13, which will be described later, are controlled in operation.

The print data storage memory 21 is a so-called dual port RAM or a memory with an address bus and data bus selector added to a normal RAM and stores one page of print data transferred from the CPU10. In the embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, two memories (RAM) 2 are used.
1a, 21b, address bus and data bus selector circuits 21c to 21j, and a write address counter circuit 21 that counts up the fetched address information in response to input of a write signal or successive signal.
It is composed of a counter circuit 21 A, and a counter circuit 21A.
Print data from the PU 1.0 and the main control unit 20 can be read and written.

That is, for example, when the CPU l0 or the first RAM 21a is accessed to write or read print data in units of words, the main control unit 20 accesses the second RAM 21a.
B is accessed to read the print data, and each time the page is changed (the print data to be stored is changed), the C
RAM21a accessed by PU10 and the main control unit 20,
21b is being replaced.

For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the print button stored in the print data storage memory 21 has a 2-byte character code, a 4-bit font code, and a 1-byte font code for each character or barcode.
2-bit horizontal print position, 12-bit vertical print position, 1-byte vertical enlargement rate (number of enlargements), and 1-byte vertical print position.
It consists of information indicating the horizontal magnification rate (number of magnifications) of BiI and the rotation direction of 2 bits 1~, and also contains information end flag and print end flag for each bit as control flags.
(q is added. Note that the print data storage memory 21
can be configured with one RAM when outputting an intermittent print pattern, or can be configured with two or more RAMs when outputting a continuous print pattern.
It is also possible to configure by

The register circuits 22 and 23 are connected to the print data storage memory 21 under the control of the main control section 20 during pattern printing.
The character code and font code information read from the register circuits 22 and 23 are temporarily stored, and the character code and font code stored in the register circuits 22 and 23 serve as address information for the pattern dot number storage memory 31, which will be described later. , are output to the code converter 32. Further, the number of enlargements in the vertical and horizontal directions is sent to a pattern control unit 26 (described later) via a register circuit (not shown), and information about the printing position in the horizontal and vertical directions and the rotational direction is sent to the storage control unit 26 (described later) via a register circuit (not shown). It is output to the pattern control section that performs the following.

Register circuits 28 and 29 are used for purposes other than pattern printing.
Stores character codes and font codes written from CPU10. For example, CPUl0 is the register circuit 30
When rewriting or reading address information of the font memory 27 stored in the pattern address storage memory 25 (described later) via the CPU10, or
When rewriting or reading the font information stored in the font memory 27 via the register circuit 31, the register circuits 28 and 29 store information on the character code and font code written from 0 to the CPU, respectively. and outputs it to the code converter 24.

In addition, the upper byte of the above character code (C08 to C15)
is defined as Table 1, as shown in Table 1 (blank below), and other codes are treated as abnormal codes. In addition, the character code of the barcode (C08-C15
) indicates the code type of the barcode, and it is thereby possible to recognize the effective number of horizontal dots of the barcode, which is set differently for each code type. Also, the lower byte 1-(COO-C0) of the character code in the barcode
7) is a code indicating a character.

The font code is defined as shown in Table 2, where the font code of the barcode corresponds to the number of narrow bar dots (barcode density), and * is treated as an abnormal code. According to this definition, in this example, there are 4 fonts for Kanji, 8 fonts for alphanumeric characters, 1 font for OCR characters, and 1 barcode with 16 characters or less.
6 densities, 8 types, barcodes with 32 characters or less or 16
8 types of density, 16 barcodes with 64 characters or less 4 types of density and 1 barcode with 128 characters or less
Can handle two types of 6 densities.

The code converter 24 is a ROM that generates an internal character code in the pattern generation section 13 using the character code and font code inputted from the register circuits 22 and 23 as address information when printing a pattern. 20
It is only possible to read information from. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the address information includes a character code (COO-C15) and a 4-bit font code (
800-503) to 16-bit internal code (■00
~115) and stores it in the pattern address storage memory 33.
Output to. The code converter 24 also detects an abnormal code, and when the input character code and font code are abnormal codes, reads out the internal character code corresponding to the abnormal code.

The pattern address storage memory 25 uses internal character codes as address information, and stores position information indicating the first storage area of predetermined pattern information on the font memory 27 in which character patterns and barcode patterns are stored corresponding to the address information. A so-called dual port RAM that stores information (a flag) indicating whether pattern information is stored in the storage area corresponding to the location information.
Alternatively, it is a memory formed by adding an address bus and data bus selector to a normal RAM, and is capable of reading and writing information from the CPU and the main control unit 20. In this embodiment, if the storage area of the bitmap memory is 8 megawords, the information stored in the pattern address storage memory 25 is 24 bits consisting of 23 bits of position information and 1 bit of flag.
The hit information indicates the position of pattern information for one character. The address information read out corresponding to the storage position of the predetermined pattern information is stored in a pattern control unit 2, which will be described later.
He will appear on the 6th.

The pattern control unit 26 reads pattern information according to the address information from the font memory 27 based on the control signal from the main control unit 20, and also reads pattern information based on the vertical and horizontal enlargement numbers read from the print data storage memory 21. Then, the pattern information read out is enlarged. Furthermore, when address information corresponding to an abnormality code is input, the pattern control unit 26 performs abnormality processing such as reading out pattern information indicating an abnormality.

Next, the operation of the printing device using the pattern printing method according to the present invention will be explained.

First, when registering a character and barcode pattern, the CPU 10 stores the character code and font code of the pattern to be registered in the register circuits 28 and 29. The code is output to the code converter 24, and then, at a predetermined timing, pattern start address information on the font memory 27 and pattern information to be registered in the register circuit 31 are stored in the register circuit 30, respectively.

The code converter 24 outputs internal character codes according to the character code and font code inputted from the register circuits 28 and 29, and the pattern address storage memory 25 converts the "-orientation part character code into the ``I/Response information''. The pattern start address information from the register circuit 30 is written as .

The pattern control unit 26 controls the pattern address storage memory 2
When the address information from 5 is imported, font memory 2
7 address information is output, and pattern information is further written into the font memory 27 from the CPU 10 via the register circuit 31 in units of 16 tots. Since the address information output from the pattern control unit 26 is incremented by 1 each time the write signal from the CPU 10 is output, the print pattern corresponding to the ■ pattern is written into the register circuit 30. As a result, one print pattern is stored. By repeating this registration operation for each pattern, fonts can be registered in the font memory 27 one after another.

When writing print data to the print data storage memory 21, CPU10 writes print data for one page, but at this time, a 1-bit page end flag is added to the last character of the page, and a 1-bit page end flag is added to the last character of the page. A printing end flag of 1 pixel is added to the final character of the final page.

In addition, when reading pattern information from the font memory 27, the main control unit 20 receives a command to read pattern information in the font memory 27 from the CPU10, and controls each control unit and memory to The read processing is performed. First, the main control unit 20 causes the register circuits 22 and 23 to store character code and font code information from the print data storage memory 21. and,
Using the stored character code I and font code as address information, the code I converter 24 outputs the corresponding internal character code, and then the pattern address storage memory 25 outputs the pattern using the internal character code as address information. Address information is output.

The pattern control unit 34 outputs the address information of the font memory 27 corresponding to the pattern address information to the font memory 27, reads out the corresponding pattern information, and reads out the corresponding pattern information according to the number of vertical and horizontal expansions from the print data storage memory 21. The read pattern information can be enlarged and output to an address control section that generates a print pattern on the bitmap memory in accordance with the pattern information.

Therefore, in this embodiment, all pattern information of characters and barcodes can be expressed by character codes and font codes, and a pattern address storage memory is used to store the storage address of each pattern information in the font memory. This allows you to store only the necessary patterns and use font memory efficiently. Furthermore, in this embodiment, since abnormal codes can also be detected, more reliable pattern generation can be realized.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, the present invention includes a pattern information storage means for storing pattern information, and a print data storage means for storing print data having a character code and a font code of a print pattern. The predetermined upper bits of the character code are associated with predetermined characters and barcodes, and the font code is associated with predetermined fonts of characters and barcodes, and when reading pattern information from the pattern information storage means, the print data storage means The specified character code and font code are read from the means, and the read character code and font code are input to the internal character code I.
, generate address information of the pattern information storage means corresponding to the converted internal character code, generate predetermined pattern information according to the address information, and read out the character code and font code. Since it is possible to detect whether the bar code is an abnormal code or not, the bar code pattern information in the memory can be reduced, and the memory storage area can be used more efficiently.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic structure of a printing device used in a pattern printing method according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a structure of a pattern generating section shown in FIG.
FIG. 3 is a configuration block diagram showing an embodiment of the print data storage memory according to the present invention; FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of print data stored in the print data storage memory according to the invention; FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the code converter. 10... Control unit (CPU), 13... Pattern generation unit, 14... Printing unit (printer), 20... Main control unit, 21... Print data storage memory, 22. 23.
28-31...Register circuit, 24...Code converter, 25...Pattern address storage memory, 2G.
- Pattern control section, 27... font memory.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A pattern information storage means for storing pattern information and a print data storage means for storing print data having a character code and a font code of a print pattern are provided, and a predetermined upper bit of the character code is associated with a predetermined character and a bar code. , the font code is associated with a predetermined font of characters and barcodes, and when reading pattern information from the pattern information storage means, the specified character code and font code are read from the print data storage means; converting the converted character code and font code into an internal character code, generating address information of the pattern information storage means corresponding to the converted internal character code, generating predetermined pattern information in accordance with the address information, and . A pattern generation method, characterized in that it is detected whether the read character code and font code are abnormal codes.