JPH064231A - Printer and its printing control method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To print many kind of characters and improve the effective printing speed without increasing the cost of the printer. CONSTITUTION:Character data in a compressed state are stored in a CGROM 6 divisionally as a 1st character data group of predetermined characters in decreasing use frequency order and a 2nd character data of other character data; when the printer is powered ON, the characters in the 1st character data group are expanded and stored in a RAM 7. When a character specified with a print instruction belongs to the 1st character data group, the character corresponding to the print instruction is read out of the RAM 7 and developed into image data, which are printed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer and a print control method for the printer, and more particularly to a printer capable of printing various characters efficiently and at high speed and a print control method therefor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a printer, various character data are stored in a character data storage section provided inside the printer, and when printing, character data corresponding to a print command from a host computer is stored. Is extracted from the character data storage unit, developed into image data, and then supplied to a print head to print desired characters.

By the way, in recent years, a printer is required to have a function of printing various kinds of characters at a low cost in combination with a demand for miniaturization and high speed of the printer. However, if a large amount of character data is to be stored in the character data storage unit as it is, the required storage unit capacity will become enormous and the cost will increase significantly. As a means for holding a large amount of character data without increasing the capacity of the unit, the character data is stored in a compressed form in the character data storage unit.

[0004]

However, when the character data is compressed and stored in the character data storage unit as described above, there is an advantage that a large amount of character data can be stored in the storage unit having a fixed capacity. , Each time when trying to print a character, the decompressing process has to be performed on the character data extracted from the storage unit, so that the time required for this decompressing process becomes huge as a whole, and as a result, the substantial printing speed, That is, there is a problem that the effective printing speed is significantly reduced.

In order to solve this problem, it is possible to use a CPU having a high processing speed, but since the CPU itself is expensive, the cost of the printer itself becomes high, which is a fundamental solution. It was something I couldn't get.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and it is possible to print many kinds of characters without increasing the cost of the printer, and it is possible to improve the effective printing speed. An object of the present invention is to provide a printer and a print control method in the printer.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the printer of the present invention has a first character data group in which compressed character data is predetermined and a second character data group other than that. A first character data storage section that stores the data separately, and a control unit that performs decompression processing on the character data belonging to the first character data group when the power is turned on,
A second storage unit that stores the character data that has been subjected to this decompression processing is provided.

A printer control method for a printer according to the present invention is a printer control method for expanding a compressed character data and then expanding the compressed character data into image data for printing. 1
Character data group and the other second character data group are separately stored in the first character data storage unit, and the character data belonging to the first character data group is expanded when the power of the printer is turned on. When the character data designated by the print command is character data belonging to the first character data group, the second character data storage unit is processed and stored in the second character data storage unit. The character data corresponding to the print command is extracted from.

[0009]

According to the printer and the print control method for the printer of the present invention, the compressed character data is divided into the first character data group and the second character data group other than the first character data group, and the first character data group is divided into the first character data group. The character data is stored in the character data storage unit, and when the power of the printer is turned on, all the character data belonging to the first character data group is expanded and stored in the second character data storage unit. For the subsequent print command, if the designated character data is the character data belonging to the first character data group, the character data is taken out from the second character data storage unit. Since printing is performed, it is not necessary to perform decompression processing every time printing is performed on the characters belonging to the above-mentioned first high character data group, and the effective printing speed of the entire printer is significantly improved. It can be.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a printer of the present invention. A printer 1 receives a print command from a host computer 2 and a reception buffer 3 for temporarily holding the print command. A CPU 4 is provided and connected to the reception buffer 3. The CPU 4 is for decoding a print command from the host computer 2 and performing various processes. The CPU 4 has a ROM storing various processing programs.
5. Connected is a CGROM 6 as a first character data storage unit that stores character data in a compressed form and a RAM 7 as a second character data storage unit for holding decompressed character data. There is.

The character data stored in the CGROM 6 is a first character data consisting of character data of a predetermined character.
Are stored separately from the second character data group and the other second character data group. For example, in Japanese sentences, the occurrence rate (frequency of use) of hiragana and katakana is higher than that of kanji. All hiragana and katakana characters are the first
In the character data group, the kanji and symbols are divided and stored in the second character data group.

Further, the CPU 4 is connected to a line buffer 8 for temporarily holding the developed image data for one line, and this image data is supplied to a print head 9 such as a thermal head. As a result, desired printing is performed.

Next, an embodiment in which the print control method of the present invention is applied to the printer shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIGS.
This will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in.

FIG. 2 shows the processing when the power of the printer 1 is turned on. First, when the power of the printer 1 is turned on in step ST1, the process proceeds to step ST2 and is stored in the CGROM 6. The hiragana and katakana belonging to the first character data group having a high frequency of use are extracted. Next, in step ST3, the compressed character data is expanded, and in step ST4, the expanded character data is stored in the RAM 7 to complete the preparation for printing.

Next, FIG. 3 shows a processing procedure until the printer 1 which is ready for printing receives the print data from the host computer 2 and reaches the printing. First, in step ST11, the receiving buffer 3 When the print data for one line is received, the process proceeds to step ST12, and it is determined whether the first character to be printed is hiragana or katakana or other characters (for example, kanji).
If the character to be printed is hiragana or katakana, the process proceeds to step ST13 to extract the character data that has been subjected to the decompression process in advance from the RAM 7 as described above, and then proceeds to step ST14 to develop the image data. Then, the process proceeds to step ST15 to store the line buffer 8.

On the other hand, when the character to be printed is not in hiragana or katakana, the process proceeds to step ST16 and CGRO
Extract character data from M6, then step ST17
In step ST14, the character data is first decompressed, then in step ST14 the image data is expanded, and then in step ST15 the line buffer 8 is stored.

When the development of the character data into the image data is completed in this way, the process proceeds to step ST18, where it is determined whether or not the processing has been completed for all the print data for one line, and the determination is NO. If there is, step ST1
Returning to step 2, the above procedure is repeated until all the characters of one line are processed. On the other hand, if the determination is YES, the process proceeds to step ST19 to send the image data stored in the line buffer 8 to the print head 9 for printing. By carrying out, the processing for one line is completed.

Thus, according to this embodiment, the printer 1
Character data held in a compressed state is divided into a first character data group consisting of hiragana and katakana with a high appearance rate (frequency of use) and a second character data group consisting of other kanji and symbols. When the power of the printer 1 is turned on together with the first hiragana and katakana
Character data belonging to the character data group is subjected to decompression processing and stored in the RAM 7, and when the character to be printed is hiragana or katakana when printing, the character data is extracted from the RAM 7 and decompressed. Since printing can be performed without performing processing, the number of times the character data is decompressed when printing is performed can be greatly reduced, and the execution printing speed of the printer can be greatly improved.

Further, since the RAM 7 already held by the printer is used for storing the decompressed character data,
There is no cost increase.

In the present embodiment, description has been made by taking as an example the case where hiragana and katakana are selected as the predetermined characters to be divided into the first character data group.
The characters and symbols that are divided into this first character data group are set, for example, in hiragana only, katakana only, specific symbols only, or specified so that efficient printing can be performed according to the purpose of using the printer. It may be changed as appropriate, such as only the characters.

Further, after the printing is started, the character data once extracted from the second character data group and subjected to the decompression processing is stored in the RAM in the decompressed state, and then the first character data is stored. In addition to the character data belonging to the character data group of, if the character data is taken out from the RAM and is printed when this character data is used,
It is possible to further reduce the number of times the character data is expanded when printing is performed.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but various modifications can be made as necessary.

[0024]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, the compressed character data is divided into a first character data group and a second character data group other than the first character data group. The character data is stored in the character data storage unit, and when the power of the printer is turned on, the character data belonging to the first character data group is decompressed and stored in the second character data storage unit. In response to the subsequent print command, when the designated character data is character data belonging to the first character data group, the character data is retrieved from the second character data storage unit and printed. Since various types of characters can be printed without increasing the cost of the printer, the character data belonging to the first character data group is expanded every time printing is performed. It is unnecessary, and the number of times the character data is decompressed at the time of printing can be greatly reduced, and as a result, the effective printing speed of the printer can be significantly improved. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a printer of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an embodiment of a print control method of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an embodiment of a print control method of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Printer 2 Host Computer 3 Receive Buffer 4 CPU 5 ROM 6 CGROM 7 RAM 8 Line Buffer 9 Print Head

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification code Internal reference number FI technical display location G09G 5/24 9061-5G

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A first character data storage unit in which compressed character data is divided into a first character data group determined in advance and a second character data group other than that, and the power is turned on. And a second storage unit for storing the decompressed character data, the control means for decompressing the character data belonging to the first character data group. Printer. 2. A printing control method in a printer for decompressing compressed character data, expanding the compressed character data into image data, and printing the image data, wherein a first character data group in which the character data is predetermined and a character data group other than the first character data group. It is stored in the first character data storage unit separately from the second character data group, and when the power of the printer is turned on, the character data belonging to the first character data group is decompressed to be stored in the second character data group. When the character data stored in the character data storage unit and designated by the print command is character data belonging to the first character data group, the character data corresponding to the print command is output from the second character data storage unit. A method for controlling printing in a printer, characterized in that the printer is taken out.