JPH07178976A - Printing method and printing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] To print high-quality characters at high speed with an inexpensive device. [Structure] When the power is turned on, the MPU 1 controls a font expansion unit 6 to expand an outline font in a memory 7 of frequently used characters into a dot font pattern and store it in a RAM 8. After that, the MPU 1 sets the dot font pattern of the character input from the input control unit 2 to R
If it is in AM8, it is read out and output control unit 4
To print the character. Therefore,
In this example, outline fonts can be expanded to dot font patterns only for characters that do not have dot font patterns that have already been expanded, and the total time required for this expansion can be greatly reduced. You can print characters with. Moreover, RAM
Since only a dot font pattern of frequently used characters is stored in 8, a large-capacity RAM is not required and the device can be made inexpensive.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing method and a printing apparatus for printing Japanese such as kanji and hiragana, and more particularly to speeding up the printing speed when using an outline font.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional printing device for Japanese has a structure as shown in FIG. Character data 10 for printing from a host system (not shown) in the input control unit 2
When 0 is input, the main processor (MPU) 1 reads the dot font pattern corresponding to the input character code from the dot font memory 3 and supplies it to the output control unit 4. As a result, the output control unit 4 controls the printing unit 5 based on the given dot font pattern, so that the print head (not shown) prints characters on the paper. However, since a normal font pattern is used, there is a drawback that when printing a large character or the like, the character becomes jagged and it is not possible to perform printing with very good quality.

Therefore, in recent years, an outline font has been used in order to print characters of various sizes freely and neatly, and FIG. 6 shows a conventional printer using the outline font. It is the figure which showed the example. The MPU 1 reads out the outline font corresponding to the character code passed from the input control unit 2 from the outline font memory 7, and the font expansion unit 6
Give to. The font development unit 6 develops a dot font pattern from the given outline font (command). The MPU 1 gives the font pattern expanded by the font expansion unit 6 to the output control unit 4. As a result, the output control unit 4 controls the printing unit 5 based on the given dot font pattern, so that the print head (not shown) prints characters on the paper. However, in the above-described printing apparatus that uses the conventional outline font, it takes time to develop the outline font into a dot pattern by the font developing unit 6, so that the printing speed is considerably slower than that of the method of FIG. It had the drawback of becoming

Further, among the conventional printing apparatuses using the above-mentioned outline font, there is also an apparatus which does not have the font developing unit 6 and causes the MPU 1 to perform the work for developing the dot font pattern from the outline font. However, in this type of apparatus, it takes longer time to develop the dot font than in the apparatus equipped with the font expanding section 6, and other work performed by the MPU 1 also becomes slower, so that the printing speed is eventually shown in FIG. The device tended to be even slower.

In order to avoid the above drawbacks, when the power of the apparatus is turned on, the dot font pattern is expanded from the outline font of all the characters and stored in the RAM or the like. The dot font pattern corresponding to can be immediately read from the RAM and printed, and high-quality printing can be performed at high speed. However, this requires a large-capacity RAM that can store all dot font patterns expanded from all outline fonts, which has the drawback of increasing the cost of the device, and the dots from the outline fonts when the power is turned on. There is a drawback that it takes time to develop the font and the device cannot be started up quickly.

[0006]

In the conventional printing method and printing apparatus using an outline font in which printed characters are beautiful and whose size can be freely set, the dot font must be expanded from the outline font. However, since this takes time, there is a drawback that the printing speed becomes slow. Therefore, there is also a method or device for expanding the outline font of all characters into a dot font in advance and storing it in a RAM or the like.
There is a disadvantage that the cost of the apparatus becomes high because AM is required, and that it takes time to develop the dot font and the apparatus cannot be started up quickly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks and to provide a printing apparatus and a printing method capable of printing high-quality characters at high speed with an inexpensive device using outline fonts. .

[0008]

According to the present invention, in a printing apparatus for printing characters using an outline font, setting means for setting characters in an arbitrary range and outline font of characters in the range set by the setting means. Expansion means for expanding the dot font from the, and storage means for storing the dot font expanded by this expansion means,
The determination means for determining whether or not the dot font of the input character is present in the storage means, and when the determination means determines that the dot font of the input character is in the storage means, If it is determined that the dot font is not used for printing and the non-run-in font of the input character is determined to be not printed, the dot font obtained by expanding the input character by the expanding means is used for printing. .

[0009]

In the printing apparatus of the present invention, the setting means sets a character in an arbitrary range. The expanding means expands the dot font from the outline font of the characters in the range set by the setting means. The storage means stores the dot font expanded by the expanding means. The determination means determines whether or not the dot font of the input character is in the storage means. If the determination means determines that the dot font of the input character is in the storage means, the print control means prints using the corresponding dot font in the storage means. Printing is performed using a dot font obtained by expanding the out-run-in font of the input character by the expanding means.

Accordingly, when the dot font of the input character is in the storage means, the dot font corresponding to the input character may be read out and printed, and the time for developing the dot font from the outline font of the character is omitted. Therefore, high quality characters can be printed at high speed. Further, since only a dot font of characters within a predetermined range is stored in the storage means, there is no need to increase the storage capacity, and the device can be constructed at low cost.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the printing apparatus of the present invention. Reference numeral 1 is a main processor (MPU) for controlling the entire printing operation, 2 is an input control unit for inputting print data from a host system (not shown), 4 is an output control unit for controlling the printing unit 5 according to an input dot font pattern, A printing unit 5 prints characters on a paper (not shown) with a head (not shown) by the output control unit 4 and outputs the characters.
Is a font expansion unit for expanding a dot font from the outline font, 7 is an outline font memory storing the outline font, and 8 is an RA for holding the dot font expanded by the font expansion unit 6.
M and 12 are system buses.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. When the power is turned on, the MPU 1 uses the font expanding unit 6 to expand a dot font pattern from a preset character group, for example, an outline font such as hiragana or numbers. That is, the MPU 1 reads out the outline font of the above-mentioned character from the outline font memory 7 and gives it to the font expansion unit 6. Since the font expanding unit 6 expands the dot font pattern from the given outline font, the MPU 1 stores the dot font pattern expanded by the font expanding unit 6 in the RAM 8. Therefore, after turning on the power, the RAM
8 stores the dot font pattern of the above character. The above-mentioned character group preset in the MPU 1 is a frequently used character. Such a character group may be set in advance by the manufacturer, or may be set by the user by selecting the type and range of the character from the menu screen or the like.

When the print data 100 is input to the input control section 2 in such a state, the MPU 1 checks whether or not the dot font pattern corresponding to the input character code is stored in the RAM 8 and is stored. If so, the corresponding dot font pattern is read and given to the output control unit 4. However, if the corresponding dot font pattern is not stored in RAM8, MPU
The reference numeral 1 controls the development of a dot font pattern from the outline font of the character input from the input control unit 2 using the font development unit 6. That is, the font expansion unit 6 expands a dot font pattern from the outline font of the character read from the outline font memory 7, and the MPU 1 stores the expanded dot font pattern in the RAM 8 and then reads it. To the output control unit 4. The output control unit 4 controls the printing unit 5 on the basis of the given dot font pattern to print a character on the paper by a print head (not shown).

By the way, since the capacity of the RAM 8 is limited, if the dot font patterns other than the dot font patterns initially stored in the RAM 8 are added later in the RAM 8 as described above, the capacity of the RAM 8 is eventually increased. Will run out. Therefore, the MPU 1 adds the number of times of use to the pattern used in the dot font pattern with respect to the one used in the dot font pattern stored in the RAM 8.
When 8 is full, discard the least used dot font pattern and add a new font expansion unit 6
This RA is a dot font pattern developed by
The control for storing in M8 is performed.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing the operation of the MPU 1 shown in FIG. When the apparatus is powered on in step 201, the MPU 1 develops a dot font pattern from the outline font of the preset character group in step 202, and develops this in step 203.
It is stored in the RAM 8 at. After that, the MPU 1 waits for the input of the character from the input control unit 2 in step 204, and when the character is input, it determines in step 205 whether or not the dot font pattern of the character exists in the RAM 8 and does not exist. If yes, go to step 208; if yes, go to step 206. Step 206 of MPU1
At, the corresponding dot font pattern is read from the RAM 8 and given to the output control section 4, so that the input section prints the input character. Next, MPU1 is step 2
At 07, it is determined whether or not all the characters have been printed. If not, the process returns to step 204, and if so, the process ends. On the other hand, if the process proceeds to step 208, the MPU 1 develops the dot font pattern from the outline font of the input character by the font developing unit 6, stores it in the RAM 8 at step 209, and then proceeds to step 206.

According to the present embodiment, the dot font pattern developed from the outline phone of the character that is frequently used is stored in the RAM 8 in advance, so that most of the print data input to the input control unit 2 can be stored. This RA
Since the M8 has a dot font pattern already developed in M8, the MPU 1 can print the input character only by reading the dot font pattern corresponding to the input character from the RAM 8 and sending it to the output control unit 4. it can. Therefore, the MPU 1 can perform printing by the outline phone without operating the font development unit 6 so much, and there is almost no time to develop the dot font from the outline font, so that high-speed and high-quality printing is performed compared to the conventional case. Part 5 can be performed. In addition, since the dot font pattern of a predetermined range of frequently used characters is stored in the RAM 8, the RAM 8 having a small capacity can be used, and the above effect is realized without increasing the cost of the device. In addition to being able to do it, the amount of dot font expansion at power on is small,
The device can be started up quickly.

When adding the dot font pattern expanded from the outline font to the RAM 8,
An additional area is provided in the RAM 8 and the dot font patterns to be added are sequentially stored in this area. When this area becomes full, the oldest order is discarded,
The same effect can be obtained as a method of storing a new dot font pattern.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention. In this example, a sub-processor (SPU) 9, a font expansion unit 6, and an outline font memory 7 are connected on a local bus 13 connected to a RAM 8. When the SPU 9 receives the outline font expansion command from the MPU 1 via the system bus 12, the SPU 9 thereafter executes MP
Independently of U1, the SPU 9 develops a dot font pattern using the font development unit 6 based on the designated outline font. Therefore, when the power is turned on, the SPU
9 is an outline font memory 7 for displaying an outline font of frequently used characters according to a command from the MPU 1.
Is read out and applied to the font expansion unit 6 to be expanded into a dot font pattern, which is stored in the RAM 8.

Thereafter, the print data 10 is input from the input control unit 2.
When 0 is input, the MPU 1 reads out the dot font pattern corresponding to the input character in the RAM 8 and outputs it to the output control unit 4. If there is no corresponding dot font pattern, the outline font of the character is read. SPU9 command to expand the
To put out. As a result, the dot font pattern of the character is stored in the RAM 8, and the MPU 1 reads it and gives it to the output control unit 4. When the SPU 9 controls the expansion of the dot font from the outline font, the MPU 1 can read the dot font data in the RAM 8 through the system bus 12, and SP
U9 can write the dot font in the RAM 8 via the local bus 13. Therefore, the dot font expansion control of the outline font using the font expansion unit 6 of the SPU 9 is performed by the RA of the MPU 1.
The dot font pattern read control from M8 can be performed independently without being restricted, and the dot font can be developed at a higher speed than the outline font as compared with the embodiment shown in FIG.

This embodiment also has the same effect as the above embodiment, but since the SPU 9 controls the expansion of the dot font from the outline font, the load on the MPU 1 is as shown in FIG.
Since the number is smaller than that in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the speed of developing the dot font from the outline font is increased accordingly, and high-quality printing can be performed at a higher speed than in the embodiment shown in FIG. .

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing still another embodiment of the present invention. In this example, the SPU 9 is installed on the local bus 13.
The font expanding unit 6 is fixedly connected, and the memory cards 10 and 11 are detachably connected to the local bus 13. The memory card 10 is equipped with the dot font memory 3, and the memory card 11
Is equipped with an outline font memory 7. When both the memory cards 10 and 11 are mounted as shown in the figure, when the user selects the normal dot font printing, the MPU 1 is stored in the dot font memory 3 in the memory card 10. By storing the dot font pattern in the RAM 8 through the SPU 9, printing can be performed with normal print quality.

When the user selects the printing with the outline font, the MPU 1 issues a command to the SPU 9 to add the outline font of the character that is frequently used to the dot font and store it in the RAM 8. As a result, the SPU 9 reads out the corresponding outline font from the outline font memory 7 of the memory card 11, expands the dot font pattern from this outline font by the font expansion unit 6, and stores it in the RAM 8. Further, when a print character having no dot font pattern stored in the RAM 8 is input from the input control unit 2, the MPU 1 issues a command to the SPU 9 to expand the dot font pattern from the outline font of the character, which is stored in the RAM 8. As shown in FIG.
The same printing operation as in the embodiment shown in FIG.

According to this embodiment, the user can select the normal dot font printing and the outline font printing, and the outline font printing can be performed at the same high speed as the normal dot font printing. When either one of the memory cards 10 and 11 is mounted, the font of the mounted memory card is used for printing. In addition, 1 memory card
When only the type is attached and detached, the font of the mounted memory card is printed, so that the user can select the type of font to be used by selecting the type of the mounted memory card.

[0024]

As described above, according to the printing apparatus and the printing method of the present invention, high-quality characters can be printed at high speed by using an outline font for inexpensive characters.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a printing apparatus of the present invention.

2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the MPU shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a conventional printing device for Japanese.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a printing apparatus using a conventional outline font.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Main processor 2 ... Input control unit 4 ... Output control unit 5 ... Printing unit 6 ... Font expansion unit 7 ... Outline font memory 8 ... RAM 9 ... Sub processor 12 ... Input control unit 13 ... Local bus

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A printing method for printing an input character using an outline font, wherein a dot font is expanded from an outline font of characters in a preset range, these dot fonts are stored, and then, When there is the stored dot font corresponding to the input character, printing is performed using this dot font, and when there is no stored dot font, the dot font is expanded from the outline font of the input character, A printing method characterized by performing printing using the obtained dot font. 2. In a printing device for printing characters using an outline font, setting means for setting characters in an arbitrary range, and expansion for expanding a dot font from the outline font of characters in the range set by this setting means Means, a storage means for storing the dot font expanded by the expanding means, a judgment means for judging whether or not the dot font of the input character exists in the storage means, and a dot font for the input character by the judging means. If it is determined that the input character is in the storage means, printing is performed using the corresponding dot font in the storage means, and if it is determined that it is not, the out-run-in font of this input character is expanded by the expansion means. And a print control means for printing using a dot font. 3. The storage means obtains the frequency of use of the stored dot fonts and adds this to each dot font. When the storage means is full, the dot fonts with low frequency of use are deleted. The printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a new dot font is stored. 4. The printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the developing means operates independently of the print control means. 5. A data transmission bus for writing the dot font expanded by the expanding means into the storage means and a data transmission bus for reading the dot font from the storage means by the print control means are separate systems. The printing device according to claim 4. 6. The printing according to claim 2, wherein a memory storing a character font that is detachably attached to the apparatus is provided and an input character is printed according to the type of the font stored in this memory. apparatus. 7. The apparatus is equipped with two kinds of memories, one of the memories is a memory storing an outline font and the other is a memory storing a dot font, and the outline font is used. 7. The printing apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising: a specifying unit that allows a user to specify whether to print with a dot font or with a dot font.