JPS6322672A - printing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable adjustment of a storage capacity and printing of image data even when a page memory is not provided by installing a storage means for registration of foreign characters and formats on a printer. CONSTITUTION:When registering foreign characters, a foreign character registration command signal, code data and font data corresponding to the former, and further information on foreign characters to be registered this time are transmitted from an external equipment 2, and a main body 1 receives these data. If they are not yet registered in an external RAM 11, a character set management table is created and the font data registered in the external RAM 11. If a command signal for printing character data is received from an external equipment 2, whether or not an image start code is contained is determined. Then the data which is read from the RAM 11 and written into a band memory 8 is sequentially printed line after line, and all the font data corresponding to code data transmitted from the external equipment 2 is written into the band memory 8. After this, paper ejection is completed, while suspending printing.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a printing device that prints print data transmitted from an external device such as a host computer or a word processor.

[Traditional technique]

-i, when transmitting print data from an external device such as a host computer to a printing device, it is transmitted as code data obtained by encoding character data in order to shorten the transmission time. The printing device internally prints numbers, alphabets, kana,
It is equipped with a CG <character generator) cartridge that stores character patterns such as kanji characters, and code data sent from an external device is converted into character pattern data by reading the corresponding character pattern from the CG cartridge. Also, when you want to print characters that are not stored in the CG cartridge, you can store the code data and character pattern in the storage device inside the printing device.
External characters are registered.

After performing the external character registration process, just by transmitting the code data, the characters corresponding to the code data are printed in the same way as described above.

Furthermore, when printing image data such as graphs, a page memory is provided inside the printer, and image data transmitted from an external device is developed into an image pattern in the page memory. Then, data is sequentially read from the page memory and printing is performed.

As mentioned above, a RAM is generally used as a storage device for registering private characters, and is used not only for registering private characters as described above but also for form overlay processing. The form overlay process prints characters and a format such as a table, for example, and the format data is registered in advance in the storage device as described above.

[Problems with conventional technology]

However, in the above-mentioned printing device, since the storage device for registering external characters has a limited storage capacity, the number of registered external characters or format data is also limited. In particular, when registering a format, the amount of data is large, so the number of format data to be registered is limited. In such a case, you can increase the storage capacity of the storage device, but
There is a problem that not only is the cost high, but it is also wasted if external characters or format registration is not required. Furthermore, when printing image data, it is necessary to provide a page memory, but the page memory is very expensive. Therefore, there are printing devices that do not have an expensive page memory, and there is a problem in that such devices cannot print image data.

[Purpose of the invention]

In view of the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides storage means for external character registration and formant registration in a printer main body in a removable manner, thereby making it possible to adjust the storage capacity of the storage means and also storing image data in this storage means. It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing device configured as described above, which can print image data even if it does not have a page memory.

[Key points of the invention]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a converting means for converting code data transmitted from an external device into a character pattern, a first storage means for storing the character pattern data converted by the converting means, In a printing device having a printing means for printing data read from the first storage means, code data not registered in the conversion means, a character pattern corresponding to the code data, former/node data, and image data. a second storage means which is removably provided in the main body of the printing apparatus, and a character pattern converted by the conversion means or a character pattern read from the second storage means and the second storage means. and data synthesis means for synthesizing the read format data, and when printing the image data, reads the image data from the second storage means and stores it in the first storage means, and combines the image data with the character pattern. When printing composite data of format data, the output of the data composition means is stored in the first storage means.

[Embodiments of the invention]

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a main body of a printing device using a printing head such as a liquid crystal optical shutter, a light emitting diode, and a laser. The main body l has an I/F (interface) section 3,
The print data transmitted from the external device 2 is received by the I/F section 3. Print data is recorded information that is a mixture of code data that encodes character data and control data such as line feed codes and page feed codes, and data for one page or multiple pages is printed serially or in parallel.
/F section 3. The external device 2 is typically a host computer, but other devices include a word processor, a personal computer, and the like.

4 is a CPU (processor circuit) that controls each circuit in the main body 1, and controls the operation of the main body 1 according to a program stored in the system ROM 5. Said 1/F section 3
When the CPU 4 receives the print data, the CPU 4 temporarily stores the address of the character pattern stored in the CG (character generator) ROM 6 in the system RAM 7. That is, the CGROM 6 is composed of a ROM, and character patterns such as alpha bent, numbers, kana, kanji, etc. are stored in advance. The CPU 4 then controls the system RAM 7 to write the address of the character pattern corresponding to the code data included in the print data. After this, CPU4
reads the character pattern at the address written in the system RAM 7 from the CGROM 6 and converts the code data into character pattern data for one character. Then, the converted character pattern data is written into the band memory 8 provided as a first storage means according to the control data by the control operation of the CPU 4. Band memory 8 is R
This is a storage device that uses AM or the like and has a capacity that is less than the storage capacity for one page.The data written in the band memory 8 is sequentially sent line by line by the print control unit 9 via the video I/F unit IO. is read out. When the data is read to the print control unit 9, the next data is written to the band memory 8 by the above-mentioned operation, and by repeatedly writing and reading data, one page of data is written to the print control unit 9. Read out.

As mentioned above, the print control section 9 includes a printing head (not shown) using a liquid crystal optical shutter, etc., a photoreceptor, and a photoreceptor. Each time one line of data is read from the band memory 8, each line is optically written on the photoreceptor by the print head. Thereafter, printing is performed using an electrophotographic process under the control operation of the printing control section 9.

In addition, the printing device main body 1 is provided with an external R
AMII is provided and configured so that it can be attached and removed as necessary.

The external RAM II is provided as a second storage means and is used to register characters that are not registered in the CGROM 6, so-called external character registration. Also,
The external RAM II is also used to register data in a format such as a table.

12 is an R/W (read/write) control unit that controls writing to or reading from the external RAMII;
The writing and reading are controlled by the designation of PU4. Further, reference numeral 13 denotes a synthesis control section which synthesizes character data and form data registered in the external RAM II and writes the synthesized data into the band memory 8.

As a result, characters and formats such as tables are printed in an overlapping state, and form overlay processing is performed. In addition, form overlay processing can combine character data sent as code data from external device 2 with form data registered in external RAMII, and combination of character data registered as external characters in external RAMII and form data. It is.

The external RAM II is also used to store image data sent from the external device 2. When image data is sent from the external device 2, the I
The /F section 3 receives the image data, and the CPU 4 develops the image data into an external RAM II and stores it. When printing this image data, the CPU 4 reads the image data from the external RAM II and writes it into the band memory 8. The data written in the band memory 8 is printed by the control operation of the print control section 9 in the same manner as described above.

Figure 2 shows the system RAM? and shows the data structure of the external RAM 1l.

First, the number of blocks of image data transmitted from the external device 2 is stored in the system RAM 7. When the external device 2 transmits one page of data as shown in FIG. 3, for example, the one page of data includes character data and image data of two graphs. In such a case, the CPU 4 counts the image data of one graph as one block, and stores the total number of blocks in the system RAM 7.

In the example of FIG. 3, the number of blocks is two. The number of dots in the X direction (1) and the number of dots in the Y direction (1) of the image data of each block are stored in the address next to the number of blocks of image data.

X and Y are directions when image data is expressed in two-dimensional coordinates of X and Y, and X of each block.

The number of dots in the Y direction is stored. Also, system RAM
7 also stores the start address when developing the image data in the band memory 8, and furthermore, the address of the image data is stored next to the start address.

In the example shown in Fig. 2, the number of blocks of image data is n, and the number of dots in the X and Y directions corresponds to each data block.
The start address to be developed in the band memory and the address of image data are stored. In addition, image data is stored in system RAM 7 and external RAM II,
In the example shown in Fig. 2, data shown as image data (1) is stored in the system RAM 7, and other image data (2), (3), and (n) are stored in the external RAM II.
Stored on the side. The image data to be stored in the system RAM 7 is determined by its storage capacity, and the lack of storage capacity is compensated for by an external RAM II. In this way, when print data is transmitted from the external device 2, information such as the number of blocks of image data included therein, the address of the number of dots, etc. is stored in the system RAM 7, and the image data is stored in the system RAM 7, the external R.A.
Stored in MII.

When reading image data, by reading data sequentially from the first address of the system RAM 7, the number of blocks of image data, the number of dots, and the start address of band memory are read out, and then the addresses of image data are read out one after another. . The image data address indicates that the image data is stored in system RAM 7 and external RAM II.
It also includes information indicating which location the file is stored in.

Therefore, the write position of the image data is designated by the address of the image data, and the image data is read by this designation. Further, the read image data is written into the band memory 8 at the address indicated by the start address.

Further, since the external RAM II can be attached to and removed from the main body 1, a cartridge type one is used, and the cartridge identifier is an identifier indicating the type of cartridge (external RAM II) installed in the printer main body 1. External RA
M11 is S for power supply! ! This is not necessary if there is only one type of external RAMII, as the memory contents will be lost if the memory is disconnected or removed from the main unit 1, but if multiple types of external RAMII with different memory contents and each with a built-in back amplifier power supply are used. is necessary. Also, it is necessary to distinguish the type of ROM when an external ROM is used instead of the external RAM 11, and it is also necessary to ensure compatibility when both RAM and ROM are used. . Note that if the identifier is cleared, it can be determined that the device installed in the main body 1 is a RAM, but in order to be even more certain, a short bar terminal (not shown) for distinguishing ROMSRAM is provided on the cartridge. When the terminal is notifying the ROM, the type of the external ROM may be determined from the identifier.

The external character control header identifier and form overlay control header identifier are used to identify in which address area the external character registration or form registration is registered, since one or both of the external character registration and form registration is done in the external RAMII. belongs to. When the CPU 4 reads data from the external RAM, the data is read from the cartridge identifier to the private character control header identifier, and whether the data is a private character or a form is identified by the private character control header identifier and the form overlay control header identifier. If it is a private character, the private character font comprehensive management table is designated by the address of the private character data control block written next to the identifier. If it is a form, the registered form is specified by the address of the form overlay control block written next to the identifier.

The form data writing area of the external RAMII is divided into a plurality of sections as shown in the figure (registration floors 1, 2, n), and one of them is selected according to a designation from the external device 2. For example, If the selection in step 2 is registered patient 1, the start address of the form control data and the number of form data are written in the registered Nal area, so when the start address is read, the form control data is automatically 1 and form data 1 are read out.The form control data is control information for developing the form data into an image pattern, and includes information such as portrait or landscape, line pinch, character pitch, character size, etc. The form data 1 is written into the band memory 8 as described above in accordance with this control information.

On the other hand, if it is a custom character, the custom character font general management table is specified as described above, and this management table contains the number of character sets, the serial number of existing character sets, the font,
Information such as font size is stored. These pieces of information are used to select the character set of the character type specified by the external device 2. Furthermore, the address of the character cent management table for each character set is indicated by the management table pointer. For example, when the character management table 1 is specified, this management table 1 stores information regarding character cents, that is, more detailed information than the information in the general management table, and character information such as the amount of margin up to the body face. Furthermore, the address of the font data corresponding to the designated character in the font data 1 is indicated by the code pointer. The font data 1 is data in which characters are developed into image patterns, and is read out by the CPU 4 and written into the band memory 8 as described above. Each character management table stores character information corresponding to each character.

Next, the operation when registering external characters in the external RAM II will be explained with reference to FIG.

When registering a custom character, the external device 2 sends a custom character registration command signal, code data, font data corresponding thereto, and information regarding the custom character to be registered this time to the printer main body. In response to this, the main unit l uses the external RAM
5TI), the external character registration data sent from external device 2 is already in the external RAM.
Confirm that it is not registered in II. external RAM
11, update the comprehensive font management table in the external RAM 11 with Sr2, and create a character set management table with Sr3. Next, register the font data in the external RAM II with Sr1 and perform the registration work. finish.

Next, the operation when registering form data will be explained with reference to FIG.

First, form R is transferred from the external device 2 to the main body 1 in the same manner as described above.
The recording command signal, form control data, and form data are transmitted. Upon receiving these signals, the CPU 4 of the main body 1 reads the data registered in the external RAM II using the STI (Hend Read), and checks whether the data from the external device 2 has already been registered using the Sr2, that is, whether it is newly registered. Determine whether or not. If it is a new registration, proceed to Sr1; if it is not a new registration, proceed to Sr3. conduct. Next, CPU4 is connected externally with Sr1.
It is checked whether the AMII has any remaining storage capacity, that is, whether there is enough capacity to store the form data transmitted from the external device 2. If there is no storage capacity remaining, error processing is performed in <Sr1, an error is displayed, and data indicating that there is no storage capacity is transferred to the external device 2. If Sr1 has the storage capacity of external RAMII, Sr
The header of the external RAM II is updated in Step 6, and the form control data transmitted from the external device 2 is stored in the system RAM 7 in Step Sr7.

Further, the form data transmitted from the external device 2 is similarly stored in the external RAM 7 at Sr8, and the process waits until all form data is stored at Sr1.

When the transmission of all data is completed at Sr1 and the storage of the data into the system RAM 7 is completed, the system RAM 7 transfers the temporarily stored form control data and form data to the external RAM II at 5TlO, and form registration is completed. finish.

Next, the operation of storing image data transmitted from an external device in the system RAM 7 or external RAM II will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, the STI is a printing standby state of the printer main body 1, and the CPU 4 determines whether data is input from the external device 2 or not. When the data is input, the process proceeds to Sr1, where it is determined whether or not the data transmitted from the external device 2 includes an image start code. That is, when the external device 2 transmits image data, an image start code is transmitted as a command signal to print the image data, and the CPU 4 determines whether or not image data is transmitted based on this start code. If no image data is transmitted in Sr1, normal processing is performed in accordance with the code data transmitted from the external device 2 in Sr3. In this case, read the data corresponding to the code data from the character pattern data stored in the CGROM 6 or the data registered as external characters in the external RAM 1l, and transfer the data to the page buffer area of the system RAM. Perform the storing process.

On the other hand, when image data is transmitted in Sr1, the CPU
4 searches the header of the system RAM 7 using Sr4, and based on the result, determines whether the image data sent to the system RAM 7 using Sr1 can be stored, that is, whether there is enough storage capacity to store the image data. .

If system RAM7 has storage capacity, proceed to Sr6,
A header such as the number of blocks and dots of the image data as described above and the address to be written to the system RAM 7 is created. Next, use Sr7 to store the created header in the system RAM? The image data is stored in the page buffer of Sr8, and the image data is stored in the system RAM7 at Sr8. Also, Sr1
If there is no storage capacity in the system RAM 7, the process proceeds to Sr9, where it is determined whether or not there is storage capacity in the external RAM II. If you have the storage capacity of the external RAM II on Sr9, create a header on 5TIO in the same way as above, and install it on 5TII.
Transfer the image data to external RAM II.

Further, if there is no storage capacity in the external RAM II at Sr9, error processing is performed at 5T12, that is, an error display is performed, and data indicating that there is no storage capacity is transferred to the external device 2.

Next, the operation for printing will be explained with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, in the STI, the CPU 4 determines whether or not form data is to be generated, that is, whether or not a command signal for printing form data has been transmitted from the external device 2. If a command signal to print form data of character data or image data is sent from external device 2 (STI is N).
, proceed to Sr1. The processes of Sr1 and 5TII, which will be described later, are shown in detail in FIG. 8, and in 5T13 it is determined whether or not the print data includes an image start code. The image start code is a command signal for printing image data, and is transmitted from the external device 2 together with the image data. If the image start code is not included in 5T13, the font data corresponding to the code data sent from external device 2 is stored in CGROM in 5T14.
6 or from the external RAM II, and writes the read data to the band memory 8 at 5T15. On the other hand, 5
If T13 contains the image start code, 5T1
Proceed to step 6 and search for the header information in the system RAMII. Next, in 5T17, the specified header information is read from the external device 2, and in 5718, the image data specified by the header is stored in the system RAM? Or external RA
The image data read from the MII and read out by 5T15 is written to the band memory 8.

The data written to the band memory 8 in this way is
All font data or image data corresponding to the code data that is sequentially printed line by line and sent from the external device 2 using Sr3 is written into the band memory 8.
It also waits for printing and ends paper ejection at Sr4.

On the other hand, when a command signal to print form data is sent from the external device 2 (STI is Y), the CPU 4 reads the header of the external RAM II using Sr1, and uses Sr6 to read the header of the external RAM II.
It is determined whether the form commanded from the device 2 is registered in the external RAM II. Here, external RAMI
If the form data specified by the external device 2 is not registered in I, the font data and image data corresponding to the code data sent from the external device 2 are stored in the external RAM II or CGROM in Sr2 in the same way as above.
6 and writes it into the band memory 8, and prints the data. Form data is stored in external RAM with Sr6
If it is registered in II, CPU4 uses Sr7 to transfer the control data area of that form data to external RA.
It is detected from MII, and the form data amount is detected by Sr8.

Then, the CPU 4 transfers the form data to the system RAM 7 at Sr1, and at 5TIO, the synthesis control unit 13 writes the transferred form data to the band memory 8 based on the form control data.

At the same time, the CPU 4 performs the processing explained in FIG. 8 at 5T11. That is, as above, if the print data does not include an image start code, the CGRO
Read the font data from M6 or the external RAM 11, and if it contains the image start code, transfer the image data to the system RAM? Alternatively, the 0 compositing control unit 13 that reads out the data from the external RAM II combines this font data or image data with the form data read out from the external RAM 11 as described above, and creates the band memory 8.
write to. For example, when form data as shown in FIG. 9+al is read from the external RAMII, and font data as shown in FIG. The synthesized data shown in FIG. 9(C) is stored in the band memory 8.
The data written to the band memory 8 is sequentially printed line by line. 5T12 waits until all of these data are written and printed in the band memory 8,
At Sr4, paper ejection is finished in the same manner as above.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, in the printing device main body,
Since the second storage means for registering external characters and forms is freely provided, the storage capacity of the entire printing device can be adjusted as necessary. Therefore, the second storage means can be attached to the main body only when external character registration or form registration is necessary, and can be omitted when unnecessary, so that the cost of the storage device can be reduced. Also,
Since image data can also be stored in the second storage means, image data can be printed even with a printing device without page memory.

Furthermore, since the configuration is such that form registration, external character registration, and image data can be stored in the second storage means, these data can be stored in one storage device, and the configuration can be simplified. Moreover, since the form data registered in the second storage means and the character data stored in the internal storage device or the character data stored in the second storage means are combined, internal registration and external character registration are possible. Regardless, both character data and form data can be combined, and form overlay processing can be performed effectively.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 (
a) is an explanatory diagram showing the data structure of the system RAM 7, Fig. 2 (bl is an explanatory diagram showing the data structure of the external RAM II, Fig. 3 i is an explanatory diagram showing an example of image data, and Fig. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the data structure of the external RAM II). Figure 5 is a flowchart showing the operation when registering form data in external RAM, Figure 6 is the operation when storing image data in system RAM or external RAM. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation when printing; FIG. 8 is a flowchart explaining in detail the processing of the formed data in the flowchart shown in FIG. 7; FIG. 9 +al is the form data An explanatory diagram showing an example of character data, FIG. 9(b) is an explanatory diagram showing an example of character data, FIG.
C) is an explanatory diagram showing data obtained by combining the data in FIGS. 9(a) and 9(b). 1...Printing device main body, 2...External device, 3...I/F section, 4...CPU. 5...System ROM. 6...CGROM. 7...System RAM. 8... Band memory, 9... Print control unit, 11... External RAM, 13... Composition control unit. Patent applicant Casio Computer Co., Ltd. Same as above Casio Electronics Co., Ltd. Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 8 (') (b) (C) Figure 9

Claims (1)

[Claims] A conversion means for converting code data transmitted from an external device into a character pattern, a first storage means for storing the character pattern data converted by the conversion means, and a first storage means for storing the data read from the first storage means. In a printing device having a printing means for printing, code data not registered in the conversion means and character patterns, format data, and image data corresponding to the code data are stored, and the printing device is removably provided in the main body of the printing device. a second storage means; a data synthesis means for synthesizing the character pattern converted by the conversion means or the character pattern read from the second storage means and the format data read from the second storage means; When printing the image data, the image data is read from the second storage means and stored in the first storage means, and when printing composite data of the character pattern and format data, the data composition is performed. A printing device characterized in that the output of the means is stored in the first storage means.