JPS61173951A - Printing control apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible to perform enlarged printing at a high processing speed, by forming dot data wherein a character font was enlarged to a sub- scanning direction by writing the dot data converted by a data converting means in a buffer means. CONSTITUTION:A data converter 210 having function for enlarging dot data to a sub-scanning direction has two data selectors 430, 434 and a data shifter 432. The data selector 430 has function for enlarging dot line data to a sub- scanning direction and the enlargement ratio in the sub-scanning direction is prescribed on the basis of a stepping number by control signals VW0, VW1. Upper and lower bites to be selected in the data in a 16-dot line are set by a control signal HB and upper and lower nibbles in each bite are set by a control signal HN. The input 436 of the data selector 430 is connected to the output 418 of a system bus 118 or a data selector 408. In the case of the connection method of the latter, a data converter 210 is provided with both of shadow printing function and enlargement function.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a printing control device, and more particularly to a printing control device for controlling a serial printing device such as a laser printer.

BACKGROUND ART In dot matrix printing in which a character font is composed of a dot matrix and printed, when printing characters larger than a standard character font stored in a font memory, there have conventionally been the following two methods, for example.

One is that the CPU stores bitmap memory for one page.
Under program control, character dot data is enlarged and developed to an arbitrary size. Another method is to provide a memory exclusively for graphic dot data instead of a bitmap memory, perform an enlargement operation under program control, and treat the data as new graphic data. However, in any case, these methods require a large capacity bitmap memory and are therefore expensive. Also, the text enlargement operation can be changed to C.
Since this is carried out under program control of the PU, there is a drawback that the processing speed is slow.

Another method involves outputting the same raster data for characters to be enlarged repeatedly in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction a number of times according to the enlargement ratio. This method has the drawback that overstrafing between enlarged characters and non-enlarged characters is not possible, and when partial enlargement of an arbitrary rectangular area is performed, control becomes extremely complex and the cost of the device increases.

OBJECTS It is an object of the present invention to eliminate the drawbacks of the prior art and to provide a print control device with a simple configuration that can enlarge and print characters at a high processing speed.

Note that in this specification, the term "character" not only includes characters in a narrow sense such as kana, kanji, alphabets, numbers, and symbols, but also includes characters that constitute a figure or a part of a figure in a unit rectangular area that forms a character. It shall be interpreted broadly to include graphic elements, that is, graphic segments. Furthermore, the term "printing" refers to the visualization of such characters in a broad sense by means of hard copies.

Structure In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a buffer means for temporarily storing dot data forming a character font;
A printing control device having an input means for receiving dot data in the sub-scanning direction of raster scanning and writing it into a buffer means, and an output means for reading the dot data from the buffer means and outputting serial data forming main scanning lines of raster scanning. In the above, the human power means has a data conversion means that divides the dot data in the sub-scanning direction into a number corresponding to the enlargement ratio in the sub-scanning direction and forms the same number of dots included in the dot data according to the enlargement ratio, The present invention is characterized in that dot data obtained by enlarging a character font in the sub-scanning direction is formed by writing the dot data converted by the data conversion means into the buffer means. Referring to FIG. 1 below for an embodiment of the present invention, in the embodiment of the present invention, a print control wave N100 is connected between a host 4110 including a processing system and a printer engine 12 of a laser printer, The device 100 is a control device that receives character codes and control commands from the host machine 10 and outputs corresponding dot pattern data to the printer engine 12 in series.

As shown in the figure, the print control device 100 includes a host input 51
y x -su102. CPU 104. Program RO
M 10B, RAM 108, font ROM 110.
Engine interface 112, raster data generator 1
14. and a DMA control unit 118, which are connected to a system bus, that is, a CPU address/data bus 118.
are commonly connected.

The host interface 102 is connected to the host machine 10 by a signal 1i120, and receives data and commands such as character codes, control codes, control commands, and dot data from the host machine 10, and also sends control information such as printer status to the host machine. It has an interface function for sending data to 10. cpu104 and program RO14
108 is a program ROM! It has a function of controlling and supervising the entire printing control device 100 according to the control program No. 013. The RAM 108 is used as a work area for the CPU 104, and is used, for example, to store character codes and dot data and edit the character codes on a page-by-page basis.

The font ROM 11O stores dot pattern data for forming a font at addresses corresponding to character codes. The character code also includes a graphic code that defines a graphic segment, so that one device can control not only the printing of characters in the narrow sense, but also the drawing of arbitrary graphics. Furthermore, the phono ROMIIO stores a plurality of types of fonts. This allows characters with various fonts to be formed.

The engine interface 112 is connected to the printer engine 12 through a signal line 122 and has an interface function of checking the status of the printer engine 12 and issuing a print request to the engine 12.

The raster data generator 114 is also connected to the printer engine 12 by a data line 124, and converts font dot data into serial dot data included in a main scanning line, that is, a raster, formed by raster scanning a page, that is, in the form of raster data. This is a circuit that converts . The DMA control unit 16 reads dot data from the font ROM 110 and RAM 108, and outputs the dot data from the raster data generator 114.
raster data generator 1 in arbitrary units based on the page data edited in the raster buffer 204 (FIG. 2).
It has a function to transfer blocks to 14.

Here, a page editing method using this device will be explained. When the character code is received from the host machine IO, the position on the page is calculated according to the control code and control command. This position is expressed in the horizontal direction of the page, that is, the main scanning direction X, and the vertical direction, that is, the sub-scanning direction Y, and is added to the character code. Along with this, font identification information that defines the type of font specified at that time is also added. This font identification information also includes information regarding character modifications such as enlarged printing and shadow printing.

The previous page position, that is, the sub-scanning position, is defined by a main-scanning line or raster number, and is expressed as an index table of the number of main-scanning lines required for one page. More specifically, when a character code is received from the host machine IO for the same raster, the horizontal position x and font information are added as described above, and this character code becomes the final one for that raster, that is, the most recently received character code. If,
Address information for that character is registered in the index table. When the next character code is received, address information for linking this is added to the previous character code,
To register the index table, address information of the following characters,
will be updated. Note that an identification code indicating that the character is the first character of the main scanning line is added to the first character of the raster.

In this way, all character codes related to one main scanning line can be accessed from the index table based on the clicked address information.

Incidentally, the raster data generator 114 includes a raster buffer control circuit 200 and a timing generator 202, as shown in FIG. The timing generator 202 is a circuit that receives various lock and control signals from the system and generates timing signals for driving each part of the raster buffer control circuit 200.

The raster buffer control circuit 200 includes n raster buffers 2o4.n (n is an integer of 3 or more). address counter 20
6 and a buffer selector 208. The raster buffer 204 is a buffer that temporarily stores dot data forming a raster. In this embodiment, each raster buffer 204 has one word of 16 bits, as shown in FIG.
It has a storage capacity of 096 words. Here, this l word 16 bit access unit is referred to as a "dot string".
This includes 16 lines of dots at a single horizontal position.

In this embodiment, one raster, or one horizontal scanning line, consists of a maximum of 4096 dots, which is enough to cover 2400 dots in one raster when printing on 44-size paper at a print density of 300 dpi (dots/inch), for example. It is something. Therefore, one raster buffer 204 is
Dot data of 16 main scanning lines can be JNed.

The bit position or digit of each raster buffer 204, that is, the dot position of dot data in the horizontal scanning direction, is specified by an address counter 208. counter 20
The contents of 6 are set from the CPU path 118 and are incremented in response to the clock. Further, these plurality of raster par 7 furs 204 are alternatively selected by the puff fur selector 208.

This selection is performed cyclically by sequentially shifting from the tl buffer to the tl buffer and back again to the tl buffer.

The CPυ address/data bus 118 has a data converter 2.
10 is connected, and this is a circuit that receives dot data in units of l dot columns from bus 118 and converts it into a form suitable for the purpose. Its output 212 is connected to one input 214 of an OR gate 214, and the output 216 of the latter is connected to a bus buffer 218. In the subsequent figures, the number of parallel bits of a data line is indicated by a number associated with a diagonal line that intersects with the signal line.

The output 220 of the bus buffer 218 is the raster buffer 2
04 and data selector 222. The bus buffer 218 is a temporary storage circuit for writing dot data into the raster buffer 204 and data latch 224. The read data line 221 from the raster buffer 204 is connected to the data selector 222 and the data latch 2.
24. Dot data is read out from the raster buffer 204 in units of 1 word and 18 bits.
The line counter 226, which is a 4-bit counting base, specifies which bit position or line number of the dot data (single dot) is to be output from the data selector 222 to the signal line 124 as print data VI1ATA.

The data latch 224 transfers the dot data from the bus buffer 218 to two successive raster buffers 204 . for example#
The dot row data read from the same horizontal position of the raster buffer 204 of m-1 is temporarily held before being transferred to the raster buffer 204 of m and ll+o-1 (m is an integer from 1 to n). It is a circuit.

Its output 228 is connected to the other input of OR gate 214. Therefore, the dot data held in the data latch 224 is ORed by the gate 214 for each bit corresponding to the output of the data converter 210, and this is passed through the bus buffer 21B to the raster buffer 204.
will be forwarded to.

At least three raster buffers 204 are required, one of which is used to output the completed raster data to the printer engine 12, and the remaining two successive buffers are used to store the next raster data. used for.

This kind of output and storage is done in a sequential raster format file 20.
4 cyclically, one by one.

One raster buffer 204 to printer engine 12
The time required to output the raster data is a constant time determined by the product of the main scanning period T and the number N of lines (5YNC) included in the raster buffer 204 (16 in this embodiment). Therefore, in order to output the completed raster data, the next raster data must be developed and writing must be completed within this time.

Moreover, this entire period cannot be used to develop the next raster data, but the time that can be spent on development is the time "LGATE" during which raster data is actually output to the printer engine 12 in one main scanning period. This is the period excluding

Therefore, to output complete raster data, (T
The next raster data is developed in the buffer 204 within the time T of LSYNCLGATE. Generally, in laser printers, the ratio of LSYNC:TLGATE is set to about 3:2, so 1 of the main scanning period
/3 time can be used for development. However, when the printing speed of the printer engine is high, the main scanning period is short, so the period available for development is short. Therefore, in the conventional method, the number of characters that can be printed with a predetermined number of rasters N is limited by this.

This problem can be solved, for example, by the following two measures. One of them is to increase the number of rasters/files 204. If the number of raster buffers 204 is increased, even if characters are concentrated on the same main scanning line, the load will not be transiently concentrated on the CPU 104 or the DMA control unit 116. Therefore, the number of characters that can be printed with a predetermined number of rasters can be increased.

Another solution is to provide at least three raster buffers 204 with corresponding address counters 206, data latches 224 . A path buffer 218 and a data selector 222 are provided respectively. In this way, while one raster data puffer 204 is outputting data to the printer engine 12, the other two raster data puffers 204 are controlled independently, and the entire time during the data output period is Raster data can be expanded into two eightfolders 204.

As mentioned above, the dot data stored in the RAM or font ROM 110 is accessed in units of 16 bits per word, that is, in units of 1 dot string. Hence the character font.

The main scanning direction is controlled in units of 1 dot, and the sub-scanning direction is controlled in units of 16 lines. For example, a figure whose length in the sub-scanning direction exceeds 16 lines is developed in the raster buffer 204 in a number of times equal to the value obtained by dividing the number of lines W by N (=18) plus 1.

The main scanning position X at which dot data should be developed is preset in the address counter 206 from the system bus 118. In this preset, the dot data is transferred to the DMA control unit 1.
1 for 16 controls. This is performed before the block is transferred to the raster buffer control circuit 200. In this way, from the main scanning position X preset in the address counter 206, dot row data is transferred in blocks by the main scanning width of the character in response to the increment of the address counter 206.

Sub-scanning position where character dot data should be developed.

That is, the vertical position y from which of the 16 lines the dot data should be developed is set in the data converter 210. This setting is performed by the dot data DMA control unit 11.
This is performed prior to block transfer under control of B. In other words, as shown in FIG. 4, one dot string of 18 bits of dot data 300 received from the system bus 118 is
It is set in the data converter 210 which series of 16 bits of 32 bits of two words 302 and 303 spanning two successive raster buffers 204 should be shifted to bit position y1, and then block transfer is started. Ru.

As you can see from the explanation so far, the raster buffer 204
The dot data is written in two successive raster buffers 204 to a series of 16 bit positions in the vertical direction shifted by the data converter 210, that is, to the position of the 1B line, and to the horizontal position preset in the address counter 206. The operations are performed sequentially starting from the word position in the direction. The dot data written to the raster buffer 204 in this way is
Later, each raster data buffer 204 will be sequentially read out.

More specifically, before block transfer of 16 line width dot string data of one character, modification information of the character to be printed is sent to the select signal C33 from the CPU 104 and the CPU 104.
The main scanning position of the character to be printed and the shift amount in the sub-scanning direction are set by the WR strobe signal, and the CPU 10
The 0 character dot string data set by the select signal CS2 from 4 and the CPU R strobe signal is
By the select signal CSI from U 104 and the CPU WR strobe signal, the width of the character is continuously written into the raster data buffer 204 by DMA operation.

The operation of transferring a block to the raster buffer 204 by DMA operation is performed in the following four steps.

Referring to FIG. 5, first, from the previous buffer lm-1 of the two successive raster buffers 2o4 into which character dot data should be loaded, for example, the cloud cover and l11m-1 raster buffers 204, the dot strings are The dot row data 304 stored at the main scanning position X corresponding to the dot row data 304 is read and held in the data latch 224. Data converter 210
The output 212 includes a portion of the dot string data 300 shifted by 11 to the position l of an arbitrary series of 16 lines among the 32 lines, as described above.
02 is output. The logical sum gate 214 is the power of both people 21
The logical sum of 2 and 228 is taken and outputted to the path buffer 218 as new dot string data.

This new dot string data is written to the same word position 304 of the raster buffer l5-1 that was read earlier. As a result, l words containing part of the dot row 300 block-transferred from the system bus 118 from the sub-scanning position y onward are written to the main-scanning position X of the raster buffer 204.

Similarly, for the same main scanning position
1111, the dot row data 306 stored in that word position is read out and held in the data latch 224. The output 212 of the data converter 210 is the lower 16 bits 303 containing part of the dot string data 300 shifted to an arbitrary series of 16 lines out of the 32 lines as described above. The OR gate 214 takes the OR of the two inputs 212 and 228 and outputs the result to the pass buffer 218.
output as new dot string data.

This new dot string data is written to the same word position 30B of the raster buffer cloud amount read earlier.

By such dot data manipulation, it is possible to form dot data in which character fonts are superimposed. Further, the main scanning and sub-scanning positions Cx, y) can be set in units of dots.

The dot data thus stored in the raster buffer 204 is output as print data VDATA to the printer engine 12 in the following manner.

While the signal ``LGATE'' that defines a valid main scanning period is significant, the timing generator 202 outputs the address counter 2.
0B is incremented using the dot synchronization clock VCLK. Raster buffer 20 specified by Puffnoa selector 20 days
From 4 onwards, dot data is read out to the data selector 222 in units of 16 bits per dot row in response to this step. For example, if raster buffer 7204 of cloud m-1 is selected, word 304 is accessed when main scanning position aX is specified by address counter 206 (FIG. 5).
.

The timing generator 202 generates a main scanning line synchronization signal L.
In response to SYNC, the line counter is incremented by 228 steps.

Therefore, if the count value of the line counter 22B indicates the sub-scanning position y at that time, the bit at the bit position yt of the 18 bits 304 read out by the data selector 222 is outputted to the output line 124 as VDATA. Ru. That is, one dot at the main scanning and sub-scanning positions 1 (x, y) is output to the printer engine 12.

For example, when printing on A4 size paper at a pixel density of 300 dpi, the number of dots in the main scanning direction is sufficient to be 2400 dots. Therefore, in the effective line main scanning period of 2400 dots xlB lines, one raster buffer 2
The dot data included in 04 will be output as print data VDA-A.

Note that when the main scanning line number indicates the last line in the raster buffer 204, that is, the 16-bit digit, it means that all the dot data held in the raster buffer 204 has been output. Therefore, when the final word is read from the raster buffer 204, rOJ, that is, data at the own level, is written at the same address and its contents are cleared. This is done by disabling data latch 224 and data converter 210. This allows the raster buffer 204 to prepare for the next dot data expansion.

In this way, data is written to the raster buffer 204 for a series of two raster buffers 204, which are sequentially shifted one by one.

Therefore, one raster buffer 204 includes dot data that has been completed by updating the l' point data twice.In this way, the dot data of the raster buffer of one raster buffer 204, for example l1m-1, is completed. Then, each dot row (for example, 304) is read out sequentially at an appropriate scanning timing, and one of them
The dots are output to printer engine 12. By sequentially repeating such scanning for each dot column and sequentially shifting the raster buffer 204, dot data is serially outputted from the signal line +24.

In embodiments that perform shadow printing, the data converter 210
is constructed as an example is shown in FIG.

In shadow printing, dot data is created by shifting the character font by several dots in the horizontal direction, and thickening is performed by overlapping printing to produce a similar effect. However, in the conventional method, the more characters printed on the same main scanning line, the more load is placed on the CPU/DMA, which becomes disadvantageous if there is a limit to the number of characters that can be printed within a limited number of rasters. .

Therefore, in this embodiment, the configuration shown in FIG. 6 is used as the data converter 210 to realize shadow printing without increasing the load on the CPU 104 or the DMA control section 11B. In this embodiment, the data converter 210 includes three cascaded 16-bit registers 400, 402 and 404, an OR gate 40B, and a data selector 40.
It has B.

The inputs of register 400 include 1 from system bus 118.
6-bit dot string data is input. Each register 4
00.402 and 404 are used by the CPU when setting the main scanning position and the shift amount in the sub-scanning direction as described above.
It is cleared by the select signal CS2 from 104 and the CPU WR strobe signal, and is clocked by the select signal GSI and the CPU WR strobe signal. The outputs 410, 412 and 414 of each register are also input to OR gate 406. The data selector 408 is
This circuit selects either the output 416 of the OR gate 40B or the output 410 of the first stage register 400 in response to the selection signal t5 MOD corresponding to the font identification information mentioned above, and outputs the selected signal to the output 418. This output 218 may be configured to be connected to the input 212 of the OR circuit 214 shown in FIG. Also.

The human power may be obtained directly from the bus 11B instead of from the output 410 of the first stage register 400.

For normal printing, not dot printing, data selector 408 is set to connect input 410 to output 212 prior to block transfer of dot data. The 16-bit dot string data received from the bus 118 is input to the data selector 408 from its output 410 through the register 400, and is input to the data selector 408 from the output 212 of the data selector 408.
Output to.

In the case of shadow printing, the data selector 408 transfers the input 41B to the output 21 before transferring the block of dot data.
It is set to connect to 2. The 16-bit dot string data received from bus +18 is stored in register 400.40.
2 and 404. Along with this increment, dot data is sequentially received from the CPU bus 118 by block transfer, and these data are similarly incremented sequentially through registers 400, 402 and 404. The logical sum of the outputs 410, 412 and 414 of each stage is the logical sum gate 4
Taken in 06. The logical sum output 41B is input to the data selector 408 and output to the output 212 of the data selector 408. In this manner, in this embodiment, since three stages of registers 400, 402 and 404 are provided, dot data that has been subjected to horizontal overlapping processing by three dots is sequentially output to the output 418 of the data selector 408.

Referring to FIG. 7, a configuration example of a data converter 210 having a function of enlarging dot data in the sub-scanning direction is shown. Data converter 210 has two data selectors 430 and 434 and a data shifter 432. The data selector 430 has a function of enlarging the dot row data in the sub-scanning direction. The enlargement rate in the sub-scanning direction is defined by control signals vWO and VWl in binary. The byte of the dot to be selected in the 18-dot string data is set by the control signal HB, and the upper and lower nibbles in each byte are set by the control signal HN. Input 436 of data selector 430 is system path 11
8 or the output 41 of the data selector 408 shown in FIG.
Connected to 8. In the latter connection method, this data converter 210 has both shadow printing capabilities and a single magnifier.

The data shifter 132 is connected to 16 of the data selector 430.
The bit output 438 is received and, as described above with reference to FIG. 4, the data shift 'a i
Has @. The shift it is for a maximum of 16 lines and is set by control lines SO to S3. The output 440 of the data shifter 432 is a 32-bit parallel output, and the data selector 434 receives this and outputs its upper word 1.
This is a selection circuit that outputs either the 6 bits 302 or the 16 lower word bits 303 to the output 212. In this embodiment, the output 212 is input to the OR circuit 214 (FIG. 2), but the input 436 of the data selector 430 is connected to the system bus 118. In this case, the output of data selector 434 (FIG. 6) may be connected to the input of register 400.

The enlargement operation of the data selector 430 is controlled as follows, as shown in FIG. For example, if the magnification is 1,
In other words, in the case of equal magnification, the control signal VWI.

vWO is "00", and data selector 430 selects all 16 bits DO to 015. Note that in the figure, rxJ indicates a don't care bit.

When the magnification is 2, the control signals VWI and VWO are “Ol”
The data selector 430 selects the signal HB as r
When it is OJ, the lower 8 bits are selected, and when it is "1", the upper 8 bits are selected. Each bit of the input dot sequence is then formed as two identical bits.

That is, the same dot is copied. Therefore output 4
38, when the signal HB is "0", DO~D7 are output as the same 2 bits, and when the signal HB is "1", D8~D7 are output as the same bit.
015 is output with the same two bits.

Similarly, when the magnification rate is 3, the control signals VWI, vw.

is "10", and data selector 430 selects four dots each in response to signals HB and HN. At this time, each bit of the input dot string is made into three bits and shifted upward as 12 bits. Therefore, at output 438, signal HB is rOJ and signal HN
When is "0", 3 bits of [10-03 are output as the same bits, and the lowest 4 bits are set to rQJ, that is, the white level. Similarly, other bits D4 to D7.08
.about.011 and 012 to 015 are also output as the same dots of 3 bits each, and the lowest 4 bits are set to "0".

Similarly, when the magnification is 4, the control signals VWI, VWO
is "11", and the data selector 430 selects three dots at a time in response to the signals HB and HN, so that each bit of the input dot string becomes four bits.

Therefore, the output 438 contains dot data 00-03.
04-D7, 08-011 and old 2-015 are output as the same 4 bits each. In this way, the magnification in the sub-scanning direction is controlled at the same magnification, 2x, 3x, and 4x magnification in this embodiment.
/, / By the way, enlargement in the main scanning direction is done using the address counter 206.
This is done by controlling the step clock according to the enlargement ratio. First, the dot row data received from the system path 118 by block transfer is stored in a certain horizontal position in the raster buffer 204. Next, in response to the address counter 20B (1) increment, the same dot row data is block-transferred a number of times equal to the value of the enlargement ratio minus 1, and the data is transferred from the next horizontal position of the raster buffer 204. The data is written sequentially over the top 16 numbers. When the address counter 206 increments by a number corresponding to the enlargement ratio, the next dot row data is transferred as a block and written to the next horizontal position of the raster buffer 204.

As you will see, the address counter 206 increments by a number of times equal to the value of the enlargement ratio, and the raster buffer 206
The dot row data is transferred and written in blocks by skipping to discrete horizontal positions of 04. Meanwhile, as the address counter 206 increments sequentially, the same dot data is transferred in blocks a number of times equal to the value of the enlargement ratio.
The data is written in such a way that the horizontal positions between the discrete horizontal positions of the raster buffer 204 are sequentially filled.

The clock for incrementing address counter 206 in this manner is generated by pulse generator 450 shown in FIG. Pulse generator 450 is similar to timing generator 202
, and is selected by the select signal GSI and the CPU wR strobe signal. Pulse generator 450 is C
The clock CLK having a frequency sufficiently higher than the frequency of the PU WR strobe signal is counted, and a number of step clocks corresponding to the signals HWO and Hllll that define the horizontal magnification factor are outputted to the output 452. Select signal C5I
and the pulse generator 4 by the CPU WR strobe signal.
50 is selected once, the number of step clocks generated at its output 452 is as shown in the truth table of FIG. This increment clock causes the address counter 206 to increment.

As an example, in the case of 3x enlarged printing in both main and sub-scanning,
Shown in the table.

As can be seen from Table 1, in the case of 3 times, shift J and 1 change. However, in the case of even multiplication such as 2x or 4x, there is no change. The same applies to other cases.

The data shifter 432 shifts j with 4 bits SO to S3.
I: is defined, and data can be shifted for up to 16 lines. This shift data is sent to the register when setting the dot position in the main scanning direction. As shown in FIG. 11, the dot string data DO~015
is shifted by the set shift amount and outputted to the output 440 as 32-bit data of Do-031. The data selector 434 alternately selects either the upper 16 bits (Hlli) or the lower 16 bits (LW) according to the signal HW, and outputs it to the output 212.

As we will see, when the shift amount is O, all bits of the F word LW are "0", that is, white dots, and when the shift amount is 16 lines, all bits of the upper word (IW) are "0". . Incidentally, of the 32 bits of the output 440, the bits other than the portion where the original 16-bit dot string data DO~015 has been shifted are set to "0".

Although an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a printing device has been described, the present invention can also be advantageously applied to a display device that visually displays characters as a soft copy.
VWOHB HN Four Four Gloss 11th ifflfJ
Y X 1000102
Y X+1 1000103
Y X+2 1000
104 Y-4X 100
1105 Y-4X+1 10
01106 Y-4X+2 100
1107 Y-8X 101
0108 Y-8X+1 10
10109 Y-8X+2 10
101010 Y-12X
10111011 Y-12X-1101
110 Effects According to the present invention, sequentially received dot data is divided in the sub-scanning direction according to the enlargement ratio to form the same dot,
Enlarged dot data of a character font is formed by hardware that skips data in the main scanning direction according to the enlargement ratio and stores it in a raster buffer. Therefore, characters can be enlarged and printed without requiring a large memory area, with a simple configuration, and at a high processing speed.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing an embodiment of a printing control device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a raster buffer control circuit in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the map configuration of the raster buffer shown in FIG. 2; FIGS. 4 and 5 are explanatory diagrams for explaining the operation of the raster buffer control circuit shown in FIG. 2; FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the data converter shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing another example of the configuration of the data converter shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a part of the configuration of the timing generator shown in FIG. 2, and FIG. , a diagram showing a truth table of the pulse generator shown in FIG. 8; FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the character enlargement operation in the data converter shown in FIG. 7, and FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the dot data shifting operation in the data converter shown in FIG. It is an explanatory diagram. Explanation of codes for important parts 114, Raster data generator 202, Timing generator 204, Raster buffer 20601. Address counter 208, . . . Buffer selector 210, . . . Data converter 222.408. Data selector 400.402. Register 406, , OR gate 430.434. Data selector 432, data shifter

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Buffer means for temporarily accumulating dot data forming a character font; input means for receiving dot data in the sub-scanning direction of raster scanning and writing it into the buffer means; and output means for reading the dot data in the sub-scanning direction and outputting serial data forming main scanning lines of raster scanning, wherein the input means outputs the dot data in the sub-scanning direction according to an enlargement ratio in the sub-scanning direction. data converting means for dividing the dot data into numbers and forming the same dots included in the dot data in a number corresponding to the enlargement ratio, and writing the dot data converted by the data converting means into the buffer means to convert the characters into characters. A print control device that forms dot data that is an enlarged font in the sub-scanning direction. 2. In the apparatus according to claim 1, the input means skips storage positions corresponding to the main scanning direction of the buffer means by a number corresponding to the enlargement ratio in the main scanning direction, and stores the dot data. A print control device characterized by writing in the buffer means to thereby form dot data in which a character font is enlarged in the main scanning direction.