Tape printer having spacing function

Abstract

A tape printer automatically expands an input character string up to the length of a desired printing range. Operating a fixed length key after input of printing data causes an indication, for example, "printing length: 10" to appear. The "printing length" indication is varied by, for example, rotating a character selecting dial. When a printing key is operated, an actually printable dot column count is determined from the selected printing length. The dot column count minus the total character width (dot column count required to print all desired characters) provides a margin space YS. If the margin space is equal to or greater than the total character spacing (i.e., the number of inter-character positions), a new margin space YS is determined, and the character spacing value is incremented by one dot column. The characters are then printed on the printing tape using the spacing value thus obtained.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT AND APPLICATION

U.S. Pat. No. 4,927,278 is expressly incorporated by reference in its entirely and No. 5,302,038.

Thus, for the unfixed length printing shown in FIG. 27, the character string "ABC" and "KLM" are printed over the printing range PE in a single line on the printing tape 9, while a character string "DEF" is printed in the upper printing line UL, and a character string "GHIJ" is printed in the lower printing line LL. The character strings "DEF" and "GHIJ," when printed, are shifted from their original printing positions in accordance with the designated printing base line change mount "d". For the fixed length printing depicted in FIG. 28, the printed characters are spaced from one another by the determined spacing value SA. This automatically expands the input character string up to the printing range of the actual printing length JL within the established printing length SL.

In this manner, the input character strings are appropriately balanced in terms of character spacing when printed over a desired printing length SL on the printing tape 9.

As a second embodiment of the invention, the tape printer 1 may be arranged to print, as with conventional English language typewriters, input characters having the pica or elite pitch over a fixed length. To provide such functions, the second embodiment may require the keyboard 4'to include printing pitch keys by which to designate the pica or elite pitch. At the same time, the pattern data memory 29 may have printing pitch tables containing the printing pitch settings for L size and SS size characters. Furthermore, the character spacing determining process control routine may have step S170 interposed between steps S114 and S116 in FIG. 14. In this case, the character spacing determining process control routine operates as depicted in FIG. 29.

Referring to FIG. 29, if the read-out data are not code data, step S112 is followed by steps S113, S114 and S115, in that order. In step S115, a pitch table is selected in accordance with the read-out printing command data and in accordance with a signal from a printing pitch key operation. When the next read data are code data, step S112 is followed by step steps S113, S114 and S170, in that order. Step S170 sets the character width PW using the printing pitch data read from the selected pitch table. The rest of the process is the same as depicted in FIG. 14.

A proportional spacing function may also be implemented. This function involves adding optimum spacing to the printed characters for each different font. In that case, the pattern data memory 29 may contain as many pitch tables as the number of printing pitches desired, each table storing the character width data for each character in L and SS sizes. In operation, step S115 selects the pitch table that corresponds to the printing command data read out. Step S170 sets as the character width PW the character width data corresponding to the code data read from the selected pitch table.

As a variation of the described embodiment, the pattern data memory 29 may contain the dot pattern data about three or four character sizes, any of which may be selected for single- and double-line printing.

Another variation of the described embodiments is to supplement the printing buffer holding the dot string data for the current printing pass, by another printing buffer for accommodating the dot string data for the next printing pass. This enables the contents of the first printing buffer to be output and printed while the next characters are being input to the second printing buffer, thus increasing an operating speed of the tape printer.

As described, the code data for the characters stored in the input data buffer 31 are arranged in the first and the second arrangement memories 32 and 33 (in steps S90 through S104). The character spacing value for equally separating characters from one another is determined in accordance with the number of code data in the first arrangement memory 32 and with the data about the established printing length (in steps S110 through S129). During printing, the characters are automatically spaced according to the determined character spacing value. In this manner, the input characters are automatically expanded up to a desired printing range.

Although the description above contains many specificities, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but as merely providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments of this invention. For example, the invention may also be embodied as a tape printer that requires the printing tape 9 to be drawn out manually as characters are being printed thereon. Another alternative example is a wire dot type tape printer, or any of many other tape printers.

Additionally, the specific keys described for performing specific functions are merely illustrative; other key combinations, or other input means could also be used. Additionally, the specific symbols represented on the display could differ from what was described above.

Thus the scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents, rather than by the examples given.

Claims

1. A tape printer for printing characters onto a print medium tape in accordance with input data comprising

a continuous supply of print medium tape; input means for inputting character code data and command code data;

an input data buffer for storing the input code data;

a printing head for printing characters onto the print medium tape;

driving means for driving the printing head by successively receiving the code data from the input data buffer;,

printing length setting means for inputting one of a plurality of measurements of setting a desired line length across which the input characters are to be printed onto the print medium tape;

character spacing determining means for receiving the code data from the input data buffer and line length measurement set by the printing length setting means, and for determining a character spacing value so that the input characters are evenly spaced across an entire printable length of the line length measurement; and

spacing controlling means for receiving the character spacing value determined by the character spacing determining means and controlling the driving means in order to provide the determined character spacing value between characters when the characters are printed by the printing head.

2. A tape printer according to claim 1, said driving means including:

pattern data storing means for storing dot pattern data for a plurality of characters;

a printing buffer for receiving from said pattern data storing means the dot pattern data for characters corresponding to the input character code data from the input data buffer and for storing the received dot pattern data; and

controlling means for controlling said printing head by successively receiving dot strings of data from said dot pattern data stored in said printing buffer.

3. A tape printer according to claim 2, wherein the printing length setting means sets a value of said line length measurement from a plurality of sequential values.

4. A tape printer according to claim 3, wherein line length measurement includes an unprintable length, located on an edge of the print medium tape, and said printable length, and a smallest value which can be set from said plurality of sequential values by said length setting means is a sam of a minimum printable length and said unprintable length.

5. The tape printer of claim 2, wherein said pattern data in said pattern data storing means includes regular size character data and double size character data; printing buffer receives and stores said double size character data as single line data, and said regular size data as upper line data and lower line data based upon a line designation command supplied from said input means; and wherein said character spacing determining means determines said character spacing value without receiving code data regarding one of said upper line data and lower line data.

6. The tape printer of claim 1, further comprising:

fixed length mode selecting means for selecting between a fixed length mode wherein said printing line length setting means is operative to set the length measurement, and a default length mode wherein a default value is used for said character spacing value.

7. The tape printer of claim 1, further comprising:

a display for displaying the code data input from said input means.

8. The tape printer of claim 7, wherein said display includes means for successively displaying a plurality of possible line length measurements in response to fixed length selection command code data input from said input means.

9. The tape printer according to claim 1, wherein said line length measurement includes an unprintable length located on an edge of the print medium tape, and said printable length, and a smallest value which can be set from said plurality of lengths by said length setting means is a sum of a minimum printable length and said unprintable length.

10. The tape printer of claim 9, wherein said character spacing determining means includes:

means for determining said printable length in which characters can be printed within the length set by said printing length setting means by subtracting said unprintable length from said set line length measurement;

means for determining a total number of characters to be printed;

means for determining a total character width required to print the total number of characters; and

spacing value determining means for determining said character spacing value by evenly distributing a difference between said printable length and said total character width amongst inter-character spaces located between said total number of characters.

11. The tape printer of claim 10, wherein said means for determining a total character width includes pitch tables storing printing pitch data, the command code data includes selecting data for selecting one of the pitch tables, and said means for determining a total character width determines the total character width based on a printing pitch data of the pitch table selected by the selecting data.

12. The tape printer of claim 10, wherein said spacing value determining means increases said spacing value between some of the characters to be printed when the difference between the printable length and the total character width is not an integer multiple of the inter-character spaces.

13. The tape printer of claim 10, wherein said means for determining a total character width determines said total character width based upon a constant character width amount for each character.

14. The tape printer of claim 13, wherein said means for determining a total character width includes pitch tables storing printing pitch data, the command code data includes selecting data for selecting one of the pitch tables, and said means for determining a total character width determines the total character width based on a printing pitch data of the pitch table selected by the selecting data.

15. A tape printer for printing characters onto a print medium tape by driving a printing head with a printing driver, said printing driver causing the printing head to print dot strings from successive dot pattern data groups corresponding to operator selected desired characters, and to insert spaces in accordance with a character spacing value between each successive dot pattern data group, comprising:

a continuous supply of print medium tape;

input means for inputting character code data of the desired characters and command code data;

printing length setting means for inputting one of a plurality of measurements of setting a desired line length across which the desired characters are to be printed onto the print medium tape; and

character spacing determining means for determining the character spacing value, based upon the input character code data and the line measurement set by said printing length setting means, so that the desired characters are evenly spaced across an entire printable length of said line length measurement.

16. The tape printer of claim 15, further comprising:

fixed length mode selecting means for selecting between a fixed length mode wherein said printing line length setting means is operative to set the length measurement, and a default length mode, wherein a default value is used for said character spacing value.

17. The tape printer of claim 15, further comprising:

a display for displaying the code data input from said input means.

18. The tape printer of claim 17, wherein said display includes means for successively displaying a plurality of possible line length measurements in response to fixed length selection command code data input from said input means.

19. The tape printer of claim 15, wherein said character spacing determining means includes:

means for determining the printable length in which characters can be printed within the length set by said printing length setting means by subtracting an unprintable length from said set line length measurement;

means for determining a total number of desired characters to be printed;

means for determining a total character width required to print the total number of desired characters; and

spacing value determining means for determining said character spacing value by evenly distributing a difference between said printable length and said total character width amongst inter-character spaces located between said total number of characters.

20. The tape printer of claim 19, where said spacing value determining means increases said spacing value between some of the characters to be printed when the difference between the printable length and the total character width is not an integer multiple of the inter-character spaces.

21. The tape printer of claim 19, wherein said means for determining a total character width determines said total character width based upon a constant character width amount for each character.

22. The tape printer of claim 21, wherein said means for determining a total character width includes pitch tables storing printing pitch data, the command code data includes selecting data for selecting one of the pitch tables, and said means for determining a total character width determines the total character width based on a printing pitch data of the pitch table selected by the selecting data.

23. The tape printer of claim 19, wherein said means for determining a total character width includes pitch tables storing printing pitch data, the command code data includes selecting data for selecting one of the pitch tables, and said means for determining a total character width determines the total character width based on a printing pitch data of the pitch table selected by the selecting data.

24. A tape printer for printing characters onto a print medium tape in accordance with input data comprising:

a continuous supply of print medium tape;

input means for inputting character code data and command code data;

an input data buffer for storing the input code data;

a printing head for printing characters onto the print medium tape;

driving means for driving the printing head by successively receiving the code data from the input data buffer;

printing length setting means for inputting a measurement of a desired length across which the input characters are to be printed onto the print medium tape;

character spacing determining means for receiving the code data from the input data buffer and line length measurement set by the printing length setting means and for determining a character spacing value so that input characters are evenly spaced within the line length measurement;

spacing controlling means for receiving the character spacing value determined by the character spacing determining means and controlling the driving means in order to provide the determined determining and providing a character spacing value between characters for use when the characters are printed by the printing head; and

comparing means for determining a total character width of the input characters based on a width of each of the input characters and for comparing the determined total character width and the line length measurement and for generating a error signal when the total character width is larger than the line length measurement.

25. A tape printer according to claim 24, further comprising:

warning means for providing a warning according to the error signal generated by said comparing means.

26. The tape printer of claim 15, wherein the line length includes an unprintable length on at least one end of the print medium tape. 27. A tape printer for printing characters onto a print medium tape in accordance with input data, the printer comprising:

input means for inputting character code data of desired characters and command code data;

an input data buffer for storing the input code data;

a printing head for printing characters onto the print medium tape;

driving means for driving the printing head by successively receiving the code data from the input data buffer;

printing length setting means for setting a length of a printing range for printing characters desired to be printed onto the print medium tape;

means for determining a total number of the characters desired to be printed;

means for determining a total character width required to print the total number of desired characters;

means for comparing the length of the printing range with the total character width to determine if the length of the printing range is capable of accommodating the characters desired to be printed; and

means for outputting an error message if the length of the printing range is determined to be incapable of accommodating the characters desired to

be printed. 28. The tape printer according to claim 27, wherein the length of the printing range includes an actual printable length, in which length the characters are printable, and at least one unprintable portion in which the characters are unprintable. 29. The tape printer according to claim 28, wherein said means for comparing compares the actual printable length with the total character width to determine if the actual printable length is capable of accommodating the characters desired to be printed and the means for outputting outputs the error message if the actual printing length is determined to be incapable of accommodating the characters desired to be printed. 30. The tape printer according to claim 28, wherein the length of the printing range includes an unprintable length located on at least one end of the print medium tape. 31. The tape printer according to claim 28, further comprising:

character spacing determining means for receiving the code data from the input data buffer and printing range length data set by the printing length setting means in order to determine a character spacing value so that input characters are evenly spaced when printed within the printing range; and

spacing controlling means for receiving the character spacing value output from the character spacing determining means and controlling the driving means in order to provide the output character spacing value between characters when the characters are printed by the driving means.

32. The tape printer according to claim 31, wherein said driving means includes:

pattern data storing means for storing dot pattern data for a plurality of characters, the dot pattern data in said pattern data storing means includes regular size character data and double size character data;

a printing buffer for receiving from said pattern data storing means the dot pattern data for characters corresponding to the input character code data from the input data buffer and for storing the received dot pattern data, said printing buffer receives and stores the double size character data as single line data, and the regular size data as upper line data and lower line data based upon a line designation command supplied from said input means; and

controlling means for controlling said printing head by successively receiving dot strings of data from said dot pattern data stored in said printing buffer, wherein said character spacing determining means determines the character spacing value without receiving code data regarding one of the upper line data and the lower line data. 33. The tape printer according to claim 31, further comprising:

fixed length mode selecting means for selecting between a fixed length mode wherein said printing length setting means is operative to set the length of the printing range, and a default length mode wherein a default value is used for said character spacing value. 34. The tape printer according to claim 27, wherein said means for determining a total character width determines the total character width based on a constant character width amount for each character. 35. The tape printer according to claim 27, further comprising display means for displaying the error message. 36. The tape printer according to claim 34, wherein said means for determining a total character width includes pitch tables storing printing pitch data, the command code data includes selecting data for selecting one of the pitch tables, and said means for determining a total character width determines the total character width based on printing pitch data of the pitch table selected by the selecting data. 37. A tape printer for printing characters onto a tape in accordance with input data, comprising:

a printing head;.

input means for inputting character code data and command code data;.

an input data buffer for storing the input code data;

driving means for driving the printing head successively receiving the input code data from said input data buffer;

printing length setting means for setting a length of a printing range to print characters being input by character code data onto the tape; and

determining means for determining whether a sum of the width of the characters to be printed is greater than the length of the printing range.

38. The tape printer according to claim 37, wherein the length of the printing range includes an unprintable length located on at least one end of the tape in which the characters are not able to be printed and a printable length in which the characters are able to be printed. 39. The tape printer according to claim 37, further comprising error message indicating means adapted to indicate an error message if said determining means determines that the sum of the width of the characters to be printed is greater than the length of the printing range. 40. The tape printer according to claim 39, wherein said error message indicating means is a display means. 41. The tape printer according to claim 37, said driving command including:

pattern data storing means for storing dot pattern data for a plurality of characters;

a printing buffer for receiving from said pattern data storing means the dot pattern data for characters corresponding to the input character code data from the input data buffer and for storing the received dot pattern data; and

controlling means for controlling said printing head by successively receiving dot strings of data from the dot pattern data stored in said

printing buffer. 42. The tape printer according to claim 41, wherein the pattern data in said pattern data storing means includes regular size character data and double size character data, said printing buffer receives and stores the double size character data as single line data and the regular size data as upper line data and lower line data based upon a line designation command supplied from said input means, and wherein said character spacing determining means determines the character spacing value without receiving code data regarding one of the upper line data and the lower line data. 43. The tape printer according to claim 37, further comprising:

fixed length mode selecting means for selecting between a fixed length mode wherein said printing length setting means is operative to set the length of the printing range and a default length mode wherein a default value is used for the character spacing value. 44. The tape printer according to claim 39, wherein said determining means includes:

means for determining an actual printable length within the length set by Said printing length setting means in which characters can be printed;

means for determining a total number of desired characters to be printed; and

means for determining a total character width required to print the total

number of desired characters. 45. The tape printer according to claim 44, further comprising:

spacing value determining means for determining the character spacing value by evenly distributing a difference between the actual printable length and the total character width amongst inter-character spaces located between the total number of characters; and

means for determining whether the total character width of the desired characters tape printed is greater than the actual printable length. 46. A method for printing characters onto a tape, comprising the steps of:

inputting character and command code data;

storing the input character and command code data;

establishing a length for the printed tape;

determining whether the input character data can be printed within the established length of the printed tape; and

indicating an error if the input character data cannot be printed within the established length of the printed tape. 47. The method according to claim 46, further comprising the steps of:

storing dot pattern data for a plurality of characters; and converting the input character data to dot pattern data for printing. 48. The method according to claim 46, wherein the step of establishing a length comprises a one of a step of selecting a length for the printed tape and a step of determining a printed tape length based upon the dot pattern data of the input character data and default spacing data. 49. The method according to claim 46, wherein the step of determining whether the input character data can be printed includes a step of determining an actual printable length based upon a total number of desired characters to be printed, a total character width required to print the total number of characters to be printed, and a character spacing value for inter-character spaces between the characters to be printed. 50. The method according to claim 46, wherein the established length of the printed tape includes an unprintable length located on at least one end of the printed tape in which the characters are not able to be printed and a printable length in which the characters are able to be printed. 51. The method according to claim 46, wherein said step of determining whether the input character data can be printed further includes the steps of:

determining a total character width required to print the total number of characters to be printed; and

comparing the total character width with the established length.

52. The method according to claim 46, wherein said step of determining whether the input character data can be printed further includes the steps of:

determining a total character width required to print the total number of characters to be printed; and

comparing the total character width with an actual printable length of the tape. 53. A tape printer for printing characters onto a tape in accordance with input data, comprising:

a printing head;

input means for inputting character data and command code data;

first printing length setting means for setting a desired length of a printing range for printing characters desired to be printed onto the tape;

second printing length setting means for setting a length of a printing range for printing characters based on a total width of the input characters including a default character spacing value; and

mode setting means for selectively setting one of a fixed length mode wherein the first printing length setting means is operative to set the desired length of the printing range and a default length mode wherein the second printing length setting means is operative to set a length of the printing range. 54. The tape printer according to claim 53, wherein the printing range includes an unprintable length located on at least one end of the tape in which the characters are not able to be printed and a printable length in which the characters are able to be printed.