Document processing equipment

Abstract: Document processing equipment comprising an input device to input enlarged character data covering a plurality of lines, a memory to store enlarged character data input, a printing/erasing device which can print or erase the stored enlarged character data in the form of enlarged character pattern on a recording medium, a commanding device to instruct erasing of a plurality of enlarged character patterns printed on the recording medium by the printing/erasing device and a control device to erase en bloc the enlarged character pattern covering several lines printed on the recording medium line by line in response to the erasing instruction given by the commanding device.

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a document processing equipment which executes erasing en bloc of enlarged printed characters covering several lines. Background of the Invention The printing systems presently employed for document processing such as electronic typewriter are divided into two types, one being an impact system wherein daisy wheel etc. is struck by a hammer to transfer the ink from the ribbon coated with an ink to a sheet of paper and the thermal transcription system wherein thermal head etc. is heated so that ink is transferred from the ribbon coated with an ink to a sheet by heat. Erasing en bloc of a character line printed on a sheet is executed by specifying the scope of words in the document memory and erasing every character contained in such scope. Printing and erasing systems are proposed for example in GB-A-2156559 and EP-A-0238328. It may be useful with such document processing equipment to execute printing of enlarged characters such as characters enlarged 4 times by using double character width and double character height or characters enlarged 9 times by using triple character width and triple character height, in which one character is divided to cover plural number of lines such as two or three lines depending on the width of ink ribbon and it is printed by shifting the sheet in the longitudinal direction of the sheet. In this case, in a possible manner to erase an enlarged character, erasing is done over plural number of lines by shifting the sheet in longitudinal direction of the sheet. Figure 2 is the model drawing to explain the order of steps of erasing en bloc of the word composed of characters enlarged by 4 times. Figure 2A is an example of performance of erasing en bloc of a character line in the above possible method wherein steps 1 ○ to 6 ○ are executed by this order. In the Figure, step 1 ○ is erasing of lower half of A, 2 ○ - upper half of A, 3 ○ - lower half of B, 4 ○ - upper half of B, 5 ○ - lower half of C and 6 ○ - upper half of C. At this time, at the change-over of action at the end of each step, namely, at the change-over from,1 ○ to 2 ○, 2 ○ to 3 ○, 3 ○ to 4 ○, 4 ○ to 5 ○, 5 ○ to 6 ○ and at the end of 6 ○, the sheet is shifted in the longitudinal direction. However, in the aforesaid example, when the characters composing the character line are enlarged characters, the sheet is shifted in longitudinal direction at each performance of erasing of one character and it brings about the following problems: (1) Processing speed is slow. (2) Accuracy of erasing is low. (3) Power consumption is large. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention there is provided a document processing apparatus as set out in claim 1 and an erasing apparatus as set out in claim 10. The remaining claims set out optional features. By conducting en bloc erasing of enlarged characters printed on a sheet of paper as line by line erasing of character portions, embodiments of the present invention may provide document processing equipment in which the frequency of shifting of a sheet in longitudinal direction is reduced and which can increase erasing speed and improve erasing accuracy and thus saving the power consumption. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING Figure 1 is a block diagram to show the construction of the present example of embodiment. Figures 2A and 2B are the model drawings to indicate an example of erasing action. Figures 3 to 6 are the flow charts to indicate the order of control in the present example of embodiment. Figures 7A and 7B are the drawings to explain the printing process of the thermal transcription system. Figures 8A and 8B are the drawings to explain the erasing process of thermal transcription system and Figure 9 is the flow chart to indicate the control step of the erasing action. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT Hereunder is given the detailed explanation of a preferred embodiment of the present invention in reference to the attached drawings. 〈Explanation of composition - (Figure 1)〉 Figure 1 is a block diagram to indicate the composition of the document processing equipment of the present example of embodiment. 1 is an input section composed of key board etc., wherein character keys and command keys not shown in the drawing are arranged at specified position and key code data are input into the system bus 2a when these keys are depressed. 2 is the central processing unit (CPU) to process the document data which is composed of system bus 2a, processor 2b, random access memory (RAM) 2c, read only memory (ROM) 2e etc. System bus 2a plays the role to transmit the key code data input by key board 1 and the data of RAM 2c or ROM 2e to the processor 2b. Processor 2b controls the actions of each unit according to the contents of control program 2f which is present in ROM 2e. RAM 2c is the memory to store the data to be processed by processor 2b and it has the line buffer 2d which stores the input document data. 2h in RAM 2c is an area to store the position data of the character in the pointer to be stated later and the position data of the carrier. ROM 2e stores the programs 2f of the processor 2b to be stated later (control procedures shown in Figures 3, 4, 5, 6 and 9) and has memory 2g which stores the dot pattern of the character being printed, etc. 3 is the printer to output the formed documents stored in the line buffer 2d and thermal head and ink ribbon for printing are provided on a carrier 3a. 4 is the display device to display the formed documents etc. stored in line buffer 2d. 〈Explanation of en bloc erasing (Figures (3 - 9)〉 Next, the performance of en bloc erasing of the present equipment composed as aforesaid is explained according to the control procedures shown in Figures 3 to 6 and 9. Character data input one after another by the operator at the key board 1 are stored in line buffer 2d via processor 2b and they are printed out by printer 3. When carrier 3a is on the word composed of characters enlarged 4 times and the key 1a to order erasing en bloc of the word present on key board 1 is depressed, the key code data input by key board 1 are delivered to the processor 2b through system bus 2a. CPU 2b judges that the key code data are the command for execution of erasing en bloc of the word and transfers the control to the en bloc erasing of the word in the control program 2f. Figure 3 is the flow chart to indicate the control procedures of en bloc erasing of the word to be executed by CPU 2b. In Figure 3, step S1 shows the step of moving the carrier 3a to the position of printing head character of the word in reference to the character data stored in line buffer 2d. Step S2 shows the step of storing the printing position of the head character of word to be erased, which becomes the position of the carrier at the end of en bloc erasing of the word, in the temporary memory in RAM 2c. Step S3 indicates the step to execute erasing of the lower line or the lower stage during the erasing of the word made of enlarged characters covering 2 lines. The succeeding step S4 shows the step to execute erasing of the upper line or the upper stage during the erasing of the word made of enlarged characters covering two lines. In step S5, the data of erased word are deleted from the line buffer 2d and the state of printing and display of printer 3 and display device 4 are adjusted with the contents of the line buffer 2d. Figure 4 shows the concrete control procedures for the movement of carrier 3a to the position of head character of the word of 8 step S1 indicated in Figure 3. The character data already printed are stored in the line buffer 2d as the data of the kind and position of the character. The storing position on line buffer 2d which indicates the character printed at the left side and closest to the position of carrier 3a is indicated by the pointer and the position data of such character and that of carrier 3a are stored in the temporary memory 2h in RAM 2c. In step S11, the distance by which the carrier 3a should be moved is obtained in reference to the contents of temporary memory 2h. Then processing proceeds to step S12 wherein the carrier is moved by the distance obtained as aforesaid. During the motion of carrier 3a, the thermal head is in a raised state and winding of the printing ribbon provided at the printer 3 is not executed. In step S13, judgement is made whether the character at the position of carrier 3a is the character at the head beginning of the word or not and the succeeding actions are determined according to the results of such judgement. Since the character at the position of carrier 3a is verified by the pointer on the line buffer 2d, whether a character is the head character of a word or not is judged in such way that CPU 26 judges whether the position relation (distance) between the character presently in the pointer and the character immediately preceding such character represents the state of the head end of the word or not in reference to the kind of character. The condition to constitute the head end of the word are one of the following 3 states: (1) The character immediately preceding the character in the pointer is a blank character. (2) The distance between the character in the pointer and the character immediately preceding such character differs from the calculated distance between characters. (3) There exists no character on the same line and at the left side of the character in the pointer. When the above three items are checked and any one of the three conditions is satisfied, the processing of step S1 ends. When none of the aforesaid conditions are satisfied, it judges that the character presently in the pointer is not the head character of the word. Then processing proceeds to step S14 and the pointer on the line buffer 2d is moved back by one character steps S11 - S13 are repeated and carrier 3a is moved to the head character of the word. In the step S2, the present position by carrier 3a is memorized in RAM 2c. It is done for the re-entry of the character after erasing of a word. Figure 5 is a flow chart to indicate the concrete control procedures for the execution of erasing of the lower stage of the word in step 3 indicated in Figure 3. In this step S31, erasing of the character printed at the position of carrier 3a is executed. During erasing, carrier 3a is moved rightward with its thermal head kept down and simultaneously, the printing ribbon set on the printer 3 is wound up. In the case of the impact type printer, it is necessary to move the carrier 3a to the position of the succeeding character after the above step but in the case of thermal transcription type printer, such step is unnecessary as the thermal head moves from left to right at the time of erasing. It is also unnecessary to hold thermal head up or down for the succeeding erasing of characters. In step S32, judgement is made whether the erased character is the character at the end of the word or not and succeeding actions are determined based on the results of such judgement. Whether the erased character is the end character of the word or not is judged by checking the following three conditions: (1) The character immediately following the erased character is a blank character. (2) The distance between the erased character and the character immediately following thereto differs from the calculated distance between characters. (3) There exists no character on the same line and at the right side of the erased character. When the above three conditions are checked and if none of them are satisfied, it is judged that the erased character is not the end character of the word. Then in step S33, the pointer is set at the character to be erased next and the step S31, for en bloc erasing of the lower stage of the word is repeated. If one of the above condition is satisfied, the en bloc erasing of the lower stage of the word is regarded to have been completed and the processing proceeds to step S34. At step S34, the pointer is again returned to the position of the head of the word to execute en bloc erasing of the upper stage of the word. Then the mode proceeds to step S35 and the carrier 3a is moved to the position where the head of the erased word was printed, in reference to the value stored in RAM 2c at step S2. Figure 6 is the flow chart to indicate the concrete control procedure of erasing of the upper stage of the word in step S4 indicated in Figure 3. At step S41, the size of the character in the pointer is checked. When it is found that the character is not an enlarged character, the mode proceeds to step S42 and judgement is made whether the character in the pointer is the end of the word or not as in the case of step S32 stated above. If it is the end of the word, it is concluded that the word to be erased has no enlarged character and thus erasing of the upper stage ends. If it is not the end of the word, the mode proceeds to step S43, the pointer to indicate the position in the line buffer 2d is moved to the succeeding character and processing is repeated until enlarged character is found. When the results of judgement in step S41 show that the character is an enlarged character, the mode proceeds to step S44. At step S44, the position of sheet is moved backward by one line to erase the upper stage of the enlarged character and the thermal head is set at the upper stage of the character line. Then at step S45, the character printed at the present carrier position is erased as the case of erasing in step S31, and at the same time carrier 3a is shifted to the next printing position. In step S46, judgement is made whether the character in the pointer is the end of the word or not as in the case of step S42 and then the succeeding action are determined based on the results of such judgement. If it is not an end of the word, the mode proceeds to step S49 and the pointer to indicate the position of line buffer 2d is moved to the succeeding character as in the case of step S43. At step S48, checking similar to that of step S41 is executed and if the character in the pointer is an enlarged character, mode is promoted to the aforesaid step S45 for erasing. However, if the character is not an enlarged character, mode proceeds to step S49 and carrier 3a is shifted rightward for the width of the character in the pointer by omitting erasing action, to set the carrier at the printing position of the succeeding character. When erasing is completed up to the end of the word by the above processing, the mode is moved to step S410 and the sheet is moved by one line width in the direction opposite to the direction of feeding of sheet in step S44, and thermal head is set at the lower stage of the character line. At step S411, carrier 3a is moved to the position where the head of the erased word was printed in reference to the value stored in RAM 2C in S2 as in the case of the aforesaid step S35 and thus erasing of the upper stage of the word is completed. When the aforesaid processing is over, the mode proceeds to step S5 and the data of the erased word are deleted from the line buffer 2d and the value of the distance between the character immediately preceding the erased word and the character immediately succeeding such word is renewed. Fibure 2B is the drawing to show the order of steps of erasing the aforesaid enlarged character. As indicated in the drawing, when erasing is done in the order of 1 ○' - 6 ○' as shown in the drawing, movement of sheet in longitudinal direction is small and the processing speed increases as compared to the conventional system. Figure 7 is the drawing to illustrate the actual process of printing by the thermal transcription printer. In the Figure, 7 is the platen to support the sheet, S is the sheet, 63 is the printing head to execute printing or erasing and 63a is the thermal head which is the heated part of printing head 63. R is the ribbon, 900 is the substrate of ribbon R and 901 is the multiple ink layers. B1 is the recorded image. To be more concrete, as shown in Figure 7A, with the printing head 63 held in depressed state carrier 3a is moved to the direction of A1, printing ribbon R is wound up in the direction reverse to A1 and thermal head 63a is heated. By so doing, ink layer 901 in semi-molten state detaches from the substrate 900 and it is transferred to sheet S to form the image B1, thus executing printing as shown in Figure 7B. Figure 8 is the drawing to illustrate the actual process of erasing by the thermal transcription type printer. 804 is the delay bar to delay separation of the ribbon. As illustrated in Figure 8A, in the state where printing head 63 is kept down and delay bar 804 is projected, carrier 3a is moved to the direction of A1, printing ribbon R is wound up in the direction in reverse to the direction of A1 and thermal head 63a is heated thus turning ink layer 901 into semi-molten state, causing recorded image B1 stick to the head. Since the delay lever 804 is projected, transfer of ink layer 901 and recorded image B1 to the sheet S is delayed and as the head cools, the ink ceases to be in semi-molten state and contrary to the example of Figure 7, ink layer 901 rips the recorded image B1 off the sheet S thus executing erasing shown in Figure 8B. Figure 9 shows the control procedure of erasing action of the printer by actual interrupt processing as stated in step S1 of Figure 5. In step S311, printing head 63 is kept down as shown in Figure 8 and delay lever 804 is caused to project to delay separation of the ribbon by step S312. Then the mode proceeds to step S313 and the width of the character to be erased stored in font 2g shown in Figure 1 is checked. Based on thus obtained character width, the steps S314 - 316 are repeated. At step S314, the carrier 3a is shifted rightward by one dot and at step S315, the thermal head 63a is heated to make the ink in semi-molten state and thus the print is ripped off. In step S316, printing ribbon R is wound up and in step S317, it is judged if the processing for the character width is over or not. When processing of one character width is over, processing is promoted to step S318, and judgement is made if the data of the character to be erased next are sufficient as the parameter to be given to the printer. If there are sufficient parameters the mode returns to step S313, erasing of the succeeding character is continued without raising the thermal head 63a and display lever 804. When erasing of a character is over but the data of the succeeding character are not yet set, the mode proceeds to step S319, delay lever 804 is lifted and printing head 63 is lifted in step S320 and the processing ends. As detailed in the above, according to the present embodiment of the invention, en bloc erasing of a word composed of the characters enlarged to cover plural number of lines is executed by dividing the data line by line thus minimizing the frequency of moving of the sheet in longitudinal direction. As the result, the following advantages are obtained (1) Improvement of processing speed (2) Improvement of erasing accuracy (3) Reduction of power consumption In the present embodiment of the invention, an example of en bloc erasing of the word composed of characters enlarged 4 times has been explained but this invention may be applied to increase the efficiency of erasing of the word composed of characters enlarged to cover 3 or more lines. For example, in order to execute en bloc erasing of the word composed of characters enlarged 9 times by enlarging character width 3 times and character height 3 times, dividing such character in line units, it is sufficient to simply add one more processing step after step S4 in the flow chart of Figure 3. In the present embodiment of the invention, en bloc erasing of the word is used as an example but the similar effect is obtained when character line in certain designated range is to be erased. For example, this invention may be applied also to the case where erasing action is done en bloc from left to right as against the continuous operation of one character erasing command key. As explained above, in the present embodiments, the frequency of shifting of the sheet in longitudinal direction of sheet can be minimized by dividing the execution of the en bloc erasing function of enlarged characters covering plural number of lines into one line units. Thus the processing speed increases, erasing accuracy improves and power consumption is reduced.

Claims: A document processing apparatus comprising: input means (1) for inputting enlarged character data; memory means (2c) for storing the enlarged character data input by said input means; printing/erasing means (3) which can print or erase the enlarged character data stored in said memory means in the form of a plurality of enlarged character patterns such that a single pattern covers a plurality of lines on a recording medium; commanding means (1a) for generating an instruction for erasing a plurality of enlarged character patterns printed on the recording medium by said printing/erasing means; and control means (2b, 2f) for controlling said printing/erasing means, in response to the erasing instruction generated by said commanding means, to erase en bloc the plurality of printed enlarged character patterns by erasing the character portions of the enlarged characters to be erased which are character portions existing at one of the said lines and then repeating the erasing operation line by line as needed to erase the character portions of the enlarged characters to be erased which are character portions existing at any other one of the said lines. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said memory means (2c) also stores position data for printing enlarged character patterns corresponding to the enlarged character data. An apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the erasing instruction generated by said commanding means includes an instruction for erasing a plurality of enlarged character patterns in word units. An apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 3, further comprising detecting means for detecting the position of the head of a word to be erased, comprising a plurality of enlarged character patterns printed on the recording medium, in response to the erasing instruction generated by said commanding means. An apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said control means controls said printing/erasing means to erase en bloc the plurality of printed enlarged character patterns forming the word starting from the position of the head of the word detected by said detecting means. An apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said printing/erasing means comprises a thermal transfer printer. An apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein said printing/erasing means comprises an impact printer. An apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said control means further comprises means for erasing from said memory means enlarged character data corresponding to the plurality of enlarged character patterns on the recorded medium erased by said printing/erasing means. An apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising character pattern memory means (2g) for storing a plurality of kinds of character patterns including enlarged character patterns. Apparatus for erasing printed characters arranged in a line on a record medium, using a head (63) movable relative to the record medium, in which the apparatus has an erasing mode for erasing characters extending transverse to the line direction for a distance greater than can be erased without moving the head (63) relative to the record medium transverse to the line direction, in which erasing mode the head is moved relative to the record medium in the line direction to erase parts of characters at a plurality of positions along the line before moving it relative to the record medium transverse to the line direction to erase further parts of the same characters. Apparatus according to claim 10 in which the said printed characters are stored in a memory (2c) as codes sequentially defining complete characters.

Inventors: SHIBAOKA HIDEO, SHIBAOKA, HIDEO
Applicants: CANON KK, CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Application year: 1990
Main classification: B41J29
IPC codes: B41J29, G06F3, G06K15, G06F17