Seiko Epson Corporation

King Jim Co., Ltd.

Other

Seiko Epson Corporation and King Jim Co., Ltd.

Chieko Aida

Kenji Watanabe

Takanobu Kameda

Tomoyuki Shimmura

Hiroyasu Kurashina

Takeshi Hosokawa

Yoshiya Toyosawa

Kenichi Nakajima

Hideki Oikawa

Hiroshi Kuriyama

Eiji Tukahara

Yoshikiyo Furuya

Noriyuki Kamijo

Yuichiro Taniguchi

Shigekazu Yanagisawa

Susumu Takatsu

Machiko Kano

Atsuko Yamaguchi

Takeyasu Suzuki

Yoshiyuki Takeuchi

Akira Hashimoto

Tomoyuki Ichikawa

Teruhiko Unno

Masaji Takayama

Chie Ohshima

Rui Kondoh

Tape printing device is provided with the second and third screen modes M and M , in which the input document and its layout can be simultaneously displayed on the same screen. These modes can be switched by operating layout image simultaneous display key . The user can enter a document while viewing its layout image displayed on the same screen to obtain the desired layout. Thus, the present invention provides a user-friendly character information processing device in which the user can enter a document while viewing the layout image on screen to obtain the desired layout.

Character information processing device equipped with a layout display function

A code entry method obtains a desired character from one of a plurality of code-character conversion tables associated with different code systems in which one or more codes correspond to respective different characters and one or more characters are identified by different codes in the respective code systems. A code corresponding to the desired character in one of the plurality of code-character conversion tables is input. Different eligible characters identified by the input code in the respective plurality of code-character conversion tables are found, retrieved and displayed on a display screen. The desired character is selected from the displayed retrieved eligible characters. In one embodiment, only a first code-character conversion table contains the characters and the other code-character conversion tables identify the codes of the first code-conversion table corresponding to different codes of the other code-character conversion tables.

Method of selecting a character from a plurality of code character conversion tables

There is provided a printing apparatus for printing on a continuous tape. When a portion of a continuous tape having passed a thermal head is cut at a predetermined cutting position, a stepping motor is caused to stop driving the platen roller for rotation to stop feeding of the tape, and then the tape is cut off. During tape-cutting operation, the stepping motor is held in an energized state. When the printing operation is resumed after stopping the feeding and printing of the tape, the thermal head is caused to print on a portion of the tape printed by an immediately preceding printing operation by the thermal head, in an overlapping manner, by the use of identical printing data or printing data for a next line of dots.

Tape-printing apparatus with control of feeding and cutting of a tape

The present invention relates to a character information processor having a function of printing an input character string on a print medium. The character information processor of the present invention includes print-instruction issuing unit for issuing a print-halt-instruction-waiting consecutive-print instruction of repeatedly printing a same character string on the print medium until a print halt instruction is issued, and printing unit for repeatedly printing the same character string on the print medium when the print-halt-instruction-waiting consecutive-print instruction is issued. Also, the processor includes print-halt-instruction issuing unit for issuing a print halt instruction of halting the repeated printing conducted by the printing unit, and print halting unit for halting the repeated printing conducted by the printing unit when the print halt instruction is issued.

Character processing with indefinite continuous printing

When stoppage of printing on a tape is commanded, an automatic non-printing feed of the tape equal to the distance between the print head and a cutter is performed to enable cutting of the tape with minimum waste. Additionally the forming of leading and trailing margins on a printed tape less than the distance between the print head and cutter is enabled by providing deceleration and acceleration coupled with print pulse width variation corresponding to tape movement.

Tape printing device

There are provided a print image-forming method and device. Print image data of a dot matrix is formed in which print portions are represented by positive dots and blank portions are represented by negative dots. Basic image data formed in a manner such that when the basic image data is developed into a dot matrix, a group of image pixels formed by one of a set of positive dots and a set of negative dots is capable of representing a basic image, is read from a memory device. Developed image data item representative of the basic image is formed by developing the basic image data read from the memory device into a dot matrix which is smaller in size than the dot matrix of the print image data in at least one predetermined direction of a vertical direction and a horizontal direction. At least one shifted image data is formed by shifting the developed image data item by units of dots in the predetermine direction, and the print image data is formed by causing the developed image data item and the at least one shifted image data, to be superposed, upon one another, in a manner such that the group of image pixels overrides background pixels.

Print image-forming method and device

A stamp-making apparatus is provided in which a transparent presser plate is arranged such that the presser plate is parallel with a stamp-making object material, an ink ribbon having a stamp image formed thereon is urged against the stamp-making object material via the presser plate, and exposure of the stamp-making object material to light is carried out via the ink ribbon as a mask. A ribbon feeder rolls out an ink ribbon wound around one end portion thereof to a position facing the stamp-making object material, and then rolls up the ink ribbon around another end portion thereof. A relative translation of the presser plate and the stamp-making object material is made toward each other by moving at least one of the presser plate and the stamp-making object material to thereby urge the ink ribbon against the stamp-making object material. Guide means guides the ink ribbon when the ink ribbon is fed, to space between the presser plate and the stamp-making object material. Tension of the ink ribbon is regulated in a manner linked to operation of the relative translation of the presser plate and the stamp-making object material made toward each other.

Stamp-making apparatus, as well as function changeover mechanism,

A tape printing device includes a key input for inputting characters and symbols, a memory for storing data representing the input characters and symbols, a tape-width detector for detecting width of a loaded tape, an enlargement printing command receiver for receiving command information concerning an enlargement printing mode. In the enlargement printing mode a pseudo label, whose size is N times that of a label in a normal printing mode, is obtained when arranging tape-sections widthwise of the tape in such a manner as to join, after dividing the printed tape into N tape length sections, wherein N is an integer of at least two. A computer determines the printing attribute for each of the N tape sections in accordance with the characters and symbols stored in memory and tape width detected by the tape-width detector. A printer serially prints on the end character-string portions in the manner determined by the computer for the respective tape length sections. The method involves designating an enlargement ratio, detecting the tape width of the loaded tape, selecting one of plural character fonts for printing a character string and determining printing parameters for each of plural tape sections in accordance with the enlargement ratio, the tape width and the selected character font, the tape sections being obtained by dividing the tape across the length of the tape.

Tape printing device with character enlargement and rotation logic

The present invention relates to a character printing apparatus in which an input character string is printed on a plurality of print mediums loaded in the apparatus and having a transversal dimension, on which limitation is imposed, and different longitudinal dimensions. The character printing apparatus of the present invention is characterized in that the apparatus includes a line-gap dot-number determining device for determining a line-gap dot number representing the number of dots to be allocated to a line gap and an external-line-gap dot number representing the number of dots to be allocated to an external line gap, the line gap being formed between consecutive two lines of the character string, the external line gap being formed between an upper edge of the print medium and a first line of the character string and between a lower edge of the print medium and a last line of the character string, and that the determination of the line-gap dot number and the external-line-gap dot number by the line-gap determining device is conducted through an arithmetic operation on the basis of the transversal dimension of the print mediums thus loaded, the number of lines of the input character string, and the character sizes of the respective lines of the character string.

Character printing apparatus and method

The present invention relates to a character information printing apparatus for printing a previously inputted character string on a print medium in which at least a transversal dimension is fixed. The apparatus is adapted to introduce instruction information as to a special printing in which, when X print medium portions on which printings are completed are arranged contiguously in the longitudinal and transversal directions thereof, one quasi print resultant having a dimension X times that of each of the print medium portions is obtained. The apparatus includes special printing introducing means for introducing either an operation of performing printing on all the X print medium portions or an operation of performing printing on a part of the print medium portions located in a position specified in the print resultant; print attribute determining means for determining a print attribute, such as character position, with respect to each of the print medium portions; and printing means for printing, when the instruction of performing printing on a part of the print medium portions located in the position thus specified, a character string portion corresponding to the specified position on a print medium in accordance with the print attribute thus determined.

Character information printing apparatus

Tape-printing apparatus

For printing a label with user desired margins, a tape printer determines a first region in which a character string is to be printed, and determines a second region encompassing the first region and in which an array of dots is to be printed. The array of dots with the character string superimposed thereon is printed onto the tape. This array of dots is used as a reference to guide cutting of the tape to form a label with user desired margins.

A tape end trimming apparatus for appropriately cutting and shaping the ends of plural tapes of different widths without wasting the tape and without requiring replacement of the cutting blade is provided. The tape end trimming apparatus comprises cutting for trimming the corners of the end member of a tape. A guide member comprises tape insertion path for guiding an inserted tape to the cutting apparatus. An end position regulator regulates the insertion position of the tape end. The cutting apparatus comprises cutting blade for cutting the end corners at the sides of tape with the position of one side thereof regulated by one tape side position regulator and the position of the end thereof regulated by end position regulator, and the position of the other side thereof regulated by the other tape side position regulator and the position of the end thereof regulated by end position regulator.

Tape end trimming apparatus

Printer head release mechanism

A character string including one or more full-width characters and one or more half-width numerical characters is input and printed on a tape. The half-width characters are input by a symbol entering mode and have widths which are one-half the widths of ordinary characters. Two half-width numeric characters to be printed consecutively are developed in a font development area corresponding to that required for one full-width character so that the two half-width numeric characters can be handled as a single character.

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Chieko Aida