Seiko Epson Corporation

King Jim Co., Ltd.

Other

Yoshiya Toyosawa

Takeshi Hosokawa

Kenji Watanabe

Takanobu Kameda

Tomoyuki Shimmura

Hiroyasu Kurashina

Chieko Aida

Kiyoshi Ogawa

Takuya Suetani

Tomoyuki Shimmra

A tape printing apparatus and method for printing a series of characters on a tape including an input device to input a series of characters, and a display device coupled to the input device and configured to display the series of characters. A tape length calculator is coupled to the input device to automatically calculate a total length of tape to be printed based upon the series of characters. The printing apparatus further includes a unit selector to convert the total length into a displayed length of a selected unit of length selected from at least two different choices of units of length, and a tape length display for displaying the displayed length in the selected unit of length prior to printing. A storage device is coupled to the unit selector and is adapted to store the length unit as a selected display unit.

Tape printing device and method

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

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

A tape printing assembly for editing input data of up to 'n' lines which includes a main display formed to display the edited input data in 'p' lines, where &lsquo;p&rsquo; is an integer between 1 to at most &lsquo;n&rsquo;&minus;1. A display controller is adapted to control the editing procedure and display of the input data of a line currently being edited on the main display, while simultaneously indicating on an auxiliary display the line currently edited. In another aspect, a line number indicator, corresponding to a line of input data, is positioned proximate and adjacent to the line on the main display. Upon a selected portion of the input data being positioned within a display area, the line number indicator is positioned proximate to and moves with the selected portion. Upon the selected portion being scrolled beyond an end of the display area, the line number indicator is fixed relative the display area proximate the end thereof.

Tape printing and editing assembly

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

There are provided a print image-forming device and device for forming print images and a printing apparatus incorporating the device. A basic image is created which has a plurality of elementary images including at least one fixed-sized elementary image and at least one variable-sized elementary image. A reduced image of the basic image is formed as the print image by reducing at least one of the at least one variable-sized elementary image of the basic image, when the basic image cannot be printed as the print image within the printing area.

Print image-forming method and device and 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 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.

Tape printing method

A character information processor which can be applied to a tape printing device. The character information processor is provided with a read-only memory in which a table containing the levels of alternatives of a menu hierarchical structure set correspondingly to each edition function is stored. When an edition level is selected by an operator by keying, only edition operations, which are available at the selected edition level, are displayed on the screen of a display unit as choices. An example of the function of editing a character string is a function for enabling the restoration of a text, on which an edition operation such as an input operation and a deleting operation has been once performed. This function is implemented by providing a restoration buffer in the processor and by storing a character or a character string, on which an operation is performed, and a cause-for-restoration parameter representing a kind of an operation in the processor each time when an operation such as an input and a deletion is performed, and by performing a restoration operation according to the cause-for-restoration parameter. Further, regarding an operation of editing a printing layout, the processor has an operation of performing a text alignment by converting a full-size space, which is inputted by keying similarly as in the case of an ordinary character, into a half-size space to be treated as a space of a size, which is half of the size of a full-size character, when printing.

Character information processor for printing characters

The present invention aims to produce a label which has a size, margins and a character arrangement as a user desired, and aims to reduce a wasteful consumption of tape. In a tape printing device of the present invention, there is established an enlargement printing mode in which a large pseudo label, whose width is wider than the width of tape, can be obtained when the tape is divided into division portions in the longitudinal direction of the tape and when the division portions are arranged in the direction of the width of the tape. When printing in this mode, the tape printing device prints not only a character string but a marker which indicates the dividing positions in the longitudinal direction of the tape, with the intention of improving the quality of the pseudo label. Further, the tape printing device of the present invention has the function of automatically setting the length of the front and rear margins according to the width of the tape and the function of printing a square-array dot pattern on a wide region which is wider than the character string. Moreover, the tape printing device of the present invention has the function of feeding the tape, for example, between a print head and a cutter, when instructing to stop printing the character string, without printing characters. Furthermore, the tape printing device of the present invention has the function of printing a character string even when accelerating and decelerating a tape feeding motor. Thus, desirable margins or the like can be realized and the reduction in wasteful consumption of the tape can be achieved by making use of theses functions. Additionally, the tape printing device of the present invention has the function of inputting, taking in and printing (1/M)-scale reduced numeric characters, each of which has a size that is (1/M) the size of a full-size character. Thus, the variety of the manners of printing numeric characters can be increased.

Tape printing device with cutter and program to allow for printing on

A tape printing apparatus for printing a series of characters on a tape including an input device to input a series of characters, and a display device coupled to the input device and configured to display the series of characters. A tape length calculator is coupled to the input device to automatically calculate a total length of tape to be printed based upon the series of characters. The printing apparatus further includes a unit selector to convert the total length into a displayed length of a selected unit of length selected from at least two different choices of units of length, and a tape length display for displaying the displayed length in the selected unit of length prior to printing. A storage device is coupled to the unit selector and is adapted to store the length unit as a selected display unit.

Character information processing device equipped with a layout display

The tape printing device of the present invention has the function of automatically setting the length of the front and rear margins according to the width of the tape and the function of printing a square-array dot pattern on a wide region which is wider than the character string. Moreover, the tape printing device of the present invention has the function of feeding the tape, for example, between a print head and a cutter, when instructing to stop printing the character string, without printing characters.

A character information processor which can be applied to a tape printing device. The character information processor is provided with a read-only memory in which a table containing the levels of alternatives of a menu hierarchical structure set correspondingly to each edition function is stored. When an edition level is selected by an operator by keying, only edition operations, which are available at the selected edition level, are displayed on the screen of a display unit as choices. An example of the function of editing a character string is a function for enabling the restoration of a text, on which an edition operation such as an input operation and a deleting operation has been once performed. This function is implemented by providing a restoration buffer in the processor and by storing a character or a character string, on which an operation is performed, and a cause-for-restoration parameter representing a kind of an operation in the processor each time when an operation such as an input and a deletion is performed, and by performing a restoration operation according to the cause-for-restoration parameter.

Growing community of inventors

Suwa, Japan

Yoshiya Toyosawa