Tape printing device

Claim 2

A printing device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said determining means is arranged to determine said size by dividing the number of dots capable of being included in a predetermined width of the tape member by the number of lines of characters/symbols to be printed within the predetermined width.

Claim 3

A printing device as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the detecting means is arranged to detect the number of characters/symbols to be printed within a predetermined area and the determining means are arranged to determine the size of the characters/symbols to be printed based upon the number of characters/symbols.

Claim 4

A printing device as claimed in claim 3, further comprising means for setting the predetermined area within which the characters/symbols are to be printed.

Claim 5

A printing device as claimed in claim 3 or claim 4, wherein said determining means is arranged to determine said size by dividing the number of dots capable of being included in a line within the predetermined area by the number of characters/symbols to be printed within the predetermined area.

Claim 6

A printing device as claimed in claim 1, said device further comprising means for inputting a length of the tape member within which the characters/symbols are to be printed, and wherein the detecting means comprise first detecting means for detecting the number of characters/symbols to be printed in a line within said length of the tape member and second detecting means for detecting the number of lines to be printed within a predetermined width of the tape member, and wherein said determining means comprise means for determining the size of the characters/symbols based upon the number of characters/symbols detected by said first detecting means and on the number of lines detected by said second detecting means.

Claim 7

A printing device as claimed in claim 6, wherein said determining means is arranged to determine the size of the characters/symbols to be printed by determining a first size based upon the number of characters/symbols and a second size based upon the number of lines of characters/symbols, and thereafter selecting a smaller one of said first and second sizes as the size of characters/symbols to be printed.

Claim 8

A printing device as claimed in claim 7, wherein said determining means is arranged to determine said first size by dividing the number of dots capable of being included in a line within said length of tape member by the number of characters/symbols to be printed within said length.

Claim 9

A printing device as claimed in claim 7 or claim 8, wherein said determining means is arranged to determine said second size by dividing the number of dots capable of being included in said predetermined width by the number of lines of characters/symbols to be printed within said predetermined width.

Claim 10

A printing device as claimed in any of the preceding claims, further comprising memory means for storing dot data corresponding to a plurality of different sizes of characters/symbols, and wherein said determining means is arranged to select one of said plurality of sizes as the size of characters/symbols to be printed.

Claim 11

A printing device as claimed in any of the preceding claims, further comprising means for inhibiting printing when the size determined by said determining means is smaller than a predetermined size.

Claim 12

A combination of a printing device as claimed in any of the preceding claims with a cassette containing said tape member and for coupling with the printing device, said cassette comprising means for indicating the width of,the tape member contained therein.

Claim 13

A combination as claimed in claim 12, wherein said cassette comprises a case member, and wherein said indicating means comprises at least one projection on said case member for indicating that the width of the tape member contained in the cassette is of a first predetermined width.

Claim 14

A combination as claimed in claim 13, wherein said printing device comprises at least one sensor means for detecting, when said cassette is coupled with the printing device, the existence of said at least one projection, whereby it is detected that said tape member has said first width when the existence of said at least one projection is detected, and it is detected that said tape member has a second width when the existence of said at least one projection is not detected.

Claim 15

A combination as claimed in any of claims 12 to 14, wherein the printing device comprises means for inputting a length of the tape member within which length the characters/symbols are to be printed during a printing operation, and wherein said determining means,are arranged to determine the size of the characters/symbols to be printed based upon the number of characters/symbols to be printed within said length as well as on said number of lines.