US4600808A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Print apparatus for videotex terminal
Assignee: TIM SpA
•
Filing: 1984-05-08
•
Granted: 1986-07-15
•
Expires: 2004-05-08
Abstract
Abstract The apparatus comprises a dot printer (24) and a control unit for the printer connected to the line in parallel with a video display, the control unit is capable of processing the data received and storing it temporarily in a page memory in transcoded form in such a way as to associate with each character the relative print attributes and to be able directly to address a character generator. The control unit is capable of taking the transcoded data from the page memory for controlling the printer. The character generator comprises a portion for the alphanumeric characters, a portion for semigraphic characters and a portion for decoding colors with a corresponding grey value. The semigraphic characters are produced on a matrix of 10x12 dots in such a way that, for each grey value, the horizontal and vertical distance of the character dots of the same color remains constant.
Inventors
- 👤 Giuseppe Cosentino
- 👤 Franco Provera
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-25 22:20
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06K; G06K15/00; G06K2215/00; G06K2215/0002; G06K2215/002; G06K2215/0028; G06K2215/0082; G06K2215/0094; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S379/00; Y10S379/908
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 14
Claim 1
Independent Claim
190 words
An apparatus for a videotex communicating terminal comprising a modem for demodulating signals received from a line and representing coded data, a video display for displaying alphanumeric and semigraphic characters corresponding to said coded data, a dot printer for printing alphanumeric and semigraphic characters corresponding to said coded data on a print carrier, video control means connected between said modem and said video display for decoding the coded data received by said modem and controlling said video display to display the decoded characters, and a printer control unit connected between said modem and said printer for decoding the coded data received by said modem independently of said video control means and for controlling said printer to print the characters decoded by said printer control unit, said printer control unit including transcoding means for transcoding the coded data received by said modem and supplying the transcoded data to said printer, memory means for temporarily storing the data so transcoded, means for providing a selectively operable print command, and a character generator operable in response to said print command to decode the data stored in said memory means to control said printer.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
190 words
An apparatus for a videotex communicating terminal comprising a modem for demodulating signals received from a line and representing coded data, a video display for displaying alphanumeric and semigraphic characters corresponding to said coded data, a dot printer for printing alphanumeric and semigraphic characters corresponding to said coded data on a print carrier, video control means connected between said modem and said video display for decoding the coded data received by said modem and controlling said video display to display the decoded characters, and a printer control unit connected between said modem and said printer for decoding the coded data received by said modem independently of said video control means and for controlling said printer to print the characters decoded by said printer control unit, said printer control unit including transcoding means for transcoding the coded data received by said modem and supplying the transcoded data to said printer, memory means for temporarily storing the data so transcoded, means for providing a selectively operable print command, and a character generator operable in response to said print command to decode the data stored in said memory means to control said printer.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
76 words
Apparatus according to claim 1, characterised in that said memory means include two page memories (51, 52) controlled by the transcoding means in such a way as to alternate loading of the data into the two page memories, whereby while one page is being loaded the other page can be controlled by the print command and accumulating means for accumulating the data so decoded in a print buffer (71) for controlling a printer actuating unit (58).
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
113 words
Apparatus according to claim 2, characterised in that said printer control unit comprises a microprocessor (46) incorporating the transcoding means and said accumulating means, said microprocessor being capable of transcoding print attributes of a character into a single attribute code, whereby each character is stored in the page memories with a byte indicating the character and a byte indicating the relevant attribute code, the microprocessor being so programmed as to alternate the loading of a line of characters in one of said page memories (51, 52) with decoding of a line taken from the other page memory, said actuating unit being controlled in a time sharing mode with the loading and decoding operations.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
28 words
Apparatus according to claim 3, characterised in that the attributes of each alphanumeric character comprise indications on at least one of the two dimensions of the alphanumeric character.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
31 words
Apparatus according to claim 3, characterised in that the attributes of each semigraphic character comprise indications in respect of the colour of the background and the colour of the semigraphic character.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
54 words
Apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the character generator comprises a read only memory (48) wherein the dots to be printed for each character are recorded, characterised in that said read only memory (48) comprises a first portion (76) for generating said alphanumeric characters and a second portion (74) for generating said semigraphic characters.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
47 words
Apparatus according to claim 6, characterised in that said read only memory (48) further comprises a third portion (75) for generating for each colour code a corresponding grey value whereby a coloured image received by the video display is printed as a monochrome image with half tones.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
72 words
Apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said semigraphic data are decoded by the second memory portion (74) as colour pixels, characterised in that the third memory portion (75) is capable of decoding each pixel in accordance with a dot matrix wherein the number of black dots in the matrix represents the value of the grey, the horizontal and vertical distances of the dots for adjacent pixels of the same colour being constant.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
52 words
Apparatus according to claim 7, characterised by control means (39) for conditioning said microprocessor (46) to reverse the colour of the semigraphic character with that of the background to produce a negative print, and other control means (41, 37) for conditioning said microprocessor to perform the reversal only in black and white.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
78 words
Apparatus according to claim 9, characterised in that said microprocessor (46) is adapted to control the decoding by the read only memory (48) for selectively obtaining pixels either as contiguous semigraphic characters formed by a matrix of 2×3 cells wherein each cell may assume various grey values or as negative semigraphic characters formed by a matrix of 2×3 cells wherein each cell has a central portion with the grey value and a contour portion with the background colour.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
49 words
Apparatus according to claim 3, characterised in that the printer operates serially on a line of print, the microprocessor (46) being capable of loading said alphanumeric characters and said semigraphic characters into the print buffer (71) as a column of dots to be printed, each represented by two bytes.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
31 words
Apparatus according to claim 4, characterised in that in response to a double-height attribute of an alphanumeric character, the printer is conditioned to print each elementary line of the character twice.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
85 words
Apparatus according to claim 1, characterised in that the printer comprises a single ink jet print element for printing one dot at a time, said print element being movable with an alternating motion along a line, means (33, 36) being provided to advance the print carrier by an elementary line spacing during one of the alternating movements of the print element, said printing actuating unit being conditioned by said memory means for supplying said print element with control signals arranged according to said alternating motion.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
US4000486A
Cited
US4156904A
Cited
US4328557A
Cited
US4412304A
Cited
US4424572A
Cited
US4393404A
Cited
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1989-07-14 | 1990-01-13 | 1990-07-15 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1993-07-14 | 1994-01-13 | 1994-07-15 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1997-07-14 | 1998-01-13 | 1998-07-15 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |