Tape printing device for printing characters and frames

Claim 2

A tape printing device for printing an image on tape medium, comprising: input means for inputting image data including character data; memory means for storing the image data; partial frame selecting means for selecting portions of the image data for framing in a partial enclosed frame and storing data corresponding to the selected portions in said memory means; overall frame selecting means for selecting an overall enclosed frame for the image that overlaps and encompasses at least part of the selected portions of the image in the partial enclosed frame and storing data corresponding to an overall enclosed frame in said memory means; display means for displaying image data input from said input means and for displaying the selected portions of the image data for the partial enclosed frame, wherein said display means includes a partial frame display means for displaying which characters are selected to be partially framed and for indicating boundaries of the selected partial frame; and print means for retrieving data from said memory means and printing the image, the partial enclosed frame and the overall enclosed frame on the tape medium based on the data retrieved.

Claim 3

The tape printing device of claim 1, wherein said memory means comprises an input memory for storing image data input from said input means and an image buffer for storing image data retrieved from said input memory, the selected portions of image data for the partial frame and the overall frame as print image data.

Claim 4

The tape printing device of claim 2, further comprising an image data transferring means for transferring image data from said input memory to said image buffer.

Claim 5

The tape printing device of claim 3, wherein said image data transferring means allocates the image data transferred from said input memory as a print pattern in said image buffer.

Claim 6

The tape printing device of claim 1, wherein said display means includes a character display displaying characters derived from the character data input from said input means and displays a mark indicating the partial frame.

Claim 7

The tape printing device of claim 1, wherein said print means includes combining means for combining the data corresponding to the selected portions for the partial frame and the data corresponding to the overall frame stored in said memory means for printing.

Claim 8

The tape printing device of claim 1, further comprising editing means for editing the data input from said input means.

Claim 9

A tape printing device for printing an image on a tape medium, comprising: a housing having receiving means for receiving a tape cassette with tape medium; input means coupled to said housing for inputting image data including character data; memory means coupled to said housing for storing the image data; partial frame selecting means coupled to said housing for selecting portions of the image data for framing in a partial enclosed frame and storing data corresponding to the selected portions in said memory means; overall frame selecting means coupled to said housing for selecting an overall enclosed frame for the image that overlaps and surrounds the selected portions of the image in the partial enclosed frame and storing data corresponding to an overall enclosed frame in said memory means; display means coupled to said housing for displaying image data input from said input means and for displaying the selected portions of the image data for the partial enclosed frame, wherein said display means includes a partial frame display means for displaying which characters are selected to be partially framed and for indicating boundaries of the selected partial frame; print means coupled to said housing for retrieving data from said memory means and printing the image, the partial enclosed frame and the overall enclosed frame on the tape medium based on the data retrieved; a removable tape cassette housing tape medium removably coupled to said receiving means; a tape feeding means in said housing for feeding said tape medium from said tape cassette to said print means; and a feed control means coupled to said housing for controlling feeding of said tape medium to said print means.

Claim 10

A tape printing device for printing an image on a tape medium, comprising: a housing having receiving means for receiving a tape cassette with tape medium; input means coupled to said housing for inputting image data including character data; memory means coupled to said housing for storing the image data; partial frame selecting means coupled to said housing for selecting portions of the image data for framing in a partial enclosed frame and storing data corresponding to the selected portions in said memory means; overall frame selecting means coupled to said housing for selecting an overall enclosed frame for the image that overlaps and surrounds the selected portions of the image in the partial enclosed frame and storing data corresponding to an overall enclosed frame in said memory means; display means coupled to said housing for displaying image data input from said input means and for displaying the selected portions of the image data for the partial enclosed frame, wherein said display means includes a partial frame display means for displaying which characters are selected to be partially framed and for indicating boundaries of the selected partial frame; print means coupled to said housing for retrieving data from said memory means and printing the image, the partial enclosed frame and the overall enclosed frame on the tape medium based on the data retrieved; a removable tape cassette housing tape medium removably coupled to said receiving means; a tape feeding means in said housing for feeding said tape medium from said tape cassette to said print means; and a feed control means coupled to said housing for controlling feeding of said tape medium to said print means.

Claim 11

The tape printing device of claim 8, wherein said tape medium includes a printing tape and a double sided adhesive strip secured to said tape.

Claim 12

The tape printing device of claim 8, wherein said print means includes an array of thermal print heads.

Claim 13

The tape printing device of claim 8, wherein said memory means comprises an input memory for storing image data input from said input means and an image buffer for storing image data retrieved from said memory means, the selected portions of image data for the partial frame and the overall frame as print image data.

Claim 14

The tape printing device of claim 11, further comprising an image data transferring means for transferring image data from said input memory to said image buffer and for allocating the image data transferred from said input memory as a print pattern in said image buffer.

Claim 15

The tape printing device of claim 8, wherein said print means includes combining means for combining the data corresponding to the selected portions for the partial frame and the data corresponding to the overall frame stored in said memory means for printing.

Claim 16

The tape printing device of claim 8, further comprising warning means coupled to said housing for warning an operator when the selected partial frame encompasses an area without characters.

Claim 17

The tape printing device of claim 8, further comprising editing means coupled to said housing for editing the data input from said input means.

Claim 20

The method of claim 16, wherein the steps of selecting the partial frame and the overall frame include selecting from a group of options including no frame, a partial frame only, an overall frame only and both a partial frame and an overall frame.

Claim 21

The method of claim 16, wherein the step of storing the image data includes the steps of storing the image data in an input memory, transferring the image data from the input memory to an image buffer and allocating the image data transferred from the input memory as an image pattern in the image buffer.