Facsimile and static presentation processing – Static presentation processing – Character or font
Reexamination Certificate
1999-09-02
2003-03-25
Evans, Arthur G. (Department: 2622)
Facsimile and static presentation processing
Static presentation processing
Character or font
Reexamination Certificate
active
06538756
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to information processing apparatuses such as word processors and computers, and more particularly to an information processing apparatus incorporating a pattern generator for generating patterns of characters, including symbols and pictorial symbols, and a recording medium on which pattern generation programs for use in the pattern generator are recorded.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Conventionally, for an information processing apparatus such as a word processor, some pattern generating methods for generating patterns of characters including symbols and pictorial symbols have been proposed. For example, Japanese laid-open patent application No. (Tokukaihei) 3-169655 (published on Jul. 23, 1991) discloses a “color image output and display method” of generating a colored character by dividing a single character pattern into a plurality of strokes, defining outline approximation information for each stroke, assigning a stroke number and a color code corresponding to the stroke number to each stroke, restoring the outline of each stroke from the outline approximation information in a color image memory during output and display, and putting color of a specified color code into the inside of each outline.
However, with the method of Japanese laid-open patent application No. (Tokukaihei) 3-169655, when generating colored characters of various different typefaces, it is necessary to set a stroke number and assign a color code for every character of each typeface. Moreover, the color code which is once assigned for generating a character of a typeface can not be used for generating the character of a different typeface. Therefore, when generating Chinese kanji characters, this method suffers from a problem that it is necessary to store color codes for the strokes of more than about 7000 characters for each typeface and the volume of information becomes extremely large.
Moreover, with this method of assigning a color code to each stroke number, it is impossible to put color into the inside of a stroke geometrically and in a complex manner.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the above-mentioned problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide an information processing apparatus capable of easily producing high-quality patterns, which are colored in various ways according to typeface, by reducing the number of steps of producing data and the data volume necessary for generating patterns by putting a plurality of colors into each stroke of characters including symbols and pictorial symbols.
In order to achieve the above object, an information processing apparatus of the present invention is an information processing apparatus for generating patterns of characters including symbols and pictorial symbols, and generates a pattern of a character by drawing constituent elements constituting the character according to type skeletal shape information indicating a skeletal shape of the character and element shape information indicating an outline shape and a skeletal shape of each of the constituent elements, and by combining the constituent elements drawn.
With this structure, since a pattern is generated by drawing constituent elements of a character according to the type skeletal shape information indicating a skeletal shape of the character and element shape information indicating an outline shape and a skeletal shape of each of the constituent elements of the character and by combining the constituent elements drawn, an outline of a desired pattern can be generated by deforming the element shape according to the type skeletal shape, in accordance with the type skeletal shape information indicating the skeletal shape of the character and the element shape information including the outline shapes and skeletal shapes of minimum elements constituting the character, which are sorted according to typeface.
More specifically, compared with a conventional font development which requires designing of patterns of characters (including symbols and pictorial symbols) for each of different typefaces, the above-mentioned structure can develop a typeface with a smaller number of steps and decrease the data volume, because this structure can generate a pattern by simply designing the element shape information which is sorted according to typeface.
In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, an information processing apparatus of the present invention is an information processing apparatus for generating patterns of characters including symbols and pictorial symbols, and includes: an information memory section for storing, in advance, type skeletal shape information indicating a skeletal shape of each character and element shape information indicating an outline shape and a skeletal shape of each of constituent elements constituting the character; an element shape information changing section for changing the element shape information according to the type skeletal shape information; and a pattern generating section for generating a pattern of the character by drawing the constituent elements according to the changed element shape information and combining the constituent elements drawn.
With this structure, a character of a desired pattern is displayed according to the type skeletal shape information and element shape information stored in the information memory section in advance. It is thus possible to generate the outline of a desired pattern by holding the type skeletal shape information indicating the skeletal shape of the character and the element shape information including the outline shapes and skeletal shapes of minimum elements constituting the character, which are sorted according to typeface, and by deforming the element shape according to the type skeletal shape.
In other words, compared with the conventional font development which requires designing of all of patterns of characters (including symbols and pictorial symbols) for each of different typefaces, the above-mentioned structure can develop a typeface with a smaller number of steps and decrease the data volume, because this structure can generate patterns by simply designing the element shape information which is sorted according to typeface.
Here, the pattern generation in the above-mentioned information processing apparatus is carried out with the use of a recording medium having, for example, the following pattern generation programs recorded thereon.
In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the recording medium with the pattern generation programs recorded thereon of the present invention is used in an information processing apparatus for generating patterns of characters including symbols and pictorial symbols, and includes the process of generating a pattern by drawing constituting elements constituting a character according to type skeletal shape information indicating a skeletal shape of the character and element shape information indicating an outline shape and a skeletal shape of each of the constituting elements and by combining the constituting elements drawn.
In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, it is preferred that the information memory section in the information processing apparatus further stores, as the type skeletal shape information, at least element paste information which specifies the element shape information corresponding to the constituent elements and element drawing order information which specifies order of precedence of drawing performed by the pattern generating section.
With this structure, in addition to the function of the information processing apparatus including the information memory section, since the element paste information which specifies the element shape information corresponding to the constituent elements and the element drawing order information which specifies order of precedence of drawing are stored as the type skeletal shape information in the information memory section, it is possible to easily control over-painting of the constituent elements and generate a high-quality pattern without a limita
Hasegawa Susumu
Itou Megumi
Conlin David G.
Edwards & Angell LLP
Evans Arthur G.
Penny John J.
Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
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