COMPOSING METHOD AND APPARATUS

• US 3,668,685 A
• Filed: 02/20/1970
• Issued: 06/06/1972
• Est. Priority Date: 02/20/1970
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Robert M. Horvath
• Original Assignee: Robert M. Horvath
• Inventors: Horvath, Robert M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Trafton, David L.
• Application Number:
  US05/016,626
• Time in Patent Office: 837 Days
• Field of Search: 340/324A,337,172.5 235/61.11G 178/17,18,19,20,25 356/169,170,171 33/1M
• US Class Current: 345/156
• CPC Class Codes: B41B 19/00 Photoelectronic composing machines
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04845 for image manipulation, e.g. dragging, rotation, expansion or change of colour
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/3873 defined only by a limited number of coordinate points or parameters, e.g. corners, centre; for trimming
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/41 Bandwidth or redundancy reduction by scanning H04N1/17 ; methods or arrangements for coding, decoding, compressing or decompressing digital video signals H04N19/00

Abstract

Composing method and apparatus for publications such as newspapers in which copy from various sources is entered into a computer in coded form f or use in controlling a phototypesetter to prepare a page copy. Certain copy including artwork which may be half tone or continuous tone is scanned to provide the numerical data necessary for controlling the phototypesetter while text material is first edited on an editing terminal and then stored with or without phototypesetting instructions in the computer. Each item to be included in the publication is identified by a heading and a layout department instructs the computer as to where the items are to appear. For this purpose the layout department has a layout terminal for displaying page areas with previously assigned sections outlined and identified and for entering coordinates of newly assigned sections into the computer. The terminal can display magnified portions of the page area. In reproducing continuous tone copy, dot characters are stored in a character memory and used to provide different halftone screen sizes.

Claims

1. A layout device comprising a cathode ray tube and means for producing graphics on the face of the tube in response to coded data, means for deriving a coordinate of a point on the face of the cathode ray tube comprising a device movable along a coordinate axis, said device having a portion extending perpendicular to the axis across the face of the tube, voltage dividing means having a voltage output which is varied in accordance with the movement of the device along the coordinate, said voltage dividing means having a first pair of terminals and said voltage output being a portion of the voltage difference between first terminals plus the voltage of a first one of said terminals, and adjustable power supply means for selectively varying the voltage applied to at least one of said terminals, and means responsive to said output voltage to provide digital coordinate data.

2. A layout device as defined in claim 1, wherein said device includes deflection means providing a deflection voltage for deflecting the cathode ray beam to provide a display of a normal size in response to coded data, control means for selecting an enlarged screen display of only a portion of said display, means responsive to said control means to increase the deflection in response to data specifying deflection along said coordinate axis and to set said power supply means to establish potentials at said first terminals which provide a voltage output for a given coordinate on the displayed area which is the same as that for the normal size display.

3. A layout device comprising display means for displaying a page to be printed, said display means including visual means for visually displaying in a given size a page on a display area, coordinate indicating means associated with said visual means for indicating the page coordinates designating the location of a page portion on a displayed page with respect to a page origin, the page coordinates being a given function of the coordinates of the display area with respect to a predetermined origin for coordinate axes oF the display area, means for enlarging the visual display of a page portion to an enlarged size, and means for adjusting said coordinate indicating means to vary the relationship between the coordinates of the display area and the coordinates of the page portion for indicating the page coordinates of an enlarged page portion so that said coordinate indicating means indicates the page coordinates for a page portion regardless of whether the portion is displayed in its normal or enlarged size.

4. A layout device as defined in claim 3 wherein said means for adjusting said coordinate indicating means comprises means for shifting the origin for the coordinates of the display area and for changing the scale factor for the coordinate values.

5. A layout device as defined in claim 3 wherein said means for adjusting said coordinate indicating means comprises circuit means for selectively establishing voltages of a selected magnitude representing the terminal locations along the coordinate axes for said display area.

6. A layout device as defined in claim 5 wherein said means for adjusting said coordinate indicating means further comprises first means for selecting a portion of the difference of two input voltages provided by circuit means and representing the minimum and the maximum coordinate values along a coordinate axis for the display area, and means for establishing as input signals to said first means signals having a magnitude in accordance with the magnitude of page coordinates of opposite sides of a page area to be displayed.