JP2002252728A - Communication unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a communication unit typically being a phone able to store voice information and image information, by which a user can accurately and easily confirm contents of information composed of different languages. SOLUTION: The communication unit is provided with a voice information storage section 28 that stores the contents of received voice information, an image conversion section 7 that converts the contents of the voice information into contents of the image information, a recording paper print section 63 that prints out the image information on recording paper, an image information storage section 68 that stores the contents of the received image information, a voice conversion section 8 that converts the contents of the image information into contents of the voice information, a speaker 59 that sounds out voice on the basis of the voice information, language discrimination sections 10, 20 that discriminate whether or not the contents of the voice information or the image information received through a communication line indicate English, and translation sections 101, 201 that translate the contents of the received voice information or image information into Japanese when the sections 10, 20 discriminates that the contents indicate English.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication device typified by a telephone having an answering machine function and a facsimile memory receiving function. In particular, the present invention relates to a measure for enabling a user to accurately and easily check the contents of information (voice information and character information).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-2902
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 84-84, a telephone having an answering machine function and a facsimile memory receiving function is known. This type of telephone is equipped with a storage medium such as a magnetic tape or a volatile memory, and when a telephone is received when a user is absent or when a facsimile is received when the paper is out of paper, the voice information and image information are received. Can be stored in a storage medium. After the stored information is confirmed by the user, the information can be erased from the storage medium in response to the user's request. That is, when voice information is stored in the storage medium by the answering machine function, the user can reproduce the voice and delete the voice information from the storage medium. Further, when image information is stored in the storage medium by the facsimile memory reception function, the user can print the image information on a recording sheet and erase the image information from the storage medium.

[0003]

By the way, with the progress of the internationalized society in recent years, the recording medium of the above-mentioned telephone tends to be a storage source of information (voice information and character information) from foreigners having different languages. is there.

In this case, the answering machine function provided in the telephone sets the received voice once in a storage medium and reproduces the received voice by voice output from a speaker. Even if the information from the sender is stored in the original language (contents of voice information or text information), the information from the sender can be accurately and easily given to the recipient because the recipient's level of language understanding varies from person to person. The likelihood of transmission is still low.

On the other hand, even in a conventional telephone with a facsimile function, the received character information is printed on a recording medium (recording paper) while being transmitted by the sender, and is transmitted from a sender having a different language. The likelihood of information being accurately and easily communicated to the recipient is likewise low.

For this reason, it is not possible for the user to accurately and easily confirm the contents of information (voice information or character information) from a foreigner having a different language.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a communication device typified by a telephone capable of storing voice information and image information in a content of information in different languages. It is an object of the present invention to allow a user to perform confirmation accurately and easily.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, as a communication apparatus, an information storage means for storing the contents of voice information received via a communication line, and an information storage means for storing the contents of the information. Character converting means for converting the content of the converted voice information into the content of character information, printing means for printing on a recording medium based on the character information converted by the character converting means, and data received via the communication line. Language determining means for determining whether or not the content of the voice information is a language different from the language of the country preset in the communication device main body; and the language determining means preset in the communication device main body. Translation means for translating the content of the voice information received via the communication line into a language set in advance in the communication device body when it is determined that the language is different from the language of the country. There.

According to this specific matter, for example, when the present invention is applied to a communication device such as an answering machine with a facsimile function, the content of voice information received from a sender via a communication line (eg, a message of the sender). Is translated into a language of a country that can be understood by the recipient when the language of the country is different from a language of a country (a language of the country that can be understood by the recipient) preset in the communication device body. For this reason, audio information from a sender in a different language is translated into a language of a country that can be understood by the recipient, and then the translated audio information is converted into textual information and printed on a recording medium. Thus, even if there is an individual difference in the degree of language understanding of the recipient, it is possible to make the user confirm the information accurately and easily.

[0010] The contents of the voice information before translation received via the communication line and the contents of the voice information after translation translated into the language of the country set in advance in the communication device body are paired as the same data. When stored in the information storage means,
When comparing the contents of the audio information before and after the translation, the audio information can be easily extracted from the information storage means.

Further, at least one of the contents of the speech information before translation and the contents of the speech information after translation stored in the information storage means is converted by the character conversion means, and the recording medium is converted based on the converted character information. When performing output by printing on the top, the contents of the audio information before and after translation stored in the information storage means are converted into the contents of character information as necessary and printed on a recording medium. The content of information that can only be understood before translation, such as humor, is confirmed on the recording medium, and it is possible to allow the user to confirm information more accurately and easily.

[0012] On the other hand, the following configuration is proposed to make the user confirm character information from the sender accurately and easily.

That is, as a communication device, information storage means for storing the contents of character information received via a communication line, and voice conversion means for converting the contents of the character information stored in the information storage means to the contents of voice information And the utterance means for producing a voice based on the voice information converted by the voice conversion means, and the content of the character information received via the communication line are different from the language of the country preset in the communication device main body. Language determining means for determining whether the language is a language, and when the language determining means determines that the language is different from the language of the country set in advance in the communication device main body, the communication via the communication line And a translation means for translating the contents of the received character information into a language of a country preset in the communication device main body.

According to this specific matter, for example, when the present invention is applied to a communication apparatus such as an answering machine with a facsimile function, the contents of character information received from a sender via a communication line (eg, a message of the sender). Is translated into a language of a country that can be understood by the recipient when the language of the country is different from the language of the country preset in the communication device main body. For this reason, text information from a sender in a different language is translated into a language of a country that can be understood by the recipient, and then the translated text information is converted into audio information, and the utterance means (such as a speaker) is used. ), The information can be confirmed accurately and easily by the user even if there is an individual difference in the language understanding of the recipient.

The contents of the character information before translation received via the communication line and the contents of the character information after translation translated into the language of the country set in advance in the communication device are paired as the same data. When the information is stored in the information storage means, the character information before and after translation can be easily extracted from the information storage means when comparing the contents.

Further, at least one of the contents of the character information before translation and the contents of the character information after translation stored in the information storage means is converted by the voice conversion means, and a voice is generated based on the converted voice information. In the case of outputting, the contents of the character information before and after translation stored in the information storage means are converted into the contents of voice information as necessary, and are uttered by a speaker or the like. The content of information that can only be understood by the user is confirmed by voice, and the user can more accurately and easily confirm the information.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, a case will be described in which the present invention is applied to an answering machine with a facsimile function as a communication device.

-Description of Configuration of Telephone- FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing an electrical configuration of a telephone 1 according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the telephone 1 is connected by a line interface 2 to a communication line L connected to a partner telephone via an exchange (not shown). This line interface 2 has a communication line L
, And a communication path with the other party's telephone is formed via the captured communication line L. Further, a handset 3 is connected to the line interface 2, and at the time of a normal call, a call is made between the handset 3 and the other party's telephone using the communication path.

An answering machine unit 5 and a facsimile communication unit 6 can be selectively connected to the line interface 2 via a selection switch 4.
That is, the contact a, the contact b, the contact c
The answering machine 5 is connected to the contact a, and the facsimile communication unit 6 is connected to the contact b. The contact c is short-circuited. For this reason, when the selection switch 4 is connected to the contact a, the answering machine unit 5 is connected to the communication path and the selection switch 4 is connected.
Is connected to the contact b, the facsimile communication unit 6 is connected to the communication path. Hereinafter, each of the units 5 and 6 will be described.

(Explanation of the answering machine unit 5) The answering machine unit 5 includes an answering machine circuit 51 for controlling transmission of a pre-recorded response message to a communication path or storage of voice information from the other party's telephone. It has. The answering machine circuit 51 has a voice information amplifier 54 via an A / D converter 52 for converting analog voice information into digital voice information and a D / A converter 53 for converting digital voice information into analog voice information. , A related information amplifier 55 and a response reproducing unit 56 are connected. The audio information amplifier 54 amplifies audio information such as a business message received from the other party's telephone via the communication path. The related information amplifier 55 amplifies information related to voice information such as calling side information from the other party's telephone which is received via the communication path. This information may include the sender ’s name, the sender ’s phone number,
Reception time and the like are included. The response reproducing unit 56 extracts a response message stored in advance in a voice information storage unit 58, which will be described later, and sends the response message to the answering machine circuit 51, thereby transmitting the response message to the other party's telephone.

An audio information storage unit 58 as information storage means is connected to the audio information amplifier 54, the related information amplifier 55, and the response reproduction unit 56 via an audio information changeover switch 57. That is, the audio information changeover switch 57 is provided with a contact a, a contact b, a contact c, and a contact d. The contact a has the audio information amplifier 54, the contact b has the related information amplifier 55, and the contact c has the contact c. Are connected to the response reproducing unit 56, respectively. The contact d is short-circuited. For this reason, when the voice information changeover switch 57 is connected to the contact a, the voice information such as a message from the partner telephone amplified by the voice information amplifier 54 is stored in the voice information storage unit 58. , Voice information changeover switch 5
When the terminal 7 is connected to the contact b, the voice-related information from the partner telephone amplified by the related information amplifier 55 is stored in the voice information storage unit 58. When the voice information changeover switch 57 is connected to the contact c, the response message stored in the voice information storage unit 58 is taken out by the response reproduction unit 56 and transmitted to the other party's telephone. It has become. Note that a magnetic tape or a volatile memory (a so-called flash memory) is employed as the audio information storage unit 58.

The audio information storage section 58 is connected to a speaker 59 as a voice generating means via a mute switch 59a and a D / A converter 59b. The mute switch 59a switches between supply and non-supply of information based on audio information and audio-related information stored in the audio information storage unit 58. When the mute switch 59a is turned on, the audio information Is D / A
The information is converted into analog audio information by the converter 59b, and is emitted outside as audio by the speaker 59.

(Description of Facsimile Communication Unit 6) The facsimile communication unit 6 includes a facsimile communication circuit 61 for performing a communication protocol for transmission and reception in facsimile communication, compression and decompression of image information, and modulation / demodulation.
The FAX communication circuit 61 includes an image output switch 6
2, a recording paper printing unit 63 and an A / D converter 64 are selectively connected to each other. That is, the image output changeover switch 62 is provided with a contact a, a contact b, and a contact c.
/ D converters 64 are connected to each other. The contact c is short-circuited. For this reason, when the image output changeover switch 62 is connected to the contact a, the image is formed on the recording paper based on the image information expanded by the FAX communication circuit 61, and the image output changeover switch 62 is set to the contact a. b, the image information is digitally converted by the A / D converter 64.

The A / D converter 64 is connected to an amplifier 65 for image information and an amplifier 66 for related information. The image information amplifier 65 amplifies the image information expanded and digitally converted by the FAX communication circuit 61. The related information amplifier 66 amplifies information related to image information such as calling side information from the other party's facsimile, which is received using the communication path at the time of facsimile reception. This may include the sender ’s name,
The sender's facsimile number, reception time, number of received facsimile, and the like are given.

An image information storage section 68 as information storage means is connected to the image information amplifier 65 and the related information amplifier 66 via an image information switch 67. That is, the image information switch 67 is provided with a contact a, a contact b, and a contact c. The contact a is connected to the image information amplifier 65, and the contact b is connected to the related information amplifier 66. The contact c is short-circuited.
Therefore, when the image information changeover switch 67 is connected to the contact a, the image information amplified by the image information amplifier 65 is stored in the image information storage section 68, and the image information changeover switch 67 is connected to the contact b. When connected, the image related information amplified by the related information amplifier 66 is stored in the image information storage unit 68. Note that a volatile memory is employed as the image information storage unit 68. The image information storage unit 68 stores the recording paper printing unit 6.
3 and outputs the stored image information and its related information to the recording paper printing unit 63 to perform a printing operation on the recording paper.

An original reading section 69 is connected to the FAX communication circuit 61. The document reading section 69 sequentially reads FAX documents set on a document tray (not shown), converts the documents into electrical information, and transmits the electrical information to the FAX communication circuit 61.

(Explanation of Information Conversion Structure) The telephone 1 has image information for mutually converting audio information and audio-related information and image information and image-related information stored in the storage units 58 and 68. Image conversion unit 7 as conversion means
And a voice conversion unit 8 as voice information conversion means.

The image conversion section 7 is connected to the audio information storage section 58 via the image conversion switch 71. When the image conversion switch 71 is turned on, the image conversion unit 7 extracts the audio information and audio-related information stored in the audio information storage unit 58 and converts them into image information (character information) and image-related information. It is supposed to. The image conversion unit 7 is connected to the image information storage unit 68,
The image information and the image-related information converted by the image conversion unit 7 are stored in the image information storage unit 68.

Hereinafter, the configuration of the image conversion unit 7 will be described. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the image conversion unit 7. The image conversion unit 7 includes a voice input unit 72, a voice recognition unit 73, a voice dictionary 74, a reading dictionary 75, and a score providing unit 7.
6, a character candidate storage unit 77, an input control unit 78, and a character candidate selection unit 79.

The voice input unit 72 converts the voice information received from the voice information storage unit 58 into a form that can be processed. The voice recognition unit 73 analyzes the voice information received from the voice input unit 72, obtains acoustic parameters, recognizes the input voice as one-character reading while checking the voice dictionary 74, and as a result of the recognition, It outputs the reading candidates up to the order and the likelihood of each. The speech dictionary 74 describes how kanji, kana, symbols, and the like are pronounced using a basic unit of speech recognized by the speech recognition unit 73. For example, when a phoneme is recognized as a unit, it is described as a phoneme sequence.
As a result, in practice, the sum of on-reading and kun reading, including the second level of kanji, is 3,000 to 5,000.

The construction of the reading dictionary 75 may define a plurality of readings for a character, or may define a plurality of characters for a reading. Actually, a pointer in a memory corresponding to the character or the reading may be stored instead of the character or the reading itself.

The scoring unit 76 refers to the reading dictionary 75 and assigns a score to a character candidate corresponding to a reading candidate based on the likelihood. Character candidate storage unit 77
Stores the history of the reading candidates received from the voice recognition unit 73 together with the score.

The input control unit 78 selects character candidates in an order determined in consideration of the character candidate scores stored in the character candidate selection unit 79.

On the other hand, the voice conversion unit 8 is connected to the image information storage unit 68 via the first voice conversion switch 81.
The voice conversion unit 8 includes a first voice conversion switch 8
When 1 is turned on, the image information and image-related information stored in the image information storage unit 68 are taken out and converted into audio information and audio-related information. Also,
The voice conversion unit 8 is connected to the voice information storage unit 58, and outputs and stores the voice information and voice-related information converted by the voice conversion unit 8 to the voice information storage unit 58.

(Explanation of Judgment Unit and Translation Unit) The Telephone 1
The feature of is that the content of the voice information (message) received from the other party's telephone (sender) via the communication circuit L is the same as the Japanese language (Japanese) preset in the telephone 1 (communication device body). Is a voice language determination unit 10 as a language determination unit for determining whether or not the language is a different language (English) such as the United States. When it is determined that the content is in English, a voice translation unit 101 as a translation means for translating the content of the voice information received via the communication circuit L into Japanese is communicated from the other party's facsimile machine (sender). A character language judging unit as a language judging unit for judging whether or not the content of the image information (message) received via the circuit L is English different from Japanese preset in the telephone 1 0, this character language determination unit 20
When it is determined that the content of the image information received via the communication circuit L from the other party's facsimile machine is in English, the content of the image information received via the communication circuit L is translated into Japanese. And a character translation unit 201. As a specific method for performing translation by the speech translation unit 101, for example,
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. -297673 can be used. As a specific method for performing translation by the character translation unit 201, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-11 / 1999
No. 0388 can be used. Hereinafter, these configurations will be described.

The speech language determination unit 10 is connected to a speech information changeover switch 57. Also, the speech language determination unit 10
Are connected to the speech translator 101. The voice language determination unit 10 receives the voice information amplified by the voice information amplifier 54 and the related information amplifier 55 from the other party telephone (transmitter) via the answering machine circuit 51 and the A / D converter 52 (from the sender). Only when the content of the message is English, the content of the English voice information is
01 is output.

The voice translating unit 101 includes a voice information storage unit 58
It is connected to the. In the voice translator 101, the voice information amplified by the voice information amplifier 54 from the other party's telephone (sender) via the answering machine circuit 51 and the A / D converter 52 by the voice language determination unit 10 is in English. When it is determined that, the English voice information is translated into Japanese,
The audio information after translation is output to be stored in the audio information storage unit 58. At this time, the English voice information and voice related information amplified by the voice information amplifier 54 and the related information amplifier 55 from the other party's telephone via the answering machine circuit 51 and the A / D converter 52 are also not translated. The voice information before translation and the voice-related information are directly output to the voice information storage unit 58 and stored. In this case, the audio information before and after the translation stored in the audio information storage unit 58 is stored as a pair with the audio-related information as the same data, and one or both of the audio information are extracted in response to a request from the user. It has been made to be.

The speech translation unit 101 is connected to the speech conversion unit 8 via the speech translation switch 102. When the speech translation switch 102 is turned on,
The Japanese voice information converted by the voice conversion unit 8 is input and translated into English.

The character language determination section 20 is connected to the image information changeover switch 67. The character language determination unit 20
Are connected to the character translator 20. The character language determination unit 20 receives the FA from the other party's facsimile machine (sender).
Only when the content of the image information (a message from the sender) amplified by the image information amplifier 65 via the X communication circuit 61 and the A / D converter 52 is in English, the content of the English image information Is output to the character translating unit 201.

The character translating unit 201 includes an image information storing unit 68
It is connected to the. The character translating unit 201 uses the character language judging unit 20 to execute the other party's facsimile machine (sender)
When the content of the image information amplified by the image information amplifier 65 through the FAX communication circuit 61 and the A / D converter 52 is determined to be English, the English image information is translated into Japanese. The image information after translation is stored in the image information storage unit 68.
Output to be stored in At this time, the fax communication circuit 61 and the A / D converter 5
The English image information and the image-related information amplified by the image information amplifier 65 and the related information amplifier 66 after passing through the step 2 are not translated and are directly stored in the image information storage unit 68 as image information and image-related information before translation. It is output and stored. In this case, the image information before and after the translation stored in the image information storage unit 68 is stored as a pair with the image-related information as the same data, and one or both of the image information are extracted in response to a request from the user. It has been made to be.

The character translation unit 201 is connected to the image conversion unit 7 via a character translation switch 202. When the character translation switch 202 is turned on,
The Japanese image information converted by the image conversion unit 7 is input and translated into English.

(Description of Central Processing Unit) As shown in FIG. 1, the central processing unit 9 of the telephone 1 includes circuits 51, 61, amplifiers 54, 55, 65, 66, and confirmation request units 10,
20 and the switches 4, 57, 59a, 62, 6
The control unit 91 controls the switching of 7, 71, 81, 102, and 202.

The central processing unit 9 includes switches 4, 57, 59a, 62, 67, 71, 81, 102,
Switching operation of 202, for example, turning on the first audio conversion switch 81 for outputting the image information stored in the image information storage unit 68 to the audio conversion unit 8 and storing the audio-related information in the audio information storage unit 58 Output means 9 for performing operations and the like
2 is provided. In other words, the execution of the output operation by the output unit 92 converts and stores the audio information stored in the audio information storage unit 58 into image information and stores the image-related information stored in the image information storage unit 68. Is converted into voice information and stored.

Further, the central processing unit 9 includes an erasing means 9 for erasing information stored in the audio information storage unit 58.
3 is provided. That is, after the output operation is performed by the output unit 92, the information on which the output has been performed can be deleted from the audio information storage unit 58. Also,
The user can set whether or not to perform the erasing operation after the output by operating the operation unit (not shown) of the telephone 1.

-Description of Operation of Telephone 1- Next, a reception operation in the telephone mode and a reception operation in the facsimile mode to the telephone 1 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS.
This will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

(Reception Operation in Telephone Mode) First, the telephone 1
To explain the receiving operation in the telephone mode to the telephone, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 3, while the telephone 1 waiting for the receiving operation is on standby, a telephone call signal from the other telephone is received in step SD1 to make a telephone call. Check for incoming mode. Next, in step SD2, the number of telephone call signals (for example, 10 times) from the other party's telephone is counted, and it is determined whether or not the handset 3 of the line interface 2 is taken by the time the count is completed. It is determined whether or not the state is correct.

If the determination in step SD2 is YES, indicating that the telephone is ready for immediate communication, in step SD3, the communication line L is captured by the line interface 2, and the other party's telephone is connected via the captured communication line L. Closes (forms) the communication path with the server. Then, step SD
In step 4, a call is made between the handset 3 and the other party's telephone via the communication path, and the process stands by until the call ends in step SD5. Thereafter, in step SD6, the communication line L is released by the line interface 2, a communication path with the partner telephone set via the communication line L is opened, and the process returns to the standby state.

On the other hand, the determination in step 2 is based on the number of telephone call signals from the partner telephone (for example, 10 times).
In the case where the handset 3 is not picked up even after counting is completed, that is, in the case of NO in which the call cannot be made immediately,
Switch to answering machine operation.

That is, as shown in FIG. 4, when the determination at step SD2 in FIG. 3 is NO, which indicates that the call cannot be immediately made, the selection switch 4 of the line interface 2 is turned on at step SD11 in FIG. Switch to the connection state a, connect the communication line L to the answering machine circuit, and close the communication path with the other party's telephone via the connected communication line L. Then, in step SD12, the audio information changeover switch 57 is switched to the contact c connection state, the response message stored in advance in the audio information storage unit 58 is taken out by the response reproduction unit 56 and reproduced, and the D / A converter 53 By converting digital voice information into analog voice information and sending it to the answering machine circuit 51,
Send a response message to the other telephone.

Next, in step SD13, the voice information changeover switch 57 is switched to the contact b connection state, and voice related information (name of the sender,
The telephone number of the sender, the reception time, etc.)
1 and the related information amplifier 55 through the A / D converter 52
After being amplified and stored in the audio information storage unit 58, the audio information changeover switch 57 is switched to the contact a connection state,
Audio information such as a message from the other party's phone
The signal waits until it is amplified by the voice information amplifier 54 via the answering machine circuit 51 and the A / D converter 52 and stored in the voice information storage unit 58.

Then, in step SD14, it is determined whether or not the content of the voice information amplified by the voice information amplifier 54 from the other party's telephone via the answering machine circuit 51 and the A / D converter 52 is in Japanese language. The determination is made by the determination unit 10. If the determination in step SD14 is YES in Japanese, in step SD15,
After turning on the image conversion switch 71, the audio information stored in the audio information storage unit 58 is taken out and converted into image information by the image conversion unit 7, and in step SD16, the image information is stored in the image information storage unit 68. Let it.

Thereafter, in step SD17, the connection state of the contact a of the selection switch 4 of the line interface 2 is released, the connection between the communication line L and the answering machine circuit 51 is released, and the other party through the communication line L Establish a communication path with the phone.

On the other hand, if the determination in step SD14 is NO, which is not Japanese, as shown in FIG. 5, in step SD21, it is determined whether the content of the voice information is English or not in the voice language determination unit 10 (step SD21). Continue to judge.

If the determination in step SD21 is NO, the voice information and voice-related information are stored in the voice information storage unit 58 in the same language in step SD22. The connection state of the contact a of the selection switch 4 is released, the connection between the communication line L and the answering machine circuit 51 is released, and a communication path with the other telephone via the communication line L is opened.

On the other hand, if the determination in step SD21 is YES that the language is English, in step SD31,
The voice translation unit 101 translates the content of the voice information,
In step SD32, the audio information storage unit stores the contents of the translated audio information translated into Japanese as the same data as the contents of the untranslated audio information and the audio-related information in the original language (English). 58. Then, in step SD33, the image conversion switch 7
1 is turned on, the translated voice information stored in the voice information storage unit 58 is taken out and converted into image information by the image conversion unit 7, and then, in step SD34, Japanese (after translation)
Is stored in the image information storage unit 68 as the image information of. Then, in step SD35, the character translation changeover switch 202 is turned on, and the contents of the Japanese image information converted by the image conversion unit 7 are translated into English by the character translation unit 201. In step SD36, the translation into English is performed. After the contents of the subsequent image information are stored in the image information storage unit 68 as a pair with the contents of the Japanese (translated) image information stored in the image information storage unit 68 in step SD34 as the same data. Proceeding to step SD23, a communication path with the partner telephone is opened.

(Reception Operation in Facsimile Mode)
The reception operation of the telephone 1 in the facsimile mode will be described. As shown in the flowchart of FIG. 6, while the telephone 1 waiting for the reception operation is waiting, a fax signal from the other party's facsimile machine is received in step SF1. After confirming the incoming call in the facsimile mode, in step SF2, the selection switch 4 is switched to the contact b connection state, and it is determined whether or not facsimile reception and facsimile output are possible at the same time. If the determination in step SF2 is YES, indicating that facsimile reception is possible at the same time as facsimile reception, step S
At F3, the image output changeover switch 62 is switched to the contact a connection state, and the communication interface L is
And closes (forms) a communication path with the other party's facsimile machine via the captured communication line L. Then, in step SF4, the received facsimile image information is transferred to the recording paper printing unit 63 via the facsimile communication circuit 61.
The recording paper printing unit 63 executes an image forming operation on the recording paper. That is, facsimile output is performed simultaneously with facsimile reception.

Then, after waiting at step SD5 until the facsimile signal from the other party's facsimile machine ends, at step SF6, the communication line L is released by the line interface 2 and the other party's facsimile via the communication line L is released. After establishing a communication path with the machine, return to the standby state.

On the other hand, if the determination in step 2 is NO, which indicates that the facsimile cannot be output at the same time as the facsimile reception due to running out of the recording paper of the telephone 1, etc., as shown in FIG. Switch to operation.

That is, as shown in FIG.
In F11, the image output changeover switch 62 is switched to the contact b connection state, and the image information changeover switch 6 is switched.
7 is switched to the contact b connection state, and the other party's facsimile machine is closed (connected) to the facsimile communication circuit 61, the A / D converter 64, the related information amplifier 66, and the image information storage unit 68 via the communication circuit L. The facsimile communication circuit 61 and the A / F) transmit the image-related information (facsimile-related information such as the sender's name, the sender's facsimile number, the reception time, the number of received facsimile, etc.)
After passing through the / D converter 64, it is amplified by the related information amplifier 66 and stored in the image information storage unit 68.

Next, in step SF12, the image information changeover switch 67 is switched to the contact a connection state, and the facsimile machine of the other party is connected to the facsimile communication circuit 61, the A / D converter 64, the image information amplifier 66 and the image information storage section. 68 connected via the communication circuit L and received from the other party's facsimile machine (image message of the sender)
After passing through the facsimile communication circuit 61 and the A / D converter 64, it is awaited until it is amplified by the related information amplifier 66 and stored in the image information storage unit 68.

Then, in step SF13, it is determined whether or not the content of the image information amplified by the image information amplifier 66 via the facsimile communication circuit 61 and the A / D converter 64 from the other party's facsimile machine is in Japanese. Language determination unit 20
Determined by If the determination in step SF13 is YES in Japanese, the voice conversion switch 81 is turned on in step SF14, and the image information storage unit 6
After the image information and the image-related information stored in the storage unit 8 are taken out and converted into the audio information and the audio-related information by the audio conversion unit 8, the audio information and the audio-related information are stored in the audio information storage unit 58 in step SF15. Let it.

Thereafter, in step SF16, the communication line L is released by the line interface 2, and a communication path with the facsimile machine via the communication line L is opened.

On the other hand, if the determination in step SF13 is NO, which is not Japanese, as shown in FIG. 8, in step SF21, it is determined whether or not the content of the image information is English in the character language determination section 20. Continue to judge.

If the determination in step SF21 is NO, which is not English, in step SF22, the image information and the image-related information are stored in the image information storage section 68 in the same language, and then in step SF23, the line interface 2 The communication line L is released, and a communication path with the facsimile machine via the communication line L is opened.

On the other hand, if the determination in step SF21 is YES that English is made, in step SF31,
The contents of the image information are translated by the character translation unit 201,
In step SF32, the image information storage unit is configured to pair the contents of the translated image information translated into Japanese with the contents of the image information before translation and the image-related information in the same language (English) as the same data. 68. Then, in step SF33, the voice conversion switch 8
1 is turned on, the translated image information stored in the image information storage unit 68 is taken out and converted into audio information by the audio conversion unit 8, and then, in step SF34, Japanese (after translation)
Is stored in the voice information storage unit 58 as the voice information. After that, in step SF35, the speech translation changeover switch 102 is turned on, and the contents of the Japanese speech information converted by the speech conversion unit 8 are translated into English by the speech translation unit 101. In step SF36, the translation into English is performed. The contents of the later voice information are stored in the voice information storage unit 58 together with the content of the Japanese (translated) voice information stored in the voice information storage unit 58 in step SF34 as the same data. Thereafter, the flow advances to step SF23 to open a communication path with the other party's facsimile machine.

-Effects of Embodiment- As described above, in the present embodiment, voice information (sender's message) and image information (sender's message) received from a sender via a communication line are received. ) Is translated into Japanese when the language is different from the language of the country (Japanese) preset in the telephone 1. For this reason,
The voice information and image information in English from the sender are translated into Japanese and then printed on a recording sheet or uttered by the speaker 59, and there is a difference between the recipients in their language understanding. Even so, it is possible to make the user confirm the transmission information accurately and easily.

Further, the contents of the speech information before translation and the contents of the speech information after translation are stored in the speech information storage unit 58 as a pair as the same data, while the content of the image information before translation and the content of the speech information after translation are stored. Since the contents of the image information are stored as a pair in the image information storage unit 68 as the same data, the contents of the audio information before and after the translation can be easily extracted from the information storage units 58 and 68 when compared.

Further, the contents of the audio information before and after the translation stored in the audio information storage unit 58 are converted into Japanese image information and English image information by the image conversion unit 7 and the character translation unit 201. The contents of the image information before and after translation stored in the storage unit 68 are converted into Japanese voice information and English voice information by the voice conversion unit 8 and the voice translation unit 101, and based on the converted (translated) image information. Output on the recording paper by printing, and loudspeaker output based on the audio information, so that the information before and after the translation is output as needed, so that the information before translation such as black humor is output. The content of information that can only be understood by the user can be confirmed, and the user can more accurately and easily confirm the information.

-Other Embodiments- In the above-described embodiment, the voice information from the other party's telephone is converted into Japanese and then converted into image information, which is also translated into English image information. Alternatively, the audio information from the other party's telephone may be translated into Japanese and then converted into Japanese image information. Similarly, the image information from the other party's facsimile machine is translated into Japanese and then converted into audio information, which is also translated into English audio information. After the translation, the image information may be converted into Japanese image information.

In the above embodiment, English information is translated into Japanese information, and English information is translated into Japanese information. Only English information is translated into Japanese information. Translation means. Further, in addition to English information, the translation means may be capable of translating information in languages such as French, German, Spanish, Chinese, and Russian. French, German, Spanish, and Chinese The translation means may be such that any one of information in languages such as Russian is translated into information in Japanese.

In addition, in this embodiment, of the sender's message, name, telephone number, and reception time, the sender's message is used as voice information, and the sender's name, telephone number, and reception time are used. Although the information is divided so as to be audio-related information, the message of the sender, the name, the telephone number, and the reception time may all be included as audio information.
Similarly, the message of the sender, the name, the facsimile number, the reception time, and the number of received sheets may all be included as image information.

Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to an answering machine with a facsimile function has been described. It is also applicable to communication devices.

[0073]

As described above, according to the present invention, the content of voice information or character information received from a sender via a communication line can be converted to a language different from the language of the country set in advance in the communication device body. By translating, by printing or uttering information from a sender in a different language on a recording medium, it is possible for the user to accurately and easily confirm the information without individual differences in the degree of language understanding. Can be.

Then, the contents of the voice information or character information before translation and the contents of the voice information or character information after translation are stored in the information storage means as a pair as the same data, so that the contents of the voice information before and after translation are stored. Can be easily taken out from the information storage means when comparing.

Further, at least one of the contents of the audio information before and after the translation is converted into character information and output by printing on a recording medium, or at least one of the contents of the character information before and after the translation is converted into the audio information. By performing the conversion to the utterance of the speaker and outputting the information by the utterance of the speaker, it is possible to confirm the content of the information that can be understood only before the translation, such as the black humor, so that the user can more accurately and easily confirm the information.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing an electrical configuration of an answering machine with a facsimile function according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image conversion unit.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining a basic receiving operation in a telephone mode.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining an answering machine reception operation in a telephone mode.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining an answering machine receiving operation at the time of receiving information in English in a telephone mode.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining a basic reception operation in the facsimile mode.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a facsimile memory reception operation in a facsimile mode.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining a facsimile memory reception operation when receiving information in English in the facsimile mode.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Telephone (communication device) 58 Voice information storage part (information storage means) 68 Image information storage part (information storage means) 7 Image conversion part (character information conversion means) 8 Voice conversion part (voice information conversion means) 10 Voice language judgment Unit (language determination unit) 101 Voice translation unit (translation unit) 20 Character language determination unit (language determination unit) 201 Character translation unit (translation unit) L Communication circuit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04M 1/65 G10L 3/00 R 5K101 H04N 1/00 551A 551C (72) Inventor Takateru Yamamoto Osaka-shi, Osaka 22-22 Nagaike-cho, Abeno-ku, Sharp Co., Ltd. No. 22 Inside Sharp Corporation (72) Inventor Nobuya Kishi 22-22 Nagaike-cho, Abeno-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka F-term inside Sharp Corporation (reference) AC21 AC29 AC58 AE11 BA04 5D015 KK02 KK04 5D045 AB03 5K039 CC06 DD00 EE01 FF00 JJ06 JJ10 5K101 KK01 KK06 NN01 NN15 NN19 NN twenty one

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An information storage means for storing the content of voice information received via a communication line; a character conversion means for converting the content of voice information stored in the information storage means into text information content; The printing means for printing on a recording medium based on the character information converted by the converting means, and the content of the voice information received via the communication line is different from the language of the country preset in the communication device body Language determining means for determining whether the language is a language, and when the language determining means determines that the language is different from the language of the country set in advance in the communication device main body, A communication device for translating the content of the received voice information into a language of a country preset in the communication device main body. 2. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the information storage means stores the content of the voice information before translation received via the communication line and the language of the country preset in the communication device main body. A communication device wherein the translated content of the voice information is stored as the same data in pairs. 3. The communication device according to claim 2, wherein at least one of the contents of the speech information before translation and the contents of the speech information after translation stored in the information storage means is converted by the character conversion means. And a printing device for printing on a recording medium based on the converted character information. 4. An information storage means for storing the content of character information received via a communication line; a voice conversion means for converting the content of the character information stored in the information storage means into a content of voice information; The voice generating means for generating a voice based on the voice information converted by the converting means, and whether the content of the character information received via the communication line is different from the language of the country preset in the communication device main body. Language determining means for determining whether or not the character information received via the communication line when the language determining means determines that the language is different from the language of the country preset in the communication device main body. And a translating means for translating the content of (1) into a language of a country set in advance in the communication device main body. 5. The communication device according to claim 4, wherein the information storage means stores the contents of the character information before translation received via the communication line and the language of the country preset in the communication device main body. A communication device wherein the translated contents of the character information are stored in pairs as the same data. 6. The communication device according to claim 5, wherein at least one of the contents of the character information before translation and the contents of the character information after translation stored in the information storage means is converted by the voice conversion means. A communication device configured to output by voice based on the converted voice information.