JPH03211668A - Electronic equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve translation precision by translating a second language obtained through translation from first language into third language into the third language, and using the intermediate second language as a translated result only when the above-mentioned third language obtained from the second language coincides with the third language obtained first. CONSTITUTION:A main body memory 11 is provided with an English-English dictionary 11b, and a two-way dictionary 12b of German-English and English- German and the two-way dictionary 13b of French-English and English-French are provided as an IC card. Then, in the case language information inputted inputted by the German language is translated into the French language, the French language obtained through the English language is translated into the English language, and only when the translated English language coincides with the English language first, the intermediate French language is used as the translated result. Thus, the translation precision can be improved.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to electronic equipment, and particularly to electronic equipment that performs translation between multiple languages based on dictionary data stored in a memory.

[Prior Art] Electronic devices having functions of electronic dictionaries or electronic translations have been known. In this type of device, for example, English words or sentences are input, and the words or sentences translated into another language, such as German, are displayed.

The process of converting the first language information into the second language information is performed by searching a memory in which the first language and the second language are stored in correspondence with each other for the first language information using a microprocessor. The main form of output is display output using a liquid crystal display or the like, but output forms such as audio output or print output from a printing device are also possible.

Furthermore, in recent years, many devices have been proposed in which a removable external storage device, a so-called IC card, can be attached for the purpose of expanding the functions of the device itself.

[Problem to be solved by the invention] For example, an electronic device configured as an English-English dictionary (electronic dictionary)
If you think about it, the simplest one is one that inputs an English word and outputs multiple corresponding English translations, but when converting to another language, you need to use an IC card, which is an external storage device, to correspond to each language. Functions are achieved by preparing multiple sheets in advance and selectively attaching them to the main body.

When an operator obtains desired information in another language, it is complicated to exchange IC cards corresponding to each language. In addition, when translating between other languages, it is necessary to store information in the other language in advance in the main unit, or prepare multiple pieces of language information for each combination on an IC card. Problems such as requiring a large amount of ROM, increasing the cost of the device, and confusing the operator due to the large number of IC cards have been solved.

In addition, if there are multiple IC cards, each with different functions, and the operator selectively installs them, the main body and
If it is not possible to determine what is executable as a C card system, or if you are inputting a different language from the main body keyboard, the keyboard will become extremely complicated if the input characters and symbols used for each country's language are preset on the main body keyboard. Not only does it take a lot of time to perform input operations, but the keyboard is also large, which increases the size of the main body itself, which significantly impairs portability.

In addition, if the main unit is an English-English dictionary, for example, if a German person installs a German IC card and operates the main unit, multiple error messages will be displayed when operating the main unit, but the messages are usually set in the main language in advance. The only language used is English, which is difficult for Germans to understand and the operating procedures may be difficult to understand. Therefore, a method has been proposed in which messages in multiple languages are prepared in advance on the main body and the operator selects one, but this has the disadvantage of increasing the memory capacity of the main body, leading to an increase in cost.

Furthermore, in conventional devices, only one type of dictionary can be installed as an IC card at the same time, but multiple
A structure in which a C card is installed and translation is performed by combining these dictionary data is also conceivable. However, in such a structure, the various problems described above are expected to become more complicated and difficult to solve.

An object of the present invention is to effectively solve the above-mentioned problems, particularly in an electronic device to which dictionaries configured as a plurality of IC cards can be attached.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, in the present invention, the first
In an electronic device that translates and outputs linguistic information between a language of the first language and a second language, the electronic device includes a first dictionary means that stores information necessary for translating the linguistic information from the first language to the third language; ,
a second dictionary means storing information necessary for translating the W-language information from the language of 's3 into the first language; and a second dictionary means storing information necessary for translating the linguistic information from the second language to the third language. Stored 3
43 dictionary means and a fourth dictionary means storing information necessary for translating linguistic information from a third language to a second language are provided. The linguistic information in the language of s1 is
When translating into a third language, first, a first translation is performed to translate the input language information into a third language using the first dictionary means, and all information in the third language obtained by the first translation is translated into a third language. 342 using the fourth dictionary means for the linguistic information.
A second translation is performed into the languages of
A third translation into a third language is performed using the third dictionary means, and the third translation obtained by the first translation is included in the linguistic information in the third language obtained by the third translation. If the same linguistic information is obtained in the second language as a result of the second translation, the second translation, which is the input of the third translation, is All the language information in the second language for which the same language information in the third language as the first translation result was obtained is added to the second language information in the input language information.
We adopted a structure in which the results are translated into the following languages.

[Operation] According to the above configuration, when translating from the first language to the second language, the translation from the second language to the third language obtained through the translation into the language of 's3 , and only if it matches the first third language obtained, will the second language in the middle be used.
Translation accuracy can be improved by using this language as the translation result.

[Example] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on the example shown in the drawings. Here, it can be used as an English-English dictionary using the dictionary data in the main body, and by installing multiple dictionary cards configured as IC cards, it can be used as Here is an example of an electronic dictionary that can translate between multiple languages.

Hardware Configuration> FIG. 1 shows the external appearance of an electronic dictionary employing the present invention. The main body 1 of the device includes a case 1a having an alphabet key 2 for inputting headwords and a function key 3a on the top, and a case 1b having a display 4 and a function key 3b on the top, which can be opened and closed via a hinge part 5. The configuration is connected to the

Various IC cards 6 can be attached to two sets of card insertion lowers a and 7b provided on the side surface of the case 1a.

A transparent keyboard 8, which will be described later, is provided on the surface of the display 4. Reference numeral 9 is an enter key, which instructs a process to convert an input word into another language.

Configuration of Control Section> FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control system of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1. In the figure, reference numeral 10 is a CPU that controls the entire device, and reference numeral 11 is a CPU that stores an error processing program, a key input processing program, a display processing program, a dictionary search program (described later), an English-English dictionary, and various message data. ROM (0). In this ROM 11, reference numeral 11a is a control program area in which the various control programs described above are stored.

Symbol itb is a dictionary data area in which dictionary data is stored. This dictionary data area stores English words to be used in an English-English dictionary and corresponding data of their meanings.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, in addition to this dictionary data area 11b, a dictionary card configured as an IC card is installed,
In addition to an English-English dictionary, it is also capable of translating between multiple languages such as German-French, French-German, etc.

That is, numerals 12 and 13 are ROM (1) and ROM (2) provided in two IC cards as external storage devices, respectively.

(7) The ROMs 12 and 13 include card control program areas 12a and 13a for controlling card applications, and dictionary data areas 12b and 13b for storing dictionary data, respectively.

Reference numeral 14 denotes a RAM, and within the RAM 14 there is a memory area 14a used as a work area for various control programs, a temporary save area 14b used as a stack, and words (described later) used as memory when converting a different language via an intermediate language. A plurality of blocks are allocated to the store area 14c.

Reference numeral 15 denotes a keyboard section equipped with the alphabet keys 2, function keys 3a, 3b, etc. shown in FIG.
Reference numeral 6 denotes a display drive unit that controls the display screen of the display 17 based on the display control of the CPU I O.

In the main body control system configured as described above, information (English words) input from the keyboard section 15 is searched via the CPU 10 in the dictionary data area flb stored in the ROMII.

Then, along with the character information output to the display 17,
After the search contents are transferred to the work area 14a in the display section 4 and the display format is adjusted, the search contents are displayed on the display 17 via the display drive section 16. The control of this device is performed by CPU10 based on the control program area 11a in ROMII.

When searching the data in the card, the process is almost the same as above, only the dictionary search process is performed in ROM12, ROM1.
The control program area 12a1 in the ROMI control program area 13a performs other processing.
Control program area l1m in CPU10
This is done through

<Basic configuration of dictionary search> Next, the basic procedure of dictionary search will be explained with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. This procedure involves searching the dictionary data area flb in the main unit, and searching the R
Used for all OM12.13 searches. These procedures are appropriately arranged on the program areas 11a, 12a, 13a of the ROM11, ROM12.13. However, in Figure 3, English-to-English translation is taken as an example.

When outputting an English translation from an English word, first, in step S1 of FIG. 3, the desired English word is input using the alphabet keys 2.

Next, in step S2, it is determined whether the enter key 9 has been operated. If steps s1 and S2 are negative, the above processing is repeated.

When an English word is input and the enter key 9 is further pressed, words are sequentially output from the dictionary head address A in the dictionary data area jib of the ROMII in a loop of steps 53 to s5, and a match is determined in step S4. Matches to input words are compared. If they do not match, the read address A of the dictionary data area llb is advanced to the next position in step S5, and the process returns to S3.

If the same entry word as the input word is found, step S
Proceed to step 6. In step S6, the dictionary data area f
English translation information consisting of a plurality of words in question is read from lb, this information is rearranged according to the display format, and displayed on the display 4 in S7. Step 51~
s7 is commonly used in various conversion operations described later.

Next, various functions of the present invention will be explained in detail.

<Basic structure of translation between different languages> First, the basic structure of the translation system between the first language and the second language (different languages such as German-English and East Germany) in the present invention will be explained.

FIG. 4 shows an example of key operations and displays when a translation operation is performed. Here, we will consider German as the first language and French as the second language.

In FIG. 344 (A), reference numeral 41 is a cursor, which is waiting for input of a German heading.

In Figure 4 (B), the German words to be translated are found.
Enter "en"). In this input waiting state, the types of the first language and the second language are always displayed as shown at 42. When the enter key 9 is pressed after entering the heading, a plurality of French translation results are displayed at the position 44 at the same time as the input German heading 43, as shown in FIG. 4(C).

<Details of translation between different languages> In addition, in this embodiment, in order to perform the translation process between the first language and the second language with the most memory efficiency, several methods of using the third language as an intermediate medium language are introduced. This will be explained by giving an example.

In this method, for example, if there is an English-English dictionary in the main body memory,
If there are German-English and East German bidirectional dictionaries, as well as German-French and English-French bidirectional dictionaries as C cards, not only can these dictionaries be used alone, but the combination of dictionary data can also be used to translate German-French and French-German. It is also intended to enable translation.

Here, the first language is German, the second language is French, and the third intermediate language is English. It is equipped with bidirectional dictionaries, second and third language bidirectional dictionaries, namely German-English and East German dictionaries, and French-English and English-French dictionaries. These two two-way dictionaries are configured as IC cards containing ROM12 and ROM13, and are attached to the main body.
Mention it in the form of

Further, it is assumed that the processing procedures shown below are appropriately arranged in the control program area of ROMII and each control program area of ROM12.13.

Furthermore, in the following translation process, ST1[], ST2[
1, Eng [] --- RAM1 in other notation methods
4 shows the various work areas set up in 4.

Note that here, X [nl corresponds to a program notation such as the C language, and indicates the nth component (the character string itself) of the character string array having the start address X. X [
] may be a pointer array to a character string, but in the notation in the flowchart, X[nl means the character string itself.

('tSx Example of Translation Processing) A first example of translation processing will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 345.

In FIG. 5, step 5101 is a key reading process, and is in a state of waiting for the user to input a German heading. If a key is pressed here, it is determined in step 5102 whether or not it is an alphabet key valid for German headings, and if it is valid, in 5103 the character code corresponding to the input key is stored in the heading buffer and the key is pressed again. It enters a key wait state.

Further, if the key pressed in step 5104 is the enter key 9, the German-English dictionary is searched for a German heading corresponding to the character code group in the heading buffer stored in 5105, and the translation result for the German heading is obtained in 3106. Multiple English words Eng [1] ~E
ng (nl from the first buffer ST[1] to ST[
Store in nl.

Next, in step 5107, a counter t for sequentially processing the words Eng [11 to Eng [nl] stored in step 5106 is set to "1".

Then, in step 3108, the contents of ST1[] En
Next, search the English-French dictionary for 5109
Multiple French words Fre [1] which are translation results in ~
Store Fre[m] in the second buffer ST2[]. Thus, the contents of all STIs E n g [1] ~E n g
The loop processing continues until the processing of 5108 and 5109 is performed for [n]. Then, in step 5110, when the processing is completed for t=n, that is, the last Eng rt], in 5112, the contents of ST2, that is, all the German-English translation results Eng [t] to Eng [nl, all the English-French translation results ST2 [ 1] to St[nl are displayed on the display 17.

FIG. 6 shows a summary of the second and third translation results using "r finden" as an example of input German.

In the figure, the left column 61 is the German heading searched based on the input data, and the middle column 62 is the German-English translation result stored in the STI in step 5106 of FIG. Further, the right column 63 shows the respective English-French translation results for the German-English translation results stored in ST2 in 5109, and all the words in the right column 63 are displayed on the display 17.

In this way, by using a plurality of wearable two-way dictionaries (in this case two), it is possible to obtain a larger number or a wider range of translated words than can be obtained with conventional translation methods.

However, while it is possible to obtain more translated words, this method also outputs too many words and may force the user to select and judge a large number of words. Therefore, in the second to third embodiments, a configuration for accurately narrowing down the words obtained in the first embodiment to appropriate translation words will be shown.

('fS2 Embodiment of Translation Processing) A second embodiment of translation processing will be described according to the flowchart of FIG. In the figure, steps 5101-51
08 is a process common to the first embodiment.

In step 5209, the French-English dictionary is roughly searched for the French word that is the translation result searched in 5108, and the result is stored in ST3[].

Next, in step 5210, the English word stored in ST3 is compared with the word of Eng [tl stored in ST [tl], and if there is a match in step 5211, the process proceeds to 5212 and the translation result of Eng [1] is compared. A certain French word is stored in the buffer yST2[], and if there is no match, the counter t is counted up until t=n at 5213 (S214), and all Eng [1] ~
Processes 5108 to 5210 are performed for Eng [n].

Finally, in step 5215, all the contents of S72 stored in 5212 are displayed on the display 17.

As in the first embodiment, FIG.
Taking n as an example, the processed translation results are displayed.

In FIG. 8, numerals 81 to 83 correspond to numerals 61 to 83 in FIG.
It is similar to 63. In this embodiment, furthermore, the French in column 83 is translated from French to English as in column 84, and if the same word is found in English, which is an intermediate language, among the results, the original The French words in 83 rows of rows are the translation results.

That is, the English word "rfind" is included in column 83 for "r troover J," and the English word "rfind" in column 82 is included.
d", so it is stored in buffer ST2[] as "trouv
er J is stored. Also, in column 83, “estiI
As for Iler J, find in column 82 is not included in the English translation, so it is not stored in ST2[].Similarly, r de'couvrir' in column 83 is stored, but rre've'ler J is not stored.

As a result, only the underlined portion in FIG. 8 is displayed on the display 17 at step 5215 in FIG.'s7.

With this configuration, in the first embodiment of translation processing, when there are too many words to be output, only words with a common meaning can be output.

(Third Example of Translation Processing) A third example of translation processing will be described according to the flowchart of FIG. 9. Here, as in the second embodiment of the translation process, appropriate words are selected from all the words in the second language, French, obtained from the first language, German, through the intermediate language, English. An example of control is shown.

349, steps 5101 to 5108 are the first
This is also common to the second embodiment.

In step 5309, the French words Fre [1] to Fre [m], which are the translation results retrieved in step 5108, are stored in the buffer yST3 [11 to ST3 [m].

Next, in step 5310, a counter S for sequentially processing the words Fra [1] to Fre [m] stored in step 5309 is set to "1". Then, in step 5311, the contents of ST3
Next, I searched the French-English dictionary for [s] and found 531
In step 2, the German translation result is stored in the buffer ST4.

Next, in step 5313, the German language group stored in ST4 is compared with the first German heading entered by key, and if there is a match in step 5314, the process proceeds to 5315, where it is one of the translation results of Eng [t]. Store Fre[s in buffer ST2[].

If there is no match in step 5314, the counter S is incremented in steps 5316 and 5317 until the same process is performed for all French translation results of Eng[1].

When all the processing is completed for one t, the counter t is counted up in steps 3318 and 5319 until the processing is completed for all the German translation results stored in 5106. When all processing is completed, that is, when ts=n, all contents of ST2[] stored in step 5320 are displayed on the display 17.

FIG. 10 takes "r finden" as an example of German input and displays the translation results processed in the third embodiment. In FIG. be.

In this case, column 104 obtained in FIG. 8 is further translated into German in column 105, and it is determined whether to adopt the translation result in column 103 by comparing the result with the original word in column 101. Ru.

For example, r troover J at 103 in Figure 10.
When one of the English translations of ``rfind'' is roughly translated into East German, column 105 contains ``r finde+B'', which matches the input German heading ``rfinden'', so r troover J is stored in buffer ST2. . Also, r de'couvr in column 103
ir” is the English word r uncOVl in column 104.
Regarding the German translation result of column 105 for lr J,
The German translation result in column 105 for the English word "r discover" in column 104 also does not include the German input heading "rfinden", so r de'c
ouvrir" is not stored.

As a result, in step 5320 of FIG.
Only the underlined words in the diagram column 103 will be displayed on the display 17.

('M4 Embodiment of Translation Processing) A fourth embodiment of translation processing will be described according to the flowchart shown in FIG. Again, as in the second embodiment of the translation process, all '!'! obtained from the first language, German, through the intermediate language, English. An example of control for selecting an appropriate word from among the words of the J2 language, French, is shown.

In the figure S11, steps 8101 to 5105 are common to the first embodiment.

In step 5406, the English words Eng [1] to Eng [kl] which are the translation results for the input German heading are
Store in buffer yST4 [13 to ST4 [k].

Next, in step 5407, a counter U for sequentially processing the words E n g [1] to E n g [kl stored in 3406 is set to "1", and the words selected by the processing are set to "1". A counter n for sequentially storing English words is set to "1".

Then, in step 5409, the East German dictionary is searched for the English word Eng [u] stored in 5406, and further, in 5410, the German word that is the translation result is compared with the German word input as the heading, and in 5411, a matching word is found. If so, proceed to 5412 and select the Eng at that point.
[u] is stored in the buffer STI [n], and a counter n is incremented in step 13.

If there is no match in step 5411, then in steps 5414 and 5415, the counter U is incremented and looped until the same translation/comparison process is performed for u-to-k, that is, all Eng [u].

The subsequent processing is performed at the node [ in FIG. 5 in the first embodiment.
A], or the node [ in FIG. 7 in the second embodiment
B], or the node [ in FIG. 9 in the third embodiment
C].

The processing up to moving to nodes [A], CB], and [C] in the first to 's3 embodiments is performed in columns 121, 122, .
As shown in 123, this is a process of obtaining an English word from a German word, further translating it into German, and determining the English word from which the original German word was obtained. In other words, the procedure shown in Figure 11 is
A second language used as an intermediate language when translating into other languages
It is nothing but the process of determining language.

By processing the second language obtained in this way at the nodes [A], CB], and [C in the first to third embodiments, a more appropriate translation can be easily and quickly selected. . 3i81~ In the third embodiment, the number of words obtained as a translation result is enormous in the translation process of two or more stages in the intermediate language or later. By narrowing down the candidates, you can search more efficiently.

Here, FIG. 12 illustrates a combination result of the fourth example and the first example.

FIG. 12 takes "rfinden" as an example of German input and displays the translation results for the combination of this embodiment and the first embodiment. In FIG. It is similar to

In FIG. 12, reference numeral 6 is the result of performing English-German translation again on the English translation of the input German.

Since the input German heading rfindanJ is already included in the abstract translation for rfindJ in column 122, further processing is performed and rf is stored in buffer ST1[].
ind” is stored.

Also, in column 122, r dfscover”, r thi
nk J, 'consfderJ' does not include 'findenJ' in its abstract translation, so these are not stored in the STI, so the final German-French translation result is the translation result for 'English r find' in column 122. French words in a certain column 123 are displayed.

(Other Examples of Translation Processing) As explained above, by executing the processes shown in the second, third, and fourth embodiments, translation via the intermediate language shown in the first embodiment can be performed. Processing accuracy can be increased. Therefore, by combining a plurality of Examples 2 to 1J4, it is possible to further improve translation accuracy.

Examples 5 to 1 in the left column of Figure 1 show examples of combinations in Figure 13.
1 is an example in which each of the above-mentioned Examples 1 to 4 is combined. Here, the seventh embodiment is the fourth and '! described at the end of the fourth embodiment above. This is a combination of Example J1.

Also, for each combination, the AND condition of each element,
By using the OR condition, the number of combinations increases further, and by changing the combinations according to various translation conditions, it is possible to obtain a translation result that best meets the conditions.

Furthermore, in the first to eleventh embodiments, the first language is German, the second language is French, and the third language is English, but any language such as Spanish or Italian can be applied. Needless to say, containers 1 and 3
It is sufficient to have a bidirectional dictionary between languages and between second and third languages.Also, in the first to fourth embodiments, translation from German to French was illustrated, but translation in the opposite direction is the same. Needless to say, it is possible with this procedure.

Of course, the two-way dictionaries stored in the ROM 12 and 13 of the IC card can also be used independently. In each of the above embodiments, it goes without saying that the German-English and East German bidirectional dictionaries and the English-French and French-English bidirectional dictionaries can be used independently.

The various translation modes in each of Examples 1 to 11 shown in FIG. 13 may be selected in response to input from a keyboard. It is also conceivable to display the translation results in a plurality of translation modes corresponding to each embodiment on the display 17 in a time-sharing manner, or to spatially divide the display area of the display 17 into a plurality of regions and display each one. .

User interface configuration: Part 1 Next, when an IC card containing multiple different language information is installed in the main body, the user can control the human output of the entire system, which is useful in such a configuration. The interface method will be described in detail.

(Twelfth Embodiment) Here, in a state where the main body of the device shown in FIG. 1 functions as an English-English dictionary, a two-way German-English/East German dictionary is used as an IC card of 'tS1! A configuration in which a French-English/English-French dictionary is attached as the second IC card will be exemplified.

In the above system, in addition to the English-English dictionary configured by the ROMII inside the main body, there are three dictionaries configured as IC cards: English, German, and French, and each can be combined, so there are 3 P2 = 6 different dictionaries. There are possible combinations (German-French and French-German translations are performed according to the first to eleventh embodiments described above), and if the English-English function of the main body is added to this, there are a total of seven combinations.

FIG. 14 shows an example of a display on the display 17 in this embodiment. For example, alphabetical display as a menu item, for example, "E" and "ENG → FREJ" translation from one language to another. Showing how.

Here, the operator can select any dictionary function. For example, when using the dictionary as a French-German dictionary, when the main unit's power switch is turned on, the display as shown in Figure 14 will be automatically displayed, and then the alphabet key When "G" is pressed, the corresponding item in the menu is selected. Thereafter, a French language input waiting screen (not shown) as a French-German dictionary is displayed on the display 17, and the process then proceeds to conversion control processing via the above-mentioned intermediate language.

If an Ito/English/Italian dictionary is installed instead of the French/English/English/French dictionary as the second IC card, rFREJ in the display example in Fig. 14 will be changed to r I TAJ, and there will be seven different All you have to do is display a menu so that you can use the dictionary.

Next, referring to the flowchart in FIG. 15, the control procedure shown in FIG. 1 for explaining the control when performing the above-mentioned interface is stored in the control program area lla in the ROMII.

First, in step 5501 of Fig. 'fS15, it is confirmed whether or not the on key among the function keys 3a that commands the power on of the main body is pressed, and if the on key is pressed, the
In step 502, the presence or absence of the rc card in the first IC card mounting section is confirmed. One possible way to confirm this is to wire the circuit so that a closed loop circuit is formed when an IC card is inserted, and then send a predetermined signal to the circuit, and if there is a return signal, it is determined that the IC card is present. It will be done.

Next, in step 5503, the IC card type code A previously stored in the first IC card is read, and in 5504, it is determined whether this type code A has a bidirectional translation function for English, which is an intermediate language. If it is determined that the code is of a different type, a separate process is performed, for example, a control system that operates solely on the IC card.

If it is determined in step 5504 that the device has a bidirectional translation function, the type code A is stored in the work area 14a of the main body RAM 14 in 5505.

Next, in step 5506, it is confirmed whether or not there is an IC card in the second IC card mounting section. If step 5506 is affirmed, the card type code B is read in 5507, and it is determined in 8508 whether it is a translation function.If this step is negative, the process moves to a separate process similar to 5504.

If it is determined that the translation function is present, the above-mentioned type code A and this type code B are merged in step 5509,
The pattern M is stored again in the work area 14a.

Next, in step 5510, the combination information for the above-mentioned pattern M is compared and searched with a table stored in the ROMII in advance, and if there is, the combination information is read out together with the display character information in 5511, and in 5512, it is stored in the RAM 14 and the display drive unit 16. After the information has been synthesized, seven combination patterns are displayed on the display 17 in 5513 as shown in FIG. 14, and in 5514 the system waits for selection input of each combination using the alphabet keys.

Here, if it is not confirmed in step 5506 that the IC card is installed in the second IC card installation section,
At step 515, the above-mentioned type code A is restored as pattern M, and from step 5510 onward, the same processing is executed to display the combination pattern of r A J, r B, and "C" on the display 17 as shown in FIG. do.

In addition, if it is not confirmed in step 5502 that the IC card is installed in the IC card installation section of the IT, 55
At step 16, it is confirmed whether or not an IC card is installed in the second IC card installation section. If step 5516 is negative, it means that there is only the English-English dictionary function stored in the main body, and the process goes to another process, such as waiting for input of an English word as an English-English dictionary, for example, by 6 lines.

When confirming that the IC card is installed in step 5516, 85
At step 17, the type code B stored in advance in the IC card is read, and at step 3518, the presence or absence of the translation function is confirmed. If the translation function is provided, step 5519
5 at the same time as storing type code B in RAM14.
At 520, restore to combination pattern M, and from 55xo R
Proceed to processing. As shown in Figure 14, rAJ, r
The combinations of "E" and "F" are arbitrarily rearranged and displayed on the display 17, and in step 5514, the display waits for selection.

In this way, the first
Possible translation modes are displayed as shown in Figure 4, and the user can select the desired translation mode.

(Thirteenth Embodiment) In the S12 embodiment, the on key only had a power-on function, but this on key has a menu display function that displays possible states of the entire system when pressed after power-on. By adding , if the first and second IC cards are replaced with cards in other languages according to a certain setting, the on key can be pressed even when one of the combinations is being executed to perform the control shown in Figure 15. By executing
It is possible to always check and execute functions based on the latest system status. Of course, it goes without saying that keys other than the on key may be assigned as keys for executing commands for these functions.

(Fourteenth Embodiment) In the twelfth embodiment, a case has been described in which the '$1 and second IC cards each have a translation function.
It is also conceivable that the IC card has a built-in translation function (dictionary and search program), and the second IC card stores an application that functions independently, and executes the functions of the second card along with the translation.

In such a structure, the following display control may be performed by adding the procedure shown in FIG. 16 to the procedure shown in FIG. 15.

That is, if the translation function of the type code B of the N2 IC card is denied in step 5508 of FIG.
Shift to the control shown in Figure 6.

In step 5521, the type codes A and B are restored into combination pattern M and function pattern N, in steps 5522 and 5523 each pattern M and N are compared and searched, and in step 5524 the menu screen display character function stored in ROMII is The information is read out, display information is synthesized based on the screen layout in step 5525, and displayed on the display 17 in step 5526.

Figure 17 shows an example of this display;
In this case, as shown in figure 0, which shows the case where an IC card containing a travel phrasebook is installed in the IC card installation part of the
Menu items "A" to "rC" are the combination of translation functions for the first IC card, and "rD" is the title of the conversation collection as an application.rTRAVEL C0NVE
RSATIONJ is displayed.

In addition, if the application card is installed in both 3iH1 and the second IC card installation section, that is, if steps 5504 and 5508 in FIG. 15 are negative, then menu items r A J and 2 in FIG.
Three application titles are displayed and three functions can be selected.

<User interface configuration; Part 2> and above,
Although the configuration related to menu display and its selection has been shown, below, we will explain the structure of an IC that stores a plurality of different language information.
The configuration for controlling the various message languages output on the main body display in accordance with the selected language when each card is installed in the main body will be described in detail below.

(15th Embodiment) Figure 18 (A) shows an input waiting state when menu item "A" (English-English dictionary mode) is selected while the menu screen in Figure 14 is being displayed, and the operator is requested to input. The prompting message is written in English because the heading input language is English.

However, when the item rFJ is selected in FIG. 14, that is, when the process moves to the French dictionary search process, the first
It is preferable to automatically switch the message to French notation as shown in Figure 8 (B).

In this case, all other messages such as errors are written in French, and this mode continues until the menu screen is returned and another language dictionary is selected.

In many cases, it is considered that many users who have set a dictionary language have that language as their native language, so displaying all messages in their native language when selecting a dictionary significantly improves operability.

Next, means for realizing the above operation will be explained.

FIG. 19 shows in more detail the internal structure of the ROM 13 stored in the IC card in FIG. 2, and is configured in the order described below.

First, the first area stores a program that executes system control specific to the card itself, and is located in the ROM13.
When control is transferred from ROMII due to chip select controlled by CPU10, various pre-assigned processes are executed.

What is stored in the next area is card type code B, which is a control code for determining the type of card mentioned above.

Next, a plurality of sets of message data 13f configured in the language handled by the card (French in this case) and a message display control program 13 that controls the message data 13f are displayed.
g is stored. The type of message data is ROMI
It is provided in a form that completely corresponds to the message data (English) stored in I.

Next, codes for characters unique to French (for example, "L", "T", etc.) other than the usual 26 letters of the alphabet, and corresponding display font data and control programs are stored. This will be detailed later.

Finally, French->English, English-French bidirectional data and a table for searching the data are stored as dictionary data areas to form one ROM.

While the English-to-English conversion shown in FIG. 18(A) is being executed, various messages are outputted by the control program in which the message data stored in ROMII is also stored. When the French dictionary mode is selected, the message control program is stored in RAM as shown in
14, check the card type code B stored in the work area 14a, and at the same time turn the message display control to R.
Transfer to OM13.

At this time, by setting a flag in the work area 14a to indicate that the language has been switched to French, the contents of the memory in the RAM 14 can be always backed up even when the menu screen is returned to or after the power is turned off. Even when the power is turned on again and the menu screen is displayed, the work area 14
Since the message display process is transferred to the IC card after confirming the flag in a, the French notation can always be maintained.

Furthermore, by selecting another language dictionary and changing the flag in the work area 14a to a new flag indicating another language, it is possible to change the notation of the message to another language. Of course, the ROM configuration in the other language IC card is also the first step here.
It is necessary to make it similar to the French dictionary card shown in Figure 9.

By adopting the same memory structure for any language, by inserting an IC card for each language and selecting the language dictionary, messages can be sent in that language, and there is no need to select another language. For example, a certain message is always displayed even when the main unit is turned off and on, which is very convenient for operators who use the relevant language as their native language.

(16th Embodiment) In the 15th embodiment described above, switching of the message language was accomplished by switching the dictionary language selection, but it is now possible to always set the desired message language no matter which dictionary language is being executed. The configuration can also be considered.

That is, a switching key (not shown) is provided in the keyboard in advance during operation of the main unit, and by pressing this key, the display screen changes to the message language currently in use, as shown in FIG. 18(C). A language that can be used in addition to the above is identified by a type code stored in a work area, and a menu is displayed so that an operator can freely select the language.

In the fifteenth embodiment, the message language identification flag was switched by the dictionary that was switched to the dictionary language, but in this embodiment, this can be easily realized by switching when selecting the language after pressing the switch.

This display message switching control will be explained based on the flowchart of FIG. 20. During execution of a search routine as an electronic dictionary function, it is determined in step 5601 in interrupt processing whether or not the switching key is pressed at all times. When the depression of the switching key is detected, the current flag indicating the current message language is checked in step 5602. Here, it is assumed that English is specified. So step 5
In step 603, the type code stored in the work area 14a is checked, an unused language is recognized, and step 56
04, the selection screen for languages other than English (German, French) (first
8 (C)) and waits for the input of the selection key in step 5605. When either one is selected, a flag corresponding to the new language is set in the RAM 14 in step 5606, and at the same time, the flag is set in step 5607. The message display control is stored in the ROM in which the selected language is stored, and if the message display screen is exited when exiting from the search routine, the message is displayed in the new language in step 5608 and the process moves to the next process of the search routine. do.

Assuming that the RAM 14 is backed up even when the power is turned off, messages can always be displayed in the same language, and the display will not change unless the operator performs a switching operation. Therefore, no matter which language is selected, messages are always displayed in the same language, which is more convenient for operators whose native language is that language.

Furthermore, it goes without saying that the fifteenth and sixteenth embodiments may be combined. That is, when switching the dictionary language, it is not only possible to switch to the language concerned, but also to perform arbitrary switching at any time while using the language after switching.

Furthermore, by allowing the operator to set the display message control for either one of the fifteenth and sixteenth embodiments, it is possible to provide a very convenient message display function for a plurality of operators.

<User interface configuration: Part 3> Next, input to use the check key function in the language corresponding to the language in the installed IC card or any language selected from multiple languages. This section describes the control for automatically switching to text.

(Seventeenth Embodiment) For example, in German, characters such as "β" and "t" are used, and below, a technique for adding input means for these characters as necessary will be described.

Figure 21 shows a display example using this embodiment.
FIG. 421 (A) shows the state of the headline input screen when a German language card is inserted as an IC card.

As shown in the figure, "Kawaru", "Return", and r04° "No" are displayed as input characters peculiar to German in the lower row of the display surface of the display 17, and a transparent By pressing the vicinity of a displayed character on the keyboard 8, the displayed character is taken in as key input information.

According to this configuration, when inputting German, it is possible to use a combination of 26 letters of the alphabet keys provided in advance on the main body and 4 letters of the special keys set in the display.

FIG. 21(B) similarly shows a French input screen, in which a plurality of French-specific input characters are displayed at the bottom of the display 17, and the transparent keyboard 8 above each can be pressed. ing.

Next, the structure of the transparent keyboard 8 on the display 17 will be described with reference to FIGS. 22 and 23.

Fig. 23 is an exploded perspective view of the same structure, and Fig. 22 is an exploded perspective view of the same structure.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the assembled state shown in the figure.

22 and 23, the display 17 of FIG.
A lower flexible printed circuit board 20 on which a plurality of transparent electrodes 19 formed by vapor deposition on a transparent sheet such as a polyester film is provided on the liquid crystal display 18 constituting the lower flexible printed circuit board 20. A lower flexible printed circuit board 2 is attached to the printed circuit board 20 via a spacer member 21 for forming a predetermined gap.
Similarly to No. 0, an upper flexible printed circuit board 23 on which a plurality of transparent electrodes 22 are formed is laminated by adhesive or the like on the lower surface of a transparent sheet.

The transparent electrode 22 on the upper flexible printed circuit board 23 (
4) and the transparent electrodes 19 (8) on the lower flexible printed circuit board 20 are wired perpendicularly to each other, and at the same time, a predetermined gap is formed by the spacer member 21, so that the upper flexible printed circuit board 23 By pressing a predetermined part with a finger or the like, the transparent electrode 22 of the upper flexible printed circuit board 23 and the transparent electrode 19 of the lower flexible printed circuit board 20 come into contact, a predetermined key signal is generated, and key input processing is performed inside the main body. It is done.

Next, control in this embodiment will be explained using the flowchart of FIG. 24. Step 370 in Figure 24
1, the card is selected while the main unit is operating, or step 57
If the main unit is powered on in step 02 and there is a card, control is transferred to the card in step 57.
In step 03, it is checked whether the card is installed or not. If the card installation is not confirmed, the main body function is continued or an error is detected and the process moves to other processing.

When the card attachment is confirmed, the card type code A is incorporated in step 5704, and step 5705
The data is stored in the work area 14a of the RAM 14.

Next, in step 3706, the key character display font data K stored in the card's internal ROMII shown in FIG. The font is read from the ROM II, and in step 5708 the font and display information I are synthesized as display information, and in step 5709 the display information is output to be displayed on the display.

In this state, when the alphabet key or the transparent keyboard 8 on the special character displayed on the display 17 is pressed in step 5710, entry processing for entry words (special characters) is sequentially executed.

In this way, key input means for inputting special characters required for specific language processing can be added depending on the function of the installed IC card, so the user does not have to perform cumbersome operations such as shift key sequences. There is also no need to add any extra key input hardware.

(18th Embodiment) In the 17th embodiment, the case where only one type of IC card is installed in the main body has been described, but if two types of IC cards storing different languages are installed, the $
After the display illustrated in Figure 14 is executed by the above-mentioned control, the special characters used in each language are displayed on the input screen corresponding to the input language of each option and can be pressed. It is possible to create a keyboard compatible with

That is, when the selection key is pressed in step 5514 of FIG. 15, step 570 is performed based on the type code of the card storing the language selected in FIG.
Character font data K stored in the card in 6
, and thereafter execute the above-mentioned flow to proceed to step 57.
At step 10, a heading entry waiting state is entered.

According to the 17th and 18th embodiments described above, it is possible to prevent the main body from having keys dedicated to special characters on the main body keyboard or adding multiple functions to one key, resulting in an increase in the main body size and complicated key input. By switching and displaying only the characters used in each language, speedy and accurate character input can be realized.

<Effects of each embodiment> As explained above, first linguistic information is input and second linguistic information corresponding to the first linguistic information is output, and
The main effects obtained by adopting the configurations of the various embodiments described above in an electronic device configured to be able to attach and detach a plurality of IC cards as external storage devices are as follows.
It is summarized below.

(1) The translation method described in the sections ``Basic structure of translation between different languages'' and ``Details of translation between different languages'' has the following effects.

That is, when storing multiple different languages in memory, a common language corresponding to each of the languages is combined, and when converting between different languages, by intervening an intermediate language as the single common language, multiple languages can be stored in memory. It is possible to prevent the increase in memory size and cost due to the data structure for each combination of conversions between different languages, and to design work by providing various dictionaries for each combination. This eliminates the complexity and confusion of increasing the number of dictionaries and replacing the necessary dictionaries.

In addition, even when adding a new language, it is possible to convert all existing languages by simply making them compatible with a common intermediate language, which has the advantage of increasing functionality extensibility and system flexibility. There are also some advantages.

Further, when translating between different languages, there is an advantage in that highly accurate translation is possible by performing further conversion matching processing in each conversion process.

Of course, according to the above configuration, the translation results between the predetermined language and the intermediate language can also be used, so translation between various languages is possible with a limited dictionary configuration.

(2) According to the interface method described in the section <User interface configuration: Part 1>, the following effects are achieved.

In other words, by attaching any combination of IC cards containing multiple languages to the main body of the device,
Combinations that can be converted between a plurality of languages in the above state can be automatically checked and selected on the main display of the device, and each language conversion function with the latest combination can be easily selected and checked.

(3) User interface configuration: The interface method described in section 2> has the following effects.

In other words, by attaching any combination of IC cards each containing multiple languages to the main body of the device and selecting any language from among the multiple languages, messages such as errors in that language can be displayed. By making it possible to select automatically or manually by the operator, it becomes easier for operators whose native language is to understand various messages during operation, greatly improving operational efficiency and preventing operational errors. etc. can be realized.

(4) User interface configuration: The interface method described in section 3 has the following effects.

In other words, when an arbitrary combination of IC cards containing multiple languages is installed in the device, and a language is selected from among the multiple languages, the special characters used in that language will be displayed on the display. In addition, by configuring the keyboard so that the special characters can be selectively entered as character information using the keyboard provided on the display, only the characters necessary for the language are always displayed on the keyboard, ensuring accurate key input. It can be done quickly, and there is no need to prepare unnecessary keys on the keyboard in advance.
The device itself can be made more compact and cost-effective, making it possible to provide a very advantageous device.

[Effect of the invention] As is clear from the above explanation, according to the present invention, the first
In an electronic device that translates and outputs linguistic information between a language of the first language and a second language, the electronic device includes a first dictionary means that stores information necessary for translating the linguistic information from the first language to the third language; ,
a second dictionary means storing information necessary for translating linguistic information from the third language to the first language;
N that stores the information necessary for translating linguistic information into 3 languages.
A third dictionary means and a fourth dictionary means storing information necessary for translating the linguistic information from the third language to the second language are provided. When translating into a third language, first, a first translation is performed to translate the input language information into a third language using the first dictionary means, and all information in the third language obtained by the first translation is translated into a third language. Performing a second translation of the linguistic information into a second language using the fourth dictionary means, and further, with respect to all the linguistic information in the second language obtained by the second translation, Said 's3
Translation of 's3 into 3 languages using the dictionary means of If the same linguistic information is obtained, among the linguistic information in the second language in the result of the second translation, the first translation that is the input of the second translation through the third translation. All the linguistic information in the second language for which the same linguistic information in the language of 's3 as the result was obtained is added to the second one of the input linguistic information.
s3 from the second language obtained through translation into the third language. Translation accuracy can be improved by translating into a third language and using a second language in the middle as the translation result only when it matches the first third language. It has the excellent effect of allowing highly flexible and highly accurate translation processing between a variety of languages without complicating software, software, or operating systems.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the structure of an electronic device adopting the present invention, Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing the control system of the device shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 shows the basic flow of translation processing. Figures 4(A) to (C) are explanatory diagrams showing basic display changes in translation processing; Figure 345 is a flowchart diagram showing details of the first embodiment of translation processing; 'Fs The figure is an explanatory diagram showing the search results obtained by the translation process shown in Fig. 5, Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing details of the second embodiment of the translation process, and the ia figure shows the search results obtained by the translation process shown in Fig. 7. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing details of the third embodiment of the translation process. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing the search results of the translation process in FIG. 9. FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing the search results obtained by the translation processing shown in Fig. 11, and Fig. 13 is a flow chart showing the details of the s4 embodiment. An explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the fifth to eleventh embodiments, FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example in the first user interface method according to the present invention, and FIG. 15 shows control in the first user interface method. The flowchart diagram shown in Figure 16 is '! FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram showing different display examples in the first user interface method according to the present invention. FIGS. FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the ROM required in the configuration of FIG. 18. FIG. 20 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example in the second user interface method. Figure 21 (A), (B)
) is an explanatory diagram showing a display example in the third user interface method, FIG. 22 is a sectional view showing the structure of the transparent keyboard in the third user interface method, and FIG. 23 is an exploded view showing the structure of the transparent keyboard. A perspective view 3424 is a flowchart showing control in the user interface method of 343. 1...Device body 2...Alphabet keys 4.17...Display 5...Hinge part 6...I
C card 8...Transparent keyboard 9...Enter key 10...CPU11-13...ROM 11a-13a...Control program area 11b-1
3b...Dictionary data area 14...-RAM 15...Keyboard section 16...Display drive section 18.
...Liquid crystal display 19...Transparent electrode 20.23...
・Flexible printed circuit board 21...Spacer member
22...transparent electrode review translation 偲波のFlow-9toe Figure 3 Figure 5 1'i+ f7r Hiifuri/1REt41! -t, 〒,
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4? IE, f, +, f3FCnf4eJ Fig. 14 Zushouhi 伜) #gj-1 Hiya ε office, rehishi θ eye 1 No. 13
figure

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1) An electronic device that translates and outputs linguistic information between a first language and a second language, which includes: a first dictionary means storing information; a second dictionary means storing information necessary for translating the linguistic information from the third language into the first language; and from the second language to the third language. a third dictionary means storing information necessary for translating the linguistic information from the third language into the second language; and a fourth dictionary means storing information necessary for translating the linguistic information from the third language to the second language. When translating input linguistic information in a first language into a second language, first, the input linguistic information is translated into a third language using the first dictionary means.
A first translation into the second language is performed using the fourth dictionary means for all the linguistic information in the third language obtained by the first translation. furthermore, performs a third translation into a third language using the third dictionary means for all the linguistic information in the second language obtained by the second translation; If the linguistic information in the third language obtained by the translation is the same as the linguistic information in the third language obtained by the first translation, the third language in the result of the second translation is Among the linguistic information in the second language, all the linguistic information in the third language that is the same as the first translation result that is the input of the second translation is obtained through the third translation. An electronic device characterized in that the linguistic information is a result of translation of the input linguistic information into a second language. 2) When translating the input linguistic information in the second language into the first language, first, the input linguistic information is translated into the third language using the third dictionary means.
A first translation is performed into the first language using the second dictionary means for all the language information in the third language obtained by the first translation. further, performing a third translation into a third language using the first dictionary means for all the linguistic information in the first language obtained by the second translation; If the linguistic information in the third language obtained by the translation is the same as the linguistic information in the third language obtained by the first translation, the third language in the result of the second translation is Among the linguistic information in the first language, all the linguistic information in the third language that is the same as the first translation result that is the input of the second translation is obtained through the third translation. 2. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the linguistic information is a result of translation of the input linguistic information into a first language.