JPH0535777A - Electronic dictionary - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To permit faster forward shifting and reverse shifting of retrieval results and to prevent deterioration in visibility by providing an input, retrieval, display and control means. CONSTITUTION:When a headword to be translated is inputted by a keyboard 1 and then a translation key 3 is pressed down, a CPU 6 retrieves the translated word corresponding to the headword from a dictionary memory 7b based upon the inputted headword or the one most similar to that inputted headword and displays both the headword and the translated word on a display pard 2 at the same time. Then, if an forward shifting key is pressed down, the headword next to the one currently displayed is retrieved from the dictionary memory 7b and the retrieved headword and the translated word are displayed in normal manner. If a reverse shifting key 4 is pressed down, the previous headword and its translated word are displayed in normal manner. Consequently, faster forward and reverse shiftings of retrieval results are permitted and deterioration in visibility is prevented.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic dictionary.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, various types of electronic dictionaries have been developed, ranging from those of general-purpose machines to those of personal computers, and their search methods are also diverse. For example, if you do not know the exact spelling from the dictionary in the device, but you want to check the word with the body register, or if you want to search for the word by entering the first few letters of the letters that make up the word, In the translation operation after input, the word closest to the input character string in the dictionary is searched and translated, and then by holding down the key switch, the word and its translation result are sequentially displayed in the dictionary order, and the key switch is released. Then, there is a search method in which the word that was being displayed when it was released remains displayed.

[0003]

However, in order to reduce the size of the device, when a small power source such as a button battery or an AA battery, which has a small electric capacity, is used as the power source, the life of the power source is extended. Since the frequency of the system clock cannot be set too high, there is a limit to the speed at which words can be searched and displayed. Therefore, the conventional electronic dictionary has a problem in that the forward and backward search results, which are required to be processed at high speed, cannot be speeded up so much.

The present invention solves the above problems,
It is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic dictionary that can speed up forward and reverse search results, and can prevent a reduction in display visibility due to the higher speed.

[0005]

In order to achieve such an object, the present invention provides a dictionary storage means for storing a contrast dictionary of a found word and corresponding information corresponding to the found word, and a found word and An electronic dictionary having display means for displaying corresponding information corresponding to the found word, the input means for giving a search instruction for the found word and a forward or backward feed instruction, and the found word by this input means Search means for searching the corresponding dictionary from the contrast dictionary of the dictionary storage means based on the search instruction, and the search word searched by the search means based on the forward or backward command in the input means. The display means is enlarged and displayed in the order of dictionary arrangement or the reverse order thereof, and the head word displayed on the display means is fixed by fixing the forward or reverse feed instruction by the input means. Correspond to the word It is obtained and a control unit for controlling the display in the normal display format of the corresponding information.

[0006]

The operation of the electronic dictionary having the above-described structure will be described below.

When a search instruction for a headword is issued from the input means in the electronic dictionary, the search means searches the corresponding dictionary and the corresponding information from the reference dictionary of the dictionary storage means based on the search instruction. Then, the control means sends the retrieved found word and the correspondence information to the display means for display. At this time, when a forward or backward feed instruction is given from the input means, the control means causes the display means to enlarge and display the found words in the dictionary arrangement order or the reverse order. Further, when the forward or reverse feed instruction is fixed in the input means, the control means causes the display means to display the found word and the corresponding information corresponding to the found word in a normal display format.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention.

The electronic dictionary shown in FIG. 1 uses the alphabet keys to input alphabets, and also has a translation key 3, a forward / reverse key 4, and a speed search key (in the following description, a forward speed search key or a reverse speed search key). (Also referred to as 5), a keyboard 1 as an input means, a head word, that is, an input alphabet, and display information 2 as a display means for displaying corresponding information corresponding to the head word, that is, Japanese. A CPU 6 for overall control, a ROM 7 as a dictionary storing means having a control program memory 7a and a dictionary memory 7b, and a RAM having a work area 8a and a temporary save area 8b.
8 and a display drive unit 9 for driving the display unit 2.

The translation key 3 is used to input a search instruction for searching the dictionary memory 7b for an input alphabet or an English word closest to the input alphabet.

The forward feed / reverse feed key 4 is used to input either the forward or reverse feed direction when the key is pressed.

The speed search key 5 is used to instruct forward or reverse feed of the found word at predetermined time intervals when pressed.

When a search instruction is input by the translation key 3, the CPU 6 searches the dictionary of the dictionary memory 7b for the alphabet input by the keyboard 1, that is, the word corresponding to the search information. ..

Further, the CPU 6 uses the speed search key 5
When is pressed, the control is performed to continuously expand the found word from the found word displayed on the display unit 2 in the order of the dictionary arrangement. When the press of the speed search key 5 is released, when the press is released The enlarged display word is fixed, and then the fixed search word and corresponding information corresponding to the search word are displayed in the normal display format immediately before the speed search key 5 is pressed. ing.

Control program memory 7a of the ROM 7
Stores a program for error processing and a control program such as a search program, and the dictionary memory 7b stores a dictionary of English words and Japanese corresponding to the English words.

Various programs are stored in the work area 8a of the RAM 7, and the temporary save area 8b is used for error processing.

FIG. 2 shows the layout of the keyboard 1, the display unit 2, the translation key 3, the forward key / reverse key 4, and the speed search key 5 shown in FIG. 1 on the operation panel 10.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a data storage state of the dictionary memory 7b. The dictionary memory 7b includes a data length storage unit 11, a found word storage unit 12, and a translated word storage unit 13.

The data length storage unit 11 sums the data lengths of the found word (English) and the translated word (Japanese) stored as a pair, and the data length for storing this data length. It is for storing the total data length. The headword storage unit 12 stores the English words that are headwords. The translated word storage unit 13 stores a translated word (Japanese) of the found word (English word) stored in the found word storage unit 12.

For example, if the English word you want to translate is "SPEA"
In the case of “K”, the found word “SPEA” is stored in the found word storage unit 12.
K ”is stored and the found word“ SPEA ”is stored in the translated word storage unit 13.
“Speak”, “speak”, and “say” corresponding to the translated word “K” are stored in order.

The data length storage unit 11 stores the word "S
PEAK ”data length storage 11 to post-translation storage 13
The total data length up to the last translated word "say" is stored.

The word "SPEAKER" and the word "SP
"ECIAL" is also sequentially stored according to a similar storage method.

Next, the operation of the electronic dictionary having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIG.

Note that S1 to S18 shown in FIG. 4 mean steps 1 to 18, respectively.

In step 1, the word to be translated is input from the keyboard 1, and then in step 2, the translation key 3 is entered.
If is pressed, in step 3, the CPU 6 searches the dictionary memory 7b for the input word or the word closest to the input word and the translation word corresponding to the word. Then, the found head word and the translated word are sent to the display unit 2 and displayed at the same time.

The display format at this time is set as a normal display format and a key input waiting state is set. First, at step 4, it is determined whether or not the forward key 4 is pressed. As a result of the judgment,
If the forward key 4 is pressed, in step 5, the dictionary memory 7b is searched for the next found word next to the currently displayed found word, and the found found word and its translated word are normally displayed. Return to step 4.

When the result of the judgment in step 4 is that the forward feed key 4 is not depressed, it is judged in step 6 whether or not the reverse feed key 4 is depressed. As a result of the decision, the reverse feed key 4 is depressed. If so, the previous found word and its translated word are searched and displayed normally in step 7, and the process returns to step 4.

If it is determined in step 6 that the reverse feed key 4 is not pressed, the process proceeds to step 8 and it is determined in step 8 whether the forward speed search key 5 is pressed. If the result of determination is that the forward speed search key 5 has been pressed, in step 9, only the next headword is enlarged and displayed using characters larger than the normal display.

Next, at step 10, it is judged whether or not the forward speed search key 5 is in the depressed state. As a result of the judgment, if the key is continuously depressed, at step 11, the visually appropriate speed is determined. So that the display of the word is switched with
A search speed control process is performed by a timer (not shown), and after this process is completed, the process returns to step 9.

If the result of determination in step 10 is that the forward speed search key 5 has been released, in step 12 the found word and its translated word which are enlarged and displayed at that time are displayed in the normal display format. Display and return to step 4.

As a result of the judgment in step 8, if the forward speed search key 5 is not pressed, step 1
Move to 3 and reverse speed search key 5 in step 13
It is determined whether or not is pressed. As a result of the judgment, when the reverse speed search key 5 is pressed, the head word before the head word currently displayed in step 14 is searched in the same manner as when the forward speed search key 5 is pressed. The word is enlarged and displayed, and then it is determined in step 15 whether or not the reverse speed search key 5 is pressed. If the result of the determination is that this key is kept pressed, the search speed control process is performed in step 16, After this process ends, the process returns to step 14.

If the result of determination in step 15 is that the reverse speed search key 5 has been released, in step 17 the found word and its translated word that are enlarged and displayed at that time are displayed in the normal display format. Display and return to step 4.

If it is determined in step 13 that the reverse speed key 5 is not pressed, the process proceeds to step 18, and it is determined in step 18 whether or not the clear processing has been performed. As a result, if the clear processing is being performed, the entry word from the keyboard 1 is awaited, and if the clear processing is not being performed, step 4
Return to.

Next, step 8 to step 1 described above.
The procedure up to 2 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.

When the alphabet keys "S", "P", "E", "A", and "K" are pressed in step 1, "SPEAK" is displayed in the heading section 2a of the display section 2 under the control of the CPU 6. Is displayed.

Next, when the translation key 3 is pressed in step 2, the CPU 6 searches the dictionary for the input entry word "SPEAK", and the word "SPEAK".
The translated word corresponding to is displayed on the translation unit 2b of the display unit 2.

With this normal display format, the forward key,
The determinations in step 4, step 6, step 8, step 13 and step 18 are repeated until the reverse feed key 4 or the forward speed search key 5 is pressed or a clear command is input.

When the forward speed search key 5 is pressed, the process proceeds from step 8 to step 9, and in step 9, the word "SPEAK" next to the word "SPEAK" is added.
"AKER" is enlarged and displayed in the translation unit 2b with characters larger than usual.

Further, as a result of the judgment in step 10,
When the forward speed search key 5 is continuously pressed, the next found word "SPECIAL" is enlarged and displayed on the translation unit 2b. At this time, if the forward speed search key 5 is released from being pressed while "SPECIAL" is displayed, the CPU 6 causes the finding word "SPECIAL" to be released.
"L" and its translated words "special", "special", and "temporary" are retrieved from the dictionary and displayed in a normal display format.

When the reverse speed search key 5 is pressed, the display order of the enlarged word is reversed.

FIG. 7 shows a second embodiment of the present invention.

In comparison with the first embodiment, in the electronic dictionary of this embodiment, instead of the forward / reverse feed key 4,
It differs from the first embodiment in that a forward key / reverse key 4a (hereinafter, also referred to as a forward key 4a or a backward key 4a) is used.

When the forward / reverse key 4a is pressed once, the normal forward / reverse key is instructed. When the key is continuously pressed, like the speed search key 5, the forward / reverse key 4a is used to set the word It is for instructing forward feeding and backward feeding.

Since this is done, the operation of this embodiment is essentially the same as that of the first embodiment.
Will also be described in detail.

Steps 1 to 3 are the same as those shown in FIG. 4, and then step 1 until the forward key / reverse key 10 is pressed or the clear process is input.
The key input waiting state is repeated in which the determinations in step 9, step 24 and step 29 are repeated.

When the forward key 10 is pressed in the key input waiting state, the process proceeds from step 19 to step 20,
In step 20, the next headword and its translated word are found.
a, displayed in the translation unit 2b in a normal format. Next, in step 21, it is determined whether or not the forward key 4a is pressed, and if it is pressed continuously, the next headword is enlarged and displayed in step 22, and the search speed control process is executed in step 23. After processing, the process returns to step 21.

If the forward key 4a has not been pressed in step 21, the process returns to step 3 to normally display the found word and its translated word and wait for key input.

When the reverse key 4a is pressed in the key input waiting state, the process shifts from step 24 to step 25,
Search and display in the reverse order of the dictionary array are carried out in the procedure essentially the same as when the forward key 10 is pressed, that is, step 2
Processing is performed according to the procedure shown in steps 5 to 28. If clear processing is input in the key input waiting state, step S
The state shifts from 29 to the next input word waiting state.

An operation example and a display example of the above-described second embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10.

When the alphabet keys "S", "P", "E", "A", and "K" are pressed in step 1, "SPEAK" is displayed in the heading section 2a of the display section 2 under the control of the CPU 6. Is displayed.

Then, in step 2, when the translation key 3 is pressed, the CPU 6 searches the dictionary for the input entry word "SPEAK", and the word "SPEAK".
The translated word corresponding to is displayed on the translation unit 2b of the display unit 2.

Next, when the forward key 4a is depressed, the display unit 2 displays the following found word "SPEAKER" and its translated words "speaker, speaker, loudspeaker, speaker".

Further, when the forward key 4a is continuously pressed, the next word "SPECIAL" is enlarged and displayed on the display unit 2.

Further, when the forward key 4a is continuously pressed, the next word "SPEECH" is enlarged and displayed on the display unit 2. When the pressing of the forward key 4a is released at this stage, the found word "SPEECH" and its translated word are displayed on the display unit 2 in the usual format.

The present invention can be variously modified within the scope of the invention in addition to the above-described embodiments.

[0057]

As described above, according to the present invention, since it is configured as described above, it is possible to speed up forward and backward search results, and to prevent the visibility of the display from being deteriorated due to the higher speed. An electronic dictionary that can be provided can be provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electronic dictionary according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the arrangement of the keyboard, display unit, translation key, forward feed key / reverse feed key, and speed search key shown in FIG. 1 on the operation panel.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a storage state of a dictionary memory.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation of the electronic dictionary according to the first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing key operations in the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a display example according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an electronic dictionary according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing the operation of the electronic dictionary of the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing key operations in the second embodiment.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example according to the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 keyboard 2 display unit 3 translation key 4 forward / reverse feed key 5 speed search key 6 CPU 7 ROM 8 RAM

Claims (1)

Claim: What is claimed is: 1. A dictionary storage unit for storing a contrast dictionary of a found word and corresponding information corresponding to the found word, and a found word and corresponding information corresponding to the found word are displayed. An electronic dictionary having a display means for performing the search instruction of the found word and an input means for giving a forward or backward feed instruction, and a dictionary storage means of the dictionary storage means based on the search instruction of the found word by the input means. Search means for searching the corresponding headword from the contrast dictionary, and expanding the headword searched by the searching means based on the forward or backward instruction in the input means to the display means in the dictionary arrangement order or in the reverse order. In addition to displaying, the entry word displayed on the display means is fixed by fixing the forward or reverse feed instruction by the input means, and a normal display of this entry word and corresponding information corresponding to this entry word Display format Electronic dictionaries, characterized in that a control means for performing.