JPS60100263A - Reader and electronic translator equipped with reader - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable high-accuracy reading by transferring a document and an electric picture converter respectively, correcting time distortion of an electric picture conversion signal according to the relative speed and recognizing the picture. CONSTITUTION:A photoelectric converter 3 scans in the direct angle direction with respect to strings of pictures such as characters which are imprinted in documents. The photoelectric converter 3 is transferred relatively to the document and the output of the converter is given to a delay circuit 5 for correcting time through a circuit 4 for deciding whether the output is white or black. The delay circuit 5 is varied in delay amount by a CPU11 to which an output of a pulse generator 10 according to a relative transfer speed of the photoelectric converter 3 as well as a document. The picture signal whose time axis distortion is corrected by this delay circuit 5 is inputted to a pattern matching circuit 6 for recognizing characteristics.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a reading device and an electronic translation device equipped with the reading device.

In this specification, translation includes language translation, calculation, search, etc., and source language refers to the language, numbers, formulas, etc. before translation.
It refers to symbols, etc., and translated language refers to the language after translation, numbers, formulas, symbols, etc. Furthermore, characters include language, numbers, symbols, pictures, images, etc., and are interpreted in a broad sense.

Conventional reading devices include Japanese Patent Publications No. 56-12907, No. 56-18972, No. 56-18971, No. 56-
No. 820, No. 56-42008, No. 56-38225
No. 56-39226, No. 56-39227, No. 56-43424, No. 56-46081, No. 56-4
No. 6854, No. 56-34905, No. 56-4946
No. 57-15429, and many others have been proposed. As a typical example, a light pen-type character reading device will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional light pen type character reading device, and FIG. 2 is an input/output waveform diagram of each part of the same device.

1 in the figure is a light pen, and light from a light source (hereinafter referred to as an LED) 15 that emits infrared light housed in the light pen 1 is transmitted to the "Can you re
Ad the book? ” (hereinafter also referred to as character string)
1 made of Si through lens 2.
A photoelectric converter (hereinafter referred to as L-
(referred to as E) 3. L-E3 is light pen 1
Direction of arrow A shown in the figure (direction perpendicular to L-E3)
move it to That is, the photoelectric conversion signal obtained by scanning the printed characters two-dimensionally by the relative movement of the light pen 1 and the character string is processed by a black and white judgment circuit (hereinafter referred to as BW).
The signal is connected to the output side of the BWD 4 through a character recognition circuit (hereinafter referred to as LA) 6 using a pattern matching method.

Next, the operation of this device will be explained.

First, the character string “Can you
Ad the book? ” with light pen 1 and arrow A
When scanning (moving) in the same direction at a constant speed as shown in (B) in the same figure, black and white signals corresponding to the characters of the character string (details of the signals from each element are omitted) are generated as shown in (C) in the same figure. ) is output from the BWD 4 to the LA 6, where the pattern is accurately recognized and a character signal is output.

However, when the light pen 1 is not moved at a constant speed in the direction of the arrow,
For example, if you scan (move) while changing the speed (when scanning by hand, it is difficult to maintain a constant speed by intuition) as shown in (D) of the same figure, "Can you r
Read the book? ” in spite of the fact that
The output of BWD4 is “Can y
Are you reading the book? ” and distorted. Therefore, as shown in the same figure (F), in LA6, "Cany
ourreadthe'', ``b'', ``o'', ``o'', ``k''
", "?" are each recognized as one word, and incorrect character signals are detected by an external device (not shown) connected to LA6.
This causes the external device to malfunction. Therefore, although simple barcode readers are widely used as reading devices, character reading devices, especially light pen type, are hardly widespread due to their poor recognition rate, and require considerable skill to use. There were drawbacks such as:

The present invention eliminates such drawbacks and provides a reading device that allows even an amateur to perform highly accurate reading and an electronic translation device that allows highly accurate translation.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 3 to 7.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an electronic translation device equipped with a reading device which is an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4 is an input/output waveform diagram of each part of the device, FIG. 5 is a front view of the reading device, and FIG. The figure is a bottom view of the device, and FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the main parts of the device.

1 in the figure is a light pen for scanning characters etc. printed on a form (not shown).
A pair of wheels 18 in which magnet pieces 19 are embedded are arranged approximately concentrically every 0°, and by scanning (moving) the light pen 1 over the form, the wheels can be moved in the same manner as in Japanese Patent Publication No. 56-34905. 18 rotates. Here, car 18 is the special public corporation Showa 56-3.
It is attached to the main body of the light pen 1 as in the 4905 publication. This rotation generates a pulse in a magnetic head (not shown) provided in the light pen 1 and facing the magnet piece 19. The faster the rotation of this pulse, the higher the frequency. Reference numeral 2 denotes a lens for converging the reflected light of the infrared light emitted from the light source (LED) 15 and reflected by the character strings on the form. 3 is a photoelectric converter (LE) composed of a one-dimensional photocell array made of Si, and sends an electrical output according to the strength of the reflected light focused by the lens 2 to the black and white judgment circuit (BWD) 4. do. The light pen 1 consists of a lens 2, an L-E3, an LED 15, a wheel 18, and a rotating pulse generator (made up of a magnet piece 19 and a magnetic head).
(hereinafter referred to as PG) 10. 5 is a delay circuit (with variable delay amount) for time axis correction.
This is a pattern matching type character recognition circuit (hereinafter referred to as DLY) that corrects the time axis distortion of the output of BWD4.
LA)6. 16 is a crystal clock pulse generator (hereinafter referred to as CPG), which generates pulses at regular intervals.

11 uses the pulse of CPG16 as a reference pulse, and the pulse of PG1
The movement speed calculation unit (hereinafter referred to as CPU) calculates the scanning (movement) speed of the light pen 1 from the number of pulses per unit time from 0.
This calculation output (output proportional to the moving speed of the light pen 1) is applied to DLY5, and the delay amount of DLY5 is delayed in proportion to the moving speed of the light pen 1.

That is, the faster the moving speed, the larger the delay amount, and the output of BWD4 and the change in the delay amount of DLY5 by the CPU 11 are configured to be synchronized. LA6 is D
Characters are recognized based on the black and white output corrected by the LY5, and applied to an English-Japanese electronic translation circuit (hereinafter referred to as TI) 7 for English-Japanese translation. ) 8, and after converting it into an audio signal, sends it to a speaker (SP) 7.

12 is ".(period)" and "?" from the output of LA6.
(cresion mark)”, “! (exclamation mark)”, “= (equal)”, “: (colon)”
, ";(semicolon)" is detected, TI7
This is a translation instruction circuit (hereinafter referred to as TS) for giving translation instructions to the TS. 14 is a dot matrix type liquid crystal character display circuit (hereinafter referred to as LCD) connected to the TI7 for displaying characters in the source language and translated language; 13 is for displaying characters in the translated language from the TI7 ( printing)
This is a hard copy device (hereinafter referred to as HCP) consisting of a word processor (document creation machine), etc.

Next, the operation of this device will be explained.

First, as shown in Figure 4 (A), "Can you re
Adthe book? Consider the case where a document (not shown) on which the text ``'' is printed is scanned by changing the moving speed of the light pen 1 depending on the location, as shown in FIG. In this case, the BWD 4 sends out an output that is different from the character arrangement that constitutes the sentence, as shown in FIG. 4(C).

On the other hand, when the light pen 1 is moved while touching the form, the wheel 18 rotates 1 due to friction, and the magnet piece 19 and the magnetic head (
Pulses are applied to the CPU 11 from the PG 10, which is configured by the CPU 11 (fixed).

The CPU 11 processes the reference clock pulse from the CPG 16 and the pulse from the PG 10 into arithmetic processing 1, calculates the moving speed of the light pen 1, and outputs an output proportional to that speed.
Send to LY5. Depending on the magnitude of this output, DLY5 changes its delay amount as shown in FIG.
Therefore, the distorted output of BWD4 applied to DLY5 ((C) in the same figure) is corrected, and the output from DLY5 is the same as when light pen 1 is moved at a constant speed, as shown in (E) in the same figure. The signal is free from such distortion and is sent to LA6. Therefore, LA6 and light pen 1 are shown in the same figure (
As shown in D), even though it was moved at an unconstant speed, the same figure (D)
As shown in F), it is possible to send the same output to the TI7 as if it were moved at a constant speed, that is, the same output as the text shown in FIG. The TI7 temporarily stores this character signal "Can you read the book?" (output from the LA6) in its internal RAM in order to translate it into English and Japanese as the original language. At this time, the TS12 detects "?" at the end of the character string and sends a translation instruction pulse to the TI7 to translate the original language stored in the RAM.

As a result, the TI 7 translates the original language written in the RAM into a character signal of the translated language "Anatawa Sonohon Oyomu Kotoga Deki Masuka" and sends it to the HCP 13 and the SM 8.

The HCP 13 types out the translated text using this character signal. Further, SM8 converts this character signal into a voice signal saying "Can you read that book?" and sends it to SP9. During this time, the LCD 14 displays characters in both the original language and the translated language.

In this way, according to this embodiment, the output of the BWD 4 or the light pen 1 can be controlled regardless of the moving speed of the light pen 1.
Since the correction is made without distortion in the same way as when the light pen 1 is moved at a constant speed, a decrease in the recognition rate of LA6 can be prevented. Therefore, a highly accurate electronic translation device can be obtained. For example, when scanning the kanji ``confrontation'' with a conventional light pen, if the moving speed is not constant, it may be recognized as ``Taiyama-dera'', but with the device of this embodiment, such misrecognition does not occur. .

In this embodiment, an example was shown in which the form is fixed and the light pen 1 with a built-in L-E3 is moved to scan, but the light pen 1 side may be fixed 1 and the form etc. may be moved. Also L
An example was shown in which a light emitting diode that emits infrared light was used as ED15, and a Si cell array with an infrared light filter was used as L-E3.
This is to prevent a decrease in In this case, without using a light emitting diode or the like as a light source, the inventor
As already proposed in No. 65872, avoid imaging the surrounding visible light (through a milky white filter, etc.)
It may also be used by condensing light and converting it into infrared light using a fluorescent substance (a substance that converts visible light into infrared light). In addition, although this embodiment shows an example of an optical character reading device, a multi-element MR (magneto-resistance type) is used to read characters printed using magnetic ink or the like.
The present invention can be easily carried out in a magnetic type character reading device using a head, and it may be not only characters but also symbols, bar codes, images such as pictures, and lines.

Although an English-Japanese example is shown as the electronic translation circuit 7, an electronic translation circuit that can perform mutual translation between different languages, calculations, searches, etc. may also be used.

In addition, although this embodiment shows an example in which a character reading device is connected to an electronic translation device, this character reading device can also be connected to other devices such as a CPU, data recorder, telegraph/telephone device, fax machine, English/Japanese translation device, etc. It can also be used as an input device for information processing and information transmission devices such as word processors and electronic typewriters.

In this embodiment, the moving speed of light pen 1 is set to
By installing a wheel 18 on the bottom surface of the so-called part that comes into contact with a form, etc., as described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 56-34905, and moving the light pen 1 while making contact with the form,
Taking advantage of the rotation of the pair of wheels 18, a magnetized piece 19 is embedded in this wheel 18, and this and the magnetic head generate a magnetic field.
Although an example of configuring the G10 has been shown, the PG10 is not limited to this, and the PG10 can be configured by forming the wheel 18 from a magnetic material and providing a magnetic head close to the surrounding teeth. , by providing a reflective plate on the wheel 18 instead of the magnet piece 19 and combining this with an optical (photo) coupler, or by providing a through hole in the wheel 18 and combining this with an optical coupler. The rotation of the light pen 1 may be converted into an electric pulse signal, or the moving speed of the light pen 1 may be detected by a speed detection method using the Doppler effect using ultrasonic waves.

In addition, the reason why the outer circumference of the wheel 18 is made with fine teeth is that
This is to prevent slippage between the vehicle 18 and the vehicle 18 and to accurately detect the speed.If rubber, felt, etc. are pasted around the car 18, there is no need to provide such unevenness.
8, when it is pressed downward, the brake is released, and when it is separated from the form etc. and the pressure is released, the brake is activated.
Since it is configured to immediately stop rotation due to inertia, there are fewer errors even when scanning at high speed. Also,
We used DLY5 to correct the time axis by increasing the amount of delay in proportion to the speed of light pen 1, but this is not limited to this, and if the speed is faster than the set speed, it will be delayed to + (plus),
If the speed is slower than the set speed, it may be delayed (i.e., sped up) by − (minus). Also, the reference pattern for LA6 recognition may be modified in the time axis direction according to the speed for matching. Furthermore, the BWD4, DLY5,
All or part of LA6, TI7, SM8, TS12, CPU11, and CPG16 are integrated into one-chip LSI, V
It may be configured with an LSI, or the moving speed of the light pen 1 may be detected using a microcomputer used in LA6, TI7, or SM8, and DLY5 may be controlled accordingly. A series of operations may be performed between blocks.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the present inventor has already applied for a patent application filed in
If the technology proposed in No. 709 is implemented, a more advanced character reading device and electronic translation device can be obtained.

In this example, an example was shown in which a Si cell array (composed of multiple elements) was used as a photoelectric converter, but barcode readers, manual facsimile devices, etc. do not use a one-dimensional scanning type Si cell array. A phototransistor may be used as a photoelectric converter. Furthermore, the time axis correction of the present invention is also effective in solid-state imaging type reading devices. It is also effective in reading devices other than pen type, and rollers, belts, bearings, etc. may be used in place of the wheel 18.

As described above, according to the present invention, the recognition rate of character strings can be greatly improved, and highly accurate electronic translation can be performed.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional character reading device, Fig. 2 is an input/output waveform diagram of each part of the same device, and Fig. 3 is a block diagram of an electronic translation device equipped with a character reading device which is an embodiment of the present invention. ，
FIG. 4 is an input/output waveform diagram of each part of the device, FIG. 5 is a front view of the character reading device, FIG. 6 is a bottom view of the device, and FIG. 7 is a perspective view of essential parts of the device. 1---Light pen, 2------Lens, 3---
- Photoelectric converter (L-E), 4 - Black and white judgment circuit (
BWD), 5----Delay circuit (DLY), 6----
--Character recognition circuit (LA), 7----Electronic translation circuit (TI), 8---Speech synthesis circuit (SM), 9---
-Speaker (SP), 10---Rotating pulse generator (
PG), 11--Moving speed calculation unit (CPU), 12
------Translation instruction section (TS), 13----Hard copy device (HCP), 14---Character display circuit (
LCD), 15---- Light source (LED), 16---
- Clock pulse generator (CPG), 17-----bill, 18-----car, 19-----magnet piece.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) An image-to-electrical converter that performs one-dimensional scanning in a perpendicular direction to a column of images such as characters printed on a form, and a relative position between the document and the image-to-electrical converter in the direction of the image column. an image recognition unit that recognizes images such as characters from image-electrical conversion signals obtained by two-dimensionally scanning printed characters, etc., and detecting the relative speed between the form and the image-electrical conversion unit. A reading device comprising a speed detection section and a time axis correction section that corrects time axis distortion of the image electrical conversion signal based on the output from the speed detection section. (2) An image-to-electrical converter that performs one-dimensional scanning in a perpendicular direction to a column of images such as characters printed on a form, and a relative relationship between the document and the image-to-electrical converter in the direction of the image column. an image recognition unit that recognizes images such as characters from image-electrical conversion signals obtained by two-dimensionally scanning printed characters, etc., and detecting the relative speed between the form and the image-electrical conversion unit. a speed detection section, a time axis correction section that corrects the time axis distortion of the image electrical conversion signal based on the output from the speed detection section, and an electronic translation section that performs translation using the output signal from the image recognition section as source language input. An electronic translation device equipped with a reading device comprising: