JPS63141179A - Electronic dictionary - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To create an electronic dictionary with a small number of input errors with a simple operation by character-recognizing image information read by an image hand scanner and converting it to word information. CONSTITUTION:A character recognizing circuit 8 converts the image information read by a hand image scanner 1 from image information stored into a character pattern memory 10 or alphabetical information mutually related to pattern information to the alphabetical information and outputs it to a dictionary retrieving circuit 9. The circuit 9 converts the inputted alphabetical information to an English word and extracts the meaning of the Japanese language corresponding to the English word. The circuit 9 displays the meaning of the English word and the Japanese language extracted from the dictionary memory at displays 2 and 3. When a next candidate key is pushed in order to search for other meaning, the circuit 9 displays other meaning of the Japanese language at the display 3. Thus, an operator does not need the key operation input to use a keyboard and can search for the meaning of the English word.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an electronic dictionary, for example, an electronic dictionary that visually outputs information corresponding to input information such as English-Japanese, Japanese-English, and Kanji.

[Prior Art] In general, various types of electronic dictionaries are known, such as English-Japanese, Japanese-English, and Kan-Japanese.

For example, a conventional English-Japanese electronic dictionary, as shown in FIG. 5, is composed of operation keys 6 for inputting alphabets, and a display 5 for displaying the input alphabet string and its Japanese translation.

When a user encounters a meaningless word while translating an English manuscript, the user uses an electronic dictionary like this to input the spelling of the English word using the key 6, and then inputs the meaning of the word into the electronic dictionary. was displayed on Display 7 of However, manually typing the spelling of an English word each time requires complicated key operations, which interrupts the flow of reading the text.Also, English words that make no sense are generally spelled with long words. There are many human errors, and it takes time to obtain the desired meaning.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an electronic dictionary that is easy to operate and has fewer input errors.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve such an object, the present invention provides a storage means that stores word information and its meaning in advance in association with each other, a reading means that reads word information from a manuscript, It is characterized by comprising an extraction means for extracting the meaning corresponding to the read word information from the storage means, and an output means for visually outputting the word information read by the reading means and the meaning extracted by the extraction means. shall be.

[Function] The present invention reads word information to be translated from a manuscript using a reading means, extracts the meaning corresponding to the read word information from a storage means, and displays the input word information and its meaning on a display means. This simplifies the manual operation by the operator and reduces input errors.

[Embodiment] FIG. 1 shows an example of the appearance of an electronic dictionary in an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a hand scanner for inputting image information, and 2 is a display for displaying recognized alphabetic character strings. 3 is a display that displays the Japanese translation corresponding to the recognized English character string. 4 is a next candidate key for searching for a Japanese translation other than the Japanese translation corresponding to the recognized English character string. 5 is a case that houses the control circuit.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the circuit configuration of an electronic dictionary according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 2, 8 is a character recognition circuit, which determines characters from character patterns contained in image information read by the hand image scanner 1. This character recognition circuit 8
For example, various methods are used to binarize image information and convert the two
A method of statistically diffracting the converted information and a method of performing neighborhood calculation are known, and detailed explanation thereof will be omitted.

Reference numeral 10 denotes a button memory, which stores character information and its image information or pattern information in association with each other.

Reference numeral 9 denotes a dictionary search circuit, which sequentially inputs the English character information sent from the character recognition circuit 9, converts the human-generated English character information into an English word, and finds the Japanese word corresponding to this English word. The meaning is extracted from the dictionary memory 11.

9-1 is a processing unit (CPtl), 9-2 is a read-only memory (ROM), and 9-3 is a random access memory (RAM). Reference numeral 11 is a dictionary memory that stores English words and their Japanese meanings in association with each other.

Incidentally, the dictionary memory 11 is a ROM or a floppy disk.

A compact disk ROM (CDROM) or the like can be used.

For example, when a user writes 'd' on an English document as shown in Figure 3,
When the English word "og" is incomprehensible, the user holds the image hand scanner 1 in hand and reads "dog".
Then, the image of the +j dog portion is inputted from the image hand scanner 1 and sent to the character recognition circuit 8. The character recognition circuit 8 compares the alphabetic image button stored in the character button memory 10 with the image input from the image hand scanner 1, searches for matching characters, and sends the matching characters to the dictionary search circuit 9. send to The dictionary search circuit 9 obtains the Japanese translation of ``lldog'' from a dictionary memory that previously stores Japanese translations corresponding to English words, and displays ``dog'' on the display 3. Also, at the same time, English words +1 a Og”
is displayed on display 2. If you want to search for other meanings, press the next candidate key 4 and the other meanings will be displayed on the display 3.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the control procedure for CpH9-1 in the embodiment of the present invention.

Note that this control procedure is stored in the ROM 9-2.

In FIG. 4, (:PI3-1 instructs the hand image scanner 1 to send the image information read from the document to the character recognition circuit 8 (step 51).

Next, the CPU 9-1 instructs the character recognition circuit 8 to identify characters. Then, the character recognition circuit 8 extracts character information corresponding to the image information sent from the hand scanner 1 from the image button memory 10, and sends this extracted character information to the CPU 9-1 (step S3).

The CPU 9-1 stores the received character information in the RAM 9-3 and displays this character information on the display 2 (step 54). Thereafter, the same procedure as in CPL 19-1 (steps 51 to S4) is repeatedly executed, and it is determined in step S4 that the manually entered character string has ended, and the process proceeds to step S5.

This determination can determine the end of a character string by determining whether the input character is a symbol representing a word break, such as a blank character, period, or comma.

If you want to separate a long string of English characters and translate each word, use the hand image scanner 1 at each word.
Just move it to a blank area of the manuscript. Furthermore, when a symbol representing a word break, such as a blank character, is found in step S4, this break signal is set not to be stored in the RAM 9-3.

After converting the input image information into word information in this way, the Japanese meaning corresponding to the word information stored in the RAM 9-3 is extracted from the dictionary memory 11 as in the conventional example, and the extracted meaning is extracted from the dictionary memory 11. It is displayed on the display 3 (steps 55 to S6). By repeating the above steps, the operator can learn the meaning of words simply by tracing the English document with the hand image scanner 1 without inputting word information from the keyboard.

In this embodiment, an example in which the operator uses the hand image scanner 1 to read and scan the document has been described, but the document may be fixed in advance and the image scanner 1 automatically scans the document using a scanning means (not shown). Needless to say.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the meaning corresponding to the sentence is displayed based on the word information read by the hand image scanner 1, but the meaning always includes grammatical information such as a noun, eight words, etc., and the meaning of the word. It is also possible to add an opposite word and display it visually.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, image information is read by an image hand scanner, character recognition is performed by a character recognition circuit, and then converted into word information to input words. Therefore, the operator does not need to input key operations using a keyboard, and the effect is that it is possible to search for a desired meaning without interrupting the flow of reading the text.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of the external appearance of an electronic dictionary according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the circuit configuration of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the circuit configuration of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention. An explanatory diagram showing an example of a document containing words manually entered into an electronic dictionary, FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of a control procedure of the CPU 9-1 in an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is an external view of a conventional electronic dictionary. It is a perspective view showing an example. 1... Image hand scanner, 2.3... Display, 8... Character recognition circuit, 9... Dictionary search circuit, 9-2... ROM. 9-3.-RAM. lO... Character slam memory. Honyu Mei big prostitute Shio 9 outer body T! ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, I, I am going to see the 10th tsuku of the 10th picture of the 10th picture of the 10th picture of the 10th picture of the 10th picture of the 10th picture of the 2th picture of the 2nd picture of the 10th picture of the main light is going to be a big force! ll',t) length 4F-1ri1''
Fig. 3 of the Yoshichi Akira map showing the Flowsade of $ Zetsumeibun V7i rows Fig. 4

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1) A storage means that stores word information and their meanings in advance in association with each other, a reading means that reads the word information from a manuscript, and a meaning corresponding to the read word information that is extracted from the storage means. An electronic dictionary comprising: an extraction means for reading the word information read by the reading means and an output means for visually outputting the word information read by the reading means and the meaning extracted by the extraction means. 2) The electronic dictionary according to claim 1, wherein the reading means divides word information of a continuous character string so that it can be read.