JPS63304300A - Voice memory - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a voice storage device for practicing language by voice, and particularly to a voice storage device suitable for portable use.

(Prior art) In recent years, interest in foreign languages has been increasing in Japan in response to the growing wave of internationalization, and language learning devices consisting of portable audio storage devices that allow you to practice foreign language conversations at any time have become popular in Japan. A training device is being considered. Conventionally, such language practice devices include a magnetic card on which a piece of audio data corresponding to a series of sentences is recorded, and a playback control device that repeatedly outputs the audio data on the magnetic card as playback sound through earphones or the like. Specifically, when a magnetic card is inserted, the playback control device reads audio data from the magnetic card, transfers it to an internal storage device, and stores it in the internal storage device. The recorded audio data is output as playback sound.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) In the above conventional configuration, only audio data corresponding to one sentence is stored on one magnetic card, so it is difficult to practice conversation corresponding to multiple sentences. In order to do this, it is necessary to carry a large number of magnetic cards, which is inconvenient in actual use. Moreover, it is necessary to replace the magnetic card each time the practice content changes, and when replacing the magnetic card, it takes a relatively long time to transfer the audio data on the magnetic card to the internal storage device, so these aspects are difficult to implement. It will also be inconvenient. In addition, in order to read audio data from a magnetic card, a card feeding mechanism including a motor and a flywheel, a magnetic head, etc. are required, which inevitably leads to a complicated structure and an associated worsening of the failure rate. There is a problem in terms of reliability regarding the service life. Furthermore, the card feeding mechanism described above consumes a relatively large amount of current, so if it is powered by a battery for carrying, it will not be able to be used continuously; however, if a large capacity battery is used, However, the weight increases and portability becomes a problem. In particular, portability becomes a more serious problem because the card feeding mechanism itself is relatively heavy. Furthermore, since magnetic cards have the defect of being easily affected by magnetic fields, it is necessary to take precautions such as keeping magnets away from them, so they are not desirable in terms of so-called fool proofness.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its purpose is to improve portability and usability when carrying, to enable efficient language practice, and to increase reliability over lifespan. Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a voice storage device which has effects such as making it possible to efficiently practice bilingual translation in two or more languages.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The audio storage device according to the present invention is a card-shaped external storage device that stores a small number of audio data groups (both are card-shaped external storage devices with built-in solid-state storage circuits in which two or more types of audio data are digitized and stored). control for sequentially reading arbitrarily designated audio data in each group among multiple types of audio data groups stored in the solid-state storage circuit with the external storage device attached and converting the data into analog audio signals; The apparatus is configured to include a playback device and a playback device that outputs the analog audio signal as playback sound.

(Operation) With an external storage device installed in the control device, the control device specifies arbitrary audio data in each group among multiple types of digital audio data groups stored in the solid-state storage circuit of the external storage device. Then, the designated audio data from the plurality of types of audio data groups are sequentially read out and converted into analog audio signals, and the reproduction device outputs a reproduced sound corresponding to the analog audio signal.

At this time, any audio data can be selected and listened to from the audio data stored in the solid-state memory circuit, thereby allowing the user to practice language skills, etc. In addition, solid-state memory circuits store multiple types of voice data groups, and if the types of voice data groups are, for example, sentences in different language systems, it is possible to practice bilingual translation in two or more languages. It also becomes possible to do this efficiently.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example in which the present invention is applied to a language practice device will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

In FIG. 2 showing the overall appearance, reference numeral 1 denotes a main body case in the shape of a flat rectangular container, and on the front side of this is a key control section 2 equipped with a plurality of key switches 2a and a liquid crystal display (hereinafter abbreviated as LCD). )3 is provided. Also,
A card insertion slot 4 is formed on one end surface (upper surface in the figure) of the main body case 1, and an earphone jack 5 is provided. Furthermore, a volume control volume 6 is provided on the end surface of the main body case 1 on the left side in the figure. Note that 7 is an earphone connected to the earphone jack 5.

Reference numeral 8 denotes an external storage device, such as an IC card, which is configured to be insertable and removable into the card insertion slot 4. Inside this is an integral storage circuit including, for example, a FROM chip and a CPU chip, each of which is a read-only storage element. Two memory ICs 9 and 10 are embedded. In this case, in each of the memories C9 and C10, two types of voice data groups corresponding to a plurality of sentences with the same content in Japanese and foreign languages are digitized and stored, and the address map is An example is shown in FIG. Further, a plurality of contacts 11 for signal input/output are provided on the side surface of the IC card 8, and when the IC card 8 is inserted into the card insertion slot 4, the contacts 11 are connected to the inside of the main body case 1. It is configured to be connected to a connector (denoted by reference numeral 12 in FIG. 1).

FIG. 1 shows the electrical configuration. In this FIG. 1, 13 is a control device, which is the key human power R2
In addition, a control circuit 14 including a CPU. Built-in memory circuit consisting of RAM 15° A-D converter and D-A
A speech synthesis circuit 16 including a converter and the like. The configuration includes a signal switching circuit 17. At this time, the signal switching circuit 17 switches between a first state in which data exchange between the speech synthesis circuit 16 and the memory IC9 through the connector 12 is allowed, and a state in which data is allowed to be exchanged between the speech synthesis circuit 16 and the memory IC10. It has a data selector function that can select a second state in which data exchange through the connector 12 is allowed, and switching between the above states is performed by the control circuit 14. The speech synthesis circuit 16 also reads the speech data specified by the control circuit 14 from the memory IC 9 or 10, and performs a D-A conversion operation of synthesizing an analog speech signal Sa based on the thus read speech data. After the conversion operation is completed, a termination signal is generated and the control circuit 1
Give feedback to 4.

Then, the control circuit 14 controls the LCD 3. Speech synthesis circuit 16. Control of the signal switching circuit 17 and address control of the memory ICs 9 and 10 are performed as described later.

-/i, 18 is a playback device, which includes an amplifier 19 in addition to the volume 6 and the earphone 7. The audio signal Sa is amplified and applied to the earphone 7. Therefore, when the analog audio signal Sa is output from the audio synthesis circuit 16, a reproduced sound corresponding to the audio signal is output from the earphone 7, and W u at this time can be adjusted by the volume 6. .

Now, below, the contents of control by the control circuit 14 will be explained together with the overall operation.

When the key human power section 2 selects the voice data desired to be reproduced from the pair of digital voice data groups stored in the memory ICs 9 and 10, the control circuit 14 switches the signal based on the command from the key human power section 2. At the same time, the circuit 16 is switched to the first state (memory IC 9 is enabled), and the type of the selected f white data (an address where the audio data is stored can also be used) is displayed on the LCD 4, and the audio Instructs the synthesis circuit 16 to execute the conversion operation.

As a result, the audio synthesis circuit 16 reads out the audio data selected as described above from the memory IC 9, synthesizes an analog audio signal Sa from the audio data, and provides the synthesized analog audio signal Sa to the playback device 1B. earphone 7
Playback sound is output from. When the output of such reproduced sound ends, a termination signal is outputted from the speech synthesis circuit 16 and given to the control circuit 14. Then, the control circuit 14
The signal switching circuit 16 is switched to the second state (memory ICl0 is enabled) and the speech synthesis circuit 16 is commanded to re-execute the conversion operation. For this reason, the voice synthesis circuit 16 now reads out voice data paired with the voice data reproduced as described above from the memory ICl0, synthesizes an analog voice signal Sa from the voice data, and provides the synthesized analog voice signal Sa to the reproduction device 18. Accordingly, earphone 7
Playback sound is output from. When the output of such reproduced sounds is finished, the control circuit 14 that receives the termination signal from the speech synthesis circuit 16 repeats the output operation of each reproduced sound as described above a number of times specified in advance by the key human power section 2. . In short, the user selectively sends voice data corresponding to a plurality of sentences of bilingual bones (Japanese and foreign language in the case of this embodiment) stored in advance to the IC card 8 an arbitrary number of times. It can be played back and listened to, and is used to practice listening and speaking in language.

According to the present embodiment described above, a number of effects as described below can be achieved.

That is, an I in which audio data corresponding to m sentences are stored.
Since the configuration uses the c-card 8 to play back audio, it is possible to practice listening to a large number of sentences by simply carrying one or a few IC cards 8, which improves portability and improves portability. , it becomes convenient in actual use. In particular, in this case, the IC card 8 stores bilingual sentences with the same content, and each of these sentences is played back in succession, allowing for effective bilingual practice. Improves language practice efficiency. Data reading from the IC card 8 is much faster than with conventional magnetic cards, so desired text can be quickly reproduced, improving usability. IC card 8
Although the memory IC 9-10 has a structure that can be accessed directly, it does not require mechanical parts with complicated structures as in the past, and it is possible to suppress the failure rate to a low level, and also to reduce current consumption and heavy responsibility. As a result, it is possible to improve the reliability of the lifespan, and also to extend the continuous use time when using a battery for portability, and to further improve portability. Although the IC card 8 does not require consideration of data destruction due to magnetism, it must be handled with care.

In the above embodiment, the memory ICs 9 and 1o are configured to store audio data corresponding to sentences in Japanese and foreign languages, respectively, but instead of this, audio data corresponding to music etc. may be stored. For example, by storing music from an orchestra performance, it can function as a so-called music practice device for an air orchestra, and by storing songs of wild birds, etc., it can be used for bird watching. It can function as a portable fixture.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, two memory ICs 9 and 10 are provided to store two types of audio data groups, but a configuration may also be used in which two types of audio data groups are stored in the same memory c. In this case, as shown in FIG. 4 showing another embodiment of the present invention, the identification symbol of each audio data in both audio data groups is stored in the memory IC, and the identification symbol is used based on this identification symbol. A configuration may be adopted in which addresses of audio data to be read are sequentially selected.

In addition, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and shown in the drawings, and may deviate from the gist, for example, the solid-state memory circuit may be configured to store even more types of audio data groups. It can be implemented with various modifications within the scope.

(Effects of the Invention) According to the present invention, as is clear from the above description, a card-shaped external storage device is provided which incorporates a solid-state storage circuit in which at least two types of audio data are digitized and stored. Since the structure is configured to sequentially reproduce arbitrarily specified audio data from each audio data group stored in the solid-state memory circuit, portability and usability when carried are improved, making language practice more efficient. It also has the excellent effect of improving reliability over its lifespan, improving continuous usability when using batteries as a power source, and making it possible to efficiently practice bilingual translation in two or more languages. It is something that plays.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figures 1 to 3 are for explaining one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1 is a block diagram of the electrical configuration, and Figure 2 shows the overall state before installing an external storage device. Perspective view, 3rd
The figure shows an address map of a solid-state memory circuit. Further, FIG. 4 is a diagram equivalent to the m3 diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is the main body case, 2 is the key power section, 4 is the card insertion slot, 7 is the earphone, 8 is the IC card (external storage device), 9.10 is the memory IC (solid-state storage circuit), 12 is the connector, 13 is a control device, 14 is a control circuit, 16 is a speech synthesis circuit, 17 is a signal switching circuit, and 18 is a playback device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A card-shaped external storage device incorporating a solid-state storage circuit in which at least two or more types of audio data are digitized and stored; and this external storage device is provided so that it can be attached, and is stored in the solid-state storage circuit in the attached state. a control device that sequentially reads arbitrarily specified audio data in each group out of a plurality of types of audio data groups and converts it into an analog audio signal; and a playback device that outputs the analog audio signal as a reproduced sound. A voice storage device characterized by: