JPS6238751B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a compact electronic dictionary which is very convenient to carry.

Conventionally, various electronic dictionaries have been proposed, but
Most of these were tabletop models, and they were too large and heavy to be easily carried around in a pocket.

The present invention has been made in view of these conventional problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a compact electronic dictionary that is lightweight and extremely convenient to carry.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail based on Examples.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the appearance of an electronic dictionary embodying the present invention.

In the figure, 1 is the English-Japanese/Japanese-English mode switch, 2 is the power on/clear key, 3 is the power off key, 4 is the input key, 5 is the search key, 6 is the translation key, 7 is the clear entry key, and 8 is the Alphabetical keys, 9 are Japanese keys, and 10 is a display section.

The function of each key will become clear from the description below.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing key operations and display based on the key operations when displaying the translation of the word "BOAT" in the electronic dictionary shown in FIG. 1.

First, press the ABC key among the alphabet keys. As a result, the letter "A" is displayed in the most significant digit of the display section. Next, press the ABC key and the displayed character will change to "B". If the input key (IN) is pressed here, "B" is input as the first input character. Next, press the MNO key among the alphanumeric keys. As a result, the letter "M" is displayed in the second digit of the display section. continue,
If you press the MNO key, the second digit will change to "N". If you continue to press the MNO key, the second digit will change to "O". If you press the search key here, after "O" is entered as the second input character, a search will be performed for the first headword starting with the input string "BO", and that word "BOARD" will be saved from memory. It will be read and displayed. If the search key is then pressed, the headword "BOAT" next to "BOARD" is read out and displayed in alphabetical order. When the desired word is displayed, press the translation key (translation) and the translated word will be displayed.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a schematic structure of the electronic dictionary shown in FIG. 1.

In the figure, 11 is a microprocessor, 12
1 is a key input device; 13 is a memory for storing dictionary information (read-only memory); 14 is a display control unit; 10 is a display unit; 15 is an address bus;
16 is a data bus.

The microprocessor 11 is a key input device 12
The operated key is determined by outputting the key strobe signal KS and reading the key input signal KI. It also specifies the address of the memory 13 and reads its contents. The display control unit 14 is a type of memory that stores whether each dot on the display unit 10 is lit or not lit, and the microprocessor 11 writes information corresponding to the display pattern to the display control unit 14. to perform the desired display.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing part of the contents stored in the memory 13.

English words are memorized in alphabetical order,
After each English word, its translation (Japanese) is memorized. Immediately after each Japanese word, the address of the next word in alphabetical order is stored as "NEXT ADRS." For example, if the next word after "ao" in the alphabetical order is "ao", then the address of the word "ao" is immediately after "ao" (to be more specific, the address of the "a" in "ao" is address)
It is stored as "NEXT ADRS". Also,
The address of the first word starting with each character or string of characters is followed by “START”.
ADRS”. For example, after the character string "BO" in the figure, the address of "BOARD", which is the first word starting with "BO" (more specifically, the "B" of "BOARD")
address) is stored as "START ADRS". The same applies to Japanese.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the control procedure of the microprocessor. In the figure, IB is an input buffer, B is a buffer, and F is a flag indicating that a character key (alphabet key, kana key) was operated immediately before.

The operation will be described below by taking the case shown in FIG. 2 (English-Japanese mode) as an example.

After the power is turned on, the mode selection switch and keys are read.

When the ABC key is pressed, the code “01” for the letter “A” is input to the input buffer IB, and the flag F
is set. Based on this, the display shown in FIG. 21 is performed.

In addition, in this electronic dictionary, the correspondence between characters and character codes is "A←→01, B←→02, C←→03,...
…, X←→24, Y←→25, Z←→26” and “A←→27,
I←→28, ......, Mo←→61, Ya←→62, Yu←→63, Yo←
→
64, Wa←→65, Yu←→66, N←→67, La←→68,……
,
Furthermore, "73,""74," and "75" are assigned as codes to indicate voiced sounds, semi-voiced sounds, and small letters, respectively.
Therefore, for example, the character "ga" is "32,
The character ``pa'' is represented by the code ``52, 74.'' Also,
The character ``ya'' is represented by the code ``62, 75,'' and the character ``tsu'' is represented by the code ``44, 75.''

If the ABC key is then pressed, IB counts up and its contents become code "02" for the letter "B". Based on this, the display shown in FIG. 2 is performed. If the input key (IN) is pressed here,
The contents of input buffer IB, ie, the code of the letter "B", are input into the first digit of buffer B, and flag F is reset.

Next, if the MNO key is pressed, the input buffer will
The code "13" of the letter "M" is input to IB, and the flag F is set. Based on this, Figure 2 4
is displayed. Subsequently, when the MNO key is pressed, IB is counted up and its contents become code "14" for the letter "N". Based on this, the display shown in FIG. 25 is performed. If the MNO key is further pressed, IB is counted up again and its content becomes code "15" of the letter "O". Based on this, the display shown in FIG. 26 is performed.

Here, if the search key is pressed, the contents of the input buffer IB, that is, the code of the letter "O", is input into the second digit of the buffer B, and after the flag F is reset, the input character string "BO" is input. A search is made for the first headword that begins. This search is performed by searching the start address table and, if the same character string as the input character string is detected, reading out the stored start address immediately after that. As mentioned above, this address is
It is the address of the first word starting in the input string. Therefore, all that is left to do is read out the headwords (English words) stored after this address. The read headword is displayed on the display section (Fig. 2, 7).

If the search key is then pressed, the next headword will be displayed one after the other (FIG. 2, 8).

If the translation key (translation) is pressed here, the translated word stored in association with the headword is read out and displayed (FIG. 2, 9).

Note that the clear entry key (CE) is a key for clearing the input buffer IB.

In the case of kana input (Japanese-English mode), the same processing as in the case of alpha alphabet input is performed. In this case, if the search key is pressed after the first word starting with the input character string is searched, the next word will be sequentially displayed in alphabetical order according to the above-mentioned "NEXT ADRS".

As explained in detail above, according to the small electronic dictionary of the present invention, the number of kana input keys, alphanumeric input keys, and function keys is not so large in total, and therefore the size and weight can be significantly reduced. .

Furthermore, the Alphabet input keys are assigned one key for several characters, and the Kana input keys are assigned one key for each row of kana characters, making it easy to find the characters to input. You can input it using

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the external appearance of an electronic dictionary embodying the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing key operations for displaying the translation of the word "BOAT" in the electronic dictionary shown in FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the schematic structure of the electronic dictionary, and FIG. 4 is a diagram showing part of the contents of the memory that stores dictionary information in the electronic dictionary. , 5th
The figure is a flowchart showing the control procedure of the microprocessor in the electronic dictionary. Code, 1: English-Japanese/Japanese-English mode changeover switch,
2: Power on and clear key, 3: Power off key, 4: Input key, 5: Search key, 6: Translation key, 7: Clear entry key, 8: Alphabet key, 9: Kana key, 10: Display section, 1
1: Microprocessor, 12: Key input device, 13: Memory, 14: Display control unit, 15:
Address bus, 16: Data bus, KS: Key strobe signal, KI: Key input signal, IB: Input buffer, B: Buffer, F: Flag.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A group of alphabetic input keys, one assigned to several alphanumeric characters, a group of kana input keys, one assigned to approximately each line of kana characters, and according to the number of times each input key is operated
Means for sequentially displaying each character assigned to each key on a display section, an input key for inputting characters displayed by operating the input key, and a word memory for storing corresponding words in Japanese and other languages, respectively. and means for sequentially detecting headwords starting with the characters input with the input key from the word memory each time the search key is operated and displaying them on a display section, and when the displayed headword is in Japanese or another language. . A means for detecting a corresponding word in a foreign language or Japanese from the word memory in response to an operation of a translation key and displaying the detected word on the display section.