JPH0258660B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] The present invention relates to a portable electronic translation machine.

In this specification, translation refers not only to converting the language of one country into the language of another country, but also to converting letters and symbols into sounds, and sounds into letters and symbols in the language of the same country. . Therefore, translation also includes converting dialects into standard language and vice versa, translating and explaining words, and converting codes, even if the language is from the same country.

In addition, the source language is the language before translation, numbers, symbols,
It refers to expressions, etc., and the translation language refers to the language, numbers, symbols, expressions, etc. after translation. For example, in a translator set to translate Japanese into English, "Good morning" is the source language and "Good Morning" is the translated language.

Conventional electronic translators, as proposed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 53-35434 and U.S. Patent No. 4159536, both input the source language using keys and display the translated language in text. It was of the output type. In practice, it is extremely difficult for an amateur who is inexperienced in key operations to accurately enter the original language in front of foreigners while traveling abroad using such a device.

Therefore, conventional electronic translators have the drawback of being impractical, being used only as personal learning machines and playthings for children.

The present invention eliminates such drawbacks,
The present invention provides a versatile portable electronic translator that is excellent in portability, operability, and practicality.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 1 shows the external appearance of a portable electronic translation machine (hereinafter referred to as TLRD) which is an embodiment of the present invention, with FIG. 1A being a plan view thereof, and FIG. 1B being a side view thereof.

Figure 2 is a block diagram of the aircraft.

Reference numeral 1 in the figure is a case (hereinafter referred to as CASE) of the TLRD main body, and CASE 1 is composed of an upper case 1a, a lower case 1b, and a battery storage lid 1c.

Also, on the top of CASE 1 are a cassette tape loading section 3, a group of tape recorder operation buttons 5, a microphone (hereinafter referred to as MIC) 6, and a speaker (hereinafter referred to as SP).
4, a character display section 7, a group of keys for character input 2, a power switch knob 11 for the electronic translator, a switch knob 10 for key input/voice input, and a switch knob 9 for the speaker are arranged, and on the side of CASE 1. A volume 8 for adjusting the volume is provided. Also
The MIC 6 is connected to a speech analysis circuit (hereinafter referred to as SA) 17.

Here, VA refers to a circuit that analyzes the spectrum of voice input, performs voice recognition using the DP matching method, and converts it into a character signal.
Publication No. 62746, Publication No. 52-55413, Publication No. 53-77403
Publication No. 52-144205, and Publication No. 54-
This has already been proposed in Publication No. 91006. Reference numeral 13 denotes a character signal generation circuit (hereinafter referred to as KEY) that generates character signals in accordance with the operation of the key group 2. KEY13
The SA 17 is connected to an electronic translation circuit (hereinafter referred to as TLR) 14 via a switch (hereinafter referred to as SW) S1 operated by a switch knob 10. 15 is a character display circuit (hereinafter referred to as LCD)
, and displays characters in the source language and translated language. Reference numeral 16 denotes a speech synthesis circuit (hereinafter referred to as SM), which converts character signals of the translation language into speech signals. In addition, in this example, TI
We used a Percoll-based speech synthesizer similar to that used in the educational toy "Speak &Spell" released by Texas Instruments.

This audio signal is sent to amplifier 1 via SW S3.
After being amplified, the sound is output from SP4 through SW S20 according to the operation of knob 9, and is pronounced as a voice in the translated language.

In addition, by operating knob 11, SW S8, S
7 and S3 are switched in conjunction. 21 is a recording/playback head (hereinafter referred to as R/PH). S6,S
5, S4, S2 are recording and playback switch (hereinafter
SW). In conjunction with the operation of the button group 5, a tape recorder power switch (SW) S18 and a switch (SW) S19 are opened and closed. A switch (SW) S6 for supplying an erase current to the erase head (EH) 22 is connected to SWs S5, S4, and S2, and is configured to be conductive only during recording. 1
2 is a battery (hereinafter referred to as BATT) that supplies current to both the electronic translator section and the tape recorder section. A set of BATT1 stored in CASE1
2, the power supply for both parts is shared. The audio input circuit having the MIC 6 and the audio output circuit including the SP 4 and the amplifier 19 are shared by both parts as described above. 23 is a magnetic tape drive motor of the tape recorder.

Next, the operation of this device will be explained separately for each case.

(1) When translating key input: Operate knob 11 and SW S8, S7, S3
are made conductive to contact a, respectively, and the knob 10 is operated to make SW S1 conductive to contact a. If you want to listen to the translated language from SP4, operate knob 9 to turn SW S20 on. Next, by operating the key group 2, the character signal of the original language is applied from the KEY 13 to the TLR 14 via the SW S1.
The applied character content is displayed on the character display section 7 through the LCD 15. The translated language character signal from the TLR 14 is sent to the SM 16. SM
16 converts this character signal into an audio signal of the translated language, and then applies it to the amplifier 19 via SW S3,
The amplifier 19 amplifies this synthesized audio signal and sends it to SW
It is sent to SP4 via S20.

Note that SM refers to a circuit that converts character signals into audio signals.

In this embodiment, the TLR 14 uses a Japanese-English TLR, so if you input "Ohayo" from the KEY 13, the LCD 15 will display "Ohayo".
After translation, the display changes to "GOOD MORNING." and then you can hear the pronunciation of "Good morning" from SP4.

(2) When translating microphone input: Operate knob 11 and SW S8, S7, S3
are made conductive to contact a, respectively. Operate knob 10 to bring SW S1 into contact b. To listen to the translated language from SP4, operate knob 9.
Turn SW S20 on. Next, when the original language audio is applied to the MIC 6, the SA 17 analyzes this original language audio signal and converts it into a corresponding character signal.

This character signal is sent to TLR via SW S1.
14. Further, the character display section 7 displays characters corresponding to this character signal via the LCD 15. The TLR translates the character signal in the source language into Japanese and English, and outputs the character signal in the translated language.
This output displays the characters of the translated language on the character display section 7 via the LCD 15, and is also applied to the speech synthesis circuit (SM) 16, where it is converted into a corresponding audio signal and sent to SW S3, amplifier 19, and SW S20.
It is sent to SP4 via.

Therefore, for example, for MIC6, "This is
If you say "This is a pen," the character display section 7 will first display "Cholewa pendesu," and then when the translation operation is executed, "THIS IS A PEN." will be displayed, and from SP4, "This is A PEN." It is pronounced "A-pen".

(3) When recording audio signals in the translated language while translating: Operate knob 11 and turn SW S8, S7, S
3 are made conductive to contact a, respectively. The button group 5 is operated to switch SWs S18 and S19 to "on", and SWs S2, S4, S5, and S6 are respectively brought into conduction to the recording side, that is, contact b. Also,
When applying the audio signal of the original language via MIC 6, use SW S1 as contact b, and when applying the character signal of the original language from the character input key group 2.
Make SW S1 conductive to contact a. Furthermore, SW
If you turn S20 on, you can monitor the recorded content from SP4.

Now, the case where SW S1 is electrically connected to contact b will be described below.

When applying the original language audio signal, for example, "This is a book" from MIC6, SA17, SW S
1. "Koreha Hondesu" is displayed on the character display section 7 via the TLR 14 and the LCD 15, and after the translation is executed, the display changes to "THIS IS A BOOK." Next, the character signal of the translated language sent from the TLR 14 is: RIPH via SM16, SW S3, Amplifier 19, SW S4 and SW S5
21.

The RIPH21 is now working as a recording head. A magnetic tape (not shown) in the cassette tape mounting section 3 is driven by a motor 23. In addition, after unnecessary signals already recorded on the magnetic tape are erased by the EH22 (to which DC current is supplied via SW S6), the audio signal of the translated language is transferred to the magnetic tape via the R/PH21. is being recorded. Also, SP4
Since SW S20 is in a conductive state,
It is possible to monitor the recording content, that is, the audio in the translated language.

Further, when inputting the original language using the key group 2, the audio signal of the translated language can be easily recorded on the magnetic tape by conducting the same operation as above by connecting the SW S1 to the contact a.

Of course, operate knob 11 to switch SW S8, S7,
By connecting S3 to contact b, respectively,
The sound applied from the MIC 6 can be directly recorded and monitored without passing through the TLR 14, and can be used as a normal tape recorder.

(4) When translating the magnetic tape playback output into the original language: Operate knob 11 to select SW S8, S7, S
3 to contact a, respectively, and operate button group 5 to turn SW S18 and S19 on.
SWs S2, S4, S5, and S6 are made conductive to the reproduction side, that is, to the contact a, respectively. SA17 is R/
When there is a reproduction output from the PH 21, the input from the MIC 6 is cut off, and the reproduction output is applied to the TLR 14 with priority. SW
Make S1 conductive to contact b and turn SW S20 on.
Make it. Since the magnetic tape in the mounting section 3 is driven by the motor 23, the RIRH 21 is operated as a playback head, and the audio signal in the original language already recorded on the magnetic tape, such as "Who is he?"
is reproduced and displayed on the character display section 7 via SA17, SW S1, TLR14, and LCD 15 as "Kareha Daredesuka", and "WHO IS HE?" is displayed by the text signal of the translated language from TLR14.
Change the display to . Then this character signal is SM
16, SW S3, amplifier 19, and SW S20 are applied to SP4, causing SP4 to utter "Who is He?"

Of course, operate knob 11 to switch SW S8, S7,
By connecting S3 to contact b, respectively,
The reproduction output from the R/PH 21 can be reproduced via the amplifier 19, SW S20, and SP4 without being translated. That is, it can also be used as a normal tape recorder.

In this way, in this embodiment, the amplifier 19 and the SP
The audio output section and the power supply circuit section having 4 can be shared by both the tape recorder section and the electronic translator section.

Note that in this specification, the same side includes not only the same side in a strict sense, but also a wide range of aspects that can substantially achieve the effects of the present invention even if they are not the same side. .

As described above, according to the present invention, the microphone,
Key input type character information input means, voice recognition means,
The translation means, character display means, power supply means, etc. are integrated into the case, making it highly portable.The microphone, keys, and character display are placed on the same side of the case, so you can input text while inputting voice. A portable device with excellent operability that is a must-have when traveling abroad, as you can check the characters recognized on the display, and if there is an error, you can immediately correct it using the keys without changing the location or holding the device. Electronic translators can be provided.

In addition, voice input type portable electronic translators have a unique problem that they cannot be used in places where there is a lot of surrounding nozzle (such as car noise) such as on the street, but with the device of the present invention, voice input is not possible. In addition, an input mode selection means for selecting either key input or both inputs is provided, so in such situations, it is possible to immediately switch to key input and input, thereby solving the above problem. Can be done.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1A is a plan view of an electronic translator according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1B is a right side view of the same, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the same. 6...Microphone (MIC), 4...Speaker (SP),
12...Battery (BATT), 13...Character signal generation circuit (KEY), 14...Electronic translation circuit (TLR),
15...Character display circuit (LCD), 16...Speech synthesis circuit (SM), 17...Speech analysis circuit (SA),
19...Amplifier, 21...Recording/playback head (R/
PH), 22...Erasing head (EH), 23...Motor.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A microphone for inputting audio information regarding the source language to be translated; a voice recognition means for recognizing the audio information regarding the source language input to the microphone; and an input device for inputting textual information regarding the source language to be translated. a key input type character information input means to select one of the character information related to the original language recognized by the voice recognition means or the character information related to the original language inputted to the key input type character information input means; an input mode selection means for selecting a translation language corresponding to the original language based on character information related to the source language which is an output of the voice recognition means or an output of the key input type character information input means selected by the input mode selection means; a translation means for translating into character information related to the source language, which is an output of the voice recognition means selected by the input mode selection means or an output of the key input type character information input means;
and character display means for visually displaying character information regarding the translated language translated by the translation means; power supply means for driving the voice recognition means, the translation means, and the character display means; the microphone; a case that integrates the voice recognition means, the key input type character information input means, the input mode selection means, the translation means, the character display means, and the power supply means, the microphone, the key input type A portable electronic translator comprising: a character information input means and a character display means arranged on the same side of the case.