JPH052606A - Extensive reading support device for english sentence - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To supply an English sentence exclusive reading support device where a processing can be automatized at a stroke till the process of writing. CONSTITUTION:A scanner 1 reads a picture. The having read picture is recognized in a character recognition means 7. The character string of alphabets sandwiched by spaces is fetched as a word from a recognized result. The segmented word is retrieved by an English dictionary 9 which is electronized, and the translation of the retrieved result of the retrieved word is preserved in a part corresponding to the character string. A picture to be printed is synthesized by a position on the picture, which corresponds to the character of the recognized result, the character string of the corresponding translation and a Japanese character font set.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an English sentence extensive reading support device, and more particularly to an English sentence extensive reading support device that involves character recognition and dictionary search. For example, it is applied to a digital copying machine, a scanner, a printer, and a facsimile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When reading a foreign language document such as English, if there is a word whose meaning is unknown, a dictionary is looked up. The reading operation is interrupted due to the trouble of looking up the dictionary. In order to efficiently perform the work of drawing this dictionary, there are already computerized dictionaries such as calculators, and pen-type dictionaries that draw the dictionary by tracing an unknown part, which has been considerably improved. In the case of the prior art, interruption of reading is unavoidable when the number of unknown words is large. If you forget it, it is inconvenient to have to check it again and redraw it. After all, if you want to check again, you need to write.

[0003]

[Object] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an English extensive reading support device capable of automating the writing process all at once.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides (1)
A character recognition means for reading an input document as an image with a scanner, a search means for detecting a word in the document read by the character recognition means and searching a word dictionary, and a word by the word dictionary searched by the search means And a printing unit configured to combine and print the word translation selected by the selection unit and the input document, and (2) in (1) above. By adding the mark to the word on the input document
Limiting the entry of the translations obtained, and (3) in (2), the translations of different details corresponding to each of the plurality of marks are output, and further, ( 4) In (1), by adding a mark to the untranslated line, limiting the entry of the obtained translation, or (5) character recognition means for reading the input document as an image with a scanner, Search means for detecting a word in the document read by the character recognition means to search the word dictionary, selection means for selecting a word translation from the word dictionary searched by the search means, and selection by the selection means It is composed of a printing means for synthesizing and printing the word translation and the input document, saves the word recognition result of a plurality of lines and the inset line, and prints the same translation for the same word that appears repeatedly. Of And a numerical value indicating the line on which the translation is printed, and (6) in (5) above, the translation is not set below the line, but on the top or left half of the paper to be printed. To print the original sentence with the word and the translation separately on the bottom or right half, and
(7) In the above (6), the translated word portion is image-converted to facilitate correspondence. Hereinafter, description will be given based on examples of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining an embodiment (Claim 1) of an English sentence extensive reading support apparatus according to the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a scanner, 2 is an input image memory, and 3 is a character font. Data, 4 is an output image memory, 5 is a printer, 6 is a microcomputer, 7 is OCR (Optical Character Recoding).
cognition: optical character recognition device) program, 8 is a dictionary search program, 9 is an English-Japanese dictionary, and 10 is an input / output control program.

FIG. 2 shows an apparatus for supporting the extensive reading of English according to the present invention.
It is a flow chart for explaining operation. Below, each
The steps will be described in order.step1 :Image reading Scan a (binary) image with a scanner.step2 :Character recognition The read image is recognized by the English type OCR. OCR
Then, the recognition result and the position of the character on the image are output.step3 :Extract words from recognition results Alphabet characters sandwiched between spaces from the recognition result
Take a column as a word. However, including the reject character
Ignore the empty string.step4 :Word dictionary search Search the extracted words in the electronic English-Japanese dictionary and
If you can search, the search result will be displayed in the part corresponding to the character string.
Save the translation of.step5 :Combining translation and input image The image to be printed is displayed on the image corresponding to the character of the recognition result.
Position, corresponding translation string, and Japanese character font
Combine from set.step6 :printing General printers and other devices that can output bit images
Output with the result.

Next, a method of synthesizing output images will be described. The output is performed for each line of the recognition result. The composite image of the row is stored in an appropriate portion (write position) of the image memory for output, and the write position is shifted so that the composite image of the next row can be stored. If the writing position comes to the lower edge of the output image memory, or if the storage area for the composite image is insufficient, the contents of the output image memory are printed, the entire output image memory is refreshed, and the writing position starts. Return to. If the output is multiple sheets, print the page in the margin. 3A and 3B show specific examples of input / output images.

The method of generating the composite image of each row is as follows. The character image is copied from the input image memory to the writing position of the output image memory by using the position of the corresponding character image in the recognition result of the line. For a word for which a translation has been searched, the translated character string is inserted below the word, and if the translation does not fit within the word width at this time, it is wrapped. Then set the translation. The left and right ends of the translation inset position are determined by the positions of the character image of the word. The upper end is a position apart from the lowest end when copying all the character images in the line by a fixed pixel, and is common to all the translations in the line. The lower end is determined by the number of turns. The writing position of the composite image in the next row is shifted to a position apart from the lower end of the translation by a certain pixel. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the fitting of the translation of each line.

Next, another embodiment (claim 2) of the present invention will be described. The block diagram is similar to that of FIG. Put a mark (translation mark) in the margin just before the word whose meaning you want to know. Then, the processing is performed in the almost same processing order as in the first embodiment. Regarding the mark processing, the OCR portion and the word cutout portion are changed. The OCR process has two modes in character recognition. One is a mode 1 for judging whether or not it is a mark, and the other is a mode 2 for recognizing by comparing all the characters to be recognized. In mode 1, the recognition result is a translation mark or a rejection. In case of reject, the position coordinates of the character are saved. A special character code is given for both the translation mark and the reject. Mode 2
Then, all characters including the translation mark are targeted.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart for explaining the mode switching. First, mode 1 is selected. Check whether the recognition result is a translation mark. If it is not a translation mark, mode 1 is selected again, and if it is a translation mark, mode 2 is selected next. Check if the next is the end of a line or a blank. N
If it is O, the mode 2 is selected again, and if it is YES, the mode 1 is selected. In the processing of the word cut-out portion, the word from the translation mark to the blank or the end of the line or the translation mark is cut out as a word and passed to the word dictionary search. Table 1 shows actual examples of translation marks.

[0011]

[Table 1]

Next, another embodiment (claim 3) will be described. The block diagram is similar to that of FIG. Example 2
It is almost the same as, but there are two types of English-Japanese dictionary translations. One is a short, easy translation. The other is a relatively long and detailed translation. There are two types of translation designation marks corresponding to this, and the translation is switched according to the designation. Table 2 shows actual examples of translation marks.

[0013]

[Table 2]

Next, another embodiment (claim 4) will be described. The block diagram is similar to that of FIG. In the OCR processing section, when the first character of a line is a translation prohibition mark, the actual recognition process is omitted for that line, the character is cut out, and the recognition result is rejected. Therefore, dictionary lookup is not performed for that line, and the image of the line portion is simply copied and output (printed). Table 3 shows actual examples of translation prohibition marks.

[0015]

[Table 3]

An embodiment in which the printing format of the English sentence extensive reading support device in the above embodiment is improved so as to be more easily read and read quickly will be described below. In step 4 (word dictionary search) of FIG. 2, it is checked whether or not the word obtained by the word segmentation is registered in the table of the word-translation-appearing line to which the translation is already assigned. If registered, instead of a translation, a mark indicating that the word is an already-existing word and a numerical value (= (currently processed line)-(occurring line of translation)) indicating the previous line are assigned to the word. However, if the translation is output before the predetermined value (about 7 is appropriate), the word currently processed is the word-
Translation-Assign a translation of the table of occurrence rows and update the occurrence row to the current number of rows. If not registered, the word dictionary is searched, the translation is assigned to the word, and then the word, the translation, and the current number of lines are registered in the table of the word-translation-appearing line.

In step 5 of FIG. 2 (combining the translation and the input image), the output is performed for each line of the recognition result. The composite image of the row is stored in an appropriate portion (write position) of the image memory for output, and the write position is shifted so that the composite image of the next row can be stored. If the writing position comes to the lower edge of the output image memory, or if the storage area for the composite image is insufficient, the contents of the output image memory are printed, the entire output image memory is refreshed, and the writing position starts. Return to. At this time, the word-translation-appearance line table is cleared. If the output is multiple sheets, print the page in the margin. The method of generating the composite image of each row is shown in FIG.
The method is the same as that described in. Note that FIG. 6 shows a display example of already-existing words.

FIGS. 7A to 7C are explanatory views (claim 6) of the input / output image. The paper is divided into an English area and a word translation list area at a fixed ratio. There are two modes for recognizing paper characters. Therefore, the translation embedding itself is performed independently in two different areas of the output image memory. Two writing positions are prepared, one for the English region and one for the word translation list region, and when either one arrives at the lower end of the region, a plurality of pages are output. The current line of the input image is simply copied to the writing position for the English area. The line number is inserted at the beginning or end of the line. This line number is reset when the page is switched. At the writing position for the word translation list area, the translation of the current line is written together with the line number (the same as the one inserted at the beginning or end of the line in the English sentence area). FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an output example of the word translation list area.

Next, claim 7 is almost the same as claim 6, but in the English area of the output, the word for which the translation is output is marked in the word area so that it becomes a mark. Easy image conversion. As a proper treatment,
Inversion, white or black tint, outline,
And so on.

[0020]

【effect】

As is clear from the above description, the present invention has the following effects. (1) Effect corresponding to claim 1: This system sets a document like a copy and prints the combined output in which the word translation is entered on paper to output. A written copy is created with almost no stain on the original document.
Later, even when thinking of words, the learning effect is high because it is used immediately in the sentence actually read. (2) Effect corresponding to claim 2: When the word whose meaning is to be known is relatively limited, it is easier to read and efficient if the translation is written only for that word. (3) Effect corresponding to claim 3: When you want to output a translation, you need to know the meaning in detail because it is important, such as frequently appearing in the document, from the level where you have forgotten the meaning of chot. There is even a level of wanting. It can meet the detailed requirements of users. (4) Effect corresponding to claim 4: It is suitable to cut through a portion that seems to be irrelevant by lightly looking through it when the portion of interest is limited. (5) Effect corresponding to claim 5: In addition to the effect of claim 1, adding a translation for a frequently-used word is very troublesome and meaningless, and this point is improved. (6) Effects corresponding to claims 6 and 7: Since the areas are separated, it is suitable for learning such as understanding the meaning while looking at the translation and checking the memory without looking at the translation.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram for explaining an embodiment of an English text extensive reading support device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the English sentence intensive support device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a specific example of an input / output image.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining how to fit the translation of each line.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining mode switching.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a display example of already-existing words.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of an input / output image.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an output example of an area of a word translation list.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Scanner, 2 ... Input image memory, 3 ... Character font data, 4 ... Output image memory, 5 ... Printer, 6
… Microcomputer, 7… OCR (Optical Character Recognition)
on: Optical character recognition device) program, 8 ... Dictionary search program, 9 ... English-Japanese dictionary, 10 ... Input / output control program.

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A character recognition means for reading an input document as an image with a scanner, a search means for detecting a word in the document read by the character recognition means to search a word dictionary, and a search means searched by the search means. An apparatus for assisting extensive reading of English sentences, comprising: selecting means for selecting a word translation by the word dictionary and printing means for synthesizing and printing the word translation selected by the selecting means and the input document. 2. The English extensive reading support device according to claim 1, wherein entry of the translation obtained is limited by adding a mark to the translation word on the word on the input document. 3. The English-language extensive reading support device according to claim 2, wherein translations with different details corresponding to the respective marks are output corresponding to the plurality of marks. 4. The English extensive reading support device according to claim 1, wherein the entry of the obtained translation is limited by adding a mark to the line not translated. 5. A character recognition means for reading an input document as an image with a scanner, a search means for detecting a word in the document read by the character recognition means and searching a word dictionary, and a search means searched for by the search means. And a printing means for synthesizing the word translation selected by the selecting means and the input document and printing the result. An English-language extensive reading support device that saves lines, prevents the same translation from being printed repeatedly for the same word, and sets a numerical value that indicates the line on which the translation is printed. 6. Rather than fit the translation below the line,
6. The English extensive reading support device according to claim 5, wherein the original sentence is printed on the upper or left half of the printing paper and the word and the translation are printed separately on the lower or right half. 7. The English sentence extensive reading support device according to claim 6, wherein the translated word portion is converted into an image to facilitate correspondence.