CN1175040A - Portable dedicated electronic reader and method for playing magnetic or optical recording media - Google Patents

Abstract

A special portable electronic reading device for replaying book contents stored in auxiliary memory in the form of characters and sounds, comprising: a central processing unit used to control the entire functions of the reading device; Retrieve book data from the auxiliary memory under the control of a main memory; a main memory for storing the book data; a display for displaying character data selected from the book data; a speaker for reproducing sound data of the book data; and Multiple retrieval keys to retrieve book data page by page.

Description

Portable dedicated electronic reader and method for playing magnetic or optical recording media

The present invention relates to a special portable electronic reader for playing data on magnetic or optical recording media and its related method. book content.

The general method of acquiring knowledge from books is to read books directly or listen to voices played back from tapes containing book contents. Recently, it has been possible to read books with the help of a notebook computer or a personal computer, and the computer replays the contents of the book stored in an auxiliary memory such as a floppy disk or a CD-ROM with characters and sounds.

However, this general method of reading books has various inherent disadvantages. For example, it is very inconvenient to carry many books to read when traveling, and the cassette tape recorder can only produce sound, and it is difficult to obtain the desired part on the tape. In addition, it is practically impossible to carry a personal computer with you for reading books, and even if you can carry a notebook computer with you for reading books, it is inconvenient to do so only for reading books.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a special portable electronic reader and its related method for replaying the content of books stored in auxiliary storage such as floppy disk or CD-ROM in the form of characters and sounds.

According to one aspect of the present invention, the special-purpose portable electronic reading instrument provided by the present invention for replaying the contents of the book stored in the auxiliary memory in the form of characters and sounds includes: a central processing unit (CPU), in order to control the whole function of the reading instrument ; a drive circuit for retrieving book data from the auxiliary memory under the control of the CPU; a main memory for storing book data; a display for displaying character data selected from the book data; a speaker for sound data for replaying the book data; and a plurality of retrieval keys for retrieving the book data page by page.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the special method for replaying the book content stored in the auxiliary memory in the form of characters and sounds provided by the present invention includes the following steps: the auxiliary memory is installed in a driving circuit; Replaying book data, the working mode includes a mode of only displaying characters and a mode of replaying characters/sound; selecting the start page of the book; retrieving the book data of the start page from the auxiliary memory; storing the book data in the main memory ; displaying the character data of the book data in characters on a display; and, if the mode selected in the second step is a character/sound playback mode, selectively reproducing the sound data of the book data through a speaker.

The present invention will now be described more specifically by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a dedicated portable electronic reading device for replaying book contents stored in auxiliary memory in the form of characters and sounds according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a principle block diagram of the functional structure of the reader shown in Fig. 1 .

3A and 3B are flow charts of the functional control of the reader shown in FIG. 1 .

See Figure 1. The casing 10 comprises two parts, namely a display 12 for displaying character images and a speaker 14 for playing sounds. The external jack 16 is used to transmit the sound data to an external sounder such as earphones. In addition, a first socket 18 is provided for placing a CD-ROM; a second socket 20 is provided for placing a floppy disk. Retrieval keys 22 and 24 are installed for selecting the pages to be read. The mode selection key 26 is used to select the book data playback mode. There can be three playback modes: for example, only characters are displayed, only sounds are played, and all characters/sounds are played back. Hinge 28 for connecting the two parts of housing 10 can be seen.

Referring now to Fig. 2, the functional structure of the special-purpose portable electronic reader for replaying the content of books stored in the auxiliary memory in the form of characters and sounds of the present invention is illustrated. CPU210 controls the entire function of the reader according to the control program. The main memory 212 is used to store one page of book data retrieved from the auxiliary memory. The first auxiliary memory driver 214 drives an optical disc to retrieve book data transmitted to the CPU 10 . The second auxiliary memory driver 216 drives a floppy disk to retrieve book data sent to the CPU 10 . The display 218 displays book data in characters under the control of the CPU 10 . The speaker 220 plays the voice corresponding to the book data, and the external jack 222 transmits the voice data to an external sounder such as an earphone. The key row 224 includes a plurality of retrieval keys and a mode selection key, the former is used to select a page of the book data to be read, and the latter is used to select the playback mode of the book data.

See Figure 3A. In step 310 , the CPU 210 detects whether a CD-ROM or a floppy disk is inserted into the first or second slot 18 or 20 . In the socket 18 or 20, a read-only optical disk or a floppy disk is driven by a first or second auxiliary memory driver 214 or 216, respectively, under the control of the CPU 210. When detecting that the auxiliary memory is inserted, the CPU 210 loads the auxiliary memory into the auxiliary memory drive in step 312 . In step 314, CPU 210 detects a key input from keypad 224 for selecting an operation mode for reproducing book data. The working modes include a character-only display mode and a character/sound playback mode. The working mode is selected with the mode selection key 26 .

Next, CPU 210 detects a key input from keypad 224 for selecting the start page of book data in step 316 . The start page is selected with the up search key 22 or the down search key 24 . The upper search key 22 is used to select the previous page of the current playback page, and the lower search key 24 is used to select the next page of the current playback page. In step 318, the CPU 210 retrieves the book data of the selected page from the auxiliary storage, and the mechanism of this aspect is well known in the art, so it will not be described in detail. In step 320 , the retrieved book data is stored in the main memory 212 .

Next, refer to FIG. 3B. CPU 210 displays the character data retrieved from the main memory on display 218 . The replay mechanism of the book data is the same as the corresponding mechanism in the general computer. Then, in step 324, it is determined whether the playback mode selected in step 314 is a mode for displaying characters only. If not, then it is determined that the mode is the full character/sound playback mode, and the program enters step 326 to determine whether the main memory 212 has stored sound data along with the character data. If yes, then in step 328 the sound data is extracted from the main memory 212 and passed to the speaker 220 or output from the external jack 222 . The output sound corresponds to the character data displayed in step 322 . The sound playback mechanism is the same as that of a laser disc. In step 330, it is determined whether all the sound data stored in the main memory has been played back. If the whole playback is over, then in step 332, the next page is selected. Finally, the program returns to step 318, as shown in Figure 3A. Otherwise, the program goes to step 334. Similarly, when it is determined in step 324 that the mode of only displaying characters is selected and in step 326 it is determined that the sound data is not stored in the main memory, the program also proceeds to step 334, in which it is periodically checked whether there is a key input. If there is no key input, the program returns to step 322.

However, if a key entry is detected in step 322, then the key entry is analyzed in steps 336, 340 and 344. When it is determined that the key input is the input of the upper retrieval key 22 in step 336, the program proceeds to step 338 to select the previous page, and then returns to step 318, as shown in Figure 3A. When determining that the key input is the input of the search key 24 in step 340, the program goes to step 342 to select the next page, and the program returns to step 318, as shown in Figure 3A. Conversely, when the key input is determined to be the end key input in step 344, the program ends.

In this way, the portable electronic reader of the present invention utilizes auxiliary memory such as floppy disk or CD-ROM to store a large amount of character and sound data, and specially replays the stored data, so that travelers can carry it with them more conveniently and store it in the CD-ROM. a large number of books. In addition, book data can be randomly retrieved page by page, providing a convenient tool especially suited for improving language skills.

Claims (8)

1. a playback is stored in the special portable formula electronic reading apparatus of the book content in the supplementary storage with character and form of sound, it is characterized in that comprising:

A central processing unit is in order to control the whole functional of described reading apparatus;

A driving circuit is in order to retrieve book data from described supplementary storage under the control of described central processing unit;

A primary memory is in order to store described book data;

A display is in order to show the character data of choosing from described book data;

A loudspeaker is in order to the voice data of the described book data of resetting; With

A plurality of index buttons are in order to retrieve described book data page by page.

2. portable electronic reading apparatus as claimed in claim 1 is characterized in that described supplementary storage comprises read-only optical disc and flexible plastic disc.

3. portable electronic reading apparatus as claimed in claim 1 is characterized in that described driving circuit comprises first and second drivers, respectively in order to drive described read-only optical disc and flexible plastic disc.

4. portable electronic reading apparatus as claimed in claim 1 is characterized in that, it also comprises a jack, in order to send described voice data to outside acoustical generator.

5. be stored in a kind of method of using in the special portable formula electronic reading apparatus of the book content in the supplementary storage in playback with character and form of sound, it is characterized in that, comprise the following steps:

Described supplementary storage is contained in the driving circuit;

Choose a kind of mode of operation for the playback book data, described mode of operation comprises the pattern of a character display and the pattern of playback character/sound;

Choose the start page of books;

The book data of the described start page of retrieval from described supplementary storage;

Deposit described book data in described primary memory;

The character data that on a display, shows described book data with character style; And

If the pattern chosen in second step is character/sound reproduction pattern, then by reset the selectively voice data of described book data of loudspeaker.

6. method as claimed in claim 5 is characterized in that the step of described acoustical reproduction sound data also comprises the step that shows described voice data with character style.

7. method as claimed in claim 5 is characterized in that, also comprises the step of retrieving described book data with index button page by page.

8. as claim 5 or 7 described methods, it is characterized in that the book data of following one page is to reset after the book data of the page up of resetting fully.

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