Search device, search system, and search method

• US 20040249790A1
• Filed: 03/31/2003
• Published: 12/09/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation), Toshiba Tec Corporation (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toshiba Tec Corporation (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Komamura, Noriyuki
• Granted Patent: US 7,194,460 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/3
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/3322 using system suggestions G06F16/3325 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99934 Query formulation, input preparation, or translation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99936 Pattern matching access

Abstract

A search device, search system and search method according to the present invention are adapted to extract related words of entered keyword from a related word dictionary file, to display one or more of the related words in a manner to accept selection, to perform search using selected related word keyword including desired number of the related word, and to display a search result. Furthermore, a search device is adapted to retrieve related words of entered keywords extracted from a related word dictionary file and to obtain search result using related word key word including selected related words from the obtained one more related words.

Claims

1. A search device comprising

a first keyword entry unit accepting a first keyword for a search,

a related word retrieve unit transferring the first keyword to the related word dictionary database system which extracts related words of a keyword for extracting related words and obtaining one or more words related to the first keyword,

a related word selector unit, in response to an instruction from an instruction data entry unit, prompting a user to choose one or more as desired from the related words to the first keyword obtained from the related word retrieve unit so as to produce a second keyword made of all or part of the related words,

a search result retrieve unit transferring the second keyword produced by said related word selector unit to a search engine to perform search using a keyword to search for data and obtaining search results from the search engine, and

an output unit presenting the search results in a data display.

2. The search device according to claim 1, wherein the related word dictionary database system has a plurality of types of the related word dictionary files and refers to the related word dictionary files for a word(s) related to a keyword in response to an instruction data to designate which type of the related word dictionaries are to be used, and

the related word retrieve unit, in response to an instruction from the instruction data entry unit, produces an instruction data to designate the type of the related word dictionaries that are to be used for a search, and transfers the instruction data along with the first keyword to the related word dictionary database system so as to obtain a related word(s) to the first keyword from the related word dictionary database.

3. The search device according to claim 1, wherein the search result retrieve unit transfers the first keyword to the search engine and obtains search results including some matches with the first keyword, and

the output unit produces the search results using the first keyword in the data display.

4. A search device according to claim 3, wherein the search engine returns the search results that are target file identifiers used to get target files including a keyword in the text,

the search device further comprising

a target file retrieve unit, in response to an instruction from the instruction data entry unit, receiving the target file identifiers from the search result retrieve unit and obtaining the target files at the target file identifies from target file server.

5. A search device according to claim 4, wherein the related word dictionary database system refers to related word source files for the keyword and extracts a word(s) related to the keyword,

the search engine stores a plurality of target files and extracts any of the target files including the keyword in the text to return the search results of the extracted target files to the related word retrieve unit,

the related word retrieve unit transfers to the related word dictionary database system the target files extracted by the search engine along with the first and second keywords and obtains words related to the first and second keywords from the text of the target files, and

the output unit receives the related words to the first and second keywords from the related word retrieve unit and presents them in the data display in such a manner as a check list prompting the user to choose one as an alternative to the first keyword.

6. A search device according to claim 4, wherein the related word dictionary database system extracts words used as frequent as meeting a predetermined norm from the related word source files,

the search engine stores a plurality of target files and extracts any of the target files including the keyword in the text to return the search results of the extracted target files to the related word retrieve unit,

the related word retrieve unit transfers to the related word dictionary database system the target files extracted by the search engine and obtains the frequently used words included in the text of the target files, and

the output unit receives the frequently used words from the related word retrieve unit and presents them in the data display in such a manner as a check list prompting the user to choose one as an alternative to the first keyword.

7. A search device according to claim 4, wherein the search engine returns the search results of the number of hits using the search keyword to the related word retrieve unit, and

the output unit receives from the related word retrieve unit the number of hits and the first and second keywords used for the searches and presents them in the data display in a form of the accumulative number for each search.

8. A search device according to claim 4, further comprising a keyword history database system where the first and second keywords are added to registered keywords as used in the past,

wherein the search result retrieve unit transfers the first and second keywords to the keyword history database system to let it add the first and second keywords to the registered keyword.

9. A search device according to claim 8, wherein the keyword history database system extracts any of the registered keywords including desired data in the text,

the first keyword entry unit transfers an entry data accepted therein to the keyword history database system and obtains the registered keyword including a match with the entry data in the text, and

the data output unit receives the registered keyword from the first keyword entry unit and presents it in the data display in such a manner as a checklist prompting the user to choose one as an alternative to the first keyword.

10. A search device according to claim 4, further comprising a linked location registration database system where the first and second keywords are related to the file identifiers and added to registered keywords as used in the past,

wherein the search result retrieve unit, in response to an instruction from the instruction data entry unit, transfers to the linked location registration database system the first and second keywords and a return of the file identifiers from the search engine as a result of the search using the first and second keywords, and lets the linked location registration database system to add these data to the registered ones.

11. A search device according to claim 10, wherein the linked location registration database system uses the first and second keywords to extract the file identifiers respectively in relation with the keywords,

during search, the search result retrieve unit transfers the first and second keywords to the linked location registration database system and obtains the file identifiers related to the first and second keywords, respectively, and

the data display locates the obtained file identifiers first prior to those returned from the search engine as a result of the search using the first and second keywords.

12. A search system comprising:

a first keyword entry unit accepting an entry of a first keyword,

a related word extraction unit to extract related words of the first keyword from a related word dictionary files,

a related word selector unit to display one or more extracted related words in a manner to accept selection and to produce related word keywords comprised of arbitrary number of selected related words,

a search unit to search using the produced related word keywords, and

a unit displaying search results from the search unit.

13. A search system comprising

a first keyword entry unit disposed in a user terminal for accepting a first keyword for a search,

a related word dictionary database system connected to the user terminal via network and referring to related word dictionary files for a match(es) with a keyword to extract a word(s) related to the keyword,

a related word retrieve unit transferring the first keyword to the related word dictionary database system and obtaining one or more words related to the first keyword,

a word selector unit, in response to an instruction from an instruction data entry unit, prompting a user to choose one or more as desired from the related words to the first keyword obtained from the related word retrieve unit so as to produce a second keyword made of the related words chosen by the user,

a search engine connected to the user terminal via network and using a keyword to search for data,

a search result retrieve unit transferring the second keyword to the search engine and obtaining search results from the search engine, and

an output unit presenting the search results in a data display.

14. A search method comprising:

extracting a related word of entered keyword from a related word dictionary files, displaying one or more of the related words in a manner to accept selection, performing search using selected related word keyword including desired number of the related word, and displaying a search result.