Manually controllable data reading apparatus for speech synthesizers
First Claim
1. A speaking apparatus adapted to cooperate with a display material said display material having affixed thereto visual data and associated digitally coded speech data, said apparatus comprising;
- pickup means for sensing said digitally coded speech data, and for producing digital output signals identifying speech sounds;
a speech synthesizer including means for storing sets of compressed data, each such set corresponding to one of said speech sounds, and electronic circuit means responsive to any of said sets of compressed data to audibly produce the corresponding speech sound; and
means responsive to said digital output signals to select sets of compressed data for controlling the operation of said electronic circuit means, the selected sets of compressed data corresponding to the speech sounds identified by said digital output signals.
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Abstract
The present invention uses a speech synthesizer apparatus to produce sounds in response to code input received from a code record pick-up manually moved over a selected strip on a code record sheet or panel. The code record sheet or panel has visual symbols, such as printed material or pictures, identifying the sound produced from each strip. One embodiment uses a speech synthesizer having a microcomputer which responds directly to the record pick-up output. Other embodiments include separate encoding and buffer storage apparatus interposed between the record pick-up output and the speech synthesizer. One embodiment uses bar code read pens and optical bar code records printed on paper pages or sheets along with the message text, other embodiments use strips with bumps or gitches or both and bump or gitch sensing pick-ups, such as phonograph pick-ups.
119 Citations
36 Claims
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1. A speaking apparatus adapted to cooperate with a display material said display material having affixed thereto visual data and associated digitally coded speech data, said apparatus comprising;
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pickup means for sensing said digitally coded speech data, and for producing digital output signals identifying speech sounds; a speech synthesizer including means for storing sets of compressed data, each such set corresponding to one of said speech sounds, and electronic circuit means responsive to any of said sets of compressed data to audibly produce the corresponding speech sound; and means responsive to said digital output signals to select sets of compressed data for controlling the operation of said electronic circuit means, the selected sets of compressed data corresponding to the speech sounds identified by said digital output signals. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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8. A manually controllable speaking apparatus adapted to cooperate with a display material said display material having affixed thereto visual data and associated digitally coded speech data, said apparatus comprising;
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manually controllable pickup means for sensing said digitally coded speech data in response to manual movement over said digitally coded data, and for producing digital output signals identifying speech sounds; a speech synthesizer including means for storing sets of compressed data, each such set corresponding to one of said speech sounds, and electronic circuit means responsive to any of said sets of compressed data to audibly produce the corresponding speech sound; and means responsive to said digital output signals to select sets of compressed data for controlling the operation of said electronic circuit means, the selected sets of compressed data corresponding to the speech sounds identified by said digital output signals. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10)
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15. A speaking apparatus comprising:
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display material said display material having affixed thereto visual data and associated digitally coded speech data; pickup means for sensing said digitally coded speech data, and for producing digital output signals identifying speech sounds; a speech synthesizer including means for storing sets of compressed data, each such set corresponding to one of said speech sounds, and electronic circuit means responsive to any of said sets of compressed data to audibly produce the corresponding speech sound; and means responsive to said digital output signals to select sets of compressed data for controlling the operation of said electronic circuit means, the selected sets of compressed data corresponding to the speech sounds identified by said digital output signals. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. Manually operable speaking apparatus comprising:
- display material having alternate lines of text and digitally coded data printed thereon, said coded data representing the control information for production of speech corresponding to said text;
a manually operable pickup means for sensing said coded data in response to manual movement along the lines of said coded data, and for producing a digital output signal identifying speech sounds; storing means receiving said digital output signals from said pickup means and holding the data of said digital output signal; a speech synthesizer including audio output means for producing speech; and output means for providing the data of said digital output signal held by said storing means to control said speech synthesizer for production of the speech called for by said coded data. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
- display material having alternate lines of text and digitally coded data printed thereon, said coded data representing the control information for production of speech corresponding to said text;
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36. Manually operable speaking apparatus comprising:
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a speech synthesizer to produce speech corresponding to text; display material having alternate lines of text and digitally coded speech data printed thereon, said coded speech data representing the control information for production of speech corresponding to text by said speech synthesizer; a manually operable pickup means for sensing said coded speech data in response to manual movement along the lines of said coded data, and for producing a pickup output signal representative of said coded data; and a microprocessor apparatus providing; conversion means for producing a binary coded output signal representative of and in response to said pickup output signal, storing means receiving said binary coded output signal from said conversion means and holding the data of said binary coded output signal; and output means for providing the data of said binary coded output signal held by said storing means to said speech synthesizer for control of speech production.
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Specification