System for editing document containing audio information

• US 5,220,611 A
• Filed: 10/17/1989
• Issued: 06/15/1993
• Est. Priority Date: 10/19/1988
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Nakamura, Kenji, Matsuoka, Shigeru
• Primary Examiner(s): Kemeny, Emanuel S.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Doerrler, Michelle
• Application Number:
  US07/422,577
• Time in Patent Office: 1,337 Days
• Field of Search: 381/41-50, 381/56, 364/513.5
• US Class Current: 704/278
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/16 Sound input; Sound output speech processing G10L
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 13/033 Voice editing, e.g. manipulating the voice of the synthesiser
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 21/04 Time compression or expansion

Abstract

A document edition system includes a microphone to input audio information; an analog to digital converter to convert the audio information into digital information; a memory unit to store the digital audio information into an external storage unit as information to be added to document information; a sound pressure display control unit to display the sound pressure information of the digital audio information to a display device; a digital to analog converter to regenerate the digital audio information from the memory unit into speech; and a device to add the audio information to an arbitrary position of the document information. The sound pressure display control unit can display the speech regenerating position from the digital to analog converter onto a sound pressure display waveform and also includes a device for displaying the sound pressure information by a predetermined pattern width or a tone. There is also provided a device for adding information denomination to the audio information and for storing the resultant audio information into the external storage unit; a device for reading out the audio information from the external storage unit by the information denominations added thereto upon reproduction; and a device for coupling and editing the plurality of readout audio information by their information denominations.

Claims

1. A system for editing data, comprising:

inputting means for inputting analog audio information;

converting means for converting the analog audio information into digital audio information;

storing means for storing the digital audio information;

generating means for generating information representing sound pressure of the stored digital audio information from the stored digital audio information;

displaying means for displaying a cursor and the generated sound pressure information in accordance with a designated time scale which is designated in accordance with an input time command, such that a designated portion of the sound pressure information is expanded with respect to time; and

reproducing means, responsive to an input edit command, for reproducing audio information from the stored digital audio information and for representing a portion of the reproduced audio information corresponding to a position of the cursor for an edit operation on said displaying means along with information representing sound pressure of the displayed reproduced audio information portion.

2. A system according to claim 1, further comprises means for adding at least a portion of the stored digital audio information to another information.

3. A system according to claim 2, wherein said another information is document data.

4. A system according to claim 1, further comprising deleting means for deleting a portion of the stored digital audio information corresponding to a designated range of the displayed sound pressure information.

5. A system according to claim 1, further comprising inserting means for inserting other designated digital audio information into a portion of the stored digital audio information corresponding to a designated portion of the sound pressure information.

6. A system according to claim 1, wherein said displaying means includes means for displaying as the sound pressure information an envelope of sound pressure of the reproduced audio information being displayed.

7. A system according to claim 1, wherein said displaying means includes means for displaying as the sound pressure information sound pressure of the reproduced audio information portion by a density of displayed dots.

8. An editing system having an external storage unit comprising:

storing means for storing a plurality of digital audio information records in the external storage unit;

assigning means for respectively assigning names to the plurality of stored digital audio information records;

displaying means for displaying designated names corresponding to the names assigned to the plurality of stored digital audio information records;

editing means for rearranging the designated names to an order designated by an input edit command; and

reproducing means for reproducing audio information from the digital audio information records corresponding to the designated names in accordance with the order designated by the input edit command and representing information of sound pressure of the reproduced audio information on the displaying means along with the designated names.

9. A method of editing data comprising the steps of:

storing a plurality of digital audio information with names in a storage unit;

displaying information representing sound pressure of a specific one of the plurality of stored audio information in response to designation of a specific name;

editing, while reproducing the specific audio information, the specific audio information in accordance with the sound pressure information and a reproduced audio information portion;

storing the edited audio information with a new name in the storage unit; and

adding one of the plurality of stored audio information to other information.

10. A method according to claim 9, further comprising the steps of:

arranging designated names to sequentially link a plurality of audio information stored in the storage unit to one another in accordance with a designated order of the designated names; and

storing the plurality of linked audio information.