Abstract:
For an electronic translator with a printing functionality and related operation method, the electronic translator has a printer driver circuit and a small printer. When a user inquires about a vocabulary word, the electronic translator marks the vocabulary word and its corresponding data, and then prints out the data according to printing items set by the user.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention relates to an electronic translator, and more particularly, to an electronic translator with a printing functionality.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0004]     The electronic translator has recently become a very popular electronic product. A user uses the electronic translator to translate a vocabulary word not understood, and the user is able to obtain the pronunciation, meaning, tenses, related phrases, antonyms, and example sentences for the vocabulary word.  
         [0005]     As shown in  FIG. 1 , a prior art electronic translator comprises a CPU  10 , a display device  12 , a memory  14 , an input device  16 , and an audio device  18 . The display device  12  is an LCD (liquid crystal display) or an OLED (organic light-emitting diode), for displaying translation data. The memory  14  is a ROM (read-only memory) or a flash memory, for permanent storage of a plurality of vocabulary words and their corresponding translation data, and for storing newly added vocabulary words or an inquiry data recorded. The input device  16  is a keyboard or a touch panel, and is used for inputting a user inquiry data such as a vocabulary word. The audio device  18  is a speaker or a headphone, and provides speech audio or sound effects. The CPU  10  receives the inquiry data output from the input device  16 , and compares the inquiry data to the vocabulary words stored in the memory  14 . If the inquiry data matches one of the vocabulary words stored in the memory  14 , the CPU  10  reads the corresponding translation data of the vocabulary word from the memory  14  and outputs the vocabulary word and the corresponding translation data to the display device  12  and the audio device  18 , and so helps the user to understand the vocabulary word and its pronunciation.  
         [0006]     However, when the user obtains the translation data and is not familiar with this vocabulary word, he or she might want to record this vocabulary word for memorization. A user having obtained the translation data and not being familiar with a particular term might want to record this term for memorization. However, it is only possible to write down the term and the related data which is very inconvenient for a user, especially one who likes to record a lot of vocabulary terms at one time. Therefore, it is desirable to provide an improved electronic translator to mitigate and/or obviate the aforementioned problems.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     A main objective of the present invention is to provide an electronic translator with printing functionality, which can print out inquiry data.  
         [0008]     Another objective of the present invention is to provide an electronic translator with a printing functionality, which can provide different print column items so that a user can select different items to print.  
         [0009]     To achieve the object, an electronic translator with a printing functionality of the present invention is provided, which includes a memory for storing a plurality of vocabulary words and corresponding translation data; an input device for inputting a command or data from a user; a central processing unit (CPU) for searching data from the memory according to the command or data; a display device for displaying searched data; a printer driving circuit for inputting the searched data from the CPU and outputting corresponding printing data; and a printer for printing the printing data.  
         [0010]     To achieve the object, a method of providing printing functionality in an electronic translator is provided, which comprising: (A) selecting a information item of a corresponding translation data of a vocabulary word; (B) searching a vocabulary word according to the inquiry data; (C) determining whether the inquiry data will be printed; if so, performing step (D); if not, performing step (B); (D) marking the inquiry data; (E) determining whether another inquiry data is to be performed; if so, performing step (F); if not, performing step (B); (F) determining whether the inquiry data is to be printed out; if so, performing step (G); if not, performing step (B); and (G) printing out the selected information item of the marked inquiry data.  
         [0011]     Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0012]      FIG. 1  shows an electronic translator according to the prior art;  
         [0013]      FIG. 2  is a hardware block diagram of an electronic translator with a printing functionality in accordance with the present invention; and  
         [0014]      FIG. 3  is a flow chart of printing procedures for the electronic translator in accordance with the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0015]      FIG. 2  shows a hardware block diagram of an electronic translator with a printing functionality in accordance with the present invention. A preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a CPU  10 , a display device  12 , a memory  14 , an input device  16 , an audio device  18 , a printer driver  20  and a printer  22 , wherein the CPU  10 , the display device  12 , the memory  14 , the input device  16  and the audio device  18  are similar to the corresponding prior art items, and thus all of the items are not described in details. When the user operates the input device  16  to input an inquiry data, the CPU  10  receives this inquiry data, and then searches for a matching vocabulary word stored in the memory  14  and outputs the inquiry data and the translation data corresponding to the matching vocabulary word to the display device  12  and the printer driver  20 . Then, the display device  12  displays the vocabulary word and the corresponding translation data. The user can also use the input device  16  to input an inquiry data to select an information item of the inquiry data. The CPU  10  records this inquiry data and outputs both the information item selected and the inquiry data. The printer driver  20  receives the information item selected and the inquiry data and drives the printer  22  to print the data out.  
         [0016]     Therefore, the inquiry data can be printed onto paper so that the user does not need to write down the data by hand. If the user uses adhesive printing paper, this printing paper having vocabulary data can be stuck to a collecting card or a book.  
         [0017]      FIG. 3  shows a flow chart of printing procedures for the electronic translator in accordance with the present invention. The printing procedures are as follow:  
         [0018]     Step  30 : selecting an information item of a corresponding translation data of a vocabulary word. An inquiry data such as a vocabulary word has a corresponding translation data which comprises several different kinds of information items, such as pronunciation, meaning, tenses, related phrases, antonyms, and example sentences. The user can select different information items to be printed out.  
         [0019]     Step  32 : searching a vocabulary word according to the inquiry data. After the information item of corresponding translation data is selected, the user can perform a search upon an inquiry data to obtain its corresponding translation data.  
         [0020]     Step  34 : determining whether the inquiry data will be printed; the user can decide whether it is necessary to print out the corresponding translation data of the inquiry data; if the user wants to perform a printing process, step  36  is performed; otherwise, step  32  is performed.  
         [0021]     Step  36 : marking the inquiry data. The CPU  10  marks the inquiry data and records the corresponding translation data in the memory  14 . The data is preferably printed using a batch printing method, which can reduce the quantity of printing papers used.  
         [0022]     Step  38 : determining whether another inquiry data is to be performed; if so, step  32  is performed; otherwise, step  40  is performed.  
         [0023]     Step  40 : determining whether the inquiry data is to be printed out; if so, step  42  is performed; if not, step  32  is performed.  
         [0024]     Step  42 : printing out the selected information item of the marked inquiry data. The CPU  10  outputs the selected inquiry data or data printing and the selected information item thereof to the printer driver  20 , then the printer driver  20  drives the printer  22  to print the selected information item of the marked inquiry data or data out.  
         [0025]     In the present invention, the electronic translator uses a batch printing method to print out the selected information item of the marked inquiry data or data out; however, the electronic translator can also print out one selected information item of the marked inquiry data or data each time, which means that after step  34 , step  42  is performed to print the selected information item of the marked inquiry data out according to step  30 .  
         [0026]     According to the above description, the electronic translator of the present invention has the following improvements:  
         [0027]     (1) It can print out the translation data: the user can set up printing columns and mark an inquired vocabulary word; the electronic translator will then print out the corresponding translation data of the marked vocabulary word according to the printing columns.  
         [0028]     (2) It can reduce the amount of print paper used: since the electronic translator uses a batch printing method, all related translation data can be arranged on one piece of paper so that the amount of printing paper used is reduced.  
         [0029]     Although the present invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.