Patent Publication Number: US-2009240671-A1

Title: Electronic bible

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is directed to an electronic bible, and more particularly to an electronic bible that can simultaneously display biblical text, provide study tools including user commentary tool, electronic dictionary/thesaurus for Biblical terms, currency exchange calculator to compare modern currency to ancient currency concurrent to the Bible era. User commentary files can be indexed and retrieved by search using keywords chosen by the user, date/time stamp of the commentary file, or the verse number and the book title/chapter of the subject matter being commented. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Electronic media has long been provided on electronic devices. For example, electronic books can be read over a laptop computer or personal digital assistant. Personal digital assistance are widely used and known to provide various functions such as email, Internet access, messaging (E.g., SMS—Short Messaging Service), address book management, calculator functions and various games (e.g., solitaire). For example, the global company Research in Motion (RIM) sells a well-known, widely used personal digital assistant referred to as a “BlackBerry®”. 
     Electronic bibles are also generally known. For example, published United States Patent Application US 200310006969A1 by Barras entitled “System for One-Touch Bible Book Selection and Viewing” describes such a device. Although general bible text and information can be singularly provided through a device like Barras&#39;s, a user cannot easily refer to a secondary source for definitions or supplementary information for what is being read in the main text of the electronic bible information, which is typically only the text renderings directly from the bible. 
     What is needed is an electronic bible that can enable a user to read primary biblical text and simultaneously refer to a secondary database of information related to the primary biblical text, such as dictionary definitions or a thesaurus for Christian terms or names in the text. The present invention provides such an system. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is a feature of the present invention to provide an electronic bible including a user interface and a display screen wherein a first side of the display screen provides primary biblical information (e.g., text), while a second side of the display screen displays secondary biblical information (e.g., dictionary/thesaurus data) as well as user comments related to the primary biblical information displayed on the first side. 
     It is another feature of the present invention that the electronic bible includes databases for primary information (e.g., the Bible text) and secondary biblical information (e.g., dictionary/thesaurus data and currency exchange data). It is another feature of the present invention that the electronic bible includes a central processing and internal storage unit that can support the proper operation of the present invention. The central processing unit, with the appropriate software implementation that resides in the internal storage unit, can provide functions including to the followings, but not limit to: word processing for user commentary, database search to retrieve the information sought by the users, coordination of data flow between the central processing unit and the peripheral devices such as the displays and the input keypads. The user generated commentary files can be stored in the internal storage unit. These files can be searched and retrieved by the users by using the keywords, date/time stamps, or the verse number, book chapter and book title of the subject matter being commented. 
     It is yet another features of the present invention that the secondary biblical information includes currency exchange data, and dictionary terms and/or thesaurus information about terms or persons referred to in the primary biblical information, e.g., such as the dictionary meaning of certain Christian words shown in the biblical text. 
     It is another feature of the present invention that the electronic bible be a portable electronic bible. 
     Any feature or combination of features described herein are included within the scope of the present invention provided that the features included in any such combination are not mutually inconsistent as will be apparent from the context, this specification, and the knowledge of one of ordinary skill in the art. Additional advantages and aspects of the present invention are apparent in the following detailed description and claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a front view of an electronic bible in accordance with features of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a block diagram of system components included in the electronic bible shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  illustrates a block diagram of databases included in the electronic bible shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 ; 
         FIG. 4  illustrates a flow diagram of steps for using the electronic bible described with respect to  FIGS. 1-3 ; and 
         FIG. 5  illustrates a flow diagram of system components and their operation to enable use of electronic bible functions. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring now to  FIG. 1 , an electronic bible  100  including a first display screen  110 , a second display screen  120 , and respective user interfaces  130 ,  140  is illustrated. Although the electronic bible  100  is shown as a portable device, it can be appreciated after reading this disclosure that features of the present invention can also be implemented in a desktop computer system; therefore reference to portable herein should not be construed as a limitation over the present invention. 
     The display screens  110 ,  120  are adapted to display primary and secondary bible-related information  150 ,  160 , respectively. Primary information will typically comprise of text taken directly from Chapters or Books of a bible which are generally shown abbreviated in the button of user interface  130 . Secondary information  160  can include information provided from a dictionary or thesaurus in association with data taken from the primary information  150  display at the first screen  110 . Secondary information  160  can also include data for currency conversion between the modern currency unit and currency unit adopted during the Bible era. 
     With respect to the user interfaces  130 ,  140 , one skilled in the art can readily appreciate some of the functions illustrated in  FIG. 1 . Self explanatory to one skilled in the art (which can be the routine user of a PDA, such as a BlackBerry® device), will understand that the mouse  142  enables movement of a cursor on a screen, similar to the mouse and cursor on desktop computers. The “Enter” botton operates in association with the mouse  142  to enable selection of data from rather screen  110 ,  120 . The calculator buttons  143  enable basic calculator functionality and can also enable currency conversion (e.g., such as old currency described in chapters of the bible, to modern currency such as the US dollar). The bottom most buttons associated with user interface  130  enable the selection of “Dictionary”, “Bible”, “Language”, “Calculator” and “References” functions for the user. 
     With respect to user interface  130 , the skilled in the art would again realize that the majority of round buttons illustrated are abbreviations of bible chapters. A user can select a button associated with a bible chapter and enter the selection with the “enter” button, or the user can type in a code or chapter number and enter it. Language buttons  135  are self explanatory and as shown enable the user to select from the following language for the electronic bible to operate with: “English”, “Spanish”, “French”, German” and “Portuguese”. The On/OFF button  137  are self explanatory and require little detailed explanation other than is can be appreciated that the power buttons  137  can control both sides of the electronic bible. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , a block diagram  200  of system components for the portable electronic bible is illustrated in accordance with features of the present invention. A central processing unit  105 , user interface  120  and display screen  110  are standard features of a portable device. A primary database  130  for storing biblical text and a secondary database  140  for storing secondary bible-related information (e.g., dictionary or thesaurus information and currency data) are key features of the present invention together with unique processing by the central processing and storage unit  105  to simultaneously process user requests associated to biblical text and simultaneously display secondary information on a second section  160  of the display screen together with primary bible information displayed on a first section  150  of the display screen. The central processing and storage unit  105  will also support word processing function necessary to generate user commentaries to the biblical text being studied, storage of such commentary files, and search and retrieval of such commentary files. Retrieval method will include retrieval by keywords, by date/time stamps of the files, or by the Book title, chapter, and/or verse number. 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , illustrated is a block diagram  300  of databases used for storing primary and secondary bible information in the portable electronic bible described in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . The primary database  130  includes complete biblical text (e.g., Books or Chapters) of a holy bible. The primary information is rendered directly on the first section  150  of the display screen  110 . It can be appreciated that the text displayed on the display screen can be highlighted and searched within the secondary database  140  to find dictionary  145  and thesaurus  147  information stored therein. Once found, the secondary information can be rendered on the second section  160  of the display screen  110 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 , illustrated is a flow diagram  400  of steps for using the electronic bible described with respect to  FIGS. 1-3 . A user initiates power on an electronic bible as shown in Block  410 . The user then operates a portable electronic bible to render biblical text from a primary database on a first section of a display screen as shown in Block  420 . The user selects a word, phrase or term from the biblical text and requests a search in a secondary database as shown in Block  430 . A portable electronic device finds secondary information related to the search requests and renders it on a second section of the display screen as shown in Block  440 . The user selectively reads primary information from the first section display screen and secondary information form the second section of the display screen as shown in Block  450 . The user can create and save his/her commentary on the Bible verses being studied by using the user interface as shown in Block  455 . The user can also search for particular commentary files as shown in Block  455 . The user then terminates use of the electronic bible as shown in Block  460 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 5 , a flow diagram  500  illustrating how system components operate together to enable use of the electronic bible is provided. A user initiates use of an electronic bible from a user interface as shown in Block  510 . Shown in Block  520  is an electronic system including a central processing and storage unit, and an user interface. The internal storage unit will store databases for the primary and the secondary bible information, the commentary files, and other supportive software for the proper functioning of the present invention. As shown in Block  530 , a first display screen adapted to provide a rendering of primary biblical information is provided. As shown in Block  540 , the central processing unit is adapted to enable searching of secondary information based on selection of text from the primary information selected from the first display screen. As shown in Block  545 , the central processing unit is adapted to enable generation and storage, search and retrieval of commentary files. As shown in Block  550 , a second display screen adapted to provide a rendering of secondary biblical information, and content of the commentary files and/or commentary entries is provided. Then as shown in Block  560 , a user is enabled to selectively read primary information from the first display screen and secondary information from the second display screen. Then as shown in Block  570 , the user can terminate use of the electronic bible from the user interface. 
     Various modifications of the invention, in addition to those described herein, will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoing description. Such modifications are also intended to fall within the scope of the appended claims. Each reference cited in the present application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
     Although there has been shown and described the preferred embodiment of the present invention, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications may be made thereto which do not exceed the scope of the appended claims. Therefore, the scope of the invention is only to be limited by the following claims.