Interactive Chinese typewriter

Claim 2

In a microprocessor controlled typewriting system for printing Chinese characters, said system including, (A) a keyboard entry, (B) a microprocessor, (C) a CRT for displaying an identified Chinese character, and (D) a printer for printing the identified characters, a method of identifying from among a plurality of encoded characters a character to be printed, each character encoded according to the character's radical and the number of calligraphy strokes required in addition to the radical to construct the character, the method characterized in that it comprises the steps of: (a) generating for the microprocessor a code word representative of the radical number of the character to be printed; (b) generating for the microprocessor a code word representative of the number of additional calligraphy strokes in a character to be printed; (c) generating for the microprocessor a code word representative of the character to be printed according to the character's position in a table of all of the encoded characters having the same radical and stroke number code words; and (d) selecting the character to be printed from among the plurality of encoded characters according to the radical, stroke and character code words generated in steps (a), (b) and (c).

Claim 3

The method of Claim 1 wherein the step of generating a code word representative of the character according to its position is characterized in that it in a table includes the steps of: (a) displaying in said CRT display an array of all of the characters encoded for the characters having the radical and stroke code words generated for the character to be printed; and (b) selecting from among the displayed characters the characters to be printed by pressing a corresponding key in an array of keys of said keyboard, the array of keys equal to the array of displayed characters, said microprocessor generating the character code word for the identified character in response to the struck key.

Claim 4

The method of Claim 1 wherein the step of generating a code word representative of the character according to its position in a table characterized in that it includes the steps of: (a) displaying in said CRT display an array of the characters encoded for the characters having the radical and stroke number code words generated for the character to be printed, each displayed character also displaying the character code for uniquely identifying that character; and (b) selecting and inputting the character code for the character to be printed from the displayed character codes.

Claim 5

The method of Claim 1 wherein the steps of generating the radical, stroke and character code words are characterized in that they are automatically generated by said microprocessor for a number of characters occuring most often in Chinese text by actuation of keys corresponding to these characters.

Claim 6

The method of claim 1 wherein the table of all of the encoded characters are characterized in that the same radical and stroke number code words is ordered according to the frequency of use of the character in Chinese text, said step of generating a code word representative of the character to be printed according to its position in a table includes the steps of: (a) depressing a first specific key to select the character in the table having the highest frequency of use; (b) displaying the selected character; (c) depressing said first specific key to select the next most frequently used character if the displayed character in step (b) is not the desired character; and (d) repeating steps (b)-(d) until said displayed character is the desired character; and (e) depressing a second specific key when the displayed character is the desired character to select the character for printing.

Claim 7

An interactive microprocessor controlled typewriting system for printing Chinese characters characterized in that it comprises: (a) a microprocessor programmed to select in response to input from an operator a character to be printed from among a plurality of stored characters; (b) a mass storage device response to said microprocessor for storing encoded Chinese characters, each stored character identified according to its radical, the number of calligraphy strokes required in addition to the radical to construct the character and a character number corresponding to the position of the character in a table of all of the characters having the same radical and number of additional strokes; (c) a keyboard entry means responsive to an operator, said keyboard entry means having a plurality of keys for generating code words to said microprocessor for the radical, stroke and character number of a character to be printed, ones of said keys identifying certain radicals and certain ones of said keys identifying characters which most frequently occur in Chinese text, said microprocessor automatically generating the correct code words for said radicals or characters when their respective keys in said keyboard means are struck; (d) a display means responsive to the microprocessor for displaying to the operator the characters identified for printing; and (e) a printer responsive to the microprocessor for printing the characters displayed by said display means.

Claim 8

An interactive microprocessor controlled typewriting system for printing Chinese characters characterized in that it comprises: (a) a microprocessor programmed to select in response to input from an operator a character to be printed from among a plurality of stored characters; (b) a mass storage device response to said microprocessor for storing encoded Chinese characters, each stored character identified according to its radical, the number of calligraphy strokes required in addition to the radical to construct the character and a character number corresponding to the position of the character in a table of all of the characters having the same radical and number of additional strokes; (c) a keyboard entry means responsive to an operator, said keyboard entry means having a plurality of keys for generating code words to said microprocessor for the radical, stroke and character number of a character to be printed, ones of said keys identifying certain radicals and certain ones of said keys identifying characters which most frequently occur in Chinese text, said microprocessor automatically generating the correct code words for said radicals or characters when their respective keys in said keyboard means are struck; (d) a display means responsive to the microprocessor for displaying to the operator the characters identified for printing; and (e) a printer responsive to the microprocessor for printing the characters displayed by said display means.

Claim 9

The system of Claim 6 characterized in that said microprocessor is responsive to an operator request to display in said display means an array of characters having predetermined character positions, said keyboard entry means having a corresponding array of keys in which each character position in said displayed character array has a corresponding key in the array of keys whereby the striking of a key in the array of keys selects as the character to be printed the character displayed in the character position corresponding to the struck key.

Claim 10

The system of Claim 6 further characterized in that a data modem for transmitting the characters to a remotely located device where the data may be modified, stored, printed or otherwise processed.

Claim 11

The system of Claim 6 characterized in that said keyboard entry means is a standard microprocessor typewriter keyboard.

Claim 12

The system of Claim 8 characterized in that said microprocessor includes means for controlling said display means to display in the character array all of the encoded and stored characters having an identified radical and stroke number.

Claim 16

The system of Claim 6 characterized in that said printer is a dot matrix printer.

Claim 17

The system of Claim 6 characterized in that each stored character in said mass storage device having the same radical and stroke code are arranged in a table of characters according to its frequency of use in Chinese text.

Claim 18

A Chinese typewriter for typing Chinese ideograph characters characterized in that it comprises: (a) a programmed microprocessor responsive to input from a typist to uniquely identify a character to be printed from a plurality of encoded and stored characters, each character encoded from a Chinese-to-English dictionary according to the radical group for the character, the number of calligraphy strokes required in addition to the radical to construct the character and a character number corresponding to the position of the character in a table of characters having the same radical and number of calligraphy strokes; (b) a random access memory responsive to said microprocessor for storing the encoded characters in a form suitable for printing; (c) a standard microprocessor keyboard responsive to the typist and having a plurality of keys for entering codes for identifying the radical, number of strokes and character number for a character to be printed, ones of said keys identifying the more frequently occurring radicals and characters in Chinese text; (d) a CRT display responsive to said microprocessor for displaying characters to be printed, said displayed characters displayed in a first array of character positions; and (e) a printer responsive to said microprocessor for printing the characters displayed in said display means, the typist inputting to said microprocessor codes for the radical, stroke number and character number for characters to be printed.

Claim 19

A Chinese typewriter for typing Chinese ideograph characters characterized in that it comprises: (a) a programmed microprocessor responsive to input from a typist to uniquely identify a character to be printed from a plurality of encoded and stored characters, each character encoded from a Chinese-to-English dictionary according to the radical group for the character, the number of calligraphy strokes required in addition to the radical to construct the character and a character number corresponding to the position of the character in a table of characters having the same radical and number of calligraphy strokes; (b) a random access memory responsive to said microprocessor for storing the encoded characters in a form suitable for printing; (c) a standard microprocessor keyboard responsive to the typist and having a plurality of keys for entering codes for identifying the radical, number of strokes and character number for a character to be printed, ones of said keys identifying the more frequently occurring radicals and characters in Chinese text; (d) a CRT display responsive to said microprocessor for displaying characters to be printed, said displayed characters displayed in a first array of character positions; and (e) a printer responsive to said microprocessor for printing the characters displayed in said display means, the typist inputting to said microprocessor codes for the radical, stroke number and character number for characters to be printed.

Claim 20

The typewriter of Claim 16 further characterized in that it includes a means for displaying in a second array of characters in said CRT display all the encoded characters having a given radical group and stroke number, said display capable of displaying the character number along with each displayed character, said keyboard having an array of keys corresponding to the second array in which each character position in the second array has a corresponding key in the array of keys whereby actuation of a key in the array of keys selects as a character to be printed the displayed character in the corresponding character position in the second array.