US6246983B1 — Text-to-speech e-mail reader with multi-modal rep…

Claim 1

Independent Claim 231 words

A text-to-speech reader for automated speech processing of text messages comprising: a telephone interface for coupling to a telephone network through which a user interacts with said reader; a memory for storing data representing an e-mail text document to be processed; a text-to-speech engine for generating synthesized speech; a state machine operable by the user through said telephone interface to switch between a play mode and a record mode; a text processor coupled to said state machine and to said memory and to said text-to-speech engine, said text processor having an associated data store containing at least one canned e-mail reply message and being responsive to said state machine such that: (a) when said state machine is in said play mode said data is supplied to said text-to-speech engine for playback as synthesized speech through said telephone interface, and (b) when said state machine is in said record mode said text processor receives input signals supplied by the user through said telephone interface and selectively loads said canned message into said memory and selectively edits the content of said canned message based on said input signals; said text processor having a user-controllable cursor indexing mechanism to selectively identify plural positions within said canned e-mail reply message such that words and characters can be inserted and deleted from any point within said message when said state machine is in said record mode.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 231 words

A text-to-speech reader for automated speech processing of text messages comprising: a telephone interface for coupling to a telephone network through which a user interacts with said reader; a memory for storing data representing an e-mail text document to be processed; a text-to-speech engine for generating synthesized speech; a state machine operable by the user through said telephone interface to switch between a play mode and a record mode; a text processor coupled to said state machine and to said memory and to said text-to-speech engine, said text processor having an associated data store containing at least one canned e-mail reply message and being responsive to said state machine such that: (a) when said state machine is in said play mode said data is supplied to said text-to-speech engine for playback as synthesized speech through said telephone interface, and (b) when said state machine is in said record mode said text processor receives input signals supplied by the user through said telephone interface and selectively loads said canned message into said memory and selectively edits the content of said canned message based on said input signals; said text processor having a user-controllable cursor indexing mechanism to selectively identify plural positions within said canned e-mail reply message such that words and characters can be inserted and deleted from any point within said message when said state machine is in said record mode.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 34 words

The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said text processor maintains a virtual cursor pointer that identifies an indexed location within said memory corresponding to a first position within said text document to be processed.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 47 words

The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said text processor further includes a user interface coupled to said telephone interface through which the user by keypad entry or voice control relocates said virtual cursor pointer to move to a second position within said text document to be processed.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 16 words

The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising e-mail handler for formatting said data as e-mail messages.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 26 words

The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising e-mail handler adapted for communicating with a computer network to send said data as e-mail messages over said network.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 35 words

The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising e-mail handler adapted for communicating with a computer network and for receiving e-mail messages from said network and storing said e-mail messages as said data in said memory.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 39 words

The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising e-mail handler adapted for communicating with a computer network to send said data as e-mail messages over said network and for sending digital audio sound files as attachments to said e-mail messages.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 21 words

The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising sound file buffer for storing digital audio sound files input through said telephone interface.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 55 words

The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising: sound file buffer for storing digital audio sound files input through said telephone interface; and e-mail handler adapted for communicating with a computer network to send said data as e-mail messages over said network and for sending said digital audio sound files as attachments to said e-mail messages.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 40 words

The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said text processor includes character translation system that converts touch tone codes entered through said telephone interface by keypad entry or voice into characters of an alphabet that includes white space and punctuation marks.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 18 words

The apparatus of claim 10 wherein said alphabet includes at least a subset of the ASCII character set.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 25 words

The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said text processor includes a data store of canned reply messages selectable by the user via said telephone interface.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 219 words

An e-mail message processor operable using the numeric keypad of a telephone coupled to a telephone network, comprising: a telephone interface for coupling to said telephone network; a text processor coupled to said telephone interface for processing an e-mail message, including e-mail handler mechanism for attaching e-mail address data to said e-mail messages; and character translation system coupled to at least one of said telephone interface and said text processor for converting numeric keypad codes entered through said telephone interface into characters of an alphabet that includes punctuation marks; wherein said text processor includes a state machine that defines at least one play state and at least one text editing record state; wherein said text processor maintains a virtual cursor pointer that identifies a predetermined location within said e-mail message; wherein said text processor includes a cursor indexing mechanism that automatically adjusts the position of said virtual cursor pointer by different predefined user-selectable amounts, depending on whether said state machine is in said play state or said text editing record state such that words and characters can be inserted and deleted from any point within said message when said state machine is in said record state; and wherein the virtual cursor is automatically adjusted to present information in different amounts in the play state and text editing record state.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 219 words

An e-mail message processor operable using the numeric keypad of a telephone coupled to a telephone network, comprising: a telephone interface for coupling to said telephone network; a text processor coupled to said telephone interface for processing an e-mail message, including e-mail handler mechanism for attaching e-mail address data to said e-mail messages; and character translation system coupled to at least one of said telephone interface and said text processor for converting numeric keypad codes entered through said telephone interface into characters of an alphabet that includes punctuation marks; wherein said text processor includes a state machine that defines at least one play state and at least one text editing record state; wherein said text processor maintains a virtual cursor pointer that identifies a predetermined location within said e-mail message; wherein said text processor includes a cursor indexing mechanism that automatically adjusts the position of said virtual cursor pointer by different predefined user-selectable amounts, depending on whether said state machine is in said play state or said text editing record state such that words and characters can be inserted and deleted from any point within said message when said state machine is in said record state; and wherein the virtual cursor is automatically adjusted to present information in different amounts in the play state and text editing record state.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 14 words

The message processor of claim 13 wherein said alphabet includes a white space character.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 19 words

The message processor of claim 13 wherein said alphabet includes at least a subset of the ASCII character set.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 23 words

The message processor of claim 13 wherein said text processor includes a data store of canned reply messages selectable via said telephone interface.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 20 words

The message processor of claim 13 wherein said e-mail handler mechanism includes a port for coupling to a computer network.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 23 words

The message processor of claim 13 further comprising sound file buffer for storing a digital audio sound file input through said telephone interface.

Claim 21

Dependent Claim 29 words

The message processor of claim 18 wherein said text processor includes file attachment mechanism for appending said digital audio sound file as an e-mail attachment to said e-mail message.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 33 words

The message processor of claim 13 further comprising text-to-speech engine for generating synthesized speech and coupled to said text processor for playback of said e-mail message as synthesized speech through said telephone interface.

Claim 23

Dependent Claim 44 words

The message processor of claim 13 wherein said text processor maintains a virtual cursor pointer that identifies a predetermined location within said e-mail message and further comprises a cursor indexing mechanism that adjusts the position of said virtual cursor pointer by a user-selectable amount.

Claim 24

Dependent Claim 27 words

The message processor of claim 13 wherein said text processor includes a state machine that defines at least one play state and at least one record state.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	2004-06-11	2004-12-11	2005-06-12	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	2008-06-11	2008-12-11	2009-06-12	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2012-06-11	2012-12-11	2013-06-12	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Text-to-speech e-mail reader with multi-modal reply processor

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