JP2713894B2 - Facsimile machine - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a facsimile apparatus. [Conventional Example] In a conventional facsimile apparatus, image data obtained by reading a document is temporarily stored in a memory, and then a destination is called and the image data stored in the memory is transmitted. However, in such a case, when the number of documents is large, not all the documents can be stored in the memory at once. In such a case, the conventional facsimile machine stops reading when the storage capacity of the memory becomes insufficient,
Because only image data that could be stored in memory was sent,
Documents that could not be stored in the memory remain untransmitted. Some of the conventional devices (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-93877) include a device that stops reading when the storage capacity of the memory becomes insufficient, calls the other party, and stores the image data stored in the memory. After the transmission of the image data stored in the memory is completed, disconnect the line and resume reading, store the image data of the remaining document in the memory, and after the storage is completed, call the other party again. In some cases, the remaining image data is transmitted. However, even in such a conventional apparatus, after the transmission of the image data stored in the memory is completed, the image data of the remaining document is stored in the memory and then transmitted, so that the image data of the remaining document is stored in the memory. Until the end, the image data could not be transmitted, causing a wasteful waiting time from the end of the transmission of the image data stored in the memory to the start of the transmission of the image data of the remaining originals. there were. [Purpose] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-described problems, and has been made capable of transmitting a number of documents exceeding the memory capacity at one time, and also has a function of transmitting the remaining image data after the end of the transmission of the image data initially stored in the memory. An object of the present invention is to provide a facsimile apparatus capable of performing efficient communication without causing unnecessary waiting time until the start of data transmission. Storage means for storing the image data stored in the storage means; transmission means for transmitting the image data stored in the storage means; detection means for detecting a shortage of storage capacity of the storage means; In response to the detection unit detecting a shortage of the storage capacity of the storage unit, the reading unit suspends reading of the document, and the image data stored in the storage unit is interrupted. After the transmission of the image data stored in the storage unit is completed, the reading unit resumes reading of the original, and the image data read by the reading unit without disconnecting the line. And a means for transmitting the data to the transmitting means without storing it in the storage means. Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of this embodiment. 1a is a reader unit for reading a document, 2a is a printer unit which is an output unit for receiving and copying images, 3a is a unit for inputting information such as a telephone number and start / stop, and an operation unit for indicating the state of the apparatus, and 5a is an image unit. An encoder / decoder unit that performs inverse conversion of raw data and compressed data, 7a is an image memory unit that stores compressed data of an image, and 6a is a management of the image memory of 7a, that is, a data amount management of the image memory. An NCU (Network Curcuit Uhit) 9a that performs control relating to connection of a line of a public electric wire network is a memory control unit 8a that is a public telephone network. The main controller 4a directly controls 1a, 2a, 3a, 5a, 6a, and 8a. The main control section 4a is composed of a micro computer and peripheral devices of the micro computer such as ROM and RAM, and performs control based on a program stored in the ROM. FIG. 2 is an operation panel diagram of the present embodiment. An operation example will be described using the panel of FIG. 1b indicates batch transmission mode LED 2b indicates normal transmission mode LE
D and 3b are toggle switches for switching between the batch mode and the normal mode. Here, the number of destination addresses that can be sent collectively is 1
First, assume that the image memory for batch transmission is 4 Mbytes. First, the destination address of the batch transmission is registered. This is a one touch dial The address is the same as the address registered in. From the control panel of 3a (Destination address), To register the address for batch transmission in the memory control unit 6a. Next, in the normal transmission mode Shows a case where transmission is performed with the address registered in the "." In FIG.
Check that the normal transmission mode lamp in 2b is lit.
When the lamp 1b is lit, the batch transmission switch 3b is depressed to switch to the normal transmission mode. After that, set the original in the reader 1a in the same way as the normal facsimile transmission method, and select the mode (such as fine or halftone) you want to transmit using the operation unit 3a. It is sufficient to press. Next, the case of the batch transmission mode will be described. First, press the batch transmission switch 3b and confirm that the lamp 1b is lit. After that, the operation may be performed in the same manner as in the above-described normal facsimile transmission method. However If a one-touch dial other than is pressed, the mode is automatically switched to the normal transmission mode and transmission is started. As a batch transmission operation, an original set in the reader unit 1a is read, and the image data is compressed by 5a and stored in the image memory 7a. The memory control unit 6a manages the capacity of the image memory for batch transmission. If the image memory exceeds 3.5 Mbytes during reading from the reader unit, the reading of the reader is temporarily stopped at the end of the page of the document being read and an automatic call is made. When the line is connected, the data is transmitted from the top of the image memory, and when all the data stored in the image memory have been transmitted, reading is started again from the reader. The data read at this time is directly transmitted without being stored in the memory. On the other hand, if the line is not connected due to an automatic call but busy, etc., the system is in a state of waiting for redial, and the operation unit indicates that "waiting for redial". While waiting for redial, the reader-set original may be taken. In such a case, if the dialing is performed and the connection is established, only the data stored in the image memory is transmitted. After the batch transmission is completed, the batch transmission mode is set again and the original is set in the reader, and the read image data is stored in the image memory. Then, the data is accumulated without being transmitted until it exceeds 3.5 Mbytes, and thereafter the above operation is repeated. In addition, if there are multiple destination addresses that can be sent collectively,
Transmission costs can be significantly reduced. In addition, since the amount of storage in the memory that determines the transmission time used for batch transmission can be selected without permission, image data need not be held for a long time. Also, in order to prevent the image data stored in the memory from being transmitted for a long time, a function is provided for automatically transmitting the image data after a certain period of time has elapsed after being stored in the memory. In addition, a switch for transmitting all data accumulated so far by batch transmission is provided. That is, With one switch And be able to send all. By doing as described above, in the case of a company or the like, it is possible to transmit all the data accumulated on that day by using it at the end. Next, FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the control operation of the main control section 4a of the present embodiment. Hereinafter, description will be made based on the flowchart of FIG. First, the transmission operation in the normal mode will be described. Step s1 when the operator sets a document in the reader
When it is confirmed that the transmission mode is "normal", dialing is performed in step s2, and normal facsimile transmission (reading and transmitting the original) is performed. Next, a case where originals are stored in the memory in the batch transmission mode will be described. In step s1, it is determined that the transmission mode is batch transmission, and in step s2, the telephone number input from the operation unit by the operator is input. Then, in step s3, it is determined whether or not a document is set in the reader unit 1a, and it is determined whether to transmit the data stored in the memory 7a or to store the document data in the memory 7a. Step s3
If it is determined that the original is not set, the memory transmission is performed, and if the original is set in the reader unit 1a, the memory is stored. In this case, since the original is set in the reader section 1a, the process proceeds to step s4. In step s4, the reader unit 1a starts reading the original, and writes it in the memory area of the memory 7a assigned to the input telephone number. FIG. 4 shows an example of the map of the memory area. The image memory 7a has a ring buffer format. That is, when writing to the memory area of A, the memory operates in a ring shape such that after writing to the end of the memory area, writing is performed from the beginning from the next. Top Addr containing images to manage this image memory
A memory for storing ess and End Address is required. In step s5, the end address is read from the image memory management memory of the memory control section 6a, and writing of data obtained by reading the original from the address following the end address is started. In step s6, the remaining memory is checked in order to prevent the data read from the original from being written on the stored data. When the remaining amount of the memory is large, the process proceeds to step s7, and all the document data set in the reader unit 1a is accumulated in the memory 7a. However, when the remaining memory is small, for example, when there is only a memory capacity for one document and the reader is reading the document, the step is performed.
Proceed to s11. In step s11, the reader unit 1a is temporarily stopped, dialing is performed in step s12, and transmission of the data stored in the memory 7a is started in step s13. After the transmission of the data in the memory is completed, a check for a communication error is performed in step s14, and if there is no communication error, the reading operation of the reader unit 1a is restarted again without disconnecting the call in step s15. At this time, the original is transmitted without being stored in the memory 7a. When data transmission is completed, step s17
Then, the error check is performed again, and if there is an error, the process proceeds to step s18 to perform error processing. This will be described later. If it is determined in step s3 that the document is not set in the reader section 1a and the process proceeds to step s8, dialing is performed in step s8 and the process proceeds to step s9. Then, in step s9, the image data stored in the memory 7a is read and transmitted. When the transmission is completed, a communication error check is performed in step s10. If there is no communication error, the process is terminated. If there is a communication error, the process proceeds to step s18. If the process proceeds to step s18, error processing is performed, and step s18 is performed.
In the case of the memory transmission stored in step, the number of sheets transmitted is checked. If all the originals have been sent, it is determined that the original has been sent, and the top address of the unsent original is input to the Top Address of the image memory management memory. In step s19, the number of transmitted images and the number of untransmitted images stored in the memory are displayed. At this time, an error code is displayed. Although the above-described embodiment is a facsimile apparatus, the present invention is not limited to the facsimile apparatus, but can be applied to any data communication apparatus that performs data communication such as teletex. As described above, according to the present embodiment, the image data is stored in the memory, and is transmitted N times by batch transmission in which transmission is performed after the image data reaches a certain level or more (N-1). The time required for the pre-procedure and post-procedure of the batch is reduced. The line usage fee for the reduced time is reduced, and the communication cost is greatly reduced. [Effect] As described above, according to the present invention, the reading of the document is interrupted in response to the detection of the shortage of the storage capacity of the storage unit during the reading of the image data, and the stored image data is read. After transmitting the data, and after the transmission of the stored image data, the reading of the original is resumed, without disconnecting the line.
Since the read image data is transmitted without being stored in the storage means, the number of documents exceeding the storage capacity can be transmitted at one time without disconnecting the line. Further, according to the present invention, after the transmission of the image data initially stored in the memory is completed, the transmission of the image data stored first cannot be performed until the storage of the remaining image data is completed. Immediately after the end, the image data of the remaining originals can be transmitted, the time required for transmitting all the originals can be reduced, and efficient communication can be performed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a facsimile apparatus of the present embodiment, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an operation panel of the present embodiment, FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the present embodiment, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a memory map. 1a is a reader unit, 2a is a printer unit, 3a is an operation unit, 4a is a main control unit, 5a is an encoder / decoder, 6a is a memory control unit 7a is an image memory, 8a is an NCU, and 9a is a public telephone network.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] Reading means for reading a document, storage means for storing image data read by the reading means, transmission means for transmitting the image data stored in the storage means, and detecting shortage of storage capacity of the storage means Detecting means, during reading of the document by the reading means, in response to the detection means detecting a shortage of storage capacity of the storage means, causing the reading means to interrupt reading of the document, The stored image data is transmitted to the transmission unit, and after the transmission of the image data stored in the storage unit is completed, the reading unit is restarted to read the original, and without disconnecting the line, Means for transmitting the read image data to the transmission means without storing the image data in the storage means.