JP3069757B2 - Facsimile receiver - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a facsimile (hereinafter referred to as FA).
X) is temporarily stored in the storage means in the apparatus, and then read and referenced via the terminal apparatus.
The present invention relates to an X receiving apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional facsimile receiving apparatus.
An example of a configuration in which the data is temporarily stored in a storage unit in an X receiving device (or a computer system), and thereafter the stored data is referred to from a terminal device or printed out according to an instruction from a user is shown. In FIG. 4, 1 is a facsimile communication unit, 6 is an all page registration unit, 7 is an all page storage unit, 9 is a terminal device, 12 is a user, and 13 is an all page reference unit.

The operation of FIG. 4 will be described. FAX communication means 1
Supplies the FAX data received according to the FAX reception protocol via the communication line to the all-page registration means 6 together with the reception date and time data. All page registration means 6
All the facsimile data (hereinafter, referred to as all pages) received at one time in the order of the reception date and time are written and registered in the all page storage means 7. The user 12 supplies an all-page reference request signal to the all-page reference means 13 from the terminal device 9 when searching for facsimile data addressed to itself. All page reference means 13
Sequentially reads all the registered FAX pages from the all-page storage means 7 in accordance with the reference request signal, and transfers them to the terminal device 9. The user 12 searches for facsimile data addressed to the user from all the facsimile pages sequentially displayed on the CRT display of the terminal device 9 and refers to the facsimile data or instructs printing.

In a conventional system as shown in FIG.
The all-page registration means 6 has been mechanically registered in the all-page storage means 7 even when the recipient of the received data cannot be determined. Also, if there is a print instruction signal from the user 12,
The user 12 has unconditionally printed without knowing whether the user 12 is the facsimile destination.

[0005]

However, in the facsimile receiving apparatus as described above, since a user other than the destination user can unconditionally refer to all page data in the storage means, it is necessary to keep secret. Since data is also referred to by outsiders, there was a security problem. Further, when searching for fax data addressed to the user, the F
When the contents of all pages of the AX data are referred to by the terminal device, the amount of transfer data is large, so that the facsimile addressed to the
There was also a problem that data could not be searched.

The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and all pages of FAX reception data are not inadvertently referred to by other users, and a large number of FAX data registered in a storage means. It is an object of the present invention to obtain a facsimile receiving apparatus capable of efficiently searching for data addressed to itself from among them.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a facsimile receiving apparatus in which, for each piece of facsimile reception data received via facsimile communication means, a number indicating a reception date and a reception order is added thereto. An ID assigning means for assigning an ID number including the received data, a received page recognizing means for recognizing and selecting the first page data for each of the received one-time FAX reception data, and a receiving page recognizing means for selecting the received FAX receiving data. First page storage means for storing the first page data for each of the ID numbers,
All page storage means for storing all of the AX reception data for each of the ID numbers, and an ID from the first page storage means in response to a first page reference request signal from the terminal device.
The first page data is read out for each number, and the first page data is sequentially transmitted to the terminal device together with the ID number.
When the D number is supplied, all the page data of the corresponding ID number is read from the all page storage means, and all the page reference means is sent to the terminal device.

[0008] The facsimile receiving apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention is an apparatus for receiving a single FA received via FAX communication means.
An ID assigning means for assigning an ID number for identifying each X received data; a received page recognizing means for recognizing and selecting the first page data for each received one-time FAX received data; First page storage means for storing the first page data selected by the received page recognition means for each of the ID numbers, and all pages for storing all of the received one-time FAX reception data for each of the ID numbers The first page data for each ID number is read from the first page storage means in accordance with the first page reference request signal from the storage means and the terminal device.
A first page reference means for sequentially sending to the terminal device together with the D number, an all page reference request signal from the terminal device,
When the data of the user identifier and the ID number is supplied, all the page data of the corresponding ID number is read out from the all page storage means and transmitted to the terminal device together with the ID number. Is stored in a facsimile data reference history table provided in an internal memory, and reference history management means capable of disclosing the stored contents is provided.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the facsimile receiving apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention, the reference history management unit transmits the all-page reference request signal from the terminal device and data of a user identifier and the ID number. Is supplied, it is determined whether or not the user identifier is registered internally in advance. If the determination result is affirmative, the corresponding ID is determined.
The apparatus includes a user identifier determination and transmission control unit that permits transmission of all page data of the number to the terminal device, and prohibits transmission of the all page data to the terminal device when the determination result is negative.

[0010] In a facsimile receiving apparatus according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the first page reference means according to any one of the first to third aspects further comprises a first page reference request signal from the terminal device, When a signal for limiting the range of the FAX reception time is supplied, each of the first page data within the limited reception time range is read from the first page storage unit for each ID number, and together with the ID number,
It includes reference range limiting means for sequentially transmitting the reference range to the terminal device.

[0011]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the ID assigning means includes, for each piece of FAX reception data received via the FAX communication means, an ID including a reception date and a numeral indicating a reception side.
Assign a D number. The received page recognizing means recognizes the first page data for each of the received one-time FAX reception data and selects the data. The first page storage means stores the first page data selected by the received page recognition means for each of the ID numbers. The all-page storage means stores all of the received one-time FAX reception data for each ID number. The first page reference means reads each first page data for each ID number from the first page storage means in response to a first page reference request signal from the terminal device, and sequentially sends the data together with the ID number to the terminal device. When the all page reference means is supplied with the all page reference request signal and the ID number from the terminal device, the all page reference means reads out all the page data of the corresponding ID number from the all page storage means and sends it to the terminal device.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the ID assigning means assigns an ID number for identifying each piece of FAX reception data received via the FAX communication means. The received page recognizing means recognizes the first page data for each of the received one-time FAX reception data and selects the data. The first page storage means stores the first page data selected by the received page recognition means for each of the ID numbers. The all-page storage means stores all of the received one-time FAX reception data for each ID number. The first page reference means reads each first page data for each ID number from the first page storage means in response to a first page reference request signal from the terminal device, and sequentially sends the data together with the ID number to the terminal device.
When the reference history management unit is supplied with the all page reference request signal, the user identifier, and the data of the ID number from the terminal device, the reference history management unit reads out all the page data of the corresponding ID number from the all page storage unit, and reads the ID number. Together with the user ID and the ID number, the data in which the user identifier and the ID number are paired are stored in a FAX data reference history table provided in an internal memory, and the stored contents can be disclosed.

[0013] In the third aspect of the present invention, the user identifier discriminating and sending control means included in the reference history managing means of the second aspect of the present invention includes an all-page reference request signal from the terminal device, and the user identifier and the user identifier. When the data of the ID number is supplied, it is determined whether or not the user identifier is registered in advance internally. If the determination result is affirmative, all the page data of the corresponding ID number is transmitted to the terminal device. Is transmitted, and when the result of the determination is negative, the transmission of all the page data to the terminal device is prohibited.

According to the present invention, the reference range limiting means included in the first page reference means according to any one of the first to third aspects of the present invention, together with the first page reference request signal from the terminal device. , When a signal for limiting the range of the FAX reception time is supplied, the first page data within the limited reception time range is read out from the first page storage means for each ID number, and together with the ID number,
The data is sequentially transmitted to the terminal device.

[0015]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a facsimile receiving apparatus according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a facsimile communication unit which controls a facsimile reception protocol and transmits received data to a received page recognition unit. Reference numeral 2 denotes a received page recognizing unit, which performs a process of cutting out a part (for example, a first page) of the received data. An ID assigning unit 3 assigns an identification number (hereinafter referred to as an ID number) for individually identifying one fax communication (one call) data. Here, a specific example of the method of assigning the ID number will be described.
The method of adding 3,..., And when the number becomes 9999, returns to 0001 next, or every time the receiving date changes, 01xx, 02xx, 03xx, the upper two digits , And changing the lower two digits of XX from 01 to 99 in the order of reception time.

When the user finds the first page of the facsimile addressed to himself from a large number of facsimile data,
The ID number of the FAX is confirmed, and all page data of the FAX addressed to itself is referred to by the ID number.
In the present invention, when a user searches for a facsimile addressed to him / her from a large number of facsimile data, for example, he or she searches for a facsimile received within the past 24 hours or a facsimile received within the past 3 days. It is also possible to search within a limited time range, such as searching from within (this is referred to as a reference range limiting function).
It is preferable to assign an ID number so that the D number is a number within a designated time range, that is, a method that makes it possible to associate the reception date and time with the ID number.

Reference numeral 4 in FIG. 1 is a means for registering a part of data cut out by the page recognizing means 2 (hereinafter referred to as a first page) in a first page storage means, and is hereinafter referred to as a first page registering means. Reference numeral 5 denotes a first page storage unit for storing data of the first page. Reference numeral 6 denotes an all-page registration unit for registering all of the received FAX data of one case (all-page data) in the all-page storage unit. Reference numeral 7 denotes an all-page storage unit for storing all pages. Reference numeral 8 denotes a first page reference unit for referring (or printing) the data of the first page from the terminal device (or the printing device). The first page reference means 8 includes a reference range limiting means described later. Reference numeral 9 denotes a terminal device for referencing (displaying or printing) the received and stored fax data. Therefore, the terminal device 9 includes a CRT display and an image printer. Reference numeral 10 denotes a reference history management unit that reads out the contents of the all page storage unit 7 in response to an all page request from the terminal device 9 and sends the contents to the corresponding terminal device 9 and manages the reference history. The reference history management means 10 includes a memory therein, and stores a FAX data reference history table 11 for recording a history of referring to all page data in the memory. Further, the reference history management means 10 includes a user identifier determination and transmission control means described later. Reference numeral 12 denotes a user who operates the terminal device 9 to refer to (display or print) FAX data.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a procedure for storing received data according to the present invention. In the present invention, FA
Providing means for referring only to the first page which is a part of the X received data, ensuring security by preventing others from referring to all data, and performing a process for improving the efficiency of searching for data addressed to itself. I have. This processing will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. 1 and the flowchart of FIG.
The FAX communication unit 1 transfers the received FAX data to the received page recognition unit 2. The received page recognizing means 2 obtains an ID number for identifying the transferred one-time received data, selects only the data of the first page from the received data, and receives the first page data via the first page registering means 4. The data is stored in the storage unit 5. At the same time, all the received data including the first page is stored in the all page recording means 7 via the all page registration means 6. These processing procedures will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In step S21 of FIG. 2, the facsimile receiving means included in the facsimile communication means 1 establishes a facsimile reception session upon receiving a facsimile call. In step S22, the received page recognizing means 2 obtains an ID number for identifying data to be received from the ID assigning means 3. In step S23, it is determined whether the received data has been completed. If the determination result is YES, the process proceeds to step S27, and if NO, the process proceeds to step S24. In step S24, the received page recognizing means 2 determines whether or not the data currently being received is for the first page. If the determination result is YES, the process proceeds to step S25.
If so, the process proceeds to step S26.

In step S25 of FIG. 2, since the data currently being received is the data of the first page, the received page recognizing means 2 determines the data being received by the acquired ID.
It is passed to the first page registration means 4 together with the number, instructs the first page data corresponding to the ID number to be stored as data, and registered in the first page storage means 5. In step S26, the received page recognizing means 2 passes the received data of the first page and all the received data received subsequently to the first page to the all-page registering means 6 together with the corresponding ID number. An instruction to store data of all pages corresponding to the number is issued, and the data is registered in the all-page storage means 7.

When the facsimile reception data ends and the result of the determination in step S23 is YES, in step S27, the facsimile communication means 1 ends the facsimile reception session. In step S28, the first page recognizing means 2 closes the first page registering means 4 and the all page registering means 6 after the data registration processing up to that point (for example, completion processing such as writing of data in the buffer to the storage means). ). By the above processing, the first page of the data received by facsimile is stored in the first page storage means 5, and at the same time, the data of all pages is registered in the all page storage means 7.

In the above embodiment, the first page and all the pages are stored in separate storage means in order to reduce the search time of the data addressed to the self, but these are stored in the same storage means. An embodiment in which the same effect is obtained by separately storing information for identifying which range is the data of the first page is also possible. For example, a storage start address and a storage end address storing the data of the first page for each ID number are separately stored in a table memory, and when searching, only data within the range stored in the table memory is read and displayed. This will be possible.
By adopting the latter embodiment, it is not necessary to redundantly store the data of the first page, so that the memory capacity of the storage means can be saved.

Next, a method of referring to the data stored in the first page storage means 5 will be described with reference to FIG. The user operates the terminal device 9 to search for a time range in which the FAX data is received, or to search without limitation, in order to find out whether or not the received FAX data group is addressed to the user. it can. An example of limiting the time range is to search from among the faxes received within the past 24 hours.
Will be searched from all the facsimiles stored in the FAX. Also, the first page is displayed on the CRT display of the terminal device 9 by the I.
When sequentially displaying in the order of the D number, after the display is started, an automatic update mode in which the display is automatically updated every fixed time until the stop button is pressed, and a first page in which the ID number advances by one each time the manual update button is pressed. And a manual update mode in which is displayed.

A first page reference request signal from the terminal device 9,
Presence or absence of the reception time range limitation and range information when there is,
When the update mode information is supplied to the first page reference means 8, the first page reference means 8 sequentially reads the first page data of the ID number corresponding to the specified reception time range from the first page storage means 5, and The number is transmitted to the requesting terminal device 9 together with the number, and the terminal device 9 displays the first page on the CRT display in the automatic update or manual update mode. Due to conventional general practices and physical characteristics of pages, in fax communication,
Since the transmission slip or the first page of the text including the address is transmitted, the destination can be determined by referring to the first page.

The user 12 checks the data of the first page sequentially displayed on the CRT display. When recognizing that the data is addressed to the user, the user 12 checks the ID number displayed at the same time. In order to efficiently confirm the ID number of the data addressed to the user, the user may estimate the FAX reception date and time and search from the time range in which the probability of finding the fax is highest. For example, a method of first searching from data within the past 24 hours, and if not found, then searching from data within the past 48 hours may be used.

The user 12 refers to the self-addressed all page data from the terminal device 9 using the confirmed ID number. In this case, the user 12 refers to the data by the conventional all page reference means 13 (FIG. 4). This can also be referred to by the reference history management means 10 (of FIG. 1) of the present invention. FIG.
When using all page reference means 13 of
Supplies the all page reference request signal and the ID number from the terminal device 9 to the all page reference means 13. Then, the all page reference means 13 reads out all the page data of the corresponding ID number from the all page storage means 7 and sends it to the requesting terminal device 9. Therefore, the user 12 can display all the page data addressed to the user 12 on the CRT display of the terminal device 9 or print it with an image printer. In this case, the all-page referring means 13 reads out only the FAX data of the designated ID number.

In the reference history management means 10 of FIG. 1, in addition to the above-described all page reference means, who records and retrieves all page data of which FAX is recorded in a FAX data reference history table, and this record is disclosed. A means for determining the user identifier and a means for controlling the transmission of all the page data based on the result of the determination are provided to prevent illegal data extraction and suppress reference. The details of these operations are shown in FIG.
This will be described below.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an all-page reference history management procedure according to the present invention. The recording and disclosure processing of the FAX data reference history and the user identifier determination and transmission control processing will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. 1 and the flowchart of FIG. First, in order to maintain security, different user identifiers are assigned to users who are permitted to refer to the FAX all page data. In this case, to prevent unauthorized access,
It is preferable that the user identifier is unknown only to the assigned person, for example, a combination code of a plurality of alphabet characters, a combination code of letters and numbers, and the like. However, when simply recording and disclosing the FAX data reference history, the user name may be written in Roman characters or the like. Then, all of the user identifiers are registered in the memory of the reference history management means 10 in advance.

When the user who has confirmed the ID number of the data addressed to the user wants to refer to all the page data of the corresponding ID number, the user first inputs the user identifier from the terminal device 9 in step S31 of FIG. This is acquired by the reference history management means 10. The reference history management means 10
In step S32, it is determined whether or not the user identifier ("A" in the example of FIG. 1) acquired from the terminal device 9 is registered in the internal memory in advance. That is, it is determined whether or not the person is authorized to refer to the FAX data. If the determination result is NO, in step S33, transmission of all page data to the terminal device 9 requested by the unregistered user is prohibited.

Next, the identifier of the unregistered user who has requested the reference to all page data, the rejection process, the date and time of the request, and the like are recorded in the FAX data reference history table provided in the internal memory. Then, on the CRT display of the terminal device 9 which has requested the reference of all the page data, it is displayed that all the page data cannot be referred by the user identifier.

If the decision result in the step S32 is YES, that is, if the user identifier is registered in advance, in a step S34, the user sets the ID number of the facsimile all page data to be referred to by the user from the terminal device 9. (Hereinafter referred to as reference data ID), which is acquired by the reference history management unit 10. In step S35, the reference history management means 10 records data in which the user identifier and the reference data ID are paired in the FAX data reference history table 11 provided in its internal memory. At this time, it is desirable that information such as date and time is additionally recorded.

The reference history management means 10 executes step S36.
Then, based on the reference data ID number, all page data of the corresponding ID number is read from the all page storage means 7, transferred to the user terminal device 9, and sequentially displayed on the CRT display. Printed data is also output from the terminal device 9 as needed. The data of the facsimile data reference history table 11 created and stored by the reference history management means 10 is transferred to each terminal device 9 in response to a request from the user so that the user can freely refer to the terminal device 9 of each user. I do. The user displays or prints the FAX data reference history table 11,
You can know its contents. Reference numeral 11 in FIG. 1 shows this printing example.

The old data stored in the first page storage means 5 and the all page storage means 7 is returned after a certain period of time, by changing the ID numbers assigned by the ID assigning means 3 from consecutive numbers to the first number. When changing to a new number, a new number is printed out and taken out, and new data is stored instead, thereby enabling continuous operation.

[0034]

As described above, according to the present invention, an ID number including a number indicating a reception date and a reception order is assigned to each piece of FAX reception data, and the first one of the reception data is received. The page data is identified and stored in the first page storage means. When the user searches for fax data addressed to the user from the terminal device, the stored first page data is checked to confirm the ID number of the fax addressed to the user. Since all page data is referred to by ID number, all pages of the FAX reception data are not referred to by others at the time of search, which has an effect on security and the search time for self-addressed data is shorter than before. It is expected that work efficiency will be improved.

According to the present invention, an ID number for identifying the received fax data is given to each received fax data, and the data of the first page of the received data is identified and stored in the first page storage means. Then, the user checks the stored first page data for each FAX from the terminal device to check the ID number of the FAX addressed to the user,
When a request to refer to all the page data of the AX is made, the identifier of the user who made the reference request is input, and data in which the user identifier and the corresponding ID number are paired are recorded in a FAX data reference history table. Because we disclosed the contents,
Each user can check who has referred to which FAX data, thereby naturally preventing unauthorized access and improving security.

Further, according to the present invention, it is determined whether or not the identifier of the user who has made a request to refer to all pages of the FAX reception data is registered in advance. Is controlled so as to permit or prohibit the transmission of unauthorized access, unauthorized access can be prevented beforehand, and security can be further improved.

According to the present invention, the user can limit the range of the FAX reception time and search for FAX data addressed to the user from the first page data within the limited reception time range. Of these, the time to search for the one destined to the user is further reduced, and work efficiency is promoted.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a facsimile receiving apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a procedure for storing received data according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an all-page reference history management procedure according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional FAX receiving device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 FAX communication means 2 Reception page recognition means 3 ID assigning means 4 First page registration means 5 First page storage means 6 All page registration means 7 All page storage means 8 First page reference means 9 Terminal device 10 Reference history management means 11 FAX data reference History table 12 User 13 All page reference method

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04N 1/00 H04N 1/21

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. For each piece of FAX reception data received via FAX communication means , the reception date and reception order are indicated.
ID assigning means for assigning an ID number including a number, received page recognizing means for recognizing and selecting the first page data for each of the received FAX reception data, and receiving page recognizing means. A first page storage unit for storing the selected first page data for each of the ID numbers; an all page storage unit for storing all of the received one-time fax reception data for each of the ID numbers; The first page data is read from the first page storage means for each ID number by the first page reference request signal from the first page data, and the first page data is sequentially transmitted to the terminal device together with the ID number. When the reference request signal and the ID number are supplied, the corresponding ID is read from the all page storage means.
A facsimile receiving apparatus comprising: all page reference means for reading all page data of a number and sending the data to the terminal device. 2. An ID assigning means for assigning an ID number for identifying one FAX reception data received via the FAX communication means, and a first FAX reception data for each received FAX reception data. Received page recognition means for recognizing page data and selecting the same; first page storage means for storing the first page data selected by the received page recognition means for each of the ID numbers; An all-page storage means for storing all of the facsimile reception data for each of the ID numbers; and a first-page reference request signal from a terminal device, the first page data being read from the first-page storage means for each ID number, and A first page reference means for sequentially transmitting the page number together with the number to the terminal device; an all page reference request signal from the terminal device; When the data of the user identifier and the ID number are supplied, all the page data of the corresponding ID number is read out from the all page storage means, and sent to the terminal device together with the ID number. A facsimile receiving apparatus comprising: a set of data stored in a facsimile data reference history table provided in an internal memory; and a reference history management means capable of disclosing the stored contents. 3. When an all-page reference request signal and data of a user identifier and the ID number are supplied from the terminal device, it is determined whether or not the user identifier is registered internally in advance. A user identifier that permits transmission of all page data of the corresponding ID number to the terminal device when the determination result is positive, and prohibits transmission of the all page data to the terminal device when the determination result is negative. 3. The facsimile receiving apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising the reference history management unit including a determination and transmission control unit. 4. When a signal for limiting a range of a facsimile reception time is supplied together with a first page reference request signal from the terminal device, each of the first page data within the limited reception time range is transmitted to the terminal. ID from first page storage
4. The facsimile receiving apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: said first page reference means including a reference range limiting means for reading out for each number and sequentially transmitting to said terminal device together with said ID number.