JP3132558B2 - Facsimile machine - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention
Connect to the Wide Web (hereinafter referred to as WWW)
The present invention relates to a facsimile apparatus capable of browsing information on W (hereinafter, referred to as WWW information) and transmitting the WWW information.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art WWW is an information retrieval system used on the Internet.
It is a multimedia database system that can handle various data such as moving images. With the spread of the Internet in recent years, WWW has occupied an important position as a place for providing and browsing various types of information. Since the WWW information is updated successively, when it is desired to periodically obtain new WWW information, the same WWW information is repeatedly browsed. On the other hand, a facsimile apparatus is currently most commonly used as a high-speed image information transmission means, and there is a demand for transmitting the above WWW information as a fax document.

[0003]

However, usually,
The browsing of WWW information is performed by the W
It is performed by a tool such as a WW browser (information search software). Therefore, if the operator wants to fax the WWW information extracted from the WWW,
The WWW information must be printed from a printer connected to a personal computer by a WW browser, and the printed information has to be transmitted by a facsimile machine. For this reason,
The operator performs the above operations regularly,
There was a problem that it took a lot of trouble.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and provides a facsimile apparatus capable of periodically browsing WWW information and automatically transmitting it directly as a fax document. The purpose is to.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a facsimile apparatus comprising: a WWW information browsing unit for browsing WWW information; and a WWW information conversion unit for converting WWW information into image information that can be transmitted by facsimile. , WWW
The browsing means is at the time specified by the set time information
Is started and the WW of the set WWW address
W information is configured to be viewed and the facsimile sender
Unit performs facsimile transmission according to the set destination information.
It is characterized by being comprised so that .

[0006]

A facsimile apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention sends a signal when a time specified by the time information has been reached, and a setting information storage unit for storing the set WWW address, time information and destination information. A time control unit, a WWW control unit that, upon receiving a signal from the time control unit, connects to the WWW and browses WWW information of the WWW address;
A WWW information conversion unit that converts the WWW information browsed by the WWW control unit into image information that can be transmitted by facsimile; and a transmission control unit that facsimile- transmits the image information converted by the WWW information conversion unit according to the destination information via a communication line. Things.

[0008] facsimile apparatus according to the third aspect of the present invention, a suitable period, when receiving the polling reception request via the communication line, Fakushi the image information for polling transmission
It is equipped with polling means for millimeter transmission.

[0009] facsimile apparatus according to the fourth aspect of the present invention includes image information storage unit for storing image information, the transmission control unit receives a polling reception request through a communication line, stored in the image information storage unit It reads the image information file
It is configured to transmit by csimilar transmission.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below. Embodiment 1 FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a facsimile apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. In the figure, the facsimile apparatus 1 has a normal facsimile function of transmitting a facsimile document to the facsimile apparatus 10 of the other party through a telephone line, and is periodically connected to the WWW 11 to browse desired WWW information. It also has a function of automatically transmitting WWW information to the facsimile machine 10 of the other party.

In the facsimile apparatus 1, an input unit 2
Is for inputting setting information for facsimile transmission and setting operation input by the operator into the facsimile apparatus 1. The setting information input to the input unit 2 includes destination information including the fax number of the facsimile machine 10 of the other party, which is information necessary for facsimile transmission, and information required for browsing WWW information. WWW with information
The information includes an address and time information designated to periodically browse the WWW.

The setting information storage section 3 stores setting information input from the input section 2. The setting information storage unit 3 can store a set of WWW addresses, time information, and destination information, which are setting information, divided into a plurality of sets. The time control unit 4 has a clock function for measuring the year, month, date, hour, minute, and second. The clock function is specified by the time information stored in the setting information storage unit 3. When the time is recognized, WWW
It sends a control signal to the control unit 5.

Upon receiving the control signal from the time control unit, the WWW control unit 5 connects to the WWW 11 and browses the WWW information of the WWW address stored in the setting information storage unit 3. The font data storage unit 6 stores font data of characters in advance.

The WWW information converter 7 is a language for creating an HTML document (a page of the WWW 11) obtained by the WWW controller 5 connected to the WWW 11, and handles not only characters but also various data such as images and sounds. Is analyzed, and is converted into image information that can be transmitted by ordinary fax. The characters in the HTML document are converted into image information by the WWW information conversion unit 7 based on the font data stored in the font data storage unit 6 in advance. After storing the converted image information in the image information storage unit 8, the WWW information conversion unit 7 sends a control signal to the transmission control unit 9.

The image information storage section 8 stores the image information converted by the WWW information conversion section 7. Upon receiving the control signal from the WWW information conversion unit 5, the transmission control unit 9
The image information stored in the image information storage unit 8 is read out and automatically transmitted by fax to the facsimile machine 10 of the other party.

Next, the operation will be described. FIG. 2 is a follow chart for explaining the operation of the facsimile apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. First, the operator inputs from the input unit 1 the WWW address on the WWW 11 to be browsed, the time information to be regularly browsed, and the destination information of the facsimile machine 10 of the other party to which the WWW information obtained by browsing is to be transmitted ( Step ST1). The input time information is, for example, "everyday 9:00", "every Monday 13:00", "every month 10:00", and thus, in addition to the specific time, the restriction on a monthly basis By adding, various conditions can be input. As the destination information, a fax number required for fax transmission can be specified, and a plurality of pieces of destination information can be specified. The setting information storage unit 3 stores in the step ST
A plurality of sets of the setting information set in 1 can be stored.

The time control unit 4 always monitors whether the time (day of the week) specified by the time information stored in the setting information storage unit 3 has come (step ST2). The monitoring of the designated time by the time control unit 4 monitors, for example, if “every Monday is 13:00”, whether or not both conditions of “Monday” and “13:00” are satisfied.

Then, when any of the time information of the setting information set in the plurality of sets in the setting information storage unit 3 has reached the designated time, the time control unit 4 transmits a control signal to the WWW control unit 5. When receiving the control signal from the time control unit 4, the WWW control unit 5 connects to the WWW 11 and browses the WWW information corresponding to the WWW address stored in the setting information storage unit 3 (step ST3). On the other hand, the setting information storage unit 3
If any of the time information of the setting information set in the plurality of sets does not reach the designated time, the time control unit 4 continues monitoring the designated time as it is (step ST2).

The WWW information conversion unit 7 analyzes the WWW information described in the HTML format extracted by the WWW control unit 5, and converts the character data of the WWW information into font data stored in the font data storage unit 6 in advance. Then, the image data of the WWW information is converted into image data that can be used for normal fax communication, and the combined image information is stored in the image information storage unit 8 (step ST4). When the WWW information conversion section 7 converts the WWW information into image information, it transmits a control signal to the transmission control section 9.

When receiving the control signal from the WWW information conversion unit 7, the transmission control unit 9 reads out the image information stored in the image information storage unit 8 and corresponds to the destination information stored in the setting information storage unit 3. The image information is fax-transmitted to the facsimile machine 10 of the other party (step ST5). At this time, when a plurality of pieces of destination information are set, the transmission control unit 9 performs broadcast transmission.

If the transmission is normally performed by the transmission control unit 9, the image information stored in the image information storage unit 8 is discarded, as in the normal fax communication.
Even after browsing and transmitting the WWW information, it is left in the setting information storage unit 3. Therefore, as long as the setting information in the setting information storage unit 3 is not deleted, the process returns to step ST2 again, and the time control unit 4 monitors the specified time. Transmission processing is performed (step ST3 to step ST5), and this processing is automatically repeated.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, the function of browsing WWW information and the function of converting WWW information into image information are provided in the facsimile machine 1, so that the WWW information can be browsed. The WWW information can be converted into image information and transmitted directly as a fax document. Also, according to the set WWW address and the time information, the function of browsing the WWW information is started at each set time and browses the target WWW information. Since the transmission is configured, the operator sets the WWW address, the time information, and the destination information once, and the WWW information is periodically transmitted to the facsimile apparatus 1 of the other party.
The operation of sending a fax to 0 can be automatically performed, and the operation of the operator can be reduced.

Embodiment 2 FIG. In the second embodiment, the facsimile apparatus has a polling function, which is one of the methods for controlling the transmission order of a plurality of terminals connected to the network. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of such a facsimile apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. In the figure, the facsimile machine 1A
In a suitable period, when a polling reception request is received from the facsimile machine 10A via a communication line and there is no polling transmission data, an end code is transmitted to the facsimile machine 10A if there is no polling transmission data.

In the facsimile apparatus 1A, upon receiving a polling reception request from the facsimile apparatus 10A, the transmission control section 9A reads out the image information stored in the image information storage section 8 and transmits the image information to the facsimile apparatus 10A by facsimile. It is. In addition, the facsimile machine 1A
Since the image information is transmitted by facsimile to the facsimile apparatus 10A, unlike the setting information storage unit 3 in the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the destination information is not stored in the setting information storage unit 3A. Note that the other configuration is the same as that of the first embodiment, and a duplicate description will be omitted.

Next, the operation will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the facsimile apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. First, the operator inputs a WWW address on the WWW 11 to browse and time information to browse periodically (step ST1).
1). In this case, unlike step ST1 in FIG. 2, the destination is specified as the facsimile machine 10A, and therefore, no destination information is input.

Then, as in the case of the first embodiment,
The time control unit 4 monitors whether the time (day of the week) specified by the time information stored in the setting information storage unit 3 has come (step ST12). When receiving the control signal from the time control unit 4 at the designated time, the WWW control unit 5 browses the WWW information on the WWW 11 (step ST13). Then, the WWW information conversion unit 7
The control unit 5 converts the WWW information of the HTML document browsed into image information of a normal fax document and stores it in the image information storage unit 6 (step ST14). The image information stored in the image information storage unit 6 becomes polling transmission data, and the image information is immediately transmitted by the transmission control unit 9 as in the facsimile apparatus 1 of the second embodiment shown in FIG. is not.

The transmission control unit 9 includes a facsimile machine 10A
Waiting for a polling receive request to be sent from
When a polling reception request is received from the facsimile apparatus 10A (step ST15), the image information stored in the image information storage unit 8 is read out, and the image information is faxed to the facsimile apparatus 10A (step ST16).

Also in the second embodiment, the setting information storage unit 3
Is always monitored by the time control unit 4, and when the specified time is reached, WWW is executed in the same manner as the first time.
The information browsing and the WWW information conversion process are repeated, and the image information updated at each designated time is stored in the image information storage unit 6 as polling transmission data (step ST).
2 to step ST4).

As described above, according to the second embodiment, the facsimile apparatus 1A operates on a periodically updated WW
Since the image information obtained by converting the W information is always stored as polling transmission data, the facsimile apparatus 10A which cannot directly browse the WWW information
However, by using the polling reception function,
WW information can be extracted as a fax document.

[0030]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the WWW browsing means is specified by the set time information.
It is started at every set time and the WWW
It is configured to browse the WWW information of the dress,
The fax sending means sends a fax according to the set destination information.
Since it is configured to transmit by simulcast,
It is possible to send as a direct facsimile document by converting WW information into image information, the operator WWW
Address, time information, and destination information are set once
Only to periodically send the WWW information to the other party's facsimile
Facsimile transmission to the
Thus, there is an effect that the labor of the operator can be reduced .

[0031]

According to the second aspect of the present invention, a setting information storage unit for storing the set WWW address, time information and destination information, and sends a signal when the time specified by the time information comes. Upon receiving a signal from the time control unit and the time control unit, it connects to the WWW and connects to the WWW address W
A WWW control unit for browsing the WWW information, a WWW information conversion unit for converting the WWW information browsed by the WWW control unit into image information capable of facsimile transmission, and a WWW according to the destination information
File the image information W information conversion unit has been converted through a communication line
Since the transmission control unit for performing the facsimile transmission is provided, the operation of periodically transmitting the WWW information to the facsimile apparatus of the other party can be automatically performed, thereby reducing the labor of the operator. There is an effect that can be.

Further, according to the third aspect of the present invention, a suitable period, when receiving the polling reception request via the communication line, the polling means for facsimile transmission of the image information for polling transmission is provided, WWW By using the polling reception function, a facsimile apparatus that cannot directly browse information can extract desired WWW information as a facsimile document.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, an image information storage unit for storing image information is provided, and the transmission control unit, when receiving a polling reception request via a communication line, stores the image information in the image information storage unit. It reads the image information to file
It is configured so as to Kushimiri transmission, Pauline
The use of the fax receiving function has the effect that the other party's facsimile apparatus can extract the target WWW information as a facsimile document.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the facsimile apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a facsimile apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the facsimile apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 facsimile device 1A facsimile device 3 setting information storage unit 3A setting information storage unit 4 time control unit 5 WWW control unit 7 WWW information conversion unit 8 image information storage unit 9 transmission control unit 9A transmission control unit 10 facsimile device 11 WWW

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (56) References JP-A-10-301954 (JP, A) JP-A-9-171513 (JP, A) JP-A-10-327284 (JP, A) JP-A-11- 53388 (JP, A) JP-A-11-191823 (JP, A) Monthly intranet, 1 [2] (issued on February 1, 1997) Softbank P. 178-181 (58) Fields surveyed (Int. . ^7, DB name) H04N 1/00 - 1/00 108 H04N 1/32 - 1/36 101 H04M 11/00 - 11/10 G06F 13/00

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A facsimile machine for transmitting facsimile documents through a communication line, WWW information browsing means for browsing the WWW information, and WW
WW that converts W information into image information that can be transmitted by facsimile
W information conversion means is provided, and WWW browsing means is provided when time specified by the set time information.
WWW of the set WWW address started every time
Facsimile transmission means configured to browse information
Sends facsimile according to the set destination information
Facsimile apparatus characterized by being configured as described above . 2. The set WWW address, time information and
A setting information storage unit for storing address and destination information;
Control to send a signal when the time specified in the
Unit and, when receiving a signal from the time control unit, connects to WWW
WWW system to browse WWW information of the above WWW address
Fax the WWW information browsed by the control unit and the WWW control unit.
A WWW information conversion unit that converts the image information into millimeter-transmittable image information;
Converted by the WWW information conversion unit according to the destination information
Transmission system for facsimile transmission of image information via communication line
A facsimile machine comprising a control unit. 3. A portable communication system, which is connected to a communication line at an appropriate period.
Received a polling reception request, the image information for polling transmission is
2. A polling means for facsimile transmission.
A facsimile machine as described . (4)An image information storage unit for storing image information, The transmission control unit issues a polling reception request through the communication line.
When received, the image information stored in the image information storage
And send it by facsimile The facsimile according to claim 2.
apparatus.