JP3182286B2 - Facsimile machine - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile machine connected to a computer by an interface.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A facsimile apparatus is a means for electrically transmitting document information to a remote place using a telephone line or the like. The facsimile apparatus reads out document information using a digital scanner or the like, encodes and compresses the information, and transmits it. Has a basic configuration.
However, recently, facsimile boards and the like for directly facsimile transmitting document information created by computer devices such as personal computers and word processors have been developed, and interfaces between these computer devices, facsimile boards, and facsimile devices have been standardized. (EIA Standard Class1, Class2
etc). Accordingly, general-purpose facsimile communication application software conforming to these standard interfaces has been supplied.

[0003]

However, in the conventional computer / facsimile communication system, when the computer apparatus is performing other information processing, the facsimile reception is sometimes disabled. In such a case, the facsimile reception is not possible. There was a problem that it was not possible. On the other hand, there are cases where it is required that facsimile reception is always performed on the computer device side.

An object of the present invention is to provide a facsimile apparatus capable of arbitrarily selecting a receiving method in a computer facsimile communication system in view of the above circumstances.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A facsimile apparatus according to the present invention includes an interface which enables connection with a computer, receives a signal transmitted from a partner station, and transmits a signal corresponding to the signal to the computer. In a facsimile apparatus configured to be able to supply manuscript information from a partner station to the computer by transmitting, either the manuscript information from the partner station is supplied to the computer or the facsimile itself receives the manuscript information. And a facsimile itself for receiving or receiving when the computer device is in a reception-disabled state in a state where the original device information is set to be supplied to the computer device from the partner station. Computer reception setting means for setting whether to reject The features.

[0006]

[0007]

According to the first configuration, the reception selecting means can select either to supply the document information from the partner station to the computer or to receive the facsimile itself. Then, when the computer device is in the reception disabled state, the facsimile itself can select to receive the data by the facsimile device when the computer device is in the reception disabled state. Reception can be performed. On the other hand, by selecting rejection of reception, it is possible to always respond to a request to capture image data in the computer device.

[0008]

[0009]

【Example】

(Embodiment 1) Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings showing the embodiment.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a facsimile apparatus 20 of the present invention and a personal computer 21 connected thereto.

The personal computer 21 has a CPU
1, display control unit 2, input operation unit 3, disk control unit 4,
And an interface unit 5. The disk control unit 4 reads out general-purpose facsimile communication application software from a disk (not shown),
Runs the software. When this software is executed, the display control unit 2 displays a screen requesting a transmission destination input and a transmission information selection input.

The operator can use the input operation unit 3 to specify a destination telephone number, file information to be transmitted, and the like. The specified file information is converted into image data by the above-mentioned software, and further encoded such as MH and MR. This compressed image data (hereinafter, referred to as
The image information data is simply output from the interface unit 5 to the facsimile apparatus 20 according to the facsimile communication protocol executed by the software.

On the other hand, by setting the reception mode in the software, the personal computer 2
1 indicates a call signal detection state.

Next, the configuration of the facsimile machine 20 will be described.

The interface unit 5 is connected to the interface unit 6, whereby the personal computer 21 and the facsimile machine 20 are connected. The facsimile apparatus 20 is configured to make a response to the facsimile communication protocol executed by the personal computer 21 through the interface unit 6.

When the user operates the operation panel 7, a signal corresponding to the operation is transmitted to the facsimile control unit 8.
It is supplied to. The operation panel 7 includes a reception selection key 7a for setting whether to supply original information from the partner station to the personal computer 21 or to receive the original information from the facsimile apparatus 20 itself. When the personal computer 21 is in a reception-disabled state in a state in which it is set to supply to the computer device, the computer reception setting selection key 7b for setting whether the facsimile itself receives or rejects reception is set. Is provided.

The facsimile control unit 8 includes an RO (not shown)
In accordance with the control program stored in M, overall control of the facsimile is performed. As one of the controls, a signal from the operation panel 7 is identified, a signal generated by operating the reception selection key 7a or the selection key 7b at the time of computer reception setting is received, and the reception method storage unit 17 and the computer reception A process for storing the selected receiving method in a setting-time receiving method storage unit (hereinafter, referred to as a PC receiving method storage unit) 18 is performed.

The receiving method storage section 17 stores information indicating whether document information from a partner station is to be supplied to the personal computer 21 or whether the facsimile apparatus 20 itself receives the document information from a facsimile control section 8 according to a command.

The PC reception method storage unit 18 is in a state in which the personal computer 21 is in a reception disabled state in a state in which original information from the partner station is set to be supplied to the computer device in accordance with a command from the facsimile control unit 8. In this case, information indicating whether the facsimile receives the data on behalf of itself or rejects the reception is stored.

The PC reception determining section 16 is a circuit for determining whether or not facsimile reception by the personal computer 21 is possible, and informing the facsimile control section 8 of the determination result. That is, when a ring signal is transmitted from the telephone line, a ring signal transmission process to the personal computer 21 is performed. However, even if a certain number of ring signals are transmitted to the personal computer 21, there is no response from the personal computer 21. In such a case, it is determined that reception is impossible.

The reading section 15 reads original information by a digital scanner using a CCD or the like, and outputs the read image information to an encoding section (not shown). The encoding unit encodes and compresses the document image information from the reading unit 15.

The facsimile modem unit 13 modulates image information data (encoded data) into a signal suitable for a telephone line, demodulates a modulated signal from the telephone line, and outputs it to a decoding unit (not shown). It has become. The decoding unit decodes the image information data from the destination facsimile machine input via the telephone line from the facsimile modem 13 and outputs this to the recording unit 14.

The recording section 14 executes printout based on the decoded image information (image information).

The display unit 19 can display the selected receiving method in addition to the destination information and the mode display.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a process in which the facsimile apparatus selects a reception method at the time of facsimile reception based on the reception method selected by key operation.

First, the presence or absence of a ring signal is determined (step 1). If a ring signal is detected, the information in the reception method storage unit 17 is looked at and the reception by the personal computer 21 or the reception by the facsimile apparatus 20 itself is performed. Is determined (step 2).

If the reception by the facsimile machine 20 has been selected, the process proceeds to the reception processing by the facsimile machine 20 (step 10). On the other hand, if the reception by the personal computer 21 has been selected, the ring signal is transferred to the personal computer 21 (step 3). And personal computer 2
It is determined whether there is a response (ring signal confirmation notification) from 1 or not.

If there is a response from the personal computer 21, the ring counter that counts the number of ring signals is cleared (step 5), and the process proceeds to the receiving process by the personal computer 21 (step 6).

If there is no response from the personal computer 21, the information stored in the PC receiving method storage section 18 is checked to determine whether the facsimile itself receives or rejects the reception (step 7). If reception rejection has been selected, the process proceeds to the ring signal presence / absence determination process (step 1) again. Therefore, neither the reception by the facsimile machine 20 nor the reception by the personal computer 21 is performed, and the reception is rejected.

If the method of receiving data by the facsimile itself has been selected, it is determined whether or not the count value of the ring counter has reached a predetermined value X (step 8). If the value has reached the predetermined value, the process proceeds to step 10, where the facsimile machine 20 performs a receiving process. If it has not reached the predetermined value, the ring counter is incremented and the process proceeds to step 1.

Note that the reception processing by the facsimile machine 20 is not immediately performed after step S7, and the waiting for the number of ring signals to reach a fixed number is performed by the personal computer 21 in step S3. This is because the response of the personal computer 21 to the transfer of the ring signal may be slightly delayed.

According to the above configuration, it is possible to select either to supply the document information from the partner station to the personal computer 21 or to receive the facsimile apparatus 20 itself. When the personal computer 21 is in the reception disabled state, the facsimile device 20 itself can select to receive the data instead. Therefore, even when the personal computer 21 is busy and in the reception disabled state, facsimile reception by the facsimile device 20 itself can be performed. Will be. On the other hand, if the reception is rejected, it is possible to always respond to a request to capture image data into the personal computer 21 side.

(Embodiment 2) A facsimile apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. The same functional units as in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

The facsimile apparatus 20 of the present embodiment is similar to that of FIG.
Has a reception memory 9 for storing received image data. The operation panel 7 is provided with a memory document transfer key 7c. On the other hand, the facsimile apparatus according to the first embodiment does not include the PC reception method storage unit 18 and the computer reception setting selection key 7b.

As shown in the flowchart of FIG. 4, the processing of step 7 in the flowchart of FIG. 2 of the first embodiment is omitted. That is, when the personal computer 21 is set to be unable to receive the original computer information in a state where the original computer 21 is set to supply the original document information from the partner station, the facsimile apparatus 20 itself performs the memory reception (step 10 ').

When the memory original transfer key 7c is operated, the control section 8 generates a pseudo ring signal and supplies it to the personal computer 21.

Next, the image information stored in the reception memory 9 of the facsimile apparatus 20 is transferred to the personal computer 2.
The control for causing the data to be taken into the unit 1 will be described.

FIG. 5 is a time chart showing the contents of the control in relation to the personal computer 21 and the facsimile apparatus 20, but the general-purpose facsimile communication application software is used as it is.
The response relationship between the personal computer 21 and the facsimile machine 20 in the normal file reception sequence is maintained. The same contents are shown in FIG. 6 using signal symbols.

The user presses the memory document transfer key 7c on the operation panel 7 to execute the document loading process of the reception memory 9. When the memory document transfer key 7c is pressed, a ring signal (call signal confirmation notification (210)) is output to the personal computer 21 in a pseudo manner.

Then, the facsimile apparatus 20 communicates with the personal computer 21 through its own protocol and interface 6, and in response to an image data request from the personal computer 21, the facsimile apparatus 20 reads out image data from the reception memory 9 and outputs it. I do. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, so-called local communication (signal transfer by the CPU) is performed in the facsimile machine 20, and image data transfer is performed with the protocol of the personal computer 21.

In the above example, the operation panel 7 is provided with the memory document transfer key 7c.
As described above, the transfer operation can be performed without providing a special key for the transfer operation. Hereinafter, this will be described.

That is, a self-station number registration memory is provided, and the self-station telephone number is registered in advance in this memory. The number to be registered is not limited to the local telephone number, and may be any arbitrary number as long as the number does not overlap with the other party's telephone number.

The control unit 8 compares the own station number information from the own station number registration memory with the dial information from the operation panel 7 (generated by operating a ten key or the like), and compares the dial information from the operation panel 7 with itself. If it is determined that the received document number matches the station number information, it is determined that the received document number is a transfer operation command, and the above-described received original document transfer process is executed.

As a result, it is not necessary to provide a special key for a scanning operation on the operation panel 7, and the operation panel 7 can be made compact.

Further, the above-described received original document transfer process may be executed when a certain time has elapsed after receiving the memory, without relying on the key operation.

Further, as in the present embodiment, during the transfer operation of the received original document, the facsimile apparatus 20 performs the transmission processing according to its own facsimile protocol (of course, does not output the image information to the telephone line) as usual. Then, the source information normally added to the facsimile device 20 at the time of facsimile transmission is taken into the personal computer 21.
Therefore, when performing the receiving document transfer operation, the control unit 8
May be added to the source information and time information (stored in a predetermined memory for a communication management report) of the partner station at the time of memory reception.

In the above example, the received document transfer process can be performed by access from the facsimile apparatus. However, the process of taking in the document in the reception memory 9 can be performed by access from the personal computer 21 side. Good thing.

[0048]

As described above, according to the present invention, facsimile reception can be performed by the facsimile apparatus itself even when the computer apparatus is in a busy and unreceivable state, and the computer apparatus is always selected by rejecting reception. Can also respond to a request to capture image data. Further, when the computer device is busy, the facsimile device functions as a buffer, so that even when the computer device is in a reception-disabled state, it is possible to always respond to a request to capture image data in the computer device.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a facsimile apparatus of the present invention and a computer connected to the facsimile apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a process in which the facsimile apparatus of the present invention selects a reception method at the time of facsimile reception based on a reception method selected by a key operation.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a facsimile apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention and a computer connected to the facsimile apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a process in which a facsimile apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention selects a receiving method at the time of facsimile reception based on a receiving method selected by a key operation.

FIG. 5 is a time chart showing a sequence during a memory document transfer process of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram in which a sequence at the time of a memory document transfer process of the present invention is represented by a signal symbol.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 6 interface unit 7 operation panel 8 facsimile control unit 9 reception memory 13 facsimile modem unit 14 recording unit 15 recording unit 16 PC reception determination unit 17 reception method storage unit 18 PC reception method storage unit 20 facsimile device 21 personal computer

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-5-276302 (JP, A) JP-A-62-281661 (JP, A) JP-A-1-248761 (JP, A) JP-A-6-334803 (JP) , A) JP-A-1-221104 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04N 1/00-1/00 108 H04N 1/32-1/36

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An interface which enables connection with a computer device, receives a signal transmitted from a partner station, and transmits a signal corresponding to the signal to the computer device, thereby obtaining document information from the partner station. A facsimile apparatus configured to be able to supply the document information from the partner station to the computer apparatus or to receive the facsimile itself. When the computer device is set to supply the original information to the computer device and the computer device is in the reception disabled state, when the computer reception setting is to set whether the facsimile itself receives or rejects reception. A facsimile apparatus comprising: a selection unit.