JP3363592B2 - Image communication device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image communication device for image communication, and more particularly to an image communication device having a card interface.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a facsimile apparatus is well known as a typical image communication apparatus capable of image communication. However. When the facsimile device is used as a printer device for recording data sent from an external device such as a personal computer, RS-232C for connecting to the external device
A separate interface or Centronics interface connector is required.

For this reason, a facsimile machine which also serves as a printer has a communication line interface connector and a printer interface connector for receiving data from an external device separately.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, the facsimile device and the printer device are combined into one unit.
If one device is used, a connector for connecting the communication line and the printer interface must be provided for each device, which makes it difficult to reduce the size and weight of the device. Further, there is a drawback that the interface circuit for each of the communication line and the printer interface has to be provided, which makes it expensive.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks. One card interface is provided, and a card to be connected functions as both a facsimile apparatus and a printer apparatus, and the card interface is commonly used. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an image communication device that can be easily reduced in size and weight.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the image communication apparatus of the present invention has the following configuration. That is, a connecting means for connecting a facsimile card or a printer card, an identifying means for identifying the attribute of the card connected by the connecting means, and a facsimile apparatus when the identifying means identifies that a facsimile card is connected. And a control unit that operates as a printer when it is identified that the printer card is connected.

[0007]

With the above structure, the connecting means connects the facsimile card or the printer card, the identifying means identifies the attribute of the card connected by the connecting means, and the control means identifies the identifying means to which the facsimile card is connected. When it is identified that the printer card operates as a facsimile device, and when it is identified that a printer card is connected, the printer device is controlled to operate as a printer device, so that the function corresponding to the connected card can be performed. Since the common connecting means is used, the size and weight of the device can be easily reduced.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a main body of an image communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Reference numeral 1-1 is a CPU, and the entire image communication apparatus, that is, the RAM 1-3, the operation unit 1-4, and the flow shown in the flowcharts of FIGS. 3 to 14 and 16 according to the program stored in the ROM 1-2. Display unit 1-5, buzzer unit 1-6, sensor unit 1-7, image processing unit 1-8, reading unit 1-9, recording unit 1-10, driving unit 1-11, power supply unit 1-12, power supply Control unit 1-13, PCMCIA interface unit 1-14
Is to control. Each of these parts will be described below.

Reference numeral 1-3 is a RAM, which is a reading unit 1-9.
Image data read by or the recording unit 1-1
The image data recorded with 0 is stored, and the MODEM card 1-is provided via the PCMCIA interface unit 1-14.
Image data to be transmitted to the MODEL card 1-15 or the printer interface card 1
Used to store received data from -16. Further, the RAM 1-3 can temporarily store various other data.

Reference numeral 1-4 denotes an operation unit, which is a key panel for operating the present recording apparatus, including a start key for starting copying and transmission / reception, a stop key for stopping, various mode setting keys, and a dial. It is composed of ten keys for operation, etc.
-1 detects and controls each part according to the state.

Reference numeral 1-5 is a display unit, which is a liquid crystal display, LC
It is composed of D driver, LED, etc.
It is performed under the control of PU1-1.

Reference numeral 1-6 is a buzzer section, which is composed of a piezoelectric buzzer and is operated by the CPU 1-1 under the control of the operation section 1-4.
The key touch sound when each key is pressed, the end sound that notifies the end of each operation, and the alarm sound when an error occurs are sounded.

A sensor unit 1-7 is composed of a recording paper width sensor, a recording paper presence / absence sensor, a document width sensor and a document presence / absence sensor, and detects the condition of the document and the recording paper under the control of the CPU 1-1.

Reference numeral 1-8 is an image processing unit, which is a reading unit 1.
It is composed of a clock supply circuit for controlling -9, a peak hold circuit, a shading correction circuit, an A / D conversion unit, a DMA controller, etc., and sequentially digitizes the image data read by the reading unit 1-9, edge emphasis, and error diffusion. After image processing such as processing, it is transferred to the RAM 1-3.

A reading unit 1-9 is composed of a CCD or a contact image sensor (CS), and a CP.
The original is read by the CCD or CS under the control of U1-1.

A recording unit 1-10 is composed of a DMA controller, a general-purpose IC, a thermal head or an ink jet head, and the recording data stored in the RAM 1-3 is sequentially taken out under the control of the CPU 1-1, and B4 is set. Alternatively, it is printed out as a hard copy of A4 size.

Reference numeral 1-11 is a driving unit, and a reading unit 1-
9 and a stepping motor for driving the paper feeding / discharging roller of the recording unit 1-10, a motor driver circuit, and a gear for transmitting the driving force of the motor CPU1-1
It is driven by the control from.

Reference numeral 1-12 is a power source section for supplying a DC power source. Here, the power supply unit 1-12 uses one of the following three configurations shown in FIG.
And outputs the DC power source to the power source control unit 1-13.

The power supply section 2-1 is composed of a DC + 12V NiCd battery 2-4, and DC + 12V is supplied to each section of the main body.
Supply the power of.

The power supply unit 2-2 receives the AC power supply AC input as D
It is composed of an AC adapter 2-5 that converts to C + 12V, and supplies DC + 12V power to each part of the main body.

The power supply unit 2-3 is composed of a car battery adapter 2-6 that converts a DC power supply DC input from a vehicle-mounted car battery into a stable DC + 12V, and supplies DC + 12V power to each unit of the main body.

Reference numeral 1-13 is a power supply control unit, which is a power supply unit 1-
Consists of a contact part for connecting with 12, switching regulator, FET, etc.
It supplies DC power of 12V and + 5V. Further, the power supply output can be arbitrarily turned on / off under the control of the CPU 1-1.

Reference numeral 1-14 is a PCMCIA interface unit, which is a PCMCIA (Personal Compu
ter Memory Card International
PCMC composed of an interface circuit conforming to the interface standard of
When an IA-compatible MODEM card 1-15 or printer interface card 1-16 is inserted,
The CPU 1-1 detects card insertion, reads card attribute information, performs various settings, exchanges data, and performs facsimile communication or recording operation.

1-15 is a MODEM card, PC
A general-purpose facsimile modem card having an MCIA interface, which is inserted into the PCMCIA interface unit 1-14, and a CPU is inserted through the interface.
Under the control of 1-1, facsimile communication is performed through the subscriber line.

Reference numeral 1-16 is a printer interface card, which is a PC (Personal) that supports various printing software compatible with the Centronics interface.
This device is a connection adapter card having a PCMCIA interface for connecting a computer), and this apparatus records print data from the PC connected via the card interface inserted in the PCMCIA interface unit 1-14 under the control of the CPU 1-1. It is an operation.

This printer interface card 1-
The structure of 16 is shown in FIG.

Printer Interface Card 1-16
Conforms to the PCMCIA type 2 standard in shape and pin arrangement. The 8-bit parallel data of D0 to D7, which is the recording data, uses the data input / output pin of the card, PE that notifies the PC of the presence or absence of recording paper, BUSY that notifies the PC of the busy state, STRO sent from the PC.
Since each BE signal is a signal not specified by PCMCIA, the upper 3 bits of the address signal input / output pins not used in the MODEM card are used. It is connected to a PC via a Centronics connector.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the flow of operation of the image communication apparatus of this embodiment after the power is turned on. The operation of the flowchart shown in FIG. 3 will be described below.

When the image communication apparatus of this embodiment is powered on, the apparatus is initialized in step S1 and whether a PCMCIA-compliant card is inserted in the PCMCIA interface unit 1-14 in step S2. Is detected, and if there is no PCMCIA-compliant card, the standby state is entered. When it is detected in step S2 that a PCMCIA-compliant card is present, it is detected in step S3 whether or not the card is a MODEM card 1-15. If the card is a MODEM card 1-15, the MO card is detected in step S4.
Initialization of the DEM card 1-15 is performed according to the attribute information of the card. If it is not the MODEM card 1-15 in step S3, it is detected in step S5 whether or not the card is the printer interface card 1-16, and the printer interface card 1-1 is detected.
If it is 6, in step S6, card initialization is performed according to the attribute information of the printer interface card 1-16. Printer interface card 1
If not -16, in step S7, MODEM
Printer interface card 1 for cards 1-15
If a card that is not -16 or a card that does not comply with the PCMCIA interface standard is inserted,
The buzzer unit 1-6 emits an error sound and the display unit 1-5 turns on the error lamp.

Next, the transmission / reception operation when the MODEM card is connected to the image communication apparatus of this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the flow charts of FIGS. 4 to 14.

In the image communication of this embodiment, the AT command is used and the PCMCIA interface unit 1-14 is used.
Facsimile communication is performed via the line by controlling the MODEM card 1-15.

The flow charts of FIGS. 4 to 6 show the flow of the facsimile transmission operation when the MODEM card is connected to the image communication apparatus of this embodiment.

First, in step S101, PCM
Command AT to operate in CIA-compliant MODEM card 1-15 in facsimile class 1
+ FCCLASS = 1 is transmitted, and in step S102, the MODE card 1-15 waits for an OK response indicating completion of operation preparation. When OK is detected, in step S103, a calling operation is started, and the dialing number of the other party is set to MODEM after the ATDT which is a calling command.
It is sent to the card 1-15, and in step S104,
Enter frame reception.

FIG. 10 and FIG. 11 are flow charts showing the flow of operation in frame reception. The flow of this frame receiving operation will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS.

When frame reception starts, step S301
In step S302, the registers of the MODEM card 1-15 are initialized. In step S302, it is detected whether or not the operation mode is changed.
3, the MODEM card 1-15, IT
A command AT + FRH = 3 for operating in the V21 (300 bps) reception mode of the U-T is transmitted, and in step S304, a response of CONNECT from the MODEM card 1-15 is detected. CONNECT
Or in step S302, if there is no mode change, wait for frame data to be received, and in step S305, if frame data is not received within the set time and a timeout is detected, the line is disconnected as an error. Ends with an error. In step S306, it is detected whether or not frame data has arrived. If there is no frame data, the process returns to step S305, and if there is frame data, in step S307 the RAM1
The frame data is stored in -3. After storing the frame data, in step S308, the MODEM card 1
If an OK response from -15 is detected, and if OK is detected, it is detected in step S309 whether the received frame data is the last frame. If it is not the last frame, the process returns to step S303, and if it is the last frame,
The frame receiving operation ends.

Returning now to FIG. 4, in the frame reception in step S104, it is confirmed in step S105 whether the final frame is DIS (digital identification signal),
If it is not DIS, an error occurs, the line is released, and the process ends. When it is detected in step S105 that the final frame is DIS, in step S106, DCS (digital command signal) transmission is prepared. Next in step S10
Frame transmission starts at 7.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the flow of operations in frame transmission. The flow of this frame transmission operation will be described in detail below with reference to FIG.

When frame transmission starts, step S401
In step S402, the registers of the MODEM card 1-15 are initialized. In step S402, it is detected whether or not the operation mode is changed.
3, the MODEM card 1-15, IT
A command AT + FTH = 3 to operate in the V21 (300 bps) transmission mode of U-T is transmitted. After the operation in step S403 or in step S402, if there is no mode change, in step S404, a response of CONNECT from the MODEM card 1-15 is detected, frame transmission is performed in step S405, and it is the last frame in step S406. To detect. MO if not the last frame
A CONNECT response from the DEM card 1-15 is detected, and the process returns to step S405. If it is the last frame, in step S407, the MODEM card 1
After detecting an OK response from -15, the frame transmission operation ends.

Returning now to FIG. 4, after the frame transmission in step S107 ends, in step S108 the MOD
The command AT + FTS = 8 to wait 80 ms for transmission is sent to the EM card 1-15, and step S
At 109, an OK response from the card is detected. After the detection of OK, in step S110, TCF
The (training check) data is prepared for transmission, and the high-speed data transmission of the TCF is started in step S111.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart showing the flow of operations in high speed data transmission. The flow of this high-speed data transmission operation will be described below in detail with reference to FIG.

When high speed data transmission is started, step S50
1 initializes the registers of the MODEM card 1-15, and in step S502, MODE
ITU-T V29 (96
Command AT + FTM = 96 to operate in a transmission mode of 00 bps). Here, 9600
Although the transmission mode of bps is taken as an example, the command is AT + FTM = n (n (n
= 24, 48, 72, 96). Step S5
In 03, CON from MODEM card 1-15
After detecting a response of NECT, high-speed data transmission is performed in step S504, and in step S505.
Detects whether it is the last frame. After detecting the final frame, in step S506, the MODEM card 1-
After detecting an OK response from 15, the high speed data transmission operation is ended.

Returning now to FIG. 5, after the TCF high-speed data transmission is completed in step S111, step S11 is performed.
2, frame reception is performed in the same flow as in FIGS. 10 and 11 described above, and in step S113, the CFR is received.
(Reception preparation confirmation) After that, in step S114,
The image information data read from the RAM1-3 is prepared for transmission, and in step S115, high-speed data transmission of the image information data is started in the same flow as in FIG. After the high speed data transmission of the image information, in step S116, EOP
Preparation for data transmission (end of procedure), and step S11
7, the EOP frame transmission starts in the same flow as in FIG. After transmitting the EOP frame, step S
In 118, frame reception is performed in the same flow as in FIGS. 10 and 11 described above, and in step S119, MC reception is performed.
After confirming F (confirm message), step S120
In step S121, DCN (disconnect command) data is prepared for transmission, and in step S121, DCN frame transmission is started. Also in this frame transmission, after the DCN frame transmission in the same flow as in FIG. 12, the command ATHO to disconnect the line is sent to the MODEM card 1-15 in step S122, and step S12
In 3, the facsimile transmission operation is ended after detecting the OK response from the card.

The flowcharts of FIGS. 7 to 9 show the flow of the facsimile receiving operation when the MODEM card is connected to the image communication apparatus of this embodiment.

In step S201, the PCMCIA
Command AT + FC to operate in Facsimile Class 1 for MODEM card 1-15 conforming to the standard
LASS = 1 is transmitted, and in step S202, M
Detects an OK response from the ODEM card 1-15. When OK is detected, in step S203, M
When the response indicating that the incoming call of RING from the ODEM card 1-15 is detected is confirmed, step S204
At, the command ATA requesting a response is sent to the MODEM card 1-15. After transmitting the ATA, preparation for transmission of DIS data is made in step S205, and in step S206, DIS frame transmission is started in the same flow as in FIG. After the DIS frame is transmitted, the above-mentioned FIG.
0, the frame is received in the same flow as in FIG. 11, and it is detected in step S208 whether or not the final frame is DCS. If not, the line is disconnected as an error and the process ends in error. If it is DCS, preparation for TCF reception is made in step S209, and high-speed data reception of TCF is started in step S210.

FIG. 14 is a flow chart showing the flow of operation in high speed data reception. The flow of this high-speed data reception operation will be described in detail below with reference to FIG.

When high speed data reception starts, step S60
1 initializes the registers of the MODEM card 1-15, and in step S602, MODE
ITU-T V29 (96
(00 bps), the command AT + FRM = 96 to operate in the reception mode is transmitted. Here, 9600
Although the reception mode of bps is taken as an example, a command AT + FRM = n (n = 24, 48, 72,
96) is transmitted. In step S603, MOD
After detecting the CONNECT response from the EM card 1-15, high-speed data reception is performed in step SA604, and it is determined in step S605 whether it is the final frame. After the final frame is detected, the high speed data receiving operation is ended.

Returning now to FIG. 8, after the high speed data reception is completed in step S210, the TCF is confirmed in step S211, and the CFR is created in step S212.
Prepares for the transmission of the data, and in step S213,
CFR frame transmission is performed in the same flow as in FIG. After the CFR frame is transmitted, the image information reception is set in step S214, and in step S215, the high speed data reception of the image information data is started in the same flow as in FIG. After receiving the high-speed data of the image information data, in step S216, the frame reception is started in the same flow as in FIGS. When EOP is confirmed in step S217, in step S218,
Preparation for transmission of MCF data is performed, and in step S219, MCF frame transmission is started in the same flow as in FIG. After transmitting the MCF frame, step S220
In step S221, the frame AT is received in the same flow as in FIG. 10 and FIG. 11 described above, the DCN is confirmed in step S221, and the command AT for disconnecting the line is issued to the MODEM card 1-15 in step S222.
HO is transmitted, and in step S223, MODEM
After detecting the OK response from the card 1-15, the facsimile receiving operation is ended.

Next, a case where the image communication apparatus of this embodiment is used as a printer will be described with reference to FIG.

The flowchart of FIG. 16 shows the flow of operations when a printer interface card is connected to the image communication apparatus of this embodiment and data from the PC is recorded.

First, in step S1, it is detected whether or not there is a recording sheet in the recording section 1-10. If there is no recording sheet, the signal PE is set to H in step S2 to inform the connected PC that there is no recording sheet. Close. If there is recording paper, step S3
Then, the signal PE is set to L to inform the PC that there is a recording sheet, and then in step S4, it waits until the STROBE signal from the PC comes. When the STROBE signal arrives, step S
At 5, the data on the data bus is fetched and stored in the recording memory.

Next, in step S6, the recording memory is FU.
It is judged whether it is LL, and if it is FULL, it is B in step S7.
The USY signal is turned on to notify the PC that the recording data cannot be received. If the recording memory is not FULL, the BUSY signal is turned off in step S8, and step S8 is performed.
If the data received in 9 is CR (carriage return), one line of data is printed in step S10,
It waits in step S4 until the next data comes.

If the data received in step S5 is FF in step S9, it is determined that the page has ended, printing is ended, and the recording paper recorded in step S12 is discharged.
Other post-printing processes are performed in step S13, and the process waits until the next data arrives in step S4.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to identify the attribute of the inserted card and function as a facsimile apparatus or a printer apparatus according to the attribute of the card. In addition, since the card interface is common, it is possible to easily reduce the size and weight. Further, since the shape and pin arrangement of the card interface are in conformity with the PCMCIA standard, compatibility can be provided.

[0055]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The card connected to the card interface functions as both a facsimile device and a printer device, and the common card interface facilitates size reduction and weight reduction.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image communication apparatus that is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a power supply unit 1-12 shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a flow of operations after power is turned on.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a flow of a facsimile transmission operation.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a flow of a facsimile transmission operation.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of a facsimile transmission operation.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a flow of a facsimile receiving operation.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a flow of a facsimile receiving operation.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the flow of a facsimile reception operation.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of a facsimile reception operation.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the flow of a frame receiving operation.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the flow of a frame transmission operation.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the flow of high-speed data transmission operation.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the flow of high-speed data reception operation.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a configuration of a printer interface card 1-16.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing a flow of operations when recording data from a PC.

[Explanation of symbols]

1-1 CPU 1-2 ROM 1-3 RAM 1-4 Operation part 1-5 Display 1-6 Buzzer section 1-7 Sensor part 1-8 Image display section 1-9 Reader 1-10 Recording part 1-11 Drive unit 1-12 Power supply section 1-13 Power control unit 1-14 PCMCIA interface section 1-15 MODEM card 1-16 Printer interface card

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Takeshi Tsukamoto 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (56) References JP-A-1-170261 (JP, A) JP-A-5 -177886 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04N 1/00-1/00 108

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A connection means for connecting a facsimile card or a printer card, an identification means for identifying the attribute of the card connected by the connection means, and a case where the identification means identifies that a facsimile card is connected. And a control unit that operates as a facsimile device and operates as a printer device when it is identified that a printer card is connected. 2. The image communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control means controls the facsimile card connected to the line by using an AT command. 3. The image communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit records data from an external device connected to the printer card via the Centronics interface. 4. The connection means conforms to the PCMCIA interface standard.
The image communication device according to.