JP3761027B2 - Email server - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
[Field of the Invention]
The present invention relates to an electronic mail server, and relates to a process for performing transmission according to the processing capability of the terminal device when the electronic mail received by the electronic mail server is transmitted to a terminal device such as an Internet facsimile machine.
[0002]
[Prior art]
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
JP 2001-333090 A
[0004]
Patent Document 1 discloses that an e-mail sender list is provided in a receiving facsimile server, and the processing result of the received e-mail is notified to the listed sender.
[0005]
However, regardless of the processing capability of the e-mail receiving side, if e-mails are transmitted continuously, for example, the processing at the facsimile server may not catch up and the e-mails may not be received.
[0006]
[Problems of the Invention]
In the present invention, when an e-mail is transmitted from the e-mail server to the terminal device, the e-mail is transmitted according to the processing capability of the receiving terminal device, and the terminal device is prevented from being unable to receive due to transmission exceeding the processing capability. (Claims 1 and 2 ).
[0007]
[Structure of the invention]
According to the present invention, in an e-mail server provided with a receiving unit for receiving an e-mail and a transmitting unit for transmitting the received e-mail to a terminal device, the receivable data capacity and e-mail for each terminal device When the plurality of e-mails are transmitted to the terminal device having the same destination and the storage means for storing the processing time, the sizes of the plurality of e-mails are integrated, and the receivable data capacity of the terminal device is obtained. A plurality of e-mails are continuously transmitted within a corresponding range, and a part of the plurality of e-mails exceeding the range is separately transmitted with a time interval equal to or longer than the processing time of the terminal device. And a control means for controlling (Claim 1).
[0008]
Preferably, in order to prevent the e-mail exceeding the receivable data capacity from being transmitted to the destination terminal device, the size of the received e-mail is compared with the receivable data capacity of the destination terminal device. The control means, and a dividing means for dividing the received e-mail into a size equal to or smaller than the receivable data capacity when the size of the received e-mail is larger than the receivable data capacity. The plurality of divided e-mails are controlled to be transmitted at a time interval equal to or longer than the processing time.
[0011]
[Operation and effect of the invention]
According to the present invention, when an electronic mail is transmitted from an electronic mail server to a terminal device such as an Internet facsimile machine using SMTP ( Simple Mail Transfer Protocol ) or the like, the terminal device corresponds to the receivable data capacity of the receiving terminal device. Transmit at intervals greater than the processing time. That is, when a plurality of e-mails are transmitted to the same destination terminal device, the sizes of the e-mails to be transmitted are integrated, and the e-mails are continuously transmitted within a range corresponding to the receivable data capacity of the terminal device. On the other hand, e-mails exceeding that range are transmitted with a time interval equal to or longer than the treatment time of the terminal device. As a result, the terminal device can receive the next e-mail after processing the received e-mail, so that the e-mail can be received and processed smoothly, and the e-mail server sends the e-mail one after another. By doing so, it is possible to prevent the reception of the e-mail itself without being able to catch up with the processing of the terminal device (claim 1).
[0012]
In the e-mail server of the present invention, the receivable data capacity and e-mail processing time for each terminal device are stored, and after receiving an e-mail of a receivable size to the terminal device, the processing of the terminal device The next data is transmitted at an interval equal to or longer than the time at which is terminated. The processing related to the electronic mail received by the terminal device includes, for example, hard print, transfer, distribution, archiving, etc. The time of the predetermined interval is determined by the time required for these processing, for example, 3 to 5 minutes.
[0014]
Preferably, in order not to send an e-mail exceeding the receivable data capacity to the terminal device, an e-mail larger than the receivable data capacity is divided and transmitted in a size equal to or smaller than the receivable data capacity. That is, the size of the e-mail to be transmitted is compared with the receivable data capacity of the destination terminal device. If the e-mail size is larger than the receivable data capacity, the e-mail is reduced to a size equal to or smaller than this data capacity. The electronic mails are divided and sent at intervals equal to or longer than the processing time of the terminal device (claim 2). For this reason, even when a large size e-mail is received, the terminal device can process it, so that the e-mail server can smoothly send the e-mail.
[0015]
【Example】
1 to 5 show an embodiment and its modification. In the LAN 1 shown in FIG. 1, 2 is an Internet facsimile machine as a terminal device, which may be a personal computer or the like. Reference numeral 4 denotes an electronic mail server (SMTP server) for receiving electronic mail from a mail client (not shown) and transmitting it to the Internet facsimile machine 2. Reference numeral 10 denotes a router for connecting the Internet 12 and the LAN 1.
[0016]
2 shows the main configuration of the e-mail server 4. Reference numeral 10 denotes a main control unit (CPU), 12 denotes a ROM for storing programs and the like, 14 denotes a RAM, data being processed, and SMTP transmission. The terminal information such as the IP address and mail address of the terminal device to be subject to reception and the reception capacity thereof are stored. The reception capacity of the terminal device is the number of e-mail pages that can be received at one time, the size of a file, and the like. Further, the RAM 14 stores a processing time for each terminal device, and the processing time is a time until processing such as printing for an average size e-mail is completed. Reference numeral 16 denotes an auxiliary storage such as a hard disk, which stores information relating to the terminal device, mail client information, and the like for backup.
[0017]
Reference numeral 18 denotes a mail receiving unit for receiving an e-mail from the mail client. Reference numeral 20 denotes a mail transmitting unit for transmitting the e-mail to a transmission destination designated by the mail client. Reference numeral 22 denotes an e-mail transmission control unit, which controls the e-mail transmission, for example, at every processing time. Reference numeral 23 denotes a timer for transmitting an e-mail every predetermined time. A mail dividing unit 24 divides the e-mail according to the reception capacity of the terminal device. Reference numeral 26 denotes a LAN interface for connecting to the LAN 1. A receiving unit 28 for receiving an “E-mail can be received” notification from the Internet facsimile machine 2 is provided. A router 6, an Internet facsimile machine 2, a plurality of mail clients 30 and 32, etc. are connected to the LAN 1.
[0018]
Communication within the LAN 1 is performed in an e-mail format via the LAN interface 30. If the Internet facsimile machine 2 is ready to receive the next e-mail after receiving and processing the e-mail, it notifies the e-mail server 4 that the e-mail can be received. This notification is performed by e-mail, but may be performed by transmitting a packet notifying that it can be received by a form other than e-mail, for example, FTP or HTTP. This notification may be data transmitted by each protocol, or may be included in a protocol command. For example, when e-mail is used, a notification may be described in a header item such as “Subject”, the body of the e-mail, or a notification may be described in an “RCPT TO” command. In the electronic mail server 4, when the notification is received by the receiving unit 28, the next electronic mail is transmitted to the Internet facsimile machine 2.
[0019]
The operation of the embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the embodiment, the e-mail from the mail client received by the e-mail server 4 is transmitted to the Internet facsimile machine 2 in the LAN 1 by SMTP. Here, when the size of the e-mail is not large and is a size that can be received by the Internet facsimile machine 2, the e-mail is transmitted as it is. However, when an e-mail having a size larger than the reception capacity of the Internet fax is transmitted, Divide and send. Even if the divided transmission is performed, if the transmission is continued, e-mails are transmitted one after another during the processing in the Internet facsimile machine 2, so a predetermined time interval is provided. If the predetermined time elapses, the divided e-mails are transmitted in order.
[0020]
In the figure, when an e-mail to be transmitted to the Internet facsimile machine 2 is received and a transmission e-mail is generated (step 1), a predetermined time elapses from the latest (immediately) transmission of the e-mail to the Internet facsimile machine 2. Is checked (step 2). Here, the predetermined time is 3 to 5 minutes, for example, and depends on the processing capability of the Internet facsimile machine 2 on the receiving side. When the predetermined time has elapsed, the next e-mail is transmitted (step 3). The electronic mail may be transmitted in the case where each individually received mail is sent to the same destination or in the case where one mail is divided into a plurality of mails in order.
[0021]
In the case of an electronic mail having a small size, the number of pages that can be continuously transmitted can be continuously transmitted in view of the reception capacity of the Internet facsimile apparatus 2. In addition, the number of transmission pages and the file size are integrated during continuous transmission, and transmission is performed after the predetermined time when the size is close to the reception capacity.
[0022]
FIG. 4 is a modification of the embodiment shown in FIG. In the modified example, when transmitting a plurality of e-mails with the same destination, and when transmitting one e-mail divided into a plurality of e-mails, a notification is sent from the Internet facsimile machine 2. After the e-mail server 4 transmits the e-mail, if the Internet facsimile apparatus 2 finishes the process and receives a notification that the next e-mail can be received, the next e-mail or the next divided part is received according to this notification. Send. In the figure, if an outgoing mail is generated (step 10), it is checked whether a processing completion notification is received from the Internet facsimile machine 2 (step 11), and if received, the next electronic mail is sent (step 10). 12).
[0023]
The Internet facsimile machine 2 receives the e-mail (step 13), and when the processing of the received e-mail is completed (step 14), the next reception is possible. (Processing end notification) is transmitted to the electronic mail server 4 (step 15). Since the e-mail server 4 waits for this notification and transmits an e-mail (step 12), the Internet facsimile machine 2 receives the next e-mail and performs processing.
[0024]
Next, division of electronic mail will be described. The electronic mail is divided when the amount of data such as an attached file is large, and is divided into a capacity that can be received by the Internet facsimile machine 2. The e-mail is divided in units of e-mail pages, and is divided so that the capacity of one data transmission is smaller than that according to the reception capacity of the Internet facsimile apparatus 2. In order to detect page breaks, the mail dividing unit 24 is provided with a decoder for detecting a page end in the electronic mail server 4.
[0025]
Data transmission according to the reception capacity of the Internet facsimile machine 2 will be described with reference to FIG. When the e-mail server 4 receives the e-mail and an e-mail to be transmitted is generated (step 20), the e-mail server 4 which is the sender immediately before the Internet facsimile apparatus 2 which is the e-mail destination is the Internet facsimile apparatus. 2 is read from the memory (step 21). The reception capacity is stored in advance in the memory of the e-mail server 4. The e-mail transmission capacity is compared with the reception capacity of the Internet facsimile machine 2 (step 22). If the e-mail data amount is less than the reception capacity of the Internet facsimile machine 2, the e-mail is sent to the Internet facsimile machine 2. Transmit (step 23). On the other hand, if the data amount of the e-mail exceeds the reception capacity of the Internet facsimile machine 2, the e-mail is divided and transmitted (steps 24 and 25).
[0026]
According to the embodiment and the modification, the transmission of the electronic mail from the electronic mail server to the terminal apparatus such as the Internet facsimile apparatus is performed at a predetermined time or after the terminal apparatus is ready to receive. Therefore, even if the e-mail server transmits a plurality of e-mails having the same destination, there is no possibility that the terminal device receives data exceeding the processing capability and cannot be processed.
[0027]
Further, since the e-mail server divides and transmits e-mail when the data of one e-mail is large, the terminal device can receive data having a size not exceeding the reception capacity. Reception and processing can be performed smoothly. The e-mail server can smoothly send e-mail.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a connection relationship between a mail client and an email server in a LAN in the embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the email server in the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the operation of the e-mail server. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the operation of the e-mail server in a modification. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the operation when the e-mail is divided by the e-mail server in the embodiment. [Explanation of symbols]
1 LAN
2 Internet facsimile machine 4 E-mail server 6 Router 8 Internet network 10 CPU
12 ROM
14 RAM
16 Auxiliary memory 18 Mail receiving unit 20 Mail sending unit 22 Mail transmission control unit 23 Timer 24 E-mail dividing unit 26 LAN interface 28 Mail receivable notification receiving unit 30, 32 Mail client

Claims (2)

In an e-mail server provided with a receiving means for receiving e-mail and a transmitting means for transmitting the received e-mail to the terminal device,
  Storage means for storing the receivable data capacity and e-mail processing time for each terminal device;
  When sending multiple e-mails to a terminal device with the same destination, the sizes of the multiple e-mails are added up, and the multiple e-mails are sent continuously within a range according to the receivable data capacity of the terminal device. And a control means for controlling to separately transmit a part of the plurality of e-mails exceeding the range, with a time interval equal to or longer than the processing time of the terminal device. An e-mail server characterized by Comparison means for comparing the size of the received e-mail with the receivable data capacity of the destination terminal device so as not to send an e-mail exceeding the receivable data capacity to the destination terminal device When,
  A dividing means for dividing the received e-mail into a size equal to or smaller than the receivable data capacity when the size of the received e-mail is larger than the receivable data capacity; and
  2. The e-mail server according to claim 1, wherein the control means controls the plurality of divided e-mails to be transmitted at a time interval equal to or longer than the processing time.

Images