JP4047341B2 - E-mail communication apparatus, output method using the apparatus, and storage medium - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic mail communication apparatus capable of receiving electronic mail data, an output method using the apparatus, and a storage medium.

  In recent years, various data such as character data, image data, and voice data are communicated by electronic mail. Data communication by e-mail is generally performed by a personal computer or a workstation.

  In addition, facsimile apparatuses are widely used as devices capable of communicating image data via a telephone line. At present, a general user is more accustomed to handling a facsimile apparatus than the personal computer described above, and image communication using the facsimile apparatus is simpler in terms of operation of the apparatus.

  Some of the personal computers and workstations described above are capable of facsimile communication in addition to electronic mail communication. However, the operation of the apparatus is much more complicated than a general facsimile apparatus. For this reason, there is a problem that it is difficult for users who are unfamiliar with the handling of computers to use electronic mail.

In the present invention, the electronic mail communication apparatus is connected to a connection means (line I / F unit 10-6, LAN I / F unit 10-14) for connecting to a local area network or the Internet, and the local area network or the Internet. Extracting means (2-54) for extracting e-mail data from the e-mail server in response to periodic or manual operations, and e-mail data extracted by the extracting means are developed into images according to the extraction by the extracting means Output means (printer units 10-11, 2-57, 2-62) for printing out, and the output means transmits at least the sender mail address and the transmission among the e-mail data extracted by the extracting means. Included in the e-mail data and text information including the destination e-mail address and subject By printing out the image information of the developed image file as a different page (Figs. 4 and 5), users who are unfamiliar with the handling of computers, etc. can use the e-mail service. Is.

As described above, according to the present invention, text data including at least a transmission source mail address, a transmission destination mail address, and a subject among electronic mail data extracted in response to the extraction of the electronic mail data from the electronic mail server, Since the image information included in the e-mail data is expanded and printed as a different page, even those unfamiliar with computer operations can use the e-mail service to check the contents of the received e-mail data. it can.

  Moreover, the source email address, destination email address, and subject can be easily identified, and the image information obtained by developing the image file included in the email data is printed out as a page different from the text information. It is possible to obtain an output result similar to that received by a facsimile or the like.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a connection form of a facsimile apparatus (hereinafter referred to as an electronic mail facsimile apparatus) having an electronic mail / facsimile conversion function of this embodiment with a network.

  The electronic mail facsimile apparatus according to the present embodiment can be directly connected to a local area network (hereinafter referred to as LAN) 1-1 like the electronic mail facsimile apparatus 1-2, and via the LAN 1-1, Further, like the electronic mail facsimile apparatus 1-7, the electronic mail server can be accessed via the remote router 1-4 and ISDN (Integrated Service Digital Network) / PSTN (General Public Telephone Network). Then, the e-mail facsimile apparatus extracts e-mail data stored in the e-mail server, develops a portion that can be interpreted by the apparatus in the content of the extracted e-mail data into image data, and uses a printer built in the apparatus. Record (print) output.

  FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the electronic mail facsimile apparatus according to this embodiment.

  In FIG. 10, a ROM 10-2 is a read-only memory that stores a computer program (software for controlling the entire apparatus) executed by the CPU 10-3. The CPU 10-3 is stored in the ROM 10-2. The device is controlled by executing the program.

  The RAM 10-4 is a random access memory for storing various data necessary for control and management data as shown in FIG. 3, and the storage memory 10-5 is an encoded data or electronic mail for facsimile communication. This is a memory for storing the data.

  The line I / F unit 10-6 includes a CCU (communication control unit), a modem, an NCU (network control unit), and the like for performing communication via an ISDN line or a PSTN line, and is controlled by the CPU 10-3. Performs call and communication operations on the line.

  The IO control unit 10-7 controls a recording operation by the printer unit 10-11, a reading operation by the reading unit 10-12, and an image data transfer operation in accordance with the control by the CPU 10-3.

  The IO control unit 10-8 controls the display unit and the operation unit 10-13 having various keys according to the control by the CPU 10-3, and displays the key input information input by the operation unit 10-13 on the display unit. Transfer various information.

  The pixel density conversion unit 10-9 performs image data resolution conversion, page size conversion, mm / inch conversion, and the like.

  The compression / decompression unit 10-10 encodes the image data (MH, MR, MMR, etc.) read by the reading unit 10-12, and decodes the received encoded data.

  The LAN I / F unit 10-14 is an interface for connecting to a LAN.

  The above is the configuration of the electronic mail facsimile apparatus.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a communication procedure sequence and a flowchart in which the email facsimile apparatus 1-2 or 1-7 extracts an email from the LAN email server, and for executing the communication procedure sequence and the flowchart. The control program is stored in the ROM 10-2 and is executed by the CPU 10-3.

  The operation of the electronic mail facsimile apparatus will be described with reference to the communication sequence and flowchart of FIG.

  In the communication sequence of FIG. 2, a total of three emails are received, the first email data is received normally, the second email data that cannot be interpreted is received, and the third email is received. The procedure example when the data amount of data is too large and the header information of the email data is extracted is shown. In the flowchart, the procedure for requesting the end of the email data service from the reception of the list data of the email data 2-5 Processing up to 2-13 is shown.

  The CPU 10-3 of the e-mail facsimile machine 1-2, 1-7 performs a series of procedures for communication with the e-mail server 1-3 (data link connection procedure, server-side service possibility, user authentication, user addressing) (2) whether the line I / F unit 10-6 or the LAN I / F unit 10-14 performs 2-3. Since this procedure 2-3 is the same as the procedure executed by the e-mail client 1-5 and the like, the description thereof is omitted here. Thus, a communication link between the electronic mail facsimile apparatus and the electronic mail server is established. Note that the free memory capacity 3-1 (see the management data shown in FIG. 3) of the storage memory 10-5 at this point is 300 Kbytes.

  In the communication sequence, the CPU 10-3 of the e-mail facsimile apparatuses 1-2 and 1-7 then sends the e-mail server 1- 1 via the line I / F unit 10-6 or the LAN I / F unit 10-14. 3 sends an e-mail list notification request to 2 (2-4), and receives e-mail list data from e-mail server 1-3 (2-5). The CPU 10-3 of the e-mail facsimile apparatus 1-2, 1-7 analyzes the contents of the received e-mail list data and obtains three pieces of information as the number of e-mails as the number of e-mails in the e-mail list table of the management data in FIG. -2 and the mail data capacity, for example, mail data capacity 1K bytes (facsimile image data is 30K bytes), 2K bytes (color image data 40K bytes), 500K bytes are mail array [ 0], [1], and [2] are set in the corresponding areas (2-50).

  Next, processing of the first mail (e-mail data includes text data and facsimile data as shown in FIG. 4) will be described. The CPU 10-3 checks the completion of all mail processing (2-51), and in this case, since it has not been completed, the free memory capacity (the free memory capacity 3-1 of the management data in FIG. ) And the data capacity of the first mail (the mail data capacity of the management data mail array [0] in FIG. 3, which is 1 Kbyte in this case) (2-52). The process shifts to a mail data reception process (2-54), and in this e-mail data reception process, a transmission request for the e-mail data 1 is transmitted to the e-mail server 1-3 (2-6). -3 receives the e-mail data 1 (2-7). At that time, 1 is set to the number of external bodies 3-14 (FIG. 3) in the e-mail list table, text is stored in the data type 3-20 of the body array [0], and 1 Kbyte of free memory is stored in the data capacity 3-21. The acquired address is set in the received text data storage area pointer 3-15, and the received e-mail data 1 (text) is stored in the acquired memory.

  Then, the CPU 10-3 proceeds to the e-mail data analysis process (2-55), analyzes the e-mail data 1, and in this case, analysis is possible, so the information of “facsimile image data” is set in the data type 3-20. The facsimile image data memory is acquired, the address is set in the data area pointer 3-22, and the received e-mail data is expanded and stored in the facsimile image data memory (2-57). Next, it is checked whether there is data that needs to be received / analyzed / expanded (2-58). In this case, since the facsimile image data is described in the e-mail data as the external file “file 19960704215959.xxx”, the file reception is performed. In this process, the number of external bodies 3-14 in the mail array [0] is updated to 2, and “facsimile image data” is set as the data type of the body array [1]. In the file transfer procedure, the file capacity is checked before receiving the file (2-52). Since the file data is 30 Kbytes and the free memory is 299 Kbytes, 30 Kbytes of free memory is acquired (free memory capacity 3- 1 is 269K bytes), the address of the acquired memory is set in the data area pointer of the body array [1] of the mail array [0], and the received facsimile image data is stored in this acquired memory (2- 54). Since the file data is known as facsimile image data (for example, MH encoded), the analysis process (2-55) and the image data development process (2-57) are skipped. In this case, since the data file has been normally received, the CPU 10-3 sets normal end to the processing result of the body array [1] of the mail array [0] and the processing status 3-13, and the deletion mode 3- “Delete request” is set to 12 (2-59). Since the processing status 3-13 is normal, facsimile image data corresponding to the number of external bodies in the mail array [0] is read based on the data area pointer, developed into raw image data by the compression / decompression unit 10-10, and the printer unit 10 The recording is performed on the recording paper by -11 (2-62).

  When the recording (printing) is normally completed, the management data deletion mode 3-12 is referred to. Since the deletion mode 3-12 is “deletion request”, the e-mail data 1 is stored in the e-mail server 1-3. A deletion request is transmitted (2-8, 2-64).

  As a result, the e-mail server 1-3 deletes the e-mail data 1 data. 5 and 6 are diagrams showing the print results of the first e-mail data (e-mail data 1).

  Next, processing of the second mail (external file that cannot be interpreted as text) will be described. Since the processing sequence of the text data is the same as that of the electronic mail data 1 described above, the description will be omitted and the text analysis processing will be described.

  In this case, when the e-mail data analysis process (2-55) is executed, it is found that the color image data file process must be executed, and this color image data file cannot be processed. Set the processing status of the data mail array [1] to the information “Color image cannot be processed” and replace it as shown in FIG. 7 such as “Color images with the following contents cannot be processed by this device”. The character string is embedded in the received text data stored in the memory corresponding to the data area pointer of the body array [1] of the mail array [1] (2-56) and developed into image data (2-57). Next, the information “Unanalyzed data present” is set in the processing result and processing status of the body array [0] of the mail array [1], and the information “Not deleted” is set in the deletion mode (2-61). ). Then, the developed image data is recorded and output by the printer unit 10-11 (2-62), and since the information “not deleted” is set in the deletion mode, the e-mail data is sent to the e-mail server 1-3. 2 delete request is not transmitted (2-64).

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a printing result of the second e-mail data (e-mail data 2).

  Next, a third mail process (cannot be received because the amount of received facsimile image data is too large) will be described.

  In this case, in the memory capacity check (2-51), the CPU 10-3 can receive all the data because the memory free capacity at that time is 227K bytes and the received e-mail data is 500K bytes. Can not. Therefore, only the header part of the e-mail (for example, text data up to “--Boundary ---” in FIG. 4) is received, and “memory full” information is set in the processing status of the mail array [2]. (2-53). Thereafter, “memory full” information is set in the processing result and processing status of the body array [0] of the mail array [2], and “not deleted” information is set in the deletion mode (2-61). Then, the developed image data is printed by the printer unit 10-11, and when the printing is completed normally, the deletion mode is “not deleted”, so a request to delete the email data 3 is sent to the email server 1-3. Do not transmit (2-64).

  When the processing of all the e-mail data is thus completed, the CPU 10-3 of the e-mail facsimile apparatus causes the e-mail server 1-3 to transmit an e-mail data service end request, and the e-mail server 1-3 acknowledges it. Is received, the connection release procedure is executed, and the process is terminated (2-13).

  Note that the user can freely determine whether to perform the deletion request to the e-mail server 1-3 when e-mail data is received, when it is expanded into facsimile image data, or after normal printing. You can choose.

  Next, the e-mail facsimile apparatuses 1-2 and 1-7 access the e-mail server 1-3 (automatic call is made to establish a communication link, and e-mail data is received from the e-mail server 1-3. The extraction process will be described based on the flowchart of FIG. The flowchart of FIG. 9 shows the control operation executed by the CPU 10-3, and the computer program for executing the control operation is stored in the ROM 10-2.

  First, the CPU 10-3 determines the presence / absence of an instruction to take out e-mail data by the operator from the operation unit 10-13 via the IO control unit 10-8 (9-1), and no take-out instruction is input. Then, it is checked whether or not the current time is the set e-mail take-out time (9-2), and if the take-out instruction is input by the operator or the current time is the take-out time, It is determined whether the connection mode to the server 1-3 is the LAN connection mode or the line connection mode (9-3).

  If the connection mode is the line connection mode, the CPU 10-3 causes the line I / F unit 10-6 to execute a line connection process (calling process to ISDN / PSTN) (9-4). Check whether the line is connected due to line busy etc. (9-5). If the line is not connected, determine whether the number of redial (recalling) has reached a predetermined number (a predetermined number of times set in advance) (9-6). When the number of re-calls is a predetermined number, the connection process is terminated, the fact that the connection process has ended in error is displayed on the operation unit, and the process returns to the standby state. If the number of re-calls does not reach the predetermined number, a redial (re-call) standby is performed for a predetermined time (9-7), and a line connection process is performed after a predetermined time (9-4).

  When the connection mode is the LAN connection mode or the line connection is completed, the e-mail data extraction process and the analysis process described with reference to FIG. 2 are executed (9-8), and the extraction of all mail data is completed. (9-9), it is checked whether or not the apparatus is set to the list mode for printing the electronic mail list shown in FIG. 8 (9-10). If the apparatus is set to the list mode, the management data of FIG. Referring to FIG. 8, mail list data as shown in FIG. 8 is created, developed into image data, and recorded and output from the printer unit 10-11 (9-11).

  According to the above e-mail facsimile apparatus, e-mail data can be taken out from the e-mail server by the facsimile apparatus, and a person unfamiliar with the operation of the computer can use the e-mail service.

  In addition, when establishing a communication link with the LAN of the e-mail server via ISDN / PSTN, the call is automatically repeated up to a predetermined number of times set in advance, so that the operator does not input a retrieval instruction each time. It is also possible to improve the operability of the apparatus for retrieving e-mail data.

  In addition, since an e-mail list, which is a list of e-mail data headers extracted from the e-mail server, is recorded and output, mail management becomes easy and e-mail data can be reliably extracted. .

  Also, if the e-mail data extracted from the e-mail server contains contents that cannot be interpreted by the e-mail facsimile machine, or if the memory capacity to receive e-mail data cannot be secured, a message indicating that is output, Since the e-mail data is not deleted from the e-mail server, the operator can extract e-mail data by using another device or e-mail data when the memory capacity is available. Can be obtained.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made.

It is the figure which showed the connection form with the network of an electronic mail facsimile apparatus. It is the figure which showed the communication sequence and communication processing by the electronic mail facsimile apparatus of this Embodiment. It is the figure which showed the management data of e-mail data. It is the figure which showed the example of an output of electronic mail data. It is the figure which showed the example of an output of electronic mail data. It is the figure which showed the example of an output of electronic mail data. It is the figure which showed the example of an output of electronic mail data. It is the figure which showed the example of an output of an email list. It is the flowchart which showed the access process to an email server, and the output process of an email list. It is the block diagram which showed the structure of the electronic mail facsimile apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

10-1 Bus line 10-2 ROM
10-3 CPU
10-4 RAM
10-5 Storage Memory 10-6 Line I / F Unit 10-7 IO Control Unit 10-8 IO Control Unit 10-9 Pixel Density Conversion Unit 10-10 Compression / Expansion Unit 10-11 Printer Unit 10-12 Reading Unit 10- 13 Operation section 10-14 LAN I / F section

Claims (15)

Connection means for connecting to a local area network or the Internet;
Withdrawing means for retrieving e-mail data from the local area network or Internet e-mail server in response to periodic or manual operations;
E-mail data pulled out by the pulling means, and output means for developing and printing out an image according to the pulling by the pulling means,
The output means includes text information including at least a transmission source mail address, a transmission destination mail address, a subject, and image information obtained by developing an image file portion included in the electronic mail data, out of the electronic mail data extracted by the extraction means. Is printed out as a different page.   2. The electronic mail data communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the output means prints out text written in a body part of the electronic mail data as text information.   3. The electronic mail communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image file included in the electronic mail data extracted by the extracting means includes facsimile format image data.   The output means indicates that when the image file included in the e-mail data extracted by the extraction means cannot be expanded, the image file could not be printed out in addition to the transmission source mail address, the transmission destination mail address, and the subject. 4. The electronic mail communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a message is printed out.   5. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the output unit prints out a received mail list including at least a transmission source mail address, date and time information, and information indicating whether or not the data has been normally received. Mail communication device. In an e-mail output method using an e-mail communication device,
Connect to a local area network or the Internet,
Retrieve email data from the local area network or Internet email server in response to regular or manual operations;
Text information including at least a transmission source mail address, a transmission destination mail address, and a subject, and image information obtained by developing an image file portion included in the e-mail data are different from the extracted e-mail data according to the extraction. An output method characterized by printing out as a page.   The output method according to claim 6, further comprising: printing out text described in a body part of e-mail data as the text information.   8. The output method according to claim 6, wherein the image file included in the e-mail data to be extracted includes image data in a facsimile format.   If the image file included in the extracted e-mail data cannot be expanded, a message indicating that the image file could not be printed is printed in addition to the transmission source mail address, the transmission destination mail address, and the subject. The output method according to claim 6, wherein the output method is one of the following.   10. The output method according to claim 6, wherein a received mail list including at least a sender mail address, date and time information, and information indicating whether or not the mail has been normally received is printed out. In a storage medium storing a program executed by a computer in an electronic mail communication device that prints out electronic mail data,
Processing to connect to a local area network or the Internet,
A process for retrieving emails from the local area network or Internet email server in response to periodic or manual operations;
Text information including at least a transmission source email address, a transmission destination email address, a subject, and image information obtained by developing an image file portion included in the email data, out of the extracted email data according to the withdrawal of the withdrawal process A storage medium storing a program having a process of printing out different pages as different pages.   The storage medium according to claim 11, further comprising a program having a process of printing out text described in a body part of electronic mail data as the text information.   The storage medium according to claim 11 or 12, wherein the developed image file includes image data in a facsimile format.   If the image file included in the extracted e-mail data cannot be expanded, a process for printing out a message indicating that the image file could not be printed in addition to the transmission source mail address, the transmission destination mail address, and the subject. 14. The storage medium according to claim 11, further comprising a program stored therein.   15. A program having a process for printing out a received mail list including at least a sender mail address, date and time information, and information indicating whether or not the message has been normally received is stored. Storage media.

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