FR2788399A1 - Facsimile transmission identification technique having digital word identification transmission added and received digital word processed/digital graphics facsimile added. - Google Patents

Abstract

The facsimile identification technique has a technique (10-14,16-18) to add a digital word of identification to the facsimile page on transmission associating the identification with the page. On reception, the identification digital words are converted to digital graphics and placed in a portion of the facsimile- which can cover a large or small portion of a facsimile page.

Description

Fax machine with fax identification When a fax machine transmits

  a fax page, it replaces an image strip at the top of the page with a line of alphanumeric text identifying the caller, called LIC, specifying his telephone number and the time of transmission. The receiving fax machine can add its own telephone number to it. This allows users to manage

  more easily received faxes.

  The information provided by the LIC is however of limited scope. The

  present invention aims to extend it.

  To this end, the invention relates to a facsimile machine comprising facsimile identification means arranged to associate, on the same facsimile, a document and identification data, characterized in that the identification means are arranged to associate , at

  document, at least graphic identification data.

  Thus, a fax can be identified and authenticated by simple graphical information, which can be instantly recognized and for example indicate the sender of the fax or the degree of urgency to process the information contained in the fax. The notion of fax identification must therefore be understood here in the broad sense, because, in addition to the recognition of a fax machine and its user, it also covers the recognition of characteristics attributed to the document, such as its degree of urgency, confidentiality and others.

  The invention will be better understood using the description of a shape

  preferred embodiment of the facsimile machine of the invention, with reference to the appended drawing in which: FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the facsimile machine, FIG. 2 is a more detailed block diagram of a central unit of the facsimile machine, and - Figures 3, 4 and 5 illustrate various fax formats according to the invention.

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  The facsimile machine shown schematically in FIG. 1 comprises a central unit with microprocessor 1, operating at a rate based on a time base 2. A line interface circuit 3, ensuring the exchange of phonic signals and signals, connects the central unit 1 to line 9 of the PSTN switched telephone network. In addition to the central unit 1, an optical document analyzer 4, or scanner, is connected.

  printer 5, keyboard 6 and screen 7.

  The central unit 1 comprises a set 10 to 18 of calculation circuits (microprocessor) and memories, represented in functional form in FIG. 2. This set comprises two channels for processing image signals, 10-14 for images identification, or annotation, of facsimile documents and 15-17 for images of facsimile documents, resulting in a circuit 18 for composing the two types of images into a facsimile image of conventional size ready to be transmitted

  on the RTC or ready to be edited locally.

  The first channel comprises a memory 10 containing a plurality of fax identification image data, identifying the represented fax machine or its user, such as logotypes or even annotation symbols of the document indicating for example an emergency for processing a fax. received or specifying confidentiality. These images are initially provided by the scanner 4 or another reserved for this purpose, or even by a local PC through a link (not shown) or else

  by an equivalent remote device, through PSTN line 9.

  The memory 10 is addressed by an image selection circuit 11 controlled from the keyboard 6 and followed by a circuit 12 for changing size or scale, here for reducing the image. Circuit 12 periodically adds pixels by interpolation to enlarge the image, or by

  eliminates, in a fixed step, to reduce the image.

  An image truncation circuit 13, downstream of the circuit 12, supplies images to an image clarification circuit 14, connected at output to the facsimile image composition circuit 18 ready to be sent or edited. The

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  truncation consists of replacing the signals representing pixels of a

  image area by other signals representing "white" pixels that is

  that is, more generally, an absence of a print command.

  The clarification consists for example in reducing the diameter of pixels to be printed, by reducing the heating time of heating elements in a thermal printer for example, or in removing pixels according to

a determined step.

  The second channel includes a memory 15 containing images of documents to be sent, written from the scanner 4 or other, as mentioned for the memory 10. In reading, the memory 15 is connected to a scaling circuit 16, followed by a truncation circuit 17 leading to the

composition circuit 18.

  The operation of the facsimile machine will now be explained in more detail, firstly for transmission and then for reception of faxes. The memory 10 constitutes a library of graphic data making it possible to graphically annotate the images (15) of the documents to be

  issue and / or documents received, to be edited.

  In the case of a transmission, a user performs an optical capture of the document, the image signals being stored in the memory 15. He then selects, using the keyboard 6 and according to a menu presented on the screen 7 by the central unit 1, an identification image in the memory 10, to associate it with the image (15) of the document and transmit the composite image thus constituted. This association of the two images, of different natures, on the same electronic fax page can take various forms, illustrated by the following three examples,

Figures 3 to 5.

  In the first example (fig. 3), a logotype in memory 10, selected by the circuit 11 controlled by the keyboard 6, is scaled down by crossing the circuit 12. The truncation 13 and lightening 14 circuits can be transparent to image data. Likewise, the image of

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  document in memory 15 is reduced in scale, passes without modification through the truncation circuit 17 and reaches the image composition circuit 18. The two images, coming from the two channels, are juxtaposed there to form a fax image with identification. The dotted line frame completes the images drawn to indicate the

  normal image size of a fax page.

  The image includes the identification logotype, referenced 101, as well as an alphanumeric LIC line 102 of identification information, indicating the telephone number of the transmitting fax machine, to which the date and time are added at the time of printing. online transmission 9. The document image, from memory 15 and reduced, is separated from images 101 and 102 and substantially adjacent thereto, to occupy at

the better the area available.

  The logotype 101 is here located at the edge of the total image, near the upper left corner, the alphanumeric LIC 102 being at the upper edge of the image. Instead of or in addition to a logotype, annotations such as "urgent", "confidential", or the name of the person sending the fax and / or the name of the

  recipient, person or company.

  The receiving fax machine edits the fax page by possibly adding its own telephone number in the LIC 102. It can therefore be a conventional fax machine, insofar as it is the sender who created the composite image with logotype or other, and which is

  perceived at reception as being a classic image.

  In the second example, illustrated in FIG. 4, the image 110 of the document in memory 15 has simply been truncated in the circuit 17 to provide therein an area reserved for the logotype 111 and the LIC 112, which are therefore adjacent to the truncated image 110. The logotype scaling circuit 12 can be activated to reduce a logotype image

(10) too large.

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  In the third example, illustrated in FIG. 5, the logotype 121, with next to it the LIC 122, and the document image 120 are mutually superimposed. In such a case, circuits 12 and 13 are transparent to the data. The circuit 14 for lightening the logotype is preferably activated to avoid obscuring the image 120 too much. The logotype 121 constitutes a background forming a sort of watermark authenticating the fax by identification of the sending fax machine or of a family of such fax machines, belonging for example to the same

society.

  This superposition of the two images can consist in adding, for each pixel, the intensity levels of the two homologous pixels, of the same position, in each of the two images to be composed. As a variant, the composite image restored can simply be obtained by a sampling of reading of intensity levels, by alternating from one image to another, when moving from one pixel position to the next. For example, the pixels of even rank of a line will be read in the electronic image (120) of the document and the pixels of odd rank will be read in the electronic image (121) of the logotype. The two images 120, 121 will thus be finely interlaced and each lightened by half, by not taking into account half of its pixels. A "form factor" of 1/4 for taking into account the logo, taking into account one pixel out of four, makes it possible to allocate 3/4 of the number of pixels to the image of the document 120, and therefore clearly reproduce while presenting in a blurred but still clearly visible logotype 121. The circuit 14 can preferably be integrated into the image composition circuit 18 so, at the same time,

brighten and compose the image.

  The logotype scaling circuit 12 can still be activated, in order to possibly reduce the latter, so that it is only superimposed on a portion of the image 120, instead of affecting substantially the entire image

, as in Figure 4.

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  In general, circuits 12-14, 16 and 17 can be activated independently of each other. Furthermore, it will be noted that the part

  alpha-numeric 102, 112, 122 faxing is optional.

  The various operations described above, of association of a document image and an identification or annotation image, are also

  valid for a receiving fax machine.

  In this case, a conventional received fax, stored in memory 15, would be automatically composed with an identification image from memory 10, in circuit 18, before being printed on printer 5. Thus, the fax restored would carry an image (101, 111, 121) identifying, in this case, the receiving fax machine and / or its user, who may optionally read it first on the screen 7 and add an annotation, extracted from memory 10 It is understood that the transmitting and receiving facsimile machines can each add a graphic pattern of identification of the same fax, independently of one of

  the other and therefore, in particular, both make this addition.

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Claims (7)

  1.- Fax machine comprising means (10-14, 16-18) of fax identification arranged to associate, on the same fax, a document and identification data, characterized in that the identification means ( 10-14, 16-18) are arranged to associate, with the document,   at least graphic identification data (101, 111, 121).   2. A facsimile machine according to claim 1, in which the identification means (10-14, 16-18) are arranged to insert a logotype.   predetermined (101, 111) on the edge of the fax.   3.- Fax machine according to one of claims 1 and 2, in which it is   provided means (16) for reducing the document (100) and means   (18) to juxtapose the graphic identification data (101) there.   4.- Fax machine according to one of claims 1 to 3, in which the   identification means (10-14, 16-18) are arranged to restore, after reduction (12), an image of graphic identification data (101,   1 11, 121) previously acquired by input means (4).   5. Fax according to claim 1, wherein the identification means (10-14, 16-18) are arranged to superimpose the document   (120) and an image of the graphical identification data (121).   6. A facsimile machine according to claim 5, in which there are provided   means (14) for clarifying the identification image.   7. A facsimile machine according to claim 6, in which the means (14) for clarifying the identification image are arranged to interleave pixels.   the document (120) and the identification image (121).