JP2942318B2 - Facsimile machine - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a facsimile apparatus having an image storage function.

[Related Art] In recent years, as facsimile machines have become widespread and the number of installed facsimile machines has increased, mischief has often been performed on the facsimile machines.

The contents of the mischief include, for example, transmitting a large number of blank documents and causing the receiving side to uselessly consume the recording paper.

Conventionally, as a facsimile machine capable of coping with such mischief, for example, identification information is set between the transmitting side and a received image only when the transmitting side notifies the set identification information. There is a method of recording and outputting an image of information.

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] However, in such a conventional apparatus, when the set identification information is leaked to the outside, there is a case where a disadvantage occurs that a mischief is performed using the identification information. In addition, when image information is transmitted to a plurality of receiving devices, it has been inconvenient to set identification information on the transmitting side for each receiving device.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and has as its object to provide a facsimile apparatus that can appropriately cope with mischief.

Means for Solving the Problems According to the present invention, an upper limit value storage unit for storing an upper limit value of the number of pages of received image information, an operator calling unit for calling an operator, When the image information is accumulated and the number of pages does not exceed the upper limit value stored in the upper limit storage means, the image of the received image information is recorded and output, while the number of pages of the received image information is less than the upper limit value. When the number exceeds the threshold, the operator is called by the operator calling means, and a control means for setting and inputting a recording mode of the image information is provided.

[Operation] Accordingly, when the number of received images is abnormally large, the recording output setting of the image of the received file can be set by the operator's will, so that wasteful consumption of the recording paper can be prevented.

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

FIG. 1 shows a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, the private branch exchange PBX connected to the outside line
The extension has a facsimile machine FX and n telephones TL
1 to TLn are connected.

Further, the facsimile machine FX includes a transmission means for transmitting image information and a transmission means for calling an operator, and one extension is connected to each transmission means.

Further, in the facsimile apparatus FX, an upper limit of the number of pages of the received image information to be recorded and output, and an extension number of an operator notifying that the received image information of the number of pages exceeding the upper limit is received are set. . These settings are made by the operator.

 FIG. 2 shows an example of the facsimile machine FX.

In FIG. 1, a control unit 1 controls the facsimile machine FX.
And a facsimile transmission control procedure process. The system memory 2 includes a control unit 1
In addition to storing a control processing program to be executed by the computer and various data necessary for executing the processing program, the work area of the control unit 1 is configured. The parameter memory 3 is a unique memory for the facsimile machine FX. For storing various types of information, for example, the extension number of the called operator and the upper limit of the number of pages of received image information to be recorded and output.

The scanner 4 is for reading a document image at a predetermined resolution, the plotter 5 is for recording and outputting a resolution at a predetermined resolution, and the operation display unit 6 is for operating the facsimile machine FX. And comprises various operation keys and various indicators.

The encoding / decoding section 7 encodes and compresses the image signal and decodes the encoded and compressed image information into the original image signal. The image storage device 8 encodes and compresses the image signal. This is for storing a large number of image information in the state of being closed.

The group 3 facsimile modem 9 is for realizing a group 3 facsimile modem function, and is a low-speed modem function (V.21) for exchanging transmission procedure signals.
Modem) and a high-speed modem function (V.29 modem, V.27ter modem) for mainly exchanging image information.

The network control device 10 is for connecting the facsimile device FX to the private branch exchange PBX, and has an automatic transmission / reception function.

Further, the voice response device 11 is for generating a guidance voice message, for example, “Received image information whose number of pages exceeds the upper limit value.” The output is sent to the network control device 12. ing. The network control device 12
The facsimile machine is connected to a private branch exchange PBX and has an automatic calling function.

These are a control unit 1, a system memory 2, a parameter memory 3, a scanner 4, a plot 5, an operation display unit 6, an encoding / decoding unit 7, an image storage device 8, a group 3 facsimile modem 9, network controllers 10, 12, , And the voice response device 12 are connected to a system bus 13, and data exchange between these components is mainly performed through the system bus 13.

Data exchange between the network controller 10 and the group 3 facsimile modem 9 is directly performed.

In the facsimile apparatus, when the received image information is stored in the image storage device 8, a received file management table as shown in FIG. 3A is formed, and the image information of each page is stored in the received file information table as shown in FIG. A page management table as shown in FIG.

The received file management table includes a file number for identifying each received file, transmission mode information for storing the transmission mode of the received file, and an operation call flag indicating that the received file requires confirmation by an operator. , Page number information indicating the number of pages of the received file, and a first page pointer indicating a page management table managing the image information of the first page.

The page management table includes page reference number information for storing a page reference number of image information managed by the page management table, and head address information indicating a head address of a storage area occupied by the image information in the image storage device 8. , Data amount information indicating the data amount of the image information, and a next page pointer indicating a page management table for managing the image information of the next page. If the image information is the last page, data indicating that fact is set in the next page pointer.

In the above configuration, when a call is made from an outside line via the private branch exchange PBX, the control unit 1 performs the processing shown in FIG. 4 to execute image information reception.

When an incoming call is detected, a pre-transmission procedure is performed with the partner apparatus to negotiate a transmission function (processing 101), and a modem training procedure is performed at the modem speed set at that time (processing 102).

Next, the value of the page counter PC for storing the number of received pages is initialized to 0, and the flag FLG for storing that the operation process has started is reset (step 103).

Thus, when the reception preparation is completed, the image information for one page is received and the image information is stored in the image storage device 8 (processing
104), increments the value of the page counter PC by one (Process 10)
Five).

Here, it is checked whether the value of the page counter PC has exceeded the preset upper limit value PA (determination 10
6) If the result of the judgment 106 is YES, it is checked whether or not the flag FLG is set (judgment 107).

When the result of the determination 107 is NO, an operation call process for calling an operator to inquire about the recording output of the received image or the like is started (processing 108), and the flag FLG
Is set (process 109). At this time, the operation call flag in the received file management table corresponding to the received image information is updated to the set state. Also, if the result of decision 106 is NO
, And when the result of the determination 107 is NO, the processes 108 and 109 are not executed.

Then, it is checked whether or not the transmission side has notified that the image information of the next page continues (decision 110). When the result of the decision 110 is YES, the process returns to step 104 to receive the image information of the next page. Perform

If the result of the judgment 110 is NO, it is checked whether or not the flag FLG is set (decision 111). If the result of the judgment 111 is NO, the image of the received image information at that time can be recorded and output. Check if there is (decision 11
2).

When the result of the determination 112 is YES, a print process for recording and outputting the image of the received image information is started (process 113), a predetermined post-transmission procedure is performed (process 114), and the line is restored (process 113). 115), and a series of image information receiving operations ends.

When the result of the determination 111 is YES, and when the result of the determination 112 is NO in the confidential reception mode or when an abnormality occurs in the plotter 5, the processing 113 is not executed.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the received image information is temporarily stored in the image storage device 8, and the number of pages is monitored. When the number of pages exceeds the upper limit PA set in advance by the operator, the operator is notified. The call operation process to be called is started, and the subsequent reception image information is continuously stored.

Also, the number of pages of the received image information is equal to or less than the upper limit PA,
If the image of the received image information can be recorded and output, the received image information is decoded into the original image signal by the encoding / decoding unit 7, and the obtained image signal is sequentially transferred to the plotter 5, and The information image is recorded and output.

When one image information receiving operation is completed and the image information received at that time remains in the image storage device 8, the above-described received file management table is formed and stored in the system memory 2. At the same time, for each page, the above-described page management table is formed and stored in the system memory 2.

Here, in the operator process, a call is made to a preset extension number of a call destination operator using the network control device 12, and when the telephones TL1 to TLn of the extension number respond to the incoming call, the voice response device 11 is activated. Upon activation, the above-mentioned guidance voice message is transmitted to call the operator.

The operator called by the facsimile machine FX goes to the facsimile machine FX in this way, operates the operation display section 6, and inputs a command for the received image output confirmation mode.

Thereby, the control unit 1 executes the processing shown in FIG.

That is, first, the contents of the system memory 2 are checked,
The received file management table in which the operation call flag is set is searched, and a work selection guidance message as shown in FIG. 6 is displayed on the operation display unit 6 based on the search result (process 201).

Here, in the column R in the work selection guidance message, the number of received file management tables (hereinafter referred to as a call received file management table) in which the operation call flag is set at that time is displayed.

Then, in this state, whether “Received file check” of work “1” is selected, output of received file of work “2” is selected, or “Delete received file” of work “3” is selected Alternatively, the process waits until “end” of the operation “4” is selected (NO loop of determinations 202, 203, 204, 205).

If the operator specifies “received file check” of work “1” and the result of determination 202 is YES, the file with the smallest file number information among the call received file management tables searched at that time The image information of the first page and the second page of the reception file (hereinafter, referred to as a target file) corresponding to the target reception file management table (hereinafter, referred to as a target reception file management table) is sequentially read from the image storage device 8 and the image is recorded from the splitter 5. Output is performed (process 206), and the process returns to process 201.

If the operator designates “output received file” of work “2” and the result of determination 203 is YES, the image information of all pages of the file of interest is sequentially read from the image storage device 8 and the image is plotted. 5 (process 207), the image information of the file of interest is deleted from the image storage device 8, and the received file management table of interest is deleted from the system memory 2 (process 20).
8).

Then, at that time, it is checked whether or not there is one or more call reception file management tables (decision 209). When the result of decision 209 is YES, the process returns to step 201. in this case,
Since the received file management table of the received file that was the target file immediately before is deleted in the process 208, the number displayed in the column R in the work selection guidance message is reduced by one.

If the operator designates “delete received file” of operation “3” and the result of determination 204 is YES, the process proceeds to step 208 to delete the file of interest and execute the subsequent processes. .

When the operator designates “end” of the operation “4” and the result of the determination 205 is YES, the series of operations in the received image output confirmation mode is ended.

Therefore, when the operator sets and inputs the received image output confirmation mode, among the received files stored in the image storage device 8 at that time, those having the number of pages exceeding the upper limit PA (hereinafter referred to as a call reception file). The work selection guidance in which the number is set in the column R is displayed.

Then, when the operator selects “confirm received file” of work “1” in order to confirm the contents of the received file, among the call received files at that time, the file of interest having the smallest set file number is selected. The images of the first two pages are recorded and output from the splitter 5.

When the operator confirms the recorded and output image, decides to record and output all pages, and selects “Received file output” in operation “2”, the images of all pages of the target file are plotted on the plotter 5. After the recording and output, the file of interest is deleted from the image storage device 8 and the received file management table of the file of interest is deleted from the system memory 2.

When the operator decides to delete the received file and selects “delete received file” in operation “3”, the file of interest is deleted from the image storage device 8 and the received file management of the file of interest is performed. The table is deleted from the system memory 2.

Therefore, after selecting “received file output” and “received file deletion”, the numerical value displayed in the column R of the work selection guidance message is reduced by one. In addition, for all call reception files, "Receive file output"
Alternatively, when the “delete received file” is executed, the received image output confirmation mode ends.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when image information exceeding the number of pages set in advance is received, the operator is inquired whether or not to record and output the image, and is executed according to the operator's will. A meaningless image due to mischief can be recorded and output to prevent a situation where recording paper is wasted.

By the way, in the above-described embodiment, the operator is called by a voice message, but the calling means is not limited to this.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, when the number of received images is abnormally large, the recording output of the image of the received file can be specified by the operator's will.
The advantage is that wasteful consumption of recording paper can be prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a facsimile machine, FIG. 3 (a) is a schematic diagram showing an example of a received file management table, 4B is a schematic diagram showing an example of the page management table, FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing example at the time of reception, FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing example in a received image output confirmation mode, and FIG. It is a schematic diagram showing an example of selection guidance. 1 ... Control unit, 2 ... System memory, 3 ... Parameter memory, FX ... Facsimile machine, PBX ... Private branch exchange, TL1-TLn ... Telephone.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A facsimile apparatus having an image storage function, comprising: an upper limit storage unit for storing an upper limit of the number of pages of received image information; an operator calling unit for calling an operator; The received image information is accumulated, and when the number of pages does not exceed the upper limit value stored in the upper limit value storage means, the image of the received image information is recorded and output. A facsimile machine comprising a control means for calling an operator by the operator calling means when the value exceeds the value, and for setting and inputting a recording mode of the image information.