JPH077596A - Facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain the facsimile equipment which informs an individual that a sender desires of reception and also automatically inform the sender to the effect that the receiver has actually received, realizes a desired confidential original by the user by the sender's will without requiring any special device on the sender side, and enables the receiver to know an emergency document without seeing the document. CONSTITUTION:A transmission control part 3 for telephone and facsimile is put together and so sized that is can be placed on an individual desk. Then reception is informed to the individual quickly by using a display part 6, a sender discrimination part 8, a nonvolatile memory 11, C.G12, and an image reduction part 12, and a character and figure recognition part 21 recognizes a confidential and an emergency original; and an operation part 7 transfers the emergency original to designated FAXA and a speech reproduction part 31 and a speaker 32 informs of the reception of the emergency original.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a personal telephone facsimile machine which can be placed on a desk.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, facsimile machines have become smaller and more suitable for home use. However, in the office, almost one telephone is provided for each person, but a facsimile is too large to be placed on the desk and one for each person.

As shown in FIG. 13, a conventional facsimile apparatus has a transmission control section 3, a display section 20 for displaying a telephone number and the like.
1. An operation unit 202 for inputting a telephone number and the like, a reading unit 203 for reading an image, and a recording unit 204 for printing an image, and the reading unit and the recording unit can be set to a certain size or less due to the size of paper. No, it couldn't be as big as a phone. Therefore, about one facsimile was provided on the floor, and each person had to go to get the data received by the facsimile.

However, this configuration has a problem that it is not known when to receive the data addressed to itself. Also, since the recorded data is left unattended, anyone can see it and there was a problem with confidentiality. In addition, when the sender does not know whether or not he / she actually received the data, when the sender wants to send a confidential document, he / she informs it by other means such as a telephone and has him / her stand in front of the facsimile. There was a problem that I could not understand it.

In order to solve these problems, a structure in which the image communication unit and the reading unit are separated and the recording unit is separated can be considered, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 63-64106. This schematic block diagram is shown in FIG. A terminal device 300 surrounded by a dotted line and an offline scanner printer device 400 surrounded by a dotted line are separated. The received image is a private branch exchange C
And is stored in the portable storage device 303 in the terminal 300. When printing the image contents, the portable storage device 30
3 to the offline scanner printer, and the recording unit 203
To print. When the portable storage device 303 becomes full, the control device 304 causes the storage device 305 to temporarily store the portable storage device 303, and the receiver exchanges the portable storage device 303, and then transfers from the storage device 305. With this configuration, it is possible to know when the data addressed to itself is received, and the confidentiality of the data is maintained.

[0006]

However, in the above configuration, the work of the receiver carrying the portable storage device occurs, and a waiting time occurs until the scanner printer prints an image. Also, when the portable storage device is full, it must be replaced, and a spare portable storage device is always required. Further, the private branch exchange requires a control device and a storage device, which increases the cost of the entire system.

Further, it automatically informs that it has received the data, cannot transmit the confidential data by the sender's will, and all the data is accumulated.
Problems such as the urgency of the data not being understood by looking at the received data have not been solved.

[0008]

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems of the prior art and comprises the following means. That is,
In order to achieve the purpose of confirming that the facsimile data addressed to itself has been received, eliminating the work of carrying a portable storage device, and eliminating the print waiting time, the present invention combines the telephone and facsimile communication units into an individual. It is equipped with a memory for storing facsimile reception data, a display means for notifying that the facsimile data has been received, and a means for transferring the received data to a predetermined facsimile.

Further, when the memory is full, the receiver automatically informs that the communication is complete without using other communication means, and the sender can continue sending the continuation of the data while suppressing the cost of the system. As described above, when the memory for storing the facsimile reception data and the means for recognizing the identification signal of the data sender are full, the first received data is reduced in the message that the memory is full. A means to add things and send them to the sender of the data,
After transferring the data stored in the memory to the designated fax machine, add a reduced version of the first piece of the transferred data to the message that the memory is empty,
And means for transmitting the data to the sender.

Furthermore, when the user sees a memory for storing the first page of the transferred facsimile data and a display for notifying that the recipient has received the facsimile data, in order to notify that the facsimile data has been received by the user. In addition, the input means for confirming that the user has seen the information, and when the user sees it, the facsimile data stored in the memory is reduced, added to a message notifying that the data has been transmitted, and transmitted to the sender. And means for doing so.

Further, in order to enable confidential reception at the sender's will, a means for recognizing a specific character or figure in a designated area of the received data, and recognizing this and pre-designating this data. It is provided with a means for storing it in the memory without automatically transferring it to a facsimile and an operating means for allowing the receiver to transfer it at any time.

Further, in order to inform the receiver that the urgent facsimile data has been received, there are provided means for recognizing a specific character or figure in a designated area of the received data, and means for producing a sound when recognizing this. A means for setting that the receiver is out of the office when he / she goes out, and a means for calling a pre-registered contact telephone when the above-mentioned character or figure is recognized when the absence is set.

[0013]

According to the present invention, when the facsimile data is received, the sender can inform the intended individual of the reception of the facsimile data by the display means for notifying that the facsimile data has been received. By the means of automatically transferring to a designated facsimile, the work of carrying a portable storage device is eliminated, and the print waiting time is eliminated.

When the memory for storing facsimile data becomes full by means for notifying the sender when the memory is full, the sender is informed of the fact and when the memory becomes empty, further transmission is made. Since the recipient is informed that the data can be sent, the recipient does not need to perform any work due to the limitation of the memory capacity and does not need any other storage device connected to the local network.

Further, when the receiver performs an operation for viewing the facsimile data, the sender sends a message together with the first page of the facsimile data, so that the sender receives the facsimile data. I can know that.

Furthermore, if a character meaning "confidential" is entered on the first page of the transmission data, it is recognized and stored in the memory and is not transferred to another facsimile. At that time, the contents can be transferred, and it is possible to recognize that the "confidential" facsimile data has been received without the need for the sender to notify in advance by another communication means that the confidential document will be transmitted.

Further, if a character meaning "Urgent" is entered on the first page of the transmission data, the character is recognized and a sound is emitted, or when the absence is set, the designated telephone is called, The recipient can quickly know that the urgent facsimile data has been received without looking at the contents.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a basic schematic block diagram in one embodiment of the present invention. The area within the dotted line 14 is the device. This device is equipped with telephone and facsimile functions,
Each has a different phone number. Public telephone line network L
When the private branch exchange C receives a ringing tone of a facsimile or a telephone connected to 1 or the private branch line network L2, the private branch exchange has a telephone number of 16H due to the difference in the telephone number.
For z and facsimile, a ringing tone of 1300 Hz is passed to the present device 14. This ringing tone is sent through NCU1
Enter the AX identification unit 2. The telephone / FAX identification unit 2 detects the frequency and passes the data to the transmission control unit 3 if it is 1300 Hz, and passes it to the telephone control unit 4 if it is 16 Hz. When the control is handed over, the telephone control unit 4 sounds a ringing tone of the handset 4a. The transmission control unit 3 has a modem function and a communication control function, passes the sender identification number TSI defined by the facsimile protocol to the sender identification unit 8 and the facsimile data to the non-volatile memory 11.

The sender identification unit 8 determines whether or not this sender identification number is registered in advance, and if it is registered, extracts the sender's facsimile telephone number corresponding to that number. The display unit 6 has a lamp for displaying the sender identification number of the facsimile data and the like and notifying that the facsimile data has been received. The detailed configuration of the display unit 6 is shown in FIG.

In FIG. 2, the display unit 6 is a liquid crystal panel 61.
, FAX reception lamp 62, and FAX operating lamp 63
Etc. When receiving the facsimile data,
The FAX reception lamp lights up, and FA is displayed during reception and transfer.
The X operation lamp flashes. The operation unit 7 is composed of a dial and the like for making a call, but it is provided with a reception notification to the sender, a confidential function, and buttons necessary for receiving urgent data. It will be described later.

The ROM 9 stores a program for controlling this device and is executed by the CPU 5. RAM
10 is used as a work area of the program. The non-volatile memory 11 stores facsimile data and a message to the sender described later. C. G. 12 (character generator) generates a character to be displayed on the display unit 6 or a character to be added to a message to the sender. The image reduction unit 13 is used when reducing the first page of the received image and adding it when transmitting a message to the sender.

This device 14 is connected to a private branch exchange C and a facsimile machine A through a private branch exchange network L2. The telephone number of the facsimile device A is registered in the non-volatile memory in advance, and the data received in the non-volatile memory is automatically transferred to the facsimile device A after the reception is completed and printed. In these configurations, the non-volatile memory is I
A C memory card is assumed, but a RAM may be used. However, RAM has a problem that contents are lost when a power failure occurs, and it is not easy to exchange data with other devices such as a personal computer. Also, the telephone and facsimile identification methods are not based on the difference in the frequency of the ringing tone,
The G signal may be detected. However, at this time, there is a problem that the telephone bell rings once or more.

FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the operation unit 7, which includes a dial button 71 for inputting a telephone number and the like, and a FAX reception lamp 62.
Check button 72 to check the reception
And a transfer button 73 for transferring the data stored in the non-volatile memory to a facsimile designated in advance when confidentially received, and an absence setting button 74 which is pressed when the recipient goes out.

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram for recognizing a confidential notice. The difference from FIG. 1 is the character / figure recognition unit 21.
Has been added. If a specific character or figure that means confidentiality is written at the specified position on the first page of the received data, the character and figure recognition unit 21 recognizes the character and the data stored in the non-volatile memory. Is retained without being automatically transferred even after reception is completed. At this time, a plurality of data may be stored, and the number of the data is displayed on the liquid crystal panel 61 of the display unit in FIG. When transferring the accumulated data, the transfer button 73 of the operation unit of FIG. 3 is pressed. When transferring, it is possible to select which data to transfer by the liquid crystal panel 61.

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram for recognizing an urgent notification. The difference from FIG. 1 is the character and figure recognition unit 2
That is, the sound reproducing unit 31 and the speaker 32 are added. When a specific character or figure that means urgently is written at the specified position on the first page of the received data, the character / graphics recognizing unit recognizes this and sounds a sound to notify that urgent data has arrived. Emitted from 32. If the absence setting button 74 of the operation unit in FIG. 3 is pressed, a pre-registered telephone is called to notify by voice that the urgent data has been received. If the phone to register is a pager, ring it and display a message on the pager display.

In the above configuration, the flow of the whole processing will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. A telephone or facsimile call is made from the private branch exchange C, and the NCU 1 receives the ringing tone at step s1. Step s
At 2, the telephone / FAX identification unit 2 detects 1300 Hz, which is a facsimile call, and passes control to the transmission control unit 3 to perform facsimile control. If the frequency is 16 Hz, the control is handed over to the telephone control unit, and the telephone control processing in step s3 is performed. In step s4, the received data passed from the transmission controller 3 is stored in the non-volatile memory 11. In step s5, it is checked whether the memory is full at this time. If the memory is full, step s6
Go to.

Step s6 The flow of the memory full message transmission is shown in FIG. 7 and will be described later. In step s7, the FAX reception lamp 62 is turned on to notify the receiver that the facsimile data has been received. In step s8, the character written in the first specific area of the received data is recognized by the character / graphic recognizing unit 21, and if it is a character meaning confidentiality, the process proceeds to step s15. FIG. 11 shows an example of a character recognition area and a character string. In this example, 3 from the top of the first page of data
If the word "Shinten" is written in the left half within cm, look for the place where the character is written and recognize the character. The same is true for urgent cases. This part is not a letter, but if you write a piece of black with a height of 2 cm and a width of 1 cm, it is 2
A simple pattern such as writing a book is urgent. Since there are few types of recognition, by doing this, the pattern can be recognized without requiring a special OCR or OMR sheet.

In step s9, the received facsimile data is transferred to the facsimile device A designated in advance.
At this time, the first page of the received data is stored in the non-volatile memory for reception notification. The number of the facsimile device A is stored in the non-volatile memory 11. Step s
In 10, since the non-volatile memory 11 is empty, a memory empty message is transmitted. FIG. 8 shows the flow of the memory empty message transmission, which will be described later.

In step s11, the character written in the first specific area of the received data is recognized, and if there is a character meaning urgent, an operation of notifying the receiver of urgent is performed. The flow of urgent recognition is shown in FIG. 12 and described later. Step s12
Then, the recipient recognizes the FAX reception lamp 62 and presses the reception confirmation button 72, whereby the FAX reception lamp 62
Turn off. In step s13, a reception notice is sent to the sender. FIG. 10 shows the flow of the reception notification, which will be described later.

In step s14, the receiver goes to the facsimile apparatus A of the transfer destination to pick up the original document, and the whole flow ends.

On the other hand, if the confidentiality is recognized, step s
At 15, the character written in the first specific area of the received data is recognized, and if there is a character meaning urgent, an operation of notifying the receiver of urgency is performed. The flow of urgent recognition is shown in FIG. 12 and described later. When the receiver tries to view the data stored in the nonvolatile memory 11 in step s16, the transfer button 73 is pressed. When there are a plurality of stored data, the receiver can select whether to transfer all the data or any one of the data while looking at the liquid crystal panel 61. The selected data is transferred to the facsimile device A designated in advance. In step s17, the received facsimile data is transferred to the facsimile device A designated in advance. At this time, the first page of the received data is stored in the non-volatile memory 11 for notification of reception. In step s18, the nonvolatile memory 11
Is empty, send a memory free message to the sender.

FIG. 8 shows the flow of transmission of the memory empty message, which will be described later. After that, the process proceeds to step s13, and the reception notification is transmitted to the sender. If it is not confidential data,
Although the reception notification is transmitted when the receiver presses the reception confirmation button 72, in the case of confidentiality, when the receiver presses the transfer button 73, the reception notification corresponding to the transferred data is transmitted.

As described above, the receiver can know that the facsimile data has been received by the FAX reception lamp 62, and when the sender has designated confidential data, the data is not automatically transferred and stored in the non-volatile memory 11. It is understood that the urgent processing is performed when the sender designates urgently, and the reception notification is sent to the sender when the recipient tries to view the facsimile data.

FIG. 7 showing the flow of a memory full message
In FIG. 8 showing the flow of the memory empty message, when the non-volatile memory 11 is full of data, the receiver does not operate anything and the sender is full of memory, and the memory is full. A process for notifying that there is an empty space is shown.

In step s41, the transmission identification number (TSI signal of the control procedure for facsimile transmission) delivered from the transmission control unit is delivered to the sender identification unit 8 and compared with the sender identification number registered in advance. If it is registered, the process proceeds to step s42, and a memory full message is transmitted to the sender.

FIG. 9 shows a method of message transmission. The message file a101 is stored in advance in the non-volatile memory. The message file a is compressed by the MH method, and this file is first transmitted to the sender. next,
The first page of the MH-compressed received data 104 stored in the non-volatile memory is vertically reduced by the image reduction unit 13.
Reduce it to and send it to the sender. The message that reaches the sender is message file a and the first page of the received data is 1
A composite of the ones reduced to / 2, a. The message will be full of memory.

In step s43, the message transmission flag is set in correspondence with the received data file transmitted to the sender. Here, although the sender identification number (TSI) is used as the sender identification method, the sender's telephone number is written in a specific area on the first page of the received data, and this is used as a character / graphic recognition unit. It can also be recognized at 21.

In step 51 of FIG. 8, if there is a message transmission flag set in step s43 corresponding to the transferred data, the process proceeds to step s52, and a memory empty message is transmitted to the sender. The message to the sender in FIG. 9 shows how to send the memory free message.

In the non-volatile memory, only the first page of the received data is left when the data is transferred to the previously designated facsimile machine in step s9 or step s17, and the rest is erased. First page 1 of this remaining received data
05 and the message file b102 are combined to create a memory free message b, and the message is sent to the sender.

FIG. 10 shows the flow of transmission of the reception notice. In step s61, the recipient identification number is recognized as in step s41. If recognized, a reception notification is transmitted to the sender in step s62. In step s63, the data is erased and the nonvolatile memory is freed. The method of creating the reception notification message is shown in FIG. The flow is the same as the message of free memory, and c. An acknowledgment message is sent to the sender.

FIG. 12 shows the flow of urgent recognition. In step s71, the character written in the first specific area of the received data is recognized, and if there is a character that means urgently, step s
Proceed to 72. In step s72, it is determined whether or not the present apparatus is set to the absence by the absence setting button 74. If the answering machine is not set, a ringing tone is emitted from the speaker 32 in step s73 to notify the receiver that the urgent facsimile data has been received. If the absence is set, the telephone or pager registered in advance is called in step s74, and the recipient can know that the urgent facsimile data has been received.

[0042]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the facsimile data is received, the sender can notify the intended individual that the facsimile data has been received by the display means for notifying that the facsimile data has been received. With the memory for storing data and the means for automatically transferring to a designated facsimile, the work of carrying a portable storage device is eliminated, and the print waiting time is eliminated. When the memory for storing the facsimile data is full, the sender is notified when the memory is full, and the sender is further notified when the memory is full. By notifying that it is possible, the recipient does not need to do any work due to the limitation of the memory capacity and does not need any other storage device connected to the local network.

Furthermore, when the receiver performs an operation for viewing the facsimile data, the sender sends a message together with the first page of the facsimile data, so that the sender receives the facsimile data. I can know that.

Furthermore, if a character meaning "confidential" is entered on the first page of the transmission data, it is recognized and stored in the memory and is not transferred to another facsimile, so the receiver does not At that time, the contents can be transferred, and it is possible to recognize that the "confidential" facsimile data has been received without the need for the sender to notify in advance by another communication means that the confidential document will be transmitted.

Furthermore, if a character meaning "Urgent" is entered on the first page of the transmitted data, the character is recognized and a sound is emitted, or when the absence is set, the designated telephone is called. The recipient can quickly know that the urgent facsimile data has been received without looking at the contents.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a display unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of an operation unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of confidential notification according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of urgent notification according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of overall processing in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a flow of sending a memory full message in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a flow of transmitting a memory free message in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a conceptual diagram showing a message to a sender in one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of transmission of a reception notification in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a conceptual diagram showing a cover for character recognition in one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the flow of urgent recognition in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a schematic block diagram of a conventional FAX machine.

FIG. 14 is a schematic block diagram of a conventional separation-type FAX.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 NCU 2 Telephone, FAX identification unit 3 Transmission control unit 4 Telephone control unit 4a Handset 5 CPU 6 Display unit 7 Operation unit 8 Sender identification unit 9 ROM 10 RAM 11 Nonvolatile memory 12 C. G. (Character generator) 13 Image reduction unit 14 Facsimile device 13 Private branch exchange L1 Public line network L2 Private line network A Facsimile device B Facsimile device C Private branch exchange 61 Liquid crystal panel 62 FAX receiving lamp 63 FAX operating lamp 71 Dial button 72 Reception confirmation button 73 transfer button 74 absence setting button 20 terminal 21 character / figure recognition unit 30 terminal 31 voice reproduction unit 32 speaker 62 FAX reception lamp 101 message file a 102 message file b 103 message file c 104 received data 105 first page of received data 106 Thinning process 107 Thinning process 200 Terminal 201 Display unit 202 Operation unit 203 Image reading unit 204 Image recording unit 300 Separable fax terminal 301 Display unit 3 2 operation unit 303 Nomadic storage device 304 controller 305 storage unit 306 Telephone, FAX selector switch 400 offline scanner printer

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A memory for storing facsimile reception data, a display means for notifying that the facsimile data has been received, a means for transferring the received data to a designated facsimile, and a means for recognizing an identification signal of a data sender. A means for adding identification information of the received data to a message indicating that the memory is full when the memory for storing the facsimile reception data is full, and transmitting the message to the sender of the data; A facsimile apparatus, comprising: means for transmitting the stored data to a facsimile designated in advance and adding identification information of the transferred data to a message indicating that the memory is vacant and transmitting the message to the sender of the data. 2. A memory for storing the first page of the transferred facsimile data, an input means for confirming that the receiver has seen the display for notifying that the recipient has received the facsimile data, The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for reducing the facsimile data stored in the memory, adding the message to a message notifying that the data has been viewed, and transmitting the message to the sender when it is confirmed that the data has been read. . 3. A means for recognizing a specific symbol in a designated area of received data, and recognizing this and storing this data in a memory without automatically transferring it to a designated facsimile. 2. A facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means and operation means capable of being transferred by a receiver at any time. 4. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for recognizing a specific symbol in a designated area of the received data, and means for emitting a sound when recognizing the specific symbol. 5. A means for recognizing a specific symbol in a designated area of received data, a means for setting that the recipient is out of the office when he / she goes out, and a character as described above when the absence is set. 2. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for calling a contact telephone registered in advance when the figure is recognized.