JPH09214661A - Image processing system and its processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the system reliability by transferring communication log information generated by a facsimile equipment to a computer side. SOLUTION: An MPU 16 of a FAX 10 side uses a RAM 13 to apply compression such as MH or MMR to an image, and an NCU 11 makes dialing of a destination FAX number and communication is started. The time is obtained by a clock chip 15 and stored in the RAM 13. When the communication is finished, the communication log information is generated and stored in the RAM 13. Simultaneously the communication log information is sent from a bicentronics connector 12 of the FAX 10 side to a bicentronics connector 21 of a PC 20 side via a bicentronics cable 30. On the other hand, when the PC 20 side receives the communication log information, an MPU 24 edits the information and writes the result to a hard disk device 22 as a communication log file. Since the time at the FAX side is used to unify the communication log, the correspondence of the PC side for the PC side is automatically taken.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image processing system in which a computer and a facsimile device are connected and a processing method thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, personal computers (PCs)
And a facsimile (FAX) are connected with a bicentro cable, etc., and the image can be sent from the PC side using the modem in the FAX, the image received by the FAX can be sent to the PC side, and the contents can be confirmed on the screen. A PC-FAX integrated system has been proposed as an image processing system.

[0003]

However, in the conventional PC-FAX integrated system, the PC side and the FAX side are
Since the communication time is managed using the clocks that are individually provided on the PC side and the PC side and the F side for the same communication,
Communication logs are recorded at individual times on the AX side and F
It was difficult to handle the log on the AX side.

Also, unlike FAX, there are times when it is necessary to turn off the power of a PC for work such as function expansion.
If the FAX communicates while the PC power is off, the log remains only on the FAX side, and even if the PC is turned on again, the FAX communication log while the PC power is off will be the communication log that the PC has. There was also a drawback that was not reflected.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and provides an image processing system and a processing method thereof in which the reliability of the system is improved by transferring the communication log information of the facsimile apparatus to the computer side. The purpose is to provide.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is a processing method of an image processing system in which a computer and a facsimile device are connected to each other, in which communication log information created by the facsimile device is sent to the computer side. It has a transfer step of transferring and a processing step of processing the communication log information transferred by the transfer step.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is, in an image processing system in which a computer and a facsimile device are connected, a transfer means for transferring the communication log information created by the facsimile device to the computer side, and the transfer. Processing means for processing the communication log information transferred by the means.

In such a configuration, the communication log information created by the facsimile machine is transferred to the computer side, and the transferred communication log information is processed.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a PC-FAX integrated system in the embodiment. In the figure, 10 is a facsimile (FAX) and 20 is a personal computer (PC), which will be described in detail later. 30 is a bi-centro interface, specifically, PC1
It is a bi-centro cable that exchanges data between 0 and the FAX 20.

In the FAX 10, 11 is a network control unit (NCU) of the FAX 10 and is connected to a public line 17. 12 is a bi-centro connector, which is on the PC side 2
Used for data exchange with 0. Reference numeral 13 denotes a RAM, which is a memory for storing the created communication log and various tables. Reference numeral 14 denotes a ROM, which stores programs executed by a microprocessor, which will be described later, and control data. Reference numeral 15 is a clock chip (CLOCK) for measuring the time. A microprocessor (MPU) 16 controls the FAX 10 as a whole.

On the other hand, in the PC 20, 21 is the PC 20.
It is a bicentro connector on the side. A hard disk device (HD) 22 is a non-volatile memory for storing communication logs. Reference numeral 23 is a RAM, which is a PC described later.
Twenty microprocessors are used as work areas when executing various processes. Reference numeral 24 is a microprocessor (MPU) of the PC 20.

The operation when FAX communication is performed in the above configuration will be described below with reference to FIG.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing the operation during FAX communication in the embodiment. First, when activating the FAX 10 from the PC 20 side to perform transmission, R of the PC 20
In addition to the image created on the AM 23, the FAX number of the destination input from the operation unit (not shown) is F from the Bicentro connector 21 via the Bicentro cable 30.
It is sent to the bicentro connector 12 on the AX 10 side.

As a result, the MPU 16 is provided on the FAX 10 side.
Compresses MH, MMR, etc. into the image using the RAM 13, and the NCU 11 makes a call operation according to the destination FAX number to start communication (step S10).
1). Then, the time at this time is obtained from the clock chip 15 and stored in the RAM 13 (step S102). After that, when communication is completed (step S103), communication log information as shown in FIG. 3 is created and stored in the RAM 13 (step S104). At the same time, communication log information is FAX
It is also sent from the bicentro connector 12 on the 10 side to the bicentro connector 21 on the PC 20 side via the bicentro cable 30 (step S105). On the other hand, PC2
When the communication log information is received on the 0 side, the MPU 24 edits the information and writes it in the hard disk device 22 as a communication log file (step S106).

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a format example of the communication log information. In the figure, 31 is the communication start time, 3
Reference numeral 2 is a communication time indicating a time during communication. Reference numeral 33 is destination information, which includes a destination FAX number at the time of transmission and a TID obtained through communication at the time of reception. 34 is a paper size, in which a value determined by communication negotiation is entered. Then, 35 is the number of sheets corresponding to the decided paper size 34, and the number of counted page boundaries in communication is entered.

Next, the operation when the power of the PC 20 is turned on after the power of the PC 20 is turned off for a certain period of time will be described below with reference to FIG.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the operation of the PC 20 according to the embodiment when the power is turned on. When the power of the PC 20 is turned on, the MPU 22 executes the power-on sequence and makes a communication log request. As a result, the request command is sent to the bicentro connector 21 on the PC 20 side.
Is sent to the bicentro connector 12 on the FAX side 10 via the bicentro cable 30 (step S20).
1).

On the other hand, when the FAX 10 receives the request command, the communication log stored in the RAM 13 is read, the communication log information is edited in the format shown in FIG. 3, and the bicentro connector 12 to the bicentro cable 30 is read. Bicentro connector 2 on the PC 20 side via
1 (step S202).

As a result, the MPU 24 on the PC 20 side writes the received communication log information to the hard disk device 22 as a communication log file (step S203). At this time, the communication start time 31 of the communication log information is referred to, and only the communication log information having the communication start time which does not exist in the communication log file is added to the file.

As described above, according to the embodiment, since the communication logs are unified according to the time on the FAX side, the correspondence with the communication log on the PC side can always be automatically taken. Also, P
The communication log information on the PC side, which was performed when the power on the C side was cut off, is
When the power of C is turned on again, the data is automatically restored to match the FAX log information.

Even when the present invention is applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices (eg, host computer, interface device, reader, printer, etc.), a device composed of one device (eg, copying machine, facsimile device) Etc.)

Further, an object of the present invention is to supply a storage medium having a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiment to a system or apparatus, and to supply a computer (or CPU or MP of the system or apparatus).
It goes without saying that U) is also achieved by reading and executing the program code stored in the storage medium.

In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

A storage medium for supplying the program code is, for example, a floppy disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a CD.
-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, or the like can be used.

Further, by executing the program code read by the computer, not only the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized, but also the OS (operating system) running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. It is needless to say that this also includes a case where the above) performs a part or all of the actual processing and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written in the memory provided in the function expansion board inserted into the computer or the function expansion unit connected to the computer, based on the instruction of the program code, It goes without saying that a case where the CPU provided in the function expansion board or the function expansion unit performs a part or all of the actual processing and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is also included.

[0028]

【The invention's effect】

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to improve the reliability of the system by transferring the communication log information of the facsimile device to the computer side.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a PC-FAX integrated system according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation during FAX communication in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a format example of communication log information.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation when the power of the PC 20 in the embodiment is turned on.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 FAX 11 Network control unit (NCU) 12 Bicentro connector 13 RAM 14 ROM 15 Clock chip (CLOCK) 16 Microprocessor (MPU) 17 Public line 20 PC 21 Bicentro connector 22 Hard disk unit (HD) 23 RAM 24 Microprocessor ( MPU) 30 Bicentro cable

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An image processing system in which a computer and a facsimile device are connected to each other. Transfer means for transferring the communication log information created by the facsimile device to the computer side, and processing the communication log information transferred by the transfer means. An image processing system comprising: 2. The image processing system according to claim 1, wherein the transfer unit transfers the communication log information to a computer connected via a bi-centro interface. 3. The image processing system according to claim 1, wherein the transfer means transfers the communication log information when the facsimile communication is completed. 4. The facsimile apparatus further comprises storage means for storing communication log information, and instruction means for instructing the computer to transfer the communication log information stored in the storage means when the computer is powered on. The image processing system according to claim 1, wherein: 5. A processing method of an image processing system in which a computer and a facsimile device are connected to each other, a transfer step of transferring communication log information created by the facsimile apparatus to a computer side, and a communication log transferred by the transfer step. A processing method of an image processing system, comprising: a processing step of processing information. 6. The processing method of the image processing system according to claim 5, wherein the transfer step transfers the communication log information to a computer connected via a bi-centro interface. 7. The processing method of an image processing system according to claim 5, wherein the transfer step transfers the communication log information when the facsimile communication is completed. 8. A storage step of storing communication log information in a facsimile apparatus, and when the computer is turned on,
The processing method of the image processing system according to claim 5, further comprising an instruction step of instructing transfer of the accumulated communication log information.