JPH10233876A - Facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To designate all transmitting operations at a remote place via a computer network to perform the facsimile communication by reading out the stored sending slip information to add it to an original image for production of the transmission information and sending this information to each destination. SOLUTION: A sending slip production part reads the 2nd position data 14 and the 2nd destination image 15 out of a position storage part and a destination storage part respectively and synthesizes them with a sending slip image 16 after the facsimile communication is performed via the fist sending designation. Then a 2nd transmission information production part reads a 2nd destination number 13 and a 2nd original image 17 out of a number storage part and an original image storage part respectively and sends the 2nd transmission information to plural different facsimile equipments. This processing is repeated by the number of times shown in the number of destinations or the number 13 to perform the optional facsimile communication at a remote place via a computer network and to share the facsimile equipments among user terminals.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile apparatus which can automatically attach a sending slip to a destination at the time of facsimile communication. The present invention relates to a facsimile apparatus that can also be used as a sending facsimile server.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, a facsimile apparatus has a function of reading a transmission original and creating and attaching a transmission slip for each destination. In order to make effective use of this function, it is important to be able to automatically create sending slips with different contents for each destination, and various methods of creating sending slips based on such requests have been proposed. I have.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a broadcast communication device in a facsimile of the first conventional example. This first conventional example is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 4-151970, in which a plurality of sending slips and document information are stored in a storage memory 111 in advance, and a plurality of destination numbers are also stored in a dial information storage means. 112. In such a configuration, when the mode setting unit 113 is activated, the reading control unit 114 reads out the sending slip from the storage memory 111 in order for each destination number, and automatically transmits the attached first transmission information. .

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a second conventional facsimile apparatus. This second conventional example is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-29.
No. 0370, a transmission form image in a predetermined format is stored in the image memory 121 in advance, and additional data is introduced from the image processing unit 122 and written in a predetermined position in the transmission form image. Go out.
Further, an arbitrary one of a plurality of fixed phrases stored in the external memory 123 is introduced and synthesized, and the first transmission information attached to the read document information is transmitted to the destination number.

[0005]

However, the following problems have been encountered when attempting to automatically attach and send a sending slip using these conventional facsimile machines. In the first conventional example, broadcast communication to a plurality of destinations can be efficiently performed, but a plurality of sending slips need to be created by hand by an operator. For this reason, it is not possible to create an arbitrary sending slip in a plurality of formats having different character fonts and sizes.

Further, in the second conventional example, several different types of sending slips can be created and attached by inserting a plurality of fixed sentences into a plurality of formats. However, the memory capacity for storing character fonts and fixed phrases is naturally limited, and it is not possible to cope with various styles such as when shared by multiple departments of a company.
It is unavoidable that the cost due to having to incorporate the circuit components for each device for that purpose.

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and obtains the layout of various sending forms from a wide range of user terminals via a computer network, thereby conserving software resources for layout creation. An object of the present invention is to provide a facsimile machine that can be used effectively.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a facsimile apparatus according to the present invention creates a transmission form for each designated destination, thereby transmitting each transmission to a first original image read from a transmission original. In a facsimile apparatus that attaches and transmits a form, an acquisition unit that connects to a computer network and obtains form information from a remote location, a form storage unit that introduces and stores the acquired form information, The first transmission information is read out from the transmission form storage means, the transmission form information is added to the first document image to create first transmission information, and the first transmission information is transmitted for each destination. Means.

According to this facsimile machine, the sending means is connected to the computer network by the obtaining means, the sending slip information is obtained from a remote location, stored in the sending slip storing means, and read out by the first sending information creating means. Transmission form information is added to the first document image, created in the first transmission information, and transmitted for each destination.

In a facsimile apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention, the acquisition means acquires the destination number together, and further comprises a destination number storage unit for introducing and storing the acquired destination number. The first transmission information creating means reads the stored destination number from the destination number storage unit instead of the designated destination, and transmits the first transmission information for each destination number.

According to this facsimile apparatus, the destination number is also acquired by the acquiring means and stored in the destination number accumulating section, and the destination number is read by the first transmission information creating means instead of the designated destination. Then, the first transmission information is transmitted for each destination number.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the facsimile apparatus, the obtaining means obtains the second original image together, wherein the original image storage unit for introducing and storing the second original image, The second document image is read from the storage unit, the transmission form information is read from the transmission form storage unit, and the destination number is read from the destination number storage unit, and the transmission form information is added to the read second document image. The apparatus further includes a second transmission information creating unit that creates the transmission information and sends the second transmission information together with the destination number to the first transmission information creation unit. The second transmission information is introduced from the second transmission information creating means instead of the vote information, and the second transmission information is transmitted for each destination number.

According to this facsimile apparatus, the second document image is also acquired by the acquisition means and stored in the document image storage unit, and is read from the second document image, the transmission form information, and the destination number storage unit, respectively. The transmission slip information is added to the read second document image, and second transmission information is created and transmitted for each destination number.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the facsimile apparatus, the sending form information includes position data, a destination image, and a sending form image, and the storage means stores and stores position data. A destination image storage unit for introducing and storing the destination image, a transmission form image storage unit for introducing and storing the transmission form image, position data from the position storage unit, and a destination image from the destination image storage unit. Further, each of the transmission form images is read from the transmission form image storage unit, and the destination image is combined with the transmission form image based on the position data to create transmission form information, and the transmission form information is transmitted to the second transmission information creating means. And a sending slip creation unit that performs the sending.

According to the facsimile apparatus, the position data, the destination image, and the transmission form image are introduced and stored in the position storage section, the destination image storage section, or the transmission form image storage section, respectively. Based on the destination image, the destination image is combined with the transmission form image to create transmission form information.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram schematically showing an example of an embodiment according to the present invention. According to this embodiment, the acquisition unit 11 for acquiring the sending designation from the user terminal
A number storage unit 20, a transmission form storage unit 30, and a document image storage unit 40 for introducing and storing each element of the designated content, and a second transmission information generating unit for generating the second transmission information while reading these elements A facsimile apparatus having 50 as a main part is configured.

In the facsimile apparatus of the present invention, in addition to the above-mentioned main parts, a connection means 12 for connecting the acquisition means 11 to a computer network,
A document reading unit 61 for forming a document image, a destination designating unit 62 for designating a destination by an operator, and either generating the first transmission information from the first document image or switching to the second transmission information. First transmission information creating means 70 for sending;
A transmission means 63 for performing facsimile communication of the first or second transmission information is also provided.

Further, the transmitting means 63 is connected to a communication line such as a telephone exchange network. Usually, the transmitting means 63 internally prepares a sending slip for each designated destination, thereby reading the first original read. Each transmission form image is added to the image and transmitted. Acquisition unit 11 is connected via connection unit 12
It is an interface that connects to a LAN, wide area network, or other computer network and acquires multiple types of sending slip information from remote locations.

FIG. 2 is a format diagram for explaining transmission designation in the embodiment of FIG. This transmission designation includes a destination number 13 of facsimile communication, position data 14 indicating the contents of a transmission form, a destination image 15, a transmission form image 16, a second
The document image 17 is included. Generally, destination number 13
Is placed at the beginning and the second document image 17 is placed at the end, but this order is not necessarily required. The position data 14, the destination image 15, and the transmission form image 16 are transmission form information, the destination number 13 is stored in the number storage unit 20, the transmission form information is stored in the transmission form storage unit 30, The second document image 17 is introduced into the document image storage unit 40 and stored in each storage unit.

The second transmission information creating means 50 stores the second document image 17 from the document image storage section 40 into the transmission form storage means 30.
From the sending form information and the destination number 13
These are read from 0. In addition, the transmission document information is added to the read second document image 17 to create the second transmission information, and the second transmission information is transmitted to the first transmission information creating unit 70 together with the destination number 13. I have.

The first transmission information creating means 70 has three transmission modes. In the first transmission mode, the transmission form information read from the transmission form storage means is added to the first original image, and the transmission is performed by creating the first transmission information for each destination specified by the operator. Means 6
3 In this case, since transmission slips of various layouts can be introduced via a computer network, a plurality of operators can flexibly share the facsimile apparatus of the present invention from each user terminal.

In the second transmission mode, transmission form information is similarly added to the first document image to form first transmission information, but the first transmission information is created for each destination number 13 read from the number storage unit 20. doing. In this case, by setting only the destination number 13, the destination image 15, and the position data 14 by transmission designation, the facsimile apparatus of the present invention can be shared as a broadcast apparatus by utilizing the software resources of each user terminal.

In the third transmission mode, the transmission form information is added to the second document image 17 read from the document image storage section 40, and the first transmission information is created for each destination number 13 as in the second transmission mode. doing. In this case, since the facsimile apparatus of the present invention functions by designating transmission from a remote place, each user terminal can play a role as a facsimile server.

Therefore, when only the first or second transmission mode is used, it is preferable that the first transmission information generating means 70 directly reads the transmission form information and the destination number 13 from the transmission form storage means. However, when the third transmission mode is used, the configuration should be such that the destination number 13, the transmission form information, and the second document image 17 are indirectly read together via the second transmission information creating means 50. In this case,
By designing the second transmission information creation unit 50 and each storage unit close to each other in the device, the main part of the present invention can be formed into an integrated configuration with high mounting efficiency.

The sending form storing means 30 includes a position storing section 31 for storing the position data 14, a destination image storing section 32 for storing the destination image 15, a sending form image storing section 33 for storing the sending form image 16, And a sending slip creation unit 34 for creating a sending slip based on these data or images. The transmission form creation unit 34 reads the position data 14 from the position storage unit 31, the destination image 15 from the destination image storage unit 32, and the transmission form image 16 from the transmission form image storage unit 33, respectively. The destination image 15 is combined with the transmission form image 16 based on the destination image 15 and transmitted to the second transmission information creating means 50.

FIG. 3 is a format diagram specifically explaining the destination number in the transmission designation of FIG. The destination number 13 includes a number area 21 indicating the total number of destinations to be sent,
Each telephone number area 22, 2 indicating a telephone number for each destination
3, 24 are included. A numerical value indicating one or more cases is stored in the number of cases area 21, and in this case, it indicates that the total number of cases is three. Therefore, by referring to this numerical value, the telephone number can be read from the number storage unit 20 a corresponding number of times.

FIG. 4 is a format diagram specifically showing the position data in the transmission designation of FIG. The position data 14 includes a sending slip identifier 311 relating to the sending slip and a destination image 1
5 is included, and an image position 313 indicating the fitting position is included. Sending slip identifier 311
Indicates whether or not a sending slip should be attached at the time of facsimile communication. In this case, for example, logic "1"
Has indicated that a sending slip should be attached.

The image identifier 312 indicates that the destination image 15 is to be inserted into the transmission slip image 16. In this case, for example, it is instructed to be inserted by logic “1”. The image position 313 indicates a position where the destination image 15 is to be fitted into the transmission form image 16. For example,
The coordinate position may be a bit image. In this case, the coordinate position is specified by the coordinates (240, 120) in the transmission ticket image 16.

FIG. 5 is a format diagram specifically showing the destination image in the transmission designation of FIG. In the destination image 15, the image sizes 321, 323, and 325 are set to the respective image data 322, 3
24 and 326 are included. In each of the image data 322, 324, and 326, for example, the bit position at the upper left corner of the destination image in the standard viewing arrangement is used as the reference point. In this case, if the image area is a rectangle having a predetermined number of bits in the vertical and horizontal directions, each image data 322, 324, 326 can be set by one reference point.

Next, the operation of the facsimile apparatus according to the first embodiment will be described. FIG. 6 is a connection diagram illustrating the connection between the facsimile apparatus and the computer network according to the first embodiment of FIG. A facsimile apparatus 1 according to the present invention includes a computer network 2
And a plurality of facsimile machines 6, 7, 8 and the like are connected via a communication line 5 such as a telephone exchange network. These facsimile apparatuses 6, 7.8 may be conventional apparatuses different from the present invention.

The facsimile apparatus 1 of the present invention is, for example,
When receiving the sending designation from the user terminal device 2, the acquiring means 1
1, the sending slip identifier 311 in the sending slip information 32
And inspect the image identifier 312. As a result, if these identifiers 311 and 312 are both logical “1”,
The destination number 13 is stored in the number storage unit 20, the position data 14 is stored in the position storage unit 31, and the destination image 15 is stored in the destination image storage unit 32.
The transmission form image 16 is stored in the transmission form image storage 33,
The second document images 17 are separately stored in the document image storage unit 40.

Subsequently, when the storage of all the contents of the sending designation is detected, a sending slip creating instruction is issued to the sending slip creating unit 34. FIG. 7 is a format diagram showing an example of a transmission form image used in the facsimile apparatus according to the first embodiment of FIG. In general, the transmission form image 16 includes a destination field 331 indicating the destination name and name of the transmission document, a transmission source field 332 indicating the transmission source name and name, a subject field 333 indicating the title of the transmission document, and the like. In addition to a comment column 334 in which a short message from the source to the destination is described, a date of transmission is provided.

When the sending slip creation unit 34 receives a creation instruction,
The sending destination creation unit 34 reads the first destination image 15 from the destination image storage unit 32, the sending destination image 16 from the sending destination image storage unit 33, and the position data 14 from the position storage unit 31. In the sending form creation unit 34, the destination image 15 is fitted on the sending form image 16 based on the position data 14. For example, the coordinates of the upper left corner of the destination field 331 shown in FIG. 7 are aligned with the reference point of the destination image 15 and are synthesized in a predetermined area of the transmission form image 16, and the synthesized image is transmitted to the second transmission information creating unit 50. .

The second transmission information creating means 50 reads the first second document image 17 from the document image storage section 40 and
The second transmission information is created by adding the synthesized image of the introduced sending slip, and the first telephone number is read from the number storage unit 20 and sent to the first transmission information creation means 62 together with the second transmission information. The first transmission information creation means 62 instructs the transmission means 63 to perform facsimile communication based on the introduced telephone number in the third mode. In the transmitting means 63, dialing is performed using this telephone number,
The second transmission information is transmitted to different facsimile machines 6, 7, and 8.

With the above, the facsimile communication by the first transmission designation is completed. Subsequently, the second position data 14 is transmitted from the position accumulation unit 31 to the
The second destination image 15 is read from the destination image storage unit 32 and is combined with the transmission form image 16. Normally, the same image as the first transmission form image 16 can be inserted by replacing only the destination image 15. Alternatively, the second sending slip image 16 may be read from the sending slip image storage unit 33 and used.

Then, the second destination information 13 is read from the number storage unit 20 by the second transmission information creation unit, and the second second document image 17 is read from the document image storage unit 40, and the second 2 The transmission information is transmitted to different facsimile machines 7, 8, 6. If the above processing is repeated by the number of times indicated by the number of destinations 21 in the destination number 13, any facsimile communication can be performed from a remote place via a computer network, and the facsimile apparatus of the present invention can be flexibly used between user terminals. Can be shared.

In addition, the present invention is not limited only to the above-described embodiment, and it goes without saying that various changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0038]

As described above, the facsimile apparatus of the present invention has the following effects. First, facsimile communication can be performed by designating all transmissions from a remote location via a computer network. As a result, it is possible to respond to a variety of sending slips, such as when shared by multiple departments of a company, so that the operator of each user terminal can flexibly share the apparatus as a facsimile server, resulting in a system cost within the company. Can be reduced.

Second, facsimile communication can be performed by setting only a destination number, a destination image, and position data according to transmission designation. For this reason, there is no limitation on the memory capacity for storing character fonts and fixed phrases, and there is no cost factor for incorporating circuit components for each device, and minimal instruction from each user terminal. Thus, it can be shared as a broadcasting device for performing facsimile communication to a plurality of destinations.

Third, transmission slips of various layouts can be introduced from a plurality of user terminals. For this reason, an arbitrary sending slip can be created in a plurality of formats having different character fonts and sizes, and the running cost can be reduced by effectively utilizing the software resources of each user terminal.

Accordingly, a facsimile apparatus capable of effectively utilizing the software resources for creating a layout can be provided by acquiring various layouts of a sending form from a wide range of user terminals via a computer network.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram schematically showing an example of an embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a format diagram illustrating transmission designation in the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a format diagram specifically explaining a destination number in the transmission designation of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a format diagram specifically showing position data in the transmission designation of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a format diagram specifically showing a destination image in the transmission designation of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a connection configuration diagram illustrating connection between the facsimile apparatus and the computer network according to the first embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a format diagram showing an example of a sending slip image used in the facsimile apparatus according to the first embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram showing a broadcast communication device in a facsimile of the first conventional example.

FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram showing a facsimile apparatus of a second conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Acquisition means 12 Connection means 20 Number accumulation part 30 Sending form accumulation part 31 Position accumulation part 32 Destination image accumulation part 33 Transmission form image accumulation part 34 Transmission form creation part 40 Original image accumulation part 50 Second transmission information creation means 61 Original reading Means 62 Destination designation means 63 Transmission means 70 First transmission information creation means

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A facsimile apparatus which creates a transmission form for each designated destination and attaches each transmission form to a first original image read from a transmission original and transmits the image. Acquiring means for acquiring the sending form information from the ground, sending form storing means for introducing and storing the obtained sending form information, reading out the stored sending form information from the sending form storing means,
A facsimile apparatus comprising: first transmission information generating means for generating the first transmission information by adding the transmission form information to the first document image and transmitting the first transmission information for each destination. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the obtaining unit obtains the destination number together, and further includes a destination number storage unit for introducing and storing the obtained destination number. 2. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the means reads the stored destination number from the destination number storage unit instead of the designated destination, and transmits the first transmission information for each of the destination numbers. 3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the obtaining unit obtains the second original image together with the original image. The original image storing unit is configured to introduce and store the second original image. The transmission form information is read from the transmission form storage unit, and the destination number is read from the destination number storage unit, and the transmission form information is added to the read second document image to create the second transmission information. A second transmission information generating unit for transmitting the second transmission information together with the destination number to the first transmission information generating unit, wherein the first transmission information generating unit is configured to transmit the second transmission information instead of the first document image and the transmission slip information. 3. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the transmission information is introduced from a second transmission information creating means, and the second transmission information is transmitted for each destination number. 4. The sending form information includes position data, a destination image, and a sending form image. The sending form storing means includes: a position storage unit for introducing and storing position data; , A destination image storage unit for introducing and storing a transmission form image, a position data from the position storage unit, a destination image from the destination image storage unit, and a transmission form image. A sending slip creation unit that reads out sending slip images from the storage unit, combines the destination image with the sending slip image based on the position data to create sending slip information, and sends the sending slip information to the second sending information creating unit. 4. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the facsimile apparatus has the following.