JPH11164114A - Equipment and system for facsimile - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain an equipment with good usability which can execute an application for data processing through the use of facsimile communication by specifying and executing one of applications according to application specification information added to a facsimile control signal. SOLUTION: An NCU 14 sends and receives the facsimile control signal, and a control signal extraction and generation part 11 extracts the application specification information which is added to the facsimile control signal and specifies the application. Then an application management part 2 specifies one of applications based on to the application specification information and a data processing part 3 executes the application. Namely, this facsimile equipment 1 can specify one of the applications that the facsimile equipment is equipped with according to the facsimile control signal and execute the application.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile apparatus, and more particularly, to a facsimile apparatus and a facsimile system having various applications such as a data processing function and a character recognition function, and designating the application by a facsimile control signal.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, facsimile apparatuses have become more sophisticated with the spread thereof, and those having various application functions such as a data processing function and a character recognition function have been proposed and realized. .

Further, recently, while being connected to a general public line, it is connected to a communication line such as a LAN (Local Area Network), and exchanges image information with an information processing apparatus connected to the LAN. Facsimile apparatuses have been developed which transmit image information received from an information processing apparatus by facsimile or transfer image information received by facsimile to an information processing apparatus.

[0004] Various types of facsimile apparatuses have been proposed in which the functions of the facsimile apparatus are designated by subaddresses of facsimile control signals.

[0005] As such a facsimile apparatus, for example, there is a communication apparatus previously filed by the present applicant (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 6-350643). In this communication device, G
Various services are performed, such as distributing facsimile data to designated destinations in association with the presence and content of sub-addresses of the three standards.

Further, the applicant first registers sub-address data for each extension in advance, specifies a recipient using a sub-address frame, and stores the original when a document is transmitted from the G3 facsimile apparatus. A facsimile storage and switching device that distinguishes and distributes image information for each extension in which the received sub-address data included in each of the registered image information matches the registered sub-address data has been proposed (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 6-1).
No. 05016).

Further, conventionally, a reception box for setting additional service instruction information for a received document corresponding to a management number is provided, and when an instruction of the management number is received from the transmission side, the reception box is added to the specified management number. There has been proposed a facsimile apparatus which performs a service process on a received document based on service information. In this facsimile apparatus, the instruction of the reception box number is designated by a sub address, SUB, SEP or P in the G3 procedure.
It is disclosed that this is performed using a WD frame.

[0008]

However, in such a conventional facsimile apparatus, there is still room for improvement in fully utilizing the functions of the advanced facsimile apparatus.

That is, the facsimile apparatus is provided with various functions such as a data processing function and a character recognition function in accordance with the sophistication of functions, and the above-mentioned conventional facsimile apparatuses use sub-addresses. Then, since only the destination of the image information is determined or the number of the receiving box is designated, the technology is not sufficient for using the function of the facsimile machine with advanced functions.

Therefore, the invention according to claim 1 transmits and receives a facsimile control signal by facsimile communication control means, extracts application specifying information added to the facsimile control signal and specifies an application by extracting means, and the application managing means. By specifying one of the plurality of applications based on the application specifying information and executing the application by the application processing means, one of the plurality of applications included in the facsimile apparatus is transmitted by the facsimile control signal. An object of the present invention is to provide a highly usable facsimile apparatus that can execute the application, specify the application, and execute an application such as data processing using facsimile communication.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, each application has a plurality of services, the application specifying information includes service specifying information for specifying the service of the application, and the extracting means converts the service information from the facsimile control signal. A facsimile control signal by extracting application specifying information including the service information extracted by the extracting means, and specifying one of the plurality of applications based on the application specifying information including the service information extracted by the extracting means. An object of the present invention is to provide a facsimile machine which can specify an application and its service by facsimile communication and can perform various application processes by facsimile communication and which is more usable.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, an application that executes processing using a character recognizing means for recognizing characters of received image information is adopted as an application.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile apparatus that can convert image information into character data and perform character data communication by facsimile communication.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, as the service information, information for specifying the recognition area specified by the recognition area specifying means is used, and the recognition area specifying means specifies the recognition area based on the service information, and performs character recognition. Means for recognizing the characters in the recognition area of the image information specified by the recognition area specifying means, thereby recognizing the characters of the image information in the recognition area specified by the service information in the received image information, and An object of the present invention is to provide a facsimile apparatus that can recognize applications at high speed and execute applications such as data processing at higher speed and more appropriately.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a facsimile apparatus capable of utilizing a subaddress of a facsimile control signal as application specifying information to enable communication with a standard facsimile and further improving the usability. It is intended to provide.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the application specifying information is constituted by a code for specifying the application and / or the service, so that the application and the service can be specified by the facsimile control signal and various applications can be used. It is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile apparatus.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, code information for specifying one application among a plurality of applications such as data processing is described in a document, and code information is detected from image information of the document read by a reading unit. Means, the application specifying information corresponding to the code information is added to the facsimile control signal by the facsimile control signal generating means, and the facsimile communication control means transmits the facsimile control signal with the application specifying information added thereto. Code information is detected from the manuscript,
Automatically generate and transmit a facsimile control signal to which application identification information has been added, specify one of a plurality of applications included in the receiving facsimile machine using the facsimile control signal, and easily use the application. It is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile apparatus capable of performing the following.

[0017] The invention according to claim 8 uses the code information, which specifies an application and specifies one of a plurality of services provided by the application, and uses the code detection means to identify the application. The facsimile control signal generating means detects code information specifying the service, and the facsimile control signal generation means adds the application detected by the code detection means and the application specifying information specifying the service to the facsimile control signal. An object of the present invention is to provide a facsimile apparatus that can specify an application and a service provided in the apparatus and can use various applications in facsimile communication.

According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, the facsimile control signal generating means can use the application by specifying the application or service by the standard facsimile control signal by adding the application specifying information as the subaddress of the facsimile control signal. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile apparatus capable of further improving the usability.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, the facsimile apparatus according to any one of the first to sixth aspects is a receiving-side facsimile apparatus, and the facsimile apparatus according to any one of the seventh to ninth aspects transmits. As a facsimile machine on the side, transmitting and receiving a facsimile control signal to which application specifying information is added, transmitting and receiving the facsimile control signal from the transmitting side, and executing the application provided on the facsimile apparatus on the receiving side Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an easy-to-use facsimile system by executing an application provided in a facsimile apparatus using facsimile communication.

[0020]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a facsimile apparatus for transmitting and receiving a facsimile control signal by a facsimile communication control means to transmit and receive image information of a document and to execute a plurality of applications such as data processing. A facsimile apparatus having an application function to be executed, comprising: extracting means for extracting, from the facsimile control signal, application specifying information added to the facsimile control signal and specifying the application; and the application specifying information extracted by the extracting means. Application management means for specifying one of the plurality of applications based on the, application processing means for executing the application specified by the application management means, by comprising
The above objective has been achieved.

According to the above configuration, the facsimile communication control means transmits and receives the facsimile control signal, and extracts the application specifying information added to the facsimile control signal to specify the application by the extracting means. Since one of the plurality of applications is specified based on the information and the application is executed by the application processing means, one of the plurality of applications included in the facsimile apparatus is specified by the facsimile control signal, and the An application can be executed, and an application such as data processing can be executed by using facsimile communication, so that usability of the facsimile apparatus can be improved.

In this case, for example, each of the applications includes a plurality of services, and the application specifying information includes service specifying information for specifying the service of the application. The extracting means extracts the application specifying information including the service information from the facsimile control signal, and the application managing means determines the plurality of applications based on the application specifying information including the service information extracted by the extracting means. And the service may be specified.

According to the above configuration, each application has a plurality of services, the application specifying information includes service specifying information for specifying the service of the application, and the extracting means includes the service information from the facsimile control signal. The specific information is extracted, and the application management unit specifies one of the plurality of applications and the service based on the application specifying information including the service information extracted by the extracting unit. By specifying the service, various application processes can be performed by facsimile communication, and the usability of the facsimile apparatus can be further improved.

Further, for example, as set forth in claim 3, the facsimile apparatus further comprises a character recognizing means for recognizing characters of the received image information, and the application uses the character recognizing means. It may execute processing.

According to the above configuration, since an application that executes processing using character recognition means for recognizing characters of received image information is employed as an application, the image information can be converted into character data and can be facsimile. Communication of character data by communication can be performed.

Further, for example, as set forth in claim 4, the facsimile apparatus includes a character recognizing means for recognizing characters of the received image information, and a recognition area of the image information recognized by the character recognizing means. Further comprising: a recognition area designating means for designating, wherein the service information is information for specifying the recognition area designated by the recognition area designating means, and the recognition area designating means performs the recognition based on the service information. An area may be specified, and the character recognizing means may recognize a character in the recognition area of the image information specified by the recognition area specifying means.

According to the above configuration, as the service information,
Using the information specifying the recognition area specified by the recognition area specifying means, the recognition area specifying means specifies the recognition area based on the service information, and the character recognition means determining the recognition area of the image information specified by the recognition area specifying means. Of the received image information, it is possible to recognize the characters of the image information in the recognition area specified by the service information out of the received image information. Etc. can be executed.

Also, for example, the application specifying information may be a subaddress of the facsimile control signal.

According to the above configuration, since the subaddress of the facsimile control signal is used as the application specifying information, communication with a standard facsimile can be performed, and the usability can be further improved.

Further, for example, as described in claim 6, the application specifying information may be constituted by a code specifying the application and / or the service.

According to the above configuration, since the application specifying information is constituted by the code for specifying the application and / or the service, the application and the service can be specified by the facsimile control signal, and various applications can be used. be able to.

A facsimile apparatus according to a seventh aspect of the present invention is a facsimile apparatus for transmitting and receiving a facsimile control signal by facsimile communication control means and transmitting image information of a document read by a reading means.
Code detection means for detecting one of the plurality of applications such as data processing, the code information identifying the application, code detection means for detecting the code information from the image information of the document read by the reading means, Facsimile control signal generation means for adding application identification information corresponding to the code information detected by the detection means to the facsimile control signal, wherein the facsimile communication control means includes a facsimile control signal generation means for generating the application identification information. The above-mentioned object is achieved by transmitting the facsimile control signal to which "."

According to the above construction, the code information for specifying one application among a plurality of applications such as data processing is described in the document, and the code information is detected by the code detection unit from the image information of the document read by the reading unit. The facsimile control signal is generated by adding the application identification information corresponding to the detected code information to the facsimile control signal, and the facsimile communication control unit transmits the facsimile control signal with the application identification information. Detecting the information, automatically generating and transmitting a facsimile control signal to which the application specifying information is added, and specifying one of a plurality of applications included in the receiving facsimile apparatus by the facsimile control signal. Can make the application easier It is possible to use.

[0034] In this case, for example, as described in claim 8, the code information is information for specifying the application and specifying one of a plurality of services provided in the application. The code detection unit detects the code information that specifies the application and the service, and the facsimile control signal generation unit transmits the application identification information that specifies the application and the service detected by the code detection unit. It may be added to the facsimile control signal.

According to the above arrangement, an application is specified as code information, and one of a plurality of services provided in the application is used, and the application and the service are identified by the code detecting means. The facsimile control signal generation means detects the code information to be specified, and adds the application specifying information specifying the application and service detected by the code detection means to the facsimile control signal, so that the reception side facsimile apparatus is provided with the facsimile control signal. Application and its service can be specified, and more various applications can be used in facsimile communication.

Also, for example, the facsimile control signal generating means may add the application specifying information as a subaddress of the facsimile control signal.

According to the above configuration, the facsimile control signal generating means adds the application specifying information as the subaddress of the facsimile control signal, so that the application or service can be specified and used by the standard facsimile control signal. , The usability can be further improved.

A facsimile system according to a tenth aspect of the present invention is a facsimile system in which a plurality of facsimile apparatuses are connected via a line, and a transmitting facsimile apparatus and a receiving facsimile apparatus exchange facsimile control signals to perform facsimile communication. The receiving facsimile apparatus is the facsimile apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, and the transmitting facsimile apparatus is the facsimile apparatus according to any one of claims 7 to 9. The facsimile machine achieves the above object.

According to the above construction, the present invention is characterized in that:
And a facsimile apparatus according to any one of claims 7 to 9 is connected via a line as a transmission-side facsimile apparatus, and application-specific information is added. Since the facsimile control signal is transmitted and received, the application on the receiving side is specified from the transmitting side, and the application provided on the facsimile apparatus on the receiving side is executed, the application provided on the facsimile apparatus is executed using facsimile communication. And the usability of the facsimile system can be improved.

[0040]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the embodiments described below are preferred embodiments of the present invention, and therefore, various technically preferable limitations are added. However, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the following description. The embodiments are not limited to these embodiments unless otherwise specified.

FIGS. 1 to 5 show a first embodiment of a facsimile apparatus and a facsimile system of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of a facsimile apparatus and a facsimile system of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram of a facsimile apparatus 1 to which is applied.

In FIG. 1, a facsimile apparatus 1 includes an application management unit 2, a data processing unit 3, an area designation unit 4, a character recognition unit 5, a compression / decompression unit 6, a storage unit 7, an operation /
Display unit 8, reading unit 9, code detection unit 10, control signal extraction / creation unit 11, communication control procedure control unit 12, modem 13,
An NCU (Network Control Unit) 14 and a system control unit 15 are provided.
Connected through.

The facsimile apparatus 1 has various application functions, for example, a data processing application, a character recognition application, etc., specifically, a work of counting orders, and the like. Alternatively, it is stored in a memory or the like in the system 15 in advance.

The system control unit 15 has a CPU (Central
Processing Unit) and a memory such as a ROM (Read Only Memory) and a RAM (Random Access Memory), in which various programs such as a basic processing program as the facsimile machine 1 and an application selection / execution processing program are stored. In addition, it stores various data necessary to execute each of these processing programs, and is used as a work memory of the CPU.
The system control unit 15 controls each unit of the facsimile machine 1 to perform basic processing as the facsimile machine 1 while using the memory as a work memory based on a processing program in the memory, based on a processing program in the memory. Execute the selection and execution process.

The NCU 14 has a PSTN (Public Switch)
The NCU 14 exchanges a facsimile control signal with a partner facsimile apparatus, executes a facsimile communication procedure, and automatically responds to a call from the PSTN. Incoming call is received, and automatic call processing to PSTN is performed.

The modem 13 is connected to the NCU 14 and operates under the control of the system control unit 15 to modulate a transmission signal and demodulate a reception signal.

The communication procedure control unit 12 is connected to the modem 13 and controls a facsimile communication procedure by the NCU 14. Then, the NCU 14 operates under the control of the communication procedure control unit 12, and operates according to the ITU-T Recommendation T.30. A facsimile control signal conforming to ITU-T Recommendation T.30 is transmitted to and received from a partner facsimile apparatus by transmitting and receiving a facsimile control signal conforming to the ITU-T Recommendation T.30. It has 30 sub-address functions. NC
U14 and the communication procedure control unit 12 function as facsimile communication control means.

Control signal extracting / creating section (extracting means) 11
Extracts the subaddress (application specifying information) from the facsimile control signal received by the NCU 14,
Output to the system control unit 15 and the system control unit 1
Under the control of 5, a subaddress is created and added to the facsimile control signal.

The reading section (reading means) 9 is, for example, a CCD.
An image scanner or the like using a (Charge Coupled Device) is generally used, and generally includes an ADF (Automatic Document Feeder). A plurality of documents are set on the ADF, and the ADF feeds the set documents one by one to a document reading position of the reading unit 9. The reading unit 9 scans a document conveyed from the ADF and reads an image of the document at a predetermined resolution.

The code detector (code detector) 10
A code (bar code) is detected from the image information of the document read by the reading unit 9, and the detection result is output to the system control unit 15. That is, as shown in FIG.
An application barcode frame 21 for designating an application to be used by a barcode and a service barcode frame 22 as a template for designating a service to be used among the applications are entered. The operator of the facsimile apparatus 1 uses the barcode frame. 21,
A bar code corresponding to an application and a service to be used is created by attaching a black mark in 22.

The reading section 9 includes the bar code frames 21 and 22.
Is read, the code detection unit 10 detects the barcodes of the barcode frames 21 and 22 read by the reading unit 9 and outputs the detection result to the system control unit 15. . In FIG. 2,
Reference numeral 23 denotes an image area recorded on the document 20.

The operation / display unit 8 includes various operation keys such as a numeric keypad and a start key, and also includes a display (for example, a liquid crystal display). Various commands such as a transmission operation are input from the operation keys. Displays the contents of the command input from the operation keys and various information notified from the facsimile machine 1 to the operator.

The storage unit 7 has a predetermined capacity, is used by the communication procedure control unit 12 and the application management unit 2 and stores image information, character recognition results recognized by the character recognition unit 5, and the like.

The compression / decompression unit 6 is for increasing the efficiency of storing image information in the storage unit 7 and shortening the transmission time, and encodes the image information according to a predetermined encoding method. The encoded image information is decoded.

The character recognizing section (character recognizing means) 5 operates under the control of the system control section 10 to recognize characters from the image information of the original 20, in particular, the image information of the received original by a normal character recognizing method. I do.

An area designating section (recognition area designating means) 4 designates an area to be recognized by the character recognizing section 5 among image information areas for one page of the document 20. The recognition range may be specified,
The recognition range may be specified by the subaddress of the received facsimile control signal.

The data processing section (application processing means) 3 performs various data processing, for example, execution processing of an application such as totalization processing of order receiving work and other data processing.

The application management unit (application management means) 2 manages an application provided in the facsimile machine 1, and particularly manages an application specified by a subaddress of the received facsimile control signal.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described. The facsimile machine 1 has a PSTN connected to the NCU 14.
Between the other party's facsimile machine connected via
U.T. Recommendation T. Facsimile communication is performed by exchanging facsimile control signals in accordance with the control procedure of ITU-T Recommendation T.30. 30 subaddresses are exchanged.

That is, when facsimile apparatus 1 performs facsimile communication with a partner facsimile apparatus, as shown in FIG. 3, the calling facsimile apparatus (transmitting facsimile apparatus) transmits a CNG (calling tone) calling signal. Called facsimile machine (receiver facsimile machine)
And the called facsimile machine sends out a DIS signal (digital identification signal) to the calling facsimile machine in response to the CNG signal. The calling side notifies the DIS signal signal of the presence or absence of the sub-address function. Then, the facsimile machine 3 on the calling side sends the subaddress (SUB), T
After sending SI signal, DCS signal (digital command signal), TCF signal (training check)
And complete the training checks properly,
The called facsimile device sends a CFR signal (reception preparation confirmation signal) to the calling facsimile device. Upon receiving the CFR signal, the calling-side facsimile apparatus transmits image information to the called-side facsimile apparatus. When all the image information is transmitted, the calling-side facsimile apparatus sends an EOP signal (procedure end signal) to the called-side facsimile apparatus. The called facsimile machine is EOP
When the signal is received and the image information is properly received, an MCF signal (message confirmation signal) is sent to the calling facsimile apparatus. When the calling facsimile apparatus receives the MCF signal, the DCF signal (disconnect command signal) ) To disconnect the line. Upon receiving the DCN signal, the called facsimile machine disconnects the line and ends the receiving process.

The calling-side facsimile apparatus specifies the application and the service using the sub-address, and the receiving-side (called-side) facsimile apparatus provides the application and the service specified by the sub-address. I do.

As shown in FIG. 3A, this subaddress is represented by a code of “* AAA * bbb”, and the first “*” (asterisk) is replaced by the next three-digit number “AAA”.
Is not a phone number or extension, but a number that identifies the application, and the second "*"
Defines that the next four-digit number "bbb" is a number that identifies the service.

Then, the facsimile machine 1
As shown in (b), the internal memory of the application management unit 2 is provided with an application management table in which the numbers specifying the application and the applications are associated with each other. For example, the number “AAA” specifying the application contains For “000”, the totalizing work of the order receiving work is set as the application 000. Further, as shown in FIG. 3C, a service management table for specifying a number for specifying the service and a service for specifying the service is provided. For example, when the number for specifying the service “bbb” is “000”, As 000, a code that specifies an area to be recognized and is written in the format is set.

The application management unit 2 provides the requested application and service based on the application management table and the service management table, and converts the numerical data to be added to the subaddress of the application and service requested to the partner facsimile machine. Is converted.

Now, assuming that the facsimile apparatus 1 of the present embodiment is disposed on the transmitting side and the receiving side, the processing at the time of transmission and the processing at the time of reception will be described below with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. Will be explained.

First, the processing at the time of transmission will be described with reference to FIG. At the time of transmission, the facsimile apparatus 1 includes an application barcode frame 21 for designating an application pre-filled in the manuscript 20 shown in FIG. 2 and a service barcode frame 22 for designating a service corresponding to the desired application and service. A bar code is created by marking the inside of the bar code frames 21 and 22 of the bar code, and an original 20 on which an image is written together with the bar code is set in the reading unit 9 to perform various transmission operations such as a transmission destination, a reading density, and the like. After performing the operation on the operation / display unit 8, the start key is turned on.

When the transmission operation is performed, the system control unit 15 reads the image of the document 20 set on the reading unit 9 (step S1). It is checked whether a code is detected, that is, whether a barcode caused by painting the barcode frames 21 and 22 of the document 20 is detected (step S2).

In step S2, when the code detection section 10 detects a barcode, the system control section 15 sends a subaddress corresponding to the content detected by the code detection section 10, that is, an application, to the control signal extraction / creation section 11. The sub address shown in FIG. 3A consisting of the numeral to be designated and the numeral to designate the service is created (step S).
3) Call the destination specified by the NCU 14 (step S4).

If no code is detected in step S2, a call is made to the other party without creating a subaddress (step S4).

Next, upon receiving a command (response signal) from the other party's facsimile machine (step S5), the system controller 15 determines whether the other party's facsimile machine has a sub-address function based on the received response signal, for example, the DIS signal. Check (step S6).

If the sub-address function is available in step S6, the system control unit 15 causes the communication procedure control unit 12 to transmit the sub-address created by the control signal extraction / creation unit 11 in step S3 via the NCU 14 (step S7). After that, the normal facsimile control procedure is performed, and when the facsimile control procedure is completed normally, the image information is encoded by the compression / decompression unit 6 by a predetermined encoding method, and then the communication procedure control unit 12, the modem 13, and The data is transmitted to the partner facsimile apparatus connected to the PSTN via the NCU 14 (step S8).

As described above, in the facsimile apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the facsimile control signal is transmitted and received by the NCU 14, and the application specifying information added to the facsimile control signal and specifying the application is extracted by the control signal extracting / creating unit 11. Then, the application management unit 2 specifies one of the plurality of applications based on the application specifying information, and the data processing unit 3
To execute the application. Therefore,
One of a plurality of applications included in the facsimile apparatus 1 can be specified by the facsimile control signal, the application can be executed, and an application such as data processing is executed using facsimile communication. The usability of the device 1 can be improved.

Each application has a plurality of services, the application specifying information includes service specifying information for specifying the service of the application, and the control signal extracting / creating unit 11 includes service information from the facsimile control signal. Since the application specifying information is extracted and the application managing unit 2 specifies one of the plurality of applications and the service based on the application specifying information including the service information extracted by the control signal extracting / creating unit 11, In addition, an application and its service can be specified by a facsimile control signal, and various application processes can be performed by facsimile communication, so that the usability of the facsimile apparatus 1 can be further improved.

Further, an application that executes a process using the character recognition unit 5 that recognizes characters of the received image information is employed as an application. Therefore, image information can be converted into character data, and character data communication by facsimile communication can be performed.

As the service information, the area designation section 4
Is used, the area specifying unit 4 specifies the recognition area based on the service information, and the character recognizing unit 5 specifies the character of the recognition area of the image information specified by the area specifying unit 4. It has recognized. Therefore, of the received image information, the characters of the image information in the recognition area specified by the service information can be recognized, and only the necessary characters can be recognized at high speed, and an application such as faster and appropriate data processing can be executed. can do.

Further, since the subaddress of the facsimile control signal is used as the application specifying information, communication with a standard facsimile is possible, and the usability can be further improved.

Further, since the application specifying information is constituted by a code for specifying the application and / or the service, the application and the service can be specified by the facsimile control signal, and various applications can be used.

Next, the processing at the time of reception will be described below with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. The facsimile machine 1 has N
When the CU 14 detects an incoming call (step P 1), the system control unit 15 sends the NCU 1 via the communication procedure control unit 12.
4, the DIS signal is set to have the sub-address function and transmitted (step P2). When a response signal is received (step P3), it is checked whether a sub-address is present (step P4).

In step P4, when there is no sub-address, the system control unit 15 executes another service, for example,
Performs normal facsimile communication processing.

In step P4, when there is a sub address, the system control unit 15
1 extracts a sub-address (step P5), and checks whether the first bit (first bit) of the extracted sub-address is "*" or "# (pound)" (step P6).

If the first bit is "#" in step P6, the system control unit 15 performs other processing such as transfer to a designated telephone number.

If the first bit is “*” in step P 6, the system control unit 15 determines that the number following is the data designating the application, and sends the number following “*” to the application management unit 2. Then, the application management unit 2 refers to the application management table shown in FIG. 3B based on the number notified from the system control unit 15 and refers to the application, for example, the application of the tallying operation by character recognition. Select (Step P7).

Next, the system control unit 15 checks whether the subaddress has the next "*" (step P8).
If there is the next “*”, it is determined that the service is specified, and the number following the “*” is notified to the application management unit 2. The application management unit 2 is notified from the system control unit 15. Based on the figures, FIG.
Refer to the service management table shown in
For example, a service that specifies the type of template that specifies the character recognition area is selected (step P9). When the service is to specify the type of template for specifying the character recognition area, the application management unit 2 stores the template data in the area specification unit 4.
And specifies the template (step P10), and the area specifying unit 4 transfers the character recognition area data for specifying the character recognition area indicated by the template to the character recognition unit 5 in the received image information. Is specified (step P11).

The character recognizing unit 5 recognizes the characters of the image information in the character recognizing area specified by the area specifying unit 4 from the received image information (step P12). The recognized result is transferred to the data processing unit 3 (step P13).

The system control unit 15 includes the data processing unit 3
Then, based on the character data transferred from the character recognizing unit 5, the data processing, for example, the data processing of the tabulation work is performed, and the processing is ended (step P14).

As described above, the facsimile apparatus 1 of the present embodiment writes the code information (bar code) for specifying one of a plurality of applications such as data processing on the manuscript 20 and Code information is detected by the code detecting unit 10 from the image information of the read original 20, and application specifying information (sub address) corresponding to the code information is added to the facsimile control signal by the control signal extracting / creating unit 11, and the NCU 14 A facsimile control signal to which application specific information is added is transmitted. Therefore, the code information is detected from the document 20, the facsimile control signal to which the application specifying information is automatically added is generated and transmitted, and the facsimile control signal is used to output one of a plurality of applications included in the receiving facsimile apparatus. And the application can be easily used.

As the code information, a code for specifying an application and one of a plurality of services provided in the application is used, and a code detecting unit 10 specifies a code for specifying the application and the service. Upon detecting the information, the control signal extracting / creating unit 11 adds application specifying information for specifying the application and service detected by the code detecting unit 10 to the facsimile control signal. Therefore, it is possible to specify the application provided in the receiving-side facsimile apparatus and its service by the facsimile control signal, and it is possible to use more various applications in the facsimile communication.

Further, the control signal extracting / creating section 11 adds the application specifying information as a sub-address of the facsimile control signal. Therefore, the application can be used by specifying the application or service using the standard facsimile control signal, and the usability can be further improved.

Further, the facsimile apparatus 1 is connected via a line.
Is a facsimile machine 1 as a receiving side facsimile machine.
Is connected via a line as a transmission-side facsimile apparatus, transmits and receives a facsimile control signal to which application identification information is added, specifies a reception-side application from a transmission side, and uses an application included in the reception-side facsimile apparatus 1 Running. Therefore, the application provided in the facsimile device 1 can be executed using the facsimile communication, and the usability of the facsimile system can be improved.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a second embodiment of a facsimile apparatus and a facsimile system according to the present invention. This embodiment is applicable not only to facsimile apparatuses but also to information processing apparatuses such as personal computers. In this case, an application processing request is issued.

In the description of the present embodiment, the same reference numerals used in the description of the first embodiment will be used as needed.

FIG. 8 is a system configuration diagram showing a facsimile system 30 to which the second embodiment of the facsimile apparatus and the facsimile system of the present invention is applied. In FIG. 8, the facsimile system 30 is a PSTN 3
1 is connected to a plurality of facsimile machines FS1 to FSn and a center apparatus CS.

As the center device CS, for example, an information processing device such as a personal computer or a workstation is used. The center device CS includes a facsimile communication application, an application for performing document processing and data processing, and an application for performing character recognition. Of various applications. The center device CS is connected to each facsimile device FS via the PSTN 31.
1 to FSn, the facsimile communication application executes a facsimile control procedure to receive the image information and to select the application and the service according to the designation by the sub-address of the facsimile control signal. To provide a service provided by the application.

That is, each facsimile machine FS1-F
Sn has a function similar to that of the facsimile apparatus 1 of the first embodiment. For example, the document Sn shown in FIG.
A sub address of a facsimile control signal is created based on the designation of the bar code created by painting the bar code frames 21 and 22 of 0, and transmitted to other facsimile apparatuses FS1 to FSn and the center apparatus CS via the PSTN 31. I do.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described. Each of the facsimile apparatuses FS1 to FSn is connected to a center apparatus CS.
When performing facsimile communication accompanied by a request for a service designating an application, when reading the manuscript 20 on which a barcode created by filling the barcode frames 21 and 22 of the manuscript 20 shown in FIG. A sub address corresponding to the application and service specified by the barcode is created, the center device CS is called, and the sub address is transmitted to the center device CS via the PSTN 31 by a facsimile control procedure.

The center device CS is a facsimile device F
When a facsimile control signal is received from S1 to FSn and there is a subaddress, an application and a service are selected based on the subaddress, the requested application is activated, and the requested service is executed.

Therefore, it is possible to request an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer or a workstation having a facsimile communication function to execute an application designating an application and a service, thereby reducing the availability of the facsimile apparatus and the facsimile system. Can be improved.

Although the invention made by the inventor has been specifically described based on the preferred embodiments, the invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. It goes without saying that it is possible.

[0099]

According to the facsimile apparatus of the first aspect of the present invention, a facsimile control signal is transmitted and received by the facsimile communication control means, and application specifying information added to the facsimile control signal and specifying the application is extracted by the extraction means. Since the application management unit specifies one of the plurality of applications based on the application specifying information and executes the application by the application processing unit,
By specifying one of a plurality of applications provided in the facsimile machine by the facsimile control signal,
The application can be executed, and an application such as data processing can be executed using facsimile communication, so that usability of the facsimile apparatus can be improved.

According to the facsimile apparatus of the present invention, each application has a plurality of services, the application specifying information includes service specifying information for specifying the service of the application, and the extracting means includes a facsimile control unit. Since the application specifying information including the service information is extracted from the signal, and the application managing unit specifies one of the plurality of applications and the service based on the application specifying information including the service information extracted by the extracting unit, In addition, an application and its service can be specified by a facsimile control signal, and various application processes can be performed by facsimile communication, so that usability of the facsimile apparatus can be further improved.

According to the facsimile apparatus of the third aspect of the present invention, since an application which executes processing using a character recognition means for recognizing characters of received image information is adopted as an application, the image information is converted into character data. The character data can be converted, and character data can be communicated by facsimile communication.

According to the facsimile apparatus of the present invention, information for specifying the recognition area specified by the recognition area specifying means is used as the service information, and the recognition area specifying means specifies the recognition area based on the service information. Since the designation and the character recognizing means recognize the characters in the recognition area of the image information specified by the recognition area specifying means, it is possible to recognize the characters of the image information in the recognition area specified by the service information in the received image information. It is possible to recognize only necessary characters at high speed and execute an application such as data processing at higher speed and more appropriately.

According to the facsimile apparatus of the present invention, since the subaddress of the facsimile control signal is used as the application specifying information, communication with a standard facsimile is enabled, and the usability is further improved. be able to.

According to the facsimile apparatus of the present invention, since the application specifying information is constituted by the code specifying the application and / or the service, the application and the service can be specified by the facsimile control signal. , Various applications can be used.

According to the facsimile apparatus of the present invention, code information for specifying one of a plurality of applications such as data processing is described in the document, and the code information is read from the image information of the document read by the reading means. The code information is detected by the code detecting means, the application specifying information corresponding to the code information is added to the facsimile control signal by the facsimile control signal generating means, and the facsimile communication control means outputs the facsimile control signal to which the application specifying information is added. Because it transmits, it detects the code information from the manuscript, automatically generates and transmits a facsimile control signal with application specific information added,
One of a plurality of applications provided in the receiving-side facsimile apparatus can be specified by the facsimile control signal, and the application can be easily used.

According to the facsimile apparatus of the present invention, an application is specified as code information, and one of a plurality of services provided by the application is used to detect a code. Means for detecting code information specifying an application and a service, and facsimile control signal generating means adding application specifying information specifying the application and service detected by the code detection means to the facsimile control signal. Thus, the application and the service provided in the receiving-side facsimile apparatus can be specified, and more various applications can be used in the facsimile communication.

According to the facsimile apparatus of the ninth aspect, since the facsimile control signal generating means adds the application specifying information as a subaddress of the facsimile control signal, the facsimile control signal generating means specifies the application or service by the standard facsimile control signal. The application can be used, and the usability can be further improved.

According to the facsimile system of the tenth aspect, the facsimile apparatus according to any one of the first to sixth aspects is used as a receiving-side facsimile apparatus.
The facsimile apparatus according to any one of claims 7 to 9 is connected as a transmission-side facsimile apparatus via a line, transmits and receives a facsimile control signal to which application specific information is added, and transmits a reception-side application from the transmission side. Since the application provided in the receiving facsimile apparatus is specified and executed, the application provided in the facsimile apparatus can be executed using facsimile communication, and the usability of the facsimile system can be improved. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram of a facsimile apparatus to which a first embodiment of a facsimile apparatus and a facsimile system according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram showing a facsimile communication procedure with a sub address.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example (a) of a subaddress, an example (b) of an application management table, and an example (c) of a service management table used in the facsimile machine of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a document in which an application barcode frame and a service barcode frame are entered.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a transmission process of designating an application and a service by the facsimile machine of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a receiving process for selecting an application and a service by the facsimile machine of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing processing subsequent to the receiving processing of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a system configuration diagram of a facsimile system to which a second embodiment of the facsimile apparatus and the facsimile system of the present invention is applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 facsimile device 2 application management unit 3 data processing unit 4 area designation unit 5 character recognition unit 6 compression / decompression unit 7 storage unit 8 operation / display unit 9 reading unit 10 code detection unit 11 control signal extraction / creation unit 12 communication procedure control Unit 13 modem 14 NCU 15 system control unit 16 system bus 30 facsimile system 31 PSTN FS1 to FSn facsimile device CS center device

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A facsimile apparatus having an application function of transmitting and receiving facsimile control signals by facsimile communication control means to transmit and receive image information of a document and executing a plurality of applications such as data processing. Extracting means for extracting application specifying information added to the facsimile control signal from the control signal and specifying the application; and application management for specifying one of the plurality of applications based on the application specifying information extracted by the extracting means. And a facsimile apparatus comprising: application processing means for executing the application specified by the application management means. 2. Each of the applications includes a plurality of services, and the application specifying information includes:
The service extraction information identifying the service of the application, the extraction unit extracts the application identification information including the service information from the facsimile control signal, and the application management unit extracts the extraction unit 2. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one of the plurality of applications is specified based on the application specifying information including service information, and the service is specified. 3. The facsimile apparatus further comprises character recognition means for recognizing a character of the received image information, wherein the application executes a process using the character recognition means. 3. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein 4. The facsimile apparatus further includes character recognition means for recognizing characters of the received image information, and recognition area specifying means for specifying a recognition area of the image information recognized by the character recognition means. , The service information comprises:
Information for specifying the recognition area specified by the recognition area specifying means, the recognition area specifying means specifying the recognition area based on the service information, and the character recognition means 3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a character in the recognition area of the designated image information is recognized.
A facsimile machine as described. 5. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said application specifying information is a subaddress of said facsimile control signal. 6. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said application specifying information is constituted by a code for specifying said application and / or said service. 7. A facsimile apparatus for transmitting and receiving a facsimile control signal by facsimile communication control means and transmitting image information of a document read by a reading means, wherein the document is one of a plurality of applications such as data processing. Code information identifying one application is described, and code detection means for detecting the code information from the image information of the document read by the reading means, corresponding to the code information detected by the code detection means Facsimile control signal generating means for adding application specifying information to the facsimile control signal to be transmitted, wherein the facsimile communication control means transmits the facsimile control signal to which the facsimile control signal generating means has added the application specifying information. A facsimile characterized by Li equipment. 8. The code information is information that specifies the application and one of a plurality of services provided by the application.
The code detection unit detects the code information that specifies the application and the service, and the facsimile control signal generation unit transmits the application identification information that specifies the application and the service detected by the code detection unit. 8. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the facsimile apparatus is added to a facsimile control signal. 9. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said facsimile control signal generating means adds said application specifying information as a sub-address of said facsimile control signal. 10. A facsimile system in which a plurality of facsimile apparatuses are connected via a line and a facsimile apparatus on a transmitting side and a facsimile apparatus on a receiving side exchange facsimile control signals to perform facsimile communication. The facsimile apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the transmission-side facsimile apparatus is the facsimile apparatus according to any one of claims 7 to 9. Facsimile system.