KR20050005181A - Apparatus and method for management e-mail address of sender in e-mail facsimile device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An apparatus for managing an electronic mail address of a sender in an electronic mail facsimile apparatus and a method thereof are provided to effectively manage a mail address or a reply address of the sender, thereby transmitting easily a replay mail to the mail address or reply address of the sender. CONSTITUTION: An electronic mail receiving member(110) receives an electronic mail received through a network line, that is, the Internet and then provides the received electronic mail to an electronic mail construction and mail management member(120). The electronic mail construction and mail management member analyzes the received electronic mail, extracts sender's mail address or sender's reply address, lists sequentially the extracted sender's mail address or sender's reply address, and manages the list as a table type. An electronic mail transmitting member(150) transmits the electronic mail to an SMTP(Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) server. An output member(130) includes a printer for printing the received electronic mail and a display for displaying the received electronic mail.

Description

Apparatus and method for management e-mail address of sender in e-mail facsimile device}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an e-mail facsimile apparatus. In particular, an e-mail facsimile apparatus having an e-mail function efficiently manages a sender's e-mail address, thereby facilitating an e-mail to the sender when an e-mail is returned. A device for managing a sender e-mail address in a mail facsimile apparatus and a method thereof.

With the rapid expansion of the Internet, as technologies for exchanging information through the Internet are rapidly developed, it has become common to exchange information between senders and receivers through e-mail.

Recently, the Unified Messaging System (hereinafter referred to as UMS), which manages messages transmitted and received through e-mail, fax, and telephone, has been in the spotlight.

The UMS system can be used to send and receive e-mail only from a personal computer connected to the Internet (PC). Fax data is only fax, voice data is only mobile phone. It is a service that allows users to freely send and receive data from each other through email, fax, and telephone.

In line with these services, devices for transmitting and receiving e-mails in faxes have been developed, and these devices are mainly called Internet faxes (or e-mail faxes).

With reference to the accompanying drawings, a facsimile apparatus having such an Internet fax, that is, an e-mail function will be described.

1 is a system connection diagram for a facsimile device having a general e-mail function.

As shown in FIG. 1, a facsimile device having an e-mail function includes a G3 facsimile 10, an e-mail facsimile A 20, an SMTP server 50, 50A, a POP3 server 60, 60A, and an e-mail facsimile. B or e-mail client 30.

E-mail facsimile A, B or e-mail clients 20 and 30 can send and receive G3 facsimiles and fax messages via the PSTN line, and to / from another e-mail facsimile device via the Internet 40. Fax messages are sent and received and displayed on a display device, or a fax message is printed through a printer.

The protocol used for the SMTP (simple mail transfer protocol) servers 50 and 50A is one of the upper layer application protocols of TCP / IP, and is a protocol for transferring e-mail between computers. It is defined in RFC 2821. It specifies how to talk between systems and specifies the format of control messages exchanged for sending e-mail. Corresponding to Open System Interconnection (OSI) Message Communication Processing System (MHS), it is widely used as a protocol for realizing the e-mail function on the Internet.

Accordingly, the SMTP server 50, 50A shown in Fig. 1 receives the e-mail data transmitted from the e-mail facsimile A, B or e-mail client 20, 30, and sends the destination (recipient) POP3 server 60 over the Internet. , 60A).

Post office protocol version 3 (POP3) servers 60 and 60A are protocols used to download e-mail, and are a de facto standard on the Internet as a protocol for Internet mail clients to retrieve mail from a mail server. That is, when the e-mail data is transmitted from the SMTP server 50, 50A via the Internet 40, and the e-mail data stored after access from the recipient e-mail facsimile 20, 30 is requested, the e-mail is stored. The data will be provided to the email fax.

Referring to the operation of the facsimile having the e-mail function configured as described above, the e-mail sender first sends an e-mail to the recipient by using the e-mail facsimile apparatus or other e-mail client (20, 30).

The e-mail sent by the sender is transmitted to the receiver's mail server, i.e., the POP3 server 60, 60A, via the sender's SMTP server 50, 50A and the Internet 40. The recipient's e-mail facsimile apparatus 20, 30 connects to the corresponding POP3 server 60, 60A and downloads the received mail. The downloaded e-mail may be printed on an e-mail facsimile device or displayed on a display device.

In addition, the e-mail may be deleted from the POP3 server (60, 60A) depending on the options set on the recipient's e-mail facsimile device, and the received (downloaded) e-mail can be managed and received by the user. There is also.

However, when trying to send a reply mail to the sender of the received e-mail by using an e-mail facsimile device, the user has to inconvenience in that he or she must enter the e-mail address of the sender. Of course, if the received e-mail is not deleted from the mail server, you can send a reply by connecting directly to the mail server using a PC, but this is not the case if the mail has already been deleted from the server.

Accordingly, the present invention is to solve the above problems according to the prior art, an object of the present invention is to efficiently manage the sender mail address or reply address of the received e-mail, to facilitate the reply mail to the sender address or reply address The present invention provides a sender e-mail address management device and a method thereof in an e-mail facsimile device capable of automatically sending a message.

1 is a system connection diagram for a facsimile device having a general e-mail function.

2 is a block diagram of an apparatus for managing a sender email address in an email fax machine according to the present invention;

Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a sender list table for managing sender e-mails in an e-mail fax machine according to the present invention.

4 is a diagram showing an example of an e-mail reception list table for managing sender e-mails in an e-mail fax machine according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of registering a sender of a mail received in an email fax device according to the present invention in a sender list table and a mail reception list table. FIG.

6 is an operation flowchart of a method for returning mail using a sender list or a reception list shown in FIG. 3 or 4 in an email fax machine according to the present invention;

* Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings *

100: G3 fax transmitter and receiver

110: e-mail receiving unit

120: email component and mail management unit

130: display unit or printing unit

140: key input unit

150: e-mail sending unit

According to an aspect of the e-mail fax machine according to the present invention for achieving the above object, an e-mail receiving unit for receiving an e-mail by connecting to the mail server via a network line; Analyze the header information of the e-mail received through the e-mail receiver, extract sender e-mail address information or component information of the header of the received e-mail, and list the extracted information sequentially and store them in a table form. An e-mail management unit for providing the list to the display unit when the stored list retrieval request is received from the key input unit; If at least one of the displayed sender e-mail address information or each component information of the header of the e-mail is selected through the key input unit for reply mail or mail transmission, a mail having the selected e-mail address as the recipient e-mail address. A mail configuration unit configured to display a transmission screen on the display unit; And an e-mail transmitter for transmitting the mail to the receiver mail server when the mail information is input according to the configured mail transmission screen and the mail transmission request signal is received from the key input unit.

The e-mail management unit includes a FIFO for sequentially listing the extracted sender e-mail address information or each component information of the header of the e-mail and storing them in a table form.

Each component information of the sender e-mail address information or the header of the e-mail includes at least one of sender e-mail address, e-mail subject information, recipient address information, and e-mail reception date information.

In addition, the e-mail management unit includes a spam mail detection unit for filtering spam mail using the components of each header of the e-mail received through the e-mail receiving unit.

On the other hand, according to one aspect of the sender e-mail address management method in an e-mail facsimile apparatus according to the present invention, the step of receiving an e-mail by connecting to the mail server via a network line; The header information of the received e-mail is analyzed to extract sender e-mail address information or each component information of the e-mail header, to filter spam mail according to the extracted information, and to sequentially list the extracted information. Storing the data in a table form; If there is a list search request signal from a user for sending a reply mail or a general mail by using the stored information, displaying the stored sender email address information or each component information of a header of the email; Configuring a mail transmission screen for selecting at least one mail address from among the displayed information, using the selected mail address as a recipient mail address; When the input of the mail information is completed according to the configured mail transmission screen and a mail transmission request signal is received from the user, transmitting the corresponding mail to the recipient mail server.

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of an apparatus for managing a sender email address and a method thereof in an electronic fax machine according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

2 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus for managing a sender email address in an email fax machine according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, the e-mail facsimile apparatus includes a G3 facsimile transmitter, a receiver 100, an e-mail receiver 110, an e-mail configuration and a mail manager 120, an outputter 130, and a key inputter 140. ) And the e-mail transmitter 150.

The G3 facsimile transmitter and receiver 100 receives the fax data transmitted through the PSTN line from a general G3 facsimile apparatus, and transmits the fax data provided from the e-mail facsimile apparatus to the recipient G3 facsimile apparatus via the PSTN line.

The e-mail receiving unit 110 receives an e-mail received through a network line, that is, the Internet, and provides the received e-mail to the e-mail construction and mail management unit 120.

In addition, the e-mail configuration and the mail management unit 120 analyzes the e-mail received through the e-mail receiving unit 110 to extract the sender mail address or the sender reply address, and sequentially extract the extracted sender address or the sender reply address. It can be managed in the form of a table by listing, and it can also be managed in the form of an e-mail receiving list by listing the e-mail subject, sender address, recipient address, and e-mail receiving date received in the e-mail receiving list. . Here, the e-mail configuration and the mail management unit 120 is provided with a storage unit for sequentially managing the sender address or the sender reply address in the form of a table, the storage unit may be configured as a FIFO.

In addition, when the user inputs a key input signal for requesting a reply address search through the key input unit 140, the e-mail configuration and mail manager 120 sequentially reads the stored sender address or the sender reply address and outputs 130. ) Will be displayed. Accordingly, the user selects an e-mail address to which the user wants to reply using the sender address or the sender reply address displayed on the output unit 130.

In addition, the e-mail configuration and mail management unit 120 is a sender e-mail address, a mail subject, a mail body (text, image data, etc.) data input through the key input unit 140 and the e-mail configuration and mail management unit 120 When all data constituting the e-mail such as the e-mail reply address stored in the E-mail is input, the actual e-mail to be transmitted is configured using the input data. The e-mail configured as described above is provided to the e-mail transmitter 150. Here, the key input unit 140 selects a key for displaying the sender address or the sender reply address stored in the e-mail configuration and the mail management unit 120 on the output unit 130, and selecting the displayed stored sender address or the sender reply address. It can have a specific key for.

The e-mail transmitter 150 transmits the e-mail provided from the e-mail configuration and the mail manager 120 to the SMTP server shown in FIG. 1 through a network line, and the SMTP server transmits the corresponding mail to a destination POP3 server through the Internet. Will be sent.

The output unit 130 may include a printer for printing the e-mail received through the e-mail receiving unit 110 and a display for displaying the received e-mail on the screen.

A detailed operation of the apparatus for managing a sender email address in the electronic fax machine according to the present invention configured as described above will be described.

In FIG. 1, it is assumed that e-mail facsimile B 30 sends e-mail to e-mail facsimile A 20. The e-mail transmitted by the e-mail facsimile B 30 is transmitted to the POP3 server 60 used by the e-mail facsimile A 20 via the SMTP server 50A and the Internet.

The e-mail facsimile A 20 may access the POP3 server 60 at regular intervals or may connect to the POP3 server 60 at the user's choice. The received mail may be filtered to prevent spam mail, depending on the implementation. This function may be achieved by analyzing the header information in the e-mail configuration and the mail management unit 120. Therefore, the e-mail configuration and the mail management unit 120 may include a spam mail detection unit (not shown) for filtering spam mail using the components of each header of the e-mail received through the e-mail receiving unit 110. .

For example, spam mails to an unspecified number of people usually do not have a user's email address in the 'To' or 'Cc' fields of the email. Therefore, it is possible to detect whether or not the user's e-mail address is included in this field and store information about it.

There may be various methods for storing and managing the sender's mail address, but the present invention will be described with reference to two embodiments.

(First embodiment)

3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a sender list table for managing sender e-mails in an e-mail fax machine according to the present invention.

First, a list of sender e-mail addresses that have received the received e-mail is stored in a table form as shown in FIG. 3 in the e-mail configuration and storage unit of the mail management unit 120. At this time, the sender's mail address of all e-mails can be stored without any condition, and the sender's mail address can be stored only for the mail having the user's e-mail address in the 'To' field or the 'Cc' field.

In addition, the address stored in the e-mail configuration and the mail management unit 120 does not necessarily need to be a sender mail address. In some cases, the sender includes a reply-to-address, and this address indicates an address to which the sender wants to receive a reply mail. Therefore, if there is a reply address, the reply address may be stored instead of the sender mail address.

Here, the process of storing the sender information (for example, the sender e-mail address or the sender reply address) of the received e-mail in the e-mail configuration and the mail management unit 120 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 5.

The sender address or sender reply address stored in the e-mail configuration and the mail management unit 120 stores predetermined N mail addresses, but there may be various ways of storing the e-mail address, but in this case, FIFO (First in First Out) It explains how to use.

After all 1 to N e-mail addresses are stored, the newly added e-mail addresses are stored nested for the oldest e-mail addresses. That is, it is assumed that N pieces of sender mail addresses of the most recently received e-mails are stored. Assuming that No. 5 is the oldest mail in Fig. 3, No. 1 is the most recently received mail.

If N is '5', No.5 is deleted from the list when there are new mails received, and the remaining 1 to 4 mails are numbered one by one. Newly received mail is stored in area 1.

Of course, the function of printing and notifying the first N mail addresses received before the overlapping storage may also be additionally performed.

If the user wants to send a reply mail with respect to a specific mail, the user provides a search signal to the e-mail configuration and mail manager 120 by using a specific key of the key input unit 140. Therefore, according to the provided key input signal, the e-mail configuration and the mail management unit 120 read the stored sender address list and display it on the display unit of the output unit 130, thereby storing the sender address stored in the e-mail configuration and the mail management unit 120. You can search the list. Here, the sender list displayed according to the function of the display unit may vary.

When the sender address list is displayed on the display unit of the output unit 130, the user selects a recipient e-mail address to which the user wants to reply using the up, down, left, and right navigation keys of the key input unit 140.

When the user selects a recipient's e-mail address to which he / she wants to reply, a mail transmission process is performed using the selected address as a mail reception address. Here, the mail transmission process will be described in detail later with reference to FIG. 6.

Second Embodiment

4 is a diagram illustrating an example of an e-mail reception list table for managing sender e-mails in the e-mail facsimile apparatus according to the present invention.

In general, an e-mail facsimile device with an e-mail function has a report on e-mail transmission and reception. This report manages the history of sending and receiving e-mail. This can be provided to the user so that the user can see what mails have been sent and received. Therefore, an e-mail reception report can also be used as the second embodiment of the present invention.

Similar to the sender list of the first embodiment, it is possible for a user to search the 'e-mail reception list' shown in FIG. 4 through the display apparatus. When the user finds an e-mail to which he or she wants to reply during the search or wants to reply to the e-mail, the user uses a specific key of the key input unit 140. Here, the e-mail destination list as shown in FIG. 4 may include e-mail title information, e-mail sender address information, e-mail recipient mail address information, and e-mail receiving date information.

Then, an e-mail transmission process using the address as an e-mail receiving address appears. Subsequent operations proceed in the same manner as using the sender list of the first embodiment of the present invention.

However, in the case of a subject input, a prefix indicating a reply such as 'Reply' or 'Re)' or 'Re:' may be automatically displayed to the user, as in the case of a general reply (reply).

Hereinafter, in the method for managing a sender e-mail address in an e-mail facsimile apparatus according to the present invention, a method of registering a sender of a received e-mail in the first sender list and the mail reception list shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 described above. With reference to Figure 5 will be described step by step.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of registering a sender of a mail received by an email facsimile apparatus in a sender list table and a mail reception list table.

As shown in FIG. 5, a user first accesses a mail server (POP3 server) and checks a currently received e-mail (S101).

If at least one e-mail is currently received, one e-mail (n-th e-mail) is received according to a user's selection (S102, S103).

The header of the received n-th mail is analyzed (S104), and header components such as From, To, Subject, and Date data are detected (S105).

Using the detected data, it is determined whether to generate a sender list as shown in FIG. 3 (S106).

If the sender list is to be created, the sender e-mail address recorded in the sender field (From field) is sequentially registered in the FIFO as shown in FIG. 3 (S107). In this case, if the sender list as shown in FIG. 3 is not to be created, the sender and the recipient information are registered in the mail receiving list as shown in FIG.

In addition, each header component of the received e-mail, for example, an e-mail subject, a sender e-mail address, a recipient e-mail address, and e-mail reception date information is provided to the FIFO as an e-mail reception list as shown in FIG. 4. It is to be registered (S108).

Then, the received e-mail, that is, the analyzed header information and the e-mail body information is provided to the output unit 130 shown in FIG. 2 to display the e-mail contents or to print through a printer, so that the user can easily check the e-mail contents. (S109, S110).

Subsequently, it is determined whether there is another incoming e-mail (n ≥ N), that is, whether all mails received by the mail server have been received (S111). 3 and 4, and register the sender list and the e-mail receiving list as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, and when all mails in the mail server are received and the sender list or the recipient list is created, the connection of the mail server is terminated (Log Out). It is made (S112). Where n is the number of e-mails that the user has downloaded to the e-mail facsimile device so far and N is the total number of e-mails received at the mail server.

The operation in the case where the user wants to reply to the e-mail using the registered list while the e-mail sender list and the reception list are registered as described above will be described step by step with reference to FIG. 6.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a method of replying mail by using a sender list or a reception list shown in FIG. 3 or 4 in the electronic fax machine according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 6, a user first selects a specific key (for example, a list search key) set from among a plurality of keys of the key input unit 140 of an e-mail facsimile device to display a corresponding key input signal shown in FIG. 2. Provided to the e-mail configuration and mail management unit 120 (S201)

The email configuration and mail management unit 120 displays the sender email address list or mail reception list stored in the FIFO on the display device of the output unit 130 according to the list search key input signal input through the key input unit 140. do.

Accordingly, the user searches for an e-mail address to which he / she wants to reply using the list displayed on the display apparatus (S202). At this time, the list search is performed by using the up, down, left, and right navigation keys of the key input unit 140. When a mail address to be answered is found during the search, the cursor is positioned at the corresponding address and the corresponding mail is selected by using the selected selection key. (S203).

When the e-mail address to be returned is selected as described above, the e-mail configuration and the mail management unit 120 shown in FIG. 2 configure a mail transmission input screen for performing a mail transmission input process and display the display unit of the output unit 130. Display (S204).

According to the displayed mail transmission input screen, the user inputs a sender's name and address using the key input unit 140 (S205). In this case, the reply mail address selected by the user is automatically displayed on the mail transmission input screen (S206).

Then, it is determined whether to add the e-mail recipient (S207), and if it is desired to add the recipient, the mail receiver is added by searching the sender list or the e-mail receiving list in the same manner as described above (S208). ).

In this way, while the recipient mail, sender name, and address have been entered in the corresponding fields of the mail transmission input screen, the user inputs the subject and body of the mail (S209) and sends the transmission key of the key input unit 140 for mail transmission. The selection is made (S210).

Accordingly, the mail is provided to the e-mail transmitter 150 shown in FIG. 2, and the e-mail transmitter 150 connects to the SMTP server through a network line and transmits the mail. The SMTP server transmits the mail to the POP3 server (mail server) corresponding to the mail address of the recipient via the Internet (S211, S212).

When the mail transmission is completed, the mail transmission process is completed by terminating the connection of the mail server (S213).

As a result, in the e-mail facsimile apparatus according to the present invention, when the user receives the e-mail, the apparatus and method thereof, by separately storing and managing the sender address and the e-mail receiving list for the received e-mail, When the user wants to send a reply mail for the received mail, the user can easily set the e-mail address to reply to by searching the stored sender address list or the e-mail reception list, rather than inputting the reply address one by one. It is. Also, even after the user has already deleted the mail in the mail server, the reply mail can be easily transmitted using the 'e-mail receiving list' or 'sender list'.

The apparatus for managing a sender e-mail address in the e-mail facsimile apparatus according to the present invention as described above, and when the user receives the e-mail, store and manage the sender address and the e-mail reception list for the received e-mail separately. Therefore, when the user wants to send a reply mail for the received mail, the user can easily search the stored sender address list or the e-mail receiving list and send the e-mail address to the recipient as a recipient instead of inputting a reply address. It can be set. In addition, even after the user has already deleted the mail in the mail server, it is possible to easily send a reply mail using the 'e-mail receiving list' or 'sender list'.

Claims (5)

An e-mail fax machine having a display device and a key input unit, An e-mail receiving unit which receives an e-mail by accessing a mail server through a network line; Analyze the header information of the e-mail received through the e-mail receiver to extract the sender e-mail address information or the information on each component of the header of the received e-mail, and list the extracted information sequentially and store them in a table form. An e-mail management unit for providing the list to the display unit when the stored list retrieval request is received from the key input unit; If at least one of the displayed sender e-mail address information or each component information of the header of the e-mail is selected through the key input unit for reply mail or mail transmission, a mail having the selected e-mail address as the recipient e-mail address. A mail configuration unit configured to display a transmission screen on the display unit; And An e-mail facsimile including an e-mail transmission unit for inputting e-mail information according to the configured e-mail transmission screen and transmitting the e-mail to a recipient e-mail server through a network line when an e-mail transmission request signal is received from the key input unit; Device. The method of claim 1, The e-mail management unit, And an FIFO for sequentially listing the extracted sender email address information or each component information of the header of the email and storing the extracted sender email address information in a table form. The method of claim 1, And each component information of the sender email address information or header of the email includes at least one of sender mail address, email subject information, recipient address information, and email reception date information. The method of claim 1, E-mail management department, An e-mail facsimile device comprising a spam mail detection section for filtering spam mail using the components of each header of the e-mail received through the e-mail receiving section. A method for managing sender email addresses in an email fax machine, Connecting to a mail server through a network line to receive an e-mail; The header information of the received e-mail is analyzed to extract sender e-mail address information or each component information of the e-mail header, to filter spam mail according to the extracted information, and to sequentially list the extracted information. Storing the data in a table form; If there is a list search request signal from a user for sending a reply mail or a general mail by using the stored information, displaying the stored sender email address information or each component information of a header of the email; Configuring a mail transmission screen for selecting at least one mail address from among the displayed information, using the selected mail address as a recipient mail address; When the input of the mail information is completed according to the configured mail transmission screen and a mail transmission request signal is received from the user, sending the corresponding mail to the recipient mail server; How addresses are managed.