GB2342531A - A self dialling fax machine arranged to read the destination telephone number from the document to be transmitted - Google Patents

A self dialling fax machine arranged to read the destination telephone number from the document to be transmitted Download PDF

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Publication number
GB2342531A
GB2342531A GB9825005A GB9825005A GB2342531A GB 2342531 A GB2342531 A GB 2342531A GB 9825005 A GB9825005 A GB 9825005A GB 9825005 A GB9825005 A GB 9825005A GB 2342531 A GB2342531 A GB 2342531A
Authority
GB
United Kingdom
Prior art keywords
document
telephone number
electronic
address
machine
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Granted
Application number
GB9825005A
Other versions
GB9825005D0 (en
GB2342531B (en
Inventor
Andrew Dames
Andrew Howe
Mark England
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Sentec Ltd
Original Assignee
Sentec Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Priority claimed from GBGB9822020.5A external-priority patent/GB9822020D0/en
Priority claimed from GBGB9822498.3A external-priority patent/GB9822498D0/en
Application filed by Sentec Ltd filed Critical Sentec Ltd
Publication of GB9825005D0 publication Critical patent/GB9825005D0/en
Priority to GBGB9904176.6A priority Critical patent/GB9904176D0/en
Publication of GB2342531A publication Critical patent/GB2342531A/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of GB2342531B publication Critical patent/GB2342531B/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Fee Related legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N1/00Scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, e.g. facsimile transmission; Details thereof
    • H04N1/0035User-machine interface; Control console
    • H04N1/00352Input means
    • H04N1/00355Mark-sheet input
    • H04N1/00358Type of the scanned marks
    • H04N1/0036Alphanumeric symbols
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N1/00Scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, e.g. facsimile transmission; Details thereof
    • H04N1/00127Connection or combination of a still picture apparatus with another apparatus, e.g. for storage, processing or transmission of still picture signals or of information associated with a still picture
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N1/00Scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, e.g. facsimile transmission; Details thereof
    • H04N1/0035User-machine interface; Control console
    • H04N1/00352Input means
    • H04N1/00355Mark-sheet input
    • H04N1/00358Type of the scanned marks
    • H04N1/00363Bar codes or the like
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N1/00Scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, e.g. facsimile transmission; Details thereof
    • H04N1/0035User-machine interface; Control console
    • H04N1/00352Input means
    • H04N1/00355Mark-sheet input
    • H04N1/00368Location of the scanned marks
    • H04N1/00374Location of the scanned marks on the same page as at least a part of the image
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N1/00Scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, e.g. facsimile transmission; Details thereof
    • H04N1/32Circuits or arrangements for control or supervision between transmitter and receiver or between image input and image output device, e.g. between a still-image camera and its memory or between a still-image camera and a printer device
    • H04N1/32037Automation of particular transmitter jobs, e.g. multi-address calling, auto-dialing
    • H04N1/32042Automation of particular transmitter jobs, e.g. multi-address calling, auto-dialing with reading of job-marks on a page
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N1/00Scanning, transmission or reproduction of documents or the like, e.g. facsimile transmission; Details thereof
    • H04N1/00127Connection or combination of a still picture apparatus with another apparatus, e.g. for storage, processing or transmission of still picture signals or of information associated with a still picture
    • H04N1/00204Connection or combination of a still picture apparatus with another apparatus, e.g. for storage, processing or transmission of still picture signals or of information associated with a still picture with a digital computer or a digital computer system, e.g. an internet server
    • H04N1/00209Transmitting or receiving image data, e.g. facsimile data, via a computer, e.g. using e-mail, a computer network, the internet, I-fax

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Multimedia (AREA)
  • Signal Processing (AREA)
  • Computer Vision & Pattern Recognition (AREA)
  • Automation & Control Theory (AREA)
  • Facsimiles In General (AREA)
  • Facsimile Transmission Control (AREA)

Abstract

A fax machine is arranged to read the destination telephone number from the document to be transmitted or its header sheet 10. The number is then automatically dialled and the document transmitted. The document carries a graphical representation of the telephone number in the form of a bar-code 11 or in a human readable form. Optical character recognition is performed prior to dialling. The telephone number may be replaced by an Internet address or URL. The telephone number or address may also be carried on a magnetic strip or stored in a chip.

Description

SELF DIALLING FROM FACSIMILE DOCUMENTS This invention relates to a method of'self dialling'the telephone number by a fax machine using the information that is contained on the document being faxed.
Various attempts have been made to avoid having to key in the telephone number when sending facsimiles. For example US patents US5644633, US 4920560, US 4866760, and US 4764951. These all require pre-programmed short codes to be entered into either the fax machine or the local telephone exchange. According to the present invention, the solution described avoids any requirements to pre enter codes. It makes use of the existing word processing infrastructure often used in an office environment. The fax number is encoded in barcode format on the fax header sheet, and automatically read by the fax machine prior to dialling. The primary advantages are removing the necessity for the operator to key in the fax number when sending the fax. This results in time/labour saving and improved accuracy in dialling. Disabling the manual dial facility may also be a useful tool in ensuring company image standards are adhered to, as a fax header may need to be computer generated to facilitate the'auto-dial'function. A further advantage of the invention is that the main functional elements required by the method are already present within existing fax machines, specifically the scanner, the processing/control function and the fax modem. The feature may be added with little additional manufacturing cost.
A specific embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example in which: Figure 1, is a block diagram of the hardware used to demonstrate the method, Figure 2 is an example header page used by the method.
The fax header sheet is printed using a word processor package (Word for Windows by Microsoft, Portland, Oregon). Referring to Figure 2, the document to be transmitted, 10, has the recipients address telephone number encoded as a bar-code, 11. The bar code is defined by a true-type font EANP72Tt available from Word Perfect Corporation and part of the COREL DRAW package. A'macro-programme'is used that prompts the word processor operator to enter the recipient's Fax number into the predefined field 13. The number is processed and results in a barcode representation of the telephone number, 11 printed at the top of the page.
The'Word'package can convert a decimal number to a bar-code by means of an installed font. The document is then printed and probably hand signed by the sender.
In the embodiment described a standard facsimile machine, 1, a Hewlett Packard HP590 is used in conjunction with an IBM PC Compatible computer. 6. Figure 1 illustrates the major components and functions used in the method. The facsimile machine, 1, comprises an image scanner means, 2; a printing mechanism, 4; a modem, 3 and processing means, 5. The interfaces are to a standard telephone line, 7 and a data communications port, 5. The fax header sheet, 10, is placed into the facsimile machine, 1, and the image is scanned using the image scanning means, 2, and transferred to the IBM computer, 6. The computer, 6, processes the image and decodes the barcode, 11 using an algorithm, 9. The algorithm, 9, is written using a'C++'language compiler, available from Microsoft of Portland, Oregon and makes use of standard software modules to support scanners TWAIN, available from Spike McLarty, Logitech, Vashon Island and bar-code recognition SDK (software development kit) available from Axtel Inc, Fountain Valley, California. The details of the algorithm are not discussed herein as they are obvious to those experienced in the art of programming. The algorithm then instructs the facsimile machine, 1 to dial the telephone number using the modem, 3 and electronically transfers the document, 10 using via the telephone line, 7.
A number of variants and improvements to the basic invention are now discussed.
The algorithm, 9, can be incorporated into the facsimile machine, 1, and executed on the processing means, 5. This will make the device a self contained apparatus. The auto-dial facility is an additional operational mode that is selected by the user.
The bar-code position can be placed immediately at the top of the page so that the fax machine need only scan the first part of the page before processing the image to determine the number to be dialled. Similarly the barcode fax number may be printed on both the top and bottom of the header page to facilitate the ability to place the documents either way round in the fax sheet feeder.
A small simple independent CCD array may be positioned on the fax machine so that the auto dial number can be read without taking the header sheet into the fax machine before dialling.
This simulates the behaviour of a traditional unit.
Optical Character Recognition software may be used to replace the bar-code recognition software in the fax machine. The fax number can then be in a human readable form. Similarly specialised fonts that are both machine and human readable used in automatic cheque number recognition may be used. The feature may be extended to incorporate additional machine read features and information, 12, such as the number of pages to be faxed etc.
More generally the ideas can be applied to the automatic addressing of documents or physical items that are electronically transferred. Presently most faxed document are transported using the telephone network. The increasing use of Internet technology will provide an alternative transport method for electronic data. The importance is that presently the telephone number specifies the address to send the document. This is likely to be replaced by other alternatives and currently the most popular is an internet URL. For example faxes, or electronic documents may be transferred to http: \\www. sentec. co. uk\fax.
The key steps to the invention are the electronic transfer of a document or a physical item to an address that is both machine readable and encoded within the physical document.
The preferred embodiment is where the telephone number or address is contained in an optical form so that it can be both printed and scanned using the existing hardware infrastructure used with faxing documents. There exists the possibility to incorporate the telephone number or address in alternative data formats, for instance a magnetic strip or perhaps an RFID chip.

Claims (14)

  1. CLAIMS 1. An apparatus, comprising an image scanning means, an electronic data transfer means, an electronic addressing means and an image processing means, such that the address to which the image is electronically transferred is contained in the image to be transmitted.
  2. 2. An apparatus for the purpose of electronically transferring a physical document according to claim 1, where the electronic addressing means is a telephone number; and the electronic data transfer means is using a telephone line and a modem.
  3. 3. An apparatus for the purpose of electronically transferring a physical document according to claim 1, where the electronic addressing means is a telephone number; and the electronic data transfer means is using a telephone line and a facsimile machine.
  4. 4. An apparatus according to claim 2, where the telephone number recognition means uses standard bar-code decoding.
  5. 5. An apparatus according to claim 2, where the telephone number recognition means uses OCR techniques.
  6. 6. An apparatus according to claim 2, where the telephone number recognition means uses specialised human and machine readable format processing.
  7. 7. An apparatus according to claim 1, where the electronic addressing means is an internet URL.
  8. 8. A method for automatically addressing an electronic transfer of a physical document comprising steps: (1) writing a machine readable address on the document, (2) scanning said document into an electronic format, (3) processing to decode the address, (4) automatically addressing the document and (5) electronically transferring the document to the addressee.
  9. 9. A method according to claim 8, where the address is a telephone number.
  10. 10. A method according to claim 8, where the address is an internet URL.
  11. 11. A fascimile machine incorporating an'auto-dial'facility whereby the telephone number to be dialled is incorporated in a machine readable format on the document being faxed.
  12. 12. A fascimile machine according to claim 11 where the machine readable format incorporated on the document is scanned optically.
  13. 13. A fascimile machine according to claim 11 where the machine readable format incorporated on the document is scanned magnetically.
  14. 14. A fascimile machine according to claim 11 where the machine readable format incorporated on the document is scanned capacitively.
GB9825005A 1998-10-09 1998-11-16 Self dialling from facsimile documents Expired - Fee Related GB2342531B (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GBGB9904176.6A GB9904176D0 (en) 1998-11-16 1999-02-24 Self dialing from a fascimile machine

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GBGB9822020.5A GB9822020D0 (en) 1998-10-09 1998-10-09 Self drive dialing from facsimilie documents
GBGB9822498.3A GB9822498D0 (en) 1998-10-16 1998-10-16 Self dialling from facsimilie documents

Publications (3)

Publication Number Publication Date
GB9825005D0 GB9825005D0 (en) 1999-01-06
GB2342531A true GB2342531A (en) 2000-04-12
GB2342531B GB2342531B (en) 2002-07-17

Family

ID=26314480

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
GB9825005A Expired - Fee Related GB2342531B (en) 1998-10-09 1998-11-16 Self dialling from facsimile documents

Country Status (1)

Country Link
GB (1) GB2342531B (en)

Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2385824A (en) * 2002-03-01 2003-09-03 Qinetiq Ltd Document with encoded machine readable information
FR2837293A1 (en) * 2002-03-15 2003-09-19 Guillaume Claude Asselot Routing of graphical information from a physical medium to an electronic, e-mail, address, e.g. for transmission of a digitally scanned postcard to an e-mail address
EP1662699A1 (en) * 2004-11-30 2006-05-31 Ricoh Company, Ltd. Document authentication combining digital signature verification and visual comparison
EP2548155A4 (en) * 2010-03-15 2017-03-15 Nokia Technologies Oy Image-based addressing of physical content for electronic communication

Citations (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO1991001606A1 (en) * 1989-07-14 1991-02-07 Geshwind David M A method for routing fax transmissions
WO1991016782A1 (en) * 1990-04-26 1991-10-31 Peter Ungerer Telecopier
EP0465011A2 (en) * 1990-06-26 1992-01-08 Hewlett-Packard Company Method of encoding an E-mail address in a fax message and routing the fax message to a destination on a network
WO1994003994A1 (en) * 1992-07-29 1994-02-17 Visioneer Communications, Inc. Automatically initiated scanning system
GB2300781A (en) * 1995-05-10 1996-11-13 Sanyo Electric Co Facsimile apparatus recognising hand-written address information
GB2301470A (en) * 1995-05-15 1996-12-04 Sanyo Electric Co Hand-written character recognition in facsimile apparatus
US5663808A (en) * 1994-12-27 1997-09-02 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Device and method for automatically transmitting documents in a facsimile system
WO1997045999A1 (en) * 1996-05-28 1997-12-04 Gerber Scientific, Inc. Facsimile queuing and transmission system

Family Cites Families (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JPH05292280A (en) * 1992-04-08 1993-11-05 Konica Corp Facsimile equipment
EP0858027A3 (en) * 1997-02-10 2001-10-04 Seiko Epson Corporation Recording device and recording method

Patent Citations (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO1991001606A1 (en) * 1989-07-14 1991-02-07 Geshwind David M A method for routing fax transmissions
WO1991016782A1 (en) * 1990-04-26 1991-10-31 Peter Ungerer Telecopier
EP0465011A2 (en) * 1990-06-26 1992-01-08 Hewlett-Packard Company Method of encoding an E-mail address in a fax message and routing the fax message to a destination on a network
WO1994003994A1 (en) * 1992-07-29 1994-02-17 Visioneer Communications, Inc. Automatically initiated scanning system
US5663808A (en) * 1994-12-27 1997-09-02 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Device and method for automatically transmitting documents in a facsimile system
GB2300781A (en) * 1995-05-10 1996-11-13 Sanyo Electric Co Facsimile apparatus recognising hand-written address information
GB2301470A (en) * 1995-05-15 1996-12-04 Sanyo Electric Co Hand-written character recognition in facsimile apparatus
WO1997045999A1 (en) * 1996-05-28 1997-12-04 Gerber Scientific, Inc. Facsimile queuing and transmission system

Cited By (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2385824A (en) * 2002-03-01 2003-09-03 Qinetiq Ltd Document with encoded machine readable information
FR2837293A1 (en) * 2002-03-15 2003-09-19 Guillaume Claude Asselot Routing of graphical information from a physical medium to an electronic, e-mail, address, e.g. for transmission of a digitally scanned postcard to an e-mail address
EP1662699A1 (en) * 2004-11-30 2006-05-31 Ricoh Company, Ltd. Document authentication combining digital signature verification and visual comparison
US8037310B2 (en) 2004-11-30 2011-10-11 Ricoh Co., Ltd. Document authentication combining digital signature verification and visual comparison
EP2548155A4 (en) * 2010-03-15 2017-03-15 Nokia Technologies Oy Image-based addressing of physical content for electronic communication

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB9825005D0 (en) 1999-01-06
GB2342531B (en) 2002-07-17

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PCNP Patent ceased through non-payment of renewal fee