JP2000216934A - Facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a facsimile equipment capable of easily registering or rewriting various kind of data such as image information, the opposite party telephone number, and language data by using a flash memory card in a PCMCIA standard as a medium. SOLUTION: This facsimile equipment 1 is provided with at least an image processing means for processing inputted image information, a memory 3 for temporarily storing various kinds of information, such as image information processed by the image processing means, transmitting and receiving means 14, 15, and 16 for transmitting various kinds of information stored in the memory 3 by operating prescribed processing such as compression or uncompression. The facsimile equipment 1 is provided with a card information reading means 17 for reading various kind of information stored in the flash memory card 20, and for storing it in the memory 3 and a card information writing means 18 for writing various kinds of information stored in the memory 3 in the flash memory card 20.

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 transmitting and receiving image information processed by an external terminal processing apparatus such as a personal computer or another facsimile apparatus, and various information such as a destination telephone number and language data. Registration and rewriting.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various techniques using an external recording medium such as a data card have been proposed. One of the methods is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 6 (1994) -64, which writes the same image information as transmitted image information on a data card, and reproduces and displays an image signal based on the image information stored in the data card. No. 46178 (hereinafter referred to as a first conventional example). Also, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-154163
In a facsimile apparatus that reads an OCR sheet and performs an OCR recognition process, an OCR recognition program and format information are rewritten at any time by using an IC card in which format information is stored in advance. What has made possible is also disclosed. Furthermore,
Although similar to the second conventional example, a facsimile apparatus in which a program stored in an IC card is rewritten by a program stored in an IC card is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 9-247309 (hereinafter referred to as a third conventional example). Examples) are also disclosed. Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No.
No. 261486 (hereinafter referred to as a fourth conventional example). Furthermore, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-37918 (hereinafter referred to as a fifth conventional example) discloses a modem which has a function of converting a transmission destination to a recording medium. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 9-65003 (hereinafter referred to as a sixth conventional example) proposes a device for storing and reading an image in an IC memory.

Further, the facsimile apparatus has a function of designating a destination and transmitting by simply pressing a one-touch key or an abbreviated number key. In order to use such a function, it is necessary to register the telephone number of the other party as registration data in advance. In order to register this registration data, the registration is performed by operating the operation unit of the facsimile machine. In a facsimile apparatus capable of communicating with a computer, an AT command is exchanged between the computer and the facsimile apparatus to register registration data in the facsimile apparatus.

Further, a simple remote maintenance system for a facsimile machine is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-798.
As shown in Japanese Patent Publication No. 29 (hereinafter referred to as a seventh conventional example), a remote maintenance program sent from a computer to a facsimile apparatus is stored in an IC card, and the facsimile apparatus stores a remote maintenance program stored in the IC card. Control is performed. Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-51504 (hereinafter referred to as an eighth conventional example) discloses a technique of reading a telephone number and a notification sound from an IC card.

[0005] Each of these conventional examples has the following problems. In the first conventional example, only the transmitted image is stored in a card and displayed on a display to confirm the transmission result.
Further, the second conventional example is merely a technique using an IC card storing a program in order to rewrite a program of the apparatus. Further, in the third conventional example, the program is simply written into the internal flash ROM,
Only an external recording medium for rewriting is disclosed as in the conventional example. Further, the fourth conventional example is merely a technique for transferring an identification number, which is data stored in a card, via a network. Further, the fifth conventional example is merely used as a modem having a function of converting a transmission destination to a recording medium, and the sixth conventional example is merely storing a sentence or the like in an IC memory. Absent. According to the seventh conventional example, in order to operate the operation unit of the facsimile apparatus and register the registration data such as the destination telephone number, it is necessary to operate the keys of the operation unit for each destination in a predetermined procedure. It was not easy to register many destination phone numbers. Further, in the eighth conventional example, the telephone number is simply notified by voice or the like. In each of the conventional examples, the ROM is replaced or the entire ROM is rewritten at a place where a language used in a facsimile operation or a report can be used, which is very complicated in terms of operation.

Conventionally, image information processed by a terminal processing device such as a personal computer is transmitted by a facsimile device, or image information received externally by the facsimile device is processed by the terminal processing device. In order to register / rewrite the destination telephone number and language data, a terminal processing device and a facsimile device are connected by a cable as shown in FIG. 12 to exchange various data, or a personal computer as shown in FIG. Only when the image data processed by the terminal processing device is transmitted by the facsimile device, the image information processed by the terminal processing device is printed out by a printer connected to the device, and the original is optically converted by the facsimile device. Was read and sent.

[0007]

However, the method of connecting the terminal processing apparatus and the facsimile apparatus with a cable imposes restrictions on installation conditions. Further, in the method of transmitting a once-printed document, unnecessary printed matter is increased, and the operation is complicated.

The present invention has been made to solve these problems, and various data such as image information, a destination telephone number, and language data can be easily registered and rewritten using a PCMCIA standard flash memory card as a medium. An object of the present invention is to provide a facsimile machine.

[0009]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides an image processing means for processing input image information, and temporarily stores various information such as image information processed by the image processing means. In a facsimile apparatus having at least a memory for storing and a transmitting / receiving means for transmitting and receiving various information stored in the memory by performing predetermined processing such as compression / decompression, the various information stored in the flash memory card is read out to the memory. It is characterized by comprising card information reading means for storing, and card information writing means for writing various information stored in the memory into the flash memory card. Therefore, according to the present invention having such a feature, exchange and registration of various information can be easily performed without trouble of physical connection between the facsimile apparatus and the external terminal processing apparatus or between terminals such as facsimile apparatuses. This makes it easy to backup and copy various information, which leads to a reduction in operator work. By writing various types of information stored in the memory to the flash memory card, it is possible to easily determine whether or not the facsimile machine has an abnormality and the nature of the abnormality via the flash memory card, thereby facilitating maintenance and inspection of the facsimile apparatus. It can be carried out.

The card information writing unit writes various information stored in the memory into a flash memory card using a prescribed format such as a compression format, so that the various information can be written to facsimile apparatuses of different models. You can easily register.

Further, various information includes image information such as a compression method,
Since the registration data such as the registration information type, the data type and the image information, and the language data, the flash memory card can be used as the memory of the facsimile apparatus.
The burden on M can be reduced. Also, by writing using a prescribed format such as a compression format for each corresponding language of the language data, a small data amount is required.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Image processing means for processing input image information, a memory for temporarily storing various information such as image information processed by the image processing means, and various kinds of information stored in the memory In a facsimile apparatus having at least transmitting / receiving means for performing predetermined processing such as compression / decompression and transmitting / receiving, card information reading means for reading various information stored in a flash memory card and storing the information in a memory; Card information writing means for writing information to the flash memory card.

[0013]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a facsimile apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a facsimile apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes a CPU 2 that manages the entire apparatus, and an FLR that stores various programs.
OM 3, a RAM 4 for storing various data and used as a work memory of the CPU 2, an image memory 5 for storing image data, an ECM buffer 6 and a DCR 7 used for performing data transfer by the ECM, and reading an image of a transmission document. A scanner 8, a plotter 9 for printing and outputting image data, an operation display unit 10, a clock unit 11, a parameter memory 12 storing system setting data and registration data, a battery 13, a communication control unit 14, a modem 15, In addition to the network control unit 16, a card information reading unit 17, a registration information writing unit 18, and an F card slot 19 are provided.

An F card slot 19 is for mounting an F card 20 which is a flash memory card, and controls input / output with the F card 20 mounted. The card information reading unit 17 is F
The registration data and memory data stored in the F card 20 attached to the card slot 19 are read, the registration data is stored in the parameter memory 12, and the memory data is stored in the RAM 4.
To be stored. The registration information writing unit 18 stores the parameter memory 1
2 is read out and written to the F card 20, and various data stored in the RAM 4 is read out and written to the F card 20.

The F card 20 conforms to the PCMCIA standard or JEI
It is a DA standard flash memory card, and is a small extended memory used for portable information devices, digital cameras, and the like. Facsimile machine 1 using this F card 20
The registration data such as the telephone number of the other party is registered in. As shown in FIG. 3, the F card 20 used for the facsimile apparatus 1 has an identifier storage area for storing identifiers such as RAM data as registration data and memory data, and a data for storing parameter information of data. It has a parameter storage area, a data length storage area for storing data length, and a real data storage area for storing actual data. In the data parameter storage area, as shown in FIG. 4, for example, when storing registration data such as a telephone number of the other party, the type of registration information and the information are stored, and when storing RAM data, the type of data is stored. The address and the like are stored.

When registering registration data such as the telephone number of the other party in the facsimile machine 1 using the F card 20, the F card 20 is attached to a personal computer, and the registration data is stored and stored. When storing the registration data in the F-card 20, first, an identifier indicating whether the touch operation is performed by a personal computer or a shortcut is input. The input identifier is stored in the identifier storage area as shown in the registration data structure of FIG. Next, when, for example, a name or a telephone number is input as the type of registration information, the type of the input registration information is stored in the data parameter storage area. When actual data such as a telephone number is input in this state, the input actual data is stored in the actual data storage area, and the data length is stored in the data length storage area.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, various types of information including image information and other party's telephone numbers that are image-processed and written in a processing terminal device such as a personal computer are stored in a PCMCIA standard F card inserted into the device. The F card is inserted into the facsimile machine to read out various information such as image information and the other party's telephone number, and to perform transmission processing. Also,
It is assumed that a processing terminal device such as a personal computer has writing / reading means for writing data in the storage area of the F-card or reading the stored data.

Referring to the flowchart of FIG. 6, a description will be given of a process when the registration data stored in the F card 20 is fetched into the facsimile machine 1 and registered.

First, the operator sets the F card 20 in which registration data such as a predetermined telephone number is stored in the F card slot 19 of the facsimile machine 1 (step S).
101), registration of registration data is instructed on the operation display unit 10 (step S102). When registration of registration data is instructed, the card information reading unit 17 reads the set F card 2
The identifier of the registered data is read from the identifier storage area of No. 0 and stored as the identifier of the registered data to be read into the registered data storage area of the parameter memory 12 (step S1).
03). Next, the type of registration information is read from the data parameter storage area of the read identifier and stored in the parameter memory 12 (step S104). Subsequently, actual data is read from the real data storage area and stored in the parameter memory 12 for registration. (Step S105). This process is repeated for all the registered data stored in the F card 20 (steps S106, S103 to S103).
105), when all the registered data stored in the F card 20 are stored and registered in the parameter memory 12, the reading processing of the registered data is ended (step S106).

In this way, the registration data stored in the F card 20 can be copied to the parameter memory 12 of the facsimile machine 1 by the personal computer, and the amount of work of the operator when registering the registration data in the facsimile machine 1 can be reduced. be able to. Further, the registration data stored in the F card 20 can be registered in the parameter memory 12 of the facsimile apparatus 1 without connecting the facsimile apparatus 1 to a personal computer, and the registration data created by the personal computer can be easily registered in the facsimile apparatus 1. Can be.

Next, a process for writing the registration data registered in the parameter memory 12 of the facsimile apparatus 1 and various data stored in the RAM 4 to the F card 20 will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

When writing the registration data and various data registered in the facsimile apparatus 1 to the F card 20, the operator first sets the F card 20 in the F card slot 19 (step S201), and the operation display section 10 displays the F card. Then, an instruction to write data to 20 is issued (step S202). When an instruction to write data to the F card 20 is given, the registration information writing unit 18 initializes the set F card 20 (step S203). When the F-card 20 is initialized, the operator inputs the type of data to be written and necessary information on the operation display unit 10 (step S204). The registration information writing unit 18 determines whether the type of the data to be written is the registration data registered in the parameter memory 12 or the various data stored in the RAM 4 (step S205), and the registration data is specified as the data to be written. At this time, it is confirmed whether or not use of a specific format is selected (step S20).
6) When the use of the specific format is not selected, the registered data is read from the parameter memory 12 for each identifier, the data parameter, the data length, and the actual data are written to the F card 20 (steps S207 and S2).
08). When the use of the specific format is selected, the registered data is read from the parameter memory 12 for each identifier, the data parameter, the data length, and the actual data, and the specific format is used as the format of the read registered data. Registration data to F-card 20
(Steps S210, S208). The reading from the parameter memory 12 and the writing to the F card 20 are performed for all the registered data in the parameter memory 12, and the process of writing the registered data to the F card 20 is completed (step S209).

When the various data stored in the RAM 4 is selected as the data to be written (step S205), the registration information writing unit 18 reads the various data stored in the RAM 4 to read the identifier and the data parameter. Then, the data length and the actual data are written to the F card 20 (steps S211 and S208). When all the various data stored in the RAM 4 is read and written to the F card 20, the process of writing the RAM data to the F card 20 is completed (step S209).

In this manner, the registration data registered in the parameter memory 12 of the facsimile machine 1 and various data stored in the RAM 4 can be written to the F card 20. Therefore, the registration data and RAM data written on the F card 20 can be used by being written on another facsimile machine. In addition, when writing the registration data to the F card 20, a specific format can be used, so that the registration data written to the F card 20 can be used for facsimile apparatuses of different models. Further, by reading the registered data and RAM data written in the F card 20 with a personal computer, the registered data can be confirmed, and it can be easily determined whether or not the facsimile apparatus 1 has an abnormality and the content of the abnormality. In addition, maintenance and inspection of the facsimile machine 1 can be easily performed. In addition, image information can be easily exchanged between the facsimile device and the external terminal processing device or between the terminals such as facsimile devices without physical connection, and high-quality image information can be transmitted. Backup and copying of image information can be easily performed, which leads to a reduction in operator work. In addition, registration information and information necessary for solving an abnormal problem can be easily provided, which leads to an improvement in work efficiency of a service person.

Conventionally, the display of the operation and the setting of the language to be printed can be selected by the operator from the type of language originally entered by the operation unit of the facsimile apparatus, or can be selected by the service person in each region. Although the ROM has been replaced or the entire contents of the ROM have been rewritten, the language data can be rewritten through the F card as shown in FIG. 8 in the present invention. Further, conventionally, not only the language part but also the ROM data was rewritten, but as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the registration format of the compressed language card and its rules can be read and written, and the size written to the card can be reduced. Language data can be easily exchanged, and language correspondence is facilitated because compression is performed for each language. These operations will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 11. First, when switching languages, it is checked whether or not the facsimile apparatus body can currently cope (steps S301 and S302). The rewriting process may be performed on the language described above, and the operation ends when the rewriting is completed (steps S304 and S30).
5, S307). However, if the facsimile machine cannot respond to rewriting in the current state (step S302), the corresponding language stored in the F-card is searched, and the rewriting process is performed on the language of the corresponding country. (Steps S303, S304, S305, S30
6). It should be noted that if there is no applicable F-card in step S303, or if the language cannot be rewritten in the corresponding country in step S305, an error is generated (step S30).
6).

The above F card can be used as a RAM of a facsimile machine. Further, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it goes without saying that various modifications and substitutions can be made within the scope of the claims.

[0027]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Image processing means for processing input image information; memory for temporarily storing various information such as image information processed by the image processing means; and predetermined processing such as compression and decompression of various information stored in the memory. In a facsimile apparatus having at least transmitting and receiving means for performing transmission and reception, card information reading means for reading various information stored in a flash memory card and storing the information in the memory, and writing various information stored in the memory to the flash memory card It is characterized by having card information writing means. Therefore,
According to the present invention having such features, it is possible to easily exchange and register various types of information without the need for a physical connection between a facsimile apparatus and an external terminal processing apparatus or between terminals such as facsimile apparatuses. In addition, backup and copying of various information can be easily performed, which leads to a reduction in operator work. By writing various types of information stored in the memory to the flash memory card, it is possible to easily determine whether or not the facsimile machine has an abnormality and the nature of the abnormality via the flash memory card, thereby facilitating maintenance and inspection of the facsimile apparatus. It can be carried out.

The card information writing unit writes various information stored in the memory to the flash memory card by using a prescribed format such as a compression format so that the various information can be written to facsimile apparatuses of different models. You can easily register.

Further, various information includes image information such as a compression method,
Since the registration data such as the registration information type, the data type and the image information, and the language data, the flash memory card can be used as the memory of the facsimile apparatus.
The burden on M can be reduced.

Further, by writing using a prescribed format such as a compression format for each corresponding language of the language data, a small data amount is required.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a facsimile apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a facsimile apparatus and a terminal processing apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a data structure inside the flash memory card of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing contents of each item of a data structure of the flash memory card of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a structure of registration data of the flash memory card of the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating registration data registration processing in the facsimile apparatus of the present embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating registration data writing processing in the facsimile apparatus of the present embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing how language data is written in the facsimile apparatus of the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a registration structure of language data.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a format of language data.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a process of rewriting language data in the facsimile apparatus of the embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a relationship between a conventional facsimile apparatus and a terminal processing apparatus.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a relationship between another conventional facsimile apparatus and a terminal processing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Facsimile machine 2 CPU 3 FLROM 4 RAM 17 Card information reading part 18 Registration information writing part 19 F card slot 20 F card

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An image processing means for processing input image information, a memory for temporarily storing various information such as image information processed by the image processing means, and a compression and decompression of various information stored in the memory. A facsimile apparatus having at least transmitting / receiving means for performing transmission / reception by performing predetermined processing such as: a card information reading means for reading various information stored in a flash memory card and storing the information in the memory; A facsimile apparatus comprising: card information writing means for writing information to the flash memory card. 2. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the card information writing unit writes various types of information stored in the memory using a prescribed format such as a compression format when writing the information into the flash memory card. 3. The various information includes image information such as a compression method,
3. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the facsimile apparatus is registration data such as registration information type, data type and image information, and language data. 4. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the writing is performed using a prescribed format such as a compression format for each corresponding language of the language data.