JP2000224396A - Facsimile machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a facsimile machine that receives image data preferentially from a sender with high importance when a residual amount of recording paper is less and prints out the data on the print paper. SOLUTION: The facsimile machine that transmits/receives image data via a telephone line and uses a print means 6 to print an image on paper when receiving the image data, is provided with a residual amount detection means 7 that detects a residual amount of paper and outputs a detection signal when the residual amount reaches a prescribed amount or below, with a memory 11 that stores telephone number data of a sender of the image data, and with a control means 12 that collates telephone number data of a sender of the image data with telephone number data stored in advance in the memory 11 when the incoming call detection means 8 transmits the incoming detection signal denoting the arrival of the image data after the detection signal is sent from the residual amount detection means 7 and controls reception of the image data when the both are coincident.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile apparatus having a function of detecting the remaining amount of paper, and more particularly, to a facsimile apparatus capable of judging printing according to the remaining amount of paper when image data is received. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A widespread facsimile apparatus uses paper on which a black end mark indicating that the remaining amount of paper is small is used, and a detection signal from a remaining amount detection sensor for detecting the black end mark is used. And storing the received image data in a memory. As one example of this, a facsimile receiving apparatus has been proposed which aims to greatly increase the recordable amount of received image data without increasing the amount of recording paper or memory (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-195875). reference).

[0003] This device comprises a remaining amount detecting means for detecting the remaining amount of the recording medium and image data received when the remaining amount detecting means detects that the remaining amount of the recording medium has reached a predetermined remaining amount. Recording means for thinning out and recording on a recording medium. This facsimile receiving apparatus receives image data arriving on a line and records it on a recording medium. When it is detected that the remaining amount of the recording medium has reached a predetermined remaining amount, the received image data is thinned out and the recording medium is discarded. Therefore, the number of recordable image data can be increased without increasing the capacity of the recording medium. Further, in this type of facsimile apparatus, when it is detected that the remaining amount of the recording medium has reached a predetermined remaining amount, blank portions other than the image in the image data are cut and recorded on the recording medium, and the recording is performed. There is also known a facsimile receiving apparatus that increases the number of recordable image data by printing characters or the like flat on paper.

[0004]

The above-mentioned conventional facsimile receiving apparatuses all use a recording medium and process received image data when the remaining amount is small, and the amount of recording paper is reduced. Sometimes image data is received unconditionally. For this reason, the received image data is printed on the recording paper irrespective of the importance of the destination, and if the recording paper is used, subsequent printing becomes impossible.
There is a problem that important image data cannot be preferentially recorded under the condition that the amount of recording paper is small.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and it is possible to receive image data from a transmission source having high importance and print it on recording paper when the remaining amount of recording paper is small. It is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile machine capable of performing such operations.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, image data is transmitted and received via a telephone line, and when the image data is received, the paper is printed by a printing means. A facsimile apparatus that prints an image on a facsimile machine, a remaining amount detecting unit that detects a remaining amount of the paper and outputs a detection signal when the remaining amount is equal to or less than a predetermined amount, and a memory that stores telephone number data of a source of the image data;
After the detection signal is transmitted from the remaining amount detection means, when an incoming detection signal indicating the arrival of image data is transmitted from the incoming detection means, the telephone number data of the source of the image data is stored in the memory in advance. And control means for checking the stored telephone number data and receiving the image data when the two coincide with each other. According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a facsimile apparatus which transmits and receives image data via a telephone line and prints an image on a sheet by a printing unit when the image data is received. A remaining amount detecting means for outputting a detection signal when the amount becomes equal to or less than a fixed amount, a memory for storing the telephone number data of the sender of the image data, and a receiving signal after the detection signal is transmitted from the remaining amount detecting means. When an incoming call detection signal indicating the incoming of image data is sent, the telephone number data of the sender of the image data is compared with the telephone number data stored in the memory in advance. And control means for performing control not to receive.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, the control means performs control such that the incoming telephone number data is compared with the telephone number data in the memory, and if the two match, the image data of the originator is not received. It is characterized by:

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an electric block diagram showing a facsimile apparatus according to the present invention. In this facsimile apparatus, a key operation unit 1, an LCD display unit 4 and the like are provided on an operation panel of the apparatus main body (not shown), and an information reading unit 2, a print processing unit 5, a printer 6, a remaining amount detection Unit 7, incoming call detection unit 8, and control unit 1
2 and the like, and is configured to receive image data according to the remaining amount of recording paper. The key operation unit 1 has ten keys in which kana characters, alphabets, symbols, and the like are assigned to respective numeric keys, as well as a registration key, a copy key, a start key, a stop key, and the like generally provided in a facsimile apparatus.

The information reading section 2 sends image data of a document read by an optical head constituting a scanner to the control section 12. The display unit 4 is a liquid crystal display device, the display of which is controlled by the LCD controller 3 and displays a prepared message or an operation content by key input in a predetermined number of digits. The print processing unit 5 includes the control unit 1
The printer 6 is operated in accordance with the command signal 2 to print image data read by the information reading unit 2 or input via a telephone line on a dedicated paper. This dedicated recording paper is a thermal paper provided in a popular image communication device,
A4 or B4 size rolled standard paper is stored in the storage unit. Although this recording paper has a length of several meters, a black end mark indicating that the remaining amount is reduced is displayed along the length direction. This black end mark is about 3 meters in the standard type.

The remaining amount detecting section 7 is a sensor for detecting a black end mark on the recording paper, and when detecting the black end mark, outputs a detection signal indicating that the remaining amount is less than a predetermined amount. Send to 12 side. Also, the incoming call detection unit 8
Is connected to a telephone line, and when an incoming call is received at the telephone number of the facsimile apparatus, an incoming call detection signal is transmitted to the control unit 12 side. The memory 11
Is for storing the telephone number data of the sender of the image data, and the user inputs the registration key or the numeric keypad of the key operation unit 1 so that the telephone numbers of the senders are arranged in the order of importance. Multiple registrations are possible.

The control unit 12 is a microcomputer comprising a CPU, a ROM and a RAM. The key operation unit 1, the information reading unit 2, the LCD controller 3, the print processing unit 5, the printer 6, the remaining amount detection unit 7 , Incoming call detector 8
And one-way or bidirectional connection with the memory 11 and the like according to each function. The control unit 12 includes:
A telephone line is connected via a modem 9 and an NCU 10. The control unit 12 controls the operation of the entire apparatus to execute functions such as transmission and reception of image data, copying of originals, answering machine and transfer provided by a general facsimile apparatus, and registration according to a user's key selection operation. And setting processing. Further, after the detection signal is transmitted from the remaining amount detection unit 7 and the incoming detection signal indicating the reception of the image data is transmitted from the reception detection unit 8, the telephone number data of the transmission source of the image data is changed. It is configured to collate with telephone number data stored in the memory 11 in advance, determine reception of image data depending on whether or not they match, and perform subsequent processing.

Next, the operation of the facsimile machine will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When the use of the facsimile apparatus is started, the control unit 12 waits for a signal input from the remaining amount detection unit 7 (step S1).
1) Further, it is determined whether or not a facsimile transmission signal has arrived (step S12). This control unit 12
While the detection signal is not sent from the remaining amount detection unit 7, it is determined that the remaining amount of the recording paper is sufficient, and the detection signal from the reception detection unit 8 is transmitted when the facsimile transmission signal arrives. Receives the image data according to. And
The print processing unit 5 and the printer 6 are operated to print an image on a recording sheet.

During the repetition of the reception of the image data and the printing on the recording paper, after the remaining amount detection signal is transmitted in step S11 and the incoming detection signal is transmitted in step S12, the control unit 12 Collates the source telephone number of the facsimile with the telephone number data registered in the memory 11 (step S13). Here, when they do not match, the image data is not received (step S14), and when they match, the image data is received,
By operating the print processing unit 5 and the printer 6, an image is printed on the remaining recording paper (Steps S15 and S15).
16). Therefore, when the remaining amount of the recording paper is low, the user can preferentially receive and print the image data from the source registered in advance by the user, so that the information of the important destination can be grasped without missing. It is.

In the above embodiment, image data is received if the source telephone number of the facsimile and the telephone number data registered in the memory 11 match. It may be configured to perform control not to receive image data. As a result, waste of paper can be reduced by omitting image data of an unimportant destination. Conversely, when they match, control may be performed so as not to receive the image data of the transmission source. As a result, printing is possible by receiving image data from a source other than the source registered in the memory 11.

[0014]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, after the detection signal is transmitted from the remaining amount detecting means for detecting the remaining amount of paper, the image is received from the incoming call detecting means. When an incoming call detection signal indicating the arrival of data is sent, the image data is received only when the telephone number data of the source of the image data matches the telephone number data in the memory. When the remaining amount is small, there is an effect that only image data from a transmission source having high importance can be received and printed on paper. According to the second aspect of the present invention, after the detection signal is transmitted from the remaining amount detecting means for detecting the remaining amount of paper, an incoming detection signal indicating the arrival of image data is transmitted from the incoming detection means. When the phone number data of the sender of the image data does not match the phone number data in the memory, the image data is not received. Therefore, there is an advantage that waste of paper can be prevented. Further, according to the third aspect of the present invention, the control means compares the incoming telephone number data with the telephone number data in the memory, and when the two match, the image data of the originator is not received. When the amount is small, there is an advantage that the image data of the source selected in advance is not received, and image data from other sources can be received.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the facsimile machine.

[Explanation of symbols]

 6 printing means 7 remaining amount detecting means 8 incoming call detecting means 11 memory 12 control means

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A facsimile apparatus which transmits and receives image data via a telephone line and prints an image on a sheet by a printing means when the image data is received. , A memory for storing the telephone number data of the source of the image data, and indicating that the image data has been received by the incoming call detection means after the detection signal has been transmitted from the remaining amount detection means. When an incoming call detection signal is sent,
Control means for comparing the telephone number data of the sender of the image data with the telephone number data stored in advance in the memory, and performing control to receive the image data when both match. Facsimile machine. 2. A facsimile apparatus which transmits and receives image data via a telephone line and prints an image on a sheet by a printing means when the image data is received. , A memory for storing the telephone number data of the source of the image data, and indicating that the image data has been received by the incoming call detection means after the detection signal has been transmitted from the remaining amount detection means. When an incoming call detection signal is sent,
Control means for comparing the telephone number data of the sender of the image data with telephone number data stored in advance in the memory, and performing control not to receive the image data when the two do not match. Facsimile machine. 3. The control means according to claim 2, wherein said control means checks the received telephone number data and the telephone number data in a memory and, if the two coincide with each other, does not receive the image data of the transmission source. Item 1. A facsimile apparatus according to item 1.