JP2000244681A - Internet facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve convenience by outputting digital voice information attached to a received electronic mail through the voice outputting part of a main body device. SOLUTION: When digital voice information is attached to an electronic mail, whether or not the digital voice information can be converted into analog voice information by a modulating/demodulating part 30 is confirmed. When the digital voice information can be converted into the analog voice information by the modulating/demodulating part 30, whether or not so store the digital voice information in a voice information storing part 42 is judged. When the digital voice information is not stored, whether or not the reproduction of the digital voice information is instructed through a control panel 46 is confirmed, and when the reproduction of the digital voice information is instructed, the digital voice information is converted into the analog voice information through the modulating/demodulating part 30, and the analog converted voice information is outputted through a voice outputting part 34.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an Internet facsimile apparatus capable of receiving an electronic mail via a network, and more particularly to a digital signal format audio information attached to an electronic mail via an audio information output unit. The present invention relates to an Internet facsimile apparatus capable of outputting.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, networks (communication circuit networks)
Internet facsimile machine that can receive an electronic mail transmitted from an electronic mail sender and output image information attached to the electronic mail via an image forming unit built in the main body by connecting to the electronic mail sender. Has been put to practical use.

[0003] Such an Internet facsimile apparatus has an electronic mail receiving unit capable of receiving an electronic mail transmitted from an electronic mail sender via a network, and image information attached to the electronic mail received via the electronic mail receiving unit. And an image forming unit capable of outputting the image information extracted through the image information extracting unit onto a recording medium, and the like.

[0004]

However, electronic mail received via this network is based on the MIME (Multipurpose Inte- lette) which is an Internet electronic mail standard.
rnet Mail Extensions) standard, and in addition to electronic mail text (Text), still images (Image) and videos (Vide
o) Since various information such as audio can be attached, information that cannot be handled by the above-described Internet facsimile apparatus has been attached to an electronic mail in some cases.

For this reason, when information that cannot be handled by the above-described Internet facsimile apparatus is attached to an electronic mail, the information is transferred to a personal computer or the like connected to the Internet facsimile apparatus and processed at the transfer destination. Needed and was very inconvenient.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and provides digital audio information attached to an electronic mail received via a network via an audio output unit built in a main unit. By outputting sound,
An object of the present invention is to provide an Internet facsimile machine that can improve convenience.

[0007]

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an Internet facsimile apparatus, comprising: an electronic mail receiving unit capable of receiving an electronic mail via a network; An audio information extraction unit capable of extracting audio information in a digital signal format, a modulation / demodulation unit capable of converting audio information in a digital signal format into an analog signal format, and audio capable of outputting audio based on the audio information in an analog signal format. An output unit is provided.

[0008] According to the Internet facsimile apparatus, voice information in digital signal format attached to the electronic mail is extracted through the voice information extracting unit, and the extracted voice information is extracted through the modem unit. The audio information in the analog signal format can be converted into audio information in the analog signal format, and the audio information in the analog signal format can be output via the audio output unit. Accordingly, when voice information in digital signal format is attached to an electronic mail, the content can be heard through a voice output unit provided in the Internet facsimile apparatus. In this way, it is not necessary to transfer the digital signal format voice information to a personal computer or the like and process it at the transfer destination, and it is possible to satisfactorily reduce the labor and burden on the user.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the Internet facsimile apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the audio facsimile apparatus is divided into a plurality of groups and is capable of storing digital signal audio information. It is characterized by further comprising an information storage unit.

[0010] According to the Internet facsimile apparatus, it is possible to store voice information in a digital signal format attached to an electronic mail in a voice information storage unit for each group. This makes it possible to manage voice information in a digital signal format according to the purpose of the user.For example, when a single Internet facsimile apparatus is used by a plurality of persons, each person uses the information. It is possible to determine the group to be used.

Further, the Internet facsimile apparatus according to the third aspect is the Internet facsimile apparatus according to the second aspect, further comprising a password input section capable of inputting a password, wherein the digital signal format stored in the voice information storage section is provided. The voice information is characterized in that when a predetermined password set for each group is input via the password input unit, the voice information is output as voice via the modem unit and the audio output unit.

According to the Internet facsimile apparatus, the voice information in the digital signal format stored in the voice information storage unit is used when the password determined for each group is input via the password input unit and the modem unit and the demodulation unit are used. The sound is output via the sound output unit. This prohibits another person from freely handling the audio information in digital signal format stored in the group owned by each person, so that the privacy of each person can be well protected.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

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

As shown in FIG. 1, the Internet facsimile apparatus 10 includes an image forming section 14 capable of outputting image information to be recorded and printed (including characters and numerals, etc.) onto a recording medium; An image reading unit 16 capable of reading image information formed on a medium to be read by including a system reading device; a personal computer interface unit (PC interface unit) 18 enabling information exchange with a personal computer (not shown); A communication function unit 20 for directly controlling transmission / reception processing of various data by the Internet facsimile apparatus 10, an image reading unit 16
An information compression / expansion unit 32 for compressing image information and the like read through the IC, and expanding received image information and the like, and an audio output unit 34 capable of outputting audio and error sounds based on audio information in analog signal format. A ROM 36 for storing an electronic mail reception processing program, font data, and the like, which will be described later; destination information (a transmission destination facsimile number and a transmission destination mail address) input via a panel operation unit 46, which will be described later; An EEPROM 38 capable of registering and storing a password and the like necessary for extracting voice information stored in a voice information storage unit 42 described later, a RAM 40 capable of storing and erasing various information, an operation instruction and a password from a user, and the like. Panel operation unit 46 including key switches capable of inputting an input and a liquid crystal display (not shown) capable of displaying various processing results. There has been governed and controlled by the CPU12 connected via a bus 54.

The communication function unit 20 is connected to a server 7 described later.
0 (see FIG. 2), an electronic mail receiving unit 22 capable of receiving an electronic mail, a network control unit 24 for performing line control with the server 70,
A line control unit 25 that performs line control with a general public line 79 described later, a voice information extraction unit 26 that can extract voice information in a digital signal format attached to an electronic mail, and can extract image information attached to an electronic mail. Image information extraction unit 2
7. It comprises a voice format recognition unit 28 capable of recognizing a format relating to digital signal format voice information attached to the electronic mail, and a modulation / demodulation unit 30 for modulating / demodulating digital signals and analog signals.

The RAM 40 can be divided into a plurality of groups, and can store audio information in the form of digital signals for each group. Information, or
It is composed of an image information memory 44 capable of temporarily storing image information attached to an electronic mail.

Further, the panel operation section 46 is provided with a ten-key pad 4 capable of inputting a facsimile number of a transmission destination and a password.
8. Destination mail address and destination name,
Alternatively, it is composed of a character key 50 capable of inputting a password or the like.

It should be noted that the above-mentioned electronic mail is a MIME (Multipurpose Internet) which is an Internet electronic mail standard.
rnet Mail Extensions) standard.
If it complies with the ME standard, in addition to the text in the electronic mail text (Text), still images (Image) and moving images (V
It is possible to attach various types of information such as video and audio.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the Internet facsimile apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1 and a network (communication line network) connected to the Internet facsimile apparatus 10. In FIG. 2, the Internet facsimile apparatus 10 is used to simplify the drawing.
A communication function unit 20 that is important when performing communication by the user, an image forming unit 14 that outputs an image based on image information, and
The voice output unit 34 that performs voice output based on voice information is mainly illustrated, and components of other Internet facsimile apparatuses 10 are not illustrated.

As shown in FIG. 2, the above-described Internet facsimile apparatus 10 includes a line controller 25, a general public line 79, and a connection via a provider connected to the Internet 75 via an Internet provider 60, or a network. Control unit 24 and LA
Various information can be exchanged between the Internet facsimile apparatus 10 and the Internet 75 through a LAN connection connected to the Internet 75 via the server 70 provided in the N68.

Hereinafter, referring to FIGS. 2 and 3,
When an e-mail sent from an e-mail sender 76 also connected to the Internet 75 is received, the RO
The e-mail receiving process executed via the program stored in M36 will be described in detail. In addition, FIG.
It is an e-mail reception processing flowchart which showed the process of the e-mail reception processing program.

First, it is confirmed via the electronic mail receiving unit 22 whether the electronic mail transmitted from the electronic mail sender 76 has been received by the Internet provider 60 or the server 70 via the Internet 75 (S1). . Here, when the electronic mail has not been received (S1: NO), the apparatus is in a standby state until the electronic mail is received. In this standby state (S1: NO),
By operating the operation panel 46 by the user, it is possible to execute registration / change of destination information of a transmission destination and a password described later.

On the other hand, when it is confirmed via the electronic mail receiving unit 22 that the Internet provider 60 or the server 70 has received the electronic mail (S
1: YES) automatically or in accordance with the user's instruction, goes to receive the electronic mail received by the Internet provider 60 or the server 70, and determines whether or not image information is attached to the electronic mail. Is confirmed via the image information extraction unit 27 (S3).
When confirming whether image information is attached to the electronic mail, Content-Type Image, which is a standard of image information provided in the MIME standard, is referred to.

If it is determined in step S3 that the image information is attached to the electronic mail (S3: YES), the image information is output via the image forming unit 14 (S5).

After the image information is output via the image forming section 14 (S5), or when the image information is not attached to the electronic mail (S3: NO), the digital mail is then sent to the electronic mail. It is confirmed via the voice information extracting unit 26 whether the voice information is attached (S7).
When confirming whether or not the electronic mail has digital signal format audio information attached thereto, refer to Content-Type Audio, which is a digital signal format audio information standard provided in the MIME standard. ing.

If it is determined in step S7 that the electronic mail has digital signal format voice information attached (S7: YES), the digital signal format voice information is converted by the modem 30 into an analog signal format. It is confirmed whether or not the voice information can be converted (S9). here,
When the modulation / demodulation unit 30 cannot convert audio information in the digital signal format into audio information in the analog signal format (S
9: NO), the voice information in the digital signal format is held on the Internet provider 60 or the server 70, or is sent to a personal computer (not shown) connected via the personal computer interface unit 18. The process of transferring the voice information in the digital signal format is executed (S21).

On the other hand, in the determination of S9, the modem 30
However, if the audio information in the digital signal format can be converted into the audio information in the analog signal format (S9: YES),
The voice information in the digital signal format is stored in the voice information storage unit 4.
2 is determined (S11). Note that this S
11 is determined in advance by the user through the panel operation unit 46.
Can be performed according to the setting input via the electronic mail, or can be determined via the panel operation unit 46 after receiving the electronic mail (S1: YES).

Here, in the determination of S11, the case where voice information in a digital signal format is stored (S11: Y
ES) selects to which group the audio information in the digital signal format is stored in the audio information storage unit 42 divided into a plurality of groups (S13). The storage group destination of the audio information in the digital signal format may be set in accordance with the setting input in advance via the panel operation unit 46, or the sender information (the sender mail information) of the electronic mail sender 76 may be used. The address may be automatically distributed based on the address or the like.

Then, after selecting a storage group destination for storing voice information in digital signal format (S13), storage of voice information in digital signal format is executed in the storage group destination (S15). In this manner, the voice information in the digital signal format stored for each of the plurality of groups provided in the voice information storage unit 42 is stored in the digital signal format unless a password defined for each group is input. When the password specified for each group is input via the operation panel 46, the voice information in the digital signal format is transmitted to the modem 3.
The audio information is converted into audio information in an analog signal format via the audio signal 0, and the audio output unit 34 outputs audio based on the audio information in the analog signal format.

On the other hand, when the voice information in the digital signal format is not stored in the determination in S11 (S11: NO)
Checks whether there is an instruction to reproduce the audio information in the digital signal format through an operation from the operation panel 46 (S17). Here, when there is no instruction to reproduce the audio information in the digital signal format (S17: NO),
The process returns to S11.

If it is determined in step S17 that there is an instruction to reproduce the audio information in the digital signal format (S1).
7: YES), the digital signal format audio information is converted into the analog signal format audio information via the modem unit 30, and the analog signal format converted audio information is converted via the audio output unit 34. And output (S1
9).

If no digital signal audio information is attached to the electronic mail (S7: NO), the digital signal audio information is stored in the audio information storage unit 42 (S15), and then the audio output unit 34 is output. (S19), or after the digital signal format audio information that cannot be converted to the analog signal format via the modem unit 30 (S9: NO) is transferred (S21). Next, it is confirmed whether or not information other than image information and audio information in a digital signal format is attached to the electronic mail (S23). It should be noted that information corresponding to these pieces of information includes moving pictures (Video) and application data (Applicatio) provided in the MIME standard.
n) and so on.

If the other information is not attached (S23: NO), the electronic mail receiving process ends.

On the other hand, when the other information is attached (S23: YES), the other information is held in the Internet provider 60 or the server 70, or the personal computer interface is used. After executing the process of transferring the audio information in the digital signal format to a personal computer (not shown) connected via the unit 18 (S25), the electronic mail receiving process ends.

As described above, according to the Internet facsimile apparatus 10, when the electronic mail has the audio information in the digital signal format attached thereto (S7: Y).
ES) can listen to the contents via an audio output unit 34 provided in the Internet facsimile apparatus 10 (S19), so that the digital signal format audio information is transmitted as in the conventional Internet facsimile apparatus. It is no longer necessary to transfer the data to a personal computer or the like and process the data at the transfer destination, thereby making it possible to satisfactorily reduce the labor and burden on the user.

The voice information attached to the electronic mail can be stored in a desired group destination among a plurality of groups provided in the voice information storage unit 42 (S
15) Since it is possible to manage voice information in a digital signal format according to the user's purpose, for example, a single Internet facsimile apparatus 10 can be used by a plurality of persons.

Furthermore, the voice information in the digital signal format stored in the group owned by each person is output as voice when a password set for each group is input, so that other people can handle it freely. It is banned and it is possible to protect each person's privacy well.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and it goes without saying that various improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, the Internet facsimile apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment has been described by way of an example in which an electronic mail from an electronic mail sender 76 capable of performing various kinds of information exchange is received via the Internet 75, but the present invention is not limited to this. Needless to say, the same effect can be obtained by receiving an electronic mail from a partner capable of executing various information exchanges via the LAN 68.

[0040]

As described above, according to the Internet facsimile apparatus of the first aspect, when the electronic mail is accompanied by voice information in the form of a digital signal, the voice provided in the Internet facsimile apparatus is provided. Since the content can be heard through the output unit, like a conventional Internet facsimile machine,
There is no need to transfer the digital signal format voice information to a personal computer or the like and process it at the transfer destination, thereby making it possible to satisfactorily reduce the burden and burden on the user.

According to the Internet facsimile apparatus of the second aspect, in addition to the effect of the Internet facsimile apparatus of the first aspect, voice information in a digital signal format is managed according to the purpose of the user. For example, in the case where one Internet facsimile apparatus is used by a plurality of persons, it is possible to determine and use a group to be used by each person.

Further, according to the Internet facsimile apparatus of the third aspect, in addition to the effect of the Internet facsimile apparatus of the second aspect, furthermore, the digital facsimile information stored in the group owned by each person is transmitted. Since it is prohibited to treat others freely, it is possible to protect the privacy of each person well.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an Internet facsimile apparatus and a network to which the Internet facsimile apparatus is connected.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an electronic mail reception process showing a process of an electronic mail reception processing program.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Internet facsimile apparatus 12 CPU 14 Image formation part 16 Image reading part 18 Personal computer interface part 20 Communication function part 22 Electronic mail receiving part 24 Network control part 25 Line control part 26 Voice information extraction part 27 Image information extraction part 28 Voice style recognition Unit 30 modem unit 34 audio output unit 36 ROM 38 EEPROM 40 RAM 42 audio information storage unit 46 panel operation unit 60 internet provider 70 server 75 internet 76 electronic mail sender 79 general public line

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04N 1/00 107 H04N 1/44 1/32 H04L 11/20 101B 1/44 F-term (Reference) 5B089 GA26 HA10 JA05 JA31 JB05 KA01 KB13 KC26 KC53 KC58 KH14 LB04 LB13 5C062 AA02 AA13 AA29 AB26 AE11 BC03 5C075 AB90 CA90 CF90 EE02 5K030 HB01 HB04 JT05 KA01 5K101 KK01 KK02 NN06 NN16NNN19

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An electronic mail receiving unit capable of receiving an electronic mail via a network; a voice information extracting unit capable of extracting voice information in a digital signal format attached to the electronic mail; An Internet facsimile apparatus comprising: a modem unit that can convert information into an analog signal format; and an audio output unit that can output audio based on the audio information in the analog signal format. 2. The Internet facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a voice information storage unit divided into a plurality of groups and capable of storing the voice information in the digital signal format. 3. A password input unit capable of inputting a password, wherein the voice information in the form of a digital signal stored in the voice information storage unit includes a predetermined password set for each group via the password input unit. 3. The Internet facsimile apparatus according to claim 2, wherein when a password is input, the voice is output via the modem and the voice output unit.