JP2001016389A - Remote diagnostic method for facsimile machine and the facsimile machine suitable for execution thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To discriminate whether a communication section which is a communication object of a center station device is a main communication section or a sub communication section in remote diagnosis. SOLUTION: This facsimile machine 10 is dual line facsimile machine that is provided with a main control means section 11 and a sub communication section 21 and can make communication via two lines 1, 2. When making remote diagnosis of the facsimile machine 10 from a center station device 50, the main control means section 11 or the sub communication section 21 concerned at present with the communication transmits identification information, denoting whether concerned communication section is the main control means section 11 or the sub communication section 21 to the center station device 50. The identification information is transmitted by sending an identification flag included in model information, an identification flag attached when sending internal data stored in SRAMs 15, 25 or an identification flag included in a signal in the communication protocol.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a remote diagnostic method for diagnosing a facsimile apparatus from a center station via a communication line, and a facsimile apparatus suitable for implementing the remote diagnostic method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An internal storage device (SR) of a facsimile machine
Performing maintenance or the like of a facsimile machine from a center station located at a remote location by accessing internal data stored in the AM) is called remote diagnosis. More specifically, a computer provided in the center station calls the facsimile machine to be diagnosed, and issues an internal data transmission request. In response, the facsimile apparatus to be diagnosed reads out the internal data from the internal storage device and transmits it to the computer of the center station via the telephone line. The computer of the center station receives this and stores it in an appropriate storage device.

[0003] Thereafter, the maintenance worker examines the internal data received from the facsimile machine to be diagnosed using the computer of the center station, and makes changes as necessary.
For example, by examining the error information included in the internal data, a problem occurring in the facsimile apparatus can be grasped. In addition, for example, batch registration of one-touch dial destinations, speed dial destinations, and the like can be performed.
The one-touch dial is a name of a function for starting a facsimile transmission operation to a destination registered in advance by operating one button. Also, speed dials are, for example,
This is a name of a function for starting a facsimile transmission operation to a destination registered in advance by sequentially operating two operation buttons.

The internal data with necessary changes is transmitted from the center station to the facsimile apparatus to be diagnosed, and the facsimile apparatus which receives the data writes the received internal data into its own internal storage device. In this way, the internal data is rewritten by the operation at the center station, whereby the remote diagnosis is achieved.

Recently, a so-called dual-line facsimile apparatus having a facsimile communication section for two lines connected to a public telephone line network has been provided.
That is, the dual line facsimile apparatus includes a main communication unit and a sub communication unit, each of which is connected to a public telephone line network and has a different telephone number.
The main communication unit and the sub communication unit are each connected to an internal storage device for storing internal data, and are also connected to individual modems. The document reading unit, received image recording unit (printing unit), key operation unit, and the like are generally shared by the main communication unit and the sub communication unit.

The internal data stored in the internal storage device of the main communication unit is called main internal data, and the internal data stored in the internal storage device of the sub communication unit is called sub internal data. The sub internal data includes common data common to both and individual data different from each other.
The common data is, for example, data representing registered contents of one-touch dialing and speed dialing. The individual data is data such as station number information of each communication unit, error information generated in each communication unit, and communication records executed in each communication unit.

When remote diagnosis is performed on such a dual-line facsimile apparatus, acquisition of main internal data and sub-internal data and rewriting thereof are performed. In this case, from the computer of the center station, a call is made to the main communication unit to obtain main internal data, and further, a call is made to the sub communication unit to obtain sub internal data. After the main station rewrites the main and sub internal data, the computer of the center station calls the main communication section again to transmit the main internal data, and further calls the sub communication section to transmit the main internal data. The data will be sent. That is, an operation similar to the case of the remote diagnosis for two facsimile machines is executed for one facsimile machine.

[0008]

However, if remote diagnosis is performed simply by regarding one dual-line facsimile apparatus as two independent facsimile apparatuses, inconvenience may occur. For example, the common data may include setting data indicating permission / non-permission of the remote diagnosis. If this setting data is "permitted",
Remote diagnosis from the center station is possible, and if "disapproved", access to the internal data from the center station as well as from the outside is completely impossible. As a result, security of internal data is ensured while enabling remote diagnosis.

Regarding permission / non-permission of remote diagnosis,
The main control unit of the facsimile apparatus refers only to the setting data of the main internal data, and permission / non-permission of access to the main internal data and the sub internal data is set according to the contents. I have. During remote diagnosis,
The center station contacts the user in advance by telephone or the like. Then, the user changes the setting data in the main internal data to “permitted” by a key operation. After that, the center station accesses the main communication unit and the sub communication unit.

When the center station changes the main and sub internal data for the main communication section, it changes the setting data to "non-permitted". Therefore, after the changed main internal data is written in the main communication section of the facsimile apparatus to be diagnosed, the internal storage device of the main communication section or the sub communication section of the facsimile apparatus cannot be accessed. Therefore, if the writing of the internal data to the main communication unit is performed before the writing of the internal data to the sub communication unit, the writing of the internal data to the sub communication unit cannot be performed. As a result, for example, there is a possibility that common data that should be originally matched between the main communication unit and the sub communication unit may have different contents. Of course, after writing the internal data to the main communication unit, by contacting the user again and having the setting data changed to "permitted" again, the writing of the internal data to the sub communication unit becomes possible. However, it is not preferable because the user is restrained for remote diagnosis.

If the internal data is written to the sub-communication section first, and then the internal data is written to the main communication section, the above problem does not occur. However, the user is completely unaware which of the two telephone numbers of the dual line facsimile apparatus corresponds to the main communication unit, and is not necessarily managed by the computer of the center station. Even if the center station manages the correspondence between the two telephone numbers and the main control unit and the sub-control unit, it cannot guarantee that no error occurs when such information is input.

Therefore, conventionally, the center station cannot reliably determine whether the communication partner station for remote diagnosis is the main communication unit or the sub communication unit.
For this reason, the above-mentioned problems cannot be completely eliminated. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned technical problem, and to provide a remote diagnosis method and a remote diagnosis method capable of reliably determining whether a communication unit to be communicated is a main communication unit or a sub communication unit at the time of remote diagnosis. An object of the present invention is to provide a facsimile machine suitable for performing the method.

[0013]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a facsimile apparatus having a main communication section and a sub-communication section via a communication line from a center station apparatus. A method for performing remote diagnosis of the facsimile apparatus by connecting and accessing each internal data of the main communication section and the sub communication section, wherein the facsimile apparatus is connected from the center station apparatus to the main communication section or the sub communication section. A step of establishing a communication path with the apparatus, and transmitting, from the facsimile apparatus to the center station apparatus, identification information indicating whether the communication section established with the center station is the main communication section or the sub communication section. And a remote diagnosis method for the facsimile machine.

According to the above method, at the time of remote diagnosis, identification information indicating whether the communication unit having a communication path established is the main communication unit or the sub communication unit is transmitted from the facsimile apparatus to the center station. . Accordingly, the center station can identify whether the communication unit to be communicated is the main communication unit or the sub communication unit. As a result, the remote diagnosis can be reliably performed without any error in the procedure.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a main communication section and a sub-communication section capable of performing communication via a communication line independently of each other, and main internal data storage means for storing internal data corresponding to the main communication section. A sub-internal data storage unit for storing internal data corresponding to the sub-communication unit; and a main internal data storage unit in response to a request from the center station device to the main communication unit given via a communication line. Control means for reading or writing, reading or writing internal data to the sub internal data storage means in response to a request to the sub communication unit given from the center station device via the communication line; and In the communication, the identification information for identifying whether the communication unit currently involved in the communication is the main communication unit or the sub communication unit is Via the signal line is a facsimile apparatus which comprises an identification information transmission means for transmitting to said center station device.

According to this configuration, at the time of communication with the center station device, information indicating whether the communication unit involved in the communication is the main communication unit or the sub communication unit is transmitted to the center station device. In the center station device, it is possible to reliably identify whether the communication unit to be communicated is the main communication unit or the sub communication unit. The transmission of the identification information may be realized, for example, by including an identification flag indicating whether the signal is the main communication unit or the sub communication unit in a predetermined signal in the communication protocol.
The transmission of the identification information may be performed, for example, in a data transmission step subsequent to the establishment of the communication path.
That is, identification information (such as a flag) indicating whether the data is a main communication unit or a sub communication unit may be included in data such as model information. When transmitting the internal data, an identification flag may be attached to the internal data.

Further, the internal data of the main communication unit may include permission / non-permission data for permitting / non-permitting access to the internal data of the facsimile apparatus. Then, the center station acquires the internal data of the main communication unit and the sub communication unit, rewrites the data as necessary, writes the internal data of the sub communication unit via the communication line, and thereafter, the main communication unit The remote diagnosis may be completed by writing the internal data of the remote diagnosis via a communication line. In this case, it is preferable that the permission / non-permission data in the internal data of the main communication unit written by the center station apparatus to the facsimile apparatus via the communication line indicates a non-permission state. As a result, after remote diagnosis is completed,
Since access to the internal data of the facsimile machine from the outside is prohibited, security can be improved.

Each of the internal data stored in the main internal data storage means and the sub internal data storage means may include common data common to both, and individual data individual to each communication unit.

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of a facsimile apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention. This facsimile machine 10
Is a dual line facsimile apparatus having two lines 1 and 2 connected to the public telephone network 30. That is, the facsimile apparatus 10 includes a main communication unit 11 and a sub communication unit 21 connected to the main control unit 5, and the main communication unit 11 is connected to a line via a modem 12 and an NCU (network control unit) 13. 1 and the secondary communication unit 2
1 is connected to the line 2 via the modem 22 and the NCU 23.

The main control unit 5 includes a reading unit 6 for optically reading a document and converting the image into an image signal, a recording unit 7 for recording a received image signal on recording paper, and an operation unit having a display unit and operation keys. 8 are connected. These units connected to the main control unit 5 are shared by the main communication unit 11 and the sub communication unit 21. The operation unit 8 includes, for example, a numeric keypad for inputting a dial number or the like, a one-touch dial key group for calling a pre-registered dial number with one touch, and a method for calling a pre-registered dial number with two or three key operations. And a start key for starting facsimile communication.

The main communication section 11 is connected with an SRAM 15 as main internal data storage means for storing internal data (main internal data) of the main communication section 11. SRAM as sub-internal data storage means for storing internal data (sub-internal data) of unit 21
25 are connected. FIG. 2 shows the SRAM 15 and the S
FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the storage contents of a RAM 25. SR
The main internal data stored in the AM 15 and the sub internal data stored in the SRAM 25 include individual data in which individual contents are set and common data in which both contents are common. The individual data includes own station name data of each communication unit 11, own station telephone number data of each communication unit, confidential box data, and relay box data. The common data includes line setting data, language setting data for setting the language of a message displayed on the display unit to English or Japanese, permission / non-permission setting data indicating permission / non-permission of remote diagnosis, speed dialing. There are abbreviated dial data corresponding to the registered contents of "1" and one-touch dial data corresponding to the registered contents of the one-touch dial.

The confidential box data is data in which a confidential box number is associated with data designating an area in an image memory (not shown) corresponding to the confidential box number. If a confidential box number is specified at the time of reception, the confidential box data is referred to, and the received image data is stored in an area on the image memory corresponding to the confidential box number.

The relay box data is data in which a relay box number is associated with a communication destination telephone number corresponding to the relay box number. If the relay box number is specified at the time of reception, after the reception of the image data is completed, a call is made to the communication destination associated with the relay box number, and the received image is transferred. The facsimile device 10 can receive a remote diagnosis from a center station device 50 (for example, a computer system) connected to the public telephone network 30.
Thus, the main internal data and the sub internal data can be updated.

The main controller 5 refers to the permission / non-permission setting data in the SRAM 15, and if the setting data is "permitted", the remote diagnosis is permitted. If the setting data is "non-permitted", the remote diagnosis is prohibited. And access to the internal data is disabled. The procedure of the remote diagnosis by the center station device 50 includes the following procedures (1) to (4). Steps (1) to (4) are performed by reverse polling. The center station contacts the user of the facsimile machine 10 to be diagnosed by telephone or the like, and has the permission / non-permission setting data manually rewritten to “permission”. Thereby, S
The permission / non-permission setting data of the RAM 15 is rewritten to “permitted”, and the main and sub internal data of the SRAMs 15 and 25 are in a state where they can be accessed from outside. A call is made from the center station device 50 to the main communication unit 11 to acquire model information. A call is made from the center station device 50 to the main communication unit 11 to obtain main internal data. A call is made from the center station device 50 to the sub-communication unit 21 to acquire model information. A call is made from the center station device 50 to the sub communication unit 21 to obtain sub internal data. When the maintenance operator operates the center station device 50, the main internal data and the sub internal data are rewritten as necessary. At this time, permission of main and sub internal data /
The non-permission setting data is rewritten to “non-permission”. A call is made from the center station device 50 to the sub-communication unit 21, and sub-internal data is written. A call is made from the center station device 50 to the main communication unit 11 to write main internal data.

Of these procedures, the procedure described above may be reversed to obtain the sub-internal data prior to the acquisition of the main internal data. However, the order of the other procedures is executed as described above. In particular, the procedure must be performed in this order, and if this order is reversed, the main internal data (permission / non-permission setting data set to “non-permission”)
Makes it impossible to access the internal data of the facsimile machine 10, and consequently, the sub-internal data cannot be written.

Then, following the procedure for writing the sub internal data, the procedure for writing the main internal data is executed.
After the remote diagnosis is completed, the facsimile machine 10
The internal data cannot be accessed, and the security of the internal data can be secured. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a detailed communication protocol when acquiring model information. First, in order to execute the procedure, the center station device 50 performs reverse polling on the main communication unit 11. However, when the center station device 50 originates a call, the telephone numbers of the two lines of the facsimile device 10 are known in the center station device 50, but the two telephone numbers and the main and sub communication units 11 and 12 The correspondence is generally unknown.

The center station device 50 calls the telephone number of the main communication section 11 and sends out a calling tone CNG. In response, main communication section 11 (terminal station) of facsimile apparatus 10 transmits called station identification signal CED, and further transmits non-standard function signal NSF, calling terminal identification signal CSI and digital identification signal DIS. Via the line 1 to the center station device 50.

Subsequently, the center station device 50 transmits the non-standard function setting signal NSS and the training check signal TC
F are sequentially transmitted, and the facsimile machine 10 transmits a reception preparation confirmation signal CFR. In response, the center station device 50 sends out a command signal DATA1. When performing the procedure, a command signal DATA1 representing a model information request command is transmitted.

Next, the center station device 50 transmits a partial page completion signal PPS- to notify the end of the command.
Send out EOM. In response, the main communication unit 11
Sends message confirmation signal MCF. Subsequently, the main communication unit 11 transmits the non-standard function signal NSF and the calling terminal identification signal C
It sends out SI and digital identification signal DIS. In response, center station device 50 transmits non-standard function command signal NSC, calling terminal identification signal CIG, and digital transmission command signal DTC. Next, the main communication unit 11
Sends a non-standard function setting signal NSS and further sends a training check signal TCF. In response to this, the center station device 50 sends a reception confirmation signal CFR. When the communication path is established in this way, the main communication unit 11 starts sending model information.

The model information includes the facsimile machine 10
, A model name, and version information of a program ROM (not shown). Further, in this embodiment, the communication unit in communication is the main communication unit 11 or the sub communication unit 21. An identification flag (identification information) indicating whether or not is included. When performing the procedure, the identification flag is set to a value indicating that the main communication unit 11 is involved in communication.

When the transmission of the model information is completed, the partial page signal completion signal PPS-EOP is transmitted from the main communication section 11, and in response to this, the center station device 50 transmits the message confirmation signal MCF. And the main communication unit 11
Sends a disconnection command signal DCN to disconnect the line and terminate the communication. As described above, the center station device 50 makes a call to the main communication unit 11 and sends the command DATA for requesting the model information.
1 and, in response, the main communication section 11 sends the model information to the center station device 50. In this procedure,
By the identification flag included in the model information, the center station device 50 is notified of whether the communicating unit that is communicating is the main communication unit 11 or the sub communication unit 21. Therefore,
Thereafter, the center station device 50 recognizes that the called telephone number corresponds to the main communication unit 11 and can perform processing.

After the acquisition of the model information, a procedure for acquiring main internal data from the main communication unit 11 is executed by a procedure similar to the procedure of FIG. In this case, the command D
ATA1 is a command requesting transmission of internal data. Then, instead of the model information, the main communication unit 11
The main internal data is read from the SRAM 15 and transmitted.

The procedure is performed in the same manner as the procedure corresponding to the main communication unit 11. That is, the center station device 50 calls another telephone number of the facsimile device 10 and acquires the model information from the sub-communication unit 21. In this case, the sub communication unit 21 includes
Including an identification flag indicating whether the communication unit involved in the communication is the main communication unit 11 or the sub communication unit 21;
The value of the identification flag is set to a value representing the sub communication unit 21. As a result, the center station device 50 recognizes that the called telephone number corresponds to the sub communication unit 21, and can perform the subsequent processing.

After obtaining the model information, the center station 5
0 calls the sub-communication unit 21 again and requests transmission of internal data, and in response, the sub-communication unit 21
25 will be transmitted.
When the main internal data and the sub internal data are thus taken into the center station device 50, the maintenance worker rewrites the main internal data and the sub internal data in the center station device 50 as necessary (procedure). At this time, the permission / non-permission setting data in the common data is rewritten to the non-permission state.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing details of a protocol for executing the procedure. To perform the steps,
The center station device 50 calls the telephone number of the sub-communication unit 21 and sends out a calling tone CNG. In response, sub-communication section 21 sends out called station identification signal CED, and subsequently sends out non-standard function signal NSF, calling terminal identification signal CSI, and digital identification signal DIS. In response, the center station device 50 sets the non-standard function setting signal NS
S and the training check signal TCF are sequentially transmitted, and subsequently, the sub communication unit 21 transmits the reception preparation confirmation signal CFR.

In response to this, the center station device 50 transmits the command requesting the writing of the internal data and the sub communication unit 2
1 and the sub internal data to be written to the sub communication unit 21. The sub-communication unit 21 converts the received internal data into SR
It will be written to AM25. When the transmission of the internal data is completed, the center station device 50 sends out a partial page completion signal PPS-EOM. In response, the secondary communication unit 2
1 transmits a message confirmation signal MCF, in response to which the center station device 50 transmits a disconnection command signal DCN, further disconnects the line, and terminates the communication.

After the writing of the sub-internal data is completed in this way, the center station device 50 sets the main communication unit 1
A call is made to the first telephone number, and the procedure is executed according to the same protocol as in FIG. Thereby, the main communication unit 1
When the writing of the main internal data to the SRAM 15 is completed, the permission / non-permission setting data in the SRAM 15 is rewritten to the data indicating the non-permission, so that the facsimile apparatus 10 is in a state where the access to the internal data is prohibited. Become.

As described above, according to this embodiment, by including, in the model information, an identification flag indicating whether the communication unit currently involved in the communication is the main communication unit 11 or the sub communication unit 21, The type of the communication unit to be communicated is notified to the center station device 50. As a result, the center station device 50 can clearly recognize whether the communication unit to be communicated is the main communication unit 11 or the sub communication unit 21, especially when writing internal data to the facsimile device 10. Accordingly, there is no error that the main internal data is written into the main communication unit 11 before the sub internal data is written into the sub communication unit 21, and the remote diagnosis can be reliably performed according to the intended procedure. You can do it.

The present invention can be implemented in other embodiments. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the identification flag is included in the model information. However, by including the same identification flag in the main internal data and the sub-internal data, the center station device 50 can be provided. Thus, it can be notified whether each internal data belongs to the main communication unit 11 or the sub communication unit 21. Also, for example, the non-standard function signal NSF
The same object can be achieved by including an identification flag in the file.

Further, instead of sending the identification information of the main communication unit 11 or the sub-communication unit 21 from the facsimile apparatus 10 to the center station apparatus 50 when acquiring the model information and the internal data, instead of transmitting the identification information in the protocol for writing the internal data, Alternatively, the identification information may be provided to the center station device 50. That is, for example, an identification flag may be included in the non-standard function signal NSF of FIG. In this case, the center station device 50 transmits the two internal data corresponding to the main communication unit 11 and the sub communication unit 21 to the facsimile device 10 sequentially, and when the facsimile device 10 If the non-standard function signal NSF received from the server includes the identification flag indicating that the communication unit 11 is the main communication unit 11, the communication ends without writing the internal data. Then, a call is made to the other telephone number, and the internal data corresponding to the telephone number is written in the sub-communication unit 21. In this way, it is possible to prevent the writing of the internal data to the main communication unit 11 from being performed prior to the internal data to the sub communication unit 21.

In addition, various design changes can be made within the scope of the matters described in the claims.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the contents of internal data.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a detailed communication protocol when acquiring model information.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing details of a communication protocol when writing internal data.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 5 main control unit 10 facsimile apparatus 11 main communication unit (control means, identification information transmission means) 21 sub communication unit (control means, identification information transmission means) 30 public telephone network 50 center station device 15 SRAM (main internal data storage means) 25 SRAM (sub internal data storage means)

Continued on the front page F-term (reference) 5C062 AA02 AA25 AB43 AC56 AE14 AE16 AF03 AF05 AF12 BA00 BC03 BC06 5C075 BA09 CA01 CA15 CD13 CD25 EE02 EE06 FF90 5K019 AA02 BA65 BB52 BB57 5K036 AA15 BB01 5K11 MM01 KK01 MM01 NN21 PP03 QQ07 TT06

Claims (2)

[Claims] A facsimile apparatus having a main communication section and a sub communication section is connected to a facsimile apparatus from a center station apparatus via a communication line to access internal data of the main communication section and the sub communication section. A method for performing a diagnosis, comprising: establishing a communication path with a facsimile apparatus by connecting a center station apparatus to a main communication section or a sub communication section; and a communication section having a communication path established with the center station. Transmitting identification information indicating whether the communication unit is a communication unit or a sub communication unit from the facsimile apparatus to the center station apparatus. 2. A main communication unit and a sub communication unit capable of performing communication via a communication line independently of each other, main internal data storage means for storing internal data corresponding to the main communication unit, and a sub communication unit. Sub internal data storage means for storing the corresponding internal data; and reading or writing the internal data to the main internal data storage means in response to a request from the center station device to the main communication unit given via a communication line, Control means for reading or writing internal data to the sub-internal data storage means in response to a request to the sub-communication section given from the center station apparatus via a communication line; The identification information for identifying whether the communication unit currently involved is the main communication unit or the sub communication unit is transmitted via the communication line. A facsimile apparatus including identification information transmitting means for transmitting the information to a center station apparatus.