JP2001077992A - Facsimile terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a facsimile terminal with high utility, where a user can grasp the consumed state of a memory by collecting a memory quantity used for each F code (mail box) and informing the user about it. SOLUTION: A CPU 11 collects a quantity of image information used for a confidential box in image information stored in an image memory 14 by each confidential box, according to a notice of a memory consumed amount check time from a clock circuit 27 and displays the state of the memory consumed amount onto an LCD(liquid crystal display) of an operation display section 25 or allows a plotter 20 to print out the state on paper though an input operation from the operation display section 25.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a facsimile apparatus, and more particularly, to a facsimile apparatus having an F code function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a facsimile apparatus having an F-code function has been known. As this type of facsimile apparatus, an F-code (such as an employee number) is assigned to each user as a confidential box and a received picture addressed to an individual is assigned. Provides a function to store information.

[0003]

However, in such a conventional facsimile apparatus, since the memory capacity of the image information management area is not so large as compared with the number of confidential boxes managed, a large number of specific users receive data. There is a problem that other users cannot receive when the data is stored.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a highly available facsimile apparatus capable of compiling the amount of memory used for each F-code (mailbox) and notifying the total, so that the use state of the memory can be grasped. The purpose is to provide.

[0005]

To achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, in a facsimile apparatus having an F-code communication function, a memory usage of image information stored for each mailbox is reduced. The present invention is characterized in that it comprises a memory usage totaling means for totaling, a storage means for storing the memory usage, and a notifying means for notifying the memory usage.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the memory usage of the image information stored for each mailbox is notified. Therefore, the memory usage status of each memory box can be known.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the first aspect, the memory usage totalizing means uses an F code as identification information for identifying the sender, and stores the identification information in the memory. It is also characterized in that the memory usage of the image information stored for transmission on the basis of this is also counted.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the memory usage of the image information stored for transmission is also totaled and notified. Therefore, the usage status of the memory can be determined for the memory used for transmission.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the first or second aspect, the notifying means is configured to be able to set a memory capacity that can be used for each mailbox, and the set memory capacity Error notification for mailboxes that use memory beyond the limit.

According to the third aspect of the invention, a usable memory capacity can be set for each mailbox, and a mailbox exceeding the usable memory capacity is notified. Therefore, it is possible to know the mailbox that has been used more than the specified amount.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the first or second aspect of the invention, the notifying means is configured to be able to set a memory capacity that can be used for each mailbox. Incoming calls to mailboxes that have been used beyond the limit are not accepted.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, a usable memory capacity can be set for each mailbox, and an incoming call to a mailbox exceeding the usable memory capacity is rejected. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the amount of use of the mail box used more than the specified amount from increasing further.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the first or second aspect of the invention, the notifying means is configured to be able to set a memory capacity that can be used for each mailbox, and the set memory capacity is set. The present invention is characterized in that the oldest received data is deleted each time a new reception is received in a mailbox used beyond the limit, and then reception is started.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the available memory capacity can be set for each mailbox, and the oldest received data is updated every time there is a new reception in the mailbox exceeding the available memory capacity. Will be erased.
Therefore, it is possible to prevent the amount of use of the mail box used more than the specified amount from increasing further.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 9 are views showing a first embodiment of a facsimile apparatus according to the present invention.

In FIG. 1, a facsimile machine 10 comprises:
CPU 11, ROM 12, RAM 13, image memory 1
4, parameter memory 15, battery 16, document sensor 17, scanner 18, paper sensor 19, plotter 20,
A network control device 21, a modem 22, a communication control unit 23, an encoding / decoding unit 24, an operation display unit 25, a character generator 26, and a clock circuit 27 are connected via a bus 30.

The CPU 11 controls each part of the apparatus according to a program stored in the ROM 12 to execute a predetermined operation of the facsimile apparatus.

The ROM 12 stores programs necessary for the operation of the facsimile machine.

The RAM 13 stores data necessary for operating the program.

The document sensor 17 detects whether there is a document and checks the document JAM.

The scanner 18 reads a document image to extract image information.

The network control device 21 is a public switched telephone network (PSTN).
tched Telephone Network)
A predetermined transmission operation and a predetermined reception operation are performed by transmitting a selection signal as a transmission destination telephone number, detecting an incoming call, and the like.

The modem 22 modulates and demodulates the image information and transmits it via the network control device 21, and also transmits various procedure signals in the transmission control procedure.

The communication control unit 23 controls the network control unit 21 and the modem 22 to perform facsimile communication according to a predetermined transmission control procedure.

The encoding / decoding section 24 encodes image information to be transmitted and decodes a received document.

The paper sensor 19 is for checking the position of the paper in the apparatus and the paper JAM.

The plotter 20 records and outputs image information read by the scanner 18 or received by the communication control unit 23 on the set sheet.

The image memory 14 stores image information read by the scanner 18 or received by the communication control unit 23.

The parameter memory 15 stores parameters such as telephone numbers and the like.
Even if it is set to FF, the information stored in the battery 16 and stored is not erased.

The operation display unit 25 displays the state of the apparatus and operation guidance and performs various operations on the apparatus.

The character generator 26 is composed of
It stores character font data such as kana / symbols and kanji.

The clock circuit 27 counts the current time, and is used for measuring elapsed time, transmitting a designated time, and the like.

The facsimile machine 10 is designed to transmit and receive an F code (SUB / SEP) to realize a mailbox function such as a confidential or bulletin board.

Further, a request for facsimile communication (transmission or reception) is handled as one job, and the received image information or the image information waiting to be transmitted stored in the image memory 14 is managed.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, an area of a job file is secured for each job on the image memory 14, and the type of the job (in this case, “memory transmission”) is In addition to the F code as the box ID of the mailbox, the user code used to add a name to the image at the time of transmission and the totaling and storing of the transmission result fee, the date and time when the job was created, etc. An SAF ID for designating is set.

The document control file manages documents (documents) stored in the job. An area is secured in the image memory 14, and a page ID for identifying a page is set for each page. The page ID indicates a page control file described later.

The page control file manages pages, has an area secured in the image memory 14, and has set therein a head text that supports a head of a text block described later.

A text block is managed by dividing image information into a predetermined size (for example, 2 Kbytes). For image information of one page, from the first text block to the last text block is transferred to the next text block. Are linked by the instruction information.

In such a facsimile apparatus 10, the CPU 11 periodically checks the usage of the image memory 14, and displays the usage status of the image memory 14 by the user's input operation on the operation display 25. 2
5 and the plotter 20 records and outputs the data on paper.

Specifically, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 3, the notification of the memory usage check time by the clock circuit 27 causes the CPU 11 to change the job type of the job file shown in FIG. Is set (S11), the document control file is specified from the SAF ID of the job file whose job type is "confidential box", and the number of text blocks linked to the document control file is totaled. Further, a job having the same box ID is searched, and the number of text blocks of the job having the same box ID is summed to obtain a memory usage (S1).
2).

Then, the totalized memory usage is registered in box management described later (S13), and it is determined whether or not the search has been completed for all the jobs (S14). Continuing, if the search has been completed for all the jobs, the process ends. Through such processing, the CPU 11 functions as a memory usage totaling unit.

The total memory usage thus registered is registered in the box management, and is displayed upon request from the user.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, the box management has an area secured in the parameter memory 15 and is backed up by the battery 16 so that it is non-volatile even when the power is turned off.

In this box management, the type of mailbox ("confidential", "relay", "bulletin board", etc.), the value of the F-code, the password of the mailbox, the mailbox, Key (key assignment) assigned to make the function easy
In addition, a fee used, a memory usage amount registered in the above-described processing, a threshold value described later, and the like are set. Therefore, the parameter memory 15 constitutes storage means.

The CPU 11 uses the processing command input in accordance with the function menu displayed on the operation display unit 25 to determine the memory usage registered in the box management described above, and displays the LCD (Liquid-Crystal Distortion) on the operation display unit 25.
play) or a report as shown in FIG. Therefore, the CPU 11, the operation display unit 25, and the plotter 20 function as a notification unit.

In this report, the type of the mailbox, the name of the user registered corresponding to the user code, the value of the F code, the password of the mailbox, and the used memory capacity are displayed. Has become.

The threshold value for box management sets the amount of memory usage allowed for the mailbox, and the CPU 11 displays an error message when the memory usage exceeds the threshold value. .

More specifically, after the process of summing the memory usage shown in FIG. 3, the CPU 11 first calculates the memory usage and the threshold value of the confidential box registered in the box management as shown in FIG. A comparison is made (S21).

The result of the comparison is determined (S22), and if it does not exceed the threshold value, the process is terminated.

If the memory usage exceeds the threshold value, an error display as shown in FIG. 7 is displayed on the LCD of the operation display unit 25, or is recorded and output on paper by the plotter 20 (S23).

Further, the facsimile apparatus 10 checks the memory usage when a confidential box is called, and rejects the incoming call when the memory exceeds the threshold value.

Specifically, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 8, upon receiving a call detection notification from the network control device 21, the CPU 11 refers to the box management with the F code sent from the call source. Then, it is determined whether or not a confidential box has been opened (S31). If the confidential box has not been opened, a reception process is performed (S34).

If the confidential box has been opened, the memory usage of the confidential box is compared with the threshold value to determine whether the memory usage exceeds the threshold value (S32). If it does not exceed the threshold value, a reception process is performed (S34).

If the threshold value is exceeded, the incoming call is rejected and the process ends without receiving.

As described above, in this embodiment, since the memory capacity used in the confidential box is displayed on the operation display unit 25 or recorded on paper by the plotter 20, the memory usage for each confidential box is confirmed. be able to.

Further, if a confidential box using a memory exceeding a preset threshold value is notified, it is possible to know a confidential box using a predetermined amount of memory or more.

If a new incoming call to a confidential box using a memory exceeding the preset threshold value is rejected, the memory usage of the confidential box using the memory exceeding the threshold value can be prevented. The increase in amount can be suppressed.

As a first other aspect of the present embodiment, as shown in the flowchart of FIG.
Similar to steps 31 and 32 in FIG. 8, it is determined whether the F-code is a confidential box and the memory usage exceeds the threshold value.

If the memory usage exceeds the threshold value, the oldest job created in the confidential box is searched from the creation time set in the job file, and the image information data is deleted together with the job. Then, the capacity of the erased image information is subtracted from the memory usage to calculate a new memory usage (S41), and it is determined whether the value exceeds the threshold value (S32).

This process is repeated until the memory usage does not exceed the threshold value, and the reception process is started when the memory usage falls within the threshold value. With this configuration, it is possible to suppress an increase in the memory usage of a confidential box that uses a memory exceeding the threshold value.

As a second other mode of the present embodiment, although not shown, if there is an incoming call in the confidential box and the memory usage exceeds the threshold, another facsimile registered in advance is used. Facsimile transmission to the phone number of the device. With this configuration, it is possible to suppress an increase in the memory usage of a confidential box that uses a memory exceeding the threshold value without deleting old received image information.

As a third other mode of the present embodiment, although not shown, if there is an incoming call in the confidential box and the memory usage exceeds the threshold, another facsimile registered in advance is used. The confidential box is transmitted to the telephone number of the apparatus using the F code of the confidential box. With this configuration, it is possible to suppress an increase in the memory usage of a confidential box that uses a memory exceeding the threshold value while keeping the function of the confidential box without deleting old received image information. it can.

In the present embodiment, the total of the memory usage is periodically calculated. However, the present invention is not limited to this. It may be performed by receiving a message.

Further, the notification of the memory usage and the error display are performed by the display on the operation display unit 25 or the recording output on the paper by the plotter 20, but the present invention is not limited to this. You can send a fax to your phone number. Alternatively, a LAN board or the like may be mounted to connect to the LAN, and the data may be transmitted to a preset address by e-mail.

FIG. 10 is a view showing a second embodiment of the facsimile apparatus according to the present invention. Since this embodiment is configured substantially the same as the above-described embodiment, only the characteristic portions will be described with reference to the drawings.

In this embodiment, the F code is the box ID
As well as user code,
When totaling the memory usage, in addition to the usage for each confidential box, the memory usage based on the image information accumulated for transmission is calculated.

More specifically, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 10, first, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 3, the memory usage for each confidential box is searched (S51). Next, a search is made for a job in which the user code of the job file shown in FIG. 2 matches the F code of the confidential box, and the memory usage of the image information of the matching job is totaled and the image information stored for transmission. Is calculated (S52).

Thereafter, the sum of the calculated amount of memory used by the confidential box and the amount of memory used for transmission using the F code of the confidential box as a user code is calculated as the amount of memory used by the corresponding confidential box in the box management. (S53).

The CPU 11 uses the processing command input in accordance with the function menu displayed on the operation display unit 25 to calculate the amount of memory used in the above-mentioned box management, using the LCD (Liquid-Cry) of the operation display unit 25.
stal display), and a report as shown in FIG.

Further, a prescribed charge per unit usage of the memory is set in advance in the parameter memory 15, and the prescribed charge is multiplied by the prescribed usage of the memory registered in the box management described above. Calculate the usage fee of each memory. The calculation result is recorded and output on a sheet by the plotter 20, or a facsimile telephone number for each user is registered in advance, and a report of the user's usage fee is transmitted to the telephone number.

As described above, in this embodiment, in addition to the memory used in the confidential box, the amount of memory used for transmission using the F-code of the confidential box is also counted. It is possible to know the amount of memory used for both reception (used as a confidential box) and transmission (used as a user code).

[0072]

According to the present invention, the memory usage of the image information stored in each mailbox is notified, and the memory usage status of each mailbox can be known. Therefore, the image information is not output while being stored. You can know the mailbox and improve the usability.

Further, F is used as identification information for identifying the sender.
If a code is used and the memory usage of the image information stored for transmission based on the identification information is counted,
It is also possible to know the capacity of the memory used for transmission, thereby improving usability.

Also, the memory capacity that can be used for each mailbox can be set, and an error notification is given for a mailbox that uses a memory exceeding the set memory capacity, so that the memory threshold value can be set for each mailbox. Can be set, and the mailbox using the memory more than the specified amount can be specified by the error notification, so that the usability can be improved.

Further, the memory capacity that can be used for each mailbox can be set, and an incoming call to a mailbox that uses a memory exceeding the set memory capacity is rejected. Since a value can be set and an incoming call is not made to a mailbox using the memory more than the specified amount, an increase in the memory usage can be suppressed and the usability can be improved.

Also, by setting the available memory capacity for each mailbox, and deleting old data every time a mailbox using a memory exceeding the set memory capacity is received, the old data can be deleted. A memory threshold value can be set for each box, and old data in mailboxes that use more than the specified amount of memory is deleted, so an increase in memory usage can be suppressed and usability can be improved. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a first embodiment of a facsimile apparatus according to the present invention, and is a schematic block diagram thereof.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of the job management file.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the memory usage totaling process.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of the box management.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an output example of the memory usage report.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating the error determination processing.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an output example of the error display.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating the incoming call rejection process.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the first other mode, and is a flowchart for explaining the incoming call processing;

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a second embodiment of the facsimile apparatus according to the present invention, and is a flowchart illustrating a memory usage totaling process;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Facsimile apparatus 11 CPU 12 ROM 13 RAM 14 Image memory 15 Parameter memory 16 Battery 17 Original sensor 18 Scanner 19 Paper sensor 20 Plotter 21 Network control device 22 Modem 23 Communication control unit 24 Encoding / decoding unit 25 Operation display unit 26 Character generator 27 clock circuit 30 bus

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A facsimile apparatus having an F-code communication function, comprising: memory usage totalizing means for totalizing the memory usage of image information stored for each mailbox; and storage means for storing the memory usage. A facsimile apparatus, comprising: a notification unit configured to notify the memory usage amount. 2. The memory usage totalizing means uses an F code as identification information for identifying a sender, and also totalizes the memory usage of image information stored for transmission based on the identification information. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the notifying means is configured so that a usable memory capacity can be set for each mailbox and an error is notified for a mailbox using a memory exceeding the set memory capacity. A facsimile apparatus according to claim 1. 4. The notification means is configured to be able to set a memory capacity that can be used for each mailbox, and does not accept an incoming call to a mailbox that has been used exceeding the set memory capacity. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein 5. The notification means is configured to be able to set a memory capacity that can be used for each mailbox, and each time there is a new reception in a mailbox used exceeding the set memory capacity, the oldest received data is stored. 3. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein reception of the facsimile is started after erasing of the facsimile.