JP2001309109A - Facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide the facsimile equipment that can confirm whether or not normal transmission is applied to an opposite terminal by reflecting an MDN(Message Disposition Notification) on a transmission result report after the end of communication. SOLUTION: In the facsimile equipment having an Internet function, a CPU 12 allows a plotter 5 to output a transmission result report that reflects message processing notice contents by a message processing notice function after a lapse of a prescribed time depending on counts of a clock circuit 9 after the end of communication from a communication control section 10.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a facsimile apparatus having an Internet function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a facsimile document is received via a public telephone network (PSTN), an e-mail address is created based on information such as a subaddress of the document, and a facsimile document is added to the e-mail address. A network-compatible facsimile apparatus which converts an electronic mail into a mail and transfers it to a mail server on the network is disclosed in
No. 164,645, and others.

In such a network-compatible facsimile machine, it is necessary to notify the transmission requesting user of the transmission result as to whether or not the transmission was normally performed to the other party. Discloses a technique for notifying a user who has requested a relay transmission of a result mail notifying the transmission result. In addition, WO97 / 38
No. 523 discloses a technique related to a communication result notifying method of notifying a processing result in a facsimile device or a printing device to a notification destination node.

[0004]

However, when a transmission result report is output on the transmission side immediately after the end of communication, even if it can be understood that the transmission has been normally performed on the server, the transmission result report is correctly transmitted to the partner terminal (reception side). I don't know if it was done.

In an electronic mail system, an MDN (MeN) for notifying a processing status of a message after successful delivery is provided.
Sage Digestion Notifica
Tion: message processing notification) function is known.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile apparatus capable of confirming whether transmission has been normally performed to a partner terminal by reflecting an MDN response in a transmission result report after the end of communication. It is.

[0007]

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a facsimile apparatus having an Internet function, wherein a message processing notification content is provided by a message processing notification function after a predetermined time elapses after the end of communication. And a control means for outputting a transmission result report reflecting the above.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the facsimile apparatus according to the first aspect, when transmitting and receiving a mail using a PSTN dial-up function or an ISDN dial-up function, the facsimile apparatus transmits the transmission result report after the transmission is completed. The output timing is after the end of the next dial-up.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the facsimile apparatus of the first aspect, a communication management report is automatically output when a predetermined time has elapsed after completion of mail transmission and a predetermined number of communications has been exceeded. It is characterized by the following.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the facsimile apparatus according to the first aspect, when mail is transmitted using a PSTN dial-up function or an ISDN dial-up function, after the next dial-up is completed and before the previous dial-up. The automatic output of the communication management report is performed.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the facsimile apparatus according to the first aspect, in the case of a mail transmission job of a message processing notification request, it is treated as non-delivery after the end of communication and a message processing notification response is received. By the way, the non-delivery holding data is erased.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the facsimile apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, if there is a communication that has passed a predetermined time without receiving a message processing notification response to the message processing notification request, a non-delivery report is made. Is output.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a transmission result report is output a fixed time after the end of communication, so that M
A DN response can be waited for and the transmission result report
The response is reflected.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the PDU (PST
Also in the case of N dial-up) / IDU (ISDN dial-up), the transmission result report reflects the MDN response by delaying the output timing of the transmission result report.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the MDN response can be received by prohibiting the automatic output of the communication management report for a predetermined time after the mail transmission, and the result is reflected in the communication management report.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the PDU / IDU
In the case of, the MDN response can be received by automatically outputting the communication management report before a predetermined time (dial-up interval), and the result is reflected in the communication management report.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the retransmission process is easily performed by using the non-delivery retransmission function by making the transmission unreachable until the MDN response arrives.

In the invention according to claim 6, by automatically checking that there is no MDN response for a predetermined period and outputting a report, it is possible to inform the user that there is a possibility of unsuccessful delivery. .

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a facsimile apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention. This apparatus detects whether a document is present, and stores a document sensor 1 for checking a document jam, a position of a sheet in the apparatus, a sheet sensor 2 for checking a sheet jam, a telephone number, a name of a destination, and the like. A battery 3 for backing up a RAM, a scanner 4 for reading a document image and taking out image information, a plotter 5 for recording image information, displaying device status and operation guidance, and performing various operations on the device. And an operation display unit 6 that performs

Similarly, the present apparatus includes an image memory 7 for storing image data, a parameter memory 8 for storing parameters such as telephone numbers, a clock circuit 9 for transmission and the like, and a network controller 17. A communication control unit 10 that performs facsimile communication by controlling a modem 16 and performs a facsimile communication, an encoding and decoding unit 11 that encodes image information to be transmitted and a decoding unit that decodes a received document, and controls each unit. The facsimile machine includes a CPU 12 for executing a predetermined operation.

Similarly, this apparatus has a ROM 1 in which programs necessary for the operation of the facsimile apparatus are stored.
3. A RAM 14 for storing data necessary for operating the program, a character generator 15 for storing character font data such as English / numerical / kana / symbols and kanji, and transmitting and modulating / demodulating image information. A modem 16 for transmitting various procedure signals in the control procedure, a network control unit 17 for performing predetermined calling and receiving operations by capturing a line, transmitting a selection signal as a destination telephone number, detecting an incoming call, etc. An NICF board 18 for sending and controlling transmission and reception of Internet mail is provided.

Next, examples of each control operation will be described. In this apparatus, an MDN request is made from a mail transmitting side to a mail receiving side through a server on the Internet, and the mail receiving side sends an MDN request to the mail transmitting side through a server on the Internet.
A DN response is made.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a first control operation example (corresponding to the first aspect of the present invention). An e-mail is sent (S1), and if the communication with the server is normal (S2)
Yes), the clock circuit 9 waits for an MDN response for a certain time (S3). If the communication with the server is in error, resend it a specified number of times. After a certain period of time or when there is an MDN response, the contents are stored in the management area of the RAM 14, and a transmission result report is output from the plotter 5 (S4).

Normal completion of mail transmission means that transmission to the server has been completed normally, and it does not mean that the other terminal (mail receiving side) has been able to receive data normally. However, the MDN is a means for notifying the message processing status after successful distribution, in other words, a means for confirming the delivery to the partner terminal when mail is transmitted. Therefore, by using the function of MDN, M
If there is a DN response, it can be confirmed that the mail has reached the partner.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a second control operation example (corresponding to the second aspect of the present invention). PDU (PST
In the case of a facsimile apparatus having the functions of N dial-up) and IDU (ISDN dial-up), dial-up is performed for a predetermined dial-up destination (S11), and then a mail transmission operation is performed (S12). ).

Next, after the next dial-up time (predetermined time) has elapsed (yes in S13), if dial-up is performed and a receiving operation is performed, an MDN response can be received (S14). A transmission result report is output in response to the MDN response (S15). Here, the reception can be performed manually at a predetermined interval or automatically.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a third control operation example (corresponding to the third aspect of the present invention). Conventionally, when the mail transmission is completed, the communication management report is automatically output when the communication management data is delayed for 50 communications (regulated communication) or more. With this operation, there may be cases where it is not possible to wait for an MDN response. Therefore, after the mail transmission is completed (S21) as in the operation flow, a certain time elapses (y in S22).
es) and when 50 communications are exceeded (yes in S23)
s) Automatically output a communication management report (S24).

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a fourth control operation example (corresponding to the invention according to claim 4). PDU / IDU
In the case of, the output timing of the communication management report is changed to reflect the result of the MDN, as in the third embodiment shown in FIG. That is, similarly to the second embodiment shown in FIG. 3, mail transmission is performed after the dial-up operation (S31, S32).

Thereafter, it waits until the next dial-up is performed (yes in S33, S34). Dial-up is performed automatically (or manually), and an MDN response is received (S34). The result is reflected in the communication management area and 50
If the communication (regular communication) is exceeded, a communication management report is output (S35).

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a fifth control operation example (corresponding to the fifth aspect of the present invention). After sending the e-mail (S41, S42), the job that has made the MDN request is treated as non-delivery and is held in non-delivery (S43). When the non-delivery retransmission operation is performed by the function in this state (yes in S44), retransmission is performed (S41). Also,
If there is an MDN response (S45), the unreachable data is erased because the nonreachable state is no longer present (S46).

The non-delivery holding time is a predetermined time, and when the time is exceeded, it is erased. This simplifies the retransmission operation when the data reaches the server but does not reach the partner terminal. That is, the same document need not be stored again.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a sixth control operation example (corresponding to the invention of claim 6). The mail transmission requesting the MDN is performed (S51, S52). After sending,
It waits for an MDN response (S53). If the MDN response does not come even after the lapse of a predetermined time (yes in S54), a report is output (S55), and the user is notified that it has not been able to confirm whether the message has reached the destination. This saves the user the trouble of operating and checking.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a non-delivery report when there is no MDN response. In the non-delivery report, messages such as no MDN response, a request for confirmation to the destination, etc. are output together with the file, destination name, communication mode, time, number of copies, result, and the like.

[0034]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a transmission result report is output after a fixed period of time after the end of communication, so that an MDN response can be waited during the transmission result report, and the MDN response can be reflected in the transmission result report. Since it is possible, it is possible to confirm whether or not the transmission has been normally performed to the partner terminal.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the PDU (P
Also in the case of STN dial-up / IDU (ISDN dial-up), the transmission result report can reflect the MDN response by delaying the output timing of the transmission result report.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, by prohibiting the automatic output of the communication management report for a certain period of time after sending the mail, an MDN response can be received, and the result can be reflected in the communication management report. .

According to the invention of claim 4, PDU / I
In the case of a DU, an MDN response can be received by automatically outputting a communication management report before a predetermined time (dial-up interval), and the result can be reflected in the communication management report.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the retransmission processing can be easily performed by using the non-delivery retransmission function by handling the non-delivery until the MDN response comes.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, by automatically checking that there is no MDN response for a predetermined period and outputting a report, the user is notified that there is a possibility that the delivery has not been completed. Can be done. Therefore, it is possible to save the user's trouble of confirmation.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a first control operation example.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a second control operation example.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a third control operation example.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a fourth control operation example.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a fifth control operation example.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a sixth control operation example;

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a non-delivery report when there is no MDN response.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Original sensor 2 Paper sensor 3 Battery 4 Scanner 5 Plotter 6 Operation display part 7 Image memory 8 Parameter memory 9 Clock circuit 10 Communication control part 11 Encoding / decoding part 12 CPU 13 ROM 14 RAM 15 Character generator 16 Modem 17 Network control device 18 NICF board

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A facsimile apparatus having an Internet function, comprising: control means for outputting a transmission result report reflecting message processing notification contents by a message processing notification function after a predetermined time elapses after completion of communication. apparatus. 2. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when sending and receiving mail using a PSTN dial-up function or an ISDN dial-up function, the timing of outputting the transmission result report after the end of transmission is dialed up next time. A facsimile machine characterized by being finished. 3. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a communication management report is automatically output when a predetermined time has elapsed after the end of mail transmission and a predetermined number of communications has been exceeded. . 4. In the facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, when sending mail by using a PSTN dial-up function or an ISDN dial-up function, automatically outputting a communication management report before the previous dial-up after the next dial-up. Facsimile machine. 5. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein in the case of a mail transmission job of a message processing notification request, the mail is processed as non-delivery after the communication is completed, and the non-delivery holding data is deleted when the message processing notification response is received. A facsimile machine. 6. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a non-delivery report is output when communication for a predetermined time has elapsed without receiving a message processing notification response to the message processing notification request. Facsimile machine.