JP2001345914A - Automatic dialer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automatic dialer in which a cursor is easily shifted when displaying the characters of a telephone number or the like over plural lines inside a display part. SOLUTION: This aromatic dialer is provided with a line connecting part 6, a display part 7 capable of displaying characters for plural lines, a number input key A and a shift key C for vertically and laterally shifting a cursor K and can designate a cursor position while vertically and laterally shifting the cursor K inside the display part 7 by means of the shift key.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is incorporated in a facsimile apparatus, telephone, or the like, and automatically inputs a telephone number of a communication partner by manually inputting a telephone number or inputting a pre-registered abbreviated number. The present invention relates to an automatic dialing device capable of making a call to a user.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an automatic dialing apparatus such as a facsimile apparatus, when a display unit for displaying a telephone number or the like is small depending on a model or the like, the telephone number may not be displayed in one line. In particular, when the communication partner is a foreign business partner or when reading desired information from the communication partner using a facsimile machine, specify the type of information to be read along with the telephone number of the partner using a multi-digit numeric code. In such a case, the telephone number and the numeric code become long, and it is necessary to display the information over two or more lines.

[0003]

As described above, when a telephone number or the like is displayed over a plurality of lines, when the telephone number or the like is to be corrected, a line different from the line where the current cursor is located in the display unit is displayed. You may need to move the cursor. However, conventionally, since the movement of the cursor has been instructed using only the shift key in the left-right direction, there has been a problem that it is troublesome to move the cursor when it is desired to move the cursor to the upper or lower line.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and facilitates movement of a cursor when characters such as a telephone number are displayed over a plurality of lines in a display unit. It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic dialing device capable of performing such operations. Therefore, the automatic dial device according to claim 1 includes a line connection unit, a display unit capable of displaying a plurality of lines of characters, a number input key, and a shift key for moving a cursor up, down, left and right, and the cursor is moved by the shift key. The present invention is characterized in that the cursor position can be specified while shifting up, down, left and right in the display unit. Here, the characters include numbers such as telephone numbers.

[0005] The automatic dial device according to claim 2 is characterized in that
Is characterized in that, when there is no character at the shift destination to be shifted up or down by the shift key, the cursor is moved to the closest digit where the character exists in the shift destination line.

[0006]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a schematic internal configuration of a facsimile machine F incorporating an automatic dialing device D.
The facsimile apparatus F includes a main control unit 1 including a CPU (central processing unit) and the like. The main control unit 1 includes a ROM (Read Only Memory) 2 and a RAM (Random Acce
ss Memory 3, an image memory 4, a modem 5, an NCU (Network Control Unit) 6 as a line connection unit, a display unit 7, an operation unit 8, a reading unit 9, and a recording unit 10 are connected to each other. Of the above units, the main control unit 1 and the ROM
2, the RAM 3, the modem 5, the NCU 6, the display unit 7, and the operation unit 8 constitute an automatic dialing device D.

A program for controlling the entire facsimile machine F is stored in the ROM 2 in advance. On the other hand, the RAM 3 temporarily stores various data required for control by the main control unit 1, for example, data such as a data rate set by the modem 5. In this RAM3,
A dial memory 3a (storage unit) with a backup power supply that can store telephone numbers and the like registered as abbreviated numbers and the like and retain the stored contents even when the power supply (not shown) is turned off is provided.

The image memory 4 temporarily stores image data of a document read by a reading unit 9 described later. The modem 5 modulates and demodulates the transmission / reception data, specifically, modulates the transmission data into a voice band signal and sends it to the public line network L via the NCU 6, while the voice band signal received from the public line network L via the NCU 6 Is a device for demodulating を into a digital signal. Further, the NCU 6 (line connection unit) has a function of controlling connection between the public line network L and the facsimile apparatus F, a function of transmitting a dial pulse corresponding to a facsimile number of the other party, and a function of detecting an incoming call. I have.

FIG. 2 shows the display unit 7 and the operation unit 8. The display unit 7 is composed of a liquid crystal display device or the like, and has a size capable of simultaneously displaying characters including numbers in a plurality of upper and lower rows, for example, two upper and lower rows. The number of display characters per line is, for example, about 16 characters. The operation unit 8 includes at least a numeric keypad A (number input key) for inputting a number such as a telephone number,
A start key B for instructing the start of transmission and the like, and a cross shift key C for moving the cursor K up, down, left and right in the display unit 7 are provided.

The cross shift key C is pressed by pressing the upper, lower, left and right portions, respectively, to move the cursor K.
Is a key for instructing to move the cursor in any direction of up, down, left and right, and there is an advantage that one key can instruct the movement of the cursor in each direction. However, in addition to the above, four shift keys corresponding to the up, down, left, and right directions may be provided.

Further, the operation unit 8 includes an abbreviated key E used when making a call using a short number of about two digits, an abbreviated registration key G used when registering a telephone number corresponding to the abbreviated number, and characters such as numerals once entered. , And a retransmission key I used when retransmitting to the previously transmitted destination.

The reading section 9 for reading an original or the like for facsimile transmission includes, for example, a line sensor (not shown). The recording unit 10 that records the content received from the other party includes a printing device such as an electrophotographic system or an inkjet system. When the facsimile machine F has a copying function, the image of the document read by the reading unit 9 can be printed by the recording unit 10 as it is.

The control procedure of the main control unit 1 when inputting a telephone number using the numeric keypad A at the time of calling for facsimile transmission or registering an abbreviated number will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. It will be described with reference to FIG. In addition,
In the flowchart, Y is an abbreviation for yes indicating that the determination result is positive, and N is an abbreviation for no indicating that the determination result is negative. At the time of inputting the telephone number, first, the cursor K is reset to the left end of the upper row (first row) in the display unit 7 (FIG. 3).
S1).

Subsequently, the main controller 1 determines whether or not the input is a ten-key input (S2). If the input is a ten-key input, the input number (any number from 0 to 9) is displayed on the display unit 7.
Is displayed at the cursor position, and the cursor K is moved one digit to the right (S3). Next, it is determined whether or not the cursor K has exceeded the maximum digit (here, the 16th digit) of the display line (here, the upper row) (S4).
It returns to S2. On the other hand, if the cursor K exceeds the maximum digit of the display row in S4, the cursor K is moved to the left end of the lower row (second row) in the display unit 7 (S5), and the process returns to S2.

If it is not a ten-key input in S2, S in FIG.
Then, it is determined whether an upward shift is instructed by the cross shift key C (S6). In the following, for the sake of simplicity, the instruction to shift the cursor K to the upper, lower, right, and left sides by the cross shift key C means that the upper shift key, the lower shift key, the right shift key, and the left shift key have been operated, respectively. Express.

If the up shift key is operated in S6,
Subsequently, it is determined whether the cursor K is currently on the upper row (S7). If the result of the determination is yes, it is impossible to move the cursor K to a further higher line, so that after the warning buzzer sounds (S8), the process returns to S2 in FIG.

If the decision result in S7 is no, that is, the cursor K
Is located in the lower row, the cursor K is moved to the same digit in the upper row (S9), and the process returns to S2.
For example, when the up shift key is operated in a state where the cursor K is located at the lower third digit (third digit from the left) as shown in FIG. 2, as shown in FIG. The cursor K moves to the upper third digit, which is the same digit.

If the up shift key has not been operated in S6, it is subsequently determined whether or not the down shift key has been operated (S10). If the determination result is yes, then the cursor K is currently at the lower level. Is determined (S1).
1). If the cursor K is at the lower level, it is impossible to move the cursor K further downward. Therefore, the process proceeds to S8, sounds a warning buzzer, and returns to S2.

If the determination result in S11 is NO, that is, if the cursor K is in the upper row, then it is determined whether there is a character in the lower row corresponding to the cursor position (S12). If there is no character, the cursor K is moved to the last digit where the character exists in the lower row (S13), and the process returns to S2 in FIG.

For example, as shown in FIG. 6B, when the lower shift key is operated in a state where the cursor K is located at the position of the upper 8th digit "3", a character is displayed at the corresponding lower digit. Does not exist, the cursor K is moved to the third digit, which is the last digit in the lower row, as shown in FIG.

On the other hand, if there is a character in the lower row corresponding to the cursor position in S12, the cursor K is moved to the same digit in the lower row (S14), and the process returns to S2. For example, when the lower shift key is operated in a state where the cursor K is present at the upper third digit as shown in FIG. 6A, a character is present at the corresponding lower digit, and as shown in FIG. The cursor K is moved to the lower corresponding digit.

If the down shift key has not been operated in S10, it is subsequently determined whether or not the right shift key has been operated (S15 in FIG. 5). If the judgment is yes,
Subsequently, it is determined whether the cursor K is currently at the lower right end (S16). If the cursor K is at the lower right end, it is impossible to move the cursor K further to the right. Therefore, the process proceeds to S8 in FIG. 4 to sound a warning buzzer, and then returns to S2 in FIG.

If the cursor K is not at the lower right end in S16, then it is determined whether or not the cursor K is at the upper right end (S17). If the cursor K is at the upper right end, the cursor K is subsequently moved to the lower left end (S
18) Return to S2. On the other hand, if the cursor K is not at the upper right end in S17, the cursor K is moved right by one digit in the same row (S19), and the process returns to S2.

If the right shift key has not been operated in S16, it is subsequently determined whether or not the left shift key has been operated (S20). If the determination result is YES, then the current cursor K is moved to the upper left end. Is determined (S21). If the cursor K is at the left end of the upper row, it is impossible to further move the cursor K to the left.
Proceeding to 8 and sounding a warning buzzer, then returning to S2.

If the cursor K is not at the upper left end in S21, then it is determined whether the current cursor K is at the lower left end (S22). If the cursor K is at the lower left end, the cursor K is moved to the upper right end (S2
3) Return to S2 in FIG. If the cursor K is not at the lower left end in S22, the cursor K is moved left by one digit in the same row (S24), and the process returns to S2.

If the left shift key has not been operated in S20, it is subsequently determined whether or not the end key has been operated (S25). Here, the terminating key is a key that serves as a mark for ending the input of a series of telephone numbers. For example, in the case where a telephone number that is not registered in advance as a shortened number or the like is individually input and facsimile-transmitted. For example, after the input of the telephone number is completed, a start key pressed to indicate the start of transmission is an end key. On the other hand, for example, when registering the abbreviated number in the facsimile machine F, the abbreviated registration key G pressed to instruct registration of the abbreviated number after inputting the telephone number is the end key.

If the end key is not operated, the input of the number is continued, so that the process returns to S2 in FIG.
If the end key has been operated, the control accompanying the input of the telephone number ends. If deletion is instructed by the deletion key H during the above-described number input processing, the number corresponding to the cursor position is deleted. In the present invention, when the cursor K is moved to the position of the number to be deleted and corrected, the cursor K can be moved up, down, left and right, so that the cursor K can be easily moved in a short time.

In the above-described embodiment, numerals such as telephone numbers are displayed on the display unit 7. In addition, characters such as kanji, kana, or alphabets are inputted and displayed on the automatic dialing device D. It can also be configured as follows. In such a case, the cursor K can be easily moved to the correction position by moving the cursor K up, down, left, and right as described above.

[0029]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention,
The automatic dialing device includes a line connection unit, a display unit capable of displaying a plurality of lines of characters, a number input key, and a shift key for moving a cursor up, down, left, and right. Since the cursor position can be specified while shifting the cursor, the cursor can be easily moved between a plurality of lines by moving the cursor up and down with the shift key.
That is, as compared with the case where the cursor is moved only in the left and right direction by the shift key, the operation of moving the cursor to a desired digit in a desired row can be easily performed.

The automatic dial device according to the second aspect is the first aspect of the invention.
In the configuration of the above, when there is no character at the shift destination to be shifted up or down by the shift key, the cursor is moved to the closest digit where the character exists in the shift destination line, so that the cursor is moved up and down. When there is no character at the destination, the cursor does not need to be moved in the left-right direction from the character-free digit to the character-existing digit in the destination line, making it easier to move the cursor. Become like

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an internal configuration of a facsimile apparatus including an automatic dial device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic front view showing a display unit and an operation unit in the automatic dial device.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a control procedure when a number is input to the automatic dial device.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a control procedure subsequent to FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a control procedure subsequent to FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example of the display unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A Numeric keypad (number input key) C Cross-shift key K Cursor 6 NCU (line connection unit) 7 Display unit

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 5C062 AA02 AA12 AA30 AB20 AB23 AB25 5K027 BB02 EE04 FF01 FF21 5K036 AA15 BB01 DD11 DD41 DD48 JJ03 JJ13 5K101 KK01 NN01 NN17 NN21 PP03 RR12

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A line connection unit, a display unit capable of displaying a plurality of lines of characters, a number input key, and a shift key for moving a cursor up, down, left, and right, the cursor being moved up, down, left, and right in the display unit by the shift key. An automatic dialing device wherein the cursor position can be specified while shifting. 2. The automatic dialing device according to claim 1, wherein if there is no character at the shift destination to be shifted up or down by the shift key, the cursor is moved to the closest digit where the character exists in the shift destination line. .