JP2001345987A - Facsimile server device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a facsimile server device which can perform the broadcast transmission by defining the terminals corresponding to plural protocols of print output of an original, a G3FAX, an Internet FAX, or a client PC, etc., or all of them as its transmitting destinations. SOLUTION: This facsimile server device 1 is provided with a scanner 5 which reads an original, the transmission means which are corresponding to plural protocols, a printer 6 which print outs the original, a RAM 3 which stores the protocols adaptive to plural destination respectively, an operation panel 9 which designates plural destinations and the print output as the broadcast destinations and a CPU 2 which controls the output to the broadcast destination that is designated via the panel 9.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile server having a copy function, and more particularly, to a G3 FAX,
The present invention relates to a facsimile server device having a communication function with an Internet FAX, a client PC, and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A facsimile server device having a copy function has a copy function, a communication function with a G3 FAX through a PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network), and a LAN (local area network) to which a mail server, a router, and the like are connected. By having a function of connecting to a client PC and a function of communicating with a client PC, this can be used as a network scanner. Further, it may have a function as an electronic mail (Internet FAX) via the Internet and a communication function with a mail client.

In the facsimile server device, a so-called broadcast transmission in which a facsimile original is transmitted to a large number of destinations by a single operation can be performed. Normally, when transmitting to a plurality of G3 FAXes, or when transmitting to a G3 FAX and a plurality of the above-described client PCs, mail clients, and the like, this broadcast transmission function is used. According to this broadcast transmission, there is no need to repeatedly read the document for each destination, and there is an advantage that the labor of the operation can be reduced as compared with the case where the transmission is performed individually.

[0004] However, in the facsimile server, the print output (copy) of the original and the G3FA
X, Internet FAX or client PC could not be broadcasted as a destination or all of them as a destination. Therefore, when sending,
The user has to read the same document a plurality of times, which has been troublesome for the user.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to support printing of a document and a plurality of protocols such as G3 FAX, Internet FAX or client PC. It is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile server device capable of broadcasting a terminal as a destination or all of them as a destination.

[0006]

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a facsimile server apparatus, comprising: a document reading unit; a transmitting unit corresponding to a plurality of protocols; and printing of the read document. Output means, storage means for storing a protocol suitable for each of a plurality of destinations, means for specifying a plurality of destinations and print output as broadcast destinations, and control of output to the broadcast destination specified by the means It is characterized by having means for performing.

A facsimile server according to a second aspect of the present invention is the facsimile server according to the first aspect,
The plurality of protocols include at least a facsimile communication protocol and an Internet facsimile communication protocol.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a facsimile server device according to the first aspect.
There is provided a means for generating transmission document data according to the protocol so that information on the transmission data of the document is displayed on the transmission document according to the protocol.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a facsimile server according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a specific configuration example of the facsimile server device 1. The facsimile server device 1 has a CP
U (central processing unit) 2, RAM (random access memory) 3, ROM (read only memory) 4, scanner 5, printer 6, NCU (network control unit) 7, modem 8, operation panel 9, codec 10, and LANI / F11 is provided, and the devices 2 to 11 are communicably connected by a bus 12.

The CPU 2 controls each device constituting the facsimile server 1 according to a predetermined program.

The RAM 3 functions as a storage unit for preliminarily storing tables, image data, telephone numbers, addresses, and the like, which will be described later, or as a storage unit for temporarily storing various data.

The ROM 4 stores various programs for controlling the operation of each unit of the facsimile server device 1 by the CPU 2.

The scanner 5 is provided as a means for reading a document, and reads image data of the document,
The image data converted to black and white binary is output.

The printer 6 is of, for example, an electrophotographic type, and records the received image data on a recording sheet as a printout means of the image data. For example, the image data of the document 13 read by the scanner 5 is printed out from the printer 6 according to an instruction from the CPU 2.

The NCU 7 is a network controller for controlling a telephone line to make a call or disconnect a call, and is connected to a PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) 15.

The modem 8 is, for example, in accordance with Recommendation V. Modulation and demodulation of transmission / reception data according to the 34 standard or the like.

The operation panel 9 has a display (for example, LC) for displaying the status of the facsimile server device 1.
D) 9a, numeric keypad 9b for inputting a telephone number, abbreviated key 9 for specifying a destination by abbreviated number
c, a one-touch key 9d for designating a transmission destination with one touch, a start key 9e for starting a reading operation of a document, a transmission key 9f for starting transmission, and a key for printing out a document at the time of broadcast transmission. A broadcast printing key 9g is provided.

The codec 10 encodes and decodes a plurality of protocols.
Is what you do. That is, MH, MR, MM are used to transmit the image data read by the scanner 5.
The image data is encoded by the R method or the like, and the received image data is decoded. Also, TIFF (Tagged Image) is a commonly used image format used in computers.
(File Format) format. The specifications of TIFF are from Adobe S
Published by ystem, as the name implies, data is expressed using tags in data blocks in the file, and multiple image data with different resolutions and color numbers are stored simultaneously by using tags. Can be.

The LAN I / F 11 has an interface with a LAN (local area network) 14, and connects the LAN 14 and the facsimile server 1 so that they can communicate with each other.

Hereinafter, the operation of the facsimile server 1 having the above-described configuration in a network environment A shown in FIG. 2, for example, will be described with reference to a flowchart.

In the network environment A, the facsimile server 1 is communicably connected to a G3 FAX 16 and a salutation FAX 17 through a PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) 15. The salutation FAX 17 is a facsimile corresponding to a salutation protocol. The salutation protocol is a communication protocol for specifying and managing computers and office equipment on the Internet or a LAN, and is a salutation consortium (Salutati).
on Consortium).

Further, the facsimile server device 1 comprises:
It is communicably connected to the LAN 14 via the LAN I / F 11. In the LAN 14, a mail server 18, a router 19, and a client PC 20 corresponding to a salutation protocol are connected to be able to communicate with each other. Therefore, the facsimile server apparatus 1 communicates with the client P through the LAN 14.
It is also communicably connected to the Internet FAX 21 and the mail client 22 via the Internet via the C20 and the mail server 18 or the like.

In the network environment A, the facsimile server 1 is used to
(FIG. 1), a case of broadcasting to the G3 FAX 16, the salutation FAX 17, the client PC 20, the Internet FAX 21, and the mail client 22 will be described with reference to FIGS.

First, a document 13 to be transmitted by the user
Is set on the scanner 5 of the facsimile server device 1 (S1). Next, in order to designate a plurality of destinations and printouts as broadcast destinations, the user presses, for example, the shortcut key 9c or the one-touch key 9d of the operation panel 9 to broadcast other than the printer 6. A destination is specified, and further, for example, a broadcast printing key 9g provided for broadcast transmission is pressed, and the printer 6 is also specified as a broadcast destination (S2).

When the broadcast destination including the printer 6 is designated in this way, the CPU 2 refers to the table 23 shown in FIG. Protocol corresponding to the destination terminal). The table 23 is previously input from the operation panel 9 by a user or the like and stored in the RAM 3. In the table 23, destination information is assigned to the numbers of the shortcut keys 9c and the one-touch keys 9d, respectively. If the destination designation 23a is other than the print output, the destination (telephone number or address) 23b and the protocol 23
When the destination designation 23a is the printout, the printer 6 is stored as the destination.

Next, transmission document data is generated and attached to the transmission data of the original 13 to be transmitted to the broadcast destination (S3). In this transmission document, information on transmission data of the document 13 is described according to a protocol. For example, in the case of transmission by G3 transmission or salutation transmission, as in a transmission document 24a or a transmission document 24b shown in FIG. A transmission field 26 for displaying a telephone number and a name, a date and time field 27 for displaying a transmission date and time, a field 28 for displaying a greeting, etc., a field number field 29 for displaying the number of terms of a transmission document, and a resolution field of the transmission document are described. Resolution column 30
Etc. are provided. In the case of transmission by e-mail transmission, in addition to these, an image format column 31 and a file size column 3 that indicate the image file format of the transmission original are added.
2 etc. are provided.

The transmission document data is generated by converting transmission source data stored in the RAM 3 in advance in accordance with a protocol. For example, the table 23
The transmission source data is generated by obtaining the protocol information on the destination from (FIG. 4) and rewriting the transmission source data based on the protocol information. Therefore, when the transmission document data is transmitted to the broadcast destination, a transmission document utilizing the characteristics of the protocol is output at the broadcast destination. For example, in the case of G3 transmission or salutation transmission, the transmission form 24 shown in FIG.
a or 24b, the telephone number 3
3 or sub-address 34, and the resolution column 30
In the case of e-mail transmission, the address 35 is described in the destination field 25 and the "600 dpi" is displayed in the resolution field 30 in the case of e-mail transmission, as shown in the transmission form 24c of FIG. Are further described, and the image file format column 31 and the data size column 32 are also described with their contents. The person who receives this transmission note can know not only the destination, sender, and transmission date and time of the transmitted document, but also the specification of the received data of the document that differs depending on the protocol.

Next, the broadcast destination specified in this way is displayed on the display 9a, and after confirming this, the user presses the start key 9e. At the same time when the button is pressed, the CPU 2 issues a broadcast transmission instruction to a broadcast destination including the printer 6 (S4).

When a broadcast transmission instruction is issued, the output to the broadcast destination is controlled by the CPU 2. That is, based on a command issued by the CPU 2 in accordance with a predetermined program, the scanner 5 reads an original and generates image data, and the generated image data is
Sent to the printer 6, the printer 6 prints out a copy 36 of the document 13 (S5).

In parallel with this, the image data is
The codec 10 is coded according to the MR method to generate first coded data,
The second encoded data is generated by encoding according to the IFF format.

Then, the first encoded data is modulated by the modem 8 and transmitted to the G3 FAX 16 through the PSTN 15 in accordance with a command issued by the CPU 2 (S5). Further, before and after the transmission to the G3 FAX 16, the first encoded data is transmitted to the salutation FAX 17 in the same manner (S5).

On the other hand, the second encoded data is
It is transmitted to the client PC 20 via the LAN 14 according to the command issued by the PU 2 (S
5).

Further, the second encoded data includes the C
According to the instruction issued by PU2, said LAN I / F1
1. It is also transmitted to the Internet FAX 21 via the mail server 18 (S5). Furthermore,
The second encoded data is similarly transmitted to the mail client 22 (S5).

[0034]

According to the present invention, the facsimile server apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention prints out a document and simultaneously outputs a plurality of faxes, Internet faxes or client PCs. Broadcasting can be performed with a terminal corresponding to the protocol as a destination or with all of them as a destination.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the facsimile server according to the first aspect,
Since the plurality of protocols include at least a facsimile communication protocol and an Internet facsimile communication protocol, a document corresponding to a facsimile communication protocol such as G3 FAX and an Internet facsimile communication protocol such as an Internet FAX are simultaneously printed and output. Can be broadcasted as a destination.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a facsimile server apparatus according to the first aspect.
The apparatus includes means for generating transmission document data according to the protocol so that the information on the transmission data of the document is displayed on the transmission document according to the protocol. The book can be broadcasted with the manuscript. Therefore, the receiver of the broadcast destination can confirm various information corresponding to each protocol regarding the transmission data of the received document.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a facsimile server according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a network environment according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart in the case of performing broadcast transmission from a facsimile server device to each destination.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of table contents.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a transmission document according to each protocol.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Facsimile server apparatus 2 CPU 3 RAM 4 ROM 5 Scanner 6 Printer 9 Operation panel 10 Codec 24a, 24b, 24c Transmission

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04L 12/54 H04L 11/00 310C 12/58 11/20 101C H04N 1/32 F term (Reference) 5C062 AA02 AA13 AA29 AB17 AB22 AB42 AC28 AC29 AC38 AE14 AF00 BC01 5C075 AB90 BA08 CD07 CD21 CF04 DD02 FF03 FF90 5K030 HB04 HC02 HD03 HD06 JT05 LA19 LD02 5K033 CB08 CB13 DA06 EC03

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A reading device for reading a document, a transmitting device corresponding to a plurality of protocols, a printing output device for the read document, and a storage device storing a protocol suitable for each of a plurality of destinations. A facsimile server device comprising: means for designating a plurality of destinations and print output as destinations; and means for controlling output to a broadcast destination specified by the means. 2. The facsimile server device according to claim 1, wherein said plurality of protocols include at least a facsimile communication protocol and an Internet facsimile communication protocol. 3. The facsimile server device according to claim 1, further comprising: means for generating transmission document data according to the protocol such that information on transmission data of the document is displayed on the transmission document according to the protocol. A facsimile server device.