JP2001352418A - Network scanner and network system connected with the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable, even a facsimile server whose memory capacity is small, to read and transmit huge amounts of originals even though originals cannot be transmitted without reading all pages of the documents, because of the deficiency of the memory capacity. SOLUTION: Data read from originals are converted into data of an electronic mail form, a tag-denoting part of the data of the originals is added to the converted data, which are transmitted to clear the memory for reading succeeding data of the originals. In the case of reception of data that are transmitted through division, the received data are synthesized and the combined data are outputted.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a network scanner and a network system using the same, and more particularly, to handling a document exceeding the memory capacity of the network scanner.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A network scanner is connected to a LAN and shared by a client such as a personal computer to read and transfer an image.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art There is a possibility that a network scanner needs to read a large amount of image data which cannot be considered with a conventional scanner. For example, when an old document is discarded and stored as an image, there is a possibility that about A4 × thousands of documents are continuously read. It is inefficient to provide a hard disk or the like in the network scanner in order to cope with such a possibility, and it is not preferable as a network scanner that reading becomes impossible when the number of documents is large. Further, if one original is divided into a plurality of parts and read and transmitted, the receiving side must treat one original as a plurality of originals, which is inconvenient.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to enable a network scanner having only a relatively small capacity memory to read and transmit a large amount of documents.
An additional object of the present invention is to facilitate processing on the receiving side. A third object of the present invention is to make it possible to read and transmit a large amount of originals by using a network scanner having only a small capacity of memory, and to make it possible for a receiving side to receive as one set of image data from the beginning. To provide a network system that can be handled as described above.

[0005]

A network scanner according to the present invention comprises a scanner main body, a memory for storing image data, means for managing the free space of the memory, and a LAN interface for transmitting image data. Sometimes, when the management unit detects a shortage of free space, the image data stored in the memory is transmitted, and a unit for clearing the image from the memory is provided so that reading by the scanner body can be continued. (Claim 1). Preferably, at the time of transmission when the free space is insufficient, a tag indicating that transmission is to be performed is attached and transmitted (claim 2).

A network system according to the present invention comprises a scanner main body, a memory for storing image data, a managing unit for a free space of the memory, and a LAN interface for transmitting image data. When it detects that the free space is insufficient, it adds a tag indicating that the image data already stored in the memory is to be divided and transmitted, and provides means for clearing from the memory. A network scanner configured to continue the operation and a client connected to the LAN, and combining the image data divided and transmitted when the client receives data tagged with the divisional transmission to the client. A means is provided (claim 3).

[0007]

In the network scanner according to the present invention, the original is scanned while the free space in the memory is managed in case the remaining capacity after reading a certain page may be less than one original. When the remaining free space is smaller than a predetermined value or the like, it is determined that the free space is insufficient. If there is not enough free space, the image data stored in the memory is transmitted via the network, and the portion of the memory occupied by the transmitted image data is cleared. The reading of the document is continued using the free space thus generated.
Therefore, even a network scanner having only a small capacity memory can read and transmit a large amount of documents.

In the network scanner according to the second aspect, when image data of only a part of the original is transmitted, a tag indicating that the image data is transmitted in a divided manner is attached, so that the receiving side knows that the remaining image data will arrive later. Processing on the receiving side becomes easier. The network scanner is preferably a part of the facsimile server, and is configured to be able to send and receive image data and send and receive mail.

In the network system of the present invention, if the memory of the network scanner runs short when reading the image data, the image data stored in the memory is added with a tag indicating that the image data is to be divided and transmitted to the client via the LAN. To a personal computer or a file management server. Then, since the transmitted image data is cleared from the memory of the network scanner, the reading of the document can be continued. The receiving client synthesizes the image data to which the tag for the divided transmission is added, and
Since processing such as saving as one file and printing is performed, it is possible to read the entire original continuously without interruption.

[0010]

1 to 6 show an embodiment. In FIG. 1 and the like, reference numeral 2 denotes a facsimile server, which also functions as a network scanner. The facsimile server 2 is connected to a facsimile machine such as a G3 facsimile machine 4 or G4 via a public line network 3, and to a mail server 7 or a personal computer 9 in the LAN via a LAN 6. The personal computer 9 is an example of a client of the facsimile server 2. 8 is LA
An N6 router connects the Internet 12 and the LAN 6, and an Internet facsimile apparatus 14 is realized by a combination of a mail server and a facsimile server, for example. Reference numeral 16 denotes a personal computer connected to the Internet 12. Note that the Internet 12 includes a WAN and a LAN connected thereto in addition to the world-wide Internet itself.

As described above, the facsimile server 2 is not only a facsimile apparatus connected to the public line network 3 itself, but also a network scanner or a network printer on the LAN 6, and the Internet via the mail server 7. It is also a facsimile terminal. The facsimile server 2 is a server for transmitting / receiving image data and input / output, and is not a server for storing files. Therefore, the capacity of the memory is relatively small.

FIG. 1 shows that the facsimile server 2 transmits
6 shows a format of the image data to be transmitted to No. 6. When transmitting the image data to the mail server 7, the image data is transmitted in an e-mail format, and the header of the e-mail includes a mail ID (corresponding to a document number) in addition to the destination and the transmission source (the facsimile server 2) and the subject. In the case of split transmission, if the original is the same,
The mail ID is common. In the case of divided transmission, the content type is message partial, and at the time of divided transmission, it is unknown how many times to divide, so the division number is 0.
01, 002, 003, etc., and data indicating whether or not it is the last transmission is added.

In the body of the e-mail, a facsimile number of a transfer destination in the case of facsimile transfer and other messages are described, and image data is recorded in an attached file. When the mail server 7 receives the divided and transmitted e-mail, the e-mail is transmitted to the Internet facsimile machine 14 via the Internet 12.

The client's personal computer 9
For example, when transmitting image data to, for example, a document number is described in a header, and when transmitting in a divided manner, a division number is added, and whether or not the last part of the divided transmission is described. In the case of divided transmission, the same document number is used for the same document number, and the division number is incremented by one, for example, starting from 001.

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the facsimile server 2. Referring to FIG. 2, reference numeral 20 denotes a main control unit (CPU); 21, a RAM for storing image data and data being processed; and 22, a program and the like. Is a scanner main body for image input, and 24 is a printer for hard printing. 26 is a network controller for connecting to a public line network, 27 is a modem, 28 is a keyboard or LC
An operation / display unit having a display panel such as D. 29 is a codec that performs encoding and decoding necessary for communication, and 30
Is a LAN interface for connecting to the LAN 6.

A capacity management unit 32 is provided as a subsystem of the LAN interface 30 to monitor the free space of the RAM 21 and monitor whether or not the free space is equal to or less than a predetermined value. A capacity shortage signal is generated on the assumption that there is a possibility that the capacity becomes less than the number of sheets. The data division unit 33 connected to the capacity management unit 32, when reading only a part of the original and dividing and transmitting the read part, sets the mail ID to the same original, sets the content type to message partial, The data is transmitted after adding the division number and the data of the last part. Note that sharing a mail ID, a division number, data indicating whether or not the mail is final, and the like are referred to as division information. Further, the data destruction request unit 34
Will stop sending the remaining data after the split transmission,
Send a message requesting that the received data be discarded. The data synthesizing unit 35 synthesizes the divided image data when receiving the image data transmitted with the division information. Further, when a request for discarding the data is received for the divided and received image data, the data is discarded.

FIGS. 3 to 6 show processing for transmitting and receiving image data in the embodiment. FIG. 3 shows an operation when transmitting an Internet facsimile. An original is set on the scanner main body 23, a destination is input from the operation / display unit 28, and
Instruct transmission (steps 1 and 2). The read image data is encoded by the codec 29 and stored in the RAM 21. At this time, the free capacity of the RAM 21 is monitored by the capacity management unit 32, and when the remaining capacity reaches a predetermined value corresponding to one document or less, a memory over is detected (steps 3 and 4). When reading of all originals is completed without causing memory over (Step 5), the image data stored in the RAM 21 is converted into an e-mail format (Step 6), transmitted from the LAN interface 30 to the memory server 7, and transmitted. Cleared data from RAM 21 (step 7,
8).

If a memory overflow occurs in the course of reading a document, the operation / display unit 28 displays a message such as "The document is too long and cannot be read entirely." You are prompted to enter “continue reading” or “stop” (steps 9 and 1).
0). If the reading is interrupted here, it is checked whether or not there is a mail that has already been divided and transmitted before the interruption, and if so, an e-mail is sent to the mail server 7 requesting the mail server 7 to discard the transmitted mail (step 11). , 12). If the operation is to be continued, the data stored in the RAM 21 is converted into an e-mail format, the header is added with division information, and the data is transmitted to the mail server 7 (steps 13 and 14).

Next, the transmitted data is cleared from the RAM 21 (step 15), and the reading and encoding of the original document and the accumulation of data are continued. When the memory is over, the process branches according to the input of continuation or interruption in step 9, When the reading is continued, the reading is similarly performed until the memory is over, and the divided transmission is similarly performed. These steps are continued until all the originals are read (steps 16 to 18).
When the reading of all the originals is completed, the data stored in the RAM 21 is converted into a mail format, the content type is set as a message partial, and a division number and a description indicating that it is the last minute are added and transmitted separately. Then, after transmission, the memory is cleared (steps 19 to 21).

Here, the reading of the document is performed in page units, and the free space of the RAM 21 is less than one document, and the memory is over. For this reason, even a large number of originals are transmitted by being divided in page units, so that the restoration on the receiving side is relatively easy. In addition, every time the content is divided and transmitted, the content type is set as a message partial, and the division number and the data indicating whether or not the content is final are added as tags (division information).
The receiving side can grasp the continuation relationship of the divided and received e-mails.

FIG. 4 shows that the facsimile server 2 is connected to the LAN 6
This shows the processing when used as a network scanner in. Note that the same step numbers as those in FIG.
A description will be given mainly of a portion different from FIG.

Even when used as a network scanner, an original is set on the scanner body, a destination in the LAN 6 is input, and reading is instructed (steps 1 and 30).
The read image data is encoded and stored in the memory, and when the memory is over, the user is requested to continue or interrupt (steps 3, 4, and 9). When reading of all data is completed without memory over (Step 5), the stored data is transmitted to the client personal computer 9 or the like, and the memory is cleared (Steps 7 and 8).

When the memory is over, the user inputs a continuation or interruption instruction (step 10). When the memory is over, the interruption is notified to the client personal computer or the like (step 31). If there is (Step 11), a request for discard is transmitted to the client (Step 12). Note that the process of step 31 may be omitted.

If reading is continued due to memory over, division information is added to the stored data and transmitted to the client (step 32). Then, the transmitted data is cleared from the memory, the reading is continued, the encoding and the accumulation of the data are performed, and when the memory is over, the processing branches according to the instruction of the continuation or the interruption of the user, and when the reading is completed, Then, the divided data and the like are added to the accumulated data and transmitted to the client to clear the memory (steps 33 and 20). Also in the case of the processing in FIG. 4, data is read on a page-by-page basis, divided on a page-by-page basis, and the division information is added.

FIG. 5 shows processing when the facsimile server 2 receives the divided and transmitted e-mail from the mail server 7 and combines them. If the data is received from the mail server 7 in step 40 and the data is not a divided mail and is not a discard request mail, the mail may be received according to a normal process (steps 41 to 43). If the received mail is to be discarded, the received mail with the mail ID specified in the discard request mail is discarded (step 44).

When a divided mail is received, a content type is set to a message partial and a division number is assigned to a tag (divided information) of the divided mail. Therefore, if the e-mail to which the division information is added is processed in the order of the division number, the original facsimile data can be restored, and the page numbers are also arranged in the order of the original document (step 41,
45). Then, processing such as printing the restored data or transferring it to another facsimile machine or the like is performed (step 46). Here, since the divided transmission of the image data is performed in page units, if the e-mail with the division information arrives and the e-mail of the destruction request does not arrive within a predetermined time, the received e-mail is printed. Alternatively, the memory may be cleared by performing processing such as transfer to another facsimile machine.

FIG. 6 shows the processing when the client personal computer receives the image data in a divided manner from the network scanner. Although not shown in the figure,
The personal computer is provided with means for arranging and synthesizing image data having the same document number and assigned the division number in the order of the division number. When the client receives the image data from the network scanner (facsimile server) (step 50), it checks whether or not there is a division number (step 51). It is received as image data (step 53). In the case of a discard request notification, the image data of the designated document number is discarded (step 54). If there is a division number, the document numbers are common and the continuation order is determined from the division number. Therefore, the files are combined in the order of the division number to form one file (step 55). Processing such as recording is performed (step 56). In this case, the client can combine and process as one file on the client side even though the original cannot be read continuously and read and transmitted in a plurality of times.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a network according to an embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a facsimile server used in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an algorithm for reading and transmitting image data when a facsimile server reads image data and transmits an electronic mail in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an algorithm for reading and transmitting image data when a facsimile server reads image data and transmits the image data to a client as a network scanner in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an algorithm when the facsimile server receives and processes the e-mail divided and transmitted in the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an algorithm when a LAN client receives and processes divided image data in the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Facsimile server 3 Public line network 4 G3 facsimile device 6 LAN 7 Mail server 8 Router 9, 16 Personal computer 12 Internet 14 Internet facsimile device 20 CPU 21 RAM 22 ROM 23 Scanner body 24 Printer 26 Network control device 27 Modem 28 Operation / display Unit 29 codec 30 LAN interface 32 capacity management unit 33 data division unit 34 data discard request unit 35 data synthesis unit

Claims (3)

[Claims] An image processing apparatus comprising: a scanner main body; a memory for storing image data; a memory space management unit; and a LAN interface for transmitting image data. A network scanner that transmits image data already stored in a memory when a shortage is detected, and includes means for clearing the image data from the memory so that reading by the scanner body can be continued. 2. The network scanner according to claim 1, wherein a tag indicating that transmission is to be performed is attached at the time of transmission when the free space is insufficient. 3. A method for connecting the network scanner of claim 1 and a client thereof to a LAN, and adding a tag to the transmission data to the transmission data when the transmission is insufficient when free space is insufficient. A network system, comprising: means for combining the image data divided and transmitted when the client receives data with a tag indicating that the data is to be divided and transmitted to the client.