JP2002132689A - Repeater system and communication terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow a communication terminal such as facsimile equipment at the origin of transmission to confirm a mail transmitting situation, that is, whether or not a mail has been transmitted to the mail server device of the opposite side at the time of facsimile-transmitting the mail by using an Internet mail use type facsimile transmitting system. SOLUTION: A mail control part 101 of a repeater system 60 receives the picture data of a facsimile from facsimile transmission 20 at the origin of transmission together with the electronic mail address of the other party, and respectively stores them in a picture memory 8 and an RAM 107 (S4, S7, and S14 in a figure 5), and generates an electronic mail including the picture data, and transmits it to communication terminal equipment having the electronic mail address of the other party (a step S17), and at the time of detecting the mail transmitting situation corresponding to the electronic mail, generates the picture data of the facsimile including the information of the mail transmitting situation, and transmits it to the facsimile transmission 20 at the origin of transmission (a step S36 in figure 7).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a first communication network such as a public telephone network for converting facsimile image data, a relay device (gateway device) for converting the image data into electronic mail, and a second communication network such as the Internet. The present invention relates to a communication terminal device such as a facsimile device for transmitting a communication terminal device to a communication terminal device of the other party via the second communication network, and the relay device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a facsimile apparatus has been equipped with a first communication network such as a public telephone network for converting facsimile image data, a relay apparatus (gateway apparatus) for converting the image data into electronic mail, and a facsimile apparatus such as the Internet. 2. Description of the Related Art A facsimile transmission system utilizing Internet mail (hereinafter referred to as a conventional example) for transmitting data to a destination communication terminal device via a second communication network has been put to practical use.

In this conventional example, a normal facsimile apparatus uses a word processor or the like to print the address of an electronic mail of a destination and the image data of an original image to be transmitted to the second and subsequent pages. Facsimile image data including ITU-T Recommendation T. In a facsimile communication procedure of 30, for example, a transmission is made to the relay device via a public telephone network, and then the relay device converts the e-mail address of the destination from the first image data of the received facsimile image data. Read using OCR,
The second and subsequent image data are subjected to MIME conversion and TIFF conversion, the converted TIFF format image data is attached as an attached file to an e-mail, and the above data is read by the SMTP procedure via a communication network such as the Internet. Sent to the destination mail server device indicated by the e-mail address. The destination user uses his or her personal computer in the POP3 procedure, for example, via a local area network (hereinafter, referred to as a LAN) or a dial-up connection via a public telephone network to the mail server apparatus. After accessing and receiving the received and downloaded e-mail by downloading, the image of the received image data can be viewed on the display using an appropriate image data viewer application software, Printing can be performed using a printer as needed.

[0004]

The facsimile apparatus of the above-described conventional Internet mail-based facsimile transmission system sends an e-mail address of a destination together with image data to a relay apparatus in a facsimile communication procedure. In response, when the relay device sends an e-mail including the received image data to the mail server device of the destination e-mail address, it is determined whether the e-mail has arrived from the relay device to the destination mail server device. ,
In general, it can be determined by the relay device whether or not a non-delivery mail arrives at the relay device. However, at the source facsimile device, since the above-mentioned non-delivery mail does not arrive, the image data to be transmitted is sent to the destination mail server device. There was a problem that it could not be determined whether or not it arrived.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and, when a facsimile transmission is performed using an Internet mail-based facsimile transmission system, a transmission status as to whether or not the transmission has been made to a destination mail server device. It is an object of the present invention to provide a relay device which can be confirmed by a communication terminal device such as a facsimile device and the above communication terminal device.

[0006]

A relay device according to the present invention comprises: a first communication network for converting facsimile image data from a communication terminal device of a transmission source; a relay device for converting the image data into electronic mail; A relay device for a communication system for transmitting to a communication terminal device having an electronic mail address of a destination via a second communication network, wherein facsimile image data from a communication terminal device of a transmission source is transmitted to an electronic mail address of the destination. And a relay unit for receiving an e-mail including the image data, generating the e-mail including the image data, and transmitting the generated e-mail to a communication terminal device having an e-mail address of the other party. When the delivery status is detected, facsimile image data including the mail delivery status information is generated and transmitted to the communication terminal device of the transmission source. Characterized in that it out.

[0007] In the above-mentioned relay device, the relay means comprises:
Preferably, when receiving facsimile image data from the communication terminal device of the transmission source, a procedure signal for facsimile communication including information on the telephone number of the communication terminal device of the transmission source is received and stored in another storage unit. It is characterized by the following.

[0008] Here, the relay means, when transmitting the facsimile image data including the mail delivery status information, calls the telephone number of the originating communication terminal device stored in the separate storage means. It is characterized by doing. Also,
When transmitting the electronic mail including the image data to the communication terminal device having the electronic mail address of the other party, the relay unit transmits the electronic mail of the sender stored in the separate storage unit to the header information of the electronic mail. The telephone number of the terminal device is stored and transmitted.

Further, in the relay device, the telephone number of the communication terminal device of the transmission source is stored in a management table of the another storage device in association with a serial number of facsimile communication, and the relay device is When transmitting an e-mail including image data to a communication terminal device having a destination e-mail address, a serial number stored in a management table of the another storage unit is stored in header information of the e-mail and transmitted. It is characterized by doing.

Still further, in the above-mentioned relay device, the relay means transmits mail delivery status information to the source communication terminal device when receiving facsimile image data from the source communication terminal device. It is necessary to receive the procedure signal of facsimile communication including the necessity of the facsimile communication, store the received signal in another storage unit, and transmit the mail delivery status information stored in the another storage unit. Only in certain cases, facsimile image data including the mail delivery status information is generated and transmitted to the communication terminal device of the transmission source.

According to another communication terminal device of the present invention, a facsimile image data is converted to an electronic mail by a first communication network, a relay device for converting the image data into an electronic mail, and a second communication network. In the communication terminal device for transmitting to the communication terminal device having an e-mail address, the image data is transmitted to the relay device together with a facsimile communication procedure signal including the necessity of notification of whether or not the image data has been delivered to the destination communication terminal device. It is characterized by comprising transmitting means for transmitting.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a facsimile transmission system using Internet mail, which is an embodiment according to the present invention. In the facsimile transmission system using Internet mail according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, a transmission source facsimile device 20 and a relay device (gateway device) 60 are connected via a public telephone network 50. The mail server device 60 and the mail server device 70 are connected via the Internet 40, and the mail server device 70 and the personal computer 31 of the other user are connected via the LAN 30.

Here, the source facsimile machine 20
Transmits an IRA signal or an NSS signal, which is a procedural signal including the address of an electronic mail of a destination, together with image data of a facsimile to be transmitted, according to ITU-T Recommendations T. In the facsimile communication procedure of No. 30, the data is transmitted to the relay device 60 via the public telephone network 50, and then the relay device 60 converts the received facsimile image data into MIME and TIF.
After the conversion, the image data in the TIFF format after the conversion is inserted into the body of the e-mail or attached as an attached file (variation example),
In step P, the message is transmitted to the mail server 70 of the other party indicated by the electronic mail address of the other party. The other user accesses the mail server device 70 via the LAN 30 in the POP3 procedure using his / her personal computer 31 and downloads the received and stored e-mail to receive it. rear,
An image of the received image data can be viewed on a display by using application software of an appropriate image data viewer, and printed using a printer as necessary.

The main control unit 1 of the facsimile apparatus 20 according to the present embodiment particularly transmits a facsimile communication procedure signal including whether or not notification of whether or not facsimile image data has been delivered to the destination mail server apparatus 70 is required. Is transmitted to the relay device 60 together with the SUB signal (step S in FIG. 4).
109-S112).

Further, the main control unit 101 of the relay device 60 according to the present embodiment receives the facsimile image data from the facsimile transmission 20 of the transmission source together with the e-mail address of the other party, and receives the image data of the facsimile image data and the RAM 1 respectively.
07 (S4, S7, S14 in FIG. 5), an e-mail including the image data is generated and transmitted to the communication terminal device having the e-mail address of the other party (step S1).
7) When detecting the mail delivery status for the e-mail, generates facsimile image data including the information on the mail delivery status, and transmits the facsimile image to the sender 20
(Step S36 in FIG. 7).

Here, the main control unit 101 is a facsimile communication procedure signal including information on the telephone number of the facsimile machine 20 of the transmission source when receiving the facsimile image data from the facsimile transmission 20 of the transmission source. TS
When the I signal is received and the information is stored in the RAM 107 (steps S4 and S7 in FIG. 5), the facsimile image data including the information on the mail delivery status is transmitted.
Source facsimile transmission 2 stored in RAM 107
A call is made to the telephone number 0 (step S42 in FIG. 8). Further, when transmitting the e-mail including the image data to the mail server device 70 having the e-mail address of the destination, the main control unit 101 transmits the source facsimile stored in the RAM 107 in the header information of the e-mail. The telephone number of the device 20 is stored and transmitted (step S21 in FIG. 6).

Further, when the main control unit 101 receives the facsimile image data from the facsimile machine 20 of the transmission source, it is necessary to transmit the mail delivery status information to the facsimile apparatus 20 of the transmission source. Receiving a SUB signal which is a procedure signal of facsimile communication including
Stored in the AM 107 (steps S4 and S11 in FIG. 5),
Only when it is necessary to notify the transmission of the mail delivery status information stored in the RAM 107 (YES in step S33 or S35 in FIG. 7), the facsimile image data including the mail delivery status information is deleted. It is generated and sent to the source facsimile machine 20 (step S3).
6). Here, the necessity of the notification of the transmission of the information on the mail delivery status is necessary, which means whether a non-delivery notification is required or a delivery confirmation notification is required.

In the conventional facsimile transmission system using Internet mail, image data of an image printed by an e-mail address of a destination by a word processor or the like is transmitted as the first image data. In the case of reading using the OCR in the relay device 60, the reading accuracy is not perfect. Therefore, in this embodiment, the e-mail address of the other party is input using the operation unit 5, and the e-mail address memory 7b in the RAM 7 is temporarily input. After storing in ITU-T Recommendation T. The transmission is performed by using an IRA (Internet Routing Address) signal or an NSS signal (non-standard function setting signal) specified in 30. Here, an example of the format of the IRA signal and the NSS signal is shown below.

[0020]

[Table 1] ――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――― (Sequence number) (Type) (Length) (Internet address) ―――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the facsimile machine 20 of FIG. In FIG. 2, the facsimile apparatus 20 has a facsimile communication function of a conventional G3 system or the like, and also has a function of transmitting a destination electronic mail address using an IRA signal or an NSS signal. The main control unit 1 is specifically composed of a CPU,
It is connected to the following hardware units via the bus 13 to control them and execute various software functions to be described later. The image reading unit 2 reads an original with a scanner using a CCD or the like, and outputs dot image data converted to binary black and white. The image recording unit 3 is a printer device of an electrophotographic system or the like, and prints out and records image data received from another facsimile device by facsimile communication as a hard copy. The display unit 4 is a display device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a CRT display, and displays an operation state of the facsimile machine 20, and displays image data of a document to be transmitted and received image data. .

The operation unit 5 includes character keys, dial numeric keys, and dial keys necessary for operating the facsimile machine 20.
It has speed dial keys, one-touch dial keys, and various function keys. In addition, by making the above-mentioned display unit 4 a touch panel type, this operation unit 5
A part or all of the various keys may be substituted.

The ROM 6 stores in advance various software programs necessary for the operation of the facsimile machine 20 and executed by the main control unit 1, wherein the programs include at least the transmission processing program shown in FIG. including. Further, these programs are recorded on a recording medium such as a floppy (registered trademark) disk, MO, DVD-RAM or the like, and are loaded into the RAM 7 via the drive device as needed to execute the programs. You may. The RAM 7 is composed of an SRAM, and is used as a working area of the main control unit 1 and stores temporary data generated when a program is executed. The image memory 8 is, for example, a compact flash (registered trademark) and stores image data before and after encoding or before and after decoding.

The fax modem 10 is connected to a public telephone line L
Is connected to the public telephone network 50 via a public telephone network, and has a function of a normal fax modem for facsimile communication. The modem demodulates data of transmission telephone number information received as an FSK signal and outputs it to the main control unit 1. . An NCU (Network Control Unit) 11 is a hardware circuit that performs closing and opening operations such as a DC loop of an analog public telephone line L and has an automatic dial function. To the public telephone line L. Here, the NCU 11 detects the ID receiving terminal activation signal and the ordinary telephone call signal in the outgoing telephone number notification service and, if necessary, the primary response signal and the second response signal in the outgoing telephone number notification service.
A next response signal can be transmitted. Note that NCU11
May be connected to a baseband transmission type digital line (for example, an ISDN line) via a predetermined terminal adapter and a DSU (Digital Service Unit).

The facsimile apparatus 20 of the present embodiment configured as described above has a function of transmitting an e-mail address of a destination using an IRA signal or an NSS signal, in addition to a normal facsimile communication function of the G3 system or the like. Have.
In the facsimile communication function, the dot image data read by the image reading unit 2 is encoded by software according to an encoding method such as MH, MR, MMR, etc. defined in the standard of the facsimile communication, and then the relay device 60 or the other party. On the other hand, the coded data transmitted from the facsimile apparatus is also decoded into image data by software, and output as a hard copy from the image recording unit 3.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the relay device 60 of FIG. In FIG. 3, a relay device 60 is composed of a digital computer such as a personal computer or a work station, and the main control unit 101 sends a signal from the facsimile machine 20 of FIG.
0 and the facsimile image data and the e-mail address of the destination included in the IRA signal or the NSS signal via the public telephone line L2, and the received facsimile image data is MIME-converted and TIFF-converted. Is inserted into the body of the e-mail in the body of the e-mail and transmitted to the destination mail server device 70 indicated by the destination e-mail address via the router device 109 and the Internet 40 by the SMTP procedure. I do.

Here, the main control unit 101 is, specifically, a CP.
U, which is connected to the following hardware units via a bus 13 to control them and execute various software functions described later. Display unit 10
Reference numeral 4 denotes a display device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a CRT display, which displays an operation state of the relay device 60. The operation unit 105 includes character keys, dial numeric keys, speed dial keys, one-touch dial keys, various function keys, and the like necessary for operating the relay device 60.

The ROM 106 stores in advance various software programs necessary for the operation of the relay device 60 and executed by the main control unit 101. Here, the programs are stored in at least the relay programs shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 is included. Further, these programs are recorded on a recording medium such as a floppy disk, MO, DVD-RAM, etc.
07 and may execute the program. R
The AM 107 is configured by an SRAM, is used as a working area of the main control unit 101, and stores temporary data generated when a program is executed. Image memory 10
Reference numeral 8 denotes a hard disk memory, for example, which stores image data before and after encoding or before and after decoding.

Further, the fax modem 110 and the NC
U111 is configured similarly to the fax modem 10 and the NCU 11 of the facsimile machine 10, respectively.
111 is connected to the public telephone network 50 via the public telephone line L2. Also, the router device 109 is connected to the Internet 4
0 is connected to the mail server 70 of the other party (FIG. 1). The e-mail transmitted from the relay device 60 is transferred from the router device 109 and transmitted to the destination mail server device 70 via the Internet 40. Note that the line connection from the router device 109 to the Internet 40 is not limited to a dedicated line or the like.
2 may be used.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a transmission process executed by the main control unit 1 of the facsimile machine 20 of FIG.

In step S101 of FIG. 4, first,
Using the information registered in advance in the one-touch table in the RAM 7, the destination e-mail address is input using the operation unit 5, and then, in step S102, the necessity of the delivery confirmation is input using the operation unit 5, In S103, the necessity of non-delivery notification is input using the operation unit 5 based on the telephone number data of the relay device 60 registered in the RAM 7 in advance. Then, it is determined whether or not the start key has been turned on in step S104, and the process of step S104 is repeated until YES is reached. When YES is reached, the process proceeds to step S105.

In step S105, the telephone number of the relay device 60 having the mail conversion function is dialed based on the telephone number data of the relay device 60 registered in the RAM 7 in advance, and a call is made. Next, a DIS signal is detected in step S106, and NS is detected in step S107.
The destination e-mail address is stored in the S or IRA signal, and the telephone number of the own device is stored in the TSI signal in step S108. Further, in step S109, S
The first digit of the UB signal stores the necessity (1) or no (0) of the delivery confirmation, and the second digit of the SUB signal stores the necessity (1) or no (0) of the non-delivery notification. Then, in step S110, NSS or IRA, SUB, TSI, DCS, TCF
In step S111, a CFR signal is detected. Then, in step S112, the original image is read and encoded into image data and transmitted, and in step S113, an EOP signal is transmitted.
Further, the MCF signal is detected in step S114, the DCN signal is transmitted in step S115, the line is opened, and the transmission process ends.

FIG. 5 shows the main control unit 1 of the relay device 60 of FIG.
11 is a flowchart showing a relay process executed by the first embodiment.

In step S1 of FIG. 5, it is first determined whether or not an activation signal for the outgoing telephone number notification service has been detected. If YES, the process proceeds to step S2, while NO
If so, the process proceeds to step S3. In step S2, the outgoing telephone number by the outgoing telephone number notification service is used as the telephone number of the requesting or transmitting facsimile machine in the RAM1.
07, and a DIS signal is transmitted in step S3. In response, in step S4, an NSS or IRA, SUB, TSI, DCS, or TCF signal is detected. In step S5, it is determined whether or not there is a destination e-mail address in the NSS signal. Is determined in step S6 whether there is an IRA signal. If YES in step S5 or S6, the destination e-mail address is stored in RAM1 in step S7.
07 and the process proceeds to step S8. Next, in step S8, it is determined whether or not there is a TSI signal.
If S, the process proceeds to step S9, while if NO, the process proceeds to step S10. In step S9, the telephone number in the TSI signal is stored in the RAM 107 as the telephone number of the requesting facsimile machine, and the flow advances to step S10.

Next, in step S10, it is determined whether or not there is a SUB signal.
On the other hand, if NO, the process proceeds to step S12.
In step S11, the necessity of the delivery confirmation and the necessity of the non-delivery notification are stored in the RAM 107 based on the data in the SUB signal, and the process proceeds to step S13. On the other hand, in step S12, it is stored in the RAM 107 as transmission unnecessary and non-delivery notification required, and a CFR signal is transmitted in step S13. Further, in step S14, the image data is received and stored in the image memory 108, and in step S15, the EOP
The signal is detected and the MCF signal is transmitted. Then, in step S16, the line is released, and in step S17, the transfer processing of FIG. 6 is performed, and then the relay processing ends.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the transfer process (step S17) which is a subroutine of FIG. In step S21 of FIG. 6, an e-mail header is created. Specifically, the destination e-mail address is inserted in TO, the IP address of the relay device 60 itself is inserted in From, and the request source facsimile device is inserted in Subject. Insert phone number, necessity of delivery confirmation, necessity of non-delivery notification. Next, in step S22, the image data in the image memory 108 is MIME-converted and TIFF-converted to TIFF.
Generate image data in the format and insert it into the body of the email. Further, in step S23, the e-mail including the header and the body is sent to the destination e-mail address,
Return to the original main routine.

FIG. 7 shows the main control unit 1 of the relay device 60 of FIG.
FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a reply mail detection process executed by the electronic mail server 01. This reply mail detection process is executed when an e-mail is transmitted to the destination mail server device 70 and then the reception of a reply mail thereto is detected. You.

In step S31 of FIG. 7, it is first determined whether or not the subject in the header of the received reply mail has a facsimile number. If YES, the process proceeds to step S32, while if NO, the reply mail is determined. The detection processing ends. In step S32, it is determined whether the received reply mail is a reply mail indicating non-delivery,
When the determination is YES, the process proceeds to step S32, and when the determination is NO, the process proceeds to step S34. It is determined whether the Subject in the header of the reply mail received in step S33 requires non-delivery notification. If YES, the process proceeds to step S36, while if NO, the reply mail detection process ends. The reply mail detection processing ends.

In step S34, it is determined whether or not the reply mail received is a delivery confirmation mail. If YES, the process proceeds to step S35, while if NO, the reply mail detection process ends. Here, the delivery confirmation e-mail is an e-mail that is set in advance to return an e-mail of an acknowledgment indicating that the e-mail has been received in the mail server device 70, and that is returned according to the setting, or When the electronic mail from the relay device 60 includes an instruction signal for instructing to return an e-mail of an acknowledgment indicating that the e-mail has been received, the e-mail is returned in response to the instruction signal. Here, in the latter case, it is necessary to provide a program for decoding the instruction signal in the mail server device 70 in advance.

Next, it is determined whether or not the Subject in the header of the reply mail received in step S35 requires delivery confirmation. If YES, the process proceeds to step S36, while if NO, the reply mail detection process ends. . In step S36, the facsimile transmission process, which is a subroutine of FIG. 8, is executed, and then the reply mail detection process ends.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the facsimile transmission process (step S36) which is a subroutine of FIG.

In step S41 of FIG. 8, the header and body of the received reply mail are expanded into bitmap image data and stored in the image data 108.
2. In Subj in the header of the received reply mail,
ct, dial the facsimile number, make a call,
In step S43, the DIS signal is detected, and in response, the DCS signal and the TCF
Send a signal. Then, in step S45, CF
The R signal is detected, and the image memory 1
The image data of the bitmap stored in 08 is encoded into facsimile image data and transmitted. Further, after transmitting the EOP signal in step S47 and detecting the MCF signal, the line is opened in step S48 and the process returns to the original main routine.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the main control unit 1 of the facsimile apparatus 20 particularly transmits the facsimile image data to the mail server apparatus 7 of the destination.
0 is transmitted to the relay device 60 together with a SUB signal which is a facsimile communication procedure signal including the necessity of notification of whether or not the notification has been sent to the relay device 60 (steps S109 to S112 in FIG. 4). The facsimile image data from the facsimile transmission 20 of the transmission source is received together with the e-mail address of the destination and stored in the image memory 8 and the RAM 107, respectively (S4 and S4 in FIG. 5).
7, S14), generates an e-mail including the image data, transmits the generated e-mail to a communication terminal device having an e-mail address of the other party (step S17). The facsimile image data including the status information is generated and transmitted to the facsimile transmission 20 of the transmission source (step S in FIG. 7).
36). Therefore, it is possible to grasp the delivery status of the electronic mail of the facsimile transmission transmitted by the facsimile machine 20 of the transmission source, and if it has not been transmitted, it is possible to take measures such as retransmission.

Here, the main control unit 101 is a facsimile communication procedure signal including information on the telephone number of the facsimile machine 20 of the transmission source when receiving the facsimile image data from the facsimile transmission 20 of the transmission source. TS
When the I signal is received and the information is stored in the RAM 107 (steps S4 and S7 in FIG. 5), the facsimile image data including the information on the mail delivery status is transmitted.
Source facsimile transmission 2 stored in RAM 107
A call is made to the telephone number 0 (step S42 in FIG. 8). Therefore, it is possible to specify the telephone number of the facsimile machine 20 of the transmission source using the facsimile communication having the conventional configuration,
The information on the delivery status of the transmitted facsimile transmission e-mail can be reliably transmitted to the specified transmission source facsimile device 20.

When transmitting the electronic mail including the image data to the mail server device 70 having the electronic mail address of the destination, the main control unit 101 transmits the electronic mail including the image data to the mail information stored in the RAM 107 in the header information of the electronic mail. The telephone number of the original facsimile machine 20 is stored and transmitted (step S21 in FIG. 6). Therefore, it is possible to reliably transmit the information on the delivery status of the transmitted facsimile transmission e-mail to the transmission source facsimile device 20 specified in the e-mail header information. In this case, the management table 107a in a modified example which will be described later in detail is unnecessary.

Further, the main control unit 101 determines whether it is necessary to transmit mail delivery status information to the transmission source facsimile apparatus 20 when receiving facsimile image data from the transmission source facsimile apparatus 20. Receiving a SUB signal which is a procedure signal of facsimile communication including
Stored in the AM 107 (steps S4 and S11 in FIG. 5),
Only when it is necessary to notify the transmission of the mail delivery status information stored in the RAM 107 (YES in step S33 or S35 in FIG. 7), the facsimile image data including the mail delivery status information is deleted. It is generated and sent to the source facsimile machine 20 (step S3).
6). Therefore, the user of the facsimile machine 20 at the transmission source can specify whether or not notification of the information on the mail delivery status is required, and can transmit the information on the mail delivery status based on the specification of the need for the notification.

<Modification> FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of data of the management table 107a stored in the RAM 107 of the relay device 60 according to a modification of the present invention. Relay device 6
0, a serial number is assigned to each received facsimile communication, and the management table 107a receives, as the calling telephone number by the calling telephone number notification service, for each serial number (step S2 in FIG. 5), or
(Steps S4 and S9 in FIG. 5) Received as the calling terminal identification number in the TSI signal, the telephone number of the requesting or transmitting facsimile machine, the necessity of notification of delivery confirmation, and the necessity of non-delivery notification Another is stored.

In this modification, the telephone number of the source facsimile machine 20 is stored in the management table 107a in the RAM 107 in association with the serial number of the facsimile communication, and is stored in the main control unit 1 of the relay apparatus 60.
01 is stored in the management table 107a in the RAM 107 in the header information of the electronic mail when the electronic mail including the image data of the facsimile to be relayed is transmitted to the mail server device 70 having the electronic mail address of the destination. The stored serial number is transmitted.

In this modification, the management table 107a is used to manage the telephone number of the facsimile machine of the requestor or the sender, whether or not notification of delivery confirmation is required, and whether or not notification of non-delivery is required. Then, the transfer process of FIG. 10 is executed instead of the transfer process of FIG.
11 in place of the reply mail detection process of FIG.
Is performed, and the other processes are the same as those in the above-described embodiment, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 10 shows a transfer process (step S17) executed by the main control unit 101 of the relay device 60 of the modified example.
It is a flowchart which shows A). Step S in FIG.
18, first, the serial number and the facsimile machine 20 of the request source in the TSI signal are stored in the management table 107a.
Facsimile number, necessity of delivery confirmation, necessity of non-delivery notification is registered and stored. Next, in step S21A, a header of the e-mail is created. Specifically, the destination e-mail address is inserted in the TO, and the relay device 6 is set in the From.
0 Inserts its own IP address, and inserts the serial number into the Subject. Then, in step S22, the image data in the image memory 108
After performing IFF conversion, the image data in the TIFF format is inserted into the mail text, and the e-mail including the header and the text is sent to the destination e-mail address in step S23, and then the process returns to the original main routine.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a reply mail detection process executed by the main control unit 101 of the relay device 60 according to the modification. This reply mail detection process is similar to that of the above-described embodiment. Mail server device 70
This is executed when an e-mail is sent to the server and it is detected that a reply e-mail is received.

In step S51 of FIG. 11, first,
It is determined whether or not the Subject in the header of the received reply mail has a serial number. If YES, the process proceeds to step S52, while if NO, the reply mail detection process ends. In step S52, it is determined whether or not the received e-mail is a reply e-mail indicating non-delivery.
If S, the process proceeds to step S53, while if NO, the process proceeds to step S54. Next, it is determined based on the management table 107a whether or not the serial number in the reply mail received in step S53 is a non-delivery notification.
In the case of ES, the process proceeds to step S36, while in the case of NO, the reply mail detection process ends. On the other hand, step S
At 54, similarly to step S34 of FIG. 7, it is determined whether the received e-mail is a delivery confirmation mail or not.
In the case of ES, the process proceeds to step S55, while in the case of NO, the reply mail detection process ends. Next, it is determined based on the management table 107a whether or not the serial number in the reply mail received in step S55 is a delivery confirmation necessity, based on the management table 107a. If YES, the process proceeds to step S36. To end.
Then, in step S36, after the facsimile transmission processing of FIG. 8 is executed, the reply mail detection processing ends.

As described above, in this modification, the telephone number of the source facsimile machine 20 is associated with the serial number of the facsimile communication, and
The main control unit 101 of the relay device 60, which is stored in the management table 107a in the AM 107 and transmits the electronic mail including the image data of the facsimile to be relayed to the mail server device 70 having the electronic mail address of the other party, The serial number stored in the management table 107a in the RAM 107 is stored in the header information of the electronic mail and transmitted. Therefore, based on the information on the source facsimile machine 20 in the management table 107a corresponding to the serial number specified in the header information of the e-mail, the facsimile transmission of the transmitted facsimile machine 20 is transmitted to the sender facsimile machine 20. E-mail delivery status information can be transmitted reliably. In this case, the management table 107a
It is not necessary to send unnecessary information such as the telephone number of the facsimile machine 20 of the transmission source, the necessity of the delivery confirmation, the necessity of the non-delivery notification, etc. to the relay device 60. There is a unique effect that it can be maintained.

<Other Modifications> In the above embodiment, the image data is inserted into the body of the electronic mail.
The present invention is not limited to this, and may be attached to an electronic mail as an attached file.

In the above embodiment, the facsimile apparatus 20 and the relay apparatus 60 are connected via the public telephone network 50, and the relay apparatus 50 converts facsimile image data into electronic mail. Is not limited to this,
A transfer device and a communication network such as the Internet are inserted between the public telephone network 50 and the relay device 60, and the transfer device is located near the facsimile device 20 (for example, the same or adjacent unit charge area (MA)). ), From the facsimile machine 20, for example, according to ITU-T Recommendation T. After receiving the facsimile image data transmitted by the facsimile procedure of No. 30 and temporarily storing it in a storage device, for example, the ITU-T Recommendation T.30 is used. In a communication procedure such as 37, the data may be transferred to the relay device 60 via a communication network such as the Internet.

In the above embodiment, the public telephone network 5
However, the present invention is not limited to this, and communication lines such as various circuit switching networks, various packet switching networks, and dedicated lines can be used.

In the above embodiment, an example of the facsimile machine 20 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a telephone, data, etc. connected to a public telephone network such as a public telephone network or a public digital network. The present invention can be applied to a communication terminal device including a communication device and the like.

[0058]

As described above in detail, according to the communication terminal apparatus of the present invention, the facsimile image data is converted into the first communication network, the relay apparatus for converting the image data into electronic mail, and the second communication network. A facsimile communication method for transmitting to a communication terminal device having an electronic mail address of a destination via a communication network, the facsimile communication including notification of whether or not the image data has been delivered to the communication terminal of the destination. And transmitting means for transmitting the procedure signal to the relay device. On the other hand, according to the relay device of the present invention, the facsimile image data from the communication terminal device of the transmission source is transmitted to the first terminal.
Communication network, a relay device for converting the image data into an electronic mail, and a relay device for a communication system for transmitting to a communication terminal device having a destination electronic mail address via a second communication network. Receiving the image data of the facsimile from the communication terminal device together with the electronic mail address of the other party and storing it in the storage means, and generating an electronic mail including the image data to the communication terminal device having the electronic mail address of the other party. A relay unit for transmitting, when detecting a mail delivery status for the electronic mail, the relay unit generates facsimile image data including the information on the mail delivery status and sends it to the communication terminal device of the transmission source . Therefore, it is possible to grasp the delivery status of the electronic mail of the facsimile transmission transmitted by the communication terminal device of the transmission source, and to take measures such as retransmission if the electronic mail has not been transmitted.

In the above-mentioned relay device, the above-mentioned relay means comprises:
Preferably, when receiving facsimile image data from the communication terminal device of the transmission source, a procedure signal for facsimile communication including information on the telephone number of the communication terminal device of the transmission source is received and stored in another storage unit. . When transmitting the facsimile image data including the mail delivery status information, the relay unit calls the telephone number of the communication terminal device of the transmission source stored in the another storage unit. Therefore, it is possible to specify the telephone number of the communication terminal device of the transmission source by using the conventional facsimile communication, and to the communication terminal device of the specified transmission source, the delivery status of the transmitted e-mail of the transmitted facsimile transmission. Information can be transmitted reliably.

Further, in the above-mentioned relay apparatus, when the above-mentioned relay means transmits an electronic mail including the image data to a communication terminal device having an electronic mail address of a destination, the above-mentioned additional information is added to the header information of the above-mentioned electronic mail. The telephone number of the originating communication terminal device stored in the storage means is stored and transmitted. Therefore, it is possible to reliably transmit the information on the delivery status of the transmitted facsimile transmission e-mail to the communication terminal device of the transmission source specified in the header information of the e-mail. In this case, the management table described above is unnecessary.

Further, in the relay device, the telephone number of the communication terminal device of the transmission source is stored in the management table of the another storage unit in association with the serial number of facsimile communication, and the relay unit is When transmitting an e-mail including image data to a communication terminal device having a destination e-mail address, a serial number stored in a management table of the another storage unit is stored in header information of the e-mail and transmitted. I do. Therefore, based on the information of the source communication terminal device in the management table corresponding to the serial number specified in the header information of the electronic mail, the source facsimile device 20
, The information on the delivery status of the transmitted facsimile transmission e-mail can be reliably transmitted. In this case, the management table is required, but unnecessary information such as the telephone number of the communication terminal device of the transmission source, necessity of delivery confirmation, and necessity of non-delivery notification is not sent to the relay device. There is a special effect that security can be maintained.

Further, in the above-mentioned relay device, the above-mentioned relay means, when receiving facsimile image data from the source communication terminal device, transmits mail delivery status information to the source communication terminal device. It is necessary to receive the procedure signal of facsimile communication including the necessity of the facsimile communication, store the received signal in another storage unit, and transmit the mail delivery status information stored in the another storage unit. Only at certain times, facsimile image data including the mail delivery status information is generated and sent to the communication terminal device of the transmission source. Therefore, by the user of the communication terminal device of the transmission source,
It is possible to specify whether or not notification of mail delivery status information is necessary, and it is possible to transmit mail delivery status information based on the specification of this notification.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an Internet mail-based facsimile transmission system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the facsimile machine 20 of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a relay device 60 in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a transmission process executed by a main control unit 1 of the facsimile machine 20 of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a relay process executed by a main control unit 101 of the relay device 60 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a transfer process (step S17) which is a subroutine of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a reply mail detection process executed by the main control unit 101 of the relay device 60 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a facsimile transmission process (step S38) which is a subroutine of FIG.

FIG. 9 shows a RAM of a relay device 60 according to a modification of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of data of a management table 107a in a storage 107.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a transfer process (step S17A) executed by a main control unit 101 of a relay device 60 according to a modified example.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a reply mail detection process executed by a main control unit 101 of a relay device 60 according to a modification.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Main control part, 2 ... Image reading part, 3 ... Image recording part, 4 ... Display part, 5 ... Operation part, 6 ... ROM, 7 ... RAM, 8 ... Image memory, 10 ... Fax modem, 11 ... NCU, Reference Signs List 13 bus, 20 facsimile machine, 30 local area network (LAN), 31 personal computer, 40 internet, 50 public telephone network, 60 relay device, 70 mail server device, 101 main control unit, 104: display unit, 105: operation unit, 106: ROM, 107: RAM, 107a: management table, 108: image memory, 109: router device, 110: fax modem, 111: NCU, 113: bus, L1, L2 ... Public telephone line.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04N 1/32 F term (Reference) 5C062 AA02 AA13 AA21 AA29 AB38 AB40 AB42 AC29 AC38 AC43 AE02 AE14 AF01 AF03 BC05 BD09 5C075 CA03 CA14 CD23 CE14 CF01 5K030 HA06 HA07 HB04 HC01 HD03 JT05 LD13 MB18

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A facsimile image data from a source communication terminal device, a relay device for converting the image data into an electronic mail, and a destination electronic device via a second communication network. In a relay device for a communication system for transmitting to a communication terminal device having a mail address, facsimile image data from a source communication terminal device is received together with a destination electronic mail address and stored in storage means, Relay means for generating an e-mail including data and transmitting the generated e-mail to a communication terminal device having an e-mail address of the other party, wherein the relay means detects the e-mail delivery status for the e-mail, A relay device for generating facsimile image data including information and transmitting the generated facsimile image data to the source communication terminal device. 2. The relay means, when receiving facsimile image data from a source communication terminal device, receiving a facsimile communication procedure signal including telephone number information of the source communication terminal device. The relay device according to claim 1, wherein the relay device is stored in another storage unit. 3. The transmission means, when transmitting facsimile image data including the mail delivery status information, calls the telephone number of the communication terminal device of the transmission source stored in the another storage means. 3. The relay device according to claim 2, wherein: 4. The relay means, when transmitting the electronic mail including the image data to a communication terminal device having an electronic mail address of the destination, stores the header information of the electronic mail in the separate storage means. 3. The relay device according to claim 2, wherein a telephone number of the communication terminal device of the transmission source is stored and transmitted. 5. The telephone number of the communication terminal device of the transmission source is stored in a management table of another storage means in association with a serial number of facsimile communication, and the relay means includes an electronic device including the image data. When transmitting an e-mail to a communication terminal device having an e-mail address of the other party, the e-mail is transmitted by storing a serial number stored in a management table of the another storage means in header information of the e-mail. The relay device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein 6. The relay means, when receiving facsimile image data from a source communication terminal device, determines whether or not it is necessary to transmit mail delivery status information to the source communication terminal device. The facsimile communication procedure signal is received and stored in another storage means, and the mail is transmitted only when it is necessary to notify the transmission of the mail delivery status information stored in the another storage means. The relay device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the relay device generates facsimile image data including transmission status information and transmits the generated facsimile image data to the communication terminal device of the transmission source. 7. A facsimile image data is transmitted to a first communication network, a relay device for converting the image data into an electronic mail, and a communication terminal device having a destination electronic mail address via a second communication network. The communication terminal device for transmitting, further comprising a transmission unit for transmitting the image data to the relay device together with a facsimile communication procedure signal including a necessity of notification of whether or not the image data has been delivered to the destination communication terminal device. Characteristic communication terminal device.