JP2002176544A - Facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain image data which are close to the original and easy to handle as an electronic document on a reception side as to facsimile equipment which is connected to an image storage means capable of storing the image data as the electronic document (file). SOLUTION: When a reception mode wherein image data are stored in the image storage means is selected, the image data are received while transmission- side facsimile equipment is instructed to transmit the image data without processing them (addition of transmission time, enlargement, reduction, etc.). Further, multiple message transmission is inhibited to prevent pieces of image data from being put together in one. The reception capacity of the image storage means is declared as standard capacity and then the image data can be received by making good use of the reception capacity of the image storage means.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a facsimile apparatus, and more particularly, to a facsimile apparatus capable of receiving paperless data.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been a facsimile apparatus capable of storing and managing image data as an electronic document in a paperless manner.

A facsimile apparatus capable of storing and managing image data in a paperless manner is disclosed in, for example,
There is a facsimile apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 334794, and by using an optical disk and an optical disk drive as image storage means, it is possible to manage a large amount of image data.

In the facsimile apparatus, when a document is received, normal reception printing can be performed, and the document can be transferred to an image storage means and stored as an electronic document without output. When sending a document, the scanned image data can be sent as it is,
It can also be stored in the image storage means.

Further, since the storage medium (optical disk in this case) is exchangeable and portable, other facsimile apparatuses having the same configuration can handle data. Various functions such as reservation transmission (transmission of stored documents at a designated date and time) and automatic proxy reception (in the case of inconvenience such as running out of paper at the receiving facsimile, automatic reception and storage toward the image storage means) are also available. Function is available.

[0006]

However, in the conventional facsimile apparatus, in the processing on the transmission side, processing such as addition of a transmission date and time and a caller number to the image data and conversion of a screen size for mutual communication are performed. Only the processed image data could be received.

For this reason, if it is desired to transfer the received image data to the image storage means and store it as an electronic document (file) without performing normal reception printing processing, the processed image data must be saved as a file. Problem arises.

Further, when a plurality of image data are sent to the same destination, they may be processed as one image data. In the case of G3 communication, the receiving side cannot classify the received image data collectively. Therefore, it is inconvenient even when it is desired to treat it as an electronic document.

Further, even when the image storage means includes an encoding means and has a capacity higher than the reception capability of the facsimile apparatus main body, the image is received with the reception capability of the facsimile apparatus main body. The receiving ability of the storage means could not be utilized.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and stores received image data as an electronic document in a facsimile apparatus connected to image storage means capable of storing received image data as an electronic document. When the mode is selected, a facsimile device which declares (instructs) the transmission side facsimile apparatus to transmit the image data without processing by a communication protocol so that the reception side can easily handle as an electronic document. It is a primary object to provide a device.

When the mode for storing in the image storage means is selected, the transmission process in the transmitting facsimile apparatus is prohibited so that a plurality of documents are not processed as one document. It is a second object to provide a facsimile machine.

When the mode for storing the image data in the image storage means is selected, the capability of the image storage system is notified to the transmitting facsimile by a protocol, so that the capability of the receiving facsimile body is reduced instead of the capability of the receiving facsimile body. A third object of the present invention is to provide a facsimile apparatus capable of receiving data with the capability of a storage system.

[0013]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is connected to image storage means for storing image data in a file and storing the received image data as a reception mode. It has a storage mode for transferring and storing the data in the storage means, and when receiving the image data, if the storage mode is selected, the transmitting facsimile apparatus is notified to transmit the image data without processing, Further, it is characterized in that the received image data is transferred to the image storage means.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image processing apparatus, comprising:
When the receiving facsimile apparatus notifies that the image data is transmitted without processing, the image data is transmitted without processing, and when the image data is received, the accumulation mode is selected. In this case, it is characterized in that the transmitting facsimile apparatus is notified to transmit the image data without processing, and the received image data is transferred to the image storage means.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the processing is a character string adding and inserting process.

The invention according to claim 4 is characterized in that the processing is reduction and scaling processing.

The fifth aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, when transmitting image data to the same destination, if the receiving facsimile apparatus has selected the accumulation mode, the transmission is not performed.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the receiving capability of the image storing means is stored, and when receiving the image data, if the storing mode is selected, the receiving capability is notified to the transmitting facsimile apparatus as the standard capability. It is characterized by:

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, the receiving capability of the image storage means includes a coding capability.

The invention according to claim 8 is characterized in that the receiving capability of the image storage means includes a resolution capability.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, the receiving capability of the image storage means includes a recording width capability.

[0022]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The communication protocol will be described using the G3 standard as an example, but the G4 standard is also assumed.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a system control unit 1 monitors and controls the entire facsimile apparatus of the present invention. The system memory 2 stores information registered in the device in advance. Also, data necessary for communication is temporarily stored. The image memory 3 temporarily stores the image data read by the document reading unit 4 and the received image data. The document reading unit 4 scans a document and reads it as image data. The printing unit 5 prints the image data on paper. The operation unit 6 receives various operations by the user. The DCR 7 performs a process of compressing and expanding image data according to an encoding method. G3 modem 8
Modulates and demodulates data for G3 communication. NCU9
Performs dialing to the line and detection of ringing.
The I / O interface 10 includes an image storage system 11
Connect.

The image storage system 11 can store and handle received image data as an electronic document (file) in addition to performing normal reception printing processing (hereinafter, referred to as “normal printing”) in the main body. It is a system for doing.
The image storage system 11 stores the image data transferred from the facsimile apparatus body as a file (the contents are image data). The user can select a stored file and perform processing such as printing and transmission using the operation unit 6 or the operating means of the image storage system 11.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the present invention, as the reception mode, the user can print the received image data as usual (referred to as “normal print mode”), or transfer the received image data to the image storage system 11 and store it (“the normal print mode”). And the like can be selected and set at any time.

In FIG. 2, the reception facsimile 23
In the case of the accumulation mode, the image data from the transmission facsimile 21 is transferred to the image accumulation system 24 without printing, stored as a file, and paperless management of the document is realized. The connection between the reception facsimile machine 23 and the image storage system 24 may be a connection via a telephone line, a connection via a serial cable, a connection via a network, a connection via a PCI bus, or the like.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing exchange of a communication protocol between facsimile apparatuses according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the facsimile apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Hereinafter, description will be given with reference to the drawings.

The facsimile on the document receiving side
It is checked whether or not the image storage system 11 is connected (step S401, step S402). If not, the image storage system 11 operates as a normal facsimile (step S403). If connected, the operation of the present invention is performed (step S402 / YES).

In FIG. 4, the receiving facsimile is
Description will be made assuming that the above-described accumulation mode is selected.

In the standby facsimile, when a document or file to be transmitted is designated by the operator during standby (steps S413 and S414), a call is made from the line (step S415) and transmission is started (step S415). S416).

During standby, the receiving facsimile receives an incoming call by controlling the NCU 9 in response to a ringing tone from the line, and starts receiving (steps S404 to S406).

The receiving facsimile sends a signal such as CED / DIS / NSF from the G3 modem 8 to the transmitting facsimile (steps S407 and S40).
8). At this time, the receiving capability of the receiving facsimile is declared in the DIS / NSF signal. Further, it declares on the protocol that normal printing is not to be performed, and instructs the sending facsimile machine not to process the image data to be sent.

The transmitting facsimile receives the DIS / NSF signal from the receiving facsimile from the G3 modem 8 and recognizes the receiving capability and the receiving mode of the receiving facsimile (steps S417 and S41).
8).

The transmitting facsimile is DCS / NSS /
A signal such as TCF is transmitted (step S419), a CFR signal is received from the receiving facsimile, and image data is transmitted with the maximum capacity of both. At this time, information such as a transmission date and a caller number is added. Alternatively, control is performed such that transmission is performed without performing processing such as screen size conversion for mutual communication (step S420). After the image data transmission is completed (step S421), the process returns to the standby state.

The receiving facsimile is DCS / NSS /
After receiving a signal such as TCF (step S409), CF
An R signal is transmitted to start receiving image data (step S410). After receiving the image data (step S
411), the received image data is stored in the image storage system 11
(Step S412), and returns to the standby state. The image storage system 11 stores the transferred image data as a file.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the facsimile apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 shows an example of a case where the image data of the same destination is further transmitted after the transmission of the image data in the transmitting facsimile in the first embodiment of FIG. 4, and the operation after the transmission of the first image data is completed. Will be described.

After the transmission of the first image data is completed in the transmitting facsimile, it is determined whether or not there is a document to be transmitted to the same destination (step S501). If not (step S501 / NO), the process ends and returns to the standby state (step S504). If there is (step S501 / YE
S), the receiving mode of the receiving facsimile is confirmed (step S502), and in the case of the normal printing mode (step S5).
02 / NO), and communicate (step S505). In the case of the accumulation mode (step S502 / YES), the process returns to the standby state without communicating (step S503).

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the facsimile apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention. Also in FIG. 6, the receiving mode of the receiving-side facsimile apparatus is the accumulation mode.

Steps S601 to S603 are the same as in the first embodiment.

When the receiving facsimile receives a notification from the image storage system 11 about the processing capability (including the coding capability, the resolution capability, the recording width capability, etc.) of the received image data that the image storage system 11 has, This capability is stored in the system memory 2 (step S604, step S605).

Hereinafter, steps after step S606 are almost the same as those in the first embodiment, but in step S610,
The receiving capability of the image storage system 11 stored in the system memory 2 is declared instead of the receiving capability of the receiving facsimile main body. The receiving facsimile receives image data with the receiving capability of the image storage system 11.

[0043]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the transmission side is notified not to process the image data to be transmitted, so that the transmission side does not process the image data. When the data is transmitted by the receiver, it becomes easier for the receiving side to handle it as an electronic document.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, on the transmitting side,
Since the image data to be transmitted is not processed, the receiving side can easily handle it as an electronic document.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since information such as the transmission date and time is not added to or inserted into the transmission image data on the transmission side, the reception side can easily handle it as an electronic document.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the image data to be transmitted is not reduced or scaled on the transmission side, it is possible to obtain an electronic document having no image deterioration on the reception side.

According to the fifth aspect of the invention, the receiving side:
When the mode to store the received image data in the image storage system is selected, the transmitting side does not perform communication,
A plurality of documents are not combined and processed as one document, and the receiving side can easily handle it as an electronic document.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, when the image storing means has a receiving capability equal to or higher than the receiving facsimile main body, the image data is received with the receiving capability of the image storing means. An electronic document that utilizes the receiving ability can be obtained.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, for example, when the image storage means has a JBIG encoding function,
Since the IG image can be received, the communication time can be reduced.

According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, for example, when the image storage means has a fine character capability (400 dpi or more), the image can be received with the fine character capability, so that image degradation due to lowering the resolution is prevented. be able to.

According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, for example, when the image storage means has the capability of the A3 recording width, the image can be received in the A3 recording width.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a system schematic diagram of the facsimile apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing exchange of communication protocols of the facsimile apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the facsimile apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the facsimile apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the facsimile apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 System control part 2 System memory 3 Image memory 4 Document reading part 5 Printing part 6 Operation part 7 DCR 8 G3 modem 9 NCU 10 I / O interface 11 Image storage system 21 Transmission facsimile 22 Exchanger 23 Reception facsimile 24 Image storage system

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. An image storage means connected to an image storage means for converting image data into a file and storing the image data in a file, and having a storage mode for transferring received image data to the image storage means for storage. When the accumulation mode is selected, the transmission facsimile apparatus is notified that the image data is transmitted without processing, and the received image data is transferred to the image accumulation means. Facsimile machine. 2. When connected to the image storage means and having the storage mode, and when transmitting image data, a receiving facsimile apparatus notifies the image data to be transmitted without processing. Transmitting the image data without processing, and when receiving the image data, if the accumulation mode is selected, the image data is transmitted to the transmitting facsimile apparatus without processing. 2. A facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said facsimile apparatus transmits the received image data to said image storage means. 3. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing is processing of adding and inserting a character string. 4. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing is reduction and scaling processing. 5. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, when transmitting the image data to the same destination, the receiving facsimile apparatus does not perform the serial communication when the storage mode is selected. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1 or 2. 6. A receiving capacity of the image storage means is stored,
6. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when receiving the image data, when the storage mode is selected, the reception capability is notified to the transmission-side facsimile apparatus as the standard capability. apparatus. 7. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the reception capability of said image storage means includes a coding capability. 8. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the reception capability of said image storage means includes a resolution capability. 9. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the reception capability of said image storage means includes a recording width capability.