JP2002271536A - Facsimile system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a facsimile system that can properly conduct processing, when there is a small amount of recording material remaining. SOLUTION: A receiver side facsimile equipment in the facsimile system transmits information denoting a state of a toner near end and number of recordable sheets printable by the remaining toner to a transmitter side facsimile equipment when the receiver side facsimile equipment is in the toner near end state and receives a call from the transmitter side facsimile equipment, and when receiving information denoting the toner near end state and number of recordable sheets from the receiver side facsimile equipment, the transmitter side facsimile equipment compares the number of the recordable sheets with number of transmitting originals, and controls whether the original is to be transmitted. Thus, when the fact that the toner of the receiver side facsimile equipment is close to being empty to receive all of transmission originals, it is prevented in advance that the transmission original is sent but that the received image data cannot be printed out properly by the receiver side facsimile equipment, and utilization of the facsimile system can be enhanced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a facsimile system, and more particularly, to a facsimile system that appropriately performs processing when the remaining amount of recording material becomes small.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A facsimile apparatus is required to record and output a received document promptly and with good quality.

In view of the above, there has been proposed a technique for automatically adjusting the toner concentration when a shortage of the remaining amount of toner is detected, thereby enabling long-term output without printing failure (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-122122). Reference).

However, according to this conventional technique, even if the number of printable sheets is increased by suppressing the amount of toner used, if printing becomes impossible, the data is not stored and output in the memory.
Alternatively, there is a problem that even if the sender intends to transmit the original, the transmission of the information is delayed unless the transmitted original is output to the destination even if the sender intends to transmit the original.

[0005] The applicant of the present invention first provides a toner saving processing designating means for designating a toner saving processing at the time of printing output in a printing apparatus which prints out using toner according to dot data. A toner saving processing means for thinning out the dot data and adjusting the amount of toner used in accordance with the toner saving processing designation from the toner saving processing designating means, and a pulse for adjusting a pulse width of a clock for defining the width of the dot data. A width adjustment unit, a toner near-end detection unit that detects a remaining amount of toner and generates a near-end signal when the remaining amount of toner is less than or equal to a predetermined reference value, and a near-end signal output from the toner near-end detection unit. An output switch for switching the input / output of the toner saving processing unit and the output of the pulse width adjusting unit and outputting the output to the recording unit. It has proposed a recording apparatus for and a e unit (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-160445).

That is, in this recording apparatus, even when the toner near end is detected even in the economy mode setting state, the printing dot pulse width is reduced to reduce the printing density, thereby prompting the operator to replace the toner cartridge. I have.

[0007]

However, in such a conventional technique, there is still room for improvement in the processing when the remaining amount of the recording material becomes small.

That is, the recording apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-160445 can reduce the print density and increase the number of recording sheets. In the case of a facsimile apparatus, there is a problem that when toner runs out, received data in an unrecorded state is lost.

Therefore, according to the present invention, image data is transmitted from a transmitting facsimile apparatus to a receiving facsimile apparatus, and the receiving facsimile apparatus uses a predetermined recording material to transfer the received image data to recording paper. When recording and outputting, the receiving facsimile apparatus is in the near-end state when there is an incoming call from the transmitting facsimile apparatus while the near-end detecting means detects that the recording material has reached the predetermined remaining amount, and The number of recordable sheets printable on the remaining recording material is transmitted to the transmitting facsimile apparatus, and when the transmitting facsimile apparatus is notified from the receiving facsimile apparatus that the receiving facsimile apparatus is in the near-end state and the recordable number of sheets is transmitted, the recordable number is transmitted. By comparing the number of sheets and the number of sheets of the transmission original and controlling whether or not to transmit the original, the receiving facsimile apparatus When the recording material is in a state where it is not possible to record all of the transmitted original, the transmitted original is transmitted, and the received image data is recorded and output in a state where the received image data is not stored and output in the memory of the receiving facsimile machine or in a state where the image is faint and unreadable. It is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile system with good usability by preventing such a situation in advance.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, when the transmitting facsimile apparatus stops transmitting the original, the transmitting facsimile apparatus transmits an e-mail to the pre-input mail destination to the effect that the transmitting operation has been stopped. If the user has moved to a place away from the facsimile machine after performing the transmission operation, even if the transmission is stopped, a mail indicating that the transmission has been stopped is transmitted to the mail destination designated by the operator,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile system that allows an operator to know by e-mail that transmission has been stopped and that can further improve usability.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, when the transmission-side facsimile apparatus specifies a saving recording mode for recording a transmission original while saving the recording material, the receiving-side facsimile apparatus records the original in the saving recording mode. When the receiving facsimile apparatus is instructed to record in the saving recording mode, the receiving original is recorded and output in the saving recording mode, so that when the receiving facsimile apparatus is in the near-end state of the recording material, the transmission is performed. It is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile system capable of increasing the number of documents to be recorded, transmitting and recording appropriately, and further improving the usability.

[0012]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a facsimile system in which image data is transmitted from a transmission-side facsimile apparatus to a reception-side facsimile apparatus, and the reception-side facsimile apparatus uses a predetermined recording material. In a facsimile system that records and outputs received image data on recording paper, at least the receiving facsimile device includes a near-end detecting unit that detects that the recording material has reached a predetermined remaining amount, and the near-end detecting unit is in a near-end state. After detecting that there is an incoming call, when there is an incoming call from the transmission side facsimile apparatus, it transmits to the transmission side facsimile apparatus the fact that it is in the near end state and the number of printable sheets that can be printed on the remaining recording material, and the transmission side facsimile apparatus Is
When the near-end state and the recordable number are transmitted from the receiving-side facsimile apparatus, the recordable number is compared with the number of transmitted documents to control whether or not to transmit the document. Thereby, the above object is achieved.

According to the above configuration, the image data is transmitted from the transmission-side facsimile apparatus to the reception-side facsimile apparatus, and the reception-side facsimile apparatus records and outputs the received image data on recording paper using a predetermined recording material. In a state where the receiving facsimile apparatus detects that the recording material has reached the predetermined remaining amount by the near-end detecting means, and there is an incoming call from the transmitting facsimile apparatus, the fact that the receiving facsimile apparatus is in the near-end state and the remaining recording material The number of recordable sheets that can be printed by the transmitting facsimile machine is transmitted to the transmitting facsimile machine, and when the transmitting facsimile machine is notified that the receiving facsimile machine is in the near-end state and the number of recordable sheets is transmitted, the recordable number of sheets and the transmission original are transmitted. The number of sheets of the original is compared to control whether or not the original is to be transmitted. When the entire document cannot be recorded, the transmitted original is transmitted, and the receiving facsimile machine is prevented from storing and outputting the received image data in a state where it is not stored and output in memory or in a state where it cannot be read faintly. And the usability of the facsimile system can be improved.

In this case, for example, as described in claim 2, when the transmission-side facsimile apparatus stops transmitting the original, the transmission-side facsimile apparatus transmits an e-mail indicating that the transmission has been stopped to a pre-input mail destination. It may be.

According to the above configuration, when the transmission-side facsimile apparatus stops transmitting the original, the transmission-side facsimile apparatus transmits a mail to the effect that the transmission has been stopped to the pre-input mail destination. If the user has moved to a place away from the facsimile machine after performing the above, even if the transmission is stopped, a mail indicating that the transmission has been stopped is transmitted to the mail destination specified by the operator, and the transmission is stopped by the operator. Can be understood by e-mail, and the usability of the facsimile system can be further improved.

Also, for example, as set forth in claim 3, the transmitting side facsimile apparatus includes a saving recording mode setting means for designating a saving recording mode for recording the transmission original while saving the recording material. Saving recording mode instructing means for instructing a receiving facsimile apparatus to perform recording in the saving recording mode.If the saving recording mode is set by the saving recording mode setting means, the saving recording mode instructing means The receiving facsimile apparatus instructs recording in the saving recording mode, and the receiving facsimile apparatus, when instructed to record in the saving recording mode, records and outputs a received document in the saving recording mode. Good.

According to the above arrangement, when the facsimile apparatus on the transmitting side designates the saving recording mode for recording the transmission original while saving the recording material, the transmitting facsimile apparatus instructs the facsimile apparatus on the receiving side to record in the saving recording mode. When the receiving facsimile apparatus is instructed to record in the saving recording mode, the receiving document is recorded and output in the saving recording mode. Therefore, when the receiving facsimile apparatus is in the near-end state of the recording material, recording of the transmitting document is performed. By increasing the number of sheets, it is possible to appropriately transmit and record and output, and the usability of the facsimile system can be further improved.

[0018]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the embodiments described below are preferred embodiments of the present invention, and therefore, various technically preferable limitations are added. However, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the following description. The embodiments are not limited to these embodiments unless otherwise specified.

FIGS. 1 to 6 show an embodiment of the facsimile system of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows a facsimile used in a facsimile system to which an embodiment of the facsimile facsimile of the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the device 1.

In FIG. 1, a facsimile machine 1 has a C
PU (Central Processing Unit) 2, operation display unit 3,
Toner remaining amount detecting unit 4, toner remaining amount notifying unit 5, printed sheet number comparing unit 6, mail destination storing unit 7, mail transferring unit 8, saving mode designating unit 9, writing control unit 10, plotter 11, image processing control unit 12, a scanner 13, an image data storage unit 14,
It includes an I / O control unit 15, a sensor & driver 16, a communication control unit 17, an NCU (Network Control Unit) 18, and the like.

The CPU 2 controls each part of the facsimile machine 1 based on a program stored in a ROM (not shown) while using a RAM (not shown) as a work memory, and executes each process as the facsimile machine 1. At the same time, a toner near-end process described later is executed.

The operation display unit 3 includes various operation keys such as a numeric keypad and a start key, and also includes a display (for example, a liquid crystal display). On the display, the content of the command input from the operation keys and various information notified from the facsimile apparatus 1 to the operator, particularly, information indicating that the remaining amount of toner is low and urging replenishment of toner are displayed.

The toner remaining amount detection unit 4 detects the remaining amount of toner based on a change in magnetic permeability, for example, using a magnetic sensor, and outputs the detected remaining toner amount to the CPU 2.

The toner remaining amount notification unit 5 calculates the number of printable sheets based on the remaining toner amount detected by the toner remaining amount detection unit 4 and notifies the facsimile machine 1 on the transmission side of the calculated printable number.

The number-of-printed-sheets comparing unit 6 is a facsimile machine 1
Is the transmission side, the number of printable sheets notified from the facsimile machine 1 on the reception side and the number of transmission originals are compared.
It is determined whether or not all the transmitted documents can be transmitted and printed.

The mail destination storage unit 7 includes a print number comparison unit 6
If it is determined that all the transmission originals cannot be transmitted and printed, the e-mail address to that effect is transmitted, that is, the e-mail destinations of the operator of the facsimile machine 1 that attempted to transmit the transmission originals are set to a plurality of destinations. Remember.

The mail transfer section 8 stores an e-mail to that effect in the mail destination storage section 7 when the printed sheet number comparison section 6 determines that all the transmission originals cannot be transmitted and printed. Send to the mail destination.

The saving mode designating section 9 includes a print number comparing section 6
When it is determined that all the transmitted originals cannot be transmitted and printed, the receiving side prints in saving mode, that is,
A print mode in which toner is conserved, for example, printing with thinned image data is designated.

A plotter 11 is connected to the writing control unit 10. The plotter 11 uses, for example, an electrophotographic recording apparatus. The image is recorded on the recording paper based on the image.

The writing control unit 10 operates under the control of the CPU 2 to perform various image processing, for example, pixel thinning processing and edge extraction for extracting only the edges of the image, as necessary, for the image data passed from the CPU 2. In addition to performing a process to reduce toner consumption by performing a toner saving process and the like, the plotter 11 is controlled so that an image corresponding to image data is recorded on recording paper by the plotter 11.

A scanner 13 is connected to the image processing controller 12. The scanner 13 is, for example, a CCD (Ch).
An image scanner using an arge coupled device is used. The scanner 13 scans an original, reads an image of the original at a predetermined resolution, and outputs the read image data to the image processing controller 12.

The image processing controller 12 operates under the control of the CPU 2 to control the driving of the scanner 13 and to control the operation of the scanner 1.
3 makes the scanner 13 read the image of the original,
Performs various necessary image processing on the read image data and transfers it to the CPU 2.

The image data storage unit 14 is composed of, for example, a large-capacity hard disk device or a RAM, and mainly stores image data. In the image data storage unit 14,
Image data for transmission and received image data are stored,
The data is read out at a predetermined time, and transmission processing, recording processing by the plotter 14, and the like are performed.

The I / O control unit 15 is connected to a sensor & driver 16 which is various external components such as a paper sensor and various drivers, and the I / O control unit 15 is connected to the sensor &
Data and commands are exchanged with the driver 16.
A line L, for example, a general public line, is connected to the NCU 18, and the NCU 18 operates under the control of the communication control unit 17 to perform line control such as an automatic incoming / outgoing call process.

The communication control section 17 is connected to the NCU 18 and controls the NCU 18 and exchanges a facsimile control signal with a facsimile apparatus of the other party to execute a facsimile communication procedure. The communication control unit 17 has a built-in modem (MODEM) and modulates a transmission signal and demodulates a reception signal.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described. In the facsimile system of the present embodiment, when the facsimile apparatus 1 on the receiving side is in a near-end state in which the amount of toner on the plotter 11 is equal to or less than a predetermined amount, the received image data is stored in the image data storage unit 14 and is not recorded and output. Appropriately prevent the data from becoming unreadable due to being recorded or being recorded.

That is, in the facsimile system of the present embodiment, the facsimile apparatus 1 is provided on the transmission side and the reception side. In the transmission side facsimile apparatus 1, a document is set on the scanner 13 and the operation display section 3 When the start key is pressed after an operation required for facsimile transmission such as a transmission destination is performed (step S101), the CPU 2
Starts the transmission process via the communication control unit 17 (step S102), and checks whether the facsimile machine 1 on the receiving side is at the toner near end (step S10).
3).

The facsimile machine 1 checks whether the toner is in the near-end state based on the detection result of the remaining toner amount detecting unit 4 at predetermined time intervals. Under control, the toner remaining amount notifying section 5 calculates the number of printable sheets based on the remaining amount of toner detected by the toner remaining amount detecting section 4, and calculates the calculated printable number, for example, NSF, DIS, or the like. The facsimile machine 1 on the transmission side is notified by placing the data of the printable number of sheets on the transmission side.

In step S103, when the facsimile machine 1 on the receiving side is not in the toner near end state, the CP
U2 performs a normal transmission process (step S104).

In step S103, when the receiving facsimile machine 1 is in the toner near end state,
U2 checks whether or not the toner saving mode is designated (step S105). When the toner saving mode is designated, the saving mode designation unit 9 saves the toner in the facsimile machine 1 on the transmission side via the communication control unit 17. After the designated print mode, for example, printing with the thinned image data is specified (step S106), the printed sheet number comparing unit 6 compares the number of transmitted originals with the printable number transmitted from the receiving facsimile machine 1. Then, it is checked whether or not the number of transmitted documents exceeds the number of printable sheets transmitted (step S107).

If no toner saving mode is specified in step S105, the CPU 2 proceeds to step S1.
In step 07, the number-of-printed-sheets comparing unit 6 compares the number of transmitted originals with the number of printables transmitted from the receiving facsimile machine 1, and determines that the number of transmitted originals exceeds the number of transmitted printables. (Step S10)
7).

In this case, the transmitting facsimile machine 1
When the toner saving mode is designated, the saving mode designation unit 9
Transmits data specifying the image recording mode of the receiving facsimile apparatus 1 to the toner saving mode to the receiving facsimile apparatus 1 via the communication control unit 17.

The number of printable sheets when printing in the toner saving mode is calculated, the number of printable sheets is compared with the number of transmitted originals, and it is checked whether the number of transmitted originals exceeds the number of transmitted printable originals. (Step S107).

If it is determined in step S107 that the number of transmitted documents does not exceed the number of printable sheets transmitted,
U2 determines that all of the transmitted document can be printed,
A normal transmission process is performed (step S104).

If it is determined in step S107 that the number of originals to be transmitted exceeds the number of printable sheets sent,
2 cannot properly print all of the transmitted manuscript,
Even if the image data is transmitted, it is determined that the image data is not recorded and output while the image data is stored in the image data storage unit 14 of the receiving facsimile machine 1 or that the image is blurred due to lack of toner and cannot be read, and is processed as abnormal termination. (Step S10
8) An e-mail to the effect that the mail transfer unit 8 has determined that it is not possible to send and print all the transmitted originals is transmitted to the mail destination input and stored in the mail destination storage unit 7, and the processing is performed. The process ends (step S109).

The facsimile machine 1 on the transmitting side
In step S108, when the process ends abnormally, a report to that effect is recorded and output by the plotter 11, or the fact is displayed on the display of the operation display unit 3, and the operator is notified of the fact.

If it is determined in step S105 that the toner saving mode is specified, the process proceeds to the normal transmission process without comparing the number of transmitted originals with the number of printable pages in the number-of-printed-sheets comparing section 6 (step S105). S104), printing may be performed in the toner saving mode on the receiving side.

As described above, the facsimile system according to the present embodiment transmits image data from the transmission-side facsimile apparatus 1 to the reception-side facsimile apparatus 1 and receives the image data on the recording paper using toner in the reception-side facsimile apparatus 1. When recording and outputting image data, the receiving facsimile machine 1
When the facsimile machine 1 receives an incoming call from the facsimile machine 1 while detecting that the remaining amount of toner has reached a predetermined amount, it transmits a message indicating that the toner is in a near-end state and a recordable number of printable sheets with the remaining toner. When the transmission facsimile apparatus 1 transmits the fact that the receiving facsimile apparatus 1 is in the toner near end state and the recordable number of sheets, the recordable number of sheets and the number of transmitted documents are compared. Thus, whether or not to transmit the original is controlled.

Therefore, when the toner of the receiving facsimile machine 1 is in a state where it is not possible to record all of the transmitted manuscript, the transmitting manuscript is transmitted and the received facsimile machine 1 stores the received image data in the image data storage section 14. It is possible to prevent in advance from being recorded and output in a state where it is not output and is not read in a blurred state, and the usability of the facsimile system can be improved.

Further, in the facsimile system of the present embodiment, when the transmitting facsimile machine 1 stops sending a document, the sending facsimile apparatus 1 sends a mail to the pre-input mail destination to the effect that the sending was stopped.

Therefore, after the operator of the transmission-side facsimile machine 1 performs a transmission operation, the facsimile machine 1
Even if you stop sending when you are moving to a place away from the user, a mail to the effect that the sending was stopped is sent to the mail address specified by the operator, and the operator can know by email that the sending was stopped Thus, the usability of the facsimile system can be further improved.

Further, in the facsimile system according to the present embodiment, when the facsimile apparatus 1 on the transmitting side designates a saving recording mode for recording a transmission original while saving toner, the facsimile apparatus 1 on the receiving side outputs the saving recording mode. When the facsimile machine 1 instructs recording in the saving recording mode, the receiving facsimile apparatus 1 records and outputs the received document in the saving recording mode.

Therefore, when the receiving facsimile machine 1 is in the toner near end state, it is possible to increase the number of recordings of the transmission original so that the transmission can be properly transmitted and recorded, thereby improving the usability of the facsimile system. It can be further improved.

Although the invention made by the inventor has been specifically described based on the preferred embodiments, the invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. It goes without saying that it is possible.

[0055]

According to the facsimile system of the present invention, image data is transmitted from the transmitting facsimile apparatus to the receiving facsimile apparatus, and the receiving facsimile apparatus uses a predetermined recording material to form recording paper. When the receiving facsimile apparatus records and outputs the received image data to the receiving facsimile apparatus, if the receiving end facsimile apparatus receives an incoming call from the transmitting facsimile apparatus while the near-end detecting means detects that the recording material has reached a predetermined remaining amount, the near-end The transmitting facsimile apparatus transmits to the transmitting facsimile apparatus the fact that the apparatus is in a state and the number of recordable sheets that can be printed with the remaining recording material, and the transmitting facsimile apparatus is notified that the receiving facsimile apparatus is in the near-end state and the number of recordable sheets. And compares the recordable number with the number of transmitted originals to control whether or not to transmit the original. When the recording material of the facsimile machine is in a state where it is not possible to record all of the transmitted manuscript, the transmitted manuscript is transmitted, and the received facsimile machine is in a state where the received image data is not stored and output in the memory or is in a state where it cannot be read faintly. Recording and output can be prevented in advance, and the usability of the facsimile system can be improved.

According to the facsimile system according to the second aspect of the present invention, when the transmission-side facsimile apparatus stops transmitting the original, the transmission-side facsimile apparatus transmits a mail indicating that the transmission has been stopped to a pre-input mail destination. If the operator of the facsimile machine has moved to a place away from the facsimile machine after performing the transmission operation, even if the transmission is stopped, a mail indicating that the transmission has been stopped is transmitted to the mail destination designated by the operator. Thus, the operator can be notified by e-mail that the transmission has been stopped, and the usability of the facsimile system can be further improved.

According to the facsimile system of the third aspect of the present invention, when the facsimile apparatus on the transmitting side designates the saving recording mode for recording the transmission original while saving the recording material, the facsimile apparatus on the receiving side saves the recording. When recording in the saving recording mode is instructed, the receiving facsimile apparatus records and outputs the received document in the saving recording mode, so that the receiving facsimile apparatus is in the near-end state of the recording material. In this case, it is possible to increase the number of recorded originals to be transmitted so that the originals can be appropriately transmitted and recorded and output, and the usability of the facsimile system can be further improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram of a facsimile apparatus to which an embodiment of a facsimile system of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating near-end processing by the facsimile machine of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Facsimile apparatus 2 CPU 3 Operation display part 4 Toner remaining amount detection part 5 Toner remaining amount notification part 6 Printed number comparison part 7 Mail destination storage part 8 Mail transfer part 9 Saving mode designation part 10 Writing control part 11 Plotter 12 Image processing Control unit 13 Scanner 14 Image data storage unit 15 I / O control unit 16 Sensor & driver 17 Communication control unit 18 NCU 19 Bus

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A facsimile system for transmitting image data from a transmission-side facsimile apparatus to a reception-side facsimile apparatus and recording and outputting the reception image data on recording paper using a predetermined recording material at the reception-side facsimile apparatus. The receiving-side facsimile apparatus includes a near-end detecting unit that detects that the recording material has reached a predetermined remaining amount, and after detecting that the near-end detecting unit is in a near-end state, an incoming call is received from the transmitting-side facsimile device. When there is, the fact that it is in the near-end state and the number of recordable sheets that can be printed with the remaining recording material are transmitted to the transmitting facsimile device, and the transmitting facsimile device is in the near-end state from the receiving facsimile device and When the recordable number is transmitted, the recordable number and the transmitted original Comparing the facsimile system and controlling whether to transmission of the document. 2. The facsimile system according to claim 1, wherein, when the transmission of the original is stopped, the transmission-side facsimile apparatus transmits a mail indicating that the transmission has been stopped to a mail destination input in advance. 3. The saving facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sending facsimile apparatus includes a saving recording mode setting unit for designating a saving recording mode for saving the recording material while saving the recording material. Saving recording mode instructing means for instructing recording, wherein the saving recording mode is set by the saving recording mode setting means,
The saving facsimile apparatus instructs the receiving facsimile apparatus to perform recording in the saving recording mode, and the receiving facsimile apparatus records the received document in the saving recording mode when the recording in the saving recording mode is instructed. 3. The facsimile system according to claim 1, wherein the facsimile system outputs the data.