JP2002271558A - Image-distributing system, mobile communication terminal to be used therefor, image reader, server, image- distributing method, image-distributing program and computer-readable recording medium recording recorded with the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image distributing system, capable of simultaneously transmitting the text data of a comment or the like on image data to a distributing destination with the relevant image data by using an image reader and a mobile communication terminal. SOLUTION: A digital copy machine 1 reads an original and transmits image data to a portable telephone 2 by means of short-distance communication. When the image data are received, the portable telephone 2 prepares text data by accepting character input, prepares electronic mail data containing the image data, the text data and an electronic mail address by accepting the input of the electronic mail address and transmits the data via a communication network 4 to the mail server of a communication terminal 5.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention uses an image reading device and a mobile communication terminal that can communicate with each other by short-range communication, and distributes image data captured from the image reading device via the mobile communication terminal. The present invention relates to an image transmission system to be transmitted first.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known an image transmission system for transmitting image data taken in by an image reading apparatus such as a digital copying machine to another communication terminal via a mobile communication terminal such as a mobile phone. JP-A-10-65864).
According to such a system, when it is necessary to send a document to a specific partner in a hurry, the user reads the document from a nearby digital copier and communicates with the other party's mobile phone via a mobile phone owned by the user. Image data can be transmitted to a terminal.

[0003] However, in the above system, the communication terminal of the other party suddenly receives the image data, so that there is a problem that the background to which the image data has been transmitted and information about the target of the image data cannot be known. there were. Further, even if the image data is unnecessary for the other party, the image data is automatically received, so that useless communication traffic increases and information overflows. Furthermore, depending on the communication environment of the communication terminal of the other party, there are cases where image data cannot be received due to restrictions on the amount of received data, reception of binary files, and the like, and there is a problem that the above system cannot cope with such a situation.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and has as its object to provide an image reading apparatus and a mobile communication terminal which can communicate with each other by short-range communication. To provide an image distribution system that can transmit text data such as a comment on the image data to the distribution destination simultaneously with the image data.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an image distribution system which enables a distribution destination user to receive only necessary image data after confirming the contents of the image data based on the text data.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an image distribution system capable of distributing image data without being affected by the communication environment of a distribution destination.

[0007]

The above object of the present invention is achieved by the following means.

(1) An image distribution system including an image reading device and a mobile communication terminal that can communicate with each other by short-range communication, wherein the image reading device reads a document and obtains image data. And image data transmitting means for transmitting the image data to the mobile communication terminal by short-range communication, wherein the mobile communication terminal receives the image data by short-range communication from the image reading device. A receiving step, text data creating means for creating text data by accepting character input,
A delivery destination specifying data receiving step of receiving input of data specifying a delivery destination; image delivery data creating means for creating image delivery data including the image data, the text data and the data specifying the delivery destination; Having image distribution data transmission means for transmitting the image distribution data to the distribution destination based on data specifying the destination,
An image distribution system, characterized in that:

(2) An image distribution system comprising an image reading device and a mobile communication terminal capable of communicating with each other by short-range communication, and a server capable of communicating with other communication terminals via a communication network. The image reading apparatus includes: a document reading unit that reads a document to obtain image data; and an image data transmitting unit that transmits the image data to the mobile communication terminal by short-range communication. Image data receiving means for receiving the image data from the image reading device by short-range communication, text data creating means for accepting character input to create text data, and delivery for accepting input of data specifying a delivery destination Destination specifying data receiving means, the image data,
First image distribution data creating means for creating first image distribution data including the text data and data specifying the distribution destination, and first image distribution for transmitting the first image distribution data to the server Data transmission means, the server comprising: first image distribution data receiving means for receiving the first image distribution data from the mobile communication terminal; and the image data included in the first image distribution data. Image data storage means for storing the text data and the data specifying the distribution destination included in the first image distribution data and the second image distribution data including the data specifying the storage location of the image data. A second image delivery data creating unit for creating, and a second image delivery data creating unit for sending the second image delivery data to the delivery destination based on data specifying the delivery destination Image distribution system, wherein an image delivery and a data transmission unit, that the.

(3) An image reading apparatus and a mobile communication terminal that can communicate with each other by short-range communication, and a server that can mutually communicate with another communication terminal via a communication network. First and second servers An image distribution system comprising: an image reading device that reads an original to obtain image data; and an image data transmission that transmits the image data to the mobile communication terminal by short-range communication. Means, the mobile communication terminal comprising: an image data receiving means for receiving the image data from the image reading device by short-range communication; a text data creating means for accepting a character input to create text data; Distribution destination specifying data receiving means for receiving input of data specifying a destination, the image data, the text data, and the distribution destination. First image distribution data creating means for creating first image distribution data including data to be specified;
First image distribution data transmitting means for transmitting the first image distribution data to the first server, wherein the first server receives the first image distribution data from the mobile communication terminal First image distribution data receiving means, image data transfer means for transferring the image data included in the first image distribution data to the second server, and storage of the image data from the second server Storage location specifying data receiving means for receiving data specifying a location, including data specifying the text data and the distribution destination included in the first image distribution data, and data specifying a storage location of the image data A second image delivery data creation unit for creating second image delivery data; and a second image delivery data creation unit that sends the second image delivery data to the delivery destination based on data specifying the delivery destination.
A second image distribution data transmitting unit for transmitting image distribution data of the second server, wherein the second server receives the image data from the first server;
An image distribution system comprising: an image data storage unit that stores the image data; and a storage location specifying data transmission unit that transmits data that specifies a storage location of the image data to the first server.

(4) The image reading apparatus and the image reading apparatus for distributing an image using a mobile communication terminal which can communicate with each other by short-distance communication, wherein the document is read by reading a document to obtain image data. An image reading apparatus comprising: a step; and image data transmitting means for transmitting the image data to the mobile communication terminal by short-range communication.

(5) The mobile communication terminal for distributing an image using an image reading device and a mobile communication terminal that can communicate with each other by short-range communication, wherein the image data is transmitted from the image reading device by short-range communication. Receiving image data, receiving text input and creating text data, receiving destination input data for receiving input of data specifying a destination, receiving the image data, the text data And image distribution data generating means for generating image distribution data including data specifying the distribution destination; and image distribution data transmitting means transmitting the image distribution data to the distribution destination based on the data specifying the distribution destination. , A mobile communication terminal.

(6) For distributing an image using an image reading device and a mobile communication terminal that can communicate with each other by short-range communication, and a server server that can mutually communicate with another communication terminal via a communication network. The server, wherein first image distribution data receiving means for receiving first image distribution data from the mobile communication terminal, and image data storing means for storing image data included in the first image distribution data And second image distribution data generation for generating second image distribution data including text data included in the first image distribution data, data specifying a distribution destination, and data specifying a storage location of the image data. Means, and second image distribution data transmitting means for transmitting the second image distribution data to the distribution destination based on the data specifying the distribution destination, A server comprising:

(7) An image distribution method using an image reading device and a mobile communication terminal that can communicate with each other by short-range communication, wherein the image reading device reads a document and acquires image data; The image reading device transmits the image data to the mobile communication terminal by short-range communication, the mobile communication terminal receives the image data, and the mobile communication terminal receives a character input and receives text data. And the mobile communication terminal accepts input of data specifying a distribution destination, and the mobile communication terminal performs image distribution including the image data, the text data, and the data specifying the distribution destination. Creating data, and the mobile communication terminal transmitting the image distribution data to the distribution destination based on the data specifying the distribution destination An image distribution method comprising: a floor;

(8) A program for controlling the image reading device for distributing an image using an image reading device and a mobile communication terminal that can communicate with each other by short-range communication, wherein the program reads a document and converts image data. Steps to get
Transmitting an image data to the mobile communication terminal by short-distance communication.

(9) A program for controlling the mobile communication terminal for distributing an image using an image reading device and a mobile communication terminal that can communicate with each other by short-range communication, wherein the program is a short-distance communication from the image reading device. A procedure for receiving image data by communication, a procedure for creating text data by accepting a character input, a procedure for accepting input of data for specifying a distribution destination, and specifying the image data, the text data, and the distribution destination A program for causing a mobile communication terminal to execute a procedure of creating image distribution data including data and a step of transmitting the image distribution data to the distribution destination based on the data specifying the distribution destination.

(10) An image reading device and a mobile communication terminal capable of communicating with each other by short-range communication, and a server capable of communicating with other communication terminals via a communication network. A program for controlling the server, comprising: a step of receiving first image distribution data from the mobile communication terminal; a step of storing image data included in the first image distribution data; A step of creating second image distribution data including text data included in the distribution data and data specifying the distribution destination, and data specifying a storage location of the image data; and Transmitting a second image distribution data to a distribution destination by a server.

(11) A computer-readable recording medium storing a program for controlling the image reading device for distributing an image using a mobile communication terminal and an image reading device capable of communicating with each other by short-range communication. A computer-readable program for causing the image reading device to execute a procedure of reading an original to obtain image data and a procedure of transmitting the image data to the mobile communication terminal by short-range communication. Possible recording medium.

(12) A computer-readable recording medium storing a program for controlling the mobile communication terminal for distributing an image using an image reading device and a mobile communication terminal capable of communicating with each other by short-range communication. The program may include a step of receiving image data from the image reading device by short-range communication, a step of receiving character input to create text data, a step of receiving input of data specifying a distribution destination, and Image data, a step of creating image distribution data including the text data and data specifying the distribution destination, and a step of transmitting the image distribution data to the distribution destination based on the data specifying the distribution destination, A computer-readable recording medium to be executed by a mobile communication terminal.

(13) An image reading apparatus and a mobile communication terminal capable of communicating with each other by short-range communication, and a server capable of communicating with other communication terminals via a communication network. A computer-readable recording medium recording a program for controlling the server, wherein the program includes a procedure of receiving first image distribution data from the mobile communication terminal, and the program is included in the first image distribution data. A procedure for storing the image data,
Creating the second image distribution data including the text data included in the first image distribution data and the data specifying the distribution destination and the data specifying the storage location of the image data; and specifying the distribution destination Transmitting a second image distribution data to the distribution destination based on data by a mobile communication terminal.

[0021]

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

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the image distribution system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
The image distribution system according to the present embodiment includes a digital copying machine 1 as an image reading device and a mobile phone 2 as a mobile communication terminal. That is, in the present embodiment, the user A reads a document from the nearest digital copying machine 1 and attaches text data to the image data using the mobile phone 2 owned by the user A to transmit the image distribution data. It creates and distributes an image to a communication terminal 5 owned by a remote user B via the communication network 4.

In the following, the configuration of each of the above-described devices will be described. For portions having the same functions in each of the devices, only the first description will be given to avoid duplication of description, and the description will be omitted for the second and subsequent times. .

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the digital copying machine 1 according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 2, a digital copying machine 1 includes a CPU 11, a ROM 12,
It has an AM 13, an operation panel unit 14, an image reading unit 15, a printing unit 16, and a short-range communication interface 17, and the above units are interconnected by a bus 18 for exchanging signals.

The CPU 11 performs various processes of control and calculation, and the RAM 13 temporarily stores programs and data as a work area. The ROM 12 stores various programs and data, and includes those which can be electrically rewritten. In the present embodiment, the digital copying machine 1 performs a predetermined operation described later, and a program for controlling the operation of the digital copying machine 1 for this purpose is stored in the ROM 12.

The operation panel section 14 includes a touch panel, fixed keys outside the touch panel, display lamps, and the like, and is used for performing various inputs and displays. The image reading unit 15 reads a document set at a predetermined position and captures the image as image data, and the printing unit 16 prints image data according to the setting conditions.

The short-range communication interface 17 is an interface for performing short-range communication with the mobile phone 2. Here, short-range communication refers to short-range communication (the communication range is preferably 100 m or less, more preferably 10 m or less) performed without going through a network, and wireless communication using radio waves or infrared rays and cable And those based on wired communication using a class. In the present embodiment, in particular, Bluetooth (Bluetooth),
Short-range wireless communication according to standards such as IEEE 802.11, HomeRF, and IrDA is preferable.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the mobile phone 2 in the present embodiment. 3, the mobile phone 2 has a CPU 21, a ROM 22, a RAM 23, a display 24, an input key 25, a microphone 26, a speaker 27, a mobile communication interface 28, a short-range communication interface 29, and a bus 30.

In the present embodiment, the mobile phone 2 performs a predetermined operation described later, and a program for controlling the operation of the digital copying machine 1 for this purpose is stored in the ROM 22.

The display 24 performs various displays, the input keys 25 are used for performing various inputs, the microphone 26 is used for inputting voice, and the speaker 27 outputs voice.

The mobile communication interface 28 is an interface for performing mobile communication by connecting to a mobile communication network using radio waves in a predetermined frequency band.

The short-range communication interface 29 is an interface for mutually performing short-range communication with the digital copying machine 1. The short-range communication interface 29 is similar to the short-range communication interface 17 in correspondence with the short-range communication interface 17 of the digital copying machine 1. Things can be used. In the present embodiment, the digital copier 1 and the mobile phone 2 connect the short-range communication interface 1 as a pre-stage of the image distribution procedure.
It is assumed that they can communicate with each other via 7 and 29.

The communication network 4 includes a public network including a data communication network such as a mobile communication network, a telephone network, an ISDN, and a packet switching network, and a computer network such as a LAN, a WAN, and the Internet. In the present embodiment, the mobile phone 2 connects to the nearest base station by wireless communication via the mobile communication interface 28,
Further, the communication terminal 5 is connected to the communication terminal 5 via a public network such as a mobile communication network or a telephone network, or the communication terminal 5 is further connected from the public network via a computer network such as a LAN or the Internet.
Is to be connected to. In the latter case, the communication network 4 also includes various servers required for various communications between the public network and the computer network.

The communication terminal 5 is not particularly limited as long as it can communicate with the mobile phone 2.
In addition to mobile communication terminals such as PHS (registered trademark), PDA, and electronic organizer, and computers such as personal computers, workstations, and servers, multi-functional peripherals (MFPs) such as digital copiers having a communication function, etc. Good.

Next, the procedure of image distribution processing in the image distribution system of the present embodiment will be described in detail below.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the digital copying machine 1 in this embodiment. In FIG. 4, first, the digital copying machine 1 waits until a document reading command is input from the user A (NO in S101). The user A sends a document to be delivered to the user B to the digital copier 1
Is set at a predetermined reading position of the image reading section 15, and the operation panel section 14 is operated to input a document reading command. When receiving an input of a document reading command from user A (YES in S101), digital copying machine 1 reads a document set at a predetermined reading position of document reading unit 15 and captures the document as image data (S102). Then, the acquired image data is transmitted to No. 2 (S103). As described above, communication between the mobile phone 2 and the digital copying machine 1 is performed via the short-range communication interfaces 17 and 29.

In the procedure of S101, instead of the digital copying machine 1 receiving the input of the document reading command from the user A, the mobile phone 2 receives the input of the document reading command from the user A and transmits the received document reading command to the digital copying machine. 1 and the digital copier 1 may start reading a document by receiving the document reading command from the mobile phone 2.

Prior to the document reading procedure in step S102, the document is pre-scanned (provisionally read), and the pre-scanned image data is transmitted to the mobile phone 2 and displayed on the display 13 of the mobile phone 2. The procedure of S102 may be performed after waiting for the second document reading command from the mobile phone 2.

Further, before the procedure of transmitting image data to the mobile phone in step S103, the obtained image data is edited to create display display image data to be displayed on the display 24 of the mobile phone 2, and this is created. It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which the process is transmitted to the mobile phone 2 and displayed on the display 24 of the mobile phone 2, and the procedure of S <b> 103 is performed after receiving a document transmission command from the user from the mobile phone 2. In this case, the digital copying machine 1 acquires information necessary for display from the mobile phone 2 on the display 24, for example, a displayable size, capacity, format, and the like of image data, before performing such a procedure, and based on the information. Thus, the display display image data is created.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the mobile phone 2 in the present embodiment. In FIG. 5, the mobile phone 2 waits until image data is received from the digital copying machine 1 (NO in S201), and receives image data from the digital copying machine 1 (YES in S201). The process waits until data is input (NO in S202). However, in the procedure of receiving image data from the digital copying machine in S201, the received image data may be temporarily stored in the ROM 22 and then read out to perform the next procedure.

The user A operates an input key of the mobile phone 2 to input text data attached to an image to be distributed to the user B, for example, a comment on the image to be distributed. When receiving the input of the text data from the user A (YES in S202), the mobile phone 2 waits until the user A inputs the e-mail address of the distribution destination as data for specifying the distribution destination of the image (N in S203).
O). However, in the procedure of accepting input of text data from the user in S202, the received text data may be temporarily stored in the ROM 22, read out, and the following procedure may be performed. Further, in the procedure of S202, instead of accepting the input of new text data from the user A, a configuration may be adopted in which selection of text data to be attached is selected from text data previously input by the user A and stored in the ROM 22. Good.

The user A operates the input key of the mobile phone 2 to input the e-mail address of the user B. A plurality of distribution destination e-mail addresses can be input.
However, a configuration is adopted in which the distribution destination e-mail address is specified by the user's selection from a list of e-mail addresses stored in the ROM 22 in advance, without newly inputting the distribution destination e-mail address from the user. You may. When the mobile phone 2 receives the input of the e-mail address of the distribution destination from the user A (YES in S203),
E-mail data including the image data, the text data, and the distribution destination e-mail address is created as image distribution data (S204).

Next, the created e-mail data is transferred from the mobile communication interface 28 to the user B via the communication network 4 based on the destination e-mail address.
Is transmitted to the mail server of the communication terminal 5 owned by (S2)
05). TCP / IP, SMTP, POP3, and the like are used as communication protocols for transmitting and receiving electronic mail data. The image data is Base64, BinHe
The data is converted and transmitted by a data conversion method such as x, uuencode or the like, and is restored by the communication terminal 5 of the distribution destination.

In the above-described operation of the mobile phone 2 in the present embodiment, a procedure for receiving image data from a digital copying machine (S101), a procedure for receiving input of text data from a user (S102), and a distribution from a user. Procedure for accepting input of destination e-mail address (S103)
May be processed in any order.

According to this embodiment, the user A can transmit text data such as a comment on the image data to the distribution destination at the same time as the image data. Can be displayed and the comment can be read, and the user can know information about the background to which the image data has been sent and the document to which the image data is to be sent.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the image distribution system according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
The image distribution system according to the present embodiment includes a digital copying machine 1 as an image reading device, a mobile phone 2 as a mobile communication terminal, and a server 6. That is, in the present embodiment, the user A reads the original from the digital copying machine 1 and attaches the text data to the image data using the mobile phone 2 in the same manner as the first embodiment, and An e-mail is created and transmitted to the server 6 via the communication network 4. The server 6 stores the image data and sends a second e-mail containing only text data to the user B.
, And the user B downloads image data from the server 6 using the communication terminal 5.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the server 6 in the present embodiment. The server 6 is a computer, and includes a CPU 61, a ROM 62, a RAM 63, a hard disk 64, a display 65, an input device 66,
It has a network interface 67 and a bus 68.

In the present embodiment, the server 6 performs a predetermined operation described later, and a program for controlling the operation of the server 6 for this purpose is stored in the ROM 62 or the hard disk 6.
4 is stored.

The hard disk 64 stores programs and data, and the input device 66 is used for performing various inputs such as a keyboard and a mouse. The network interface 67 is an interface for connecting to a network and communicating with other devices on the network.

In this embodiment, the server 6
Is transmitted from the network interface 67 to the mobile phone 2 via the computer network of the communication network 4.
The server 6 further has a public network interface when communicating with the mobile phone 2 or the like via a public network such as a telephone network.

Next, the procedure of image distribution processing in the image distribution system of the present embodiment will be described in detail below.

First, the digital copying machine 1 executes a procedure for reading a document (S101 and S102) and a procedure for transmitting image data to a mobile phone (S103), as in the first embodiment (see FIG. 4). ).

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the mobile phone 2 in the present embodiment. In FIG. 8, as in the first embodiment, the mobile phone 2 performs a procedure for receiving image data from a digital copying machine (S201), a procedure for receiving text data input from a user (S202), and an The mail address input receiving procedure (S203) is executed, and first electronic mail data including the obtained image data, text data, and the destination electronic mail address is created as the image distribution data (S206). Next, the created first e-mail data is transmitted to the server 6 via the communication network 4 (S207).

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the operation of the server 6 in this embodiment. In FIG. 9, the server 6 waits until receiving the first electronic mail data from the mobile phone 2 (NO in S301), and
Is received (YE of S301)
S), the image data included in the received first e-mail data is stored in a predetermined directory of the hard disk 64 (S302). However, in the procedure for storing the image data in S302, the image data and the text data or the first electronic mail data itself may be stored instead of the image data alone.

Next, the text data included in the first e-mail data and the destination e-mail address,
As the data for specifying the storage location on the server 6 of the image data stored in the procedure of S302, the storage destination U of the image data
RL and the second e-mail data including the RL (S3)
03). Then, based on the distribution destination e-mail address, the generated second e-mail data is transmitted to the mail server of the communication terminal 5 owned by the user B via the communication network 4 (S304).

User B, which has received the second e-mail data, can know in advance the contents of the image data distributed by the text data contained therein. And
If you wish to obtain the image data, use the URL
A protocol specified by a URL based on
The communication terminal 5 can connect to the server 6 using TP, HTTP, or the like, and can download the image data stored in the server 6.

When the user B connects to the server 6 via the communication terminal 5, authentication may be performed by using a single or a combination of user accounts, IDs, passwords, telephone numbers, and the like. 6 is S3
In the second e-mail data creation procedure of 03, data necessary for these authentications can be included in the second e-mail data. As a result, the user B that has received the second e-mail data can receive the connection authentication using the authentication information and download the image data from the server 6.

In the procedure for storing the image data in S302, if the image data is not downloaded by the user B within a predetermined storage period after storing the image data in the procedure for storing the image data in S302, the stored image data is deleted. In this case, in the procedure of creating the second e-mail data in S303, a notification to that effect may be included in the second e-mail data. In addition, server 6
When the stored image data is downloaded by the user B, an image distribution completion notification may be transmitted to the mobile phone 1 by e-mail.

The image distribution system according to the present embodiment
It is particularly useful when the mail server of the communication terminal 5 of the distribution destination has a limit on the capacity of the received mail, or when the communication terminal 5 is a mobile communication terminal such as a mobile phone, for example, and is in an environment where binary files cannot be received. It is. That is, in the former case, the mobile phone 1 sends the image data of less than the capacity corresponding to the capacity limit of the received mail of the delivery destination mail server to the direct delivery destination in the same manner as in the first embodiment. The electronic mail data may be transmitted to the mail server, and the image data having the capacity or more may be transmitted to the server 6 as described in the present embodiment. Thereby, even when the user A transmits large-capacity image data, the user B
Can know that the image has been delivered from the text data included in the received e-mail, and download the image data from the server 6 using the communication terminal 5 such as a personal computer owned by the user to obtain the image. can do. In addition, in the latter case, the mobile phone 1 transmits the e-mail data to the server 6 as described in the present embodiment, and only to a delivery destination specified in advance or at the time of transmission. In the same manner as in the first embodiment, it is possible to configure a configuration in which electronic mail data is directly transmitted to a destination. As a result, even if the distribution destination is a mobile communication terminal such as a mobile phone, the e-mail including only the text data is transmitted by the above designation, so that the user B receives the e-mail at the mobile communication terminal and distributes the image. Then, the user can know that the image data has been downloaded from the server 6 using another communication terminal to obtain an image.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an image distribution system according to the third embodiment of the present invention. The image distribution system according to the present embodiment includes a digital copying machine 1 as an image reading device, a mobile phone 2 as a mobile communication terminal, a first server 7, and a second server 8. That is, in the present embodiment, the user A
However, in the same manner as in the second embodiment, an original is read from the digital copying machine 1 and text data is attached to image data using the mobile phone 2 to create a first electronic mail. To the first server 7 via the. The first server 7 transfers the image data to the second server 8 and delivers an e-mail including only text data to the user B. The user B transmits the image data from the second server 8 using the communication terminal 5. To download. The first server 7 and the second server 8 are both computers and have the same configuration as the server 6 (see FIG. 7).

Next, the procedure of image distribution processing in the image distribution system of this embodiment will be described in detail below.

First, the digital copying machine 1 executes a procedure of reading a document (S101 and S102) and a procedure of transmitting image data to a mobile phone (S103) in the same manner as in the first embodiment (see FIG. 4). ).

FIG. 11 shows a portable telephone 2 according to the present embodiment.
6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the first embodiment. In FIG.
In the same manner as in the second embodiment, the mobile phone 2 performs a procedure for receiving image data from a digital copying machine (S201) and a procedure for receiving text data input from a user (S20).
2) Execute the procedure of receiving the input of the destination e-mail address from the user (S203) and the procedure of creating the first e-mail data including these (S206), and transfer the created first e-mail data to the communication network. 4 to the first server 7 (S208).

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the operation of the first server 7 in the present embodiment. In FIG. 12, the first server 7 waits until receiving the first electronic mail data from the mobile phone 2 (NO in S401), and receives the first electronic mail data from the mobile phone 2 (S401).
401), the image data included in the received first e-mail data is transmitted to the second
(S402).

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the operation of the second server 8 in this embodiment. In FIG. 13, the second server 7 waits until image data is received from the first server 7 (NO in S501), and receives image data from the first server 7 (YE in S501).
S), the received image data is stored in a predetermined directory of the hard disk 64 (S502). Then, first
Of the storage destination of the image data to the server 7 (S
503).

In FIG. 12, the first server 7
The server waits until the image data storage destination URL is received from the second server 8 (NO in S403), and receives the image data storage destination URL from the second server 8 (YES in S403).
The second e-mail data including the text data included in the first e-mail data, the distribution destination e-mail address, and the received image data storage destination URL is created (S404). Then, the created second e-mail data is distributed to the communication terminal 5 owned by the user B based on the distribution destination e-mail address (S405). The user B that has received the second e-mail data downloads the image data stored in the second server 6 based on the image data storage URL included therein.

The image distribution system according to the present embodiment
This is particularly useful when the mail server that distributes the electronic mail to the communication terminal 5 of the distribution destination has a limited capacity for the received mail. That is, by using the first server 7 as the mail server, the first server 7, which is the mail server of the communication terminal of the distribution destination, receives image data of less than the capacity corresponding to the capacity limit of the received mail. Distributes the received e-mail data to a distribution destination as usual, uploads the image data to the second server 8 for the image data having the capacity or more as described in the present embodiment, and transmits only the text data. E-mail data can be configured to be delivered to the destination, and users A and B
Can transmit and receive image data regardless of the capacity of the image data to be distributed.

In the above-described embodiment, the electronic mail data is used as the image distribution data. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The mobile phone 1, the server 6, or the communication between the server 6 and the communication terminal 5 may be used. Various forms can be adopted according to the communication method and communication protocol to be used. For example, a mobile phone 1, a server 6, or a direct connection between the server 6 and the communication terminal 5 is established to transmit image data or text data using a communication protocol such as TCP / IP, FTP, or HTTP. There may be. In this case, as the data for specifying the distribution destination, the IP address or MAC address of the communication terminal of the distribution destination can be used instead of the electronic mail address of the distribution destination.

Further, in each of the above embodiments, the image distribution system of the present invention uses a digital copying machine as an image reading device,
Although a mobile phone has been described as an example of a mobile communication terminal, the present invention is not limited to this, and the image reading apparatus may be a multifunction apparatus having an image reading function such as a scanner or a facsimile apparatus in addition to a digital copying machine. Functional peripherals (MF
P) or the like. Further, the mobile communication terminal may be a PHS (registered trademark), a PDA having a mobile communication function, an electronic organizer, a notebook computer, or the like, in addition to the mobile phone.

Each means constituting each device and the print processing method in the image distribution system according to the present invention can be realized by a dedicated hardware circuit or by each of the programmed devices. When the present invention is realized by each programmed device, a program for operating each device can be provided by a computer-readable recording medium such as a floppy (registered trademark) disk or a CD-ROM. In this case, the program recorded on the computer-readable recording medium is usually transferred to a ROM or a hard disk and stored.
Further, this program may be provided, for example, as independent application software, or may be incorporated in the software of the device as a function of each device.

[0071]

As described above, according to the image transmission system of the present invention, the transmission source user can transmit text data such as comments on the image data to the distribution destination simultaneously with the image data. The received distribution destination user can display the image on the communication terminal 5 and read the comment, and can know the information on the background to which the image data has been sent and the document to which the image data is to be sent.

Further, according to the image transmission system of the present invention, the distribution destination user can confirm the contents of the image data in advance with the text data and receive only the necessary image data.

Further, according to the image transmission system of the present invention, even if the image data cannot be received due to the restriction on the capacity of the received data or the restriction on the reception of the binary file depending on the communication environment of the communication terminal of the distribution destination, the distribution of The destination user can receive only the text data, and can receive the image data by separately downloading it from the server where the image data is stored.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an image distribution system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the digital copying machine 1 in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration of the mobile phone 2 in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation of the digital copying machine 1 in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation of the mobile phone 2 in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an image distribution system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

7 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a server 6 in FIG.

8 is a flowchart showing an operation of the mobile phone 2 in FIG.

9 is a flowchart showing the operation of the server 6 in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an image distribution system according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

11 is a flowchart showing the operation of the mobile phone 2 in FIG.

12 is a flowchart showing the operation of the first server 7 in FIG.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the operation of the second server 8 in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1. Digital copier, 2. Mobile phone, 4. Communication network, 5. Communication terminal, 6, 7, 8 ... Server.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 5C062 AA05 AA12 AB17 AB38 AC02 AC24 AC34 AE01 AF02 5K067 AA34 BB04 BB21 DD52 DD53 EE02 FF02 GG01 5K101 KK01 LL12 MM05 NN06 NN18 NN22 NN25 TT06 UU16

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. An image delivery system comprising an image reading device and a mobile communication terminal capable of communicating with each other by short-range communication, wherein the image reading device reads a document and acquires image data. And image data transmitting means for transmitting the image data to the mobile communication terminal by short-range communication, wherein the mobile communication terminal receives the image data by short-range communication from the image reading device. Means, text data creation means for accepting character input and creating text data, delivery destination identification data accepting means for accepting input of data for identifying a delivery destination, and identifying the image data, the text data, and the delivery destination Image distribution data generating means for generating image distribution data including data to be transmitted; Image delivery system characterized by, and an image distribution data transmitting means for transmitting the image distribution data in the distribution destination Zui. 2. An image distribution system comprising an image reading device and a mobile communication terminal capable of communicating with each other by short-range communication, and a server capable of communicating with other communication terminals via a communication network. The image reading apparatus includes: document reading means for reading a document to obtain image data; and image data transmitting means for transmitting the image data to the mobile communication terminal by short-range communication. Image data receiving means for receiving the image data from the image reading device by short-distance communication, text data creating means for accepting character input and creating text data, and a delivery destination for receiving input of data for specifying a delivery destination First data distribution including specific data receiving means, and data for specifying the image data, the text data, and the distribution destination First image delivery data creating means for creating data, and first image delivery data sending means for sending the first image delivery data to the server.
A first image distribution data receiving unit that receives the first image distribution data from the mobile communication terminal, and the server is included in the first image distribution data. Image data storage means for storing the image data; second image including data for specifying the text data and the distribution destination included in the first image distribution data and data for specifying a storage location of the image data A second image distribution data generating unit that generates distribution data; and a second image distribution data transmitting unit that transmits the second image distribution data to the distribution destination based on the data specifying the distribution destination. And an image distribution system. 3. An image reading apparatus and a mobile communication terminal that can communicate with each other by short-range communication, and a first server and a second server that can mutually communicate with another communication terminal via a communication network. An image delivery system comprising: an image reading unit that reads an original to obtain image data; and an image data transmission unit that transmits the image data to the mobile communication terminal by short-range communication. The mobile communication terminal comprises: an image data receiving unit for receiving the image data from the image reading device by short-range communication; a text data generating unit for receiving text input to generate text data; and specifying a distribution destination. Destination specifying data receiving means for receiving input of data to be transmitted, and data for specifying the image data, the text data, and the destination. First image distribution data creating means for creating first image distribution data including data, and first image distribution data transmitting means for transmitting the first image distribution data to the first server. The first server includes first image distribution data receiving means for receiving the first image distribution data from the mobile communication terminal, and the second server includes the first image distribution data in the first image distribution data. An image data transfer unit that transfers the image data; a storage location specifying data receiving unit that receives data that specifies a storage location of the image data from the second server; A second image delivery data creating unit for creating second image delivery data including text data, data specifying the delivery destination, and data specifying a storage location of the image data; And a second image distribution data transmitting unit configured to transmit the second image distribution data to the distribution destination based on the data specifying the distribution destination, wherein the second server is configured to be the first server Image data receiving means for receiving the image data from the storage device, image data storing means for storing the image data, and storage location specifying data transmitting means for transmitting data for specifying the storage location of the image data to the first server An image distribution system comprising: 4. An image reading apparatus for distributing an image using an image reading apparatus and a mobile communication terminal that can communicate with each other by short-range communication, wherein a document reading step of reading a document and acquiring image data. And an image data transmitting unit that transmits the image data to the mobile communication terminal by short-range communication. 5. A mobile communication terminal for distributing an image using an image reading device and a mobile communication terminal that can communicate with each other by short-range communication, wherein image data is transmitted from the image reading device by short-range communication. Receiving image data to be received, text data creating means for creating text data by accepting a character input, and a delivery destination specifying data receiving step of receiving input of data for specifying a delivery destination; the image data, the text data, Image distribution data creating means for creating image distribution data including data for specifying the distribution destination, Image distribution data transmitting means for transmitting the image distribution data to the distribution destination based on the data for specifying the distribution destination, A mobile communication terminal comprising: 6. An image reading apparatus and a mobile communication terminal capable of communicating with each other by short-range communication, and a server capable of communicating with another communication terminal via a communication network. A server, a first image distribution data receiving unit that receives first image distribution data from the mobile communication terminal, an image data storage unit that stores image data included in the first image distribution data, A second image distribution data creating unit for creating second image distribution data including text data included in the first image distribution data, data specifying a distribution destination, and data specifying a storage location of the image data; And a second image distribution data transmitting means for transmitting the second image distribution data to the distribution destination based on the data specifying the distribution destination. Server characterized by. 7. An image distribution method using an image reading device and a mobile communication terminal that can communicate with each other by short-range communication, wherein the image reading device reads a document and acquires image data; An image reading device that transmits the image data to the mobile communication terminal by short-range communication, the mobile communication terminal receives the image data, and the mobile communication terminal receives a character input and converts the text data. Creating; and receiving, by the mobile communication terminal, an input of data for specifying a distribution destination; and image distribution data, wherein the mobile communication terminal includes the image data, the text data, and data for specifying the distribution destination. And transmitting the image distribution data to the distribution destination based on the data specifying the distribution destination. And an image distribution method. 8. A program for controlling an image reading device for distributing an image by using an image reading device and a mobile communication terminal that can communicate with each other by short-range communication, wherein a document is read to obtain image data. And a step of transmitting the image data to the mobile communication terminal by short-range communication. 9. A program for controlling the mobile communication terminal for distributing an image using an image reading device and a mobile communication terminal capable of communicating with each other by short-range communication, the program comprising: Receiving image data, generating text data by accepting character input, receiving input of data specifying a distribution destination, and data specifying the image data, the text data, and the distribution destination A program for causing a mobile communication terminal to execute a procedure of creating image distribution data including: and a step of transmitting the image distribution data to the distribution destination based on data specifying the distribution destination. 10. An image reading apparatus and a mobile communication terminal capable of communicating with each other by short-range communication, and a server capable of communicating with another communication terminal via a communication network. A program for controlling a server, comprising: a step of receiving first image distribution data from the mobile communication terminal; a step of storing image data included in the first image distribution data; Creating second image distribution data including text data included in the data and data specifying a distribution destination and data specifying a storage location of the image data; and performing the distribution based on the data specifying the distribution destination. Transmitting a second image distribution data first to a server. 11. A computer-readable recording medium on which a program for controlling an image reading device for distributing an image using a mobile communication terminal and an image reading device capable of communicating with each other by short-range communication is recorded. A computer-readable program that causes an image reading apparatus to execute a procedure of reading an original to obtain image data, and a procedure of transmitting the image data to the mobile communication terminal by short-range communication. Recording medium. 12. A computer-readable recording medium recording a program for controlling the mobile communication terminal for distributing an image by using an image reading device and a mobile communication terminal capable of communicating with each other by short-range communication, A step of receiving image data from the image reading apparatus by short-distance communication, a step of receiving character input to create text data, a step of receiving input of data specifying a distribution destination, and the image Moving the data, the text data and the image distribution data including the data specifying the distribution destination, and moving the image distribution data to the distribution destination based on the data specifying the distribution destination. A computer-readable recording medium to be executed by a communication terminal. 13. An image reading apparatus and a mobile communication terminal capable of communicating with each other by short-range communication, and a server capable of communicating with another communication terminal via a communication network. A computer-readable recording medium recording a program for controlling a server, the program comprising: a procedure for receiving first image distribution data from the mobile communication terminal; and an image included in the first image distribution data. A procedure for storing data; a procedure for creating text data included in the first image distribution data and data for specifying a distribution destination; and a procedure for generating second image distribution data including data for specifying a storage location of the image data. Transmitting the second image distribution data to the distribution destination based on the data specifying the distribution destination; A computer-readable recording medium, characterized in that to execute the.