JP2002359730A - Facsimile terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a facsimile terminal that allows a user to optionally designate a range of image data to be faxed to an opposite party. SOLUTION: An optional value corresponding to a scale attached to a carrier sheet is selected to be a transmission start position or a transmission end position and the user enters at least either of them so as to designate a transmission range of an original.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile apparatus having a function of transmitting image data read from an original by an image reading section to a transmission destination (reception facsimile apparatus).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a facsimile of this type, an image reading section reads image data from a document conveyed by a conveying roller rotated by a document feed motor, and subjects the read image data to redundancy compression encoding processing and modulation processing. Then, the generated facsimile transmission signal is transmitted via a telephone line, transmitted to a destination input by a user, and subjected to demodulation processing and decoding processing of a redundancy compression code for the received facsimile transmission signal. There is known an apparatus that reproduces image data and performs printing on recording paper.

In such a facsimile machine, for example, when a thin and weak original such as an order form or a slip or a folded original is transported by a transport roller or the like, the document may be bent or broken. There was a problem that occurred. Therefore, when scanning and sending originals,
In general, a method has been adopted in which the original is sandwiched between transparent carrier sheets to prevent the original from being bent, and then the image reading unit reads and transmits the image data.

However, even if the document sandwiched between the carrier sheets is small, the entire carrier sheet is regarded as the document and is read and transmitted. Thus, unnecessary communication time and communication cost, and the recording paper used by the facsimile machine of the transmission destination are rolled. In the case of paper, there is a problem that an unnecessary blank portion is generated and is wasted. Further, in the above configuration, there is also a problem that it takes time and effort to transmit only a part of the document after masking the other part. To solve such a problem, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No.
What is described in -37032 gazette is known.
In the facsimile apparatus described in this publication, a carrier sheet is divided into a total of twelve ranges of three rows and four columns, and each range is made to correspond to twelve number keys provided on an input unit, and a range for transmitting a document is provided. When the user presses the number key corresponding to the number, the transmission range is specified.

[0005]

However, in the facsimile apparatus described in the above publication, when a user specifies a transmission range in a manuscript, the specification range is fixed and can be specified only within a limited range. Did not. For this reason, there is a problem in that it is not possible to arbitrarily specify a transmission range, and it is insufficient to transmit only a transmission range.

An object of the present invention is to provide a facsimile apparatus which allows a user to arbitrarily designate a range to be transmitted to a partner.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an input unit for designating a transmission range of a document, an image reading unit for reading image data from the document, and a sub-unit for relatively positioning the image reading unit and the document. In a facsimile apparatus having a moving unit that moves along a scanning direction and a transmission unit that transmits the image data corresponding to a transmission range of the document specified by the input unit to a destination, an arbitrary value may be set in the document. The facsimile apparatus is characterized in that the transmission range is specified by being input from the input means as at least one of the transmission start position and the transmission end position in the sub-scanning direction.

By using such a facsimile apparatus, the user can arbitrarily designate the transmission range of the original by inputting at least one of the arbitrary values as the transmission start position and the transmission end position from the input means. .

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided input means for designating a transmission range in a document, an image reading unit for reading image data from a carrier sheet holding the document, and designation of a transmission range in the document by the input means. A facsimile apparatus having a transmission unit for transmitting the corresponding image data to a transmission destination, wherein an arbitrary value corresponding to a scale attached to the carrier sheet is set at a transmission start position or a transmission end position in the sub-scanning direction of the document. A facsimile apparatus characterized in that the transmission range is specified by inputting at least one of the input means from the input means.

[0010] By using such a facsimile apparatus, the user can arbitrarily specify the transmission range in the original by inputting at least one of the values as the transmission start position or the transmission end position from the input means. Can be. In addition, by enabling input according to the scale attached to the carrier sheet holding the document, the user can visually confirm the position without using a ruler or the like, and can set an arbitrary transmission start position or transmission end position. Can be entered.

[0011] The invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 1 or 2.
In the facsimile apparatus, the image reading unit reads the image data from the document moved by a moving unit, and the moving unit transmits the document when the reading of the image data in the transmission range is completed. A facsimile apparatus characterized in that the document is conveyed at a speed higher than the moving speed at the time of reading a range.

By using such a facsimile apparatus, after reading the image data in the transmission range, the document can be conveyed at a higher moving speed than when reading the image data in the transmission range. The discharge waiting time can be reduced, and the facsimile machine can be used efficiently.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a control block diagram of the facsimile machine. In FIG. 2, C
PU1 (Central Processing Un
It) via the internal bus 11 to the ROM 2 (Read On) in which fixed data such as various control programs are stored.
lyMemory) is connected.

The CPU 1 performs a control process for controlling various parts of the facsimile apparatus based on a control program stored in the ROM 2, thereby realizing the operation of the facsimile apparatus. Also, the internal bus 11
Via the RAM 3, a part of which temporarily stores variable data required for performing various processes, and a part of which serves as a memory for storing numerical values indicating a transmission start position and a transmission end position, which will be described later. Random Access
Memory), an image storage unit 4 for temporarily storing received image data and image data waiting to be transmitted. Further, the motor control circuit 5-1 connected to the internal bus 11 drives the stepping motor 5-2 in accordance with an instruction from the CPU 1, and drives the stepping motor 5-2.
Reference numeral 2 rotates a document transport roller (not shown) at a predetermined speed to transport the document 12 in the sub-scanning direction. CPU1
Is connected to the transmission destination by the communication control unit 15 via the telephone line 16, reads out image data from the RAM 3, and transmits the image data from the communication control unit 15.

The image reading section 6 connected to the internal bus 11 scans the original 12 which is moved in the sub-scanning direction by the stepping motor 5-2.
Each time the step is advanced, reading is performed at a rate of one line to generate a read signal, and various image processing is performed on the read signal to generate image data. Further, an encoding / decoding unit 7 for compressing and encoding the generated image data and decoding the compressed and encoded image data,
An operation input unit 8 for receiving various instruction inputs to the PU 1, a display unit 9 for displaying various information to be notified to the user, and a CPU for detecting the presence or absence of the document 12
A document detection sensor 10 for outputting a signal to the device 1 is connected to the internal bus 11.

Here, a case where a transmission range is specified for a document sandwiched between carrier sheets and a document is transmitted will be described with reference to FIG. The carrier sheet 13 is composed of two transparent sheets, and a scale 14 for designating a transmission range of the document 12 is drawn on the surface of one sheet by a transparent ink that cannot be read by the image reading unit 6. In FIG. 3, a = 0 is set, and the length of the scale is displayed longer every five scales. Then, the user sends the original 1
2 (a piece of paper with "slip") on carrier sheet 1
3, the scale 14 corresponding to the transmission start position a 'and the transmission end position b' is checked.

Next, the operation of the above facsimile machine will be described. FIG. 1 shows A in the present embodiment.
9 is a flowchart illustrating a case where image data is read and transmitted by designating a transmission range of a four-size document 12. First, the original 12 to be transmitted is set on the facsimile machine, and the original detection sensor 10 detects the original 12.
Is detected, the facsimile machine exits the standby state (YES in step s101). If the document 12 is not set on the facsimile machine (N in step s101)
O), the standby state is continued.

Next, it is determined whether the transmission range designating switch has been pressed, and if it has been pressed (Y in step s102).
ES), the operation of the facsimile apparatus is in the transmission range designation mode. If the transmission range designation switch is not pressed,
The normal transmission of reading the image data of the entire document 12 and transmitting all the image data without specifying the transmission range is performed (NO in step s102).

When the facsimile apparatus enters the transmission range designation mode, the CPU 1 stores initial values as a transmission start position a at address 1 of the RAM 3 and a transmission end position b at address 2 of the RAM 3 and performs initial setting (step s103). ,
104). In this embodiment, 0 is stored in the transmission start position a as an initial value, and 29.7, which is the length in the longitudinal direction of A4 size, is stored in the transmission end position b.

Next, the transmission start position a stored as the initial value is read from the address 1 of the RAM 3 and displayed on the display unit 9 (step s105). Similarly, the transmission end position b stored as the initial value is read from address 2 of the RAM 3 and displayed on the display unit 9 (step s106).

A method of arbitrarily designating the transmission range in the document 12 by a user will be described. First, the user inputs a transmission start position a 'or a transmission end position b' of a transmission range to be designated. Transmission start position a by user
As', a new value of 5.2 previously confirmed is input through the operation input unit 8 (YE in step s107).
S) The input transmission start position a 'is overwritten with the initial value of the address 1 in the RAM 3 (step s108), and the transmission start position a' is displayed on the display unit 9 (step s109). Similarly, when a value of 13.7 previously confirmed by the user is newly input by the operation input unit 8 as the transmission end position b ′ (YES in step s110), the input transmission end position b ′ is input. Is overwritten with the initial value of the address 2 in the RAM 3 (step s111) and displayed on the display unit 9 (step s112). If there is no new input at the transmission start position a 'or the transmission end position b' (step s10
7 or s110: NO), the initial values a and b remain displayed, and those values become valid as the transmission start position a 'and the transmission end position b'.

When the user inputs the telephone number of the transmission destination using the operation input unit 8 (step s113), a document reading sequence is started. When the document reading sequence is started, first, the transmission start position a 'is stored in the RAM.
3, the value indicated by the scale 14 is converted into the number of steps and stored in the address 3 of the RAM 3 (step s114). Then, the stepping motor 5-2 is set to 1
The step proceeds (step s115), and the value of the number of steps at address 3 in the RAM 3 is reduced by 1 (step s116).
Next, it is determined whether or not the address 3 of the RAM 3 is 0. If it is not 0, the process returns to the step s115, and the steps s115 to s117 are repeated until the value of the address 3 of the RAM 3 becomes 0.

When the value of the address 3 in the RAM 3 becomes 0 and the document 12 is conveyed until the transmission start position a 'of the document 12 is located at the reading section (YES in step s117), the document stored in the address 2 A value obtained by subtracting the document transmission start position a ′ from the value of the transmission end position b ′ is converted into a step number and stored at address 3 of the RAM 3. (Step s118).

When the carrier sheet 13 is conveyed to the transmission start position a 'and the document reading by the image reading section 6 is started, one line of image data is read (step s119), and the read image data is stored in the image storage section. 4 and the stepping motor 5-2 is advanced by one step to move the document 12 (step s120).
The value of the address is decreased by 1 (step s121). This is RA
Step s until the value stored at address 3 of M3 becomes 0
119 to s121 are repeated. Thus, image data is read from the transmission start position a 'to the transmission end position b', that is, the length of the document 12 specified by the user, and stored in the image storage unit 4. When the value stored in address 3 of RAM 3 becomes 0 (YES in step s122)
Since it has reached the transmission end position b ', the original 12
The reading of the image data from is ended. Next, manuscript 12
Is transported by a document transport roller (not shown) driven by a stepping motor 5-2, and the document 12 is transported at a high speed, for example, twice as fast as the time of document reading, and discharged (step s123).

The read image data is subjected to the above-described compression processing and modulation processing to generate a facsimile signal, and this signal is transmitted to the destination number previously input by the user from the operation input unit 8. It is transmitted via the telephone line 16.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the user visually checks the scale 14 of the carrier sheet 13 and inputs the values as the transmission start position a 'and the transmission end position b' to specify the transmission range. Thus, the transmission range can be arbitrarily specified by a simple method. Also, the transmission end position b '
After reading the image data in the transmission range, the document 12 is conveyed at a higher speed than when reading the image data in the transmission range, so that the user's document discharge waiting time can be reduced, and the facsimile machine can be used efficiently. it can.

The transmission start position a 'and the transmission end position b
The case in which the user inputs an arbitrary value as' in at least one of the cases is when the transmission range starts from the leading end of the document in the sub-scanning direction, or when the transmission range extends to the end in the sub-scanning direction of the document. In the case of, no new input is performed.
In the latter case, the transmission end position b which is the initial value may be used. Further, in the present embodiment, the case where the A4 size is used as the initial value has been described, but this value may be a B5 size or other specific value unique to the user.

In this embodiment, the document 12 is conveyed while being held between the carrier sheet 13 and the transmission start position a ′ and the transmission end position b ′ are input in correspondence with the scale 14 of the carrier sheet 13. It was explained as doing. However, the present invention can be applied to a case where only the original 12 is conveyed without using the carrier sheet 13 and a specified range is transmitted. In that case, the transmission start position a 'of the document 12
Alternatively, the transmission end position b ′ is measured using a ruler or the like, and an arbitrary value is input using the operation input unit 8 to specify a transmission range. As a result, it is possible to specify a portion of the original to be transmitted by a simple method without the user masking the original. Further, as described above, the transmission range is the original 1
2, it is not necessary to input the transmission start position a '. If the transmission range is up to the end of the document in the sub scanning direction, it is necessary to input the transmission end position b'. Absent.

A modification of the embodiment will be described. In the above-described embodiment, a case has been described in which image data in only the transmission range of the document 12 is read by the image reading unit 6 and transmitted. However, the image data of the entire document 12 may be read, and only the transmission range specified by the s user may be transmitted, and the image data of the read portion other than the transmission range in the document 12 may be discarded. . In that case, image data read from the entire document 12 is stored in the image storage unit 4 regardless of the transmission start position a 'and the transmission end position b'. Also, RAM3
Transmission start position a 'and transmission end position b' stored in
Is read and converted to an address corresponding to the image data stored in the image storage unit 4. Thus, a method is conceivable in which the image data from the corresponding specified address in the image storage unit 4 is cut out, and only the image data in the designated transmission range is transmitted. In this embodiment, it is described that only the transmission range designated by the user is read, and after reading the document 12, the document is conveyed at a high speed. However, even if the entire document is read, the data outside the transmission range is discarded. Therefore, when reading the entire document, it is possible to increase the conveyance speed after reading the transmission range. Even if the original is conveyed at high speed and image data of poor quality is read when reading the image data in the portion other than the transmission range, the present invention is not affected.

[0030]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, at least one of the values is set as the transmission start position or the transmission end position by the user through the input means. Can be done arbitrarily,
If the facsimile apparatus on the receiving side has a recording unit of a roll recording paper type, the facsimile apparatus capable of preventing waste of recording paper can be provided.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in order to specify a transmission range of a document sandwiched between carrier sheets,
Since an arbitrary value is set as the transmission start position or the transmission end position, at least one of them is configured to be input by the user from the input means, the transmission range can be arbitrarily specified by the user, and communication time, communication cost, If the facsimile apparatus on the receiving side has a roll recording paper type recording unit, it is possible to provide a facsimile apparatus capable of preventing waste of recording paper. Further, by providing a scale on the carrier sheet sandwiching the document, it is possible to provide a facsimile apparatus in which the user can easily specify the transmission range of the document without using another measuring device or the like.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, after reading the image data in the transmission range of the document, the document is conveyed with the moving speed of the document being set higher than that when reading the image data in the transmission range, so that the user is conveyed. It is possible to provide a facsimile apparatus that can further reduce the document discharge waiting time and that can be used more efficiently.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a reading process and a transmitting process of a facsimile apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a control block diagram of the facsimile apparatus showing the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a view for explaining designation of a transmission range of a document sandwiched between carrier sheets used in the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... CPU 2 ... ROM 3 ... RAM 4 ... Image storage part 5-1 ... Motor control circuit 5-2 ... Stepping motor 6 ... Image reading part 8 ... Operation input unit 12: Original 13: Carrier sheet

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 3F101 LA05 LB02 5B047 AA01 AB02 BA01 BC15 BC30 CA08 CB09 CB16 5C072 AA01 BA02 BA03 BA05 RA04 RA06 XA01 5C076 AA02 BA01 CA10

Claims (3)

[Claims] An input unit for designating a transmission range of a document; an image reading unit for reading image data from the document; a moving unit for relatively moving the image reading unit and the document along a sub-scanning direction; A transmission unit for transmitting the image data corresponding to the transmission range of the document specified by the input means to a transmission destination, wherein an arbitrary value is a transmission start position or a transmission in the sub-scanning direction of the document. A facsimile apparatus wherein the transmission range is specified by inputting at least one of the end positions from the input means. 2. An input means for designating a transmission range in a document, an image reading unit for reading image data from a carrier sheet holding the document, and an input means for designating a transmission range in the document by the input means, and A facsimile apparatus having a transmission unit for transmitting to a transmission destination, wherein an arbitrary value corresponding to a scale attached to the carrier sheet is at least one of a transmission start position and a transmission end position in a sub-scanning direction of the document. A facsimile apparatus wherein the transmission range is designated by inputting from a facsimile apparatus. 3. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said image reading section reads said image data from said original document moved by a moving means, and said moving means reads said image data in said transmission range. A facsimile apparatus wherein when the reading is completed, the original is conveyed at a speed higher than a moving speed at the time of reading the transmission range.