JP2003037698A - Internet facsimile terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an Internet facsimile terminal that allows a user to cause no confusion even when both image data with a standard format and image data with high quality are printed out. SOLUTION: The Internet facsimile terminal 1B for having a function of receiving electronic mail including format information of original image data and image data with a standard format from a sender Internet facsimile terminal, returning electronic mail for describing reception capability information of its own device and for requesting the sender Internet facsimile terminal to transmit image data with high quality according to the reception capability information and for receiving the image data with high quality according to the reception capability information from the sender Internet facsimile terminal by means of electronic mail, is characterized in the provision of a means that attaches identification information denoting the standard format to the image data with the standard format and outputs the resulting image data.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an internet facsimile apparatus for transmitting / receiving image data by electronic mail.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an internet facsimile apparatus that transmits and receives image data by electronic mail, the image data used for transmission and reception is encoded in MH (Mo
difiedHuffman), resolution is 200 dpi, recording paper size is standardized to A4 format, and this standardized image data (hereinafter referred to as "standard format image data") is attached to an e-mail and sent / received to perform a single e-mail. A method has been used in which transmission / reception of image data is completed. In this method, even if the Internet facsimile apparatus has a transmission / reception capability of high-quality image data such as a resolution higher than 200 dpi or a recording paper size larger than A4, it is not possible to transmit / receive high-quality image data. It was Therefore, between the Internet facsimile machine on the transmitting side and the Internet facsimile machine on the receiving side, information about the format of image data such as resolution and recording paper size that can be received by the Internet facsimile machine on the receiving side (hereinafter referred to as "reception capability information"). ) Is exchanged, and a reception-capacity exchange type internet facsimile apparatus is proposed which transmits and receives high-quality image data according to the reception ability of the reception-side internet facsimile apparatus.

The operation of transmitting and receiving image data of the reception capability exchange type internet facsimile apparatus will be described below with reference to FIG.
A description will be given based on the sequence diagram shown in FIG. It should be noted that the receiving side exchange type internet facsimile machine on the sending side and the receiving side exchange type internet facsimile machine on the receiving side, which are connected so as to be communicable by electronic mail, respectively, are connected to the transmitting side receiving ability exchange type internet facsimile apparatus and the receiving side exchange receiving ability. Type Internet facsimile machine.

First, the transmission side reception capability exchange side internet facsimile apparatus reads and stores a document as original image data (T61). This original image data has, for example, a resolution of 400 dpi and a recording paper size B.
4. High quality image data as compared with standard format image data having an image data format of encoding system MR.

Next, the transmitting side reception capability exchange type internet facsimile apparatus creates standard format image data from the original image data (T62), and uses this standard format image data together with information regarding the format of the original image data and its own apparatus. Attached to an email that describes a message prompting you to notify
The data is transmitted to the reception side exchange type internet facsimile apparatus (T63).

[0006] On the other hand, the receiving side exchange capability exchange type internet facsimile apparatus which has received the electronic mail transmitted at T63, according to the message, receives the reception ability information of its own apparatus and the high quality image data according to the reception ability information. An e-mail describing a message requesting transmission is returned to the transmitting-side Internet facsimile machine (T64).

Next, the sender's reception capacity exchange type internet facsimile machine which received the e-mail returned at T64 reads the reception capacity information of the reception side capacity exchange type internet facsimile machine described in the e-mail, Optimal high-quality image data is created from the original image data according to the reception capability information (T65), and the high-quality image data is attached to an e-mail and transmitted to the receiving side exchange capability type internet facsimile machine ( T6
6). If the optimum image data is the original image data itself, the original image data will be transmitted.

On the other hand, the receiving side exchange capability exchange type internet facsimile apparatus which received the electronic mail transmitted at T66 prints out the high quality image data attached to the electronic mail (T67).

[0009]

Use of the above-mentioned reception capability exchange type internet facsimile machine has an advantage that high quality image data can be transmitted / received according to the reception ability of the reception side internet facsimile machine. On the other hand, there is a demerit that a plurality of procedures are required to receive high-quality image data and communication time is required. Therefore, it is conceivable to print out the standard format image data received first and check the outline, then print out the high quality image data after receiving the high quality image data. After printing out high-quality image data, documents having completely different image data qualities (resolution, etc.) but the same content are present, which may cause confusion for the user.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an Internet facsimile machine which does not cause confusion for a user even when image data of both standard format image data and high quality image data is printed out. The purpose is to provide a device.

[0011]

In order to achieve the object of the preceding paragraph, an internet facsimile apparatus according to claim 1 receives an electronic mail including format information of original image data and standard format image data from a transmitting side internet facsimile apparatus. , After replying an e-mail requesting high-quality image data describing reception capability information of its own device, receives high-quality image data corresponding to the reception capability information by e-mail from the sending side Internet facsimile device In an Internet facsimile machine equipped with a function, when an e-mail requesting high-quality image data describing the reception capability information of the own device is returned, the standard format image data is provided with identification information indicating that it is in the standard format. Characterized by having means for adding and outputting There is.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the internet facsimile apparatus receives an electronic mail including the format information of the original image data and the standard format image data from the transmitting side internet facsimile apparatus, and describes the reception capability information of its own device with high quality. In an internet facsimile apparatus having a function of receiving high-quality image data according to the reception capability information by e-mail from a sending side internet facsimile apparatus after returning an e-mail requesting image data, It is characterized by comprising a simple printing means for simply outputting standard format image data when an e-mail requesting high quality image data describing reception capability information is returned.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the internet facsimile apparatus receives an electronic mail including the format information of the original image data and the standard format image data from the transmitting side internet facsimile apparatus, and describes the reception capability information of its own apparatus with high quality. In the internet facsimile machine having a function of receiving high-quality image data according to the reception capability information from the transmitting side internet facsimile machine by e-mail after returning an email requesting the image data, the reception capability information When high-quality image data according to is received, it is characterized by including means for outputting the high-quality image data by adding identification information indicating that the image data is high-quality image data.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the internet facsimile apparatus according to the third aspect, the identification information indicating that the image data is of high quality is of high quality together with the previously received standard format image data. The feature is that it correlates image data.

[0015]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings showing the embodiments thereof. The Internet facsimile machine on the side of receiving image data by electronic mail is called the receiving side Internet facsimile machine, and the Internet facsimile machine on the side of transmitting image data is called the transmitting side internet facsimile machine.

The receiving side internet facsimile apparatus and the transmitting side internet facsimile apparatus have the same hardware configuration. That is, as shown in the block diagram of FIG. 1, the receiving side internet facsimile apparatus 1B and the transmitting side internet facsimile apparatus 1A have a CPU (central processing unit) 2, a RAM (random access memory) 3, and a ROM (read only memory) 4 respectively. , Codec 5, modem 6, NCU (network control unit) 7, reading unit 8, recording unit 9,
An operation unit 10, a display unit 11, a LAN I / F (local area network interface) 12, and the like are provided. The respective devices are communicatively connected by a bus 13.

The CPU 2 controls each device constituting the Internet facsimile machines 1A and 1B based on the control program stored in the ROM 4.

The RAM 3 stores temporary data required by the control program at the time of execution, standard format image data, higher quality image data, facsimile number data, electronic mail address, and settings referred to at the time of control. It functions as a storage device that stores various settings such as a table.

The ROM 4 stores a control program for controlling the Internet facsimile machines 1A and 1B, such as a facsimile transmission / reception procedure, an electronic mail transmission / reception procedure, and a control procedure for simple printing described later.

The codec 5 uses the MH (Modified Huffman) and MR (Modi
fied Read), MMR (Modified Modified Read), or the like, or a decoding process for decoding image data received by facsimile reception or electronic mail.

The modem 6 is, for example, recommended by the ITU-T (International Telecommunication Union Telecommunication Standardization Subcommittee) Recommendation V.26. Modulation and demodulation of communication data according to the 34 standard or the like.

The NCU 7 is a line network control device for connecting and disconnecting a line with the PSTN (public switched telephone network) 14.

The reading unit 8 includes a CCD (Charge Coupled).
The density of the original is read by an image sensor such as a device), and image data converted into black and white binary is output.

The recording unit 9 is of an electrophotographic type or an inkjet type, for example, and prints out image data on recording paper. For example, the image data of the original read by the reading unit 8, the image data received by facsimile, the image data attached to the received electronic mail, and the like are printed out on a recording sheet according to the instruction of the CPU 2. Further, the recording section 9 can also print out on both the front and back sides of the recording paper so as to be used at the time of simple printing described later.

The operation unit 10 includes, for example, a numeric keypad 10a for inputting a facsimile number and the like, a shortening key 10b for transmitting from a shortened number, a start key 10c for starting a document reading operation, and the like. Various operations are performed by the operation unit 10.

The display unit 11 is a display device such as an LCD (liquid crystal display device) or a CRT display, and displays image data received by facsimile or image data received by electronic mail, or displays a guide message during operation. I do.

The LAN I / F 12 is an I for connection with LANs (local area networks) 15A and 15B.
/ F, and Internet facsimile machines 1A, 1
B and the LANs 15A and 15B are communicably connected. The Internet facsimile machines 1A and 1B send and receive e-mails through this I / F.

The Internet facsimile machine 1
A and 1B have a function of transmitting and receiving the image data of the original by facsimile by the G3 method and the like, and TCP / IP (Transmission Contr
ol Protocol / Internet Protocol) and has an internet facsimile function to send and receive image data by sending and receiving e-mail with image data attached. The electronic mail is, for example, MIME (Multipur
pose Internet Mail Extensions) format e-mail, the image data is encoded in base64 and attached.

Next, the operation of the Internet facsimile machines 1A and 1B will be described in the operation in the network environment A shown in FIG. 2, for example. That is, the receiving side internet facsimile apparatus 1B is connected to the LAN 1
5B, mail server 16B, client PC
17B and a router 18B so that they can communicate with each other.
The mail server 16A, the client PC 17A, and the router 18A are communicably connected to each other through the AN 15A. LAN15A and LAN15B are routers 18
It is communicably connected to the Internet 19 via A and 18B. As a result, the receiving-side Internet facsimile machine 1B causes the mail servers 16A, 16
The electronic mail transmitted by the transmitting-side Internet facsimile machine 1A can be received through B, the Internet 19, etc., and the image data can be transmitted and received by the image data attached to the electronic mail. In addition, the Internet facsimile machine 1B on the receiving side uses the PSTN 14
Image data can be transmitted by facsimile to the G3 facsimile 20 through the. Further, the image data received by facsimile can be printed out by the Internet facsimile machine 1B on the receiving side or distributed to the client PC 17B through the LAN 15B.

Next, the sequence diagram shown in FIG. 3 for the communication procedure of the image data by the electronic mail between the Internet facsimile machines 1A and 1B in the network environment A "simple mode""delivery confirmation mode""reception capability exchange mode" Also, description will be made based on the description example of the electronic mail shown in FIGS. 4 to 9.

First, in the simple mode shown in FIG. 3A, an electronic mail as shown in FIG. 4, for example, is transmitted from the transmitting-side Internet facsimile machine 1A (T1), and the receiving-side Internet facsimile machine 1B transmits the electronic mail. To end the transmission / reception operation. The email is MIM
It is an E-format e-mail, and is composed of e-mail header information 21 including the destination of the destination device and attached image data 22. The image data is standard format image data, and will be printed out by the receiving-side Internet facsimile machine 1B.

Next, in the delivery confirmation mode shown in FIG. 3 (b), the sending side Internet facsimile machine 1A sends back an e-mail as a reply to confirm the delivery as shown in FIG. "Email")
To the e-mail describing the message 23 (hereinafter referred to as “delivery confirmation request message”) requesting that the
A mail with the standard format image data 22 attached is created and transmitted to the receiving side Internet facsimile machine (T2). In the example of FIG. 5, the delivery confirmation request message 2
3 is a part of the Internet facsimile machine 1A on the sending side that returns a delivery confirmation email with the description "Sender@terminalA.ifax" and a portion indicating that the delivery confirmation email with the description "Disposition-Notification-To:" is requested. It consists of a destination.

On the other hand, the Internet facsimile machine 1B on the receiving side, which has received the electronic mail transmitted at T2, performs processing such as printing out the attached standard format image data, and confirms the delivery based on the delivery confirmation request message 23. A mail is generated and returned to the sending side Internet facsimile machine 1A (T3).

Next, according to the reception capacity exchange mode shown in FIG.
A generates standard format image data from the original image data, and transmits high quality image data when a predetermined request and reception capability information are notified from the other party device as shown in FIG. 6, for example. Message 24 indicating that
The standard format image data 22 is attached to an e-mail describing the format information 25 of the original image data, the format information 26 of the standard format image data, etc., and transmitted to the receiving side Internet facsimile apparatus 1B (T4).

On the other hand, the receiving-side Internet facsimile machine 1B which has received this e-mail receives the message 27 requesting the sending of high-quality image data, the receiving capability information 28 of its own device, and the receiving capability information 28 as shown in FIG. An e-mail describing an explanation message 29 for explaining the role of the e-mail is created and returned to the sending side Internet facsimile machine 1A (T5).

On the other hand, the sending side internet facsimile apparatus 1A which has received the T5 e-mail follows the message 27 requesting the high quality image data, for example, as shown in FIG.
In the electronic mail including the delivery confirmation request message 23A as shown in FIG.
The optimum high-quality image data corresponding to the reception capability information is generated from the original image data, attached, and transmitted to the receiving-side Internet facsimile machine 1B (T6). In addition,
When the optimum high-quality image data corresponding to the reception capability information is the original image data itself, the original image data is attached and transmitted.

Finally, the receiving side internet facsimile apparatus 1B which received the mail transmitted at T6 creates a delivery confirmation mail according to the delivery confirmation request message 23A, and the sending side internet facsimile apparatus 1
It is transmitted to A (T7). The delivery confirmation mail includes, for example, as shown in FIG. 9, an explanation message 29A for explaining the role of this electronic mail, a message 30 for indicating that the electronic mail has been delivered, and the like.

Next, the operation of the receiving-side Internet facsimile machine 1B in the reception capacity exchange mode at the time of receiving an electronic mail will be described based on the flowchart shown in FIG. The operation described based on this flowchart is performed in the receiving side internet facsimile apparatus 1B in accordance with a control command issued by the CPU 2 based on a control program stored in the ROM 4. The control command includes a control command that the CPU 2 reads and issues an instruction by the operator's operation of the operation unit, a control command that reads and issues an instruction preset in the RAM 3 and the like.

First, the Internet facsimile machine 1B on the receiving side which receives the electronic mail (S1) analyzes the contents of the electronic mail, and when the electronic mail is an electronic mail to be used for the Internet facsimile, the standard format image data. It is judged whether or not it is the electronic mail in T4 in the reception capability exchange mode attached with the above (S).
2). For example, when the received electronic mail is the electronic mail shown in FIG. 6, it is determined whether or not the format information 25 of the original image data is described, and the reception capability information of the own device. Is to determine whether or not a message 24 indicating that high-quality image data corresponding to the reception capability information is transmitted is described.

If the answer is NO in S2, it is then determined whether or not the e-mail has high quality image data attached in T6 in the reception capability exchange mode (S5). S
For example, if the received e-mail has high-quality image data attached as shown in FIG. 8, the message ID of the e-mail received before the processing step of S5 is determined.
Is to determine whether or not the same ID as is described as the original message ID 31. For example,
When the e-mail as shown in FIG. 6 is received before the processing step in S5, the message ID 32 and the original message ID 31 are the same ID "199509200019.1".
Since it has "2345@terminalA.ifax", it is determined that the electronic mail in FIG. 8 is the electronic mail in T6 in the reception capacity exchange mode.

If it is determined in S5 that the communication is not in the receiving capability exchange mode, the detailed processing will not be described, but other predetermined processing at the time of receiving other mail is performed (S7). This is, for example, a process such as printing out the standard format image data in the case of receiving an e-mail in the simple mode or the delivery confirmation mode, and displaying it in the display unit 11 in the case of receiving an error mail. This is a process defined by the control program, such as performing error processing such as.

On the other hand, if it is determined in S2 that the e-mail is in T4 in the reception capacity exchange mode, the Internet facsimile machine 1B on the reception side e-mails requesting high quality image data by the communication procedure T5 in the reception capacity exchange mode. Is transmitted to the transmitting-side Internet facsimile apparatus 1A (S3), based on the instruction from the user's operation unit or the result of referring to the setting table T described later, the standard format image data is subjected to simple printing or identification information described later. It is selected whether to perform the attached printing or print out in the same format and execute (S4).

On the other hand, when it is determined in S5 that the electronic mail has the high quality image data attached, the electronic mail is attached based on the instruction from the operation unit of the user or the result of referring to the setting table T described later. Whether or not the high quality image data is printed with identification information or is printed out in the same format is selected and executed (S6).

Next, the above-mentioned simple printing will be described. The simple printing indicates that the image data is printed out on the recording paper in order to easily confirm the image data such as “double-sided printing” and “Nin1 printing”.

The "double-sided printing" is a printing method in which image data is printed out on both the front surface and the back surface of the recording paper, and when the image data is spread over a plurality of pages, it is standard on both sides of the recording paper. Formatted image data will be printed out.

The "Nin1 print" is, for example, as shown in FIGS. 11 (a) and 11 (b), image data over a plurality of pages is reduced, and a plurality of image data is printed on one recording paper 33. Is a printing method for printing out. At this time, the number of image data to be printed out on one sheet of recording paper is specified by a user's operation unit or a RAM in advance.
3 is based on the settings stored in No. 3, and the number of image data to be printed out on one recording sheet can be changed by changing these instructions and settings. Figure 1
1A shows an example in which image data 34 created by reducing standard format image data on one sheet of recording paper 33 is printed for two pages, and FIG. 11B shows standard format on one sheet of recording paper 33. Image data 34A created by reducing the image data
In this example, four pages are printed.

Next, the above-mentioned printing with identification information will be described. Printing with identification information means T in the capacity exchange mode.
Information indicating that the standard format image data attached to the e-mail received in step 4 is printed out (hereinafter referred to as "identification information indicating the standard format"), or received in T6 in the capability exchange mode. Information indicating that high-quality image data attached to the e-mail is printed out (hereinafter referred to as “identification information indicating high-quality image data”) is displayed, for example, on the cover page (cover). It is a printing method in which it is added to and printed out, or is added as a header or footer to the upper or lower part of the recording paper and printed out.

FIGS. 12 (a) to 12 (c) are diagrams showing examples of the above-mentioned printing with identification information, respectively, the identification information 35A indicating the standard format or the identification indicating high quality image data. When the information 35B is printed on the cover page with the cover page added (Fig. 1
2 (a)), when added as a header above the recording paper and printed out (FIG. 12B), when added as a footer below the recording paper and printed out (FIG. 12).
It is an example of (c)).

As the identification information 35A indicating the standard format, for example, an electronic mail received by the user at T4 such as "Requesting high-quality image data" or "Temporary image data". A message that can identify that the recording paper is a printout of the standard format image data attached to is used.

Similarly, as the identification information 35B indicating the high quality image data, the high quality image data attached to the e-mail received by the user at T6 such as "Re-received high quality image data." A message is used that can identify that the recording paper is a printout of image data.

Further, as the identification information 35A indicating the standard format, the destination information such as an electronic mail address and the information for confirming the electronic mail such as the reception time and the transmission time are printed in high quality. In the identification information 35B indicating that the image data is the image data, the information for confirming the above-mentioned email is explicitly shown to correlate both emails to clarify the correspondence relation, and the standard in the reception capability exchange mode. It is also possible to indicate that the format image data is high quality image data. This is, for example, as the identification information 35A indicating that it is in the standard format, "This document is 23:00 from ABC Trading.
It is a temporary version of the manuscript received by. Identification information 35 indicating that the image data is of high quality.
This is equivalent to using a message such as "This manuscript is a high-quality manuscript corresponding to the tentative manuscript received from ABC Trading at 23:00."

Note that these messages are messages prepared in advance in the receiving side Internet facsimile machine 1B and stored in the ROM 4 or messages registered in the RAM 3 by the user in advance, and selected by the CPU 2 based on the user's settings. It is what you use.

In the processing step of S4, the selection of the printing method such as the simple printing or the printing with the identification information can be designated by the user from the operation unit at the time of printout. For example, as shown in FIG. It is possible to store the setting table T in the RAM 3 and refer to the setting table T during the processing of S4 to select the corresponding printing method. The setting table T will be specifically described below.

According to the setting table T, the default setting 36 for designating the default operation of the Internet facsimile machine 1B on the receiving side and the individual setting 3 for individually designating the operation according to the destination of the received electronic mail, the reception time, etc.
The printing method can be selected and designated by 7.

More specifically, the printing method setting of the default setting 36 of the receiving side Internet facsimile machine 1B is "cover page", and the individual setting 37
If it does not correspond to each item, it indicates that, in the processing step of S4, the identification information 35A indicating the standard format is added to the cover page and the identification information-attached print to be printed out is selected and executed.

On the other hand, the individual setting 37 allows the printing method to be designated for each item of the sender address 38, sender domain name 39, period designation 40, and communication setting 41. In the sender address 38, "SenderA @ termina
The printing method is set for the two sender addresses "lB.ifax" and "SenderB@abc.com". In the processing step of S4, the standard format image data attached to the e-mail with these addresses is Each "N
“In1 print” and “double-sided print” are selected and executed.

Similarly, the standard format image data attached to the electronic mail having "jp" in the sender domain name 39 will be printed out by adding the identification information 35A indicating the standard format to the header. ,
If it has "xyz.com", the identification information 35A indicating the standard format is added to the footer for printing.

Further, the printing method can be selected according to the reception time of the electronic mail by the period designation 40, and the setting table T is "23: 00-8: 00 everyday", so from 23:00 to 8: In the case of an electronic mail received during 00, the identification information 35A indicating the standard format is added to the footer and printed out.

Further, as the communication-specific setting 41, the printing method for the next reception can be designated. In the setting table T, it is "normal",
This is not simple printing or printing with identification information, but specifies that image data is printed out in the standard format.

Note that each item of the individual setting 37 is provided with a priority order, and when the settings are duplicated, the printing method is selected based on this priority order. In the case of this setting table T, it is stipulated that the one written in the upper side has a higher priority, and for example, the time “23: 1
When an email from the "jp" domain is received in "5", the setting of the sender domain name "jp" is given priority,
Identification information 35A indicating the standard format is added to the header and printed out.

Similarly, in the processing step S6 for high-quality image data, a similar setting table is set beforehand in the RA.
It is stored in M4 and the printing method is selected based on this setting.

Even if the setting table is shared by replacing the simple printing item with another preset printing method instead of separately preparing a setting table for high quality image data. good.

[0063]

Since the Internet facsimile machine according to the first aspect can output the image data by adding the identification information indicating that the image data is in the standard format, it is the standard format image data in the reception capability exchange mode. Can be clearly understood,
It is convenient for users.

Since the Internet facsimile apparatus according to the second aspect can simply print the standard format image data, the contents of the received image data can be simply confirmed without waiting for the reception of the high quality image data. It is possible and convenient for users. In addition, the possibility that standard format image data and high quality image data are confused can be avoided and is effective.

Since the Internet facsimile apparatus according to the third aspect can output the high-quality image data with the identification information indicating that it is the high-quality image data, the standard-format image in the reception capability exchange mode can be output. Confusion between data and high-quality image data can be avoided, and confusion of users can be avoided, which is effective.

Since the Internet facsimile machine according to the fourth aspect can correlate the standard format image data that was previously received with the identification information indicating that the image data is high quality image data and the high quality image data. The user can easily confirm the correspondence between the standard format image data and the high quality image data in the reception capacity exchange mode, which is convenient for the user.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a specific configuration of an Internet facsimile machine (sender and receiver) according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a network environment in which Internet facsimile apparatuses (sending side and receiving side) according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention are installed.

FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram showing an electronic mail communication procedure between a transmitting-side Internet facsimile apparatus and a receiving-side Internet facsimile apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a description example of an electronic mail used in the simple mode.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a description example of an electronic mail used in the delivery confirmation mode.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a description example of an e-mail used in the reception capability exchange mode, which includes a message indicating that original image data is to be transmitted when there is a predetermined request.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a description example of an e-mail used in the reception capacity exchange mode, which includes a message requesting original image data and reception capacity information of the own apparatus.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a description example of an electronic mail including original image data, which is used in the reception capability exchange mode.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a description example of a delivery confirmation mail used in the reception capability exchange mode.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of the (reception side) Internet facsimile machine at the time of receiving an electronic mail in the reception capacity exchange mode.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a printing example in Nin1 printing.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a printing example in printing with identification information.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a description example of a table for setting a printing method.

FIG. 14 is a sequence diagram showing an operation of a conventional (sending side and receiving side) reception capability exchange type internet facsimile apparatus during image data transmission / reception.

[Explanation of symbols]

1A (Sender) Internet facsimile machine 1B (Reception side) Internet facsimile machine 2 CPU 3 RAM 4 ROM 22 Standard format image data 22A High quality image data 26 Format information of original image data 28 Reception capability information Identification information indicating the 35A standard format 35B Identification information indicating high-quality image data

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F-term (reference) 5C062 AA02 AA14 AA29 AA30 AA35                       AB20 AB22 AB38 AB44 AC08                       AC24 AE02 AF14 BD00                 5C075 AB90 CA04 CA90 CD05 CF01                       FF03                 5C076 AA14 AA16

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An e-mail requesting high-quality image data describing the receiving capability information of its own device, by receiving an e-mail containing format information of original image data and standard format image data from a sending side internet facsimile device. After replying, in the Internet facsimile machine equipped with the function of receiving high quality image data according to the receiving capacity information from the transmitting side Internet facsimile machine by e-mail, the high quality describing the receiving capacity information of the own apparatus. An internet facsimile apparatus, characterized in that, when an e-mail requesting such image data is returned, a means for adding the identification information indicating the standard format to the standard format image data and outputting it is provided. 2. An e-mail requesting high-quality image data in which the receiving capability information of the device itself is described is received by receiving an e-mail containing the format information of the original image data and the standard format image data from the sending side internet facsimile device. After replying, in the Internet facsimile machine equipped with the function of receiving high quality image data according to the receiving capacity information from the transmitting side Internet facsimile machine by e-mail, the high quality describing the receiving capacity information of the own apparatus. An internet facsimile apparatus comprising a simple printing unit for simply outputting standard format image data when an e-mail requesting such image data is returned. 3. An e-mail requesting high-quality image data, which contains the format information of the original image data and the standard format image data, is received from the sending side Internet facsimile machine and the receiving capability information of the own device is described. After replying, in the internet facsimile apparatus having a function of receiving the high quality image data corresponding to the receiving capability information from the transmitting side internet facsimile apparatus by e-mail, the high quality image data corresponding to the receiving capability information. An internet facsimile apparatus comprising means for adding identification information indicating that the image data is of high quality to the image data of high quality and outputting the received image data. 4. The internet facsimile apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the identification information indicating that the image data is of high quality correlates the previously received standard format image data with high quality image data. An internet facsimile machine characterized in that