JP2003069776A - Internet facsimile equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide Internet facsimile equipment, in which the management load on the equipment can be reduced by reducing deletion and correction of receiving ability information when the receiving ability of destination equipment is changed by changing the destination equipment and so on, in the Internet facsimile equipment provided with an ability exchange function and a function for storing the receiving ability information of the destination equipment in relation to destination information. SOLUTION: This Internet facsimile equipment is provided with a means for storing the receiving ability information of the destination equipment, a means for generating and transmitting picture data on the basis of the receiving ability information and a means for deleting or updating the relevant stored receiving ability information on the basis of the description of error mail reporting the disability of receiving processing with the format of the picture data when such error mail is received from receiving side Internet facsimile equipment which becomes the transmitting destination of these picture 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 and receiving image data by electronic mail, and particularly to transmitting image data in a format suitable for receiving capability information of a receiving side device to the receiving side device. The present invention relates to an internet facsimile machine having a function for

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general Internet facsimile communication, the format of image data transmitted and received between Internet facsimile apparatuses is standardized (for example,
Since the recording paper size is A4, the encoding method is MH (Modified Huffman) method, and the resolution is standardized to 200 dpi image data), the sending side Internet facsimile machine can grasp the receiving capability information of the receiving side Internet facsimile machine. It is possible to send or receive without problems even if it is not.

In recent years, in order to send and receive image data of higher quality than image data in a standardized format (hereinafter referred to as "standard format"), information regarding the receiving ability of the receiving-side Internet facsimile apparatus (hereinafter referred to as "reception ability"). Information)), the information such as printable recording paper size, receivable resolution, and decodable coding method is acquired by a predetermined method, and then the optimum format for the receiving capability of the Internet facsimile machine on the receiving side is obtained. Internet facsimile communication for transmitting image data has been proposed.

According to the communication procedure of the Internet facsimile communication, first, in the transmitting-side Internet facsimile apparatus, original image data having a high resolution is directly generated and held from a document or the like read from the reading unit. Next, an e-mail in which information regarding the generated original image data and a message for notifying the receiving ability is described is generated, and the image data in the standard format generated by converting the format of the original image data is attached and transmitted. To do. On the other hand, the receiving side Internet facsimile machine generates an e-mail in which the receiving capability information of the own apparatus and a message to send higher quality image data are described in accordance with the message and returns it to the transmitting side Internet facsimile machine. To do. Finally, the sending side Internet facsimile machine that has received this e-mail generates image data in a format most suitable for the receiving capacity of the receiving side Internet facsimile machine based on the receiving capacity information and sends it to the receiving side Internet facsimile machine.

The above-mentioned Internet facsimile communication is
As is clear from the above description, compared to general Internet facsimile transmission, a communication step is added to acquire the receiving capability of the receiving-side Internet facsimile machine before sending the original, and the transmission and reception of e-mail is minimized. Since it is performed once each time, there is a disadvantage that the communication time becomes long. Therefore, in order to eliminate such a demerit, the sending-side Internet facsimile apparatus stores the reception capability information of the receiving-side Internet facsimile apparatus acquired in advance in association with the destination information, and the image data is stored based on the receiving capability information at the time of transmission. It is conceivable to omit the step of acquiring the above-described reception capability by generating and transmitting.

[0006]

However, after the sender Internet facsimile machine stores the reception capability information of the receiver Internet facsimile machine,
When the Internet facsimile machine of the receiving side is replaced with an Internet facsimile machine of another model by replacement or the like, even if the electronic mail address of the apparatus is the same, the receiving ability of the apparatus may be different. If the newly installed receiving-side Internet facsimile machine cannot normally receive and process the image data transmitted from the transmitting-side Internet facsimile machine, the operator of the transmitting-side internet facsimile machine operates. Etc.
The stored reception capability information must be deleted or modified, which can be a factor that increases the management burden of the device.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and is an internet facsimile apparatus having a function of coping with the internet facsimile communication and a function of storing the receiving capability information of the destination device in association with the destination information, Provided is an internet facsimile apparatus capable of reducing the management burden of the device by reducing the work of deleting and modifying the receiving capability information that occurs when the receiving capability of the destination device is changed due to replacement of the destination device. The purpose is to do.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, an internet facsimile apparatus according to claim 1 generates a first electronic mail including image data of standard format and format information of original image data. Send to the Internet fax machine on the receiving side
After receiving the second e-mail in which the reception capability information of the device is received from the receiving side Internet facsimile machine, the image data generated from the original image data based on the reception capability information is received by the receiving side. In an internet facsimile device having a capability exchange function for transmitting a third e-mail to an internet facsimile device, a reception capability memory that stores the reception capability information of the destination device relating to the destination information in association with the destination information stored inside Means, means for generating image data based on the receiving capability information stored by the means, and transmitting the image data by e-mail; and means for receiving the image data from the receiving side Internet facsimile apparatus to which the image data is transmitted. Error mail notifying that the format cannot be received When received, when the reception capability information of the receiving-side Internet facsimile apparatus is not described in the error mail, a unit for deleting the reception capability information about the destination information stored by the reception capability storage means. It is characterized by having.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the internet facsimile apparatus according to the first aspect, when the error mail contains the reception capability information of the reception side internet facsimile device, the reception capability storage means is used. It is characterized by further comprising means for updating the stored reception capability information about the destination information based on the reception capability information described in the error mail.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the internet facsimile apparatus according to the first aspect, when the error mail does not include the reception capability information of the receiving side Internet facsimile apparatus, the first electronic mail is transmitted. A second method of transmitting to the receiving-side Internet facsimile machine, and receiving, as a response to the first electronic mail, reception capability information about the destination information stored in the reception capability storage means.
Is further provided with means for updating based on the reception capability information described in the e-mail.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An Internet facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Hereinafter, the Internet facsimile machine that is the side transmitting the image data will be referred to as the "sending Internet facsimile machine", and the Internet facsimile machine that will be the side receiving the image data will be referred to as the "reception side Internet facsimile machine".

The transmission side internet facsimile apparatus and the reception side internet facsimile apparatus have the same constitution, and a concrete constitution example thereof is shown in FIG.
That is, the Internet facsimile machine 1A,
1B includes a CPU (central processing unit) 2, a RAM (random access memory) 3, a ROM (read only memory) 4, a codec 5, a modem 6, an NCU (network control unit) 7, a reading unit 8, a recording unit 9, and an operation. A unit 10 and a LAN I / F (local area network interface) 11 are provided, and the units 2 to 11 are communicably connected by a bus 12.

The CPU 2 controls each device constituting the Internet facsimile machines 1A and 1B according to a predetermined program.

The RAM 3 stores image data, FAX numbers,
It functions as a storage unit for previously storing a mail address, a data table described later, or the like, or as a storage unit for temporarily storing various data or the like.

The ROM 4 stores various programs for controlling the operations of the respective parts of the Internet facsimile machines 1A and 1B by the CPU 2, a program for converting the format of image data, and the like.

The codec 5 is for encoding / decoding in accordance with a plurality of protocols. That is, the image data read by the reading unit 8 is encoded by the MH, MR, MMR system or the like for transmission, and the received image data is decoded. In addition, TIFF (Tagged Image File Forma), which is a commonly used image format used in computers.
It can also be encoded and decoded according to the t) format.
The TIFF specifications are published by Adobe System, Inc., USA.

The modem 6 is, for example, ITU-T (International Telecommunication Union) Recommendation V.6. The transmission / reception data is modulated and demodulated according to the 34 standard or the like.

The NCU 7 is a line network control device for controlling a telephone line to make a telephone call and hang up a telephone, and is connected to a PSTN (public switched telephone network) 13.

The reading unit 8 reads image data of a document and outputs image data converted into monochrome binary.

The recording unit 9 is, for example, of an electrophotographic type, forms an image of the received image data on a recording sheet, and ejects (prints out) the recording sheet. For example,
The image data of the original read by the reading unit 8, the image data received by the facsimile, the image data of the attached file received by the Internet facsimile, the text data of the body, and the like are printed out by the instruction of the CPU 2.

The operation unit 10 has a display 10a for displaying information about the status of the Internet facsimile machines 1A and 1B and various operation instruction screens, a ten-key 10b for inputting a fax number, etc. A key 10c, a start key 10d for starting a document reading operation, etc., and a cursor key 1 for moving the reverse display in the display 10a.
0e, etc., and various operations are performed by the operation unit 10.

The LAN I / F 11 has an interface with a LAN (local area network) 14, and connects the LAN 14 and the Internet facsimile machines 1A and 1B so that they can communicate with each other.

The Internet facsimile machine 1
A and 1B each have a function of transmitting and receiving image data of an original or the like by facsimile by the G3 method or the like, and TCP / IP (Transmission) which is an Internet standard protocol.
Control Protocol / Internet Protocol) is installed, and it has an Internet facsimile function to send and receive image data such as originals by e-mail. In addition, since the image data is sent and received by e-mail,
A TIFF format is generated, and this is MIME (M
ultipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) based on Base64 etc. and converted to text and attached to e-mail.

A data table T shown in FIG. 2 is stored in a predetermined storage area of the RAM 3 of the transmitting side internet facsimile apparatus 1A. The data table T stores mail addresses (destination information) registered and assigned to each abbreviated number by an operator or the like, and information about a destination device stored in association with the mail address. Describing the specific contents, the data table T is composed of a "shortened number" column, a "destination name" column, a "destination" column, a "delivery confirmation mail response" column, and a "reception capability" column. Various information is stored in each column for each abbreviated number registered in the “column”, and the information stored in each column is the operation unit 10 operated by the operator or the later-described except for the “response to delivery confirmation mail” column. Display 10 by operation from client PC
a or displayed on the display device of the client PC or the like, and can be freely edited. Further, the contents of the data table can be printed on the recording unit 9 by a predetermined operation of the operation unit 10, so that the operator can confirm the receiving ability of the destination device at any time.

In the "destination name" column of the data table T,
The destination name information such as the name and company name of the destination is stored, and the destination name is displayed on the display 10a or the like, which is referred to when the transmission is performed using the shortened number. In the "To" field,
The mail address as the destination information is stored, and when the shortened number is designated at the time of transmission, the mail address stored in the "destination" column is designated as the destination to be transmitted.

In the "reception capability" column, for example, information about the resolution that the destination device can process is "dpi =", and then information about the encoding method of the destination device is "ima".
After the “ge-coding =”, the information about the printable recording paper size of the destination device is “paper-size”.
It is described after “=”. In addition, the “response to delivery confirmation email” column indicates that a reply to the delivery confirmation email was not received within the predetermined period, even though the response to the delivery confirmation email was requested during the previous transmission. “None” is stored as information.

Next, the communication mode supported by the transmitting side internet facsimile apparatus 1A will be described. The Internet facsimile machine 1A is shown in FIG.
, "Communication mode 1" to "communication mode 5"
5 communication modes are supported.

That is, as shown in FIG. 3 (a), according to "communication mode 1", the transmitting side internet facsimile apparatus 1A performs normal internet facsimile transmission (T1). In other words, the original image data is converted to the standard format (recording paper size is A
No. 4, MH encoding system, 200 dpi resolution
Image data of FIG. 4A is generated, and as shown in FIG. 4A, for example, an electronic mail to which the image data 15 of the standard format is attached is generated and transmitted. At this time, the original image data is deleted after transmitting the image data in the standard format. On the other hand, the receiving-side Internet facsimile machine 1B that receives this e-mail performs a normal receiving process such as printing the received standard format image data.

As shown in FIG. 3B, according to the "communication mode 2", the transmitting side internet facsimile apparatus 1A converts the format of the original image data to generate the image data of the standard format, for example, as shown in FIG. (B)
As shown in, a message 16 requesting a reply of an e-mail for notifying delivery confirmation (hereinafter referred to as “delivery confirmation mail”) is described, and an e-mail with the generated standard format image data 15 attached is generated. And transmit (T2). Next, when this e-mail is received by the receiving side Internet facsimile machine 1B, a normal receiving process such as printing is performed, and in accordance with the message 16, a delivery confirmation mail is generated and returned to the transmitting side Internet facsimile machine 1A. (T3).

As shown in FIG. 3C, according to the "communication mode 3", the sending side Internet facsimile apparatus 1A converts the format of the original image data to generate the image data of the standard format, for example, as shown in FIG. A message 16 for requesting the destination device to return a delivery confirmation mail, and capability exchange notification information for notifying that a higher quality image data than the attached standard format image data will be transmitted if there is a predetermined request, as shown in FIG. An electronic mail M1 in which 17 and information regarding the format of the original image data (hereinafter referred to as "original image data format information") 18 is generated, and the image data 15 in the standard format is attached and transmitted. (T4).

On the other hand, when the receiving side Internet facsimile machine 1B receives the electronic mail M1, the capability exchange notification information 17 and the original image data format information 18 are acquired from the received electronic mail M1.
For example, as shown in FIG. 6, an e-mail M2 in which information (hereinafter, referred to as "reception ability information") 19 regarding the reception ability of the own apparatus 1B is written is generated and returned to the transmission side Internet facsimile apparatus 1A (T5). When the sending side Internet facsimile machine 1A receives the electronic mail M2, based on the receiving capacity information 19, image data in a format corresponding to the receiving capacity of the receiving side Internet facsimile machine 1B (hereinafter referred to as "high quality image data"). .) From the original image data by format conversion, and an electronic mail in which the high quality image data 15A is attached to an electronic mail including a message 16 requesting the destination device to return a delivery confirmation mail as shown in FIG. The mail M3 is generated and transmitted to the receiving side Internet facsimile machine 1B (T6). Finally, when the receiving side Internet facsimile machine 1B receives the electronic mail M3, the delivery confirmation message 20 and the message ID of the received electronic mail M3 as shown in FIG. 8, for example.
The electronic mail M4 in which the message ID specified in the field 21 is described in the original message ID field 22 is generated and returned to the sending side Internet facsimile machine 1A (T7). In this specification, the function for coping with the series of communication procedures T4 to T7 performed between the transmitting side internet facsimile apparatus 1A and the receiving side internet facsimile apparatus 1B is referred to as "capability exchange function".

As shown in FIG. 3D, according to the "communication mode 4", the transmitting-side Internet facsimile apparatus 1A generates image data of higher quality than the image data of the standard format, and for example, as shown in FIG. ), The generated high-quality image data 15A is attached to the e-mail in which the message 16 requesting the reply of the delivery confirmation mail is described and transmitted (T8). Next, when the receiving side Internet facsimile machine receives this electronic mail, it performs a normal receiving process such as printing of the received high quality image data 15A, and also generates a delivery confirmation mail according to the message 16 and sends it to the transmitting side. Reply to the Internet facsimile machine (T9).

As shown in FIG. 3 (e), according to the "communication mode 5", the sending side internet facsimile apparatus 1A generates image data of higher quality than the image data of the standard format, and for example, as shown in FIG. ), An electronic mail not including the message 16 requesting a reply to the delivery confirmation mail is generated, and the generated high-quality image data 15A is attached and transmitted (T10). On the other hand, the receiving-side Internet facsimile machine 1B that receives this e-mail performs a normal receiving process such as printing the received high quality image data 15A.

The transmission side internet facsimile apparatus 1A and the reception side internet facsimile apparatus 1B having the above-described structure and various functions are, for example,
It is installed and used in a network environment A as shown in FIG. That is, the sending side Internet facsimile machine 1A uses the mail server 2 through the LAN 14.
3. The receiving-side Internet facsimile machine 1B, which is connected to the client PC 24, the router 25, etc. under the transmitting-side Internet facsimile machine 1A so as to be able to communicate with each other, and which has the capability exchanging function through the Internet, and the Internet which does not have the capability exchanging function. It is possible to communicate with the facsimile machine 1C and the like. Also, P
It is also possible to transmit / receive the G3 format image data to / from another G3 FAX terminal 26 through the STN 13.

Hereinafter, in the transmission side internet facsimile apparatus 1A installed in the network environment A, image data generated by reading a document from the reading section 8 or image data received from the client PC 24 for internet facsimile transmission. The operation of the transmitting-side Internet facsimile machine 1A when transmitting a message will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. The operation described with reference to this flowchart is performed in accordance with a command issued by the CPU 2 based on a control program or the like stored in the ROM 4 of the transmission side internet facsimile apparatus 1A.

First, when an instruction is given by the operator from the operation unit 10 or the client PC 24 to send the image data and to start the transmission, the Internet facsimile machine 1A on the sending side accepts this instruction (S).
1) It is determined whether or not the reception capability information of the destination device is stored in the "reception capability" column of the data table T (S2), and when it is stored, as shown in FIG. In addition to displaying the reception capability, a communication mode selection screen 27a for selecting the communication mode using the cursor key 10e or the like is displayed on the display 10a, or the screen information is sent to the client PC 24 (S).
3). On the other hand, when it is determined in S2 that the receiving capability information of the destination device is not stored, there is no response to the delivery confirmation email in the previous transmission in the “response to delivery confirmation email” column of the data table T. It is judged whether or not the information "none" indicating the effect is stored (S4), and when the information is stored, the effect and the reception capability information of the destination device are acquired again as shown in FIG. 12 (b). In order to do so, a message indicating that transmission is to be performed in communication mode 3 is displayed (S5), and if it is not stored, the reception capability information of the designated destination device is registered as shown in FIG. 12 (c). The communication mode selection screen 27b for selecting the communication mode is displayed on the display 10a, or the screen information is sent to the client PC 24 (S).
6).

When the one selected from the communication mode selection screens 27a and 27b displayed in S3 or S6 is "communication mode 1" (S7), standard format image data is generated from the original image data (S7).
8) Attach this standard format image data to an e-mail (S9), and send it to the specified destination (S1).
0), and the original image data held thereafter is deleted (S11).

When the one selected from the communication mode selection screens 27a and 27b is the "communication mode 2" (S1
2) generate standard format image data from the original image data (S13), and as shown in FIG.
An e-mail in which the image data of the standard format generated in S11 is attached to the e-mail in which the message 16 requesting the reply of the delivery confirmation mail is described is generated (S14) and transmitted to the designated destination (S10). , The retained original image data is deleted (S11).

When the one selected from the communication mode selection screens 27a and 27b is the "communication mode 3" and the above-mentioned S
5 is displayed (S15), standard format image data is generated from the original image data (S1).
6), as shown in FIG. 5, a message 16 requesting a reply of the delivery confirmation mail, the capability exchange notification information 17
And an e-mail in which the image data 15 of the standard format generated in S16 is attached to the e-mail in which the original image data format information 18 is described (S17) and is transmitted to the designated destination (S1).
8).

When the one selected from the communication mode selection screens 27a and 27b is the "communication mode 4" (S1
9), generate image data (high quality image data) in a format according to the receiving capability information of the destination device from the original image data (S20), and return a delivery confirmation mail as shown in FIG. 4 (b). To the electronic mail in which the message 16 requesting the request is written and the high-quality image data 15A generated in S20 is attached (S2
1) Send to the specified destination (S22), and finally delete the original image data (S23). When a reply to the delivery confirmation mail is received after the lapse of a predetermined time, a series of transmission operations are ended, and when a reply to the delivery confirmation mail is not received, the “ The reception capability information is deleted from the "reception capability" column, and "none" is stored in the "response to delivery confirmation mail" column as information indicating that there was no response to the delivery confirmation email (S24 to S26).

When the one selected from the communication mode selection screens 27a and 27b is not "communication mode 1 to 4", that is, "communication mode 5" (S19),
Image data (high-quality image data) in a format according to the receiving capability information of the destination device is generated from the original image data (S27), and a reply to the delivery confirmation mail is requested as shown in FIG. 4A. The high-quality image data 15 generated in S27 is added to the electronic mail that does not include the message 16.
An e-mail with A attached is generated (S28), sent to the designated destination (S29), and finally the original image data is deleted (S30).

Next, the operation when the receiving-side Internet facsimile machine 1B having a capability exchange function capable of coping with any of the "communication modes 1 to 5" receives an electronic mail will be explained based on the flowchart shown in FIG. To do.
The operation described based on this flowchart is performed by the ROM 4 of the receiving side internet facsimile apparatus 1B.
CPU2 based on the control program etc. stored in
It is performed in accordance with the order issued by.

When the receiving-side Internet facsimile machine 1B receives the electronic mail and analyzes the content of the electronic mail, and the electronic mail is an Internet facsimile (S51), the received electronic mail includes the electronic mail M1 shown in FIG. It is determined whether or not the message 16 requesting the return of the delivery confirmation mail is included as shown in (S52), and when it is determined that the message 16 is not included, the communication is "communication mode 1". , Or "communication mode 5", normal processing such as printing and distribution of the received image data is performed (S53).

If it is determined in S52 that the message 16 is included, then the received e-mail includes the capability exchange notification information 17 and the original image data as shown in the e-mail M1 of FIG. It is determined whether the format information 18 is included (S5).
4). When it is determined that the capability exchange notification information 17 and the format information 18 of the original image data are included, it is determined that the communication is “communication mode 3”,
Next, as shown in FIG. 6, an electronic mail M2 requesting image data of higher quality than the standard format is generated (S55), and this is transmitted (S56).

Explaining the contents of the electronic mail M2 in detail, the mail address of the sender Internet facsimile machine 1A is described in the address designation field 29 of the mail header as the address, and the human-readable information 30 in the text field.
And the device read information 31 for the transmitting-side Internet facsimile machine 1A. The device read information 31 further includes
Message ID column 21 of the previously received e-mail M1 or the like
The original message ID column 22 in which the message ID designated in 1 is described, and the reception capability information 19 of the receiving-side Internet facsimile machine 1B are described. Therefore, the transmitting side Internet facsimile machine 1
Upon receiving this e-mail M2, A determines that it is a response to the previously sent e-mail M1 based on the original message ID described in the original message ID column 22, and follows the "communication mode 3". Communication.

When the receiving side internet facsimile apparatus 1B determines in S54 that the capability exchange notification information 17 is not included, it is then determined whether the format of the received image data can be analyzed. Judgment is made (S57), and if the format is analyzable, normal processing such as printing and distribution of image data is performed (S58),
Further, a delivery confirmation mail is generated and returned to the sending side Internet facsimile machine 1A (S5).
9).

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S57 that the format of the image data cannot be analyzed, the original message ID column in which the message ID of the electronic mail received in step S51 is described, as shown in FIG. 15, for example. 22, an error message 32 indicating that the received image data is in a format that cannot be analyzed, and an e-mail M5 in which the reception capability information 19 of the receiving-side Internet facsimile machine 1B is generated (S60). A reply is sent to the sending side Internet facsimile machine 1A (S61). Note that FIG.
The contents of the electronic mail M5 shown in FIG. 5 will be described in more detail. In the electronic mail M5, the sender Internet facsimile machine 1 is included in the destination designation field 29 of the mail header.
The email address of A is described, and in the body column, a sentence indicating that the message was not normally received is described as human-readable information 30, and the original message ID column 22,
The device read information 31 for the sender Internet facsimile machine 1A including the error message 32 and the reception capability information 19 is described.

Next, the operation when the sender Internet facsimile machine 1A receives the electronic mail sent by the receiver Internet facsimile machine 1B in S56, S59 and S61 will be described with reference to FIG.
It will be described below based on the flowchart shown in FIG. In addition,
The operation described based on this flowchart is also performed according to the instruction issued by the CPU 2 based on the control program or the like stored in the ROM 4 of the transmission side internet facsimile apparatus 1A.

When the sender's Internet facsimile machine 1A receives the electronic mail and analyzes the content of the electronic mail, if the electronic mail is an Internet facsimile (S101), the electronic mail causes an error with respect to the previously sent electronic mail. Whether or not it is a message (hereinafter referred to as “error mail”) that is notified of the original message I, as in the electronic mail M5 shown in FIG.
E-mail message I sent to the destination in column D 22
It is determined whether D is described and the error message 32 is described (S102). In the present embodiment, the judgment as to whether or not the mail is an error mail has been described in the case where the electronic mail M5 is received.
The same judgment is made when the information such as 2 that can specify the previously transmitted e-mail and the information such as the error message 32 that notifies the destination that the reception processing is not normally performed are received. It may be executed.

When the error mail is judged in S102, it is judged whether or not the error mail includes the reception capability information 19 like the electronic mail M5 (S103). If 19 is included, high-quality image data in a format according to the reception capability information 19 is generated (S104), this is transmitted in the "communication mode 4" (S105), and finally the destination of the data table T concerned. The receiving ability information about the information is updated based on the receiving ability information 19 described in the error mail M5 (S106).

When it is determined in S103 that the received capability information of the destination device is not described in the received error mail, the received capability information of the destination information of the data table T is deleted (S107), and the standard format is set. Image data is generated from the original image data (S
108), in order to reacquire the reception capability information of the destination device in which the transmission error occurred, describe the capability exchange notification information 17 and the like and generate an e-mail with the image data of the standard format attached and send it to the destination device. (S109).
Therefore, even if the receiving capability information of the destination device is not described in the error mail, the receiving capability information of the destination device stored in the data table T is automatically updated.

On the other hand, if it is determined in S102 that the received electronic mail is not an error mail,
It is determined whether or not it is a response to the previously transmitted e-mail depending on whether or not there is a message ID of the previously transmitted e-mail in the original message ID column 22 as shown in the e-mail M2. (S110) If the message ID is included, it is determined whether the e-mail includes the reception capability information 19 (S11).
1). If the reception capability information is included, it is determined whether or not the reception capability information stored in the data table T matches (S112). If the reception capability information does not match, the reception capability information stored in the data table T is determined. It is updated based on the reception capability information described in the received email (S
113), if they match, the update is not performed. In addition,
By providing the determination step of S112, the reception capability information stored in the data table T is different only when the reception capability information stored in the data table T and the reception capability information described in the received e-mail are different. Is updated, but the determination step of S112 is omitted, and the reception capability information stored in the data table T is always updated based on the reception capability information described in the received email. It may be done.

Next, it is judged whether or not the electronic mail received from the message ID is a delivery confirmation mail (S11).
4) If it is not a delivery confirmation mail, it is an electronic mail related to transmission by the capacity exchange function, and it is assumed that the high quality image data is requested, and the receiving capacity information 19 of the destination device described in the electronic mail is described. High-quality image data of a suitable format is generated from the original image data (S11
5), a message 16 requesting a reply to the delivery confirmation mail
A high-quality image data 15A attached to an e-mail including is generated (S116) and transmitted to the receiving-side Internet facsimile machine 1B (S117).

On the other hand, if the reception capability information is not described in S111, and if it is determined that the electronic mail received in S114 is the delivery confirmation mail, the history information is updated (S118).

If it is determined in S110 that the message ID of the previously transmitted e-mail is not included, it is assumed that the received e-mail is a normal Internet facsimile, and the normal e.g. printing and distribution of image data is performed. Processing is performed (S119).

When the electronic mail transmitted in S105, S109, S117 is received by the receiving-side internet facsimile apparatus 1B, the receiving-side internet facsimile apparatus 1B operates on the basis of the control program stored in the ROM 4 and the like. It operates according to the flowchart of FIG. 13 according to the issued instruction.

That is, when the receiving side Internet facsimile machine 1B receives the electronic mail transmitted by the transmitting side Internet facsimile machine 1A in S105 or S117, the received electronic mail is as shown in FIG. As shown in the email of
A message 16 requesting a reply to the delivery confirmation mail is described and the Internet facsimile machine 1 on the receiving side is described.
Since the high quality image data generated according to the format designated by B is attached and does not include the capability exchange notification information 17 etc., the receiving side Internet facsimile apparatus 1B receives the e-mail. Then, it is determined that the message 16 is described (S51), the capability exchange notification information 17 and the original image data format information 18 are not included (S54), and the image data format is analyzed. When it is determined that it is possible (S57), the image data is printed, distributed, and the like, and a delivery confirmation mail is sent back to the sender Internet facsimile machine 1A (S58,
S59).

When the receiving side Internet facsimile machine 1B receives the electronic mail transmitted by the transmitting side Internet facsimile machine 1A in S109, the received electronic mail is as shown in the electronic mail of FIG. Since the message 16 requesting a reply to the delivery confirmation mail, the capability exchange notification information 17, and the format information 18 of the original image data are described and the image data of the standard format is attached, the Internet facsimile machine on the receiving side is provided. When 1B receives the e-mail (S51), it determines that the message 16 is described (S52), and determines that the capability exchange notification information 17 and the format information 18 of the original image data are included (S54). , Which requires the above-mentioned high-quality image data To generate a mail M2 (S5
5), replies to the sending side Internet facsimile machine 1A (S56).

On the other hand, when the sending side internet facsimile apparatus 1A receives the reply of the delivery confirmation mail sent from the receiving side internet facsimile apparatus 1B in S59, it again operates according to the flowchart of FIG. That is, the delivery confirmation mail is received (S
101), and it is determined that it is not an error mail (S10).
2) For example, like the delivery confirmation mail M4 shown in FIG. 8, the electronic mail M3 transmitted earlier from the original message ID described in the original message ID column 22.
(S110), and if the reception capability information stored in the data table T does not match the reception capability information described in the email, the reception capability described in the email is received. The reception capability information stored in the data table T is updated based on the capability information (S
113). Then, the electronic mail is determined to be a delivery confirmation mail (S114), and the history information is updated (S1).
18).

[0060]

The (sending-side) Internet facsimile machine according to claim 1 relates to the receiving capability storing means for storing the receiving capability information of the destination device related to the destination information in association with the destination information stored therein, and the means. The format of the image data cannot be received from the means for generating the image data based on the reception capability information stored by and transmitting it by e-mail and the receiving side Internet facsimile apparatus to which the image data is transmitted by the means. When receiving an error mail notifying that it is a message, when the receiving capacity information of the receiving side Internet facsimile apparatus is not described in the error mail, the address information stored by the receiving capacity storage means Since it is provided with means for deleting the reception capability information, It is automatically deleted when the receiving capability of the destination device is different from the one stored by the receiving capability storing means, so that it is possible to prevent the erroneous receiving capability information from being continuously used and to reduce the management burden of the Internet facsimile machine. Can be reduced.

The (sending-side) Internet facsimile machine according to claim 2 is the Internet facsimile machine according to claim 1, wherein when the error mail contains the reception capability information of the receiving-side internet facsimile machine, the reception The internet facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for updating the reception capability information about the destination information stored in the capability storage means based on the reception capability information described in the error mail. In addition to having the same effect, in the above case, the receiving ability information is automatically updated, and the burden on the operator of updating the receiving ability information can be reduced.

The (sending-side) Internet facsimile machine according to claim 3 is the Internet facsimile machine according to claim 1, wherein when the error mail does not include the receiving capability information of the receiving-side internet facsimile machine, Second e-mail for transmitting the e-mail to the receiving-side Internet facsimile machine, and receiving the reception capability information about the destination information stored by the reception capability storage means as a response to the first e-mail. Since it further comprises means for updating based on the reception capability information described in (3), it has the same effect as the Internet facsimile machine according to claim 1, and when the reception capability information is not described in the error mail. Even if there is, Automatically retrieves the received capability information to update the reception capability information about the destination information stored by the receiving capability storage means, it is possible to reduce the burden of updating the reception capability information by the operator.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of an internet facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a data table in which reception capability information and the like of destination devices are stored in association with destination information.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of a communication mode, and is a sequence diagram showing a communication procedure between the transmitting side and the receiving side Internet facsimile apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an electronic mail to which image data of a standard format (or high quality) is attached.

FIG. 5 is a message requesting a reply to a delivery confirmation email,
It is the figure which showed an example of the email which attached the image data of a standard format to the email containing the capability exchange notification information and the format information of the original image data.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of an electronic mail transmitted by a receiving-side Internet facsimile apparatus requesting high-quality image data from a transmitting-side Internet facsimile apparatus.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of an electronic mail to which high-quality image data transmitted by the transmitting-side Internet facsimile apparatus is attached in response to a request from the receiving-side Internet facsimile apparatus.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a delivery confirmation mail transmitted by the receiving-side Internet facsimile apparatus in response to a request from the transmitting-side Internet facsimile apparatus.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing an example of a network environment in which the Internet facsimile machine according to the embodiment of the present invention is installed.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an operation when the transmitting-side Internet facsimile machine transmits image data.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an operation when the transmitting-side Internet facsimile apparatus transmits image data.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a communication mode selection screen.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing an operation when the receiving-side Internet facsimile machine receives an electronic mail.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing an operation when the sending-side Internet facsimile machine receives an electronic mail.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of an error mail.

[Explanation of symbols]

T Data table M1 E-mail including format information of standard format and original image data M2 E-mail that describes the receiving capability of the receiving side Internet facsimile machine M3 E-mail with image data generated based on the receiving capability information M5 Error mail 1A Sending side internet facsimile apparatus 1B Receiving side internet facsimile apparatus 2 CPU 3 RAM 4 ROM 15 Standard format image data 16 Message requesting reply of delivery confirmation mail 17 Capacity exchange notification information 18 Original image data format information 19 Receiving capacity information 21 message ID column 22 original message ID column

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F term (reference) 5C062 AA02 AA29 AB38 AB42 AC38                       AC58 AE02 AF14 BD09                 5C075 AB90 BA08 CA08 CA90 CE07                       CE14 CF01 FF90                 5K101 KK01 KK02 LL00 NN18 NN21                       PP03 RR19 VV07

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An Internet facsimile machine on the receiving side which has received the first electronic mail by generating a first electronic mail including format information of standard format image data and format information of the original image data and transmitting the first electronic mail. After receiving the second e-mail in which the receiving capability information of the device is described, the image data generated from the original image data based on the receiving capability information is sent to the receiving side internet facsimile device by the third e-mail. In an internet facsimile apparatus having a capability exchanging function for transmitting, a reception capability storing means for storing the reception capability information of the destination device related to the destination information in association with the destination information stored therein, and the reception capability stored by the means. A method to generate image data based on information and send it by e-mail. When an error mail notifying that the format of the image data cannot be received is received from the receiving-side Internet facsimile machine to which the image data is transmitted by the means, the receiving Internet An Internet facsimile machine, comprising: means for deleting the reception capacity information about the destination information stored by the reception capacity storage means when the reception capacity information of the facsimile machine is not described. 2. The Internet facsimile machine according to claim 1, wherein when the error mail contains the reception capability information of the receiving side Internet facsimile machine, the destination information stored by the reception capability storage means. The internet facsimile apparatus further comprising means for updating the reception capability information of 1. based on the reception capability information described in the error mail. 3. The Internet facsimile machine according to claim 1, wherein when the error mail does not include the reception capability information of the receiving side Internet facsimile machine, a first electronic mail is transmitted to the receiving side internet facsimile machine. And means for updating the receiving ability information about the destination information stored in the receiving ability storing means based on the receiving ability information described in the second e-mail received as a response to the first e-mail. An Internet facsimile machine further comprising: