JP2003141047A - Image receiving device and method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To notify a receiver side of the receipt of Internet FAX even when a received attached file cannot be developed. SOLUTION: An e-mail transmitting and receiving part 11 divides a received e-mail to a header (mail header) and an attached TIFF file, and transmits the attached TIFF file to a data analyzing relay part. The data analyzing relay part 13 checks whether the TIFF file transmitted from the e-mail transmitting and receiving part 11 is developable or not, and substitutes it by an alternate TIFF file stored in an alternate image data storage part 15 when it is not developable, and delivers the alternate TIFF file to a printing part 14. The printing part 14 develops the alternate TIFF file delivered from the data analyzing relay part 13, and prints it.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image receiving apparatus and method, and more particularly, to a receiving side that reliably receives an electronic mail even when an image file attached to an electronic mail and received cannot be expanded into image data. The present invention relates to an image receiving apparatus and method capable of notifying a user.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, personal computers (PCs)
E-mails have come to be exchanged with each other via a local area network (LAN) or the Internet.

Normally, electronic mail is realized by connecting a LAN to a PC equipped with electronic mail software.

A facsimile type electronic mail device has been put to practical use as a simple electronic mail means without using a PC. This type of facsimile electronic mail device
It is called Internet fax. The Internet fax is a facsimile equipped with a function that enables electronic mail communication on the Internet, and mainly sends image information read by a scanner or the like to an electronic mail in an attached file format.

By the way, it is considered that the attached file of the image information attached to the received electronic mail cannot be expanded depending on the function installed in the Internet fax. In such a case, there is provided a method of notifying the sender of the Internet fax of the fact that it could not be expanded or including a part of the attached document as a reply mail (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-331473). .

[0006]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional technique, the reply mail is automatically sent only to the sender and the recipient is not notified that the Internet fax has been received. The side does not know that the Internet fax has been received and cannot resend it to the sender. Further, the sender does not always look at the reply mail, and may think that the transmitted data is normally received.

Further, even if the attached file is multi-page and only some pages cannot be expanded, there is a problem that all the files cannot be printed.

Therefore, the present invention informs the recipient side that the Internet fax has been received even when the received attached file cannot be expanded, and further, when only a part of the multi-page attached file cannot be expanded. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image receiving device capable of printing a page that can be expanded and notifying that the page that cannot be expanded is image data that cannot be expanded.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention according to claim 1 is the image receiving device, wherein the image receiving device receives the electronic mail via the network, and the electronic device received by the receiving device. When the attached file of the mail is determined to be undegradable into image data, a decompression check means for checking whether the image data can be decompressed, an output means for outputting the image data, and a case where the decompression check means determines that the attached file cannot be expanded as image data And a delivery means for delivering the alternative image data replacing the image data to the output means.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, a substitute image data holding means for storing and holding the substitute image data in advance is further provided.
When the expansion check unit determines that the attached file cannot be expanded into image data, the transfer unit acquires alternative image data to replace the image data from the alternative image data holding unit and receives the alternative image data in the output unit. Characterized by passing.

According to a third aspect of the invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the image forming apparatus further comprises an alternative image data synthesizing means for synthesizing the alternative image data according to the judgment of the expansion checking means, and the delivering means. When the expansion check means determines that the attached file cannot be expanded into image data, the alternative image data combined according to the judgment is acquired from the alternative image data combining means and received by the output means. Characterized by passing.

Further, in the invention described in claim 4, in the invention described in claim 1, when the attached file of the electronic mail is composed of a plurality of pages, the delivery means converts the image data into image data by the expansion check means. It is characterized in that only the page determined not to be developed is replaced with the alternative image data and is delivered to the output means.

The invention according to claim 5 is characterized in that, in the invention according to claim 1, the output means is a print output means.

The invention according to claim 6 is characterized in that, in the invention according to claim 1, the output means is a fax transmission / reception means for transmitting / receiving image data in accordance with a facsimile procedure.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, the alternative image data holding means stores and holds a plurality of types of alternative image data for each of the reasons why the attached file cannot be expanded. Characterized equipment.

The invention according to claim 8 is characterized in that, in the invention according to claim 2, the alternative image data holding means stores and holds a plurality of types of alternative image data for each page size.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, an image receiving apparatus includes an electronic mail transmitting / receiving means for transmitting / receiving electronic mail via a network, a fax transmitting / receiving means for transmitting / receiving image data according to a facsimile procedure, and the image data. Printing means for printing and outputting, expansion check means for checking whether or not the attached file of the email received by the electronic mail transmission / reception means can be expanded into image data, and the attached file is expanded into image data by the expansion check means. And a delivery means for selectively delivering the alternative image data replacing the image data to the fax transmission / reception means or the printing means based on the header information of the electronic mail when it is determined that the image data cannot be sent. Characterize.

According to the tenth aspect of the invention, in an image receiving method of printing out or fax-transmitting an attached file of an electronic mail received via a network, it is determined whether the attached file can be expanded into image data. If it is determined that the image cannot be expanded, a predetermined alternative image data is printed out or faxed instead of the attached file that is determined not to be expanded.

The invention described in claim 11 is the same as claim 1.
In the invention described in 0, the alternative image data is stored and held in advance.

The invention of claim 12 is the same as claim 1
In the invention described in 0, the alternative image data is synthesized each time in accordance with a determination result as to whether or not the development is possible.

The invention according to claim 13 is the same as claim 1.
In the invention described in 0, when the attachment file of the electronic mail is composed of a plurality of pages, only the page determined to be unable to be expanded into image data is replaced with the alternative image data and printed out or sent by fax. To do.

[0022]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of an image receiving apparatus and method according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of the Internet facsimile machine according to the present invention.

In FIG. 1, the Internet facsimile machine 1 includes an electronic mail transmission / reception unit 11, a data analysis unit,
It comprises a relay unit 12, a fax transmission / reception unit 13, a printing unit 14, and an alternative image data holding unit 15.

The electronic mail transmission / reception unit 11 is connected to a network such as the Internet to control transmission / reception of electronic mail, and receives the received electronic mail as a header (mail header).
And the attached TIFF file, and the attached TIFF file is sent to the data analysis / relay section 12.

Here, as a method of receiving an electronic mail,
There are two methods, one is to receive e-mails stored in an external mail server at regular intervals (POP), and the other is to give an Internet facsimile machine a mail server function to directly receive e-mails. In form,
It is assumed that the Internet facsimile machine has a mail server function to directly receive electronic mail.

The data analysis / relay unit 12 checks whether the TIFF file sent from the electronic mail transmission / reception unit 11 can be expanded, and if it is determined that the TIFF file cannot be expanded,
The alternative T stored and held in the alternative image data holding unit 15
An appropriate one is selected from the IFF files, replaced, and sent to the fax transmission / reception unit 13 or the printing unit 14.

The fax transmission / reception section 13 executes fax transmission and reception according to a facsimile procedure, and the printing section 14 is for recording and outputting an image at a predetermined resolution.

As will be described later in detail, the alternative image data holding unit 15 prints or FAs instead of the TIFF file determined to be unexpandable by the data analysis unit 12.
The TIFF file to be transferred by X is stored.

FIG. 2 is a system conceptual diagram of a communication network including the Internet facsimile machine 1.

In FIG. 2, Internet FAX machines 1a and 1b are the same as the Internet facsimile machine 1 shown in FIG. The personal computers (PCs) 312 and 322 are general PCs having an electronic mail function, and each of them is a mail server 31.
Send and receive electronic mail via 1, 321.

Internet FAX machines 1a and 1b
Respectively connect to a general telephone network (PSTN) 40 and execute fax communication with an ordinary F-code compatible facsimile device 41 having a G3 or G4 FAX communication function.

Further, the Internet FAX apparatuses 1a and 1b realize the exchange of facsimile data with other network terminals by attaching the facsimile data as a TIFF file to an electronic mail.

For example, the Internet FAX machine 1a
Displays the image information captured by the scanner unit (not shown)
File in IFF-FX file format and attach it to an e-mail.
The e-mail address of the FAX device 1b or the PC 312 or PC 322 is set and transmitted, or the Internet FAX device 1b or the PC 312 or PC 32 is set.
The TIFF file attached to the e-mail received from 2 can be printed out by the printing unit 14.

Further, the Internet FAX apparatuses 1a and 1b are connected to the Internet 20 from the network terminal.
It is also possible to transfer the image information received as an attached TIFF file of an electronic mail via the to the normal FAX apparatus 41.

For example, the PC 322 converts the image information created by the application into a file in the TIFF-FX file format and attaches it to an e-mail, and the destination of this e-mail is "FAX=0312345678@internetFAX-1a.host.ne. "jp" is set and transmitted on the Internet 20 via the mail server 321. Here, "0312345678" is the telephone number of the FAX machine 41, and "internetFAX-1a.host.ne.j"
“P” is the address information of the Internet FAX machine 1a. First, this e-mail
FAX based on FAX-1a.host.ne.jp ”
The attached file is sent to the apparatus 1a, and the attached file is converted into facsimile data in the Internet FAX apparatus 1a. Then, it is transferred to the FAX apparatus 41 based on the destination information “FAX = 031345678”.

Here, TIFF and TIFF-FX will be described.

TIFF is a file format for image data, and is an IFD (Image File Directory) that collects information indicating the type of data and the storage location on the file.
And, it is configured in the form of a data body corresponding to it, and has a general-purpose specification that can store various data. In order to match the data of this TIFF with an ordinary F-code compatible facsimile machine, TIFF-FX was expanded for Internet fax, and a profile was defined to support the compression method of ordinary fax. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, the compression method, resolution, image size, etc. are defined for each profile.

Further, the TIFF is a file format capable of storing image data of a plurality of pages in one file, and as shown in FIG. 5, a header (TIFF header) is provided at the head portion, followed by an IFD. The image data body is paired and arranged for the number of pages.

Here, the IFD is a collection of information indicating the type of image data and the storage location on the file, and is composed of tags that define the compression method, resolution, image size, etc. of the corresponding image data. ing.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the flow of processing when the Internet facsimile machine 1 receives an electronic mail.

When the Internet facsimile machine 1 receives the electronic mail at the electronic mail transmitting / receiving unit 11 (YES in step 101), first, the header (mail header) and the attached TIFF file are extracted from this electronic mail (step 102), Bitmap expansion of the mail header into an image, MMR compression is applied, and the result is written into a TIFF file (step 103). And attached T
The IFF file is sent to the data analysis / relay section 12.

The data analysis / relay unit 13 opens the attached TIFF file sent from the electronic mail transmission / reception unit 11 (step 104), checks the header (TIFF header) of this TIFF file (step 105), and IF stored in TIFF file
The number of D is checked (step 106). In other words, by checking how many IFDs are stored, this TI
It is possible to know how many pages of image data the FF file stores.

If the TIFF header is not correct (NO at step 105) or if no IFD is stored (NO at step 106), this T
It is determined that the IFF file cannot be expanded, the file is closed (step 109), and it is replaced with the alternative TIFF file stored in the alternative image data holding unit 15 (step 110).

Here, the alternative TIFF file is the attached TIFF file.
Have information as to why the IFF file cannot be expanded,
Plural items are prepared in advance depending on the reason why they cannot be deployed. Therefore, the data analysis / relay unit 13 substitutes the attached TIFF file that could not be expanded in step 110 for the alternative TI.
When replacing with the FF file, an appropriate alternative TIFF file is selected from the alternative image data holding unit 15 according to the reason that it is determined that the expansion cannot be performed.

A plurality of alternative TIFF files are prepared for each page size.

If the mail header obtained in step 102 indicates FAX transfer (YES in step 111), the data analysis / relay unit 12 writes the mail header written in the TIFF file in step 103 and step 110. The attached TIFF file that could not be expanded in step S4 is sent to the fax transmission / reception unit 13, and the fax transmission / reception unit 13 converts the data received from the data analysis / relay unit 12 into a format for fax transmission. And send by fax (step 112). If the FAX transfer is not instructed (NO in step 111), the data analysis / relay unit 12 sets the mail header written in the TIFF file in step 103 and the alternative TIFF file replaced with the attached TIFF file that could not be expanded. The file is sent to the printing unit 14, and the printing unit 14 expands these files received from the data analysis / relay unit 12 into image data and prints them out.

The TIFF header is correct (step 105
YES), and if one or more IFDs are stored (YES in step 106), the IFD tag data is sequentially read for each page, and the tag type and its value satisfy the Internet fax standard. Whether or not the TIFF file can be expanded is checked for each page (step 107).

If even one tag does not meet the standard, it is determined that the page corresponding to this IFD cannot be expanded (it is an error page), and it is deleted from the attached TIFF file, and the page size is the same as the error page. Then, the alternative TIFF file corresponding to the reason why the error page cannot be expanded is selected from the alternative image data holding unit 15, the page is read, and the read page is written in the part of the attached TIFF file where the error page is deleted ( Step 108).

That is, as a result of the processing of steps 107 and 108, the attached TIFF file is a replacement TI in which all unexpandable error pages are replaced with expandable alternative pages.
Converted to FF file. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, when there is an error page (EP) on the second page of the attached TIFF file (a), this error page EP is deleted and the alternative read out from the alternative TIFF file (c). The page SP is written in the deleted part of the error page EP, and becomes the replacement TIFF file (b).

Now, the data analyzing / relaying unit 12 has the attached T
When the tag check of all the IFDs stored in the IFF file is completed, the mail header obtained in step 102 is checked, and if FAX transfer is instructed (YES in step 111), TIFF is checked in step 103.
Email header written to file and step 10
The replacement TIFF file obtained by the processing of 7 and 108 is sent to the fax transmission / reception unit 13, and the fax transmission / reception unit 13 converts these files received from the data analysis / relay unit 12 into a format for fax transmission. Send by fax (step 112). If no fax transfer is instructed (step 111)
NO), the data analysis / relay section 12 returns to step 103.
The mail header written in the TIFF file in step 1 and the replacement TIFF file obtained by the processing of steps 107 and 108 are sent to the printing unit 14, and the printing unit 14
Develops these files received from the data analysis / relay unit 12 into image data and prints them out.

In the above embodiment, a plurality of alternative TIFF files are prepared in the alternative image data holding unit 15 in advance.
In place of the above, an alternative image data synthesizing unit is provided, and when the data analysis / relaying unit 12 determines that the attached TIFF file cannot be developed, it is synthesized each time according to the reason (and error page number) that the attached TIFF file cannot be developed. Good.

[0053]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is checked whether the attached file of the e-mail received by the Internet fax can be expanded, and if it is judged that the file cannot be expanded, the reason why it cannot be expanded is explained. Since the alternative TIFF file that has information is output instead,
The receiver can be surely notified that the Internet fax has been received.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing an example of an Internet facsimile apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a system conceptual diagram of a communication network including the Internet facsimile machine 1.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing when the Internet facsimile machine 1 receives an electronic mail.

FIG. 4 Alternative TIF for a multi-page TIFF file
It is a figure explaining the replacement method to F file.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a data structure of TIFF.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a profile of TIFF-FX.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Internet facsimile machine 11 E-mail sending and receiving unit 12 Data analysis / relay section 13 Fax transmitter / receiver 14 Printing department 15 Alternative data storage 20 Internet 310, 320 LAN 311, 321 mail server 312,322 Personal computer 40 PSTN 41 Facsimile machine

Continued front page    (72) Inventor Junji Suzuki             Fujize, 3-7-1, Fuchu, Iwatsuki City, Saitama Prefecture             Rocks Co., Ltd. Iwatsuki Office (72) Inventor Hiroshi Miyaoka             Fujize, 3-7-1, Fuchu, Iwatsuki City, Saitama Prefecture             Rocks Co., Ltd. Iwatsuki Office F term (reference) 5C062 AA02 AA29 AB21 AB38 AC29                       BA04                 5C075 AB90 BB05 CA14 CF01

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. Receiving means for receiving an electronic mail via a network, expansion checking means for checking whether or not an attachment file of the electronic mail received by the receiving means can be expanded into image data, and the image data Output means for outputting, and delivery means for delivering to the output means alternative image data in place of the image data when the expansion check means determines that the attached file cannot be expanded into image data. A characteristic image receiving device. 2. An alternative image data holding unit for preliminarily storing and holding the alternative image data, wherein the delivery unit determines that the attached file cannot be expanded into image data by the expansion check unit, 2. The image receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the substitute image data replacing the image data is acquired from the substitute image data holding means and passed to the output means. 3. An alternative image data synthesizing unit for synthesizing the alternative image data according to the judgment of the expansion checking unit, wherein the delivery unit cannot expand the attached file into image data by the expansion checking unit. The image receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when it is determined that the substitute image data has been synthesized in accordance with the determination, the substitute image data is obtained from the substitute image data synthesizing means and passed to the output means. 4. When the attached file of the electronic mail is composed of a plurality of pages, the delivery means replaces only the page determined by the expansion check means into image data with the alternative image data and replaces the page. The image receiving device according to claim 1, wherein the image receiving device delivers the image data to an output unit. 5. The image receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the output unit is a print output unit. 6. The image receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the output unit is a fax transmission / reception unit that transmits / receives image data according to a facsimile procedure. 7. The image receiving apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the alternative image data holding unit stores and holds a plurality of types of alternative image data for each of the reasons why the attached file cannot be expanded. 8. The image receiving apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the alternative image data holding means stores and holds a plurality of types of alternative image data for each page size. 9. An electronic mail transmitting / receiving unit for transmitting / receiving an electronic mail via a network, a fax transmitting / receiving unit for transmitting / receiving image data according to a facsimile procedure, a printing unit for printing out the image data, and the electronic mail transmitting / receiving unit. Expansion check means for checking whether or not the attached file of the received e-mail can be expanded into image data, and replacing the image data when the expansion check means judges that the attached file cannot be expanded into image data An image receiving apparatus comprising: a delivery unit that selectively delivers the substitute image data to the fax transmission / reception unit or the printing unit based on the header information of the electronic mail. 10. An image receiving method for printing out or fax-transmitting an attached file of an electronic mail received via a network, determining whether the attached file can be expanded into image data, and judges that the attached file cannot be expanded. In this case, a predetermined alternative image data is printed out or faxed instead of the attached file determined not to be developed. 11. The image receiving method according to claim 10, wherein the alternative image data is stored and held in advance. 12. The image receiving method according to claim 10, wherein the alternative image data is combined each time in accordance with a result of the determination as to whether or not the development is possible. 13. When the attached file of the electronic mail is composed of a plurality of pages, only the page determined to be unable to be expanded into image data is replaced with the alternative image data and printed out or sent by fax. The image receiving method according to claim 10.