JP2003169169A - Document transmitter - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a document transmitter in which communication costs can be reduced. <P>SOLUTION: The device is provided with a means for reading a document as an image, means for communications with a telephone line, means for communications with a LAN line, image compressing means, means for dividing the image into area, loading OCR to a character area and saving the document in a file form capable of layout saving like RTF and table in which a communication route predetermined for each destination and the form or compression form of a medium to be distributed to that route are determined, and by referring to that table for each transmitting destination, the transmitting operation is performed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a digital multi-function peripheral,
The present invention relates to a document transmission device such as a facsimile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A digital multi-function peripheral is based on a digital copying machine and has a facsimile function, a printer function and a scanner function. In particular, many copiers and facsimile functions are integrated.

[0003]

However, the conventional digital multi-function peripheral has only two functions in one housing, and the facsimile transmission has the same operation as a single facsimile. Therefore, for example, even if the MFPs are connected to each other by LAN connection in the same office, if a document is to be sent by using the facsimile function, there is a drawback that communication cost occurs because the document is sent via the public line. It was

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a document transmitting apparatus capable of reducing communication costs.

[0005]

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a means for reading a document as an image, a means for communicating with a telephone line, a means for communicating with a LAN line, an image compressing means, and an image. Is divided into regions, the character regions are multiplied by OCR, and the contents are stored in a file format capable of layout saving such as RTF, and a communication path predetermined for each destination and a format of a medium to be sent to the path or a compression format of the medium. Is provided, and the transmission processing operation is performed by referring to the table for each transmission destination.

[0006]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the structure of a multi-function peripheral. 1 is a public line, 2 is a facsimile modem, and 3 is an LA.
N line, 4 is a network interface card (NI
C) 5 is a printer for printing, 6 is a hard disk device used for temporarily storing images, 7 is an operation panel for giving instructions to the operation of the multi-function peripheral, 8 is a scanner for reading a document as an image , 9 are RAMs used as work areas for various processes, 10 is a ROM in which a program for controlling the multifunction peripheral is stored, and 11 is a microprocessor for controlling the entire multifunction peripheral.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a table that defines processing for transmission for each destination.

In column 21, the telephone number of the destination is entered. Row 22
Indicates a communication path for the telephone number, and a value for identifying FAX or LAN is entered. In the case of LAN, the IP address of the multifunction peripheral is set. Column 23 defines the media format or compression format for the destination telephone number. For example, in the case of FAX transmission, MMR, MR, MH, etc. are designated, and in the case of LAN transmission, the file format transmitted by LAN is indicated.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the operation at the time of transmission.

In step 31, the destination is input from the operation panel 7 and the send button is pressed. In step 32, it is judged whether or not there is a telephone number in the transmission operation setting table shown in FIG. 2, and if there is a telephone number, the process proceeds to step 33, and it is checked whether the content of the column 22 of the table is FAX or LAN. If the FAX is designated, the process proceeds to step 34, the compression process in the designated compression format is performed, and the unique FAX is performed at step 36.
Performs high-speed communication using the protocol without the negotiation phase.

If the destination telephone number is not found in the table in step 32, it is considered that the transmission is to a general facsimile, so the process proceeds to step 37 and the connection operation is performed by the standard facsimile protocol to transmit. When it is determined in step 33 that the transmission route is the LAN, the process proceeds to step 35, where the image read from the scanner 8 to the RAM 9 is subjected to area division and OCR processing, and a layout-saving file format (for example, After converting to RTF), the process proceeds to step 38, and the file is transferred using the file transfer protocol to the IP address specified in the column 22 of the table. Here, the transmission operation setting table shown in FIG. 2 is created on the assumption that the communication cost is reduced, but if it is set again so that the image reproducibility is emphasized. It is possible to realize a multi-function peripheral that prioritizes image reproducibility.

[0013]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, means for reading a document as an image, means for communicating with a telephone line, means for communicating with a LAN line, image compressing means, and images. Is divided into regions, the character region is multiplied by OCR, and R
A means for saving in a file format capable of saving a layout such as TF and a table for defining a communication path predetermined for each destination and a format of a medium to be sent to the path or a compression format of the medium are provided. Since the transmission processing operation is performed by referring to the table, it is possible to obtain the effect that the communication cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a multifunction peripheral.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a transmission operation setting table.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation during transmission.

[Explanation of symbols] 1 public line 2 FAX modem 3 LAN lines 4 network interface card 5 printers 6 Hard disk device 7 Operation panel 8 scanner 9 RAM 10 ROM 11 microprocessors

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A means for reading a document as an image, a means for communicating with a telephone line, a means for communicating with a LAN line, an image compressing means, an image dividing area, and applying OCR to a character area, such as RTF. It has a means to save in a file format that can save various layouts, and has a table that defines the communication path that is predetermined for each destination and the format of the medium or the compression format of the medium that flows in that path. A document transmitting apparatus characterized by performing a transmission processing operation by referring to the document transmitting apparatus. 2. The table referred to in the transmission processing operation is defined as communication speed priority.
Document transmission device described. 3. The document transmitting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the table referred to in the transmission processing operation is set to have image reproducibility priority.