JP2003179724A - Image data transmitter-receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce communication cost on a transmitting side by reducing the amount of transmission data to be sent from the transmitting side such as an external PC or a FAX. <P>SOLUTION: When information addition designation data indicating the acquisition of information from the other device such as a host computer, for example, exist in data received from the external PC or the FAX, on the basis of these data, the host computer is automatically accessed, and the information is acquired therefrom and outputted while being replaced with the information addition designation data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image data transmitting / receiving apparatus such as a facsimile machine, and more particularly to information for designating the location of an information supply source having detailed information as part of data transmitted via a communication line. The present invention relates to a device in which received data in which additional designation data is inserted is received, and detailed information is obtained from a designated information supply source and replenished by a facsimile machine on the receiving side.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in this type of facsimile apparatus,
A reading head provided in a line shape reads a document set on a platen one line at a time, and binarizes the read image signal including a document and various drawings by A / D conversion. An image transmitting device is provided which can generate the image data (image data) and can transmit the image data to a facsimile device of a desired destination via a telephone line or a dedicated communication line.
An image recording device is provided which receives the binarized image data and records an image on a recording sheet made of roll-shaped recording paper or cut paper by a linear recording head based on the image data.

That is, in a facsimile apparatus, image data (image data) created by optically reading a document or various drawings drawn on an original is transmitted, while the received image data is recorded on a recording paper. Then, an image similar to the document or the drawing drawn on the original of the transmission source is drawn on the recording paper of the transmission destination. By the way, the image data of the image drawn on the manuscript is image data, and the image data is compressed by a predetermined compression operation to reduce the amount of data to be transmitted. By transmitting the or symbols as code data, the amount of transmission data can be further reduced.

In recent years, networks for transmitting information such as LANs (Local Area Networks) have become widespread on a large scale, and in particular, the Internet has become widespread on a global scale. Various types of data transfer are performed between various personal computers or large-sized host computers having an OS (Operating System) such as the OS developed in. Furthermore, since it becomes possible to connect a facsimile machine or printer to the network, images will be sent as image data, but documents will be sent as code data, and when this code data is received, code data will be sent. There is a tendency for practical use of a facsimile machine that creates and records dot image data of characters and symbols corresponding to.

[0005]

As described above, in a facsimile apparatus for transmitting image data (image data) created by optically reading a document drawn on an original or various drawings, image data of an image is transmitted. Is compressed to reduce the amount of data to be transmitted, but when the image drawn on the original is large, the amount of data to be transmitted becomes large and the communication time becomes long. There is a problem of high cost.

On the other hand, in the case of a facsimile machine which is connected to various networks, the characters and symbols contained in the document can be transmitted as code data, which shortens the communication time. In addition to the greetings, the latest inventory information and sales information, as well as the financial statements including the financial information such as the inventory amount and the amount of change in sales up to the point of sale, are located far from the host computer at the head office. When sending to a branch office facsimile machine, the latest settlement information such as inventory information and sales information is sent to the same host machine of the branch office as the transmission destination, for example, to a host computer of another branch office connected to the LAN. Even if it is stored, the financial statements including the financial information will be sent to the branch offices connected to the long-distance network.
There is a problem that the communication cost will be high because the host computer of the head office sends the data.

Therefore, for example, it may be considered that the settlement information is added to data so as to be acquired from an information supply source such as a host computer stored as a database and transmitted to a facsimile machine. However, on the facsimile side that receives the data, a person operates the terminal device etc. to access the information supply source and have the information provided, and the acquisition operation for acquiring the information is troublesome. There is a problem of becoming.

The object of the present invention is to obtain the detailed information simply by receiving the information addition designation data for accessing the information supply source storing the detailed information in addition to the minimum necessary information. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile device that can be used and can reduce communication costs.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image data transmitting / receiving apparatus, an access unit for accessing the Internet via a first communication line, and a service and a host on the Internet by the access unit. And a URL retrieved by the URL information retrieval means for retrieving URL information for instructing
Information read storage means for accessing the Internet through the access means on the basis of information to read and temporarily store information designated by URL information, and record data based on the information stored in the information read storage means And an image forming means for recording the recording data on a recording medium, and reads information specified by the URL information from the Internet based on the URL information searched by the URL information searching means. Recording data is created based on the information, and the recording data is recorded on a recording medium.

An image data transmitting / receiving apparatus according to a second aspect is
The image data transmitting / receiving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
And a reception data storage unit for storing the data received by the reception unit, wherein the URL information retrieval unit stores the reception data storage unit. The URL information is retrieved from the received data stored in the means.

An image data transmitting / receiving apparatus according to a third aspect is
The image data transmission / reception device according to any one of claims 1 and 2, further comprising a LAN interface, wherein the access unit accesses the Internet through the first communication line passing through the LAN interface. Is.

An image data transmitting / receiving apparatus according to a fourth aspect is
The image data transmission / reception apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising an NCU and a modem connected to the NCU, wherein the receiving unit uses the second communication line passing through the NCU and the modem. , Is designed to receive code data of characters and symbols.

That is, the received data of the code data of the received characters and symbols and the image data of the image are recorded on the recording medium. On the other hand, when the received data includes the information addition designation data, the information addition designation data is recorded. For example, detailed information is acquired by accessing the information supply source specified by, and recording data for recording by replacing the acquired information with the information addition specification data is created and recorded. When the information source of information is located in a short distance to the receiving facsimile machine, it is possible to omit the transmission of the detailed information from a long distance by simply transmitting the simple information addition designation data. From
Communication costs can be reduced.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The present embodiment is a case where the present invention is applied to a facsimile apparatus capable of receiving code data of characters and symbols and image data of an image including image data of an image and performing recording processing on recording paper. A small liquid crystal display 3 for displaying various messages at the time of transmission and reception and a handset 4 are attached to a main body cover 2 of the facsimile apparatus 1, and an original placing table 5 for placing a plurality of originals is provided. An operation panel provided with a number key for dialing the facsimile machine of the other party, a large number of function keys for setting various transmission modes at the time of transmission, and various transmission modes at the time of reception 6 is provided. Furthermore,
On the front side of the main body cover 2, a recording paper cassette 7 capable of accommodating a large number of recording papers of standard cut papers is set.

Here, although not shown, the main body cover 2
An image reading device 8 including a document feeding mechanism that conveys a document on which an image is drawn, a line-shaped reading head that reads the image of the document, and a recording sheet conveying mechanism that conveys the recording sheet when recording an image. An image recording device 9 including a recording head for recording received image data and a control unit 10 for controlling the facsimile device 1 are provided. Next, regarding the control system of the facsimile apparatus 1, FIG.
It will be described based on the block diagram of FIG.

The input / output interface (input / output I / F) 15 of the control unit 10 includes a display controller 20 for controlling the liquid crystal display 3 and a CD-R.
CD controller for controlling the drive of OM21 (CD
C) 22 and a hard disk controller (HD) for controlling the drive of the hard disk drive (HDD) 23.
C) 24 and the operation panel 6 are connected to each other. The control unit 10 is a C that executes various control programs.
PU11 and a bus 1 such as a data bus for the CPU 11
ROM 12, 13 and RAM 14 connected via 6
It is composed of a microcomputer including.

An image reading device 8 and an image recording device 9 are further connected to the bus 16, and a LAN (local / local) is provided as a communication interface via a communication cable (corresponding to a communication line) 25. A LAN interface 17 for connecting Ethernet (a LAN transmission standard developed by Xerox Corporation) to the area network 27, and a modem for connecting to the telephone line 26 via an NCU (network control unit) 19. 18 and 18 are connected to each other. By the way, as shown in FIG. 1, the communication cable 25 of the LAN 27
Multiple host computers "HC1, HC2, HC
3, ... "30 and a gateway" GW "31 are connected, and a facsimile machine" FA "is connected via a telephone line 26.
An "X" 32, a personal computer "PC" 33, etc. are connected. Here, the gateway 31 is a computer for connecting to different networks such as the Internet.

Here, as in a general host computer, the ROM 12 stores a startup program for starting up the facsimile apparatus 1 when the power is turned on. The font ROM 13 also stores dot image data for each of a plurality of characters and symbols in association with code data. The reception data memory (corresponding to reception data storage means) 14a of the RAM 14 receives and stores code data of a document and image data of an image transmitted from the outside. Dot data memory 1
Image data of one page sentence expanded into dot image data is stored in 4b.

Further, in the RAM 14, various driver software, which is stored in advance in the HDD 23 or the like, for transmitting information via a network such as the LAN 27 or the Internet, is read and stored as needed, and image data is transmitted and received. Processing and information transmission processing become possible. On the other hand, HD
D23 incorporates various driver software for enabling the display 3, the image reading device 8, the image recording device 9 and the like, and further, via the telephone line 26, an external facsimile device 32 and a personal computer 33 and data. Driver software for transmitting and receiving data, and various driver software for transmitting information with various host computers 30 connected to an external LAN 27 or a network such as the Internet via a communication cable 25 are incorporated. ing.

Next, the received data recording control routine executed by the control unit 10 of the facsimile apparatus 1 will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.
In addition, reference numeral Si in the drawing (i = 10, 11, 12, ...)
Is each step. Here, it is assumed that the transmission data transmitted from the external personal computer “PC” 33 via the telephone line 26 is recorded on the recording paper P.

As shown in FIG. 6, first, code data groups of texts for a plurality of lines are transmitted, then dot image data for explanatory drawings are transmitted, and then detailed information is stored. Information addition specification data "HOST1: / usr /.../ file 01" that specifies the information supply source of LAN 27 is transmitted, and finally, a plurality of code data for the "simple document" of the detailed information is transmitted. Shall be sent. Further, a code data command for instructing code data is transmitted to the text sentence, an image data command is transmitted to the image data in advance, and an information addition designation command is transmitted to the information addition designation data in advance. And
That is, the transmission data is created by inputting the code data of the text sentence in the word processor mode in the personal computer 33 of the transmission source in the word processor mode, and the dot data compressed and read by the image reader for the image data. The data.

External personal computer "PC" 3
This control is started when the data transmitted from No. 3 is received and stored in the reception data memory 14a. First, the first reception data stored in the reception data memory 14a is read (S10) and is converted into code data. When the command is a code data command (S11: Yes), it is expanded into dot image data based on the code data of a plurality of characters and symbols included in the text sentence following the command and stored in the dot data memory 14b. The dot data expansion processing to be stored is executed (S14). Then, the dot image data stored in the dot data memory 14b is output to the image recording device 9, and a recording process for recording an image is executed (S18). For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the first text sentence is recorded on the recording paper P.

Next, when there is received data (S
19: Yes), the next received data is read (S20), S
Return to 11. Then, when the next received data is an image data command indicating that it is image data (S11: No, S12: Yes), the compressed image data in the compressed state following the command is the original image that is not compressed. A decoding process of restoring the data and storing it in the dot data memory 14b is executed (S15). Then, similarly, the recording process is performed in S18, and the process returns from S19 to S20 to S11. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the following “explanatory diagram” is recorded on the recording paper P.

Next, when the next received data read is an information addition designation command (S11 / S12: No, S13:
Yes), the information addition processing control (see FIG. 4) is executed (S16). When this control is started, first, the information addition designation data following the command is read (S30),
Based on the information addition designation data, it is determined which information supply source is (S31). That is, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, it is a part for instructing an IP address for identifying a connection device on the LAN based on the information addition designation data consisting of “HOST1: / usr /.../ file 01”. "HOST
1 ”, it is determined that the information source is stored in the“ host computer 1 ”30 connected to the LAN 27.

Further, for example, "http://www.brother.co.
Based on the information addition specification data consisting of "jp / home / data / file02", it is connected to the Internet by the access specification of the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) structure that specifies the service and host on the Internet.
It is determined that the information supply source is stored in the host computer specified by the "host name" and the "path name". On the other hand, for example, based on the information addition designation data consisting of "03-5555-1234-456 #", it is determined that the information supply source is stored in the personal computer or host computer designated by this telephone number. .

Next, the information addition designation data is "telephone number".
If not, that is, if "network" is designated (S32: No), a connection is requested to the host computer of the information supply source (S33), and a further information transmission request is made (S34), and transmission is performed. An information acquisition process of reading the received information and temporarily storing it in the work memory of the RAM 14 is executed (S35). That is, for example, LA
When the "host computer" 30 connected to N27 is designated, the connection is first requested to the host computer, and when a response is received from the other host computer within a predetermined prescribed time, The "information name" of the requested information is sent to the destination host computer, and the information sent from the destination host computer is received.

Further, for example, when the "host computer" connected to the Internet is designated, the gateway "GW" connected to the LAN 27 is specified.
The information addition designation data having the URL structure is transmitted to the terminal 31, and the information transmitted via the gateway 31 is received. Next, after the transmission request is made, the information is transmitted from the other host computer, and when the information is successfully acquired (S36: Yes), the recording data creation process of the acquired information is executed ( S41). That is, when the acquired information is composed of code data of a plurality of characters or symbols, the dot data is expanded into dot image data to create print data, and the dot data memory 1
On the other hand, when the image is a compressed dot image, the recording data is created by decoding and stored in the dot data memory 14b.

When a "simplified document" is added after the information addition designation data (S42: Ye
s), the code data of the "simplified document" is saved in the work memory and deleted from the reception data memory 14a (S43), the control is ended, the process returns to S18 of the reception data recording control, and the recording process is performed. It For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the “acquired information” consisting of a text sentence or an illustration is recorded in place of the information addition designation data. still,
When the information addition designation data includes attributes such as the position and size in the page when the “acquired information” is recorded, recording is performed based on the attribute.

On the other hand, when the connection request and the transmission request are made, but the connection with the other host computer is not established, the information acquisition fails (S36: No),
When the "simplified document" is added after the information addition designation data (S37: Yes), the "simplified document" is expanded into dot data, and the recording data composed of dot image data is stored in the dot data memory 14b. The data is stored (S38), the control is terminated, the process returns to S18, and the recording process is performed. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, the received "simplified document" is recorded in place of the information addition designation data.

By the way, when the connection with the destination host computer is not established and there is no "simplified document" (S36 / S37: No), detailed information is additionally recorded at this recording position. The dot data development processing of the substitute graphic (for example, XXX ...) Is executed and the dot image data is stored in the dot data memory 14b (S39).
The process is returned to and the recording process is performed. For example, as shown in FIG. 9, the substitute graphic “XXXX ...” Is recorded on the recording paper P by replacing the information addition designation data.

Here, when the information addition designation data is a telephone number (S32: Yes), since the telephone line 26 is currently being used, it is not possible to connect to that telephone number. Therefore, the dot data of the message "See attached sheet" is displayed. The expansion processing is executed, the dot image data is stored in the dot data memory 14b (S40), and similarly through S42 to S43, S
It returns to 18 and is recorded. For example, as shown in FIG. 10, the message “reference to another sheet” is recorded on the recording sheet P1 in place of the information addition designation data. Then, when the recording process is executed for all the received data (S19: No), and when the information addition designation data is the telephone number (S21: Yes), the connection with the transmission source is disconnected. An additional recording process (see FIG. 5) is executed (S2
2).

When this control is started, the steps S33 to S36 are executed.
Similarly, when S50 to S53 are executed and a request for transmission is made and then information is transmitted from the other host computer (S53: Yes),
The recording data creation process of the acquired information is executed (S
57), recording processing is performed on the next recording paper P (S58), the control and the reception data recording control are ended, and the process returns to the main routine. For example, as shown in FIG. 10, "acquired information" consisting of text sentences and illustrations on the next recording sheet P2.
Is recorded.

However, when the connection request and the transmission request are made, but the connection with the other host computer is not established, when the information acquisition fails, the "simplified document"
When is added (S53: No, S54: Yes),
The "simplified document" is developed into dot data and is recorded on the next recording paper P2 (S55, S58). Further, when the connection with the destination host computer is not established and the "simplified document" does not exist (S53 / S54: No), the substitute graphic "XXXX ..." Is the next recording paper P2.
Is recorded in (S56, S58).

Next, the operation of the received data recording control will be described. Received data memory 1 received from an external personal computer “PC” 33 via the telephone line 26
The received data stored in 4a is sequentially read out, and when the received data is a text sentence including a code data group, dot data of the text sentence is created and recorded. When the received data is compressed image data of an image, it is decoded and recorded. On the other hand, when the received data includes the information addition designation data for designating that the information supply source is accessed through the LAN 27 or the various networks such as the Internet, the information addition designation data is designated through the communication line 25. A connection request and information transmission request are made to the host computer (information supply source) designated by the information addition designation data.

Then, when the information is transmitted from the host computer of the other end and the information is successfully acquired, the print data composed of dot image data is created for the acquired information, and the "information addition designation data" and the "information addition designation data" are created. It is replaced with the “simplified document” and is recorded on the recording paper P. Here, even when the acquisition of information has failed, when the “simplified document” is added, the “simplified document” is subjected to dot data development, replaced with the information addition designation data, and recorded on the recording paper P. It However, when the acquisition of the information fails and there is no "simplified document", the "substitute graphic" is recorded at the recording position.

By the way, when the information addition designation data is "telephone number", the message "See attached sheet" is recorded at the recording position, and when the recording of the received data is completed, the host computer designated by the information addition designation data is recorded. (Information source) is requested to connect and information is requested to be transmitted,
With respect to the acquired information transmitted from the host computer of the other side, recording data composed of dot image data is created, replaced with the “information addition designation data” and the “simplified document”, and is recorded on the next recording paper P.

As described above, the received data of the character and symbol code data and the image data of the image received from the external personal computer "PC" 33 are sequentially recorded on the recording paper P, and the information addition designation is given to the received data. When the data is included, the information supply source (host computer) specified by the information addition designation data is accessed to easily obtain detailed information, and the obtained information is replaced with the information addition designation data. Since the record data for recording is created and recorded on the recording paper P,
When the information source of the detailed information is located at a short distance to the receiving facsimile machine, the simple transmission of the information addition designation data is sufficient to transmit the detailed information from a long distance. Since communication can be omitted, the communication cost can be reduced.

The transmission data shown in FIG. 6 is connected to the facsimile apparatus "FA" connected via the telephone line 26.
It may be configured to transmit from "X" 32. In this case, the facsimile apparatus “FAX” 32 can convert the text sentence drawn on the manuscript into code data of characters and symbols, and can transmit the code data.
Configured as a type. Further, the information supply source designated by the information addition designation data may be the “CD-ROM” 21 or the “HDD” 23 provided in the facsimile apparatus 1. Furthermore, various modifications may be made to the above-described embodiment based on existing technology or technology obvious to those skilled in the art. Further, it is needless to say that the present invention can be applied to various facsimile machines connected to various networks such as a facsimile machine which records on a roll-shaped recording paper.

[0039]

According to the facsimile apparatus of the first aspect of the present invention, in the facsimile apparatus capable of receiving the received data including the code data of characters and symbols and the image data of the image and recording the received data on the recording medium, the received data storing means. An access unit, a designated data search unit, an information reading storage unit, and a data creation unit, and the received data of the received character or symbol code data and the image data of the image are recorded on the recording medium. When the received data includes the information addition designation data, the information supply source designated by the information addition designation data is accessed to easily obtain detailed information, and the obtained information is designated as the information addition designation. Since the record data to be recorded by replacing with the data is created and recorded, the information supply source of the detailed information receives the record data. In the case of being located at a short distance to the X-mill device, it is possible to reduce the communication cost because it is possible to omit the transmission of detailed information from a long distance simply by transmitting the simple information addition designation data. You can

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a facsimile device connected to a telephone line or a communication line according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a control system of a facsimile device.

FIG. 3 is a schematic flowchart of a received data recording control routine.

FIG. 4 is a schematic flowchart of a routine of information addition processing control.

FIG. 5 is a schematic flowchart of a routine of additional recording processing control.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating transmission data including information addition designation data.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a recorded image including acquisition information.

8 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 7 including a simplified document.

FIG. 9 is a view corresponding to FIG. 7 including an alternative graphic.

FIG. 10 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 7, in which the acquired information is recorded on two sheets as separate sheets.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Facsimile machine 12 ROM 13 RAM 14a Received data memory 17 LAN I / F 23 HDD 25 communication lines 26 telephone lines 27 LAN 30 host computer

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An access unit for accessing the Internet via a first communication line, and U for retrieving URL information for designating a service and a host on the Internet by the access unit.
An RL information search means, and an information read storage means for accessing the Internet via the access means based on the URL information searched by the URL information search means to read and temporarily store the information designated by the URL information. An image data transmission / reception apparatus, comprising: an image forming unit that creates recording data based on the information stored in the information reading storage unit and records the recording data on a recording medium. 2. The image data transmitting / receiving device includes a receiving unit that receives code data of characters and symbols via a second communication line, and a received data storing unit that stores the data received by the receiving unit. The URL information search means searches the received data stored in the received data storage means for the URL information.
The image data transmitting / receiving apparatus according to claim 1. 3. The image data transmission / reception device comprises a LAN interface, and the access means accesses the Internet by the first communication line passing through the LAN interface. The described image data transmitting / receiving apparatus. 4. The image data transmitting / receiving apparatus includes an NCU and a modem connected to the NCU, and the receiving means uses the second communication line passing through the NCU and the modem to code characters or symbols. The image data transmitting / receiving apparatus according to claim 1, which receives data.