JP2003333311A - Communication apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a communication apparatus capable of transmitting a beautiful watermark without the need for notifying a user about the necessity of revision of an image quality mode. <P>SOLUTION: The flowchart of the processing by the communication apparatus of this invention includes: a step of registering in advance a watermark and a destination corresponding to a one-touch key; a step ST13 of selecting an original read mode when the one-touch key 8a is operated (ST11, ST12), a step ST14 of reading the original to be transmitted and storing the read image to an image memory 5; a step ST15 of writing the watermark corresponding to the operated one-touch key 8a to the original image stored in the image memory 5 in an OR way by matching the address of the watermark with the address of the original image so as to superimpose the watermark on and compose the watermark with the original image; and a step ST16 of encoding the composite image by a CODEC10 and transmitting the encoded image to the destination via an NCU1. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication apparatus such as a facsimile apparatus having a function of attaching a watermark to an image and transmitting the image.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, some facsimile machines have a function of attaching a watermark to a transmission image and transmitting it. In this type of device, the watermark is
Because of its nature, it is described thinly in an image, so it cannot be expressed well in a binary image with no gradation in the image. Therefore, conventionally, when transmitting the watermark, the mode is set to the photograph mode and the watermark is transmitted.

[0003]

In the above-mentioned conventional communication apparatus, when transmitting a watermark, the photograph mode is manually set. Therefore, it is necessary to be aware of changing the setting. In addition to using, there is a problem that sometimes it is forgotten and sent as a binary image.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a communication device capable of transmitting a beautiful watermark without making the user aware of the necessity of changing the image quality mode. Has an aim.

[0005]

The communication device of the present invention comprises:
An image storage unit for storing an image corresponding to the one-touch key, an image selecting unit for designating a destination at the time of transmission, and selecting the image stored in the image storage unit by the one-touch key, and a transmission original image. An image synthesizing means for synthesizing the selected images is provided, and the synthesized image is transmitted.

Also, the communication device of the present invention sends a call to the destination by operating the one-touch key for designating the destination, the image storage section for storing the image corresponding to the one-touch key, and the one-touch key. , And the corresponding image is combined with the transmission original image and transmitted.

In the communication device of the present invention, at the time of the transmission, it is sufficient to read and transmit in the photograph mode.
Here, the photographic mode is a mode in which image processing is performed by dithering or error diffusion, which is a halftone technique.

[0008]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to embodiments. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the facsimile apparatus of this embodiment has an NCU 1, a MODEM 2, and a ROM 3
, RAM 4, image memory 5, MPU 6, display unit 7, operation unit 8, image reading unit 9, and CODEC 10.
A printer 11 and a bus 12.

The NCU 1 has a function of controlling connection with the telephone line 13, a function of transmitting a telephone number of the other party (= corresponding dial signal), and a function of detecting an incoming call. MODEM2 is based on ITU (International Telecommunication Union) -T recommendation T.264. 30 based on the facsimile transmission control procedure according to V.30. 17, V.I. 27 ter, V.I. The transmission data is modulated and the reception data is demodulated according to 29 or the like. The ROM 3 stores a program for controlling the entire device. The RAM 4 temporarily stores various information regarding the facsimile device. The RAM 4 has a one-touch memory 4 for a one-touch table that stores a destination and a watermark name in association with the one-touch key 8a of the operation unit 8.
a, a watermark memory 4b for storing watermarks such as "copy prohibited" and "confidential document". The image memory 5 temporarily stores the received image data and the image data read by the image reading unit 9. FIG. 5 shows an example of the stored contents of the one-touch memory 4a.

The MPU 6 controls each part constituting the device according to the program stored in the ROM 3. Display 7
Includes a key function display unit corresponding to the key switch of the operation unit 8, and displays a watermark list. The operation unit 8
In addition to the one-touch key 8a, a numeric keypad, a start key,
It has other keys. One-touch key 8a here
Is a generic term for a plurality of one-touch keys. The image reading unit 9 reads the image data on the document and outputs black and white binary image data. Of course, in the case of the photo mode, halftone data is included in the output. CODEC10
Encodes image data to be transmitted and decodes the received image data. The printer 11 is an electrophotographic printer, and in receiving image data and copying operation,
The image data of the original read by the image reading unit 9 is recorded on the recording paper.

Next, the watermark registration process corresponding to the one-touch key 8a in the facsimile apparatus of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flow chart shown in FIG. First, in step ST1, it is determined whether or not to input a destination. When inputting the destination, the process proceeds to step ST2. On the other hand, when the destination is not input, step ST3
Move to. In step ST2, the operation unit 8 is operated to input the destination information. Then, it transfers to step ST3.

In step ST3, the watermark list is displayed on the display unit 7, and the process proceeds to step ST4. The watermark list is, for example, "copy prohibited",
"Confidential documents" etc. are displayed. In step ST4, one watermark is selected from the watermark list. Then, the process proceeds to step ST5. In step ST5, the color of the watermark to be combined is designated. This completes the one-touch registration process. FIG. 5 shows the registration contents of the one-touch memory 4a when the watermark is registered together with the destination. When no destination is input, the destination in FIG. 5 is blank.

Next, the transmission processing of the image with the watermark attached in the facsimile apparatus of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flow charts shown in FIGS. When the transmission process starts, if the destination and the watermark are registered in correspondence with the one-touch key 8a depending on whether or not the destination is input and the watermark is selected, only the destination is input, and if the watermark is not selected, the destination by the one-touch key is used. Although not an input, there are three input modes in the case of selecting the watermark by the one-touch key 8a. When the one-touch key 8a corresponds to the destination and the watermark, the one-touch destination button with the watermark attribute is selected in step ST11. next,
The process proceeds to step ST12.

In step ST12, it is determined whether or not the watermark is selected. In this case, since the watermark has been selected, next step ST
Move to 13. In step ST13, the document reading is set to the photo mode. Then, step ST14
Move to.

In step ST14, the image reading section 9 reads the original to be transmitted and stores it in the image memory 5. Then, it transfers to step ST15. Step S
At T15, the selected watermark is read from the watermark memory 4b and OR is added to the read image according to the address of the read image stored in the image memory 5.
Write and synthesize. In this case, the watermark has a specified color. Then, the process proceeds to step ST16. In step ST16, the composite image is read from the image memory 5, encoded by the CODEC 10, transmitted via the NCU 1 to the destination.

If only the destination is input in step ST17, the determination in step ST12 as to whether or not the watermark is selected is NO, and the process proceeds to step ST18. In step ST18, the original is read at the resolution of the set mode,
This is stored in the image memory in step ST19, and normal FAX transmission is performed in step ST16. Further, in step ST20, when the normal destination is input without using the one-touch key 8a and the watermark is selected with the one-touch key 8a in step ST21, the process proceeds to step ST12. The processing after step ST12 is the same processing as when the one-touch key with the watermark attribute is operated.

In the description of the above embodiment, when the watermark is selected in step ST12, the original reading is in the photo mode. However, this is the normal mode, and the photo is read during watermark reading and composition. The mode may be set.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the watermark is combined in black and white, and the watermark is combined in color, which makes it particularly easy to see when the original is monochrome.

[0020]

According to the present invention, the image corresponding to the one-touch key is stored, the image is selected by operating the one-touch key, the selected image is combined with the transmission original image, and the image is transmitted. A beautiful watermark can be transmitted without being aware of the need to change the image quality mode.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a one-touch registration process of the facsimile device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a process of transmitting a watermarked image in the facsimile apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating, together with FIG. 3, a process of transmitting a watermarked image in the facsimile apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating one-touch registration contents of the facsimile apparatus according to the first embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 NCU 2 MODEM 3 ROM 4 RAM 4a One-touch memory 4b watermark memory 5 image memory 6 MPU 7 Display 8 operation part 8a One-touch key 9 Image reading section 10 CODEC 11 Printer

Continued front page    F-term (reference) 5B057 BA02 BA23 CB19 CE08 CG07                       CH11                 5C075 BA09 CD07 EE90                 5C076 AA14 BA04 BA06

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An image storage unit for storing an image corresponding to a one-touch key, and image selection means for designating a destination at the time of transmission and selecting the image stored in the image storage unit by the one-touch key. A communication device, comprising: an image synthesizing unit that synthesizes a selected image with a transmission original image, and transmits the synthetic image. 2. A one-touch key that designates a destination, an image storage unit that stores an image corresponding to the one-touch key, and a one-touch key that is operated to send a corresponding image to the destination. A communication device characterized by being combined with a document image and transmitted. 3. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein at the time of the transmission, the image is read and transmitted in a photograph mode.