JP2005102255A - Device, system, and method for transferring image, facsimile equipment, and facsimile server - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To transfer an image to a server of a transmission destination without any burden. <P>SOLUTION: An image transferring device captures an image to be transmitted by an image inputting section 2002 and registers the captured image in the server, such as a proxy server 12, where an image registration section 2005 is connected to a LAN 80, or the like. Additionally, an electronic mail management section 2006 transmits the address of the server in which the image is registered in the transmission destination of the image as an electronic mail. As a result, only the address of the server in which the image is registered is transmitted to the transmission destination of the image and the image can be referred to without burdening the server of the transmission destination. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image transfer apparatus, an image transfer system, an image transfer method, a facsimile apparatus, and a facsimile server that transfer an image to a server connected to a predetermined network.

  In recent years, in offices and the like, personal computers and workstations are connected to a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network) so that data can be easily shared. Further, a technique for transmitting data from a workstation or the like to a general facsimile or receiving data sent from a general facsimile using a network such as a LAN is also considered.

  Of these, various facsimile servers that transmit data from a workstation connected to a network to a general facsimile have been conventionally considered (see Patent Document 1, Patent Document 2, etc.).

  Patent Document 3 discloses an apparatus that compresses an image read by a scanner and transmits it as an e-mail to a specified destination. Further, Patent Document 4 discloses an apparatus that, when receiving facsimile data, obtains a destination from a received telephone number attached to the data, and creates and transmits an e-mail with the facsimile data as contents.

JP-A-2-277271 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-94959 JP-A-8-102837 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-308503

  However, when an image to be transmitted is transmitted as an e-mail, data is transferred to a destination mail server, which imposes a burden on the destination mail server. In other words, since the normal mail server sets the capacity for text data, transferring image data or a large amount of image data converted to text data to the destination mail server, This will put more load than email.

  When receiving facsimile data to be transmitted, an address is obtained from a reception telephone number attached to the received facsimile data, an e-mail is created with the facsimile data as contents, and is temporarily held in a mail server. For this reason, there is a problem that a large load is applied to the mail server in the same manner as described above.

  In addition, the e-mail held in the mail server is transferred to the client terminal. However, if only the data is referred to, it is not necessary to transfer the data to the client terminal. ) Will cause problems such as overflow.

  The present invention has been made to solve such problems. That is, the present invention provides an image input unit that captures an image to be transmitted, a registration unit that registers an image captured by the image input unit in a server connected to a network, and an address of a server in which the image is registered. An image transfer apparatus, a facsimile apparatus, and a facsimile server, each having an address transmission means for transmitting as an e-mail to a transmission destination.

  The present invention also provides an image input unit that captures an image to be transmitted, a registration unit that registers an image captured by the image input unit in a plurality of servers connected to a network, and addresses of a plurality of servers in which the images are registered. An image transfer apparatus, a facsimile apparatus, and a facsimile server, each of which includes an address transmission unit that transmits the image as an electronic mail to a plurality of image transmission destinations.

  The present invention also provides an image receiving means for receiving an image, an identification means for identifying a plurality of transmission destinations and server addresses of the image received by the image receiving means, and an image to the server address identified by the identification means. An image transfer apparatus, a facsimile apparatus, and a facsimile server, each including registration means for registration and address transmission means for transmitting addresses of servers that have registered images by the registration means to a plurality of destinations of the images identified by the identification means.

  In addition, the present invention provides an image receiving unit that receives an image, an identification unit that identifies a destination of an image received by the image receiving unit and addresses of a plurality of servers, and a plurality of server addresses identified by the identification unit. An image transfer apparatus, a facsimile apparatus, and a facsimile server comprising: registration means for registering an image; and address transmission means for transmitting addresses of a plurality of servers that have registered images by the registration means to destinations of the images identified by the identification means. .

  The present invention also provides an image receiving means for receiving an image, an identification means for identifying a plurality of destinations of the image based on the image received by the image receiving means, and a registration for registering an image at a pre-registered server address. An image transfer apparatus, a facsimile apparatus, and a facsimile server. The image transfer apparatus, the facsimile apparatus, and the facsimile server include an address transmission unit that transmits the address of the server that registered the image by the registration unit to a plurality of destinations identified by the identification unit.

  The present invention also provides an image input means for capturing an image to be transmitted, a registration means for registering an image captured by the image input means in a server connected to the network, and a plurality of image transmissions in which the address of the server in which the image is registered An image transfer system includes an image transfer apparatus including an address transmission unit that transmits an e-mail first, and a terminal that enables an image to be referred to from the address of a server transmitted by the address transmission unit.

  The present invention also includes a step of capturing an image to be transmitted, a step of registering the captured image in a server connected to the network, and an address of the server in which the image is registered as an email to a plurality of image destinations. An image transfer method including a step of transmitting.

  The present invention also includes a step of capturing an image to be transmitted, a step of registering the captured image in a plurality of servers connected to the network, and the addresses of the plurality of servers in which the images are registered as a plurality of image destinations. And an image transmission method including a step of transmitting the data as an e-mail.

  The present invention also includes a step of receiving an image, a step of identifying a plurality of destinations of the received image and the address of the server, a step of registering the image at the address of the identified server, and a server that has registered the image And an address transfer method to a plurality of destinations of the image identified earlier.

  The present invention also includes a step of receiving an image, a step of identifying a destination of the received image and addresses of a plurality of servers, a step of registering images at the addresses of the plurality of identified servers, and registering an image And a step of transmitting the addresses of the plurality of servers to the transmission destination of the previously identified image.

  The present invention also includes a step of receiving an image, a step of identifying a plurality of transmission destinations of the image based on the received image, a step of registering the image at a pre-registered server address, and a server in which the image is registered And a step of transmitting the address to a plurality of destinations identified earlier.

  In the present invention, the image captured by the image input means is registered in a server connected to the network by the registration means. Further, since the address of the server in which the image is registered is transmitted as an e-mail to a plurality of image destinations, only the server address is notified to the plurality of destinations. . As a result, users at a plurality of destinations can access the server using the sent addresses and refer to the images.

  In the present invention, the image captured by the image input means is registered in a plurality of servers connected to the network by the registration means. Further, since the addresses of a plurality of servers where the images are registered are transmitted as e-mails to the image transmission destination by the address transmission means, only the addresses of the plurality of servers are notified to the transmission destination. . As a result, the transmission destination user can access the plurality of servers using the sent addresses and refer to the images.

  Further, according to the present invention, the e-mail address and the server address are identified based on the image received by the identification unit, and the image is registered by the registration unit at the server address. Further, the server address obtained by the identification unit is transmitted to the plurality of image destinations by the mail transmission unit as an email to the email address obtained by the identification unit. As a result, only the server address is transmitted to a plurality of destination users, and the user can refer to the image by accessing the transmitted server address.

  In the present invention, the e-mail address and the addresses of a plurality of servers are identified based on the images received by the identifying means, and the images are registered by the registering means at the addresses of the plurality of servers. In addition, the addresses of the plurality of servers obtained by the identification unit are transmitted as e-mails to the e-mail addresses obtained by the identification unit. As a result, only the addresses of the plurality of servers are transmitted to the destination user, and the user can refer to the images by accessing the transmitted server addresses.

  Therefore, the present invention has the following effects. In other words, the image to be sent is registered in the server, and only the address of the server is sent as an e-mail to the destination, so that the destination user can refer to the image without imposing a burden on the destination mail server. Is possible. Further, since the user who receives the image can refer to the image and transfer it to his / her terminal as necessary, it is possible to prevent the storage device of the terminal having a small capacity from overflowing.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an image transfer apparatus according to this embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a system configuration diagram. In this embodiment, an example in which the image transfer apparatus is applied to a facsimile server will be described.

  First, the configuration of the entire system will be described with reference to FIG. That is, as a system to which this image transfer apparatus is applied, a plurality of workstations (W / S) 10, 11, 70, 71 connected to LANs 80, 100, proxy servers (Proxy / S) 12, 72, and mail Servers (Mail / S) 13 and 73 and facsimile servers (FAX / S) 20 and 60 connected to both the LANs 80 and 100 and the public telephone line network 90 are configured. The LANs 80 and 100 are connected by a dedicated line 110 via communication servers (C / S) 30 and 50.

  The proxy servers 12 and 72 connected to the LANs 80 and 100 are servers that mainly handle WWW (World Wide Web) data, and the mail servers 13 and 73 are servers that handle electronic mail.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the facsimile servers 20 and 60 in the present embodiment have the same configuration, and operation units 2001 and 6001, image input units 2002 and 6002, image recording units 2003 and 6003, and an image storage unit. 2004, 6004, image registration unit 2005, 6005, e-mail management unit 2006, 6006, line interface (I / F) 2007, 6007, image conversion unit 2008, 6008, LAN interface (I / F) 2009, 6009, distribution destination Storage units 2010 and 6010, control sheet analysis units 2011 and 6011, and user management files 2012 and 6012 are provided.

  Among these, the operation units 2001 and 6001 accept a predetermined operation by the user. In addition, the image input units 2002 and 6002 capture an image sent from a workstation via the LAN 80 or 100, or capture a paper image with a scanner. The image recording units 2003 and 6003 output the received images on paper.

  The image storage units 2004 and 6004 store images captured by the image input units 2002 and 6002. The image registration units 2005 and 6005 register the image to be transmitted at a predetermined address of the proxy servers 12 and 72. The e-mail management units 2006 and 6006 transmit the addresses of the proxy servers 12 and 72 in which the images are registered to the e-mail address corresponding to the image transmission destination as e-mails.

  The line I / Fs 2007 and 6007 perform data input / output via the public telephone line network 90. The image conversion units 2008 and 6008 convert the images to be transmitted stored in the image storage units 2004 and 6004 into an e-mail format. The LAN I / Fs 2009 and 6009 perform data input / output via the LANs 80 and 100.

  Further, the distribution destination storage units 2010 and 6010 store the addresses of the proxy servers 12 and 72 that registered the images to be transmitted and the e-mail addresses corresponding to the transmission destinations. The control sheet analysis units 2011 and 6011 analyze read contents of a control sheet, which will be described later, and identify the addresses of the proxy servers 12 and 72 that register images and the e-mail address corresponding to the transmission destination. User management files 2012 and 6012 are files for associating an e-mail address with a proxy server address.

  The facsimile servers 20 and 60 according to the present embodiment register the image at a predetermined address of the proxy servers 12 and 72 when transmitting the image, and transfer the address to the transmission destination as an e-mail. The feature is that the facsimile data can be referred to without any burden.

  Next, image transmission and reception procedures in the facsimile server will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. In the following description, reference numerals not shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 refer to FIGS. 1 and 2 unless otherwise indicated. In this example, the facsimile server 20 transmits images and the facsimile server 60 receives images.

  First, an image transmission procedure will be described. First, the image is scanned by the image input unit 2002 of the facsimile server 20 to capture an image (step S101). Note that the image input unit 2002 may obtain images transmitted from the workstations 10 and 11 via the LAN 80.

  Next, the transmission method is selected by the user who performs the transmission, whether to use WWW, FAX transmission, or e-mail (step S102).

  If WWW is used, the process proceeds to step S103. If FAX transmission is used, the process proceeds to step S104. If e-mail is used, the process proceeds to step S105.

  First, in the case of FAX transmission, the image is transmitted as a facsimile from the line I / F 2007 to the destination facsimile server 60 via the public telephone line network 90 (step S104). When using e-mail, the captured image is converted into an e-mail format by the image conversion unit 2008 (step S105), and once transmitted to the mail server 13 (step S107). The e-mail stored in the mail server 13 is transferred to the destination workstations 70 and 71 via the dedicated line 110 or received by a user operating the workstations 70 and 71.

  When using WWW, the image registration unit 2005 registers the captured image in the proxy server 12 via the LAN 80 (step S103). Thereafter, the e-mail management unit 2006 transmits the address at which the image registration unit has registered the image, that is, the address of the proxy server 12 to the destination mail server 73 as an e-mail (step S106).

  As a result, the destination user refers to the address transmitted as an e-mail using the workstations 70 and 71 and accesses the address using a general-purpose browser to register the image registered in the proxy server 12. That is, the transmitted image can be referred to. Further, the image can be taken into the workstations 70 and 71 as necessary.

  Here, an example of a method for acquiring an e-mail address corresponding to a transmission destination when transmitting an image and a proxy server address for registering the image will be described. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the control sheet. The control sheet 120 captures an image to be transmitted together as a cover when the scanner captures an image to be transmitted, and can designate a predetermined registration number (designated by black painting or the like).

  Also, sheet detection marks 1201 to 1204 made up of bar codes and the like are provided at the four corners of the control sheet 120, so that the registration number can be detected by reading the control sheet 120 from any of the four directions. It has become. For example, the sheet detection marks 1201 to 1204 include attribute information such as a vertical forward direction and a vertical reverse direction indicating the scan direction. Even if the control sheet 120 is skewed, the registration number is set based on the arrangement information. It can be recognized.

  The control sheet analysis unit 2011 of the facsimile server 20 analyzes the information of the read control sheet 120, recognizes the selected registration number, and electronically corresponds to the recognized registration number from the user management file 2012 shown in FIG. Get mail address and WWW address (proxy server address). The acquired e-mail address and proxy server address are stored in the distribution destination storage unit 2010.

  The facsimile server 20 that transmits the image registers the image to the proxy server address acquired in this way, and transmits the proxy server address to the e-mail address.

  In addition to using the control sheet 120, the proxy server address or the e-mail address for registering the image can be added as text data to the image to be transmitted or directly from the workstation to the facsimile server 20. It may be instructed or input from the operation unit 2001 by the user.

  Next, processing when the facsimile server 60 receives an image will be described. First, when a facsimile image sent via the public telephone network 90 is received, the facsimile server 60 identifies an image transfer destination based on the received facsimile image (step S201).

  For identification of the transfer destination, a method using a control sheet as shown in FIG. 5 or an instruction given at the time of transmission is used. For example, when the control sheet 120 shown in FIG. 5 is sent, the control sheet analysis unit 6011 identifies the registration number selected on the control sheet 120, and the user management file 6012 corresponding to the registration number (see FIG. 6). To obtain an e-mail address and a WWW address (proxy server address).

  If an identification result is obtained, the process proceeds to step S203, and if not obtained, the process proceeds to step S204. When the identification result is obtained, it is selected whether or not to use the WWW (step S203).

  When the WWW is not used, the received facsimile image is converted into an e-mail format by the image conversion unit 6008 (step S205), and is transmitted as an e-mail to the e-mail address identified at step S201 (step S206).

  On the other hand, when using the WWW, the image registration unit 6005 registers the received image at the proxy server address identified in step S201 (step S207). As a result, the received image is registered in the proxy server 72.

  Next, in order to send the registered proxy server address of the proxy server 72 as an e-mail, the image conversion unit 6008 creates an e-mail format (step S208), and the e-mail management unit 6006 identifies the e-mail identified in step S201. It is transmitted to the mail address (step S209).

  As a result, the user who receives the facsimile image refers to the e-mail indicated by the proxy server address transmitted to his / her e-mail address, and is sent by accessing the proxy server address using a general-purpose browser. You can refer to the received facsimile image. In addition, the image can be taken into the workstation as necessary.

  If the transfer destination cannot be identified in step S202, error processing in step S204 is performed. The error processing is notification to the administrator or printout.

  When notifying the administrator, it is determined whether or not to use the WWW (step S203). If not, the image conversion unit 6008 sends an e-mail to send the received facsimile image as an e-mail. (Step S205) and sent to a predetermined administrator's e-mail address (step S206).

  When WWW is used, a facsimile image is registered at a predetermined proxy server address (step S207), and the proxy server address is converted into an e-mail format (step S208). The proxy server address is transmitted as an e-mail to the e-mail address of the manager who is present (step S209).

  On the other hand, if printout is selected as the error process in step S204, the received facsimile image is printed out on paper by the image recording unit 6003 (step S210).

  With the image transmission / reception process described above, facsimile images can be transmitted / received without imposing a burden on the mail servers 13 and 73 having a small normal capacity.

  In addition, when registering an image to the proxy server 12 in the image transmission described above, the image is registered to the proxy server address obtained from the user management file 2012 by a control sheet or the like. However, a plurality of proxy servers are connected to the LAN 80. In such a case, the image registration unit 2005 may select one having a large free space and register the image in the proxy server. The server for registering images is not limited to a proxy server.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, an example in which the image transfer apparatus is applied to the facsimile servers 20 and 60 has been described. However, in addition to being configured as such a separate apparatus, the image transfer apparatus is incorporated in each of the workstations 10, 11, 70, and 71. You may comprise as a program (for example, facsimile software).

It is a block diagram explaining the image transfer apparatus of this embodiment. It is a system configuration diagram. It is a flowchart explaining the transmission procedure of an image. It is a flowchart explaining the reception procedure of an image. It is a figure explaining a control sheet. It is a figure which shows the example of a user management file.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 12 ... Proxy server, 13 ... Mail server, 20 ... Facsimile server, 2002 ... Image input part, 2005 ... Image registration part, 2006 ... E-mail management part

Claims (24)

An image input means for capturing an image to be transmitted;
Registration means for registering an image captured by the image input means in a server connected to a network;
An image transmission apparatus comprising: an address transmission unit configured to transmit an address of a server in which the image is registered as an e-mail to a plurality of transmission destinations of the image. An image input means for capturing an image to be transmitted;
Registration means for registering images captured by the image input means in a plurality of servers connected to a network;
An image transmission apparatus comprising: address transmission means for transmitting addresses of a plurality of servers in which the images are registered to a plurality of transmission destinations of the images as e-mails. Image receiving means for receiving an image;
Identifying means for identifying a plurality of destinations of the image received by the image receiving means and the address of the server;
Registration means for registering the image at the address of the server identified by the identification means;
An image transfer apparatus comprising: an address transmission unit configured to transmit an address of the server that has registered the image by the registration unit to a plurality of transmission destinations of the image identified by the identification unit. Image receiving means for receiving an image;
Identifying means for identifying the destination of the image received by the image receiving means and the addresses of a plurality of servers;
Registration means for registering the image at addresses of the plurality of servers identified by the identification means;
An image transmission apparatus comprising: an address transmission unit configured to transmit addresses of the plurality of servers that have registered the image by the registration unit to a transmission destination of the image identified by the identification unit. Image receiving means for receiving an image;
Identification means for identifying a plurality of destinations of the image based on the image received by the image receiving means;
Registration means for registering the image at a pre-registered server address;
An image transfer apparatus comprising: an address transmission unit configured to transmit addresses of the server that registered the image by the registration unit to a plurality of transmission destinations identified by the identification unit. 6. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a discharge unit that outputs the image as a paper output or an e-mail to a predetermined e-mail address when the transmission destination of the image or the address of the server cannot be identified. The image transfer apparatus according to any one of the above. When the transmission destination of the image or the address of the server cannot be identified, the image is registered in a predetermined server, and a discharging unit that transmits the address of the server to a predetermined administrator is provided. The image transfer apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image transfer apparatus is an image transfer apparatus. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a discharge unit configured to transmit the image as an e-mail to a predetermined administrator e-mail address when the transmission destination of the image or the address of the server cannot be identified. The image transfer device according to any one of? Image input means for capturing an image to be transmitted; registration means for registering an image captured by the image input means in a server connected to a network; An image transfer device comprising an address transmission means for transmitting as an email;
An image transfer system comprising: a terminal that makes it possible to refer to the image from the address of the server transmitted by the address transmission means. Capturing the image to be transmitted;
Registering the captured image in a server connected to a network;
And a method of transmitting, as an e-mail, an address of a server in which the image is registered to a plurality of transmission destinations of the image. Capturing the image to be transmitted;
Registering the captured images in a plurality of servers connected to a network;
And a method of transmitting, as an e-mail, addresses of a plurality of servers in which the images are registered to a plurality of transmission destinations of the images. Receiving an image;
Identifying a plurality of destinations of the received image and a server address;
Registering the image at the address of the identified server;
Transmitting the address of the server that has registered the image to a plurality of transmission destinations of the image previously identified. Receiving an image;
Identifying the destination of the received image and the addresses of a plurality of servers;
Registering the images to the identified addresses of the plurality of servers;
And a step of transmitting the addresses of the plurality of servers that have registered the image to the transmission destination of the image previously identified. Receiving an image;
Identifying a plurality of destinations of the image based on the received image;
Registering the image at a pre-registered server address;
And a step of transmitting the address of the server in which the image is registered to a plurality of destinations identified earlier. An image input means for capturing an image to be transmitted;
Registration means for registering an image captured by the image input means in a server connected to a network;
A facsimile apparatus comprising: an address transmission unit configured to transmit an address of a server in which the image is registered as an e-mail to a plurality of transmission destinations of the image. An image input means for capturing an image to be transmitted;
Registration means for registering images captured by the image input means in a plurality of servers connected to a network;
A facsimile apparatus comprising: address transmitting means for transmitting addresses of a plurality of servers in which the images are registered as e-mails to a plurality of transmission destinations of the images. Image receiving means for receiving an image;
Identifying means for identifying a plurality of destinations of the image received by the image receiving means and the address of the server;
Registration means for registering the image at the address of the server identified by the identification means;
A facsimile apparatus comprising: an address transmission unit configured to transmit addresses of the server that has registered the image by the registration unit to a plurality of transmission destinations of the image identified by the identification unit. Image receiving means for receiving an image;
Identifying means for identifying the destination of the image received by the image receiving means and the addresses of a plurality of servers;
Registration means for registering the image at addresses of the plurality of servers identified by the identification means;
A facsimile apparatus comprising: an address transmission unit configured to transmit addresses of the plurality of servers that have registered the image by the registration unit to a transmission destination of the image identified by the identification unit. Image receiving means for receiving an image;
Identification means for identifying a plurality of destinations of the image based on the image received by the image receiving means;
Registration means for registering the image at a pre-registered server address;
A facsimile apparatus comprising: an address transmission unit configured to transmit addresses of the server that registered the image by the registration unit to a plurality of transmission destinations identified by the identification unit. An image input means for capturing an image to be transmitted;
Registration means for registering an image captured by the image input means in a server connected to a network;
A facsimile server, comprising: address transmitting means for transmitting, as an e-mail, an address of a server in which the image is registered to a plurality of transmission destinations of the image. An image input means for capturing an image to be transmitted;
Registration means for registering images captured by the image input means in a plurality of servers connected to a network;
A facsimile server, comprising: address transmission means for transmitting addresses of a plurality of servers in which the images are registered to a plurality of transmission destinations of the images as e-mails. Image receiving means for receiving an image;
Identifying means for identifying a plurality of destinations of the image received by the image receiving means and the address of the server;
Registration means for registering the image at the address of the server identified by the identification means;
A facsimile server, comprising: address transmitting means for transmitting addresses of the server that registered the image by the registering means to a plurality of destinations of the image identified by the identifying means. Image receiving means for receiving an image;
Identifying means for identifying the destination of the image received by the image receiving means and the addresses of a plurality of servers;
Registration means for registering the image at addresses of the plurality of servers identified by the identification means;
A facsimile server comprising: address transmitting means for transmitting addresses of the plurality of servers that have registered the image by the registering means to transmission destinations of the image identified by the identifying means. Image receiving means for receiving an image;
Identification means for identifying a plurality of destinations of the image based on the image received by the image receiving means;
Registration means for registering the image at a pre-registered server address;
A facsimile server comprising: address transmitting means for transmitting addresses of the server that registered the image by the registering means to a plurality of destinations identified by the identifying means.

Images