JP2006080811A - Facsimile machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a facsimile machine for handling two-dimensional code information that easily manages facsimile data. <P>SOLUTION: The facsimile machine 100 includes: a transmission/reception section 116 for receiving facsimile data; a two-dimensional code information generating section 114 for converting communication information related to the facsimile data received by the transmission/reception section 116 into two-dimensional code information of a prescribed form; and a print section 120 for simultaneously printing the facsimile data received by the transmission/reception section 116 and the two-dimensional code information of the communication information related to the facsimile data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a facsimile apparatus, and more particularly to a facsimile apparatus that handles two-dimensional code information.

  In recent years, two-dimensional code information having information in the two-dimensional direction of the horizontal direction and the vertical direction has become widespread. Since the two-dimensional code can handle a larger amount of information than the one-dimensional code, the code itself can have various information.

Patent Document 1 includes information for identifying print data and information for identifying the print state at the upper end and the lower end of the paper when the printer device prints print data requested from the terminal device, respectively. A system is disclosed that prints a printed barcode together with print data, identifies the printing state by reading the barcode at a paper discharge port, and manages it as a printing history. Here, a barcode reader is provided at the paper discharge port, and by reading the barcode at the paper discharge port, it is possible to identify the printing state and notify the user that the paper discharge is completed. ing.
JP 2004-90235 A

  Incidentally, a facsimile apparatus generally has a facsimile transmission function, a printing function, a document reading function, and the like. In such a facsimile apparatus, it is possible to print two-dimensional code information on a paper medium or the like using a printing function. It is also possible to read two-dimensional code information printed on a paper medium or the like by using a document reading function. Therefore, in such a facsimile apparatus, it is easy to handle two-dimensional code information without adding a special apparatus.

  The present invention has been made in view of these points, and an object thereof is to provide a technique for facilitating management of facsimile data.

  According to the present invention, receiving means for receiving facsimile data, conversion means for converting communication information relating to facsimile data received by the receiving means into two-dimensional code information in a predetermined format, and facsimile data received by the receiving means And a printing unit that simultaneously prints two-dimensional code information of communication information related to the facsimile data.

  The two-dimensional code information in a predetermined format can be a QR code, for example.

  Here, the facsimile data and the two-dimensional code information may be printed on the same paper or may be printed successively on different papers.

  Thus, by printing the two-dimensional code information indicating the communication information related to the facsimile data together with the facsimile data, the two-dimensional code information portion printed on the paper medium can be decoded and converted into character information. Communication information regarding facsimile data can be acquired as character information. Thereby, management of facsimile data can be facilitated.

  The facsimile apparatus of the present invention may further include image data generating means for generating image data including facsimile data received by the receiving means and two-dimensional code information of communication information related to the facsimile data, and the printing means Can print the image data.

  Since the two-dimensional code information can include a large amount of information in a small area, image data can be generated by including it in the margin of facsimile data. By printing such image data, communication information relating to facsimile data can be printed on the same paper as the facsimile data without using extra paper.

  In the facsimile apparatus of the present invention, the receiving means can receive communication information relating to the facsimile data as header information indicated by character information, and the converting means converts the header information into two-dimensional code information. be able to.

  Here, the header information can include, for example, a sender name, a sender telephone number, a reception date and time, and the like. By converting such header information into two-dimensional code information, a two-dimensional code information portion printed on a paper medium can be decoded and converted into character information later, and the header information is acquired as character information. Therefore, management of facsimile data can be facilitated.

  The facsimile apparatus of the present invention may further include an instruction receiving unit that receives an instruction to transmit facsimile data, and a transmitting unit that transmits the facsimile data based on the facsimile data transmission instruction received by the instruction receiving unit. The changing means can convert communication information relating to facsimile data for which the transmission receiving means has received a transmission instruction into two-dimensional code information in the predetermined format, and the printing means is configured to transmit the transmission instruction by the transmission receiving means. Can be simultaneously printed and the two-dimensional code information of communication information related to the facsimile data.

  According to the present invention, an instruction receiving means for receiving a facsimile data transmission instruction, a transmission means for transmitting the facsimile data based on the facsimile data transmission instruction received by the instruction receiving means, and the transmission receiving means Conversion means for converting communication information relating to facsimile data that has received a request into two-dimensional code information in a predetermined format, at least a part of the facsimile data for which the transmission acceptance means has accepted a transmission instruction, and two-dimensional communication information relating to the facsimile data There is provided a facsimile apparatus including a printing unit that simultaneously prints code information.

  Here, the communication information relating to the facsimile data can include, for example, a transmission destination name, a transmission destination telephone number, a transmission date and time, a transmission result, and the like. The entire facsimile data may be printed, or only a part may be printed. The facsimile data and the two-dimensional code information may be printed on the same paper or may be printed successively on different papers.

  By converting such communication information into two-dimensional code information, a two-dimensional code information portion printed on a paper medium can be decoded and converted into character information later, and the communication information is acquired as character information. Therefore, management of facsimile data can be facilitated.

  The facsimile apparatus of the present invention further includes image data generating means for generating image data including at least a part of the facsimile data for which the transmission receiving means has received a transmission instruction and two-dimensional code information of communication information relating to the facsimile data. The printing means can print the image data.

  Since the two-dimensional code information can include a large amount of information in a small area, image data can be generated by including it in the margin of facsimile data. By printing such image data, communication information regarding facsimile data can be printed together with the facsimile data without using extra paper.

  In the facsimile apparatus of the present invention, the conversion means can convert the transmission instruction received by the transmission reception means into two-dimensional code information as communication information related to the facsimile data.

  Here, the transmission instruction includes a transmission destination name, a transmission destination telephone number, a scheduled transmission date and time, the number of retries, and the like. By printing such a transmission instruction together with facsimile data, for example, when an error occurs and the facsimile data cannot be transmitted, the two-dimensional code information is decoded and the transmission instruction content is converted into character information. By acquiring, the same processing can be repeated or it can be used to determine whether or not to send facsimile data again, and facsimile data can be easily managed.

  The facsimile apparatus of the present invention may further include a transmission result acquisition unit that acquires a transmission result of the facsimile data by the transmission unit, and the conversion unit converts the transmission result acquired by the transmission result acquisition unit into the facsimile data. As communication information regarding, it can be converted into two-dimensional code information.

  For example, the facsimile apparatus can add error information as two-dimensional code information to a document in which a transmission error has occurred. Further, the facsimile apparatus can add transmission information such as transmission date / time / destination information as two-dimensional code information to a document that has been transmitted, for example. As a result, it is possible to determine what processing has been performed on the facsimile document by reading and decoding the two-dimensional code information.

  The facsimile apparatus of the present invention can further include a decoding means for decoding two-dimensional code information in a predetermined format, and the instruction receiving means receives a transmission instruction for facsimile data in the predetermined format of two-dimensional code information. The transmission unit can transmit the facsimile data based on the transmission instruction decoded by the decoding unit.

  Here, the transmission instruction includes a transmission destination name, a transmission destination telephone number, a scheduled transmission date and time, the number of retries, and the like. In this way, when retransmitting a document in which a transmission error has occurred, there is no need to select and input the transmission destination name, the transmission destination telephone number, the scheduled transmission date and time, the number of retries, etc. from the operation unit of the facsimile apparatus. Facsimile data transmission settings can be made.

  It should be noted that any combination of the above-described constituent elements and a conversion of the expression of the present invention between a method, an apparatus, a system, a recording medium, a computer program, etc. are also effective as an aspect of the present invention.

  According to the present invention, management of facsimile data can be facilitated.

  The facsimile apparatus according to the present embodiment has a function of converting data indicated by character information into two-dimensional code information. Here, various information generally known as two-dimensional code information can be used as the two-dimensional code information. For example, a QR code can be used.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of facsimile apparatus 100 in the present embodiment.
The facsimile apparatus 100 includes an instruction receiving unit 102, a document reading unit 104, a data recording unit 106, a data storage unit 108, a control unit 110, a data reading unit 112, a two-dimensional code information generation unit 114, a transmission / reception unit 116, and an image data generation unit. 118, a printing unit 120, and a setting storage unit 122.

  Each component of the facsimile apparatus 100 is centered on a CPU, a memory, a program for realizing the components shown in the figure loaded in the memory, a storage unit such as a hard disk for storing the program, and a network connection interface. Realized by any combination of hardware and software. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that there are various modifications to the implementation method and apparatus. Each drawing described in the embodiment shows a block of functional units, not a configuration of hardware units. In FIG. 1, the configuration of parts not related to the essence of the present invention is omitted.

  The transmission / reception unit 116 receives facsimile data from other terminals via the network 150 or transmits facsimile data to other terminals. In the present embodiment, network 150 is, for example, a PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network). The facsimile machine 100 communicates with a G3 facsimile machine or the like via the network 150. In another example, the network 150 can be the Internet or the like, and the facsimile apparatus 100 can transmit and receive data to and from other network facsimile apparatuses and e-mail terminals via the Internet or the like.

  The data recording unit 106 stores the facsimile data received by the transmission / reception unit 116 and the communication information related to the facsimile data in the data storage unit 108 in association with each other. Here, the communication information is, for example, header information of facsimile data. The header information includes, for example, a sender name of the facsimile data, a sender telephone number, a reception date and time, and the like.

  The data reading unit 112 reads facsimile data and its communication information from the data storage unit 108.

  The two-dimensional code information generation unit 114 converts character information into two-dimensional code information. In the present embodiment, the two-dimensional code information generation unit 114 converts character information indicating communication information of facsimile data into two-dimensional code information.

  The image data generation unit 118 generates image data including facsimile data and the two-dimensional code information converted by the two-dimensional code information generation unit 114. The printing unit 120 prints the image data generated by the image data generation unit 118.

  Here, the image data generation unit 118 can include facsimile data and two-dimensional code information obtained by converting the communication information into two-dimensional code in one page of image data. By including the facsimile data and the two-dimensional code information on the same page, it is possible to prevent waste of paper when printing the image data. As another example, the image data generation unit 118 can convert the two-dimensional code information and the facsimile data into image data of different pages.

  The image data generation unit 118 can generate image data so as to include all of the facsimile data, but can also generate image data including a part of the facsimile data and two-dimensional code information in one page. When the facsimile data and the two-dimensional code information are generated as image data of different pages, the printing unit 120 performs processing such as continuous printing so that it can be seen that these are associated with each other.

  The instruction receiving unit 102 receives various instructions from the user. The document reading unit 104 reads a document such as a paper medium and generates facsimile data based on the read document.

  The data recording unit 106 stores the facsimile data generated by the document reading unit 104 in the data storage unit 108. At this time, the data recording unit 106 can store the communication information in association with the facsimile data. Here, the communication information includes, for example, a transmission destination name, a transmission destination telephone number, a transmission date and time, a transmission result, and the like. When the instruction receiving unit 102 receives a facsimile data transmission instruction, the data recording unit 106 stores the facsimile data transmission result in association with the facsimile data stored in the data storage unit 108.

  The control unit 110 controls each component of the facsimile machine 100. The setting storage unit 122 stores settings such as whether to print the facsimile data received by the facsimile apparatus 100 and whether to print the communication information together with the facsimile data received by the facsimile apparatus 100.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure of the facsimile machine 100 according to the present embodiment. Here, a process when the transmission / reception unit 116 receives facsimile data will be described as an example.

  When the transmission / reception unit 116 receives facsimile data (YES in S10), the control unit 110 determines whether to print the received facsimile data (S12). The control unit 110 refers to the setting storage unit 122 and determines whether or not the facsimile data received by the transmission / reception unit 116 is to be printed. Here, the data recording unit 106 temporarily stores the facsimile data received by the transmission / reception unit 116 in the data storage unit 108 together with the header information and the like based on an instruction from the control unit 110.

  When printing the facsimile data (YES in S12), the control unit 110 determines whether to print the communication information together with the facsimile data (S14). The control unit 110 refers to the setting storage unit 122 and determines whether to print the communication information along with the facsimile data.

  When printing the communication information (YES in S14), the data reading unit 112 reads the corresponding facsimile data, header information, and the like from the data storage unit 108 based on an instruction from the control unit 110. Here, the data reading unit 112 sends the header information to the two-dimensional code information generation unit 114. The two-dimensional code information generation unit 114 converts the header information into two-dimensional code information (S16).

  The image data generation unit 118 embeds the two-dimensional code information generated by the two-dimensional code information generation unit 114 in the margin of the facsimile data read by the data reading unit 112 and generates image data (S18).

  The printing unit 120 prints the image data generated by the image data generation unit 118.

  In this way, the facsimile data received by the transmission / reception unit 116 is printed together with the communication information indicated by the two-dimensional code information. Therefore, the two-dimensional code information portion of the printed document can be read and decoded later to be converted into character information, and communication information regarding facsimile data can be acquired as character information. Thereby, management of facsimile data can be facilitated.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing another example of the processing procedure of facsimile apparatus 100 in the present embodiment. Here, a case will be described as an example in which processing for transmitting a document read from the document reading unit 104 to another terminal via the network 150 is performed based on a user instruction.

  When there is a facsimile data transmission instruction from the user (YES in S30), the control unit 110 determines whether or not the facsimile data to be transmitted has been acquired (S32). The facsimile data may be generated based on a document read from the document reading unit 104, or may be transmitted from another terminal via a private network (not shown) such as a LAN. . The data recording unit 106 temporarily stores the acquired facsimile data in the data storage unit 108. When the instruction receiving unit 102 receives a transmission instruction from the user such as a destination name of the facsimile data, a destination telephone number, a scheduled transmission date and time, and the number of retries, the data recording unit 106 responds to the facsimile data with these transmission instructions. Then, it is stored in the data storage unit 108 (S34).

  The transmission / reception unit 116 performs processing for transmitting the facsimile data to a desired transmission destination based on an instruction from the control unit 110 (S36). If transmission is complete or transmission is not possible under a predetermined condition, it is determined that transmission has ended (YES in S38), and the transmission result is stored in the data storage unit 108 in association with facsimile data (S40).

  Subsequently, the control unit 110 determines whether or not to print the transmission result (S42). The control unit 110 can determine whether to print the transmission result with reference to the setting storage unit 122. The setting storage unit 122 can store whether or not to print the transmission result in association with the type of the transmission result, for example, when a transmission error occurs. When it is determined that the transmission result is to be printed (YES in S42), the data reading unit 112 reads the transmission instruction and the transmission result associated with the facsimile data from the data storage unit 108 and sends them to the two-dimensional code information generation unit 114. . The two-dimensional code information generation unit 114 converts these into two-dimensional code information (S44). Subsequently, the data reading unit 112 reads the facsimile data from the data storage unit 108, and the image data generation unit 118 embeds the two-dimensional code information generated by the two-dimensional code information generation unit 114 in the margin of the facsimile data. Data is generated (S46).

  The printing unit 120 prints the image data generated by the image data generation unit 118.

  In this way, the facsimile data subjected to the transmission process by the transmission / reception unit 116 is printed together with the communication information indicated by the two-dimensional code information. Therefore, for example, a two-dimensional code information portion of a document that needs to be retransmitted due to a transmission error or the like can be read and decoded to be converted into character information, and communication information regarding facsimile data can be acquired as character information. it can. As a result, the retransmission process can be simplified and the management of the facsimile data can be facilitated.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a state where a document including facsimile data and two-dimensional code information is printed in the processing procedure of the facsimile apparatus 100 described with reference to FIG.

  Here, the document 300 is facsimile data to be transmitted (1). When the user inputs a transmission instruction as “transmission destination: 0123456789 / transmission date / time: 2004/8/20 15: 00 / communication time: 1 minute / number of pages: 1 page” and the communication result is an error. The data storage unit 108 stores character information 302 indicating communication information in association with the facsimile data 300 (2). The two-dimensional code information generation unit 114 converts character information indicating communication information into two-dimensional code information 304 (3). The image data generation unit 118 generates image data including the facsimile data 300 and the two-dimensional code information 304, and the printing unit 120 prints the image data and outputs a document 306 (4).

  The present invention has been described based on the embodiments. The embodiments are exemplifications, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made to combinations of the respective constituent elements and processing processes, and such modifications are within the scope of the present invention. .

  Although not shown in the above embodiments, the facsimile apparatus 100 can further include a two-dimensional code information decoding unit that decodes the two-dimensional code information and converts it into character information. With this function, the two-dimensional code information included in the document printed from the printing unit 120 can be decoded and converted into character information. In this way, for example, when retransmitting facsimile data, it is not necessary to input communication information such as a transmission destination again, and retransmission processing is performed using character information obtained by decoding two-dimensional code information. It can be performed. In addition, since information such as a transmission source of facsimile data received by the facsimile apparatus 100 can be acquired as character information, address registration or the like can be performed using the information.

  The facsimile machine 100 can be a network multifunction machine that integrates a facsimile, a printer, a copy, a scanner function, and the like. Here, the network multifunction peripheral is, for example, a network facsimile apparatus or an MFP (Multi Functional Peripheral).

  In the example described with reference to FIG. 3, the image data generating unit 118 generates image data including facsimile data and two-dimensional code information, and the printing unit 120 prints the image data. However, the printing unit 120 may be configured to print the two-dimensional code information on the margin of the document read by the document reading unit 104. In this way, since only two-dimensional code information indicating communication information for the original document is added to the original document, the management of facsimile data can be simplified without wasting paper.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure of the facsimile apparatus according to the embodiment. 10 is a flowchart illustrating another example of the processing procedure of the facsimile apparatus according to the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a state where a document including facsimile data and two-dimensional code information is printed in the processing procedure of the facsimile apparatus described with reference to FIG. 3.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Facsimile apparatus 102 Instruction reception part 104 Original reading part 106 Data recording part 108 Data storage part 110 Control part 112 Data reading part 114 Two-dimensional code information generation part 116 Transmission / reception part 118 Image data generation part 120 Printing part 122 Setting storage part 150 Network

Claims (9)

Receiving means for receiving facsimile data;
Conversion means for converting communication information relating to facsimile data received by the receiving means into two-dimensional code information in a predetermined format;
Printing means for simultaneously printing facsimile data received by the receiving means and two-dimensional code information of communication information related to the facsimile data;
A facsimile apparatus comprising: The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1,
Image data generating means for generating image data including facsimile data received by the receiving means and two-dimensional code information of communication information related to the facsimile data;
The facsimile apparatus, wherein the printing unit prints the image data. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
The receiving means receives communication information relating to the facsimile data as header information indicated by character information,
The facsimile apparatus, wherein the conversion means converts the header information into two-dimensional code information. The facsimile apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
An instruction receiving means for receiving an instruction to send facsimile data;
A transmission unit for transmitting the facsimile data based on a transmission instruction of the facsimile data received by the instruction reception unit;
Further including
The changing unit converts communication information regarding facsimile data for which the transmission receiving unit has received a transmission instruction into two-dimensional code information in the predetermined format,
The facsimile apparatus, wherein the printing unit simultaneously prints the facsimile data for which the transmission receiving unit has received a transmission instruction and the two-dimensional code information of communication information related to the facsimile data. An instruction receiving means for receiving an instruction to send facsimile data;
A transmission unit for transmitting the facsimile data based on a transmission instruction of the facsimile data received by the instruction reception unit;
Conversion means for converting communication information relating to facsimile data for which the transmission receiving means has received a transmission instruction into two-dimensional code information in a predetermined format;
Printing means for simultaneously printing at least part of the facsimile data for which the transmission receiving means has received a transmission instruction and two-dimensional code information of communication information related to the facsimile data;
A facsimile apparatus comprising: The facsimile apparatus according to claim 5, wherein
Image data generating means for generating image data including at least part of the facsimile data for which the transmission receiving means has received a transmission instruction and two-dimensional code information of communication information related to the facsimile data;
The facsimile apparatus, wherein the printing unit prints the image data. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 5 or 6,
The facsimile apparatus characterized in that the converting means converts the transmission instruction received by the transmission receiving means into two-dimensional code information as communication information related to the facsimile data. The facsimile apparatus according to any one of claims 5 to 7,
Further comprising a transmission result acquisition means for acquiring a transmission result of the facsimile data by the transmission means,
The facsimile device characterized in that the conversion means converts the transmission result acquired by the transmission result acquisition means into two-dimensional code information as communication information related to the facsimile data. The facsimile apparatus according to any one of claims 4 to 8,
A decoding means for decoding two-dimensional code information in a predetermined format;
The instruction receiving means receives a facsimile data transmission instruction in the predetermined format of two-dimensional code information,
The facsimile apparatus, wherein the transmission means transmits the facsimile data based on the transmission instruction decoded by the decoding means.

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