JP2006115021A - Facsimile machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a facsimile machine whereby a user transmits facsimile data at less expense in time and effort. <P>SOLUTION: The facsimile machine 100 includes: an image data acquisition section 104; a two-dimensional code information decode section 108 for decoding two-dimensional code information when image data includes the two-dimensional code information of a prescribed form and for converting the decoded two-dimensional code information into character information; a processing discrimination section 110 for analyzing whether the character information includes a transmission destination address of facsimile data and determining whether the facsimile data are to be transmitted to the transmission destination address when the character information includes the transmission destination address; and a communication control section 118 for transmitting the prescribed facsimile data to the transmission destination address according to a result of the discrimination by the processing discrimination section 110. <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 document reading function, a printing function, and the like. In recent years, Internet facsimile apparatuses connected to a network such as the Internet and capable of transmitting and receiving facsimile data in an e-mail format have become widespread. In such a facsimile apparatus, it is also possible to read two-dimensional code information printed on a paper medium or the like 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 of the present invention is to provide a technique for reducing the effort of the user when transmitting facsimile data.

  According to the present invention, a facsimile apparatus detects image data acquisition means for acquiring image data, and whether or not the image data acquired by the image data acquisition means includes two-dimensional code information in a predetermined format. Detecting means for decoding, and when the detecting means detects that the two-dimensional code information is included in the image data, the decoding means for decoding the two-dimensional code information into character information, and the decoding means Whether or not the character information converted includes a destination address of facsimile data, and if the character information includes a destination address, whether or not to send facsimile data to the destination address. When the determination means and the determination means determine that the facsimile data is transmitted to the transmission destination address, the transmission destination address is determined. Facsimile apparatus is provided which comprises a transmission means for transmitting a predetermined facsimile data to.

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

  Here, the facsimile apparatus of the present invention can further include a document reading unit that reads a document and generates image data, and the image data acquisition unit can acquire the image data generated by the document reading unit. it can. The facsimile apparatus of the present invention may be connected to other terminals via a network, and the image data acquisition means can acquire image data transmitted from other terminals connected via the network. .

  The image data acquisition means can also acquire image data to be transmitted to the transmission destination address as facsimile data. The image data acquisition means can simultaneously acquire image data including two-dimensional code information and image data to be transmitted as facsimile data. For example, two-dimensional code information and information to be transmitted as facsimile data may be included in one page of image data. Further, two-dimensional code information may be included in the first page of image data of a plurality of pages of image data, and information to be transmitted as facsimile data may be included in other pages.

  According to the facsimile apparatus of the present invention, when the two-dimensional code information is included in the image data and the two-dimensional code information includes the transmission destination address of the facsimile data, the facsimile data is transmitted based on the transmission destination address. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the user's trouble when transmitting facsimile data.

  The facsimile apparatus of the present invention further includes storage means for storing a criterion for determining whether or not to send facsimile data to the destination address when the destination information is included in the character information converted by the decoding means. The determination unit can determine whether or not to transmit facsimile data to the transmission destination address with reference to the storage unit.

  Here, for example, the storage means can store a transmission destination address to which facsimile data should be automatically transmitted. In this way, when the transmission destination address is included in the character information converted by the decoding means, the facsimile data can be automatically transmitted according to the contents stored in the storage means. Thus, facsimile data can be automatically transmitted by allowing the user to read a document on which the two-dimensional code information is printed or by transmitting image data including the two-dimensional code information to the multifunction peripheral.

  In the facsimile apparatus according to the present invention, the facsimile data transmission means uses the data acquired by the image data acquisition means together with image data including two-dimensional code information including the transmission destination address as the facsimile data in the transmission destination address. Can be sent.

  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, it is possible to reduce the user's trouble when transmitting facsimile data.

  The facsimile apparatus according to the present embodiment has a function of decoding two-dimensional code information in a predetermined format into character information. Here, as the two-dimensional code information in a predetermined format, various information generally known as two-dimensional code information can be used. 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 a document reading unit 102, an image data acquisition unit 104, a detection unit 106, a two-dimensional code information decoding unit 108, a process determination unit 110, an instruction reception unit 112, a display unit 114, a transmission data creation unit 116, and a communication control. Unit 118 and setting information storage unit 120.

  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 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).

  The instruction receiving unit 112 receives an instruction from the user. The display unit 114 displays various information.

  The communication control unit 118 transmits / receives data to / from other facsimile machines and terminals via the network 150. The network 150 is, for example, a public network such as PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network), the Internet, or a private network such as a LAN. Here, these are collectively shown as a network 150.

  The document reading unit 102 reads a document and generates image data. The document reading unit 102 has a scanner function. The image data acquisition unit 104 acquires image data generated by the document reading unit 102 and image data transmitted from another terminal via the communication control unit 118. The detection unit 106 detects whether or not the image data acquired by the image data acquisition unit 104 includes two-dimensional code information in a predetermined format. If the image data includes two-dimensional code information in a predetermined format, The two-dimensional code information is extracted.

  The two-dimensional code information decoding unit 108 decodes the two-dimensional code information extracted by the detection unit 106 and converts it into character information.

  The process determining unit 110 determines whether or not the character information decoded by the two-dimensional code information decoding unit 108 includes a destination address of facsimile data. If the character information decoded by the two-dimensional code information decoding unit 108 includes a transmission destination address, the processing determination unit 110 determines whether or not to transmit facsimile data to the transmission destination address. The process determining unit 110 determines whether or not to transmit facsimile data to a transmission destination address based on an instruction from a user from another terminal connected via the instruction receiving unit 112 or the communication control unit 118, for example. Can do. For example, when the image data acquired by the image data acquisition unit 104 includes a transmission destination address represented by two-dimensional code information, the process determination unit 110 displays the transmission destination address on the display unit 114 or a monitor of another terminal. In addition, a message such as “Do you want to send facsimile data to this destination?” Can be displayed and the user can input an instruction.

  The setting information storage unit 120 automatically stores a transmission destination address to which facsimile data is to be transmitted when the image data acquired by the image data acquisition unit 104 includes a transmission destination address represented by two-dimensional code information. Can do. The process determining unit 110 can also refer to the setting information storage unit 120 to determine whether or not to send facsimile data to the destination address.

  Further, when it is determined that the facsimile data is transmitted to the transmission destination address included in the character information converted by the two-dimensional code information decoding unit 108, the process determination unit 110 determines whether image data to be transmitted is obtained. If the image data is not obtained, a message such as “Please set the original to be sent” or “Please select the original to be sent” is displayed on the display unit 114 or the like and sent to the user. An input request for image data can be made. The image data acquisition unit 104 acquires image data to be transmitted. Note that the image data acquisition unit 104, when image data is input in response to an input request for image data to be transmitted to the user based on an instruction from the processing determination unit 110, transmits the acquired image data to a transmission data generation unit. 116.

  The transmission data creation unit 116 creates facsimile data to be transmitted. Here, the destination address can be an e-mail address, a domain name, a facsimile number via PSTN, or the like. When the destination address is an e-mail address or domain name, the transmission data creation unit 116 sends an e-mail attached with data obtained by converting the image data to be transmitted into a predetermined file format such as Tiff or PDF to the destination address. create. In this case, the process determining unit 110 can inquire the user whether or not to input a comment or the like as the body of the e-mail, and can cause the instruction receiving unit 112 or the like to accept the input of the comment or the like. The setting information storage unit 120 can also store the set destination address and a comment in association with each other, and the transmission data creation unit 116 reads the corresponding comment from the setting information storage unit 120, It can be the text information of an e-mail.

  The communication control unit 118 transmits the facsimile data created by the transmission data creation unit 116 to the transmission destination address.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the facsimile machine 100 according to the present embodiment.

  When the image data acquisition unit 104 acquires image data (YES in S100), the process determination unit 110 determines whether the transmission mode is set (S101). Here, the transmission mode is a case where image data is input in response to an input request for image data to be transmitted. If the transmission mode is not set (NO in S101), the detection unit 106 determines whether the image data acquired by the image data acquisition unit 104 includes two-dimensional code information in a predetermined format (S102). When two-dimensional code information in a predetermined format is included (YES in S102), the detection unit 106 extracts the two-dimensional code information. The two-dimensional code information decoding unit 108 decodes the two-dimensional code information extracted by the detection unit 106 and converts it into character information. The process determining unit 110 determines whether or not the character information includes a transmission destination address (S104). When the destination address is included (YES in S104), the process determining unit 110 determines whether or not to send facsimile data to the destination (S106). Whether or not the facsimile data is transmitted to the transmission destination address can be determined based on a user instruction. The process determining unit 110 can also refer to the setting information storage unit 120 to determine whether or not to send facsimile data to the transmission destination address.

  When transmitting facsimile data (YES in S106), the process determining unit 110 determines whether the image data for transmission is included in the image data acquired in Step S100 (S108). For example, when image data of a plurality of pages is acquired in step S100, the processes in steps S102 to S106 can be performed only for the image data of the first page. Image data other than the first page can be handled as image data for transmission.

  When the image data for transmission is included (YES in S108), the process determination unit 110 determines whether or not to transmit the facsimile data by e-mail based on the transmission destination address detected in step S104 (S112). When the facsimile data is transmitted by e-mail (YES in S112), it is determined whether or not to add a comment or the like as the body information of the e-mail (S114). Here, whether to add text information can be determined by inquiring the user and receiving an instruction. Further, the process determining unit 110 can also determine whether or not to add text information with reference to the setting information storage unit 120. When the process determination unit 110 determines to add text information (YES in S114), the transmission data creation unit 116 acquires text information based on input from the user or information stored in the setting information storage unit 120. (S116).

  Subsequently, the transmission data creation unit 116 creates an e-mail attached with data obtained by converting the transmission image data into a predetermined file format such as Tiff or PDF (S118). If the process determination unit 110 determines in step S114 that text information is not added (NO in S114), the transmission data creation unit 116 creates an e-mail without adding text information (S118). Thereafter, the communication control unit 118 transmits the email created by the transmission data creation unit 116 to the destination address (S120). The process ends as described above.

  If the facsimile data is not transmitted by e-mail in step S112 (NO in S112), the transmission data creation unit 116 generates facsimile data to be transmitted via the PSTN (S121). The communication control unit 118 performs processing for transmitting the facsimile data to the transmission destination address (S122). The process ends as described above.

  In step S108, when the image data for transmission is not included (NO in S108), the process determining unit 110 sets the transmission mode (S124) and requests image data input (S126). Specifically, the process determining unit 110 displays a message such as “Please input image data to be transmitted” on the display unit 114. In this case, when the image data acquisition unit 104 acquires image data, it is determined in step S101 that the transmission mode is selected (YES in S101), and the process proceeds to step S108, where it is determined that image data for transmission has been acquired (S108). YES), the processing from step 112 onward is performed.

  If the two-dimensional code information is not included in the image data acquired by the image data acquisition unit 104 in step S102 (NO in S102), the transmission destination address is included in the two-dimensional code information extracted by the detection unit 106 in step S104. If not (NO in S104) and if it is determined in step S106 that the facsimile data is not transmitted to the destination address (NO in S106), the process determining unit 110 performs other processes. The other processes include, for example, a normal document copying process, an image data printing process, a document reading process, and a facsimile transmission process.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example in which a product is ordered by the facsimile apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment.

  Here, an example is shown in which two-dimensional code information 162 representing the address of a transmission destination for transmitting an order form 164 for ordering a product is included in an advertisement flyer 160 of a certain product. The two-dimensional code information 162 includes a transmission destination address such as “mailto: xxx@xxx.ab.cd”, for example. The user causes the document reading unit 102 to read the advertisement leaflet 160 and the order form 164 in a superimposed manner. Thereafter, the facsimile machine 100 performs processing for transmitting the order form 164 to the address included in the two-dimensional code information 162 according to the procedure shown in FIG.

  Thus, the user can place an order for the product simply by causing the document reading unit 102 of the facsimile apparatus 100 to read the advertisement flyer of the product he / she is interested in and the order form in which necessary items are entered.

  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. .

  When determining whether or not to transmit facsimile data to a transmission destination address, the process determination unit 110 can also determine whether or not to transmit image data including two-dimensional code information together with other image data. . This determination can also be made based on an instruction from the user and setting information in the setting information storage unit 120.

  In the above embodiment, the facsimile apparatus 100 can transmit facsimile data using both public networks such as the Internet and PSTN. However, only one of these facsimile apparatuses can be used. May be available.

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. It is a figure which shows typically the case where the order of goods is performed as an example with the facsimile apparatus in embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Facsimile apparatus 102 Document reading part 104 Image data acquisition part 106 Detection part 108 Two-dimensional code information decoding part 110 Processing judgment part 112 Instruction reception part 114 Display part 116 Transmission data creation part 118 Communication control part 120 Setting information storage part 150 Network

Claims (4)

A facsimile machine,
Image data acquisition means for acquiring image data;
Detecting means for detecting whether or not the image data acquired by the image data acquiring means includes two-dimensional code information in a predetermined format;
A decoding unit that decodes the two-dimensional code information and converts it into character information when the detection unit detects that the two-dimensional code information is included in the image data;
Analyzes whether the character information converted by the decoding means includes a destination address of facsimile data, and if the character information includes a destination address, whether to send facsimile data to the destination address A determination means for determining whether or not,
A transmission means for transmitting predetermined facsimile data to the transmission destination address when the determination means determines to transmit facsimile data to the transmission destination address;
A facsimile apparatus comprising: The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1,
It further includes document reading means for reading a document and generating image data,
The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image data acquisition unit acquires the image data generated by the document reading unit. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
In the case where a transmission destination address is included in the character information converted by the decoding unit, the storage unit further includes a storage unit that stores a criterion for determining whether or not to transmit facsimile data to the transmission destination address.
The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit determines whether or not to transmit facsimile data to the transmission destination address with reference to the storage unit. The facsimile apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The facsimile apparatus, wherein the transmission means transmits the data acquired together with the image data including the two-dimensional code information including the transmission destination address to the transmission destination address as the facsimile data. .

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