JP2006295347A - Facsimile server - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a facsimile server capable of positively printing received data even if a print error occurs when print output is included in distribution setting. <P>SOLUTION: Upon receiving a facsimile transmission or an electronic mail, the server acquires a distribution destination by referring to a distribution setting table, and determines whether or not print output is included in the acquired distribution destination (steps 102, 103). If the print output is included in the distribution destination, the server determines whether or not a print error occurs, and if the print error occurs, the server executes distribution to the distribution destination and sets a print queue to a received document and distributes the document to a shared holder (steps 105, 106). Thus, when the print error is released, the received document distributed to the shared holder can be printed out. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a facsimile server, and more particularly, to a facsimile server that can distribute a fax or mail to a user's personal folder or a shared folder according to the contents set for distribution or print out the facsimile or mail.

  Recently, facsimile systems have been widely used in offices and the like, and play a useful role in data communication. Such a system is configured, for example, by connecting a facsimile server or a terminal device so-called client personal computer through a communication network such as a LAN. The facsimile server transfers data received by facsimile to the client personal computer, When data specifying a transfer destination is received from a personal computer, the received data is transmitted to the specified transfer destination.

Such a facsimile server usually includes a network board having a web server function. When a facsimile / mail is received, the facsimile server temporarily stores image data in a user's personal folder or shared folder in the network board according to the distribution setting. And a function that allows the user to access the storage location of the network board and capture the image data (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2003-108466 A

  As described above, the conventional facsimile server can store faxes and e-mails in the user's personal folder or shared folder according to the contents set for distribution, or print them out. If only output is set, for example, if there is a printer error such as out of toner, no print output is made, so no one can recognize that there is received data even though there is received data. There was a problem.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides a facsimile server capable of reliably printing received data even if a printer error has occurred when a print output is included in the distribution setting. The purpose is to do.

  In order to achieve the above object, a facsimile server according to a first aspect of the present invention is a facsimile server provided with a control means for distributing received data in accordance with the contents set for distribution, wherein the distribution setting includes print output. When the reception delivery process is executed, the control means determines whether or not a printer error has occurred. If the printer error has occurred, the received data is distributed to a predetermined folder. Features.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the facsimile server according to the first aspect, if a printer error has occurred during execution of the reception and distribution process, the control means waits for printing on the received data. The attribute is set and distributed to a predetermined folder.

Further, the facsimile server of the invention according to claim 3 is the facsimile server according to claim 1 or 2, wherein when the printer error is canceled, the control means prints out the received data distributed to the predetermined folder. Is characterized by
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the facsimile server according to the third aspect, when the received data distributed to the predetermined folder is printed out when the printer error is canceled, the control means is configured to print The received data is deleted from the predetermined folder.

According to the facsimile server of the first to third aspects of the present invention, when a print output is included in the distribution setting, if a printer error occurs during the execution of the reception distribution process, the received data is Since the received data distributed to a predetermined folder, for example, a shared folder or a specific personal folder, and the received data distributed to the predetermined folder is printed out when the printer error is cleared, a printer error has occurred during data reception. However, it is possible to reliably print the received data.
According to the facsimile server of the invention of claim 4 of the present invention, when the received data distributed to the predetermined folder is printed out when the printer error is canceled, the printed received data is transferred from the predetermined folder. Since it is deleted, the memory of the folder storing the received data can be used effectively.

  Embodiments in which the facsimile server of the present invention is applied to a digital multifunction machine will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a network configuration example of a system including a digital multifunction peripheral, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the digital multifunction peripheral.

  In the network configuration diagram shown in FIG. 1, 1 is a digital multifunction peripheral, 2, 3, 4... Are personal computers, 5 is a public switched telephone network (PSTN), 6 is a LAN (Local Area Network), and 7 is an Internet network. is there. The digital multi-function peripheral 1 has functions of a copy mode, a printer mode, and a fax mode, and also has a mail transmission function, and is connected to the PSTN 5 and the LAN 6. A plurality of personal computers 2, 3, 4.・ ・ Is connected. The LAN 6 is also connected to the Internet network 7, and the digital multi-function peripheral 1 can send and receive mail via the Internet network 7.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of the control system of the digital multi-function peripheral 1. As shown in the figure, the digital multi-function peripheral 1 has a CPU 11, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 12, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 13, and a display. An operation unit 14, a reading unit 15, an image memory 16, a recording unit 17, a codec 18, a modem 19, a network control unit NCU 20, a network board 21 and a LAN interface (I / F) 22 are configured. Connected.

The CPU 11 controls each part of the hardware of the digital multi-function peripheral 1 via the bus 23 and executes various programs based on the programs stored in the ROM 12. The ROM 12 performs various programs necessary for the operation of the digital multi-function peripheral. Operation messages and the like are stored in advance.
The RAM 13 is composed of an SRAM or the like, and has a storage area for a distribution setting table 24 that stores temporary data generated when the program is executed and stores a setting of a distribution destination when a fax or mail is received. Yes.

This distribution setting table 24 is a table for determining a distribution destination from the fax number of the transmission source and the information of the e-mail.
In other words, when a fax is received, it is usually difficult to specify a transmission destination user. The e-mail is composed of predetermined footer information and body text. The footer information includes “Data” indicating the e-mail transmission date and time, “To” indicating the e-mail destination, and the e-mail sender. “Subject” indicating additional information such as “From” indicating the title of the e-mail, etc. is included, but when the digital multi-function peripheral 1 receives an e-mail, the “To” field is dedicated to the digital multi-function peripheral 1 Since the e-mail address is described, the user of the transmission destination cannot be specified.
For this reason, information for determining the delivery destination is stored in the delivery setting table 24 from the fax number of the sender, the “From” field or the “Subject” field of the e-mail, or the contents described in the text. .

FIG. 3 shows an example of the above distribution setting table 24. As shown in FIG. 3, if the transmission source fax number starts with "03", the print output and storage in the shared folder are performed and the transmission is performed. If the original fax number starts with “06”, only print output is performed. Also, if “ABC” is included in the “From” field of the mail header, it will be saved in the USER1 folder, and if the word “Invoice” is included in the text, it will be printed and saved in the USER4 folder. , And the like are stored.
The setting of the distribution setting table 24 is set by the user by inputting from the setting registration screen displayed on the display / operation unit 14 or the setting input screen of the monitor of the personal computer 2, 3, 4, etc. It is possible to register in the table 24.

  The display / operation unit 14 includes a display unit that displays an operation state of the digital multifunction peripheral or displays an operation screen for various functions, and a number of operation keys for operating the digital multifunction peripheral. . The reading unit 15 includes a reading document placing table such as an auto document feeder (ADF) or a flat bed scanner (FBS), reads a document with a scanner using a CCD or the like, and outputs dot image data.

The image memory 16 is configured by using a DRAM or the like, and stores image data to be transmitted or received image data or image data read by the reading unit 15, and a recording unit 17 is a printer device such as an electrophotographic system. And printing out received data, copy original data, or print data transmitted from an external personal computer.
The printer device of the recording unit 17 is provided with a toner sensor 25 that detects toner exhaustion, a paper jam sensor 26 that detects paper jam, and the like.

  The codec 18 encodes and decodes in accordance with a predetermined protocol. In order to transmit the image data of the read original, the codec 18 is encoded by the MH, MR, or MMR method, and decodes the image data received from the outside. Also, encoding and decoding are also performed in correspondence with the TIFF method, which is an image format generally used as a file that can be attached to an e-mail.

  The modem 19 is connected to the bus 23 and has a function as a fax modem capable of facsimile communication. The modem 19 is also connected to the NCU 20 connected to the bus 23. The NCU 20 is hardware that closes and opens an analog line, and connects the modem 19 to the PSTN 5 as necessary.

  As shown in the functional block diagram of FIG. 4, the network board 21 includes a TCP / IP protocol control unit 31, an HTTPD control unit 32, a homepage management unit 33, and a document management unit 34. These units are a CPU, a ROM And a memory such as a RAM, a magnetic disk (hard disk) storage device, and the like.

The TCP / IP protocol control unit 31 controls TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) / IP (Internet Protocol), and the HTTPD control unit 32 uses the data stream transfer function of the TCP / IP protocol control unit 31 to perform HTTPD (Hyper Text Transfer). Protocol Deamon) function is executed, and requests from WWW (World Wide Web) browsers such as personal computers 2, 3, 4 are processed.
Note that HTTPPD is a daemon that provides the functions of an HTTP server, and is used when a web server is operated on a UNIX (registered trademark) operating system.

  The homepage management unit 33 outputs a homepage file to the HTTPD control unit 32 in response to a homepage request from the HTTPD control unit 32, and the document management unit 34 scans documents, fax / fax / In addition to storing / saving documents such as mail-received delivery documents, the list information of the saved documents is converted into HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) format files in response to a request from the HTTP PD control unit 32, and the HTTP PD control unit 32 The information output and analyzed from the HTTPD control unit 32 is analyzed to perform processing such as transfer and deletion of a stored document.

  FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram of the document management unit 34. As shown in FIG. 5, the document management unit 34 includes a shared folder 41 and folders 42, 43,... For each user. The received document is stored in each folder according to the setting of the table 24.

  The LAN interface 22 is connected to the LAN 6 and receives data from an external personal computer or a signal from the Internet network 7 via the LAN 6, while transmitting signals and data to the LAN 6. Signal conversion and protocol conversion Execute interface processing such as

  The digital multi-function peripheral 1 has the above-described configuration. When transmitting a facsimile, the image data of the original is read by the reading unit 15, compressed by the codec 18, and stored in the image memory 16. The compressed image data is read from the image memory 16, modulated by the modem 19, and transmitted from the NCU 20 to the communication partner through the PSTN 5.

On the other hand, at the time of facsimile reception or e-mail reception, the received document is printed out or stored in each folder of the document management unit 34 based on the setting of the distribution setting table 24.
The operation of the CPU 11 at the time of facsimile reception or e-mail reception will be described in detail with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.
The CPU 11 of the digital multi-function peripheral 1 always executes the reception program shown in the flowchart of FIG. 6 to determine whether a facsimile or electronic mail has been received (step 101). When the facsimile or electronic mail is received, the CPU 11 refers to the distribution setting table 24 in the RAM 13 and acquires the distribution destination (step 102).

Next, the CPU 11 determines whether or not a print output is included in the acquired distribution destination (step 103). When it is determined that the distribution destination does not include a print output, the CPU 11 performs normal distribution, that is, a network. After the received document is stored in the corresponding folder of the document management unit 34 of the board 21 (step 104), the program is terminated.
If it is determined in step 103 that the print destination is included in the distribution destination, the CPU 11 determines whether or not a printer error has occurred from the output of the toner sensor 25 and the paper jam sensor 26 of the recording unit 17. (Step 105). If it is determined that a printer error has not occurred, the CPU 11 executes normal distribution, that is, storage of the received document in the corresponding folder, and printout by the received data recording unit 17 (step 104). Quit the program.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step 105 that a printer error has occurred, the CPU 11 performs distribution to the distribution destination, sets a print waiting attribute to the received document, and sets a predetermined folder such as the document management unit 34. Distribution is made to the shared folder 41 (step 106).
As a result, the received document is saved in the corresponding user folder of the document management unit 34, and the received document with the print waiting attribute set is saved in the shared folder 41 of the document management unit 34.

Next, the operation of the CPU 11 when the received document with the print waiting attribute set is printed out will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
The CPU 11 always executes the print program shown in the flowchart of FIG. 7. When this program is started, first, whether or not there is a document with a print waiting attribute in a predetermined folder, that is, the shared folder 41 of the document management unit 34. Is determined (step 201). If it is determined that there is no print queue attribute document in the shared folder 41, the CPU 11 ends the program, and if it is determined that there is a print queue attribute document in the shared folder 41, it is determined whether a printer error has occurred. If it is determined that a printer error has occurred (step 202), the program is terminated.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step 202 that a printer error has not occurred, the CPU 11 prints out a document having a print waiting attribute by the recording unit 17 (step 203). Next, the CPU 11 deletes the printed document from the shared folder 41 (step 204), and then ends the program.

  As described above, if a print error is included in the distribution settings, if a printer error has occurred, the received document is set to the print wait attribute and distributed to the shared folder. Since the document in which the print waiting attribute is set is printed, the received document can be surely printed even when a printer error occurs when the document is received.

Next, an operation when the document stored in each folder of the document management unit 34 as described above is viewed from the personal computers 2, 3, 4, etc. will be briefly described.
When the user starts the WWW browser and performs access by specifying the IP address of the digital multi-function peripheral 1 on the WWW browser screen displayed on the monitor of the personal computer 2, for example, the HTTPD control unit 32 of the network board 21 The homepage file described in HTML is read from the homepage management unit 33 and transferred to the personal computer 2 via the TCP / IP protocol control unit 31, the LAN interface 22, and the LAN 6.

When the user selects and gives an instruction to display a list of documents from this home page, the list display instruction information is transferred to the digital multi-function peripheral 1 via the LAN 6, and the HTTPD control unit 32 of the network board 21 detects this. As a result, the HTTP PD control unit 32 instructs the document management unit 34 to transfer the document list, and the document management unit 34 converts the stored document list information into an HTML format file and transfers it to the personal computer 2.
As a result, the document list screen shown in FIG. 8 is displayed on the monitor screen of the personal computer 2.

As shown in FIG. 8, at the top of the document list list screen, a scan image, a transmission document, a reception document, a shared folder document, a bulletin board, a circulation document, a processing request document switching tab, “transfer”, “transmission”, Function selection buttons such as “print”, “download”, “delete”, “bulletin board”, “circulation”, and “processing request” are displayed. In the lower part of the document list screen, in the case of a received document, the name of the recipient, printing wait attribute, document classification, number of pages, transmission date and time, etc. are displayed. “*” Is displayed in the waiting attribute column.
By selecting the document switching tab on this screen, you can select the desired document classification, and after specifying the displayed document, click one of the function selection buttons to send, print, etc. It is possible to perform the process.

In the above embodiment, the received document is saved in the shared folder when a printer error occurs. However, when the shared folder does not exist, it may be saved in a specific personal folder, or in the folder on the network board. In addition, a document storage memory at the time of a printer error can be provided in the digital multi-function peripheral body.
In the above embodiment, the example in which the facsimile server of the present invention is applied to a digital multi-function peripheral has been described. Is possible.

1 is a diagram illustrating a network configuration example of a system including a digital multi-function peripheral to which a facsimile server of the present invention is applied. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a digital multi-function peripheral. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of a delivery setting table. 2 is a functional block diagram of a network board in a digital multifunction peripheral. FIG. It is a figure which shows the concept of the document management part in a network board. It is a flowchart which shows the effect | action at the time of reception of a facsimile or an email. It is a flowchart which shows the effect | action at the time of the print output of the document waiting for printing. It is a figure which shows an example of a document list list display screen.

Explanation of symbols

1 Digital MFP 2, 3, 4 PC 5 PSTN
6 LAN
7 Internet 11 CPU
12 ROM
13 RAM
14 Display / Operation Unit 15 Reading Unit 16 Image Memory 17 Recording Unit 18 Codec 19 Modem 20 NCU
21 Network board 22 LAN I / F
23 Bus 25 Toner sensor 26 Paper jam sensor 31 TCP / IP protocol control unit 32 HTTPD control unit 33 Home page management unit 34 Document management unit 41 Shared folder 42, 43 User folder

Claims (4)

A facsimile server comprising a control means for distributing received data in accordance with the content set for distribution;
When the distribution setting includes print output, the control means determines whether or not a printer error has occurred during execution of the reception and distribution process. If the printer error has occurred, the received data is transferred to the predetermined data. A facsimile server that delivers to a folder. The facsimile server according to claim 1,
A facsimile server characterized in that, if a printer error has occurred during execution of reception and distribution processing, the control means sets a print wait attribute to received data and distributes it to a predetermined folder. In the facsimile server according to claim 1 or 2,
The facsimile server, wherein when the printer error is canceled, the control means prints out the received data distributed to the predetermined folder. In the facsimile server according to claim 3,
The facsimile server, wherein when the received data delivered to the predetermined folder is printed out when the printer error is canceled, the control means deletes the printed received data from the predetermined folder.

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