JP2007060541A - Image forming apparatus and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus including a facsimile function in which communication results can be stored on removable media. <P>SOLUTION: An image forming apparatus 300 which includes an image data transmitting/receiving means 31 for transmitting/receiving image data via a communication network, comprises a communication result generating means 32 for generating the communication result of transmitting or receiving image data by an image data transmitting/receiving means 31, and a communication result recording means 33 for recording the communication result generated by the communication result generating means 32 on a storage medium 13 attachable to and detachable from the image forming apparatus 300. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus or a storage medium detachable from the image forming apparatus, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus capable of recording a communication result of facsimile transmission on a storage medium or a storage medium on which a communication result is recorded.

Facsimiles are known that read image data and store it in an image memory, and then send image data via a public telephone network (PSTN) and an integrated services digital network (ISDN). In facsimile transmission, a communication result indicating the transmission partner, transmission time, whether or not the transmission destination facsimile apparatus has received, and the like can be generated and held in a fixed and built-in storage device for a predetermined period (for example, , See Patent Document 1). If the communication result is stored, the destination and the transmission time can be confirmed with reference to the communication result after the facsimile transmission.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-252348

  However, since the communication results recorded in the storage device built in the facsimile apparatus are overwritten in order from the old communication result, the old communication result cannot be confirmed later.

  By the way, since the facsimile apparatus has an image reading apparatus (scanner) that optically scans an original to acquire image data and a printing apparatus that prints communication results, a plurality of printers, copiers, and the like in addition to the facsimile apparatus. It may be configured as a multi-function machine having the above functions. Further, with the spread of digital cameras and camera-equipped mobile phones, it is possible to record image data acquired by shooting on a removable medium, and attach the removable medium to a multifunction peripheral to print an image.

  Therefore, when the removable medium can be mounted on the image forming apparatus having the facsimile function, it is convenient that the communication result can be recorded on the removable medium.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides an image forming apparatus having a facsimile function capable of storing a communication result in a removable medium.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides a communication for generating a communication result obtained by transmitting or receiving image data by the image data transmitting / receiving means in an image forming apparatus having image data transmitting / receiving means for transmitting / receiving image data via a communication network. And a communication result recording unit that records a communication result generated by the communication result generation unit on a storage medium (removable medium) that is removable from the image forming apparatus.

  According to the present invention, an image forming apparatus having a facsimile function capable of storing a communication result in a removable medium can be provided. The communication network is a public telephone network, a comprehensive service digital network, an IP (Internet Protocol) network, or the like.

  In one embodiment of the present invention, the communication result generating unit includes an image converting unit that converts a communication result generated by the communication result generating unit into a communication recording image that is general-purpose image data. The communication record image converted by the above is recorded on a storage medium.

  According to the present invention, since the communication result is converted into general-purpose image data and recorded on the removable medium, the communication result can be viewed and printed by another image forming apparatus or a personal computer.

  In one embodiment of the present invention, the image data recording unit records the image data transmitted by the image data transmission / reception unit on a storage medium.

  According to the present invention, since the image data is recorded on the removable medium on which the communication result is recorded, the transmitted image data can be visually recognized, and the communication result of the image data can be easily confirmed.

  In one embodiment of the present invention, when image data stored in a storage medium is transmitted by the image data transmission / reception means, transmission for detecting a transmission designated time for transmitting the image data from the attached storage medium by the image data transmission / reception means. It has time detection means, and the image data transmission / reception means transmits the image data recorded on the storage medium when the transmission time detected by the transmission time detection means comes.

  According to the present invention, by storing the transmission time in the removable medium, the image data stored in the removable medium can be transmitted by facsimile at the designated time.

  In one embodiment of the present invention, the transmission time detection means extracts image data from the storage medium before the transmission time is reached.

  According to the present invention, since image data is copied to the image forming apparatus before transmission, the removable medium can be taken out from the image forming apparatus after copying.

  In one embodiment of the present invention, the transmission time detecting means detects storage medium identification information for identifying the storage medium together with the transmission designated time, and the communication result recording means is a storage medium identified based on the storage medium identification information. The communication result is recorded on the network.

  According to the present invention, the storage medium identification information (for example, the serial number given to the storage medium at the time of manufacture) is held together with the transmission designated time, so that the image data is transmitted and then identified based on the storage medium identification information. The communication result can be recorded on the same storage medium.

  According to the present invention, in a storage medium in which image data is recorded in a tree structure, a communication result obtained by transmitting or receiving the image data via a communication network is recorded in a predetermined directory in the tree structure. It is characterized by.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the removable medium which can record a communication result can be provided. The communication result includes a case where transmission does not end normally.

  An image forming apparatus having a facsimile function capable of storing a communication result in a removable medium can be provided.

  Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a basic configuration of an image forming apparatus 300 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is an example of a system configuration diagram to which the image forming apparatus 300 is applied.

  An image forming apparatus 300 in FIG. 1 is an image forming apparatus 300 or an MFP (Multi Function Printer) having at least a facsimile function, and has functions of document scanning, copying, facsimile, and printing.

  The image forming apparatus 300 according to the present embodiment communicates with a storage medium (hereinafter referred to as an RM (removable medium)) that can be attached to and detached from the image forming apparatus 300 when the facsimile is transmitted or received. Record. A direct transmission function for reading image data directly from the RM and transmitting it by facsimile may be provided.

  The image forming apparatus 300 is controlled by the CPU 1. The CPU 1 instructs and controls each block such as the scanner engine 5 in accordance with a user operation or the like input via the operation unit 16 or the external host interface (I / F) unit 12. A program executed by the CPU 22 is stored in the ROM 2 in advance. When the power is turned on, the CPU 1 loads the program and implements each unit described below. There may be a plurality of CPUs 1.

  Scanning a document is realized by the scanner engine 5, the scanner control unit 6, the image reading unit 7, and the image processing unit 8 that constitute the scanner unit 200. The scanner engine 5 is a block that optically scans a set original. The scanner engine 5 applies light to the original and inputs the reflected light to an image sensor such as a CCD to convert it into an electrical signal. The scanner engine 5 may be a flat bed type or a document feed type that sends a document to a fixed light source.

  The scanner control unit 6 controls the moving speed of the light source and the paper feed, and sends the reflected light input by the scanner engine 5 to the image reading unit 7. The image reading unit 7 performs A / D conversion processing on the converted electrical signal and sends it to the image processing unit 8 as digital data. The image processing unit 8 performs known image processing such as shading processing, scaling processing, edge processing, γ correction, and binarization processing, and sends image data to the RAM control unit 4 via the bus 100. The RAM control unit 4 temporarily stores image data in the RAM 3.

  The host I / F (interface) control unit 12 is an interface for receiving printing data for printing by the printer engine 19 from the external device 11 and transmission data for facsimile transmission by the FAX control unit 10. The external device is a device that holds image data, such as a digital camera, a mobile phone, a personal computer, or a PDA (Personal Data Assistant). Examples of the types of interfaces controlled by the interface control unit 17 include Ethernet (registered trademark), printer port (IEEE1284), USB (Universal Serial Bus), IEEE1394, IrDA (Infrared Data Association), and the like. These may be local connection or network connection, and may be wired or wireless.

  When the host I / F control unit 12 receives print data to be printed by the printer engine 19 from the external device 11 or transmission data transmitted from the FAX control unit 10, the host I / F control unit 12 temporarily stores it in the RAM 3 via the RAM control unit 4. The host I / F control unit 12 can also transmit print data or transmission data to an external device.

  The media interface (I / F) 14 is an interface for attaching the RM 13 and reading various digital data recorded in the attached RM 13 and writing digital data such as communication results in the RM 13. The RM 13 stores image data taken by a digital camera or a camera-equipped mobile phone, and is configured by a storage element such as a flash memory, EEPROM, or FRAM (Ferroelectric Random Access Memory). The RM 13 is, for example, a CF (compact flash (registered trademark)), an SD card, a mini SD card, an MMC (multimedia card), an xD picture card, a memory stick (registered trademark), a USB memory, a CD, a DVD, etc. Is merely an example, and any storage medium that supplies image data to the image forming apparatus 300 may be used.

  The media I / F 14 has means for physical connection according to the shape and number of connection pins of the RM 13 to be supported, and the electrical, magnetic or optical specifications such as the voltage determined as the specification, the data transfer speed The digital data is read from and written to the RM 13 in accordance with the above.

  The media control unit 15 detects that the RM 13 is attached to the media I / F 14 and controls reading of image data, writing of a communication result, and the like according to the specification of each RM 13. Since the image data taken by the digital camera or the camera-equipped mobile phone is stored according to a predetermined format (for example, DPOF (Digital Print Order Format)), the media control unit 15 detects the image data based on the format and designates it. The specified number of image data is printed. The media control unit 15 temporarily stores the image data in the RAM 3 via the RAM control unit 4 when reading the image data from the RM 13.

  The FAX control unit 10 is realized by an NCU (Network Control Unit) 9 and a FAX control unit 10 that constitute the facsimile unit 500. The FAX control unit 10 performs facsimile transmission / reception via the NCU 9 according to a communication procedure (communication protocol) corresponding to, for example, a G3 or G4 standard facsimile. The FAX control unit 10 performs image processing, such as data compression and modulation, on image data that has become black and white binary or halftone two-dimensional information, and transmits it to the other party via a public telephone network or a comprehensive service digital network. To do. Similarly, the transmitted image data is received, and the two-dimensional information is restored by performing modulation, data expansion, or the like. When connecting to the public communication network, the NCU 9 sends a telephone number (dial signal) to call a communication partner. At the time of FAX reception, the telephone number of the image forming apparatus 300 is designated from the public communication network, and connection is permitted from the other party. The image data received by the FAX control unit 10 is temporarily stored in the RAM 3 via the RAM control unit 4.

  It should be noted that facsimile transmission / reception may be performed by connecting to a network using a protocol common to the other party, such as TCP / IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol), without using the NCU 9.

  The FAX control unit 10 has a clock indicating the current time, and records the time when the image data is transmitted or received in the RAM 3 in association with the image data. Further, the FAX control unit 10 records information such as time taken for communication, communication mode (data resolution), communication line, communication data amount, transmission / reception result, communication destination information, and the like with time.

  The image data read by the scanner engine 5, the image data received by the FAX control unit 10, the image data transmitted from the external device 11, or the image data read from the RM 13 are the print engine 19 constituting the printer unit 400, Printing can be performed by the printer control unit 18 and the image writing unit 20.

  The print control unit 26 acquires image data designated via the bus 100 from the RAM 3 and sends it to the image writing unit 20. The image writing unit 20 controls the printer engine 19 in accordance with the printer engine method to form an image. The image forming method of the printer engine 19 may be any method such as a laser method, an LED method, a liquid crystal shutter method, and an ink jet method.

  The operation unit 16 is a machine interface for inputting operation details directly to the image forming apparatus 300. The operation unit 16 includes buttons and a touch panel for operation selection, indicators for displaying the device status (display devices such as LEDs and LCDs), a display unit such as a liquid crystal, a speaker, and the like. The operation unit I / F control unit 21 monitors the operation of the operation unit 20 by the user, discriminates the operation content, converts it into a signal corresponding to the operation content, and sends it to the CPU 1. The operation contents are copying, facsimile transmission, etc. In the case of copying, the number of copies is input, and in the case of facsimile, the telephone number of the transmission destination is input.

  An NVRAM (Non-volatile RAM) 21 is a non-volatile memory such as a flash memory, an EEPROM, or an FRAM. For example, authentication information for authenticating a user or information unique to the image forming apparatus (for example, a manufacturing number and a copy number counter) Value).

  Next, functions realized by a program executed by the CPU 1 of the image forming apparatus 300 will be described based on the functional block diagram of FIG.

  The document reading unit 30 optically scans the document with the scanner unit 200 and photoelectrically converts the reflected light to generate image data. The image data transmission / reception means 31 transmits / receives image data by controlling the facsimile unit 500 via a communication network. The communication result generation unit 32 generates communication results such as the transmission time transmitted by the image data transmission / reception unit 31, the reception time received, and the other party. The communication result is sent to the communication result recording unit 33, and the communication result recording unit 33 records the communication result in the RM 13. The communication result is transmitted to the image conversion means 34, and the communication result is converted into a communication record image which is general-purpose image data. The communication record image is recorded in the RM 13 by the communication result recording means 33.

  The image data recording unit 35 records the image data transmitted by the image data transmission / reception unit in the RM 13. Thereby, the transmitted image data and the communication result are recorded in the same RM 13. Note that the image data received from the other party may be recorded in the RM 13 together with the communication result.

  Further, when image data to be transmitted by the facsimile unit 500 is recorded in the RM 13 and transmitted by the image data transmitting / receiving unit 31, the transmission time detecting unit 36 has a transmission designation time for designating the transmission time to the attached RM 13. This is detected in some cases. The image data transmitting / receiving unit 31 transmits the image data of the RM 13 by facsimile at the time designated by the designated transmission time. The transmission time detection unit 36 extracts the image data of the RM 13 from the RM 13 and transmits it to the image data transmission / reception unit 31 before transmission.

  Further, the transmission time detection means 36 detects the storage medium identification information for identifying the RM 13 from the RM 13 together with the transmission designated time. Then, the communication result recording unit 33 records the communication result in the RM 13 having the same storage medium identification information.

  Control for recording the communication result in the RM 13 after facsimile transmission will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a flow of control for recording a communication result.

  When the user sets a document on the image forming apparatus 300 or inputs from the operation unit 16, the image forming apparatus 300 determines whether the user's operation is facsimile transmission (S11).

  If the transmission is not facsimile transmission (No in step S11), the communication result is not written in the RM 13, so the processing in FIG.

  In the case of facsimile transmission (Yes in step S11), the image reading unit 30 instructs the scanner control unit 6 to read the original, so the original is read by the scanner engine 3, and the image reading unit 7 and the image processing unit 8 perform image reading. Data is generated (S12). The generated image data is temporarily stored in the RAM 3.

  Next, the FAX control unit 10 executes a known facsimile transmission procedure (S13). The NCU 9 sends a destination dial signal to the exchange and sends it to the counterpart facsimile machine. When the partner facsimile machine responds and the line is connected, the FAX control unit 10 sends a facsimile tone signal to the destination. When the destination facsimile apparatus receives the facsimile tone signal, it returns a facsimile receivable method (such as a reception speed) as a facsimile tone signal. The FAX control unit 10 transmits image data in an image signal format that matches the receivable method of the destination facsimile apparatus. The FAX control unit 10 continues to transmit image data until a reception completion signal is received from the destination facsimile apparatus. When the transmission of the image data is completed or there is no response from the other party for a certain time, the line is disconnected.

  When the transmission of the image data is completed, the communication result recording unit 33 determines whether or not the RM 13 is attached (S14). When the RM 13 is mounted (Yes in step S14), the communication result recording unit 33 records the communication result in the RM 13 (S15). Further, in order to record the communication result in the image forming apparatus 300, the communication result is recorded in the NVRAM 21 (S16). Since the communication result is already recorded in the RM 13, the recording of the communication result in the NVRAM 21 may be omitted according to the user setting.

  Through the control as described above, the facsimile communication result can be recorded in the RM 13. Note that the communication result and the image data are similarly recorded in the RM 13 when a facsimile is received from the other party.

  FIG. 5 shows an example of the communication result recorded in the RM 13. As a communication result, an identification number, a communication date / time, a communication time, a communication mode, a communication line, a communication data amount, a transmission / reception result, and communication destination information are recorded. The identification number is a non-overlapping number assigned each time facsimile transmission is performed, and the facsimile transmission operation can be specified by the identification number.

  The communication result recording means 33 records the communication result as shown in FIG. 5 in the RM 13 as a history for every transmission / reception. Since the RM 13 is detachable, it can be replaced with another RM 13 even when the free space is reduced, and the communication result can be stored for a long period of time. Therefore, according to the image forming apparatus of the present embodiment, the communication result can be held separately from the image forming apparatus 300, and the storability and viewability of the communication result can be improved.

  The communication result is recorded in the form of text data, CSV (Comma Separated Values) or ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) data, and the ASCII data format which does not include kanji is particularly suitable.

  FIG. 6A shows an example of a communication result recorded by ASCII data and printed by another apparatus. In FIG. 6A, the communication results are printed in a predetermined order with each item separated by a comma. Since the contents of each item can be discriminated without a header name such as the communication date and time, it is displayed even when the RM 13 is mounted on a device other than the image forming apparatus 300 by recording in such a general data format. Or printing becomes possible.

  The communication result may be stored as image data (hereinafter, the communication result stored as image data is referred to as a communication record image). If it is a communication record image, the communication result can be recorded in association with the header of each item such as the communication date and time, and even when the RM 13 is attached to another device, it can be printed easily.

  Therefore, the format of the communication recording image is preferably a general-purpose format such as GIF (Graphic Interchange Format), TIFF (Tagged Image File Format), or JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group). FIG. 6B shows an example of a communication result recorded in a general-purpose image data format and printed by another apparatus. If the image data is general-purpose as shown in FIG. 6B, the communication result can be easily printed by another apparatus.

  Conversion to a communication recording image is performed by the image conversion means 34 controlling the printer engine 19 and the image processing unit 8. The image conversion means 34 sends the communication result to the printer engine 19 or the image processing unit 8 every time the communication result is recorded, periodically or every predetermined number of facsimile transmissions / receptions, and converts the communication result into a communication record image. When the communication result is converted into a communication record image, it is preferable to record the conversion date and time and the conversion period together with the communication record image in order to clarify the period of the converted communication result.

[When saving image data to RM]
Up to now, the image data transmitted by facsimile is temporarily stored in the RAM 3 and the communication result is recorded in the RM 13. By storing the image data in the RM 13 together with the communication result, the communication result management function and convenience are provided. Will improve.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a flow of control for recording a communication result and image data in the RM 13. In FIG. 7, the same steps as in FIG. 3 will be described briefly.

  In the case of facsimile transmission (S11), the document is scanned to generate image data (S12), and facsimile transmission is performed (S13). If the RM 13 is attached (S14), the communication result is attached to the RM 13 (S15).

  Next, the image data recording unit 35 sends the transmitted image data from the RAM 3 to the RM 13 and causes the media control unit 15 to record the image data (S20). For example, the image data is recorded together with the identification number of FIG. 5, so that the image data can be associated with the communication result. The communication result is recorded in the NVRAM 21 according to the user setting (S16).

  Therefore, the image data and the communication result can be recorded in the RM 13, and the management function and convenience of the communication result are improved.

  By the way, depending on the image forming apparatus, a plurality of different types of removable media may be loaded at a time. In such a case, the image data recording unit 35 records the communication result and the image data in the same RM 13.

  In this embodiment, a case will be described in which image data recorded in advance in the RM 13 is transmitted by facsimile at a designated time. If the image data to be transmitted is recorded in advance, it is not necessary to scan the document immediately before facsimile transmission. For example, when a facsimile is transmitted at night when there is a margin in the line, the document may be scanned immediately before the facsimile transmission by setting a timer. However, by preparing image data in advance, a scan error or an operation error can be avoided. Can be reduced. Note that the image data of the RM 13 may be read by the scanner unit 200 or may be acquired from another device.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing for facsimile transmission of image data recorded in the RM 13 at a designated transmission designated time.

  The user attaches the RM 13 on which the image data is recorded to the media I / F 14. When a facsimile transmission is input from the operation unit 16, the transmission time detection unit 36 determines whether or not the transmission designation time is designated by the RM 13 (S101). In the present embodiment, when the transmission designated time is recorded in the RM 13, it is determined that the transmission time is designated. If the designated transmission time is not detected (No in step S101), the facsimile transmission is started as it is (S104).

  FIG. 9 shows an example of the data structure of the RM 13 in which the designated transmission time is recorded. In the RM 13, each directory forms a hierarchical structure in a tree shape from the root directory. In order to use the direct print function, the RM 13 records image data in a predetermined format such as DCF (Design Rule for Camera File System) or DPOF (Digital Print Order Format).

  In the present embodiment, the communication result is recorded under the root directory. When the designated transmission time of the image data is designated, the file is recorded in “designated transmission time” which is a predetermined directory, and the designated time can be detected by referring to the file. In FIG. 9, “Y200X.MOO.DOO.17: 00” and the designated transmission time are recorded.

  When the designated transmission time is detected (Yes in step S101), the transmission time detecting means 36 sets transmission information for facsimile transmission of the designated image data at the designated time in the NVRAM 21 (S102).

  FIG. 10 shows an example of transmission information set in the NVRAM 21. In the transmission information, a designated transmission time, a removable media access point, and an image file access point are recorded. The removable media access point is a serial number (assigned at the time of manufacture) for specifying the RM 13 and specifying the media I / F 14 to which the RM 13 is mounted when there are a plurality of media I / Fs 14. The image file access point designates a directory in which image data is stored. In addition to these, the file name of the image data may be recorded in the transmission information.

  When the RM 13 is taken out from the image forming apparatus 300 after the transmission information is set, the image data transmission / reception unit 31 copies the image data to the RAM 3 and sets the copy destination of the image data as the transmission information.

  Next, the image data transmitting / receiving unit 31 waits until the time when transmission is designated (S103). When the designated time comes (Yes in step S103), the image data transmitting / receiving unit 31 acquires the image data recorded in the RM 13 or the image data copied to the RAM 3, and performs facsimile transmission (S104).

  Next, when the facsimile transmission is completed, the communication result recording means 33 records the communication result in the RM 13 (S105), and records the communication result in the NVRAM 21 according to the user setting (S106).

  Since the RM 13 in which the communication result is recorded is preferably the RM 13 in which the image data has been recorded, the communication result recording unit 33 detects the serial number of the RM 13 attached to the media I / F 14 and the image data is If the RM 13 has been recorded, the communication result is recorded. If it is not the RM 13 in which the image data is recorded, the communication result is recorded when the RM 13 in which the image data is recorded is attached to the media I / F 14. By such processing, the image data and the communication result can be recorded in the same RM 13, and the management function and convenience of the communication result are improved.

  As described above, according to the image forming apparatus 300 of the present embodiment, since the communication result can be stored in the removable medium, the communication result can be stored for a long period of time. Therefore, it is possible to improve the storability and viewability of communication results. Further, since the communication result can be recorded on a removable medium as a communication recording image as image data, the communication result can be viewed and printed by an apparatus other than the image forming apparatus 300. Further, since the image data transmitted by facsimile can be recorded on the removable medium together with the communication result, the management function and convenience of the communication result are improved. In addition, when a time is designated on the removable medium on which the image data is recorded, the image data can be transmitted by facsimile at the designated time, and the communication result can be recorded on the removable medium on which the image data is recorded.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a basic configuration of an image forming apparatus. 1 is an example of a system configuration diagram to which an image forming apparatus is applied. 1 is an example of a functional block diagram of an image forming apparatus. It is a flowchart figure which shows the flow of control which records a communication result. It is a figure which shows an example of the communication result recorded on the removable medium. It is an example of the communication result converted into general-purpose image data. It is a flowchart figure which shows the flow of control which records a communication result and image data on a removable medium. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing for facsimile transmission of image data recorded on a removable medium at a designated transmission designated time. It is an example of the data structure of the removable medium with which the transmission designated time was recorded. It is an example of the transmission information set to NVRAM.

Explanation of symbols

11 External equipment 13 Removable media (RM)
100 bus 200 scanner unit 300 image forming apparatus 400 printer unit 500 facsimile unit

Claims (7)

In an image forming apparatus having image data transmission / reception means for transmitting / receiving image data via a communication network,
Communication result generating means for generating a communication result of transmitting or receiving image data by the image data transmitting / receiving means;
A communication result recording means for recording the communication result generated by the communication result generating means in a storage medium removable from the image forming apparatus;
An image forming apparatus comprising: Image conversion means for converting the communication result generated by the communication result generation means into a communication record image which is general-purpose image data;
The communication result recording means records the communication record image converted by the image conversion means on the storage medium.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. Image data recording means for recording the image data transmitted by the image data transmitting / receiving means on the storage medium;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is an image forming apparatus. When transmitting the image data stored in the storage medium by the image data transmitting / receiving means,
Transmission time detecting means for detecting a transmission designated time for transmitting image data by the image data transmitting / receiving means from the mounted storage medium;
The image data transmitting / receiving unit transmits the image data recorded in the storage medium when the transmission time detected by the transmission time detecting unit is reached.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus includes: The transmission time detecting means extracts the image data from the storage medium before the transmission time is reached.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 4. The transmission time detection means detects storage medium identification information for identifying the storage medium together with the transmission designated time,
The communication result recording means records the communication result in the storage medium identified based on the storage medium identification information;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the image forming apparatus is an image forming apparatus. In a storage medium in which image data is recorded in a tree structure,
A communication result of transmitting or receiving the image data via a communication network is recorded in a predetermined directory of the tree structure.
A storage medium characterized by that.

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