JP2009267763A - Image transmission apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image transmission apparatus capable of surely confirming a plurality of image data to be transmitted in a short time before transmission even, for example, in transmitting the plurality of image data after coupling by facsimile. <P>SOLUTION: The facsimile composite machine 1(image transmission apparatus) includes a transmission data generating means 12 and an outside transmission means (facsimile transmission section 18). The facsimile composite machine 1 generates transmission data 32 based on an instruction from a connected user terminal device 80 from one or more image data 31 and transmits the transmission data 32 to a transmission destination designated from the user terminal device 80. Further, the facsimile composite machine 1 includes preview image generating section 14 for extracting at least some pages from the transmission data 32 and generates a preview image 33. When two or more image data 31 are included in the transmission data 32, the facsimile composite machine 1 extracts some pages of each of the transmission data 31 and generates the preview image 33. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image transmission apparatus such as a facsimile apparatus, and more particularly to an image transmission apparatus that can be connected to a user terminal device and that generates and displays a preview image based on an instruction from the user terminal device. Is.

  A facsimile apparatus as an image transmission apparatus is an apparatus that transmits an image via a PSTN (public telephone switched line network). Some facsimile apparatuses store image data to be transmitted, and select an image to be transmitted and execute transmission based on an instruction from a user terminal connected to the facsimile apparatus (so-called “transmission”). PC-FAX).

Unlike conventional facsimile transmission, a facsimile machine that transmits an image by using such a method selects predetermined image data from a plurality of stored image data, unlike when a paper document is converted into data and transmitted immediately. Therefore, there is a possibility that incorrect image data is transmitted. In order to prevent such erroneous image data from being transmitted in this way, usually, a preview display for displaying the transmitted image is performed so that the content of the image can be confirmed. An image forming apparatus having a facsimile function that discloses a technique for displaying a preview of an image to be transmitted is disclosed in, for example, Patent Document 1.
JP 2004-056658 A

  The above facsimile machine, when storing multiple related pages as a single image data in the storage part, multi-page file (Multi-TIFF) in TIFF (Tag Image File Format) format, Portable Document Format (PDF), etc. It is saved using. Then, by storing a plurality of pages as one image data, it becomes easier to manage image data and the like than when storing individual pages as separate image data.

  However, the data capacity of such multi-page image data increases as the number of pages increases. For this reason, if preview display of all pages is performed, the transmission time of data between the facsimile apparatus and the personal computer which is the user terminal apparatus becomes long, and it takes time until the preview display is performed. In particular, when a plurality of multi-page image data are combined and facsimile transmission is performed, the total data capacity is further increased. Therefore, if preview display of each page is performed for all image data, it takes more time. .

  In addition, by displaying only the first page of the first image data among one or more image data to be transmitted, the data transmission time between the facsimile apparatus and the personal computer can be shortened. . In this case, when one image data is transmitted, the image data can be sufficiently confirmed by the preview display of the first page. However, when a plurality of image data are transmitted together, the image data other than the first image data is transmitted. It is not possible to confirm whether it has been selected correctly.

  Therefore, the present invention generates a transmission data by combining a plurality of image data, and even if this transmission data is transmitted to a transmission destination, each image data is transmitted to the user terminal device for a short time before transmitting the transmission data. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image transmission device to which a user terminal device that can be surely confirmed can be connected.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image transmission device capable of connecting a user terminal device, an image data storage means for storing image data composed of one or more pages, and an instruction from the user terminal device. Based on transmission data generation means for generating transmission data from the image data, preview image generation means for generating a preview image by extracting at least a part of pages from the transmission data, and the preview image as the user terminal device Preview image transmission means for transmitting to the external transmission means for transmitting the transmission data to a transmission destination designated by the user terminal device based on an instruction from the user terminal device, the transmission data generation means, Merge the two or more image data held in the image data storage means to generate the transmission data Rukoto can, the preview image generation means from two or more of the image data included in the transmission data, respectively configured to generate the preview image by extracting a portion of the page.

  With such a configuration, the image transmission apparatus of the present invention can transmit each of the transmission data before transmitting the transmission data generated by merging two or more pieces of image data to the transmission destination specified in the user terminal apparatus. After generating a preview image by extracting a part of each page from the image data, a preview image corresponding to each image data can be transmitted to the user terminal device for display. As a result, the image transmission apparatus according to the present invention can display the preview image in a short time by reducing the data capacity of the preview image as compared with the case where all of the image data is displayed as a preview. It can be confirmed reliably.

  Examples of the external transmission unit include a mail transmission unit that transmits the transmission data attached to an e-mail, and a facsimile transmission unit that transmits the transmission data by facsimile. Furthermore, when transmitting the transmission data to a transmission destination designated by the user terminal device, the transmission data can be transmitted to the transmission destination via a network.

  In the image transmission apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the above-described configuration, the preview image generation means extracts the first page of two or more image data included in the transmission data, and generates the preview image. Configured as follows.

  The image transmission apparatus according to the present invention has such a configuration, so that the preview display is performed by the preview image of the first page of each image data, so that it is easy to confirm whether or not the image data is correctly selected.

  In addition to the above configuration, the image transmitting apparatus according to the third aspect of the present invention is configured such that the preview image generating means generates the preview image by reducing the resolution of the extracted pages.

  With this configuration, the image transmission apparatus of the present invention can reduce the data capacity of the preview image as much as possible, so that the time for transmitting the preview image to the user terminal apparatus can be further shortened.

  In the image transmission device of the present invention, by reducing the data capacity of the preview image as much as possible, the transmission time of the preview image to the user terminal device can be shortened, and the preview image can be displayed in a short time. Since the image data can be surely confirmed, it is possible to prevent the image data from being erroneously transmitted.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a facsimile multifunction machine as an image transmission apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The facsimile multifunction machine 1 is connected to a user terminal device 80 having a display unit 81 formed of a display and an operation input unit 82 constituted by a keyboard, a mouse, and the like.

  The facsimile multifunction peripheral 1 is connected to a PSTN (Public Telephone Switched Network), and can perform transmission / reception of document information (facsimile transmission / reception) with another facsimile apparatus (not shown). The facsimile multifunction peripheral 1 is connected to a mail server, and can send an electronic mail through the mail server.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the facsimile multifunction peripheral 1 includes an image data storage unit 11, a transmission data generation unit 12, a transmission data storage unit 13, a preview image generation unit 14, a preview image storage unit 15, a scanner device 16, and a user terminal. The interface 17, the facsimile transmission unit 18, and the mail transmission unit 19 are configured.

  The image data storage unit 11 stores image data 31. Image data 31 obtained by reading image information recorded on a paper medium by the scanner device 16 and image data 31 transmitted from the user terminal device 80 via the user terminal interface 17 are stored in the image data storage unit 11. Each image data 31 is an image file composed of one or more pages, and specifically, is a single page file or a multi-page file in the TIFF format. Each image data 31 is assigned a unique ID, and the individual image data 31 can be identified by this ID.

  The transmission data generation unit 12 generates transmission data 32 transmitted by facsimile transmission or electronic mail transmission. The transmission data 32 is generated from one or more image data 31 based on an instruction from the user terminal device 80.

  For example, when the transmission data 32 is generated from one image data 31, the image data 31 is used as the transmission data 32 as it is. When the transmission data 32 is generated from two or more image data 31, the transmission data 32 is generated by combining the image data 31 by merging.

  In the present embodiment, merging means that when two image data 31 are combined to generate transmission data 32, the first page of one image data 31 is the page following the last page of the other image data 31. As described above, the image data 31 is synthesized. When three or more image data 31 are combined by merging, the page following the last page of one image data 31 becomes the first page of another image data 31, and the page following the last page of the other image data 31 However, the synthesis is performed so that the whole becomes a series of pages so as to become the first page of another image data 31.

  The transmission data storage unit 13 stores the transmission data 32 generated by the transmission data generation unit 12. The transmission data 32 is transmitted from the facsimile transmission unit 18 or the mail transmission unit 19 to the outside by facsimile transmission or electronic mail transmission.

  The facsimile transmission unit 18 is connected to the PSTN and performs facsimile transmission. At the time of facsimile transmission, the transmission data 32 is encoded and transmitted to the PSTN as facsimile communication information.

  Moreover, the mail transmission part 19 is connected with the mail server, and performs electronic mail transmission. The mail transmission unit 19 is means for attaching the transmission data 32 to the electronic mail and transmitting the electronic mail, and sends the electronic mail with the transmission data 32 attached to the mail server. In the present embodiment, the facsimile transmission unit 18 and the mail transmission unit 19 perform external transmission means for performing facsimile transmission or electronic mail transmission to a transmission destination designated by the user terminal device 80 based on an instruction from the user terminal device 80. It becomes.

  The preview image generation unit 14 generates a preview image 33 that is displayed as a preview on the display unit 81 of the user terminal device 80. The preview image 33 is generated by extracting at least a part of pages from the image data 31 included in the transmission data 32 based on an instruction from the user terminal device 80. That is, the preview image 33 can be generated by extracting an image of a part of the page of the image data 31 included in the transmission data 32 or can be generated by using an image of the entire page of the transmission data 32. . In the present embodiment, the preview image 33 is a single-page file or a multi-page file in the TIFF format, but a file in another format may be used.

  When the transmission data 32 is generated by combining two or more image data 31, the preview image 33 can be generated by extracting only the first page of the first image data 31 of the transmission data 32. A part of pages can be extracted and generated from two or more image data 31 included in the transmission data 32. When generating a preview image 33 by extracting a part of pages from each image data 31, the preview image 33 is preferably generated by extracting the first page of each image data 31.

  The preview image storage unit 15 stores the preview image 33 generated by the preview image generation unit 14. The preview image 33 is sent from the user terminal interface 17 to the user terminal device 80, and the preview image 33 is displayed on the display unit 81.

  The scanner device 16 is a device that generates image data 31 from image information recorded on a paper medium. For example, an optical reading device that irradiates a paper medium with light and reads the reflected light using a line sensor or the like to generate image data 31 is used as the scanner device 16.

  The user terminal interface 17 is connected to the user terminal device 80 via a cable. Information exchange between the facsimile multifunction peripheral 1 and the user terminal device 80 is performed via the user terminal interface 17.

  3 shows image data 31 (31a, 31b) stored in the image data storage unit 11, transmission data 32 stored in the transmission data storage unit 13, and a preview image 33 stored in the preview image storage unit 15. It is the figure which showed the relationship notionally.

  In the present embodiment, among the plurality of image data 31 stored in the image data storage unit 11, the first image data 31a composed of three pages of images and the second image data 31b composed of two pages of images. A case where the transmission data 32 is generated using the above will be described.

  First, the transmission data generation unit 12 merges the first image data 31a and the second image data 31b to generate transmission data 32 of 5 pages as a whole. The generated transmission data 32 is composed of the first image data 31a and the second image data 31b so that the first page of the second image data 31b follows the last page of the first image data 31a. ing. Specifically, the images P1 to P3 of the first image data 31a become images P1 to P3 of the transmission data 32, and the images P1 and P2 of the second image data 31b are P4 and P5 of the transmission data 32. It is an image.

  Then, the preview image generation unit 14 extracts a part of the transmission data 32 and generates a preview image 33. In this example, the preview image 33 is generated by extracting the P1 and P4 images of the transmission data 32. That is, the preview image 33 is generated by extracting the P1 and P4 images of the transmission data 32 that are pages corresponding to the first page of the first image data 31a and the second image data 31b.

  Thus, the generated preview image 33 is transmitted to the user terminal device 80 via the user terminal interface 17 serving as a preview image transmission unit, and the preview image 33 transmitted to the user terminal device 80 is previewed on the display unit 81. Is displayed.

  Next, with respect to a method of performing facsimile transmission or mail transmission using the facsimile multifunction peripheral 1 to which the user terminal device 80 is connected, the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 4 to 6 and the display screen images shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 are used. I will explain. In the following description, a case where document data in which an image including characters is converted into data is used as the image data 31 will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the entire flow in the case of sending a facsimile is first selected in the user terminal device 80 as a transmission document to be transmitted by a facsimile (step S101). Next, it is determined whether or not preview display is executed (step S102). When it is determined that preview display is executed, preview display is performed (step S103). If the preview display is not performed, it is determined whether or not the next transmission execution is performed (step S104). If the preview display is performed, whether the transmission execution is performed after the preview display is performed. A determination of whether or not is made (step S104). When it is determined that transmission is to be performed, fucksimilar transmission or e-mail transmission is performed (step S105). A specific operation is performed as follows.

  In the facsimile multifunction peripheral 1 of this embodiment, when selecting a transmission document, a transmission document selection screen as shown in FIG. 7 is displayed on the display unit 81. In this transmission document selection screen, document data stored in the image data storage unit 11 is displayed in a list, and a document is selected by checking a square check mark provided corresponding to the document data. Can do. Then, after checking the document to be transmitted, click “End Selection” to complete the document selection.

  When the document to be transmitted is determined, the user terminal device 80 instructs the facsimile multifunction peripheral 1 to generate the transmission data 32. Specifically, the ID and order of the image data 31 to be transmitted are sent to the transmission data generation unit 12, the transmission data 32 is generated by the transmission data generation unit 12, and the generated transmission data 32 is transmitted to the transmission data storage unit 13. Saved in.

  On the other hand, on the display unit 81 of the user terminal device 80, the transmission document selection screen is closed and a transmission screen as shown in FIG. 8 is displayed. On this transmission screen, fax transmission and e-mail transmission can be selected. By operating the operation input unit 82, execution of transmission, execution of preview display, input of information necessary for transmission, and the like are performed.

  When preview display is performed, first, the type of preview display displayed on the display unit 81 of the user terminal device 80 is selected using the operation input unit 82, and the “preview” portion of the transmission document column of the transmission screen is selected. This is done by clicking and executing. The types of preview display include a first page display that displays only the first page of the document to be transmitted, each document first page display that displays the first page of each of the combined documents, and all of the documents to be transmitted. There is a full page display to display a page. The user selects the type of preview display from these page displays. Specifically, after selecting one of “first page”, “each document first page”, and “all pages” in the transmission document column of the transmission screen shown in FIG. 8, the “preview” portion is clicked.

  When selecting the type of preview display on this transmission screen, depending on the number of document data selected on the transmission document selection screen and the number of pages of each document data, “first page” and “first page of each document” The display state of “all pages” is changed.

  The control in the user terminal device 80 for displaying “first page”, “each document first page”, and “all pages” will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, it is determined whether or not a plurality of documents are selected (step S111). If a plurality of documents are selected (YES in step S111), the “first page”, “each” Both “document first page” and “all pages” are displayed to be selectable (step S112).

  If only one document has been selected (NO in step S111), it is further determined whether or not the document has a plurality of pages (step S120). In the transmitted document column, “first page” and “all pages” can be selected, and “each document first page” cannot be selected (step S121). If the document has only one page (NO in step S120), only the “first page” is displayed in the transmission document column (step S122).

  When the type of preview display is selected and the “preview” portion is clicked and executed, the type of preview display is fixed, and the user terminal device 80 instructs the facsimile multifunction peripheral 1 to generate the preview image 33. This instruction is performed by sending the ID of the image data 31 used for the preview image 33 and information indicating either the first page or all pages to the preview image generation unit 14. HTTP Post Method is used.

  Control of the instruction for generating the preview image 33 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. A case will be described in which a plurality of transmission documents are selected and “first page”, “each document first page”, and “all pages” are displayed in the transmission document column so as to be selectable (step S112). When the preview display of “first page” is selected, it is determined whether or not the preview display of the first page is performed (step S113), and when it is determined that the preview display of the first page is performed (step S113). YES), the ID of the first document and the instruction to preview the first page are transmitted to the preview image generating unit 14 of the facsimile multifunction peripheral 1 (step S114).

  When the preview display of “first page of each document” is selected, it is determined whether or not the preview display of the first page is to be performed, and if it is determined not to be performed (NO in step S113), then It is determined whether or not to display the preview of the first page of each document (step S115). When it is determined to preview the first page of each document (YES in step S115), the ID of each selected document and an instruction to preview the first page of each document are previewed by the facsimile machine 1. It is transmitted to the image generation unit 1 (step S116).

  If “all pages” preview display is selected for the transmission data composed of a plurality of documents, it is determined in step S113 that the preview display of the first page is not performed (NO in step S113). In S115, it is determined that the preview display of the first page of each document is not performed (NO in step S115). If it is determined not to perform preview display of the first page of each document, an instruction to perform preview display of all pages is transmitted to the preview image generating unit 1 of the facsimile multifunction peripheral 1 together with the ID of each selected document. (Step S117).

  Next, a case where one document having a plurality of pages is selected and “first page” and “all pages” are displayed in the transmission document column so as to be selectable (step S121) will be described. When the preview display of “first page” is selected, it is determined whether or not the preview display of the first page is performed (step S123), and when it is determined that the preview display of the first page is performed (step S123). YES), the ID of the selected document and the instruction to preview the first page are transmitted to the preview image generating unit 1 of the facsimile multifunction peripheral 1 (step S124).

  When one document having a plurality of pages is selected and the preview display of “all pages” is selected, it is determined whether or not to display the preview of the first page (step S123). If it is determined not to perform the preview display (NO in step S123), the ID of the selected document and an instruction to display the preview of all pages are transmitted to the preview image generating unit 1 of the facsimile multifunction machine 1 (step S125). .

  Next, the case where one document of one page is selected and only the “first page” can be selected in the transmission document column will be described (step S122). When the preview display of “first page” is selected, the ID of the selected document and an instruction to display the preview of the first page are transmitted to the preview image generation unit 1 of the facsimile machine 1 (step S124).

  Thus, the preview image 33 is generated by the preview image generation unit 14 by transmitting the document ID and the preview display instruction of the first page or all pages to the preview image generation unit 14.

  Next, control for generating the preview image 33 in the facsimile multifunction peripheral 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The facsimile multifunction peripheral 1 always determines whether or not a preview display instruction for the first page or all pages has been received (step S131). When the facsimile multifunction peripheral 1 receives a preview display instruction (YES in step S131), it is determined whether or not a plurality of document IDs have been received (step S132).

  If the IDs of a plurality of documents have been received (YES in step S132), it is determined whether an instruction for preview display of the first page has been received (step S133). If an instruction for preview display of the first page is received (YES in step S133), an image of only the first page is extracted from the image of the first document ID to create a preview image 33 (step S134).

  When receiving the IDs of a plurality of documents and receiving an instruction for preview display of the first page of each document, it is determined that an instruction for preview display of the first page has not been received (NO in step S133). Then, it is determined whether or not an instruction for preview display of the first page of each document has been received (step S135). If it is determined that an instruction to display the preview of the first page of each document has been received (YES in step S135), an image of only the first page is extracted from each document ID image to create a preview image 33 ( Step S136).

  If the IDs of a plurality of documents are received and the instruction for preview display of all pages is received, it is determined that the instruction for preview display of the first page has not been received (NO in step S133), and each document is further determined. It is determined whether or not an instruction for preview display of the first page has been received (step S135). If it is determined that an instruction for preview display of the first page of each document has not been received (NO in step S135), the image of all pages is extracted from the image of each document ID to create a preview image 33 (step S137). .

  If the ID of one document is received (NO in step S132), it is determined whether an instruction for preview display of the first page has been received (step S138). If an instruction for preview display of the first page is received (YES in step S138), an image of only the first page is extracted from the document ID image to create a preview image 33 (step S139). If the ID of one document is received and an instruction for preview display of all pages is received (NO in step S138), the image of all pages is extracted from the image of the document ID to create a preview image 33 ( Step S140).

  These preview images 33 are stored in the preview image storage unit 13. The preview image 33 is created in the TIFF format. In more detail, when the preview display is performed only on the first page of one page, the preview image 33 is created by Single-TIFF (steps S134 and S139), and a plurality of preview images 33 are created. If the page is previewed, it is created with Multi-TIFF (steps S136, S137, and S140).

  Each created preview image 33 is transmitted to the user terminal device 80 as HTTP Response data (step S141), and the preview image 33 is displayed as a preview on the display unit 81 of the user terminal device 80.

  When performing facsimile transmission, the facsimile transmission destination (facsimile number) is input on the transmission screen shown in FIG. 8, and after confirming the preview image 33, the transmission instruction is executed by clicking “Send”. The transmission data 32 can be transmitted by facsimile from the unit 18 to the designated destination.

  In addition, when performing e-mail transmission, when an e-mail transmission destination (e-mail address) is input on the transmission screen, the preview image 33 is confirmed, and a transmission instruction is executed by clicking “Send”, transmission data 32 can be attached to an e-mail and transmitted.

  The resolution of the preview image 33 generated by the preview image generation unit 14 may be the same as the resolution of the original image, but the preview image 33 may be generated by reducing the resolution of the extracted page. good. By reducing the resolution, the data capacity of the preview image can be reduced as much as possible, so that the time for transmitting the preview image to the user terminal device can be further shortened.

  In the above embodiment, the case where a facsimile multifunction peripheral that performs facsimile transmission and electronic mail transmission is used as the image transmission apparatus has been described. However, the image transmission apparatus of the present invention is not limited to a facsimile apparatus. The image transmission apparatus of the present invention not only transmits transmission data by facsimile and electronic mail, but also uses protocols such as FTP (File Transfer Protocol), HTTP (Hyper Text Transport Protocol), and IPP (Internet Printing Protocol). The external transmission means can be configured to transmit to a specified transmission destination.

1 is a block diagram showing a facsimile multifunction peripheral and a user terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a facsimile multifunction peripheral according to an embodiment of the present invention. 4 is an explanatory diagram conceptually showing the relationship between image data 31, transmission data 32, and preview image 33. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a process until transmission is performed using the facsimile multifunction peripheral according to the embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows control of the display state of selection of the preview display displayed on a transmission screen, and control of a preview display instruction | indication. 6 is a flowchart illustrating preview image generation processing performed when an instruction to generate a preview image is received. It is a figure which shows a transmission document selection screen. It is a figure which shows a transmission screen.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Facsimile compound machine 11 Image data storage part 12 Transmission data generation part 13 Transmission data storage part 14 Preview image generation part 15 Preview image storage part 16 Scanner apparatus 17 User terminal interface 18 Facsimile transmission part 19 Mail transmission part 31 Image data 32 Transmission data 33 Preview image 80 User terminal device 81 Display unit 82 Operation input unit

Claims (3)

In an image transmission device to which a user terminal device can be connected,
Image data storage means for storing image data consisting of one or more pages;
Transmission data generating means for generating transmission data from the image data based on an instruction from the user terminal device;
Preview image generation means for extracting at least a part of pages from the transmission data and generating a preview image;
Preview image transmitting means for transmitting the preview image to the user terminal device;
An external transmission means for transmitting the transmission data to a transmission destination designated by the user terminal device based on an instruction from the user terminal device;
The transmission data generation means can generate the transmission data by merging two or more image data held in the image data storage means,
The image transmission device, wherein the preview image generation means generates a preview image by extracting a part of each page from two or more of the image data included in the transmission data.   2. The image transmission apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the preview image generation means extracts the first page of two or more of the image data included in the transmission data, and generates the preview image.   The image transmission apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the preview image generation unit generates the preview image by reducing the resolution of each extracted page.

Images