JP2010074286A - Data communication device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a data communication device providing a user with considerable convenience, and allowing the dissemination of a data transfer function to be expected. <P>SOLUTION: This data communication device includes: a communication data acquisition part 71 acquiring communication data and information related to the type of communication medium thereof transmitted from a counterpart; a transfer setting information retrieval part 73 analyzing the communication date acquired by the communication data acquisition part 71 and retrieving transfer setting information related to the setting of data transfer from the analysis result; a data format conversion part 75 converting transfer data following the setting content based on the transfer setting information retrieved by the transfer setting information retrieval part to a data format complying with the type related to the communication medium following the setting content; and a transfer control part 77 transmitting the transfer data converted by the data format conversion part 75 to an address related to transfer following the setting content based on the transfer setting information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a data communication apparatus capable of performing data communication with a required counterpart through different types of different communication media, and in particular, provides users with great convenience and data transfer. The present invention relates to a data communication apparatus capable of spreading functions.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, data communication apparatuses such as image forming apparatuses capable of performing data communication with a desired partner via different types of communication media such as e-mail communication and facsimile communication are known. ing. In such data communication devices, devices with various functions are becoming popular in order to meet various needs of users.

  As an example of such a data communication apparatus, a text analysis means for analyzing email text and extracting schedule / ToDo information (information to be performed), keywords, and summaries in a mail server; A rule management unit for managing a rule database that can specify presence / absence of ToDo information and a topic, and can specify not only the entire text but also only keywords and summaries extracted from mail according to the type of medium to be transferred as transfer contents; There has been proposed an e-mail system configured to determine the necessity of transfer, a transfer destination, a transfer medium, and data contents to be transferred according to the contents of the mail text (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

However, in the above prior art, the use of the mail transfer service cannot be enjoyed unless the benefits of the mail server incorporating the data transfer function are received. If it is possible to enjoy the use of the data transfer function with the support on the terminal side without requiring the built-in support of the data transfer function on the mail server side, it will bring great convenience to the user and the data The spread of the transfer function could be expected. However, the current situation is that no such approach has been taken.
JP-A-11-136278

  The problem to be solved is that the prior art cannot enjoy the use of the mail transfer service unless it receives the benefits of the mail server with the built-in data transfer function.

  The present invention is intended to provide a data communication apparatus capable of providing a user with great convenience by incorporating a data transfer function and capable of spreading the data transfer function. A data communication apparatus capable of performing data communication with a required counterpart through each medium, and a communication data acquisition unit for acquiring communication data transmitted from the counterpart and information relating to the type of the communication medium A transfer setting information search unit that analyzes the communication data acquired by the communication data acquisition unit and searches for transfer setting information related to data transfer settings from the analysis result, and a transfer according to the setting content based on the transfer setting information A data format conversion unit that converts data into a data format suitable for the type of communication medium according to the setting content, and the transfer setting information The destination of the transfer in accordance with the setting contents brute, the most important feature that and a transfer control unit for transmitting the converted data transferred by the data format conversion unit.

  In the data communication apparatus according to the present invention, first, the communication data acquisition unit acquires communication data transmitted from the other party and information related to the type of the communication medium. Then, the transfer setting information search unit analyzes the communication data acquired by the communication data acquisition unit, and searches for transfer setting information related to the data transfer setting from the analysis result. Based on the transfer setting information searched by the transfer setting information search unit, the data format conversion unit converts the transfer data according to the setting content into a data format suitable for the type of the communication medium according to the setting content. Then, the transfer control unit causes the transfer data converted by the data format conversion unit to be transmitted to a destination related to transfer according to the setting contents based on the transfer setting information. Therefore, it is not necessary to incorporate the data transfer function on the mail server side, and by exhibiting the data transfer function incorporated on the terminal device side, for example, between the terminal having the Email function and the terminal having the FAX function, etc. As a result, it becomes possible to perform bidirectional data transfer across heterogeneous communication media. As a result, it is possible to obtain a data communication apparatus that brings great convenience to the user and can expect the spread of the data transfer function. Can do.

  Acquire information related to the type of communication data and the communication medium transmitted from the other party for the purpose of providing a data communication device that can bring great convenience to the user and can spread the data transfer function. A communication data acquisition unit that analyzes the communication data acquired by the communication data acquisition unit, a transfer setting information search unit that searches for transfer setting information related to data transfer settings from the analysis result, and the transfer setting information A data format conversion unit that converts transfer data according to the setting content based on the data format conforming to the type of the communication medium according to the setting content, and the data format conversion to a destination related to the transfer according to the setting content based on the transfer setting information This is realized by organic connection with a transfer control unit that transmits the transfer data converted by the unit.

  Hereinafter, a data communication apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Hereinafter, as an example of the data communication apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, an example in which the apparatus is incorporated and applied to a digital multi-function peripheral having various functions including a copy, a scanner, data communication, and a printer will be described. Go.

[Digital MFP with data communication device]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the periphery of a digital multi-function peripheral equipped with a data communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an external view of an operation panel unit in the digital multi-function peripheral.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a digital multi-function peripheral equipped with a data communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a copy job, a fax transmission job, a print job, or a data communication (e-mail, file transfer, etc.) job. The functions can be used and are controlled by the main control unit 11 including a microcomputer and a dedicated hardware circuit. As an input / output device connected to the main control unit 11 and responsible for various functions, this apparatus includes a scanner unit 21, an image processing unit 31, an engine unit 41, an operation panel unit 51, a facsimile communication unit 61, and an HDD (hard disk drive) 63. In addition, a network I / F (interface) unit 65 is provided.

  The main control unit 11 includes a scanner controller 13 that performs operation control for realizing a scanner function, a facsimile controller 15 that performs operation control for realizing a facsimile function, and a printer controller that performs operation control for realizing a printer function. 17 and a copy controller 19 for controlling the operation for realizing the copy function are incorporated, and the overall operation of the apparatus is controlled.

  The scanner unit 21 includes an image irradiation lamp 23 and a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) sensor 25 constituting a scanner (not shown). The scanner unit 21 irradiates the document with the image irradiation lamp 23, receives the reflected light with the CCD sensor 25, reads an image from the document, and outputs image data corresponding to the read image to the image processing unit 31. .

  The image processing unit 31 includes a correction unit 33, an image processing unit 35, and an image memory 37. The image processing unit 31 processes the image data read by the scanner unit 21 with the correction unit 33 and the image processing unit 35 as necessary, and stores the processed image data in the image memory 37, the engine unit 41, Output to the facsimile communication unit 61 or the like. The correction unit 33 performs predetermined correction processing such as level correction and gamma correction on the image data read by the scanner unit 21. The image processing unit 35 performs various types of processing such as image data compression or expansion processing and enlargement or reduction processing.

  The engine unit 41 includes a sheet conveying unit 43 including a sheet feeding cassette and a sheet feeding roller (not shown), an image forming unit 45 including a photosensitive drum, an exposure device, a developing device, and the like, a transfer roller (not illustrated), and the like. And a fixing unit 49 including a fixing roller (not shown). The engine unit 41 stores image data read by the scanner unit 21, image data transmitted from a client PC (personal computer) or the like by a LAN (Local Area Network) via the network I / F unit 65, and a facsimile communication unit 61. The image is printed on a sheet using image data such as fax data received from an external facsimile machine. Specifically, the paper transport unit 43 transports the paper to the image forming unit 45, the image forming unit 45 forms a toner image corresponding to the image data, the transfer unit 47 transfers the toner image to the paper, The fixing unit 49 fixes the toner image on a sheet to form an image.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the operation panel unit 51 includes a touch panel unit 53 and a function key unit 55. The operation panel unit 51 is used for a user to perform operations related to a scanner function, a facsimile function, a printer function, a copy function, a data communication function, and the like, and gives an operation command and the like by the user to the main control unit 11.

  The touch panel unit 53 includes a touch panel unit that combines a touch panel and a color LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), and displays various operation screens, for example, information regarding the document size, copy size, number of copies, and the like when executing the copy function. In addition, operation buttons for inputting various operation commands are displayed by the user touching the corresponding part.

  The operation key unit 55 includes a plurality of operation keys that are operated by the user when selecting various functions related to the image forming process or when performing various operations including registration or change of a destination address related to a communication partner. For example, when the user selectively executes key input operation of a required function from various functions such as a copy function, a printer function, a scanner function, a facsimile function, and a data communication function, or the user addresses This is used when operating to input or register a destination address in the book.

  The facsimile communication unit 61 includes an encoding / decoding unit (not shown), a modem unit (not shown), and an NCU (Network Control Unit) (not shown). The facsimile communication unit 61 transmits image data of a document read by the scanner unit 21 to a facsimile apparatus or the like via a telephone line, or receives image data transmitted from the facsimile apparatus or the like.

  The HDD (hard disk drive) 63 stores image data read by the scanner unit 21 and various data such as an output format set in the image data. The image data stored in the HDD is not only used inside the data communication device, the program and the recording medium, but also confirmed from the client PC or the like via the network I / F unit 65 as necessary, It is transferred to a predetermined folder such as a PC or FTP server.

  The network I / F unit 65 uses a network interface (10 / 100Base-TX) or the like, and controls transmission / reception of various data to / from a client PC connected via the network. Specifically, the network I / F unit 65 conforms to the T.37 recommendation, and is connected to, for example, a local area network (LAN) 67 built in the office. The network I / F unit 65 is connected via a LAN 67 to a digital multifunction device 68 and client terminals 69 and 70 as counterparts.

  As the client terminals 69 and 70, any device can be employed as long as it has a function of performing communication via an IP communication network such as a LAN. Specifically, the client terminal may be, for example, a personal computer in which an electronic mail communication function is installed, a portable terminal such as an IP phone or a cellular phone, or a facsimile machine.

  Now, in order to obtain a data communication apparatus that brings great convenience to the user and can spread the data transfer function, the main control unit 11 transmits the communication data transmitted from the other party and its communication medium. Communication data acquisition unit 71 for acquiring information related to the type of data, and analysis of communication data acquired by the communication data acquisition unit 71, and transfer setting information search for searching for transfer setting information related to data transfer settings from the analysis result Unit 73, a data format conversion unit 75 for converting transfer data according to the setting contents based on the transfer setting information searched by the transfer setting information searching part into a data format suitable for the type of the communication medium according to the setting contents, and a transfer A transfer control unit 77 that transmits the transfer data converted by the data format conversion unit 75 to a destination related to transfer according to the setting contents based on the setting information; Ete is configured.

  Next, the operation of the data communication apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to an example in which an electronic mail is received from a certain partner and an example in which a facsimile is received from a certain partner.

[Operation of Data Communication Device According to Embodiment of Present Invention]
FIG. 3 is an operation flowchart of the data communication apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention when an e-mail is received from a certain partner, and FIG. 4 is a data communication according to the embodiment of the present invention when a facsimile is received from the certain partner. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of converting received data into transfer data when the received e-mail is transferred by facsimile (Fax). FIG. 6 is an e-mail (Email) of the received facsimile. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example which converts the reception data at the time of transfer into transfer data.

  As shown in FIG. 3, when the data communication apparatus according to the present invention receives an e-mail from a certain other party (step S11), the communication data acquisition unit 71 receives this and the communication data related to the received e-mail and Information related to the type of the communication medium (information indicating that the communication medium is related to electronic mail) is acquired, and the acquired communication data and the like are transferred to the transfer setting information search unit 73.

  In response to this, the transfer setting information searching unit 73 analyzes the communication data acquired by the communication data acquiring unit 71 and searches for transfer setting information related to the data transfer setting from the analysis result (step S12). Here, the transfer setting information is information related to data transfer settings, and includes, for example, various types of information such as the type of communication medium related to transfer, the transfer destination, or the data content to be transferred.

  As a result of the search in step S12, when the transfer setting information cannot be acquired (“No” in step S13), the main control unit 11 regards the e-mail received in step S11 as not being transferred, and After processing, for example, printing a mail message related to the received electronic mail (step S14), the flow of a series of processing is terminated.

  On the other hand, when the transfer setting information can be acquired as a result of the search in step S12 (“Yes” in step S13), the data format conversion unit 75 includes the target transfer data in the e-mail received in step S11. Based on the transfer setting information, information on the type related to the communication medium (for example, information indicating that the communication medium is related to facsimile) and transfer destination information (for example, a fax number) are acquired (step S15). Next, the data format conversion unit 75 converts the transfer data according to the setting contents based on the transfer setting information into a data format (for example, a fax image) suitable for the type of the communication medium according to the setting contents (step S16).

  After the data format conversion in step S16, the transfer control unit 77 transmits the transfer data converted by the data format conversion unit 75 to the destination related to the transfer according to the setting contents based on the transfer setting information by the facsimile communication unit 61 (step S17). ), The series of processing flow is terminated.

  Here, an example of converting received data into transfer data when the received electronic mail is fax-transferred will be described with reference to FIG. When the e-mail message shown on the left side in FIG. 5 is received, and the “Forward” character string is extracted as a keyword indicating that the e-mail message is a transfer target, the “Text” area is displayed. A fax image including a written character string and a reply description frame related to the “reply field” is created and transferred to a transfer destination.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, when the data communication apparatus according to the present invention receives a facsimile from a certain partner (step S21), the communication data acquisition unit 71 receives this and the communication data related to the received facsimile and Information related to the type of the communication medium (information indicating that the communication medium is related to facsimile) is acquired, and the acquired communication data and the like are transferred to the transfer setting information search unit 73.

  In response to this, the transfer setting information searching unit 73 analyzes the communication data acquired by the communication data acquiring unit 71 and searches for transfer setting information related to data transfer setting from the analysis result (step S22). Here, the transfer setting information search unit 73 analyzes the communication data by performing character recognition processing on the communication data related to the acquired image.

  When the transfer setting information cannot be acquired as a result of the search in step S22 ("No" in step S23), the main control unit 11 regards the facsimile received in step S21 as not being transferred, and performs normal processing. For example, after the received facsimile document is printed (step S24), the flow of a series of processes is terminated.

  On the other hand, when the transfer setting information can be acquired as a result of the search in step S22 (“Yes” in step S23), the data format conversion unit 75 includes the transfer data to be processed by the facsimile received in step S11. Therefore, based on the transfer setting information, information on the type related to the communication medium (for example, information indicating that the communication medium is related to e-mail) and transfer destination information (for example, e-mail address) are acquired (step S25). Next, the data format conversion unit 75 converts the transfer data according to the setting contents based on the transfer setting information into a data format (for example, text data) suitable for the type of the communication medium according to the setting contents (step S26). The data format conversion unit 75 may adopt a configuration that converts the transfer data into a data format (for example, a pdf (Portable document File) format) related to an attached image of an e-mail.

  After the data format conversion in step S26, the transfer control unit 77 transmits the transfer data converted by the data format conversion unit 75 by the network I / F unit 65 to the destination related to the transfer according to the setting contents based on the transfer setting information ( After step S27), the series of processing flow is terminated.

  Here, an example of converting received data into transfer data when the received facsimile is transferred by e-mail will be described with reference to FIG. When the facsimile document shown on the left side in FIG. 6 is received and the character string in the “reply field” is extracted as a keyword indicating that the facsimile document is to be transferred, it is described in the reply description frame. Content is recognized as a character string, and an e-mail document including the character string as a message is created and transferred to a transfer destination. At this time, among the header information of the received electronic mail, an electronic mail address described in “From:” is set as a transfer destination.

[Effect of Example]
As described above, according to the data communication device according to the embodiment of the present invention, without requiring the incorporation of the data transfer function on the mail server side, by exhibiting the data transfer function incorporated on the terminal device side, for example, As a result of being able to perform bidirectional data transfer across heterogeneous communication media, such as between a terminal having an Email function and a terminal having a FAX function, it brings great convenience to users and data A data communication apparatus capable of spreading the transfer function can be obtained.

[Others]
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be appropriately changed without departing from the gist of the invention read from the claims and the entire specification or the technical idea, and data communication accompanied by such changes. The apparatus is also included in the scope of the technical scope of the present invention.

  For example, in the embodiment of the present invention, a digital multi-function peripheral having a data communication function has been described as an example of the data communication apparatus. However, the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment. Needless to say, the present invention is applicable to any device having a data communication function, such as a mobile phone and an information terminal.

1 is a block diagram showing a periphery of a digital multi-function peripheral equipped with a data communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is an external view of an operation panel unit in the digital multi-function peripheral. FIG. It is an operation | movement flowchart figure of the data communication apparatus based on an Example of this invention when an electronic mail is received from a certain other party. It is an operation | movement flowchart figure of the data communication apparatus based on an Example of this invention when a facsimile is received from a certain other party. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example which converts the receiving data at the time of carrying out the facsimile (Fax) transfer of the received electronic mail. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example which converts received data at the time of carrying out the electronic mail (Email) transfer of the received facsimile.

Explanation of symbols

11 Main Control Unit 71 Communication Data Acquisition Unit 73 Transfer Setting Information Search Unit 75 Data Format Conversion Unit 77 Transfer Control Unit

Claims (5)

A data communication apparatus capable of performing data communication with a required counterpart through different types of different types of communication media,
A communication data acquisition unit for acquiring communication data transmitted from the other party and information relating to the type of the communication medium;
Analyzing the communication data acquired by the communication data acquisition unit, and searching for transfer setting information related to data transfer settings from the analysis result; and
A data format conversion unit for converting transfer data according to the setting content based on the transfer setting information into a data format suitable for a type related to a communication medium according to the setting content;
A transfer control unit that transmits the transfer data converted by the data format conversion unit to a destination related to transfer according to the setting contents based on the transfer setting information;
A data communication apparatus comprising: The data communication device according to claim 1,
The heterogeneous communication medium includes a communication medium related to electronic mail and a communication medium related to facsimile,
When the communication data acquisition unit acquires communication data via a communication medium related to e-mail, and the communication medium related to transfer according to the setting content based on the transfer setting information is a communication medium related to a facsimile The data format conversion unit converts the transfer data into a data format related to an image suitable for a communication medium related to a facsimile;
A data communication device. The data communication device according to claim 1,
The heterogeneous communication medium includes a communication medium related to electronic mail and a communication medium related to facsimile,
When the communication data acquisition unit acquires communication data via a communication medium related to a facsimile, the transfer setting information search unit performs character recognition processing on the communication data related to the acquired image, thereby Analyzing communication data,
A data communication device. The data communication device according to claim 1,
The heterogeneous communication medium includes a communication medium related to electronic mail and a communication medium related to facsimile,
When the communication data acquisition unit acquires communication data via a communication medium related to a facsimile, and the communication medium related to transfer according to the setting contents based on the transfer setting information is a communication medium related to an e-mail The data format conversion unit converts the transfer data into a data format related to text suitable for a communication medium related to e-mail.
A data communication device. The data communication device according to claim 1,
The heterogeneous communication medium includes a communication medium related to electronic mail and a communication medium related to facsimile,
When the communication data acquisition unit acquires communication data via a communication medium related to a facsimile, and the communication medium related to transfer according to the setting content based on the transfer setting information is a communication medium related to an e-mail The data format conversion unit converts the transfer data into a data format related to an attached image suitable for a communication medium related to an e-mail;
A data communication device.