JP2013005037A - Facsimile apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To control an incoming call during an energy save mode in a facsimile apparatus having the energy save mode.SOLUTION: A facsimile apparatus 1 includes an incoming call ringing section 27, a CPU 12 and a sub CPU 31. Upon detection of an incoming call via a public network 80, the incoming call ringing section 27 outputs an incoming call bell signal for ringing an incoming call bell. The CPU 12 operates in an energy save mode or normal mode, and controls the incoming call ringing section 27 only when the CPU 12 is operating in the normal mode. The sub CPU 31 controls the incoming call ringing section 27 when the CPU 12 is in the energy save mode, or is being returned from the energy save mode to the normal mode.

Description

  The present invention relates to a facsimile apparatus having an energy saving mode.

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, composite type facsimile apparatuses in which a facsimile apparatus having a facsimile communication function and a telephone call function are combined with a plurality of functions such as a printer function and a copy function have become widespread.
In addition, in order to realize power saving, a composite facsimile machine capable of shifting between a normal mode that can be operated immediately in response to a job request and an energy saving mode in which power consumption is reduced compared to the normal mode. Has been proposed.

JP 2005-354376 A

  In the energy saving mode, a control unit or the like that controls incoming calls via the public line network has shifted to the sleep state. Therefore, when an incoming call is received from an external device in such an energy saving mode, the control unit cannot control the incoming call, and therefore the incoming call bell for notifying the incoming call is not controlled and continues to ring for a specified number of times. There was a problem.

  An object of the present invention is to control the number of ringing of incoming calls in an energy saving mode in a facsimile apparatus having an energy saving mode.

  Hereinafter, a plurality of modes will be described as means for solving the problems. These aspects can be arbitrarily combined as necessary.

A facsimile apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention includes an incoming ringing unit, a first control unit, and a second control unit. The incoming call ringing unit outputs an incoming call bell signal for ringing the incoming call bell when an incoming call via the public line network is detected. The first control unit operates in the energy saving mode or the normal mode, and controls the incoming ringing unit only when operating in the normal mode. The second control unit controls the incoming ringing unit when the first control unit is returning from the energy saving mode or the energy saving mode to the normal mode.
Here, even when the first control unit is returning to the normal mode from the energy saving mode or the energy saving mode, the second control unit can control the incoming ringing unit instead of the first control unit. Therefore, in the facsimile apparatus, it is possible to control the generation of the incoming bell signal by the incoming ringing unit regardless of the mode state, so that it is possible to prevent the incoming bell from ringing more than necessary.

A prescribed ringing number storage unit that stores the prescribed ringing number of rings is further provided, and the second control unit may control the incoming ringing unit based on the ringing number stored in the prescribed ringing number storage unit.
The specified ringing number storage unit includes a first storage unit that stores a specified number of ringing rings and a second storage unit that stores a specified number of ringing rings. The first control unit includes: The incoming ringing unit is controlled based on the number of rings stored in the first storage unit, and the second control unit may control the incoming ringing unit based on the number of rings stored in the second storage unit. Good.

The incoming call ringing unit may output an incoming call bell signal based on the prescribed number of ringing rings.
The second control unit may include a result notifying unit that notifies the first control unit of a control result for the incoming ringing unit by the second control unit after the first control unit returns to the normal mode.
When the first control unit returns to the normal mode while the second control unit controls the incoming call ringing unit, the second control unit applies to the incoming ringing unit until the first control unit returns to the normal mode. You may have a result notification part which notifies the control result by a 2nd control part to a 1st control part.

  In the facsimile apparatus according to the present invention, since the number of ringing of incoming calls via the public line network can be controlled even when operating in the energy saving mode, it is possible to prevent the ringing ringing of rings more than a specified number of times.

1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a facsimile apparatus. The block diagram which shows the internal structure of a basic block and a sub control unit. The flowchart which shows the flow of a process between a main control unit, a sub control unit, and NCU.

1. First Embodiment (1) Outline of Facsimile Apparatus Hereinafter, a facsimile apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the facsimile apparatus of this embodiment. The facsimile apparatus 1 is a so-called multifunction machine having a copy function, a facsimile communication function, a scanner function, and a network printer function.

The facsimile machine 1 includes a basic block 10, a sub control unit 30, a function block 40, a power supply device 50, and a power supply controller 60. The facsimile apparatus 1 further includes a system bus 70, and each unit in the facsimile apparatus 1 is connected to each other by the system bus 70.
The facsimile machine 1 further includes a specified ringing number storage unit 100 (see FIG. 2). Further, a telephone 90 is connected to the facsimile apparatus 1 via a cable (not shown), and the telephone 90 can perform transmission / reception of voice data with the other party, that is, telephone operation.

  The facsimile apparatus 1 is set with a normal mode and an energy saving mode. The state of the facsimile machine 1 can be shifted between the normal mode and the energy saving mode under the control of a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 12 of the main control unit 11 described later. The normal mode refers to a state in which the facsimile apparatus 1 can immediately execute processing based on the operation instruction when there is any operation instruction. The energy saving mode refers to a state where the power consumption is lower than the power consumption in the normal mode. For example, in the energy saving mode, the power supply to the main control unit 11 is lowered in the facsimile apparatus 1 and each part of the main control unit 11 enters a sleep state. In the energy saving mode, the power supply to the functional block 40 is lowered, the operation unit 42 and the display unit 45 of the functional block 40 are not displayed, and the standby temperature in the recording unit 46 is lowered.

  The facsimile apparatus 1 shifts from the normal mode to the energy saving mode under the control of the CPU 12 when there is no operation input from the operation unit 42 and the display unit 45 for a certain time or when there is no image data input for a certain time. Further, when the facsimile apparatus 1 receives an input of a return operation from the operation unit 42 and the display unit 45 to the normal mode, the facsimile machine 1 returns from the energy saving mode to the normal mode under the control of the CPU 12. In the present embodiment, when the facsimile apparatus 1 receives a return request from the sub-control unit 30, the facsimile apparatus 1 returns from the energy saving mode to the normal mode under the control of the CPU 12, details of which will be described later.

  The basic block 10 controls basic operations of the facsimile apparatus 1 and controls transmission / reception of communication via a public line network (PSTN: Public Switched Telephone Network) in the figure. The basic block 10 includes a main control unit 11 and an NCU (Network Control Unit) 20.

When the main power supply (not shown) of the facsimile apparatus 1 is ON and the facsimile apparatus 1 is in the normal mode, power is always supplied from the power supply device 50 to the basic block 10 via the power supply controller 60.
Further, when the facsimile apparatus 1 is in the energy saving mode, the power supply controller 60 reduces the power supply to the main control unit 11, and the main control unit 11 enters a sleep state. On the other hand, even when the facsimile apparatus 1 is in the energy saving mode, the NCU 20 is supplied with a certain amount of power by the power supply controller 60, and the NCU 20 detects a signal via the public network 80 as in the normal mode. it can. Details of the basic block 10 and the NCU 20 will be described later.

  The sub-control unit 30 controls incoming calls related to communication via the public network 80 instead of the main control unit 11 when the facsimile apparatus 1 is in the energy-saving mode or returns from the energy-saving mode to the normal mode. do. When the main power supply of the facsimile apparatus 1 is ON, a constant power is supplied from the power supply apparatus 50 to the sub control unit 30 regardless of whether the facsimile apparatus 1 is in the normal mode or the energy saving mode. Details of the sub-control unit 30 will be described later.

  The function block 40 executes a copy function, a facsimile communication function, a scanner function, and a network printer function. Power corresponding to the normal mode and the energy saving mode is supplied from the power supply device 50 to the functional block 40 via the power supply controller 60. The functional block 40 includes a reading unit 41, an operation unit 42, an image memory 43, a codec 44, a display unit 45, a recording unit 46, and a LAN interface (I / F in the figure) 47.

The reading unit 41 reads image data of a document and outputs the read binarized data and the like to a predetermined output destination according to an instruction from the CPU 12 of the main control unit 11.
The operation unit 42 includes a one-touch key for designating a destination by a one-touch dial, a start key for giving a transmission start instruction to the facsimile apparatus 1, a numeric keypad for inputting a telephone number, and a reverse display in the display unit 45. An arrow key for moving and the like is provided. An operation instruction by the user is received by the operation unit 42.

The image memory 43 temporarily stores the received image data and the image data read by the reading unit 41 and converted into black and white binary and encoded by the codec 44.
The codec 44 encodes and decodes image data corresponding to a predetermined protocol. Specifically, the codec 44 encodes the image data received from the reading unit 41 by MH (Modified Huffman) and MR (Modified READ) methods for transmission, and decodes the image data received from the external device. The codec 44 also encodes and decodes image data in accordance with a TIFF method that is an image format generally used as a file that can be attached to an e-mail.

The display unit 45 includes a display panel and the like, and displays information related to the state of the facsimile machine 1, various operation instruction screens, and the state of the facsimile machine 1.
The recording unit 46 is made of, for example, an electrophotographic system, forms an image of the received image data on a sheet, and discharges the sheet. For example, image data of a document read by the reading unit 41, image data received by facsimile, and image data received via a LAN are printed on paper.

  The LAN I / F 47 transmits / receives data to / from other devices installed on the same LAN using SLP or TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) / IP (Internet Protocol).

  The power supply device 50 is a power supply device that converts alternating-current commercial power into direct current and supplies it to the facsimile machine 1. The power supply device 50 supplies power corresponding to the normal mode or the energy saving mode to each part of the facsimile machine 1 under the control of the power supply controller 60 when the main power supply is on.

The power supply controller 60 includes an electromagnetic relay, an FET (field effect transistor), and the like, and is connected to each part of the facsimile apparatus 1 via a power supply line 61. The power supply controller 60 connects and disconnects the power supply line 61 in accordance with a control command from the CPU 12 of the main control unit 11, and supplies power corresponding to the normal mode or the energy saving mode to each part of the facsimile apparatus 1.
The specified ringing number storage unit 100 stores the number of ringing rings of the specified telephone 90. In the present embodiment, the specified ringing number storage unit 100 includes a first ringing specified number storage unit 18 and a second ringing specified number storage unit 35, which will be described in detail later.

(2) Functional Configuration of Basic Block Next, the functional configuration of the basic block 10 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the basic block and the sub control unit. The basic block 10 includes the main control unit 11 and the NCU 20 as described above.

(2-1) NCU
The NCU 20 is connected to the public line network 80 and controls communications including outgoing calls and incoming calls via the telephone line 29. If the NCU 20 in the present embodiment detects a signal exceeding a predetermined level on the telephone line 29 and detects a line change of the telephone line 29, the NCU 20 calls the CPU 12 of the main control unit 11 or the sub CPU 31 of the sub control unit 30. The line change of the line 29 is notified. Thereafter, the NCU 20 is controlled by the CPU 12 of the main control unit 11 or the sub CPU 31 of the sub control unit 30. In the following description of the NCU 20, an example in which the facsimile apparatus 1 is in the normal mode and the NCU 20 is controlled by the CPU 12 of the main control unit 11 will be described.

  The NCU 20 includes a CML relay 21, a first transformer 22, a signal detection circuit 23, an off-hook detection circuit 24, an incoming ringing unit 27, a second transformer 28, and a telephone line 29.

  The CML relay 21 is provided to selectively connect the telephone line 29 to the modem 16 and the signal detection circuit 23. When the CML relay 21 is switched to the a contact side under the control of the CPU 12, the telephone line 29 is connected to the signal detection circuit 23. On the other hand, when the CML relay 21 is switched to the b contact side under the control of the CPU 12, the telephone line 29 is connected to the modem 16 via the first transformer 22. When the facsimile apparatus 1 is waiting for an incoming call from an external apparatus, the CML relay 21 is connected to the contact a side.

  The signal detection circuit 23 is disposed so as to be connected to the a contact side of the CML relay 21, detects a signal transmitted from an external device via the telephone line 29, and notifies the CPU 12 of the signal detection. The signal detection circuit 23 detects, for example, a CI (Call Indicator) signal.

  The off-hook detection circuit 24 is connected to the telephone 90. The off-hook detection circuit 24 detects the off-hook state of the telephone 90 and outputs the detection result to the CPU 12. The off-hook state refers to a state where the handset of the telephone 90 is picked up.

The ringing ring unit 27 outputs a ringing bell signal for ringing the ringing bell. The incoming ringing unit 27 includes a ringing voltage generation circuit 25 and an H relay 26.
The ringing voltage generating circuit 25 has a function of generating a pseudo bell signal as a ringing bell signal that is the same signal as a general CI signal, ringing the telephone 90, and notifying the user of an incoming call. The pseudo bell signal is a signal for ringing the telephone 90 in response to the reception of the CI signal from the external device. The ringing voltage generation circuit 25 generates a pseudo bell signal when the CI signal is detected by the signal detection circuit 23.
Further, the ringing voltage generating circuit 25 supplies a predetermined current to the telephone set 90 when detecting the off-hook state of the telephone set 90. Specifically, the ringing voltage generation circuit 25 supplies a predetermined current to the telephone set 90 in order to detect the off-hook state of the telephone set 90.

The H relay 26 is provided for selectively connecting the telephone 90 to the telephone line 29 and the ringing voltage generation circuit 25. When the H relay 26 is switched to the contact a side under the control of the CPU 12, the telephone 90 is connected to the telephone line 29 side, and when the H relay 26 is switched to the contact b side, the telephone 90 is connected to the ring voltage generating circuit 25. Connected to the side. In the state where the facsimile apparatus 1 is waiting for an incoming call from an external apparatus, the H relay 26 is connected to the b contact side, and the telephone 90 and the ringing voltage generating circuit 25 are connected. Further, the pseudo bell signal generated in the ringing voltage generation circuit 25 is output to the telephone 90 according to the arrangement state of the H relay 26.
The second transformer 28 is connected between the telephone 90 and the modem 16.

(2-2) Main Control Unit The main control unit 11 controls the basic operation of the facsimile machine 1 and controls the NCU 20. As described above, the main control unit 11 operates in the energy saving mode or the normal mode. The main control unit 11 includes a CPU 12, a modem 16, and a storage unit 17.

  CPU12 controls each part which comprises the facsimile apparatus 1 according to a predetermined program. Further, the incoming ringing unit 27 is controlled only when the facsimile apparatus 1 is in the normal mode. Specifically, the CPU 12 includes a signal detection unit 13, a reception control unit 14, and a mode notification unit 15, and performs the following operation only when the facsimile apparatus 1 is in the normal mode.

  The signal detection unit 13 determines whether the signal detection circuit 23 has detected a CI signal when the telephone line 29 is changed.

  The reception control unit 14 controls the NCU 20 when it is determined that the signal detection unit 13 has detected a CI signal. Specifically, the reception control unit 14 performs relay control and ringing control of the NCU 20. For example, the reception control unit 14 performs control to connect the H relay 26 to the contact b side and cause the telephone 90 to ring the incoming bell by a pseudo bell signal from the calling voltage generation circuit 25. At this time, the reception control unit 14 counts the pseudo bell signal from the ringing voltage generation circuit 25 so that the telephone 90 rings the ringing bell according to a predetermined ringing number stored in a first ringing specified number-of-times storage unit 18 described later. To do. After that, when a pseudo bell signal for causing the telephone 90 to ring the incoming bell for the specified number of rings is output from the ringing voltage generation circuit 25, the reception control unit 14 switches the H relay 26 to the contact a side to The output of the pseudo bell signal from the generation circuit 25 to the telephone 90 is stopped. If the reception control unit 14 accepts a facsimile reception instruction, the reception control unit 14 switches the CML relay 21 from the telephone 90 to the modem 16 to perform facsimile reception processing.

  If there is a mode transition in the facsimile apparatus 1, the mode notification unit 15 notifies the sub control unit 30 of the mode transition. For example, when the facsimile apparatus 1 starts transition from the normal mode to the energy saving mode or returns from the energy saving mode to the normal mode, a notification of mode transition is output to the sub-control unit 30.

  The modem 16 is a modulation / demodulation device that mutually converts a digital signal and an analog signal, and has a function of a facsimile modem for facsimile communication. The modem 16 is directly connected to the NCU 20.

The storage unit 17 includes a ROM (Read Only Memory) and a RAM (Random Access Memory). The ROM stores various programs read by the CPU 12. The RAM is a main memory of the CPU 11 that stores various setting information registered in advance, and functions as a work area for executing various programs. In addition, the storage unit 17 of the present embodiment includes a first specified ring number storage unit 18 that constitutes the specified ring number storage unit 100.
The first ringing specified number of times storage unit 18 stores the number of rings of the incoming call ring of the telephone 90. In the present embodiment, the number of rings of the incoming call ring of the telephone 90 can be specified in advance, and the specified number of rings is stored in the first specified ring number storage unit 18.

  In such a basic block 10, if there is a line change in the telephone line 29 with respect to the NCU 20 and the detection of the CI signal by the signal detection circuit 23 is determined, a pseudo bell signal is output by the calling voltage generation circuit 25. Here, the H relay 26 is connected to the b contact side, and the pseudo bell signal from the calling voltage generation circuit 25 is output to the telephone 90 via the H relay 26, and the telephone 90 rings.

  At this time, the reception control unit 14 of the CPU 12 controls the incoming ringing unit 27 so that the incoming ringing ring is ringed by the telephone 90 for the number of ringing times stored in the first specified ringing number storage unit 18. Specifically, the reception control unit 14 counts the pseudo bell signal output from the ringing voltage generation circuit 25, and switches the H relay 26 to the contact a side when the pseudo bell signal is output up to the specified number of rings. The connection between the telephone 90 and the ringing voltage generation circuit 25 is canceled. As a result, the incoming call bell of the telephone 90 rings for the specified number of rings stored in the first specified number of rings storage unit 18. Thereafter, the CPU 12 switches the CML relay 21 to the b-contact side, connects the telephone line 29 and the modem 16, and performs control for the facsimile apparatus 1 to execute facsimile reception processing.

(3) Functional configuration of sub-control unit The sub-control unit 30 relates to communication via the telephone line 29 instead of the main control unit 11 when the facsimile apparatus 1 returns from the energy-saving mode or the energy-saving mode to the normal mode. Control incoming calls. The sub control unit 30 will be described again with reference to FIG.

As described above, when the facsimile apparatus 1 is operating in the normal mode, the main control unit 11 controls the NCU 20. That is, the CPU 12 of the main control unit 11 controls the incoming call ringing unit 27 so that the incoming call bell rings on the telephone 90 for a predetermined number of ringing after the signal detection circuit 23 detects the CI signal. However, when the main control unit 11 is in the energy saving mode or when returning from the energy saving mode to the normal mode, the incoming call control as described above cannot be performed.
Therefore, when the facsimile apparatus 1 returns to the normal mode from the energy saving mode or the energy saving mode, the sub control unit 30 controls the NCU 20.

The sub control unit 30 includes a sub CPU 31 and a second specified ringing number storage unit 35.
The sub CPU 31 controls the incoming ringing unit 27 from the mode notification unit 15 until the facsimile apparatus 1 receives a notification of transition from the normal mode to the energy saving mode and then receives a notification of return from the energy saving mode to the normal mode. To do. Specifically, the sub CPU 31 includes a sub signal detection unit 32, a sub reception control unit 33, and a result notification unit 34, and performs the following operations.

  The sub signal detection unit 32 determines whether the signal detection circuit 23 has detected a CI signal when the telephone line 29 is changed. When the sub signal detection unit 32 determines that the CI signal has been detected, the sub signal detection unit 32 transmits a request for returning from the energy saving mode to the normal mode to the CPU 12 of the main control unit 11.

  When the sub reception control unit 33 determines that the signal detection circuit 23 has detected the CI signal, the sub reception control unit 33 starts the relay control of the incoming ringing unit 27 and the control of the output of the pseudo bell signal in the NCU 20. For example, the sub reception control unit 33 performs control to connect the H relay 26 to the contact b side and cause the telephone 90 to ring the incoming bell by a pseudo bell signal from the ringing voltage generation circuit 25. At this time, the sub reception control unit 33 counts the pseudo bell signal output from the ringing voltage generation circuit 25 in order to ring the incoming call bell by the telephone 90 according to the number of ringing stored in the second ringing specified number of times storage unit 35. . The sub reception control unit 33 switches the H relay 26 to the contact a side when the pseudo-bell signal for causing the telephone 90 to ring the incoming ring for the specified number of ringing is output from the ringing voltage generating circuit 25, and The output of the pseudo bell signal from the generation circuit 25 to the telephone 90 is stopped.

  The result notification unit 34 notifies the CPU 12 of the main control unit 11 of the result of control by the sub reception control unit 33 when the notification of the return of the facsimile apparatus 1 to the normal mode is received from the mode notification unit 15. For example, the result notification unit 34 notifies the CPU 12 of the control result for the incoming ringing unit 27 such as the control related to the H relay 26 and the stop of the output of the pseudo bell signal from the calling voltage generation circuit 25.

  The second specified ringing number storage unit 35 is a storage unit that stores the number of ringing rings of the telephone 90. The second specified number of rings storage unit 35 stores the same number of rings as the number of rings stored in the first specified number of rings storage unit 18.

(4) Control of NCU by Main Control Unit and Sub Control Unit Next, the flow of control of the NCU 20 by the main control unit 11 and the sub control unit 30 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a signal flow among the main control unit 11, the sub control unit 30 and the NCU 20.
Hereinafter, the flow of control of the NCU 20 by the main control unit 11 and the sub control unit 30 in the facsimile apparatus 1 that shifts from the normal mode to the energy saving mode will be described.

First, the CPU 12 of the main control unit 11 shifts the facsimile machine 1 from the normal mode to the energy saving mode (step S101). Subsequently, the mode notification unit 15 of the CPU 12 notifies the sub CPU 31 of the sub control unit 30 of the shift to the energy saving mode (step S102). When receiving the notification of transition to the energy saving mode, the sub signal detection unit 32 of the sub CPU 31 starts control of the NCU 20 instead of the first main control unit 11 (step S103).
When the line change of the telephone line 29 is detected in the NCU 20 (Yes in step S104), the NCU 20 notifies the sub CPU 31 of the sub control unit 30 of a line change notification (step S105).
If the notification of the line change is received from the NCU 20, the sub signal detection unit 32 of the sub CPU 31 determines whether the signal detection circuit 23 detects the CI signal. If it is determined that the signal detection circuit 23 detects the CI signal (Yes in step S106), the sub signal detection unit 32 issues a request for returning from the energy saving mode to the normal mode to the CPU 12 of the main control unit 11. Transmit (step S107).

  Thereafter, the sub reception control unit 33 of the sub CPU 31 starts ringing control for incoming calls of the NCU 20 (step S108). Specifically, the sub-reception control unit 33 outputs a pseudo bell signal output from the ringing voltage generation circuit 25 in order to ring the incoming call ring by the telephone 90 for the number of ringing times stored in the second ringing specified number of times storage unit 35. Count. After that, if a pseudo bell signal for ringing the incoming call ring by the telephone 90 is output from the calling voltage generation circuit 25 for a predetermined number of times of ringing, the H relay 26 is switched to the contact a side and the calling voltage to the telephone 90 is changed. Control is performed to stop the output of the pseudo bell signal from the generation circuit 25.

On the other hand, when receiving a request for returning from the energy saving mode to the normal mode from the sub-signal detection unit 32, the CPU 13 of the main control unit 11 returns the facsimile apparatus 1 to the normal mode (step S109).
Thereafter, if the facsimile apparatus 1 returns to the normal mode (Yes in step S111), the mode notification unit 15 of the CPU 15 notifies the sub CPU 31 of the sub control unit 30 of the return notification to the normal mode (step S111). .
After receiving the return notification to the normal mode, the result notifying unit 34 of the sub control unit 30 notifies the main control unit 11 of the control result for the incoming ringing unit 27 of the NCU 20 by the sub reception control unit 33 (step S112). .

  Further, after receiving the notification of return to the normal mode, the control of the NCU 20 by the sub-control unit 30 ends, and the main control unit 11 controls the NCU 20. That is, when a line change of the telephone line 29 is subsequently detected (Yes in step S113), the NCU 20 notifies the CPU 12 of the main control unit 11 of a line change notification (step S114). Thereafter, the main control unit 11 controls the NCU 20 to execute facsimile reception processing (step S115).

  As described above, the sub control unit 30 can control the incoming ringing unit 27 instead of the main control unit 11 even when the state of the main control unit 11 is in the energy saving mode or returning from the energy saving mode to the normal mode. Therefore, in the facsimile apparatus 1, regardless of the state of the main control unit 11, the generation of the incoming bell signal by the incoming ringing unit 27 can be controlled, and the incoming bell can be prevented from ringing more than necessary.

(5) Features The above embodiment can be expressed as follows.
(A) The facsimile machine 1 includes an incoming ringing unit 27, a CPU 12, and a sub CPU 31. The incoming call ringing unit 27 outputs an incoming call bell signal for ringing the incoming call bell when an incoming call via the public line network is detected. The CPU 12 operates in the energy saving mode or the normal mode, and controls the incoming ringing unit 27 only when operating in the normal mode. The sub CPU 31 controls the incoming ringing unit 27 when the CPU 12 is returning from the energy saving mode or the energy saving mode to the normal mode.

(B) The facsimile apparatus 1 further includes a specified ringing number storage unit 100 that stores the ringing number of rings specified. The sub CPU 31 controls the incoming call ringing unit 27 based on the ringing number stored in the specified ringing number storage unit 100.
(C) The prescribed ringing number storage unit 100 includes a first ringing prescribed number storage unit 18 that stores the prescribed ringing number of rings and a second prescribed ringing number storage unit that stores the prescribed ringing number of rings. 35. The CPU 12 controls the incoming ringing unit 27 based on the ringing number stored in the first ringing prescribed number storage unit 18, and the sub CPU 31 is based on the ringing number stored in the second ringing prescribed number storage unit 35. The incoming call sounding unit 27 is controlled.
(D) The incoming call ringing unit 27 outputs an incoming call bell signal based on the prescribed number of ringing rings.

(E) The sub CPU 31 includes a result notification unit 34 that notifies the CPU 12 of a control result for the incoming ringing unit 27 by the sub CPU 31 after the CPU 12 returns to the normal mode.
(F) When the CPU 12 returns to the normal mode while the sub CPU 31 is controlling the incoming ringing unit 27, the sub CPU 31 controls the incoming ringing unit 27 until the CPU 12 returns to the normal mode. Is notified to the CPU 12.

2. Other Embodiments Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. In particular, a plurality of embodiments and modifications described in this specification can be arbitrarily combined as necessary.

(A) In the above example, the prescribed ringing number storage unit 100 includes the first ringing prescribed number storage unit 18 disposed in the main control unit 11 and the second prescribed ringing number storage unit 35 disposed in the sub-control unit 30. An example was given. However, the specified ringing number storage unit 100 is not limited to the above example as long as it is a storage unit that can store the number of ringing rings of the specified telephone 90. For example, the specified ringing number storage unit 100 may be configured by a storage unit inside the CPU.
Further, as the specified ringing number storage unit 100, the facsimile machine 1 may include only the first specified ringing number storage unit 18 disposed in the main control unit 11. In this case, the sub-control unit 30 may control the incoming call ringing unit 27 according to the ringing number stored in the first ringing specified number of times storage unit 18 to ring the incoming call ring using the telephone 90.

(B) The result notification unit 34 may notify the CPU 12 of the main control unit 11 of the number of counts of the pseudo bell signal by the sub reception control unit 33.
For example, when the sub reception control unit 33 counts the pseudo bell signal from the ringing voltage generation circuit 25 and the ringing ring is ringing, the mode notification unit 15 notifies the facsimile apparatus 1 to return to the normal mode. May receive. In this case, the result notification unit 34 may notify the CPU 12 of the main control unit 11 of the number of pseudo bell signals counted so far, and the control on the NCU 20 may be terminated.
Thereafter, the reception control unit 14 of the main control unit 11 may continue to control the counting of the pseudo bell signal from the calling voltage generation circuit 25 and the stop of the output of the pseudo bell signal from the calling voltage generation circuit 25 to the telephone 90. . As a result, it is possible to prevent the ringing bell from ringing beyond the number of rings stored in the first ringing prescribed number storage unit 18.

(C) In the above embodiment, the sub reception control unit 33 starts controlling the NCU 20 after the sub signal detection unit 32 of the sub CPU 31 transmits a return request to the main control unit 11. However, the timing of the return request transmission and the control of the NCU 20 in the sub CPU 31 is not limited to this example, and the transmission of the return request and the start of the reception control of the NCU 20 may be the same timing. Further, the return request may be transmitted after the reception control of the NCU 20 is started.

  The present invention can be widely applied to facsimile machines having an energy saving mode.

1 Facsimile Machine 10 Basic Block 11 Main Control Unit 12 CPU
13 Signal detection unit 14 Reception control unit 15 Mode notification unit 16 Modem 17 Storage unit 18 First ringing prescribed frequency storage unit 20 NCU
21 CML Relay 22 First Transformer 23 Signal Detection Circuit 24 Off-hook Detection Circuit 25 Ringing Voltage Generation Circuit 26 H Relay 27 Incoming Ringer 28 Second Transformer 29 Telephone Line 30 Sub Control Unit 31 Sub CPU
32 sub signal detection unit 33 sub reception control unit 34 result notification unit 35 second ringing prescribed number of times storage unit 40 functional block 41 reading unit 42 operation unit 43 image memory 44 codec 45 display unit 46 recording unit 47 LAN interface 50 power supply device 60 Power supply controller 61 Power supply line 70 System bus 80 Public line network 90 Telephone 100 Prescribed ringing number storage unit

Claims (6)

An incoming ringer that outputs an incoming call bell signal for ringing an incoming call bell when an incoming call via the public line network is detected;
A first control unit that operates in an energy saving mode or a normal mode and controls the incoming ringing unit only when operating in the normal mode;
A second control unit for controlling the incoming ringing unit when the first control unit is in the energy saving mode or returning from the energy saving mode to the normal mode;
A facsimile machine comprising And further comprising a specified number of ringing storage unit for storing the number of ringing of the specified ringing bell,
The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second control unit controls the incoming ringing unit based on the number of rings stored in the specified ringing number storage unit. The specified ringing number storage unit includes a first storage unit that stores a specified ringing number of ringing bells, and a second storage unit that stores a ringing number of ringing specified rings.
The first control unit controls the incoming ringing unit based on the number of ringing times stored in the first storage unit,
The facsimile apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the second control unit controls the incoming ringing unit based on the number of rings stored in the second storage unit.   4. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the ringing unit outputs the ringing bell signal based on the prescribed number of ringing of the ringing bell.   The said 2nd control part has a result notification part which notifies the control result with respect to the said incoming call ringing part by the said 2nd control part to the said 1st control part after the said 1st control part returns to normal mode. The facsimile apparatus according to any one of?   When the first control unit returns to the normal mode while the second control unit is controlling the incoming ringing unit, the second control unit until the first control unit returns to the normal mode. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a result notifying unit that notifies the first control unit of a control result by the second control unit for the incoming ringing unit.

Images