JP2013090171A - Facsimile apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a facsimile apparatus which, even in a situation where occurrence of power supply shortage is expected, shortens a processing period of facsimile transmission, thereby realizing transmission of image data to the opposite party as much as possible.SOLUTION: The main controller 11 of a transmission-side facsimile apparatus controls a reader 15 to read an original document. The main controller 11 calculates from the data amount of the read original document a processing period until the completion of transmission, obtains a difference between a period until the completion of processing and a period from the present time to the time of power interruption, and determines whether the transmission processing of the original document can be completed before the time of the power interruption. If there is some fixed period or longer, it is determined that the transmission is possible. If determining that the transmission can be completed before the power interruption, facsimile communication is performed. If determining that the transmission cannot be completed before the power interruption, a processing mode is changed to allow for completion of the transmission processing before the power interruption.

Description

  The present invention relates to a facsimile apparatus that can realize transmission of image data to a destination as much as possible even under a situation where power supply such as a power failure is expected to stop.

  Conventionally, power supply to copiers is based on the premise that the power supply is stable except when a sudden power failure occurs. There was no need for special consideration in the case of copying machines when there was a shortage of time or when it was time for a power outage to occur.

  However, in view of the current power supply situation, the conventional premise that “stable supply is performed (compensated)” is disrupted, and in order not to encounter problems such as power outages or emergency stop due to power supply stoppage, It has been required to manage and control an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine in the supplied power. In particular, in the case of FAX communication, it is necessary to consider so that FAX transmission to the other party can be reliably performed even when transmission may be interrupted due to a power failure or when an emergency is required.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a technique (shortening procedure) for shortening the communication time by executing a unique procedure in Phase 1 of the FAX communication procedure and omitting some of the procedures after Phase 2. Has been.

JP 2000-244719 A

  However, in the technique of Patent Document 1, although the communication time can be shortened, it is an original procedure and is limited to specific devices. In addition, no consideration is given to a case where it is urgently desired to perform FAX transmission under a situation where a power failure or the like is predicted to occur due to insufficient power supply.

  The present invention provides a facsimile apparatus capable of reducing the processing time of facsimile transmission and realizing the transmission of image data to a destination as much as possible even under a situation where a shortage of power supply is expected to occur. It is to provide.

The present invention provides a facsimile apparatus that reads a document and transmits the data to a designated destination via a public line.
A reading unit that reads an original to obtain image data, an information acquisition unit that acquires power supply information including a power shortage time when power supply is insufficient, and the image data before the power shortage time based on the power supply information And a control unit that switches to a processing mode in which the transmission process can be terminated if the transmission process cannot be completed.
Here, the power supply information includes power outages.

Here, the processing mode is:
Lowering the scanning resolution of the sent document,
Lowering the transmission resolution of the scanned transmission document,
Compress the scanned transmission document at a compression rate higher than the set compression rate,
Compile pages that have been scanned
It may be either.

  According to the present invention, when the power supply information related to the power supply is acquired, the processing mode is switched so that the transmission process is completed by the time when the power becomes insufficient based on the power supply information. It is possible to realize transmission of image data to the other party as long as possible.

It is a block diagram of the communication system constructed | assembled by the facsimile apparatus which concerns on this embodiment. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment. FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram showing a facsimile communication procedure between a calling side device and a called side device of a facsimile apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the transmission side facsimile apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the processing operation by power failure information reception.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a communication system constructed by a facsimile apparatus according to the present embodiment.
This system includes facsimile apparatuses 10a and 10b and an external apparatus (server) 50 in which power failure information is registered in advance. The facsimile apparatus 10a is an apparatus on the data transmission side (calling side), and the facsimile apparatus 10b is an apparatus on the data reception side (called side). The facsimile apparatuses 10a and 10b are connected to a telephone line (general public telephone line), and can transmit and receive facsimile image data. The external device 50 is connected to the facsimile machine 10b via a network 60 such as the Internet.

  Assume that the power supply of the receiving facsimile machine 10b is cut off due to a power failure during a certain time period. In this case, the receiving facsimile machine 10b acquires power outage information in advance. The power outage information is information about a power outage including a power outage time indicating from what time to what time the power outage occurs. There are two types of methods for acquiring this power failure information. First, the user directly inputs power outage information to the facsimile machine 10b. The other is a method in which power failure information is stored in the external device (distribution server or the like) 50, and the external device 50 sends the power failure information to the receiving facsimile device 10b via the network 60.

  The power failure information is sent from the reception side facsimile apparatus 10b to the transmission side facsimile apparatus 10a. The transmission side facsimile apparatus 10a normally performs facsimile transmission toward the reception side facsimile apparatus 10b. However, when the power failure time is approaching due to the notified power failure information, the transmission side facsimile device 10a switches to a processing mode for reducing the transmission data amount. And automatically process so that the transmission ends before the power failure time.

The power failure information is information including the time when the power supply is cut off, but is not limited thereto, and may be information including the time when the power supply is insufficient and the device may not function. . Although these are power supply information, in the following embodiments, the power supply information will be described as power outage information.
Further, FIG. 1 assumes a power outage in a district where the receiving facsimile machine 10b is installed. However, there may be a power outage in the area where the transmission side facsimile apparatus 10a is installed. In this case, the power outage information is input to the transmission side facsimile apparatus 10a.
The following embodiment is an example of a case where a power failure occurs in a district where the receiving facsimile machine 10b is installed, as in FIG.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the facsimile apparatus according to this embodiment. The facsimile machines 10a and 10b have a common configuration.

  The facsimile apparatus 10 has a function as a printer / copy for printing data (image data) on a recording medium and a normal facsimile using a telephone line.

  The facsimile apparatus 10 includes a main control unit 11, a panel control unit 12, a control memory 13, a control buffer 14, a reading unit 15, a recording unit 16, an image storage unit 17, an encoding / decoding control unit 18, a LAN (Local An area network control unit 19, a modem 20, and a network control unit (NCU: Network Control Unit) 21 are provided. Hereinafter, each part will be described.

  The main control unit 11 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and the like, and comprehensively controls the entire facsimile apparatus 10.

  In the panel control unit 12, an instruction such as reading of a document, input of a destination is performed, and a corresponding screen is displayed. The panel control unit 12 includes a display device and an operation unit (not shown). The display device is a display device such as a liquid crystal display device (LCD) or a CRT display, and displays an operation state, a transmission destination, and the like. The operation unit includes keys (input devices) necessary for operation. The panel control unit 12 of this embodiment is a touch panel that integrates a display device and an operation unit. In the present embodiment, the other party is set from the touch panel of the panel control unit 12. The set partner information is stored in the control memory 13.

  The control memory 13 includes a non-volatile memory such as a ROM, a backed up volatile memory, and the like, and stores various control programs and destination information (such as a destination telephone number and an abbreviated number). The system data and various data necessary for executing these control programs are stored. The control buffer 14 is composed of a RAM or the like, and stores data necessary for operating the control program. The image storage unit 17 stores encoded image data or data after format conversion, and stores data read from a reading unit 15 described later, data received by facsimile, data after decoding, or the like.

  The reading unit 15 is a scanner that uses a photoelectric conversion element (CCD) as a document reading unit, and reads a document with a predetermined resolution. As a result of reading, dot image data is output. The recording unit 16 includes an electrophotographic printer device, and hard copies (prints out) data such as a document image received by facsimile communication or a document image read by the reading unit 15. Moreover, you may be comprised as a thermal recording apparatus using a thermal element.

  The encoding / decoding control unit 18 performs encoding of the read document image data and decoding when receiving the image data. That is, the encoding / decoding control unit 18 encodes and compresses the original image data read by the reading unit 15 by an arithmetic encoding operation, and decodes the encoded image data received into the original data. Turn into. The encoding / decoding control unit 18 can use encoding methods such as MH (Modified Hufman), MR (Modified READ), MMR (Modified Modified READ), and JBIG, which are generally used in facsimile communication. .

  The LAN control unit 19 is for connecting to a LAN (Local Area Network) in order to perform transmission / reception communication with an external device (server) 50 via the Internet. The modem 20 is composed of a facsimile modem that modulates a transmission signal of G3 communication into a form suitable for transmission of a line and demodulates a modulation signal transmitted from the line. The modem 20 is connected to a public telephone line via a network control unit (NCU) 21. The network control unit 21 is hardware that performs line control operations for closing and opening a line with an analog public telephone line network (PSTN), and connects the modem 20 to the public telephone line network as necessary. In other words, the network control unit 21 performs transmission / reception of image data and transmission / reception of control signals according to the G3 communication protocol, and also performs automatic outgoing / incoming processing.

  Information acquisition means for acquiring power failure information (power supply information) includes an operation panel input by a user, a LAN control unit 19 input from an external device 50, and a network control unit 21 input from another facsimile device.

Next, a communication procedure between the facsimile apparatuses 10a and 10b in FIG. 1 will be described.
FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram showing a facsimile communication procedure between the calling side device and the called side device of the facsimile apparatus. The calling side device and the called side device are ITU-T recommendation V.3. It is assumed that communication (G3 communication) is performed in accordance with the procedure defined in FIG.

  When data is transmitted from the calling side device 10a to the called side device 10b, first, the calling side device 10a is dialed to the called side device 10b to establish communication, and a calling tone (CNG: Calling Tone) is sent.

  The called-side device 10b receives the V.I. If the apparatus conforms to the procedure of No. 21, when the calling side apparatus 10b detects a calling tone from the calling side apparatus 10a, it first transmits a called station identification signal (CED), Non-standard facilities signal (NSF) including manufacturer information of own device, called device identification signal (CSI) including telephone number of own device, transmission speed and maximum reception By transmitting a digital identification signal (DIS: Digital Transmit Command signal) including the performance information of the own device such as the width, the function of the own device is notified to the calling side device 10a.

  Then, in response to these signals, the calling side device 10a transmits the transmitting device identification signal (TSI: Transmitting Subscriber Identification signal) including the telephone number of the own device, and the performance of the own device such as the transmission speed and the maximum receiving width. By sending a digital command signal (DCS) including information, the function of the own device is notified to the called device 10b. A non-standard procedure signal (NSS: Non-Standard facilities Set-up) including manufacturer information of the device itself may be notified to the called device.

  Subsequently, when the called device 10b receives a training check signal (TCF) transmitted from the calling device 10a, a reception preparation confirmation signal (CFR: Confirmation to Receive signal) is received. Is returned to the calling device 10a.

After receiving the CFR signal from the called device 10b, the calling device 10a transmits image data (PIX) for each page to the called device 10b. When transmission of all the encoded data is completed, a procedure end signal (PPS-EOP) is transmitted to the called device 10b. When the called side device 10b confirms that the image data for all pages has been received, a message confirmation signal (MCF) is returned from the called side device 10b to the calling side device 10a.
Finally, when a disconnection command signal DCN (Disconnect signal) is transmitted from the calling device 10a and received by the called device 10b, the facsimile communication is terminated.

  Such control for transmitting and receiving signals and data is performed by the main control unit 11 in both the calling side and called side facsimile machines.

  Facsimile communication is performed according to the above procedure, but the new signal in FIG. 3 means power outage information, thereby notifying the calling side device 10a of the power outage information. As shown in FIG. 1, the power failure information is directly input by the user to the called device 10b, or the power failure information stored in the external device 50 is acquired by the called device 10b. And after notifying NSF / CSI / DIS signal to the calling side apparatus 10a, power failure information is notified as a new signal. Alternatively, when the PPS-EOP signal is notified from the calling device 10a to the called device 10b, the power failure information is notified as a new signal from the called device 10b to the calling device 10a.

  However, the notification timing is not limited to this. For example, power failure information may be notified by an NSF signal. In this case, the power failure information is inserted into the contents of the NSF signal using the ASCII code and notified. Further, the notification format is not limited to the ASCII code, and may be another format.

  The above communication procedure is based on ITU-T recommendation V.3. 21, but the ITU-T recommendation V. Communication (super G3 communication) may be performed using the procedure specified in FIG. For example, the transmission side and the reception side facsimile machines are super G3 compatible. In that case, when the CNG signal is transmitted from the calling side device 10a to the called side device 10b, the called side device 10b transmits the ANSam signal, and the calling side device 10a receives the ANSam signal. V. Eight procedures are started. Therefore, the power failure information is transmitted thereafter.

  In some cases, one of the transmission / reception facsimile machines is compatible with G3 and the other is compatible with Super G3. G3 communication is performed by sending a signal indicating that it is compatible with 21 to the other party. In this case, the power failure signal is V.V. A signal indicating that it is compatible with the communication system 21 is transmitted and transmitted after G3 communication is started.

  The operation of the transmitting facsimile apparatus will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In step S1, the main control unit 11 of the transmission side facsimile apparatus (calling side apparatus) 10a uses the modem 20 and the network control unit 21 based on the facsimile number of the other party that performs facsimile transmission input from the panel control unit 12. Dial the line via
In step S2, the main control unit 11 of the calling device 10a starts a T0 timer.

  In step S3, a CNG signal is transmitted via the modem 20 and the network control unit 21. From this CNG signal, the receiving facsimile apparatus (called apparatus) 10b knows that the other party of the telephone is transmitting by facsimile.

  In step S4, the main control unit 11 of the transmission side facsimile apparatus 10a determines whether one of the following signals (ANSam, CED, DIS, V.21) is transmitted from the counterpart machine 10b, and is transmitted. ITU-T TT. Facsimile transmission is performed according to the procedure of 30.

  In step S4, if the above signal from partner apparatus 10b cannot be detected, it is determined in step S5 whether T0 time has elapsed (time up). If the time is not up in step S5, the process returns to step S3, and the steps from the transmission of the CNG signal are repeated. If the time is up in step S5, the partner machine 10b disconnects the line as no response in step S6.

  In step S4, when a signal (any one of ANSam, CED, DIS, V.21) from partner apparatus 10b is detected, it is determined in step S7 whether the power failure information has been transmitted from the receiving side. to decide. If the power failure information has not been transmitted, the main control unit 11 of the transmission side facsimile apparatus 10a performs normal facsimile transmission in step S8.

  If the power failure information has been transmitted from the reception side facsimile apparatus 10b in step S7, the main control unit 11 of the transmission side facsimile apparatus 10a performs the process by receiving the power failure information in step S9. Proceeding to S8, facsimile transmission is performed.

As processing by power failure information reception in step S9, power failure information is stored in the control memory 13 of the transmission side facsimile apparatus 10a. The power failure information includes the following information.
-Power outage time information Power outage time information includes only the time zone, date + time, and power outage time.

  The signal reception of the power failure information may be at any timing. In the description here, for the sake of convenience, it is described as after receiving a facsimile signal (ANSam, CED, DIS, V.21) from the partner machine.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of the main control unit of the transmission-side facsimile apparatus 10a when power failure information is received.

In step S11, the main control unit 11 of the transmission-side facsimile apparatus 10a causes the reading unit 15 to read a document. In step S <b> 12, the main control unit 11 calculates a processing time until the transmission is completed from the data amount of the read original. In step S13, the difference between the time until the end of the process and the time from the current time to the power failure time is obtained. In step S14, it is determined whether the document transmission process can be completed before the power failure. If the difference obtained in step S13 is equal to or longer than a certain time, it is determined that transmission is possible.
If transmission is possible before a power failure, facsimile communication is performed in step S8.
If transmission is impossible before a power failure, the processing mode is changed in step S15.

Examples of the change of the processing mode include the following.
(1) Decreasing the reading resolution of the document of the reading unit 15.
(2) Lowering the transmission resolution of the read transmission original.
(3) The read transmission original is compressed at a higher compression rate than the set compression rate.
(4) Collect the pages of the read transmission document. (Several pages are consolidated into one page.)
In both processes, the processing time is shortened by reducing the transmission data amount.

In step S16, it is confirmed whether or not processing for changing the reading resolution of the document (processing for reducing the resolution) is performed. If the process is to change the resolution, the process returns to step S11 and the original is read again. In this case, for example, the panel controller 12 causes the operation panel to display “Please read the original with a lower reading resolution” and cause the user to read the original again.
If the process does not change the reading resolution of the document, the process returns to step S12.

  One processing mode may be set in advance. Further, the processing mode may be selected according to the difference obtained in step S12.

  In this way, even under circumstances where a power failure is expected to occur due to a shortage of power supply, by performing processing such as reducing the amount of image data to be transmitted so that transmission will not be interrupted at the time of the power failure, The processing time can be shortened and transmission of image data to the other party can be realized as much as possible.

  The embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and the design and the like within the scope not departing from the gist of the present invention are also claimed. Included in the range.

10 Facsimile device 10a Transmission side facsimile device (calling side device)
10b Facsimile device on the receiving side (called device on the called side)
11 Main Control Unit 12 Panel Control Unit 13 Control Memory 14 Control Buffer 15 Reading Unit 16 Recording Unit 17 Image Storage Unit 18 Decoding Control Unit 19 LAN Control Unit 20 Modem 21 Network Control Unit 50 External Device 60 Network

Claims (5)

In a facsimile machine that reads a document and transmits the data to a specified destination via a public line,
A reading unit that reads an original and converts it into image data;
An information acquisition unit for acquiring power supply information including a power shortage time when power supply is insufficient;
Based on the power supply information, it is determined whether or not the transmission processing of the image data can be completed before the power shortage time, and if the transmission processing cannot be completed, a control unit that switches to a processing mode that can terminate the transmission processing;
A facsimile apparatus comprising: The processing mode is:
2. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a reading resolution of a transmission original is lowered. The processing mode is:
2. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transmission resolution of the read transmission original is lowered. The processing mode is:
2. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the read transmission original is compressed at a compression rate higher than a set compression rate. The processing mode is:
2. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the read transmission originals are page-collected.