JP2022179844A - Facsimile device, control method and control program of facsimile device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a control method for surely transferring a reply from a transmission destination facsimile device to a slave unit facsimile device being a transmission source in a facsimile system in which a master unit facsimile device performs facsimile-transmission to the transmission destination facsimile device on behalf of the slave unit facsimile device.SOLUTION: A master unit facsimile device transmits a sheet for reply including a two-dimensional code image indicating information of a slave unit facsimile device being a transmission source in addition to a document image from the slave unit facsimile device to a transmission destination facsimile device when performing proxy transmission of the document image of the slave unit facsimile device to the transmission destination facsimile device. The master unit facsimile device receives a reply facsimile image to the slave unit facsimile device added with the image of the sheet for reply from the transmission destination facsimile device, specifies the slave unit facsimile device being the transmission source by decoding a two-dimensional code of the sheet for reply, and transfers the replied facsimile image to the specified slave unit facsimile device.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

The present invention relates to a facsimile machine, a facsimile machine control method and a control program, and more particularly to a facsimile machine, a facsimile machine control method and a control program in a facsimile system including a main facsimile machine and a slave facsimile machine.

This kind of background art is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-200012.

In view of the recent situation, working from home has become popular as one form of working. For example, when you need to send a facsimile from your home to a destination outside the company, you may or may not have a facsimile machine at home. If you are equipped with a facsimile machine, you can send it from your home to the other party. be done.

However, in these cases, since the facsimile is sent from your home phone number or the phone number of a convenience store, etc., the other party receiving the facsimile will receive the facsimile from an unknown phone number, so the credibility of the sender is questionable. There is a problem that causes

On the other hand, in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-100000, transmission data is transferred from a child device to a master device, and the master device transmits the facsimile device to the other party using a public line. According to this method, since the telephone number of the base unit that is familiar to the other party is used for transmission, it is possible to solve the problem that the other party may have doubts about the sender.

Furthermore, in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, conversely, when receiving a reply from the other party, the sender of the reply from the other party adds information specifying a child device to the facsimile data received by the parent device. By doing so, it is possible to transfer from the parent device to the corresponding child device.

JP-A-5-344262

However, in the method of specifying the child device in Patent Document 1, the sender of the reply adds information specifying the child device such as # 0, # 1 after the telephone number, and the parent device that receives this is specified. In order to add a number after the telephone number, it is necessary to use a dedicated line used for extension telephones, etc., and it cannot be done with a general public line.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a novel facsimile machine, facsimile machine control method and control program.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a facsimile machine, a facsimile machine control method, and a control program capable of reliably transferring a reply to a facsimile machine transmitted through a master machine to a slave machine using a public line. be.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention employs the following configuration. It should be noted that reference numerals in parentheses, supplementary descriptions, etc. indicate the correspondence with the embodiments described to aid understanding of the invention, and do not limit the invention in any way.

A first invention is a master facsimile device that transmits a facsimile image from a slave facsimile device that is a transmission source to a destination facsimile device on behalf of the slave facsimile device, wherein a reply image that means information of the slave facsimile device is A receiving unit that receives the added reply facsimile image to the slave facsimile device from the destination facsimile device, and identifies the slave facsimile device by decoding the reply image added to the reply facsimile image from the destination facsimile device. and a transfer unit for transferring a reply facsimile image to the slave facsimile device specified by the specifying unit.

In the first invention, a facsimile system (100: a reference numeral exemplifying a portion corresponding to embodiment data; hereinafter the same) includes at least one base facsimile machine (10a) and at least one slave facsimile machine. Including (10b). The parent facsimile machine (10a) receives a facsimile image (original image) from the child facsimile machine and transmits the facsimile image to the destination facsimile machine on behalf of the child facsimile machine. Then, the receiving unit receives the reply facsimile image to which the reply image (98) indicating the information of the slave facsimile device as the transmission source is added from the destination facsimile device. The identification unit identifies the slave facsimile device by decoding the reply image (98) added to the reply facsimile image from the destination facsimile device. Then, the transfer unit transfers the reply facsimile image to the slave facsimile device specified by the specifying unit.

According to the first invention, when there is a reply of a facsimile image to which a reply image is added, the slave facsimile device as a transmission source can be easily specified by decoding the reply image. Then, the return facsimile image can be transferred to the sender (slave facsimile machine) using a public line.

A second invention is according to the first invention, in which, in addition to the facsimile image from the slave facsimile machine, a reply sheet containing a reply image indicating information of the slave facsimile machine is added and transmitted. The facsimile device further includes a transmission unit that transmits to a destination facsimile device.

In the second invention, the transmission unit adds a reply image (98) indicating information (for example, number) of the slave facsimile device as the transmission source, and transmits the reply image to the destination facsimile device.

A third invention is according to the first or second invention, and is a facsimile apparatus further comprising a reply sheet creating section for creating a reply sheet.

In the third invention, the reply sheet creating section creates a reply sheet including a reply image.

A fourth invention is according to the third invention, and is the facsimile apparatus, wherein the reply sheet creating unit creates a reply sheet using a reply image transmitted from the slave facsimile machine.

In the fourth invention, the reply sheet creation section creates a reply sheet (94) using a reply image (98) transmitted from the slave facsimile device (10b) that is the transmission source.

A fifth invention is according to the third invention, further comprising a reply image generation unit for generating a reply image based on the transmission source information received from the slave facsimile device, the reply sheet creation unit comprising: This is a facsimile machine that creates a reply sheet using a reply image generated by a reply image generation unit.

In the fifth invention, the reply image generating section generates the reply image based on the transmission source information received from the slave facsimile machine.

A sixth invention is according to any one of the first to fifth inventions, and is the facsimile machine, wherein the reply image is a code image containing the number of the transmission source handset facsimile.

A seventh invention is according to the sixth invention, and is the facsimile machine, wherein the code image is a two-dimensional code image.

An eighth invention is a control program executed by a computer of a base facsimile machine for transmitting a facsimile image from a slave facsimile machine as a transmission source to a destination facsimile machine on behalf of the slave machine facsimile machine. A receiving unit for receiving a reply facsimile image to a slave facsimile device to which a reply image is added from the destination facsimile device, and decoding the reply image added to the reply facsimile image from the destination facsimile device. A control program for a facsimile device that functions as a specifying unit that specifies a slave facsimile device and a transfer unit that transfers a reply facsimile image to the slave facsimile device specified by the specifying unit.

A ninth aspect of the invention is a control method for a facsimile system including a master facsimile machine and a slave facsimile machine, wherein the master facsimile machine adds a reply image representing information of the slave facsimile machine. Receiving a reply facsimile image to the facsimile device from the destination facsimile device, decoding the reply image added to the reply facsimile image from the destination facsimile device to specify the slave facsimile device as the transmission source, and A control method for transferring a reply facsimile image to a specified child facsimile device.

According to the present invention, a reply to a facsimile transmitted from a slave facsimile device to a destination facsimile device through a base facsimile device can be reliably transferred to the slave facsimile device.

The above object, other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the embodiments with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a facsimile system according to one embodiment of the invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the facsimile machine used in this embodiment. FIG. 3 is an illustrative view showing one example of a memory map of the RAM of the master facsimile machine in the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is an illustrative view showing one example of a memory map of the RAM of the slave facsimile machine in the first embodiment. FIG. 5 is an illustrative view showing one example of an operation screen mainly displayed on the display of the slave facsimile machine. FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing part of an example of the operation of the computer of the slave facsimile machine in the first embodiment. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing part of an example of the operation of the computer of the main facsimile machine in the first embodiment. FIG. 8 is an illustrative view showing an example of a reply sheet added to a facsimile original image when the parent facsimile machine performs substitute transmission. FIG. 9 is an illustrative view showing one example of a memory map of the RAM of the master facsimile machine in the second embodiment. FIG. 10 is an illustrative view showing one example of a memory map of the RAM of the slave facsimile machine in the second embodiment. FIG. 11 is a flow chart showing part of an example of the operation of the computer of the slave facsimile machine in the second embodiment. FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing part of an example of the operation of the computer of the main facsimile machine in the second embodiment. FIG. 13 is a flow chart showing part of an example of the operation of the computer of the slave facsimile machine in the third embodiment. FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing part of an example of the operation of the computer of the main facsimile machine in the third embodiment. FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing part of an example of the operation of the computer of the main facsimile machine in the fourth embodiment.

[First embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example configuration of a facsimile system 100 according to one embodiment of the present invention. A facsimile system 100 of this embodiment includes one facsimile machine 10a operating as a parent machine and at least one facsimile machine 10b operating as a child machine. In this embodiment, the main facsimile machine 10a and the sub-facsimile machine 10b are realized by one function of a multifunction peripheral (MFP).

The main facsimile machine 10a and the sub-facsimile machine 10b are connected to a public line 102 such as a communication line network (FAX communication line network) for facsimile machines such as PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Networks) and IP networks. It is possible.

The base facsimile machine 10a and the sub-facsimile machine 10b are communicably connected to each other via a data communication network 104 such as the Internet or a LAN.

The main facsimile machine 10a and the sub-facsimile machine 10b have the same or similar configurations, and are simply referred to as facsimile machine 10 when there is no need to distinguish between the main facsimile machine 10a and the sub-facsimile machine 10b. When it is necessary to distinguish between the components (components and programs) of the main facsimile machine 10a and the sub-facsimile machine 10b, the suffix "a" or "b" is added to the reference number indicating the corresponding component, program, data, etc. shall be distinguished by attaching

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the electrical configuration of a facsimile machine 10 which is an embodiment of the present invention. The facsimile machine 10 of this embodiment is part of a multifunction peripheral (MFP) having a copying function (copy function), a printer function, a scanner function, a facsimile machine function, etc., as described above.

As shown in FIG. 2, the facsimile machine 10 includes a computer 12. The computer 12 may be called a CPU or a processor, and has a RAM 16, a storage unit 18, a display control circuit 20, a touch panel control circuit 22, and an image processor via a bus 14. It is connected to the reading section 28 , the image processing section 30 , the codec 32 , the image forming section 34 , the communication section 36 and the facsimile communication section 38 .

Computer 12 provides overall control of facsimile machine 10 . The RAM 16 is used as a work area and a buffer area for the computer 12 .

The storage unit 18 is a main storage device of the facsimile device 10, and uses a non-volatile memory such as an HDD and an EPPROM. Moreover, the storage unit 18 may be configured to include the RAM 16 .

The storage unit 18 stores control program data for the CPU 12 to control the operation of each part of the facsimile machine 10, image (display image) data for various screens, data necessary for executing the control program, and the like. do. These programs and data are read during operation of the facsimile machine 10 and developed (stored) in the RAM 16 described above.

The display control circuit 20 includes a GPU and a VRAM (not shown). Under the direction of the computer 12, the GPU uses the display image generation data stored in the RAM 16 to generate display images in the VRAM for displaying various screens on the display 24, and outputs the generated display images to the display 24. do. As the display 24, for example, an LCD or an organic EL display can be used.

The touch panel control circuit 22 applies a necessary voltage or the like to the touch panel 26, detects a touch operation or touch input within the touch effective range of the touch panel 26, and outputs touch coordinate data indicating the position of the touch input to the computer 12. output to

The user of the facsimile device 10 operates icons, various keys (software keys), or buttons included in the operation unit displayed on the touch display 24 (26) to input the destination of the facsimile device communication. Various operations such as selection of a destination from a list, setting of resolution for reading a document, and confirmation of communication results can be performed.

As is well known, the image reading unit 28 includes a light source, a plurality of mirrors, an image forming lens, a line sensor, etc., reads a facsimile document placed on a document platen (not shown), and outputs image data (facsimile data) of the facsimile document. image data).

The image processing unit 30 generates data (facsimile transmission image data) of an image for facsimile transmission (facsimile transmission image) from the read image data read by the image reading unit 28 . Further, the image processing unit 30 generates print data for printing by the image forming unit 34 from image data (facsimile apparatus received image data) obtained by decoding encoded data received by facsimile apparatus communication with a CODEC 32. Generate.

The codec 32 encodes the facsimile transmission image data generated by the image processing unit 30 in a predetermined format. The encoded data is temporarily stored in the storage unit 18 and transmitted to another facsimile machine by facsimile machine communication under the instruction of the computer 12 . Also, the codec 32 decodes data transmitted from another facsimile machine through facsimile machine communication and restores it to its original format. As described above, the decoded image data is processed by the image processing section 30 to generate print data.

As is well known, the image forming section 34 includes a photosensitive drum, a charging device, an exposure device, a developing device, a transfer device, a fixing device, and the like, and forms an image on a recording medium using a dry electrophotographic method. As the image data to be formed on the recording medium, the above read image data or image data sent from an external facsimile device or the like is used.

The communication unit 36 includes a communication module or a communication circuit for wired or wireless connection to a network, and performs communication via the network according to instructions from the computer 12 .

Facsimile communication section 38 includes facsimile machine modem 40 and network control unit (NCU) 42 . The facsimile machine modem 40 modulates the encoded facsimile transmission image data into an analog signal of a format suitable for transmission over the public line 102 (FIG. 1) based on the facsimile machine communication standard, and transmits the data to other facsimile machines. The analog signal from the facsimile apparatus is demodulated to obtain image data received by the facsimile apparatus. Network control unit 42 is connected to public line 102 via a telephone line, a circuit switch, and the like. The network control unit 42 is provided to connect the facsimile machine modem 40 to the F public line 102 and performs line control of closing and opening of the public line 102 . In addition, the network control unit 42 transmits and receives image data, control signals, and the like according to a predetermined protocol for facsimile communication, and performs automatic calling processing and automatic call receiving processing for facsimile communication.

It should be noted that the electrical configuration of the facsimile machine 10 shown in FIG. 2 is merely an example, and the present invention is not limited to this.

3 is an illustrative view showing one example of the memory map of the RAM 16a of the base facsimile machine 10a of FIG. 1 embodiment, and FIG. 4 is an illustrative view showing one example of the memory map of the RAM 16b of the sub-facsimile machine 10b of the FIG. 1 embodiment. It is a diagram.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, RAMs 16a and 16b include program storage area 44 and data storage area 46, respectively. In the following description, the suffixes "a" and "b" are omitted except when it is necessary to distinguish between the two. In other words, the parts indicated by the reference numerals without the suffix "a" or "b" are common parts between the main facsimile machine 10a and the sub-facsimile machine 10b.

A control program for the facsimile machine 10 is stored in the program storage area 44 of the RAM 16 .

The control programs of the facsimile device 10 include a display control program 48, an operation detection program 50, an image reading program 52, an image generation program 54, a communication program 56, a facsimile communication program 58, and the like.

The display control program 48 generates display screen data necessary for displaying various screens on the screen of the display 24 based on the display image generation data 62 described later, and uses the display screen data to control the display control circuit. A program 20 displays an image on the display 24 .

The operation detection program 50 is a program for detecting operation detection data corresponding to operations on the operation units of the facsimile machine 10 . For example, when the touch panel 26 is touched, the computer 12 acquires touch coordinate data output from the touch panel 26 as operation data 64 described later according to the operation detection program 50, and stores it in the buffer area of the RAM 16. Further, when a hardware button or key (not shown) provided in the facsimile machine 10 is pressed or operated, the computer 12, according to the operation detection program 50, detects the operation data 64 by pressing or operating the button or key. Obtained and stored in the buffer area of the RAM 16 .

The image reading program 52 is a program for controlling the image reading section 28 to read a facsimile document on a document platen (not shown).

The image generation program 54 prints the received data based on the received data of the facsimile device received from the facsimile communication unit 34, for example. A program for printing image data.

The communication program 56 is a program for controlling the communication section 32 and the facsimile communication section 34 to communicate with an external computer or facsimile machine through the network 104 (FIG. 1).

Facsimile communication program 58 controls facsimile communication section 38 to transmit encoded facsimile image data through public line 102 (FIG. 1) or receive facsimile image data from another facsimile machine.

The sender information detection program 60a is a program for detecting sender information, that is, information (number, etc.) of the slave facsimile device that is the sender from the return facsimile image from the destination of the proxy transmission. When the sender information image is a QR code (product name) 98 (FIG. 8) as described later, this sender information detection program 60a is a program for decoding it.

The reply sheet creating program 61a is a program for creating a later-described reply sheet 94 (FIG. 8) using the image forming unit 34. For example, a reply image is added to a template image that has been prepared and registered in advance. 98 is added and printed.

Although not shown, the program storage area 44 also stores other programs necessary for controlling the facsimile machine 10 .

The data storage area 46 contains display image generation data 62, operation data 64, facsimile image data 66, destination list data 68, own device information data 69, registered slave device information data 70a, source information data 71a, and destination information. Data 72a, reply image data 73a, etc. are stored.

The display image generation data 62 is data including polygon data, texture data, etc. for generating a display image. The display image generation data 62 also includes image data corresponding to images corresponding to software keys, image data corresponding to preview images, and image generation data for displaying an operation panel 80 (FIG. 5), which will be described later.

The operation data 64 is operation data detected according to the operation detection program 50 and stored in chronological order. Note that the operation data 66 is deleted after being used for processing by the computer 12 .

The facsimile image data 66 is the image data of the facsimile document read by the image reading section 28 . However, in the master facsimile machine 10a, the facsimile image data 66 also includes the document image (facsimile image) transmitted from the slave facsimile machine 10b entrusted with the proxy transmission.

The destination list data 68 is an address book registered in advance in the facsimile machine 10 of the embodiment, and specifically includes data such as the destination list 82 shown in FIG.

The own machine information data 69 is data indicating the own machine information (number etc.) of the facsimile machine 10 (10a, 10b).

The destination list data 68 is an address book registered in advance in the facsimile machine 10 of the embodiment, and specifically includes data such as the destination list 80 shown in FIG.

Further, the registered handset information data 70a is information of one or more handset facsimile machines for which the base facsimile machine 10a can take charge of proxy transmission, and is preset (registered) data.
The sender information data 71a is data of sender information such as the facsimile number of the handset facsimile machine 10b that is the sender.

The destination information data 72a is data such as the facsimile number of the other party's facsimile device, which is the destination for which proxy transmission is requested by the slave facsimile device 10b, which is the transmission source.

The reply image data 73a is the reply image data transmitted from the slave facsimile device 10b when the slave facsimile device 10b that accepts the substitute transmission of the reply image 98, such as the QR code (FIG. 8), generates it. Alternatively, when a reply image is generated by the base facsimile machine 10a, it is the generated reply image data.

Although not shown, the data storage area 46 stores other data necessary for executing the control program of the facsimile machine 10, and also provides a flag and a counter (timer) necessary for executing the control program. be done.

A reply image generating program 74b is provided in the program storage area 44 of the RAM 16b of the slave facsimile machine 10b shown in FIG. The reply image generation program 76b is a program for generating a reply image indicating transmission source information (facsimile number, etc.) which is the slave facsimile device 10b of the transmission source. However, in this embodiment, the reply image is, as described above, a two-dimensional code image such as a QR code (FIG. 8) indicating sender information.

The data storage area 46 of the RAM 16b further includes destination information data 76b and parent device information data 78b.

The destination information data 76b is information data indicating a destination (destination) to which a facsimile image is to be transmitted from the slave facsimile machine 10b. The destination information data 76b is information data of a destination selected from the destination list data 68 (destination list 82 shown in FIG. 5) or information data of a destination indicated by direct number input by the user. be.

The parent machine information data 78b is data of information such as the number of the parent machine facsimile machine 10a that can perform proxy transmission for this child machine facsimile machine 10b. The base facsimile machine 10a is the base facsimile machine 10a registered in advance here.

However, the base facsimile machine requesting proxy transmission may be specified each time. In this case as well, information such as the number of the specified base facsimile machine is registered as the base machine information data 78b.

The reply image data 73a is data of a reply image, such as a QR code 98 (FIG. 8), generated by the slave facsimile device 10b.

FIG. 5 is an illustrative view mainly showing a GUI, that is, a screen of the operation panel 80 displayed on the display 24b of the slave facsimile machine 10b. However, the operation panel 80 may be similarly displayed on the display 24a of the base facsimile machine 10a.

The screen of the operation panel 80 is generated based on the display image generation data 62 as described above, while the destination list 82 is created based on the destination list data 68 . The user can determine the destination by touching the desired destination on the destination list 82 . However, the display screen of this destination list 82 can be updated by touching the index key 84 .

The determined destination is displayed on the destination display section 86, and by touching the OK button 88, the destination is confirmed.

A master device key 90 is operated when a facsimile image is transmitted to a destination facsimile device (not shown) determined in advance via the master facsimile device 10a, and is unique to the slave facsimile device 10b. , and no operation is required if the master facsimile machine 10a is not requested to perform proxy transmission.

When directly entering a number without using the destination list 82, the numeric keypad 92 is used.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing the operation of the computer 12b of the slave facsimile machine 10b in the first embodiment, and FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing the operation of the computer 12a of the base facsimile machine 10a in the first embodiment. . However, the processing of each step in each flow chart below is merely an example, and the processing order of each step may be changed as long as the same result can be obtained. In addition, in this embodiment, the computer 12a and the computer 12b basically execute the processing of each step. You may do so.

Although the slave facsimile machine 10b also has the facsimile transmission and reception function of the facsimile machine, the first embodiment uses a number that can be easily accepted by the recipient so as not to cause doubts about the authenticity of the recipient. This is an embodiment in which a facsimile image is transmitted from the slave facsimile device 10b to the destination through the master facsimile device 10a. This first embodiment is an embodiment in which a reply image 98 (FIG. 8) is generated by the handset facsimile machine 10b.

At the first step S1 in FIG. 6, the computer 12b determines whether or not the facsimile machine is receiving. If "YES" is determined in step S1, the computer 12b prints the received facsimile image in step S3, for example, by the image forming unit 34b, and in step S37 the facsimile device (FIG. 3) that sent the facsimile image. not shown).

When "NO" is determined in step S1, the computer 12b determines in step S5 whether an error has been received. If "YES", an error is displayed in step S7, and the process ends.

If "NO" in step S5, then in step S9 the computer 12b determines whether the facsimile function has been selected on a function selection screen (not shown). With reference to the operation data 64, if "NO" is determined in this step S9, that is, if it is determined that a function other than the facsimile function has been selected, the computer 12b proceeds to step S11 to select the other function. process and exit.

Further, if "YES" is determined in step S9, that is, if it is determined that the facsimile function has been selected, that is, if it is facsimile transmission, then in step S13 the computer 12b operates the operation panel 80 shown in FIG. Information including destination list 82 is displayed on display 24b.

Then, in step S15, the computer 12b refers to the operation data 64 and determines whether any destination has been selected from the destination list 82 or not.

If "NO" in step S15, the computer 12b refers to the operation data 64 in step S17 to determine whether or not there is a number input using the numeric keypad 92. FIG. If "YES" in step S17, the destination number is stored as destination information data 76b in step S19.

If "YES" is determined in step S15, that is, if the user of the handset facsimile machine 10b selects one or more destinations from the destination list 82 shown in FIG. The computer 12b refers to the operation data 66 to determine whether or not the user has operated the via parent device button 90 shown in FIG.

When "YES" is determined in step S21, the computer 12b reads out the parent device information indicated by the parent device information data 78b shown in FIG. In step S25, connection is made to the base facsimile machine 10a. Further, in step S27, the computer 12b reads the destination information data 76b and transmits the destination information to the base facsimile machine 10a.

In the next step S29, the computer 12b generates a reply image 98 (FIG. 8) based on the device information data 69 according to the reply image generation program 74b.

Next, in step S31, the document is read by the image reading section 28, the document image is generated, and stored as the facsimile image data 66. FIG.

Thereafter, in step S33, the reply image generated in step S29 and the document image in step S35 are respectively transmitted to the master facsimile machine 10a connected in step S25.

After that, the connection with the master facsimile machine 10a is released.

When "NO" is determined in step S21, that is, when button 90 (FIG. 5) is not pressed, the facsimile communication section 38 is controlled according to the facsimile communication program 58 in step S39 to display the destination list. 82 or direct number entry to the destination facsimile machine. In step S41, the document is read, in step S43, the document image, that is, the facsimile image is transmitted to the destination facsimile device, and in step S37, the connection with the destination facsimile device is released.

In this way, the sub-facsimile device 10b sends the information data of the destination facsimile device to be transmitted together with the data of the reply image and the original image (facsimile image) to the base facsimile device 10a requesting proxy transmission. is transmitted (steps S27, S33, S35).

On the other hand, when the base facsimile machine 10a detects facsimile reception in the first step S51 of FIG. 7, the computer 12a determines in step S53 whether or not the facsimile reception is from the slave facsimile machine 10b. . In this step S53, the computer 12a refers to the registered slave device information data 70a (FIG. 3) and determines whether or not the facsimile received in step S53 is included in the registered slave device information data.

When "YES" is determined in step S53, the computer 12a receives the information of the destination facsimile device included in the facsimile reception data from the slave facsimile device 10b in the following step S55, and the destination information data 72a ( FIG. 3).

Similarly, a reply image is received in step S57, and reply image data 73a is stored. At step S58, the computer 12a uses the reply image data 73a to create, for example, a reply sheet 94 shown in FIG. 8 according to the reply sheet creation program 61a. Here, the computer 12a that executes step S58 according to the reply sheet creation program 61a functions as a reply sheet creating section.

Then, in step S59, the document image (facsimile image) is received and stored as facsimile image data 66. FIG.

After that, the facsimile communication unit 38 is controlled according to the facsimile communication program 58 to disconnect the slave facsimile device 10b at step S61, and at step S63, according to the destination information previously received, the destination facsimile device (Fig. not shown).

In step S65, it is determined whether or not the connection to the transmission destination has succeeded, and if "YES", a reply image is transmitted in the next step S67. Specifically, a reply sheet 94 shown in FIG. 8 is sent.

This reply sheet 94 contains a message 96 saying "Please attach this sheet when sending a reply" and a reply image (two-dimensional code image) 98 stored as reply image data 73a. include. That is, the reply image 98 is transmitted to the destination facsimile machine here. By having such a reply sheet 94 attached at the time of reply, the parent facsimile machine 10a that performed the proxy transmission decodes the reply image 98 in accordance with the transmission source information detection program 60a, thereby enabling the child device that is the transmission source. The facsimile machine 10b can be specified. That is, the master facsimile machine 10a can easily know to which slave facsimile machine 10b the reply facsimile from the destination facsimile machine should be transferred.

Subsequently, in step S69, the document image previously received from the slave facsimile device 10b is transmitted to the destination facsimile device. When it is determined that the transmission has succeeded (step S71), the connection with the destination facsimile machine is released in step S73.

Here, the computer 12a that executes steps S67 and S69 according to the facsimile communication program 58 functions as a transmission section.

When "NO" is determined in step S71, the computer 12a disconnects from the destination facsimile machine in step S75 and connects to the slave facsimile machine 10b in step S77. Information on the slave facsimile machine to be connected at this time can be known from the source information data 70a, or can be known from the reply image data 73a already received in step S57. In the latter case, the computer 12a can identify the slave facsimile device 10b by decoding the reply image data according to the sender information detection program 60a.

Then, in step S79, a connection error is transmitted to the slave facsimile device 10b. Therefore, as described above, the slave facsimile machine 10b displays an error in step S7.

Then, in step S81, the connection with the slave facsimile machine 10b is released.

Further, when "NO" is determined in the previous step S53, the computer 12a receives the transmitted image in step S83.

In the following step S85, this received image data is checked to determine if the image includes the image of reply sheet 94, ie, reply image 98 (FIG. 8).

If "YES" is determined in step S85, in step S87 the computer 12a decodes the two-dimensional code image, which is the reply image, in accordance with the sender information detection program 60a (FIG. 3), thereby identifying the sender. The slave facsimile device 10b is specified, and the facsimile communication unit 38 is controlled according to the facsimile communication program 58 to establish connection with the slave facsimile device 10b thus specified. Then, in step S89, the facsimile image received in step S83 is transferred to the slave facsimile device 10b.

In step S83 (and S85), the computer 12a that receives the reply facsimile image from the destination facsimile device by the facsimile communication section 38 according to the facsimile communication program 58 functions as a receiving section.

Further, the computer 12a executing step S87 according to the transmission source information detection program 60a functions as an identification unit for identifying the slave facsimile device that is the transmission source, and the computer 12a executing step S89 functions as a transfer unit.

After that, the connection with the slave facsimile machine 10b is released.

When "NO" is determined in step S85, it is determined that the image received in step S83 is image data addressed to itself, and the image is printed by the image forming section 34 in step S93.

Thus, according to this embodiment, when facsimile transmission is performed from the slave facsimile device 10b to the destination facsimile device via the master facsimile device 10a, the facsimile device of the destination facsimile device attaches the A reply sheet 94 (FIG. 8) instructed by a message 96 to be sent is added to the facsimile image from the handset facsimile 10a. A reply image 98 (for example, a QR code) that can identify the sender (slave facsimile device 10b) is printed on the added reply sheet 94, and a reply was sent with this reply sheet attached. In this case, the slave facsimile device 10b is specified by decoding the reply image 98, and the reply facsimile image is transferred to the sender (slave facsimile device 10b) using the public line 102 (FIG. 1). can be done.
[Second embodiment]
Since the second embodiment is the same as the first embodiment except for the following points, redundant description will be omitted below.

9 and 10 are memory maps of RAMs 16a and 16b in the second embodiment. In the second embodiment, the reply image 98 is generated by the slave facsimile device 10b in the first embodiment, but in this second embodiment, the reply image 98 is generated by the base facsimile device 10a. For this purpose, as shown in FIG. 9, a reply image generating program 61a is provided in the program storage area 42 of the RAM 16a of the master facsimile machine 10a.

This reply image generation program 100a generates a reply image indicating the transmission source information of the slave facsimile device 10b as the transmission source in the same way as the reply image generation program 76b set in the slave facsimile device 10b. It is a program that

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 10, the program storage area 42 of the RAM 16b of the slave facsimile machine 10b is not provided with the reply image generation program 76b set in the first embodiment.

In the second embodiment, as described above, the reply image is generated by the base facsimile machine 10a. Therefore, as shown in FIG. That is, the transmission source information is transmitted to the base facsimile machine 10a.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 12, the master facsimile machine 10a receives the sender information in step S56, and the computer 12a converts the sender information in accordance with the reply image generation program 100a in step S57a. generates a reply image 98 (FIG. 8) containing Here, the computer 12a that executes step S57a according to the reply image generation program 100a functions as a reply image generation unit.

Then, in step S58, the computer 12a creates a reply sheet 94 including the reply image.

In the second embodiment, too, when proxy transmission is performed by the main facsimile machine 10a, the reply sheet 94 is added to the document image (facsimile image) and sent to the destination facsimile machine, so this reply sheet is attached. When there is a reply from the destination facsimile device, the slave facsimile device 10b is specified by decoding the reply image 98, and the reply facsimile image is sent to the sender (child can be transferred to the machine facsimile machine 10b).
[Third embodiment]
In the third embodiment described below, the slave facsimile machine 10b does not have a facsimile transmission function using a public line, but has only a reception function. In other words, the computer 12b of the sub-facsimile device 10b cannot perform facsimile transmission from itself as in the embodiments of FIGS. 6 and 11 above. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 13, steps S17, S19, S39, S41 and S43 related thereto are omitted.

In the third embodiment, as shown in FIG. 13, the slave facsimile machine 10b selects one or more destinations from the destination list 82 (FIG. 5) in step S16, and sends the transmission via the master in step S21. Upon detecting the operation of the button 90, the computer 12b controls the communication section 36 in accordance with the communication program 56 to connect to the main facsimile machine 10a through the network 104 (FIG. 1) in step S25. Therefore, in the first and second embodiments, steps S27, S33 and S35, which were executed by the facsimile transmission function, are executed using the network 104. FIG. However, steps S29 and S31 are as described above.

After the transmission of the document image (facsimile image) to the master facsimile machine 10a is completed in step S35, the communication unit 36 disconnects the master facsimile machine 10a from the network 104 in step S37.

In this way, since the slave facsimile machine 10b transmits the reply image and the document image to the master facsimile machine 10a through the network 104, the computer 12a of the master facsimile machine 10a receives the message from the communication unit 36 in step S53. It is determined whether data has been received from the slave facsimile machine 10b via the network 104 or not.

When "YES" is determined in step S53, destination information is received in step S55, a reply image is received in step S57, and a document image (facsimile image) is received in step S59, through the network 104, and in step S61. , the communication unit 36 is controlled to disconnect the slave facsimile device 10b via the network 104, and thereafter connect to the destination facsimile device via the facsimile communication unit 38, as described above. , to send to the destination facsimile machine.

However, since the slave facsimile machine 10b has a facsimile reception function, steps S83-91 are executed through the facsimile communication section 38 according to the facsimile communication program 58, as in the previous embodiment.
[Fourth embodiment]
In the third embodiment, since the slave facsimile machine 10b does not have a facsimile transmission function using a public line, the slave facsimile machine 10b transmits image data and the like to the base facsimile machine 10a through the network 104. The reply facsimile image received by the device 10a is transferred to the slave facsimile device 10a using the facsimile transmission function by decoding the reply image.

On the other hand, in the fourth embodiment, the reply facsimile image received by the master facsimile device 10a is transferred to the slave facsimile device 10a using the network 104 by decoding the reply image 98. FIG.

In FIG. 15 showing the operation of the main facsimile machine 10a of the fourth embodiment, steps S53-S63 are shown by using FIG. 14 showing the third embodiment for the sake of convenience. However, in the fourth embodiment, the operations up to step S63 may be the same as the operations up to steps S51-S63 in FIGS.

Referring to FIG. 15, when computer 12a of base facsimile machine 10a determines "NO" at step S53, at steps S83 and S85, as in the previous embodiments, the image is received and Determine whether the image data includes a reply image 98 of reply sheet 94 .

When "YES" is determined in step S85, the computer 12a controls the communication unit 36 in accordance with the communication program 56 in step S87 to transmit the image to the slave facsimile device 10b indicated by the reply image 98 via the network 104. Connecting.

Next, in step S89, the image received in step S83 is transferred to the slave facsimile machine 10b through the network 104. FIG. In this step S89, the computer 12b functioning as a transfer section transfers the reply facsimile image to the slave facsimile device 10b via the network 104. Instead, the function of the communication unit 36 is used.

After that, in step S91, the connection with the slave facsimile machine 10b via the network 104 is released.

According to each of the embodiments described above, it is possible to avoid the problem of questioning the authenticity of the sender at the destination facsimile machine due to facsimile reception from a suspicious telephone number. That is, if the number of the base facsimile machine is known to the destination facsimile machine, suspicion at the destination facsimile machine can be avoided.

In addition to the document image (facsimile image) from the child facsimile device 10b, the master facsimile device 10a that performs proxy transmission transmits a reply sheet 94 including a reply image 98 such as a two-dimensional code. Since the image of the reply sheet is also transmitted when the destination facsimile device sends a facsimile reply from the destination facsimile device to the master facsimile device 10a, the master facsimile device 10a transmits the reply image. can easily specify the slave facsimile device 10b that has acted as the transmission source.

When a reply facsimile image is transferred to the slave facsimile machine 10b through the network 104 such as a LAN as in the fourth embodiment, the transmission source information data 71a is not the facsimile number of the slave facsimile machine, It may be an address on network 104 .

In the above-described embodiment, a two-dimensional code such as a QR code is used as the source information image, but other two-dimensional codes may be used. good too.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10: facsimile device 10a: master facsimile device 10b: slave facsimile device 12: computer 16: RAM
22 ... display 28 ... image reading section 34 ... image forming section 32 ... codec 34 ... facsimile communication section 82 ... destination list 90 ... button via main unit 94 ... reply sheet 98 ... reply image 102 ... public line 104 ... network

Claims (9)

A parent facsimile device that transmits a facsimile image from a slave facsimile device that is a transmission source to a destination facsimile device by proxy,
a receiving unit for receiving, from the destination facsimile device, a reply facsimile image to the slave facsimile device to which a reply image indicating information of the slave facsimile device is added;
a specifying unit for decoding the reply image added to the reply facsimile image from the destination facsimile device to specify the slave facsimile device; and transmitting the reply facsimile image to the slave facsimile device specified by the specifying unit. A facsimile machine comprising a forwarding unit for forwarding. further comprising a transmission unit that adds a reply sheet including a reply image containing information of the slave facsimile device to the facsimile image from the slave facsimile device and transmits the reply sheet to the destination facsimile device, claim Item 1. A facsimile machine according to item 1. 3. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a reply sheet creating section for creating said reply sheet. 4. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said reply sheet creation unit creates said reply sheet using a reply image transmitted from said slave facsimile machine. further comprising a reply image generation unit that generates the reply image based on the transmission source information received from the slave facsimile device;
4. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said reply sheet creating section creates said reply sheet using said reply image generated by said reply image generating section. 6. The facsimile machine according to claim 1, wherein said reply image is a code image containing the number of said transmission source slave facsimile machine. 7. The facsimile machine according to claim 6, wherein said code image is a two-dimensional code image. A control program executed by a computer of a master facsimile machine for transmitting a facsimile image from a slave facsimile machine as a transmission source to a destination facsimile machine on behalf of the sender, comprising:
a receiving unit for receiving, from the destination facsimile device, a reply facsimile image to the slave facsimile device to which a reply image indicating information of the slave facsimile device is added;
a specifying unit for decoding the reply image added to the reply facsimile image from the destination facsimile device to specify the slave facsimile device; and an image of the reply facsimile to the slave facsimile device specified by the specifying unit. A facsimile device control program that functions as a transfer unit that transfers . A control method for a facsimile system including a base facsimile machine and a slave facsimile machine, comprising:
receiving, from the destination facsimile device, a reply facsimile image to the slave facsimile device to which a reply image indicating information of the slave facsimile device is added;
deciphering the reply image added to the reply facsimile image from the destination facsimile device to identify the slave facsimile device as a transmission source; and transferring the reply facsimile image to the designated slave facsimile device. , control method.

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