JP2522817Y2 - Mailbox device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a mailbox device for storing mail in a mailbox.

[Conventional technology]

In a conventional mailbox device, when a mail to which a destination name is added is received, the received mail is stored in a mailbox indicating a storage area corresponding to the destination name.

Then, for example, the workstation inquires of the above-mentioned mailbox device whether or not a mail to the destination name has arrived by designating the destination name, and if the mail has arrived, the corresponding mail can be accessed. .

Note that a destination name corresponding to a user who uses the workstation is registered in the mailbox device.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

By the way, in the above-mentioned conventional mailbox device, if the mail stored in the mailbox is not processed (outputted) within a preset fixed time, the mail as a whole is regarded as the fixed time. After the elapse, the processing content is set in advance so that the mail that has not been output is forcibly output or deleted or permanently stored, so it is stored corresponding to a plurality of mailboxes and set in advance. For mail that has not been processed within a certain period of time, it is uniformly output, forcibly output, deleted or permanently stored.

Therefore, it is not possible to set desired processing contents (output, deletion, permanent storage, etc.) for mail for each mailbox. For example, permanent storage for mail that does not need to be permanently stored, Also, even if it is desired to store the mail for a longer period of time than the predetermined time, the mail may disappear after the predetermined time elapses, and the flexibility of processing the mail stored in each mailbox may be reduced. Did not.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a mailbox device capable of improving the flexibility of processing of stored mail.

[Means for solving the problem]

The present invention provides a mailbox device that has a plurality of storage areas for storing mail for each destination, and stores the mail in a storage area corresponding to the destination of the mail when receiving the mail with the destination added. Setting means for individually setting the processing content corresponding to the storage area for each storage area corresponding to the destination of the mail; and the processing content is set based on the processing content set by the setting means. Processing means for processing the mail in the storage area.

[Action]

In the present invention, the processing means for the mail to be stored, for example, until it is printed out, is stored by the setting means for each mailbox corresponding to the destination name. Set processing contents such as disappearing 24 hours after receiving and storing.

Then, the processing means, for the mail stored in the specific mailbox, the processing content set in the mailbox (for example, to save until printed out, after 24 hours after receiving and storing Processing, etc.).

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, embodiments of the mailbox device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of a mailbox device according to the present invention. In FIG.
It has a keyboard and a display for inputting various data and command groups. The operation unit 1 has a function of the setting unit, and sets processing contents for mail stored in a mailbox described later.

The mailbox unit 2 is configured by a nonvolatile memory, and stores a mail with the destination name added to a mailbox indicating a storage area corresponding to the destination name.

The printer 3 prints out the contents of the stored e-mail.

The communication control unit 4 has a line interface,
It is connected to a communication line such as a telephone line, and connects this communication line to a control unit described later to transmit and receive e-mail.

The control unit (hereinafter, referred to as CPU) 5 has a function of the processing unit, performs a process according to the set processing content on the mail stored in the mailbox, and controls the respective units. Control. Further, the CPU 5 has a timer function in addition to the above functions, and calculates a reception time of the received mail, an elapsed time of storage of the stored mail, and the like.

The above components are connected to the common bus 6 to control,
Commands, data, etc. are transmitted.

As shown in FIG. 2, the mailbox section 2 includes, for each destination indicating each user such as destinations A, B, and C, a mailbox 20a indicating a storage area for storing an e-mail corresponding to the destination. , And a common mailbox 20n indicating a storage area in which a mail that can be referred to by each user is stored.

As shown in FIG. 2, each mailbox has a mailbox number 21 indicating a mailbox (storage area),
Processing Method for Mail Stored in Mailbox 22
And user information indicating the user such as ID information and password
23 and storage areas 21A to 24A for storing received mails 24 such as received mails a, b, c.

In the received mail storage area 24A, as shown in FIG.
For each mail received, information indicating the sender, for example, a telephone number 25, a reception time 26 when the mail from the sender was received,
The mail 27 is stored. In the embodiment, the received mail is a mail from a different sender.
As described above, a telephone number 25, a reception time 26, and a mail 27 are stored for each mail received from the same sender at different times, as described above.

Next, a setting operation of processing contents (processing method) for mail to be stored in the mailbox of the mailbox device will be described.

As shown in FIG. 3, the user selects a processing menu from a processing menu displayed on a display (not shown) of the operation unit 1.
Select a mailbox item from the menu (Step 10
0), the user designates his / her own mailbox number from among the mailbox numbers displayed for each user (step 101), and further sets the processing contents (step 10).
2) After that, specify the ID number and password (step 1
03).

In setting the processing contents in step 102, for example, a menu corresponding to a desired processing is selected from menus corresponding to numbers 1 to 7 as shown in FIG. For example, when the menu corresponding to number 2 is selected, a desired time (or a period such as days or months) is set next, and when the menu corresponding to number 4 is selected, the fourth time is set. When the menu of the processing method of the apparatus as shown in FIG. 8B is displayed, the menu corresponding to the desired processing content is selected. When the menu corresponding to any of the numbers 5 to 7 is selected, the menu is further added. Select either “notify / not notify”. When the menu corresponding to the number 1 is selected, after the mail specified by the user is printed out, the mail is deleted. The process of deleting the menu corresponding to the number 3 by another process means that the mail is stored until the deletion instruction is given, for example, the mail is deleted after the user issues a mail deletion instruction. After that.

Next, the processing operation of the mail stored in the mailbox in which the above-described processing content is set will be described.

First, if the processing content for deleting the mail is set after a certain period of time has elapsed, the CPU 5 sets the processing as shown in FIG.
At each predetermined time, for example, every one minute, each mailbox is sequentially scanned (step 200) based on the reception time registered corresponding to the mail in the mailbox to be scanned and the current time. (Step 201), the fixed time set in the mailbox to be scanned (the fixed time in which the processing method is set by the user), and the storage time in the mailbox. The elapse time of the stored mail to be scanned is compared (step 202).

Next, the CPU 5 determines whether or not the elapsed time is longer than a predetermined time as a result of the comparison in step 202 (step 20).
3) If the elapsed time is longer than the predetermined time, the corresponding mail is deleted (step 204), and then the sender and / or the receiver are notified that the mail has been deleted. It is determined whether or not the mail has been deleted (step 205). If a notification that the mail has been deleted has been set, the corresponding notification location (sender and / or recipient) is notified (step 206).

If the elapsed time is shorter than the predetermined time in step 203, if the setting to notify that the mail has been deleted is not made in step 205, or if the step 206 is ended, Then, it is determined whether or not a mail exists in the currently scanned mailbox (step 207). If there is a mail, the process returns to the step 201 to execute the steps after this step. If not, it is determined whether or not a mailbox to be scanned exists in the mailbox unit 2 (step 208). If there is, the process returns to step 200 to execute the steps after this step. If it does not exist, the mail processing operation ends.

Further, if the processing content for deleting the mail has been set after the printout, the CPU 5 issues a printout instruction by the user as shown in FIG. 6 (step 300). To print out the specified mail (step 301), and then determine whether or not to delete the printed out mail (step 302). Erase (step 303), and if not erased, on the other hand, wait until a user issues an erase instruction (step 304).

Subsequently, when the content of the process of deletion by another process, for example, the deletion of the mail by the user is set, the CPU 5 is instructed to delete by designating the mailbox number and the ID information as shown in FIG. 7 ( Step 400) Delete the corresponding mail (Step 401).

Next, when the notification of the disappearance to the sender and the receiver has been set, for example, when the processing content of automatic disappearance after 48 hours, notification to the sender, notification to the receiver has been set The notification process to the sender / receiver in the following states I to III will be described.

I) If the recipient outputs the mail 6 hours later, a month b
A mail indicating that the mail was output at day c: d is notified to the sender.

II) When the recipient prints out the mail after 6 hours The mail is printed out, and the sender is notified that the mail has been output at a / b / c / c / d.

III) If no e-mail has been output after 48 hours, the sender and the receiver are notified that the e-mail received on e / f / g / h is not output and disappeared.

The message notified to the sender and the receiver is displayed.

In the above embodiment, a telephone line is used as a communication line. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be applied to any communication line. For example, a local area network such as Ethernet may be used.

As described above, according to this embodiment, it is possible to set desired processing contents for mail for each of a plurality of mailboxes corresponding to each destination.

[Effect of the invention]

As described above, in the present invention, for each storage area corresponding to the destination of the mail, the processing content corresponding to the storage area is individually set, and the mail in the storage area is processed based on the set processing content. With such a configuration, it is possible to improve the flexibility in processing mail.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a mailbox device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing an internal configuration of a mailbox unit in the mailbox device shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing contents for mail, and FIGS. 5 to 7 are flowcharts showing the mail erasing processing operation. . DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... operation part, 2 ... mailbox part, 3 ... printer, 4
... a communication control unit, 5 ... a control unit.

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. A mailbox device having a plurality of storage areas for storing mail for each destination, and storing the mail in a storage area corresponding to the destination of the mail when receiving the mail to which the destination is added. Setting means for individually setting processing contents corresponding to the storage area for each storage area corresponding to the destination of the mail; and setting the processing contents based on the processing contents set by the setting means. And a processing means for processing the mail in the storage area.