JP2531163B2 - Facsimile machine - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile apparatus capable of adjusting a magnification during recording according to a size of a transmission original.

"Prior Art" In Japan, as a transmission original of a facsimile machine, A series size paper represented by A4 size and B series size paper represented by B4 size are mainly used. In the United States, for example, 8.5 inch × 14 inch legal size paper and 8.5 inch × 11 inch letter size paper are mainly used. Therefore, for example, most of the sheets set as recording sheets in a facsimile machine used in Japan are of A4 size or B4 size, and the sizes of the original and the receiving paper are matched.

"Problems to be Solved by the Invention" As is well known, a facsimile machine can communicate with each country through a line. Therefore, for example, a case where a legal size original document is sent from the United States to a facsimile device in which a recording sheet cut in A4 size is set in Japan is assumed. However, since the length of a legal size document is longer than the length of A4 size recording paper, such a facsimile machine installed in Japan will record an image in one of the following forms. Was supposed to do.

(I) The portion exceeding the length of the first page of A4 size is recorded as the second page.

(Ii) Record only the first page of A4 size, and abandon recording for the remaining image part that could not be accommodated.

In the former method, the figure or the character is recorded as the second page even when the figure or character extends to the next page by a small number of lines. However, since effective information often does not exist at the lower end of one page, it is uneconomical to perform extra recording for one page for this reason.
Further, in the latter method, recording of information existing other than the lower end portion may be abandoned, and there is a possibility that necessary information may be lost.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to record one page by limiting the division of the recorded image as much as possible even if the length of the received image portion of one page is more than one page can be recorded on the recording paper. An object is to provide a facsimile device that can be reproduced as an image.

"Means for Solving Problems" In the present invention, (a) a line number discriminating means for discriminating the number of lines forming the received image, and (b) recording the received image in a predetermined length on the transmitting side. A memory for storing a received image having a capacity capable of storing at least one page of paper,
(C) Space discriminating means for discriminating the time when there is no more space for recording the recording sheet when the image stored in the received image storage memory is recorded on the recording sheet having the predetermined length; The number of lines determined by the number-of-lines determination means is subtracted from the number of lines corresponding to the length up to the time when the space determination means determines that the space is exhausted, and the remaining one-page image is recorded. Division determination means for determining whether or not the number of print lines is equal to or greater than a predetermined division determination value, and (e) remaining of the page when the division determination means determines that the number is equal to or greater than the predetermined division determination value. Divided recording execution means for dividing and recording the printed line on another recording sheet, and (f) division is performed when the division determination means determines that it is less than the predetermined division determination value. To and a non-split printing ending means for ending the printing without a facsimile machine.

That is, the present invention is based on the fact that the lower end portion of the transmitted document is normally blank, and there is often no possibility that image information will be lost even if this portion is not forcibly recorded. Then, when the space discriminating means discriminates that there is no more space for recording on the recording sheet currently being recorded, the number of print lines further required for recording the received image of one page is determined by predetermined division. If it is more than this value, the image of the remaining line is divided and recorded on another recording paper if it is more than this value, and if it is less than this, printing is terminated without dividing. I have decided.

[Examples] The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to Examples.

FIG. 1 shows a circuit configuration of a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. This facsimile machine is equipped with a CPU (central processing unit) 11. The CPU 11 is connected to the following parts via a bus 12 such as a data bus.

First, the ROM 13 is a read-only memory that stores procedures for performing various controls of this facsimile apparatus. The RAM 14 is a random access memory for temporarily storing data. The large-capacity memory 15 is a memory that stores received image signals in page units, and has a relatively large storage capacity so that a relatively large received image can be stored. The network control unit 16 is a unit that controls transmission / reception of data to / from the communication line 17. The operation panel 18 is an operation panel for an operator to perform various operations. The image processing unit 19 is a unit that performs signal processing such as decoding the received facsimile signal and decoding the transmitted facsimile signal. The image recording unit 21 is a unit that creates a recorded image based on the received facsimile signal. The image reading unit 22
This is a portion for reading image information on a document (not shown).

In the facsimile apparatus of this embodiment having such a configuration,
An operator gives (i) an instruction to create a print image on the operation panel 18 in the same size (hereinafter referred to as a “one size print instruction”) and (ii) if the image is created in the same size, it will fit on one page of recording paper. When it is not present, one of the instructions for reducing it (hereinafter referred to as automatic reduction instruction) can be selected in advance. When one page of the received image is stored in the large-capacity memory 15, the number of lines forming one page is determined, and one of the following four stages of magnification is selected from the result. Has become.

(A) 100% (actual size) (b) 95% (c) 90% (d) 75% As a result, for example, even if a relatively long size original is sent from a foreign country, this is not a non-standard original size. As long as that one page can be accommodated in one page of the recording paper.

The procedure for setting the magnification of the facsimile will be described with reference to FIG. This procedure is written in the ROM 13 described above.

When the line is connected, whether the facsimile machine on the receiving side (facsimile apparatus in this embodiment) is the original facsimile machine on the transmitting side, or the number of scanning lines on one page is before transmission of image information. It is determined whether or not the product is notified to (step). If it is such a product (Y), the notified number of scanning lines is RA.
It is stored in a predetermined storage area in M14 (step).
Thereafter, the image information for one page is written in the large capacity memory 15 (step).

On the other hand, when the sending facsimile does not notify the number of scanning lines for one page in advance (step: N), the number of lines forming the received image information is counted and the image information is counted. Is written in the large capacity memory 15 (step).

In this way, in any case, when the image information for one page is stored in the large capacity memory 15, the CPU 11
Determines whether the same size recording instruction or the automatic reduction instruction is performed on the operation panel 18 (step). When the same-size recording instruction is given (N), the linear magnification at the time of recording is set to 100% (1: 1) (step).

On the other hand, when the automatic reduction instruction is issued (step: Y), it is determined whether the number of lines is smaller than the number of scanning lines corresponding to the letter size (step).
If the number of lines is small, it is not necessary to reduce the size of the transmitted document. Therefore, in this case (Y), the reduction ratio of 95% is selected in consideration of the case where the transmitted document is read after slipping to some extent (step).

When the number of lines is larger than the number of scanning lines corresponding to the letter size (step: N), the size is compared with the number of scanning lines corresponding to the A4 size (step). If it is smaller than this (N), a linear magnification of 90% is set (step). In other cases, that is, in the case where the transmission original is a legal size or a transmission original having a size equal to or larger than the legal size, a linear magnification of 75% is set (step).

When the above-described magnification setting work is completed, the determined linear magnification and print information are transferred to the image processing unit 19, and the start of printing is instructed (step). Here, the print information includes not only image information of the transmission document stored in the large-capacity memory 15 but also information regarding recording such as image quality and size of recording paper.

After that, the CPU 11 first draws the cut recording paper from the supply tray (not shown) into the image recording unit 21 (step). Then, first, printing for one line is performed (step). After this, it is judged whether or not the next print data exists (step), and if it exists (Y), as long as there is space for recording on the recording paper (step: N), the above operation is performed. By repeating the above, the printing work proceeds (step ~).

When the reduction of the magnification is designated, the image processing unit 19 processes the image so that the printing is performed at the designated magnification in the course of this printing work, and supplies the processed data line by line to the recording unit. Will be done. A known technique can be applied to the image reduction process. For example, line thinning is performed line by line in the sub-scanning direction of the image (conveying direction of the recording paper) depending on the reduction ratio. Further, in the main scanning direction, pixel data is thinned out at predetermined intervals according to the reduction rate. Note that a known technique can be applied to the case of enlarging an image, which is not performed in this embodiment.

By the way, when the print data is completed in the above-described printing operation (step: Y), the CPU 11 performs control for discharging the recording paper (step). Further, when there is no more space for recording on the recording paper during the printing operation (step: Y), the CPU determines whether or not to divide the document (step). Here, dividing the document means printing the continuation of the document on the next recording sheet.

Whether or not the document can be divided is determined based on whether the remaining print line is equal to or larger than the division determination value. For example, when the division judgment value is "N", the number of remaining print lines is "N".
When it is -1 "or less, the printing is completed without dividing.
This is because the lower end of the sent document is usually blank,
It is based on the fact that it is advantageous to cut this portion and finish printing from the viewpoint of preventing the generation of waste paper.

If the document is not divided (step: N),
The recording paper is discharged (step), and the printing operation is completed.

On the other hand, when the document is divided (step: Y), the recording sheet on which printing has been completed is discharged (step), and a new recording sheet is also drawn in (step). Then, the printing operation for the remaining data is started (step-). In this printing operation, the last several mm of the previously printed portion may be printed again if necessary, and the printing operation for the data remaining after this may be started. This has the advantage of facilitating the recognition of the divided data.

In this way, when the remaining data is completely recorded on the new recording paper (step: N), the recording paper is ejected (step), and all printing operations are completed.

In the embodiment described above, the image reduction is described, but the image may be enlarged by the operator's selection. Further, in the above embodiments, the number of lines is compared with the number of scanning lines of the recording paper and the magnification is set in several stages.
The magnification may be determined by calculation so that the image fits exactly on the recording paper. Of course, in the case where the scaling factor is set by the promise of the sending side and the receiving side such as the selection of the reduction ratio between the standard size sheets in Japan, it is of course possible to decide the scaling factor by giving priority to the promise. Is.

[Effect of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the printing operation is performed after the image information for at least one page on the transmission side is stored in the large-capacity received image storage memory. If it is not desirable to record an image at a magnification, printing can be performed again by dividing the recording using the image information before erasing stored in the received image storage memory or changing the magnification. Further, since the image information is once stored and recorded in this memory, there is an advantage that the image information can be communicated without being restricted by the recording speed.

Further, according to the present invention, even if the number of lines of the document on the transmitting side exceeds the number of lines on the receiving side, the excess line is generated based on the fact that the lower end portion of the transmitting document is normally blank and image information does not exist. When the number is equal to or smaller than a predetermined value (division determination value), it is decided to immediately stop printing without recording the excess. Therefore, compared to the case where the entire image is reduced and recorded while including the useless image portion, the image information is not lost due to the thinning of lines, and the image is easily viewable in the size intended by the sender. Can be received. In addition, the decision whether to divide the recording image or to end the printing without dividing the recording image is decided by the number of the remaining print lines at the time when the recording space runs out. Compared to the case of performing a complicated process such as deleting the blank part existing in the etc. and setting the length of the recording paper in the sub-scanning direction to be equal to the length of the cut paper, the advantage is that the process is simple and reliable. is there.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main part of a circuit configuration of a facsimile apparatus according to an example of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing a flow of a printing operation of the facsimile apparatus. 11 …… CPU, 13 …… ROM, 14 …… RAM, 15 …… Large-capacity memory, 19 …… Image processing section, 21 …… Image recording section.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A line number discriminating means for discriminating the number of lines constituting a received image, and a received image having a capacity capable of storing at least one page of a recording paper of a predetermined length on the transmitting side. A memory for storing, a space discriminating means for discriminating a time when there is no more space for recording the recording sheet when the image stored in the memory for storing the received image is recorded on the recording sheet of the predetermined length, 1 as the value obtained by subtracting the number of lines corresponding to the length up to the time when the space determining unit determines that there is no space from the number of lines determined by the line number determining unit
Division determination means for determining whether or not the number of print lines remaining for recording an image for a page is equal to or greater than a predetermined division determination value; and the division determination means is equal to or greater than the predetermined division determination value. When the determination is made, the remaining print lines of the page are divided and recorded on another recording sheet, and division recording execution means, and when the division determination means determines that it is less than the predetermined division determination value, no division is performed. A non-divided printing ending unit for ending printing.