JP2532403B2 - Line terminal equipment - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a line terminal device which is used by being connected to a communication line such as a telephone line and which is capable of communicating voice signals and image signals.

2. Description of the Related Art There is a facsimile machine that can transmit and receive an image signal by using a communication line such as a telephone line as a transmission line. This facsimile machine has a manual reception and a call from the line. Some have a so-called automatic reception function that detects a signal and automatically performs a reception operation, and some have a manual switch and automatic reception that can be selected by a switch.

There is also an answering machine as a line terminal device that handles voice signals.

The above-mentioned facsimile machine and answering machine are generally used by being connected to different lines.

By the way, in recent years, both devices have been introduced into general households and the like, and are often used by connecting them to the same line together through a changeover switch. In this case, when the operator is away, the line is connected to only one of the devices by the changeover switch.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention By the way, an answering machine is used when an operator is away, and in a facsimile machine having an automatic receiving function, even when an incoming call is received, I want to be able to receive it.

However, if both devices can respond, that is, if both devices are connected in parallel to the same line, the following problems occur.

In other words, as a method for closing the line in both devices, when the number of incoming signals is counted, the line is closed when the count value reaches a predetermined value. Therefore, if the above count value in both devices is smaller than the set count value in the answering machine, such as answering machine, 3 times, facsimile, 4 times, etc. Only the answering machine will answer.

On the contrary, when the set count value of the facsimile device is smaller, only the facsimile device always responds.

Furthermore, when the set count values of both devices are the same, both the answering machine and the facsimile device respond to the same incoming call, which causes the following new problem.

In other words, when the receiving facsimile machine closes the line due to an incoming call, it first sends out a procedure signal (protocol),
When the answering machine receives a call, it sends a response message signal to the calling side, so both signals overlap and are output to the line. If the calling side is a facsimile machine, the procedure signal sent will be well. If you cannot receive it, you can no longer operate, and if the calling party wants voice communication (for example, conversation),
The problem is that the response message sent cannot be heard well.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned prior art, and receives both voice signals and facsimile signals with only one telephone line, and automatically responds even when the called side is absent at night or when going out, If a voice signal is detected, a response message is sent to the calling party, the calling party's message is recorded by the recording device, and if there is no sound, the calling side is judged to be a facsimile machine and the facsimile receiving machine It is an object of the present invention to provide a line terminal device capable of recording a facsimile signal.

Means for Solving Problems In order to solve the above conventional problems, the line terminal device of the present invention includes an incoming call detecting means, a response message sending means,
The image receiving means, the sound / silence judging means for judging the sound / non-sound of the telephone line, the CNG signal detecting means for outputting the CNG detection signal when the CNG signal exists on the line, the first timer, and the first timer. Second that expires longer than the first timer
Further, the first timer and the second timer are started after the incoming call is detected by the incoming call detecting means, and continuously until the first timer is expired by the sound / silence judging means. Then, when no sound is detected, the image receiving means is controlled to the operating state, and if the sound / silence judging means judges that there is sound, the first timer is activated until the second timer expires. If the CNG detection signal from the CNG signal detection means is continuously checked while continuously resetting, and if the second timer expires during that time, the response message transmission means is controlled to the operating state, and the CNG detection signal is output. And a control means for controlling the image receiving means to an operating state.

With this configuration, the image receiving means operates if there is continuous silence until the first timer expires after an incoming call is detected, and if the expiration time of the first timer is set to be relatively short, the image is quickly displayed. The receiving means can be operated. Also, if it is judged that there is sound before the expiration of the first timer, CN
The presence or absence of the G detection signal will continue to be checked until the second timer, which is set longer than the first timer, expires, and during that time, the first timer will continue to be reset and never expire. Can check for a sufficient amount of time before the second timer expires.

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a main part of a line terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a response message sending means, 2 is a received message recording means for recording a voice signal (received message) from a calling party, and 3 is a response message sending and receiving message reception. The first changeover switch for switching, 4a is a sound / silence / silence judging means for judging a sound / silence state on the telephone line, and 4b is a CNG signal (1100Hz: 0.5 seconds, sent from the calling side). CNG signal detecting means 5 for detecting a signal that is a silent sound of 3 seconds and is obliged to be output to the line during automatic transmission of a facsimile. 5 is an image signal sent from the calling side. A facsimile unit for receiving 6 is a second changeover switch for selectively switching and connecting the signal from the calling side to the facsimile unit 5, the response message sending unit 1 or the received message recording unit 1, and 7 is a telephone. Line A line closing means for closing and opening the line, 8 an incoming call detecting means for detecting an incoming signal coming from the telephone line 9, and 10 a control means for controlling the entire apparatus, which is constituted by a microcomputer. ing.

The operation of the line terminal device of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described below with reference to the flow chart shown in FIG.

First, when an incoming signal arrives from the telephone line 9, it is detected by the incoming detection means 8 and the detection signal is applied to the input terminal P1 of the control means 10 (STEP1). Control means 1 in response to this
In the case of 0, a control signal is output from the output terminal P5 to turn on the line closing means 7 to close the telephone line 9 (STEP 2). The control means 10 starts counting by the built-in timers 10a and 10b. The timer 10a is set to expire in 5 seconds, and the timer 10b is set to expire in 20 seconds (STEP 3). Here, the signal from the telephone line 9 is applied to the sound / silence judging means 4a and the CNG signal detecting means 4b via the line closing means 7 and the second changeover switch 6. Detection signals from these detection means are applied to input terminals P2 and P3 of the control means 10, respectively. The control means 10 first starts sampling of the signal applied to the input terminal P2 in order to check the presence or absence of the audio signal (STEP4). Then, it is determined whether the line is in a voiced state or a silent state (STEP 5). If there is no voice signal from the calling side, that is, if the calling side tries to manually send a facsimile and does not speak anything, the process moves from STEP5 to STEP9, and the control means 10 causes the above-mentioned first operation. Check to see if timer 10a has expired. If it has not expired, the process returns to STEP 4, and if it has expired (that is, the silent state continues for 5 seconds), the process proceeds to STEP 10 to receive an image.

Also, if any signal (voice, noise, or control signal) is detected from the calling side, that is, the caller tries to leave a message, speaks his / her name, or hears ambient noise. If the caller's facsimile machine is in the automatic transmission mode, the process proceeds from STEP5 to STEP6 to reset the first timer 10a, and then the received signal is a CNG signal. Check whether or not (STEP7).
If the signal is a CNG signal, the process proceeds to STEP 10.

If the CNG signal cannot be detected in STEP 7, the signal from the telephone line 9 is a voice signal, noise or a signal other than the CNG signal (intermittent sound, continuous sound, etc.). Discriminate. If the frequency or period is not determined, the control means 10 determines that it is a voice or noise signal and proceeds to STEP8. If it is determined in STEP 8 that the sound is a continuous sound or an intermittent sound of a specific frequency or a specific cycle, the process proceeds to STEP 11 to check whether the second timer 10b has expired. If not, return to STEP4. This is to enable the CNG signal to be detected again until the second timer expires even if the CNG signal is not detected successfully in STEP 7.

When the second timer 10b expires in STEP11, the control means 10 advances to STEP12.

Here, the control means 10 outputs the second changeover switch 6 to the “T” side by the output terminal P6, the first changeover switch 3 to the “O” side by the output terminal P7, and the response message sending means by the output terminal P9. Control 1 to the operating state and say, "If you want to use this as an answering machine, please tell us your requirements.
A response message such as is sent to the telephone line 9. Next, the control means 10 switches the first changeover switch 3 to the "I" side through the output terminal P7 and controls the received message recording means 2 into the operating state through the output terminal P4 to record the message from the caller. Yes (STEP10). When the operation of recording the message from the calling party is completed, the process proceeds to STEP 13.

Further, in STEP10, the control means 10 outputs the second output P6.
Switch the selector switch 6 to the “F” side, and output terminal P10
Thus, the facsimile section 5 is controlled to the operating state, and the operation of receiving the image signal from the calling side is started. When the image signal receiving operation is completed, the process proceeds to STEP 13.

In step 13, the control means 10 controls the line closing means 7 to the off state by the output terminal P5 to open the telephone line 9 and waits for the next incoming call.

As described above, according to the present invention, the incoming call detecting means, the response message sending means, the image receiving means, the sound / silence judging means for judging the sound / silence of the telephone line, and the CNG signal on the line. CNG signal detection means for outputting a CNG detection signal when present, a first timer, and a second timer that expires in a time longer than the first timer are provided, and further, an incoming call is detected by the incoming call detection means. After that, the first timer and the second timer are started, and the sound reception / silence determination means activates the image reception means when the silence is continuously detected until the first timer expires. If the sound is detected by the sound / silence judging means, the first timer is continuously reset until the second timer expires, and the presence or absence of the CNG detection signal from the CNG signal detecting means is controlled. Keep looking , If the second timer expires in the meantime, the response message sending means is controlled to the operating state, and CNG
When the detection signal is output, the control means for controlling the image receiving means to the operating state is provided so that if the silence continues from the beginning, the image receiving means is operated in a short time set by the first timer. In addition, if it is determined that there is sound due to the arrival of some kind of signal or voice, the CNG signal will be checked for a sufficient time regardless of the expiration time of the first timer. Even if the above occurs, the CNG signal can be detected more reliably, and its practical effect is great.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a main part of a line terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing an operation of the line terminal device of the embodiment. 1 ... Response message sending means 2 ... Reception message recording means 3 ... First changeover switch 4a ... Sound / silence judging means 4b ... CNG signal detecting means 5 ... Facsimile section (image signal receiving section) 6 ...... Second changeover switch 7 ...... Line closing means 8 ...... Incoming call detecting means 9 ...... Telephone line 10 ...... Control means 10a ...... First timer 10b ...... Second timer

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An incoming call detecting means for detecting a calling signal coming from a line, a response message sending means for reproducing a reply message and sending it to the line, and receiving an image signal sent from a calling side. Image receiving means, sound / silence judging means for judging sound / non-sound of telephone line, and CNG on the line
When a signal is present, a CNG signal detecting means for outputting a CNG detection signal, a first timer and a second timer are provided, and after the incoming call is detected by the incoming call detecting means, the first timer and the second timer are provided. After the timer is started and the sound / silence judging means continuously detects the silence until the first timer expires, the image receiving means is controlled to the operation state, and after the incoming call is detected. If the sound / silence judging means determines that there is sound, the first timer is continuously reset until the second timer expires, and the presence or absence of a CNG detection signal from the CNG signal detecting means is checked. Continuing, if the second timer expires during that time, the response message sending means is controlled to the operating state, and if the CNG detection signal is output, the image receiving means is controlled to the operating state. Line terminal device characterized by comprising.