JP2574581B2 - Facsimile machine - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile machine, and more particularly, to a facsimile machine capable of simple confidential communication.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a facsimile apparatus having a confidential communication function for the purpose of maintaining the security of message contents.
This confidential communication function was realized using a non-standard procedure for each manufacturer. That is, instruction information for memory reception is sent from the transmission side using a non-standard procedure, and this information is decoded on the reception side, and if the confidential communication is confirmed, the received image information is stored in the memory without printing. At this time, instruction information such as a personal identification number is stored from the received signal, and information such as the telephone number of the caller is printed to notify the receiver that the confidential communication has been received. The received image information stored in the memory cannot be printed unless a password matching the password in the instruction information is input.

[0003] Further, regarding the confidential communication function using such a non-standard procedure, the received image information of the first page is printed at the time of confidential reception, so that the receiver is notified of the arrival of the confidential communication and the sender information. A facsimile apparatus configured to store received image information of the second and subsequent pages in a memory is disclosed in JP-A-2-101871 and JP-A-2-18366.
No. 9 discloses this.

[0004]

However, according to the above-described configuration, confidential communication cannot be generally performed between facsimile apparatuses manufactured by different manufacturers because of using a non-standard procedure. However, there is a problem that progress communication cannot be performed unless both devices have a confidential communication function. Incidentally, most conventional facsimile machines do not have a confidential communication function. Furthermore, there is also a troublesome use in that the receiver must be separately notified of the personal identification number by telephone or the like.

[0005] The conventional confidential communication function aims at a fairly high degree of confidentiality and naturally requires a considerable cost, but this is not necessarily rational for general users. I can't say. That is, it is rare for a general user to require complete confidentiality, and in many cases satisfactory confidentiality such as making the received document hard to be seen by others is sufficient. Rather, even with such a degree of confidentiality, the ability to perform confidential communication from facsimile machines of various models and manufacturers is more suitable for the demands of many users, especially individual users.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems and considerations, and is applicable to a facsimile apparatus made by a different manufacturer or a facsimile apparatus having no confidential communication function.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile apparatus which can secure practically sufficient communication confidentiality.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a memory for storing image information and a printer for storing image information are provided.
Recording means for printing, and output from the recording means.
Setting means for setting pages and executing facsimile reception
Communication means, the communication means, the memory, and the recording
Switching means for switching and connecting the means and the communication means.
Normal facsimile reception by standard procedure is executed
If the page set by the setting means is received
Only when the switching unit switches to the recording unit side,
Switch to the memory side when receiving the page of
For example, those having a structure called control means for connecting.

[0008]

[0009]

According to the present invention, according to the above-described configuration, the standard procedure is used.
Receives a set page during normal facsimile reception
Connected to the recording means by the switching means only when the
Outputs the specified page, and if another page is received
Connected to memory and stored in memory
Things.

[0010]

[0011]

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a reception-related part of a facsimile apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention, wherein 1 is a network control unit,
Denotes a modem, 3 denotes a standard procedure control unit, and 4 denotes a reception control unit. At the time of normal facsimile reception by the standard procedure, the standard procedure control unit 3 controls the reception procedure, and the reception control unit 4 reproduces the received image information. Although a procedure control unit for the non-standard procedure is provided as needed, it is not necessary to support the non-standard procedure for simple confidential reception according to the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 5 denotes an image information memory for storing image information, and reference numeral 6 denotes a printer unit for printing image information. Reference numeral 7 denotes an output control unit directly related to the gist of the present invention, which comprises a switch circuit 8, a memory control unit 9, and a control unit 10 for controlling them.
Reference numeral 11 denotes a trigger signal input terminal for outputting the received image information stored in the image information memory 5. This trigger signal is generated when the output button 13 of the operation panel unit 12 is pressed.

FIG. 2 shows an operation flow of the output control unit 7.
However, FIG. 2A shows an operation flow when a normal facsimile is received, and FIG. 2B shows an operation flow when the output button 13 is pressed.

When a normal facsimile reception is received by the standard procedure, the reception procedure is controlled by the standard procedure control unit 3 as described above, and the received image information is reproduced by the reception control unit 4 and input to the output control unit 7. . In the output control unit 7, the switch circuit 8 is set to the “a” side by the control unit 10.
Is output to the printer unit 6 and printed on recording paper (ST1). When the output of the received image information of the first page is completed, the control unit 10 causes the memory control unit 9 to start an accumulation operation. Then, the received image information of the second and subsequent pages is stored in the image information memory 5 under the control of the memory control unit 9 (ST2).

Since the received image information of the first page is directly printed as described above, the sender and the receiver may write the address and the sender information on the first page of the transmission original. According to the agreement, the receiving side can easily confirm that there is an incoming call from the printed content, and its destination and sender.

When the receiver who has received an incoming call addressed to himself / herself wants to print the received image information of the second and subsequent pages, he presses the output button 13 to generate a trigger signal. When detecting the trigger signal (ST11, YES), the control unit 10 of the output control unit 7 switches the switch circuit 8 to b.
(ST12), and causes the memory control unit 9 to start the take-out operation. Then, under the control of the memory control unit 9, the received image information of the second and subsequent pages is sequentially extracted from the image information memory 5, and is passed through the switch circuit 8 to the printer unit 6.
And printed (ST13).

As described above, the received image information of the second and subsequent pages is not printed unless an output operation is performed on the receiving side. Therefore, if it is determined that the second and subsequent pages are to be used as the original document, the contents are immediately It is not visible to anyone other than the recipient. Therefore, simple confidential communication that satisfies the degree of confidentiality normally required can be realized by normal facsimile communication without using a non-standard procedure.

FIG. 3 shows a configuration of a reception-related part of a facsimile apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention, and the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1 denote the same parts. The output control unit 17 is a part corresponding to the output control unit 7 of the first embodiment, but the configuration is changed. That is, the output control unit 17 includes a document number generation unit 21 in addition to the switch circuit 18, the memory control unit 19, and the control unit 20. The control unit 20 manages the received image information stored in the image signal memory 5 by a document number, and has a function of searching for the received image information of the document number designated by the operation of the operation unit 12. Reference numeral 14 denotes a terminal to which a document number specified by operating the numeric keypad 15 of the operation unit 12 is input. The document number generation unit 21 generates image information (image signal) of the document number.

FIG. 4 shows an operation flow of the output control unit 17. However, FIG. 4A shows an operation flow when a normal facsimile is received, and FIG. 4B shows an operation flow when the output button 13 is pressed.

At the time of normal facsimile reception according to the standard procedure, the procedure is controlled by the standard procedure control unit 3 as described above, and the received image information is reproduced by the reception control unit 4 and input to the output control unit 17. . In the output control unit 17, the control unit 10 sets a document number, generates the image information from the document number generation unit 17, and outputs the image information to the printer unit via the switch circuit 18 (initially set to the position a). 6 for printing (ST21). Next, the control unit 20 sets the switch circuit 18 to the position b, and outputs the received image information of the first page input from the reception control unit 4 to the printer unit 6 for printing (ST22). When this output is completed, the control unit 20 instructs the memory control unit 19 to start the accumulation operation. As a result, the received image information of the second and subsequent pages is stored in the image information memory 5 under the control of the memory control unit 19 (ST23).

As described above, since the received image information and the document number of the first page are printed directly, as described in the first embodiment, it is determined that there is an incoming call on the receiving side.
The destination and the sender can be easily confirmed.

When the recipient who knows that there is an incoming call to himself / herself wants to print the received image information of the second and subsequent pages, the user designates the printed document number by operating the numeric keypad 15 and outputs the output button 13 Is pressed to generate a trigger signal (ST31). Control unit 20 of output control unit 17
Compares the document number stored in the internal management table with the designated document number, and searches for the corresponding image information in the image information memory 5 (ST32). When the corresponding image information is found (ST33, YES), the control unit 20 retrieves information such as the storage address of the image information (the control unit 20).
Stored in the management table in the memory controller 1
9 to instruct the start of the takeout operation and set the switch circuit 18 to the position c (ST34). The received image information is taken out from the image information memory 5 under the control of the memory control unit 19, output to the printer unit 6 via the switch circuit 18, and printed. The area of the image information memory 5 in which the output received image information is stored is managed as a free area, and is used for storing image information received thereafter.

When no received image information corresponding to the document number specified by the receiver is found (ST33, N
O), the output control unit 17 ends the operation. At this time, the control unit 20 warns the recipient by operating a display or a buzzer provided on the operation unit 12, but this operation is not shown in FIG. 4B.

As described above, since the received image information of the second and subsequent pages is not printed unless an output operation is performed on the receiving side, similar to the first embodiment, normal received facsimile communication not based on non-standard procedures is performed. Simple confidential communication satisfying the degree of confidentiality normally required can be realized. In addition, since management using document numbers is performed, a plurality of confidential communications are possible.

Next, a facsimile apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. The facsimile apparatus according to the present embodiment has the configuration shown in FIG. 3, but the operation of the output control unit 17 is different from that of the third embodiment as shown in the flowchart of FIG.
Unlike the above case, the page to be printed directly at the time of normal facsimile reception can be arbitrarily designated from the operation unit 12. It is also possible to designate that no received image information is printed.

When a normal facsimile reception according to the standard procedure is received, the output control unit 17 controls the control unit 10.
Generates the image information of the document number from the document number generation unit 17, outputs it to the printer unit 6 via the switch circuit 18 (which is initially set at the position a) and prints it. 18 is switched to the position b (ST41). Subsequently, the received image information reproduced by the reception control unit 4 is sequentially input to the output control unit 17, but the control unit 20
Checks whether the input page is a page for which printing is specified (ST42), and outputs the received image information of the specified page to the printer unit 6 via the switch circuit 18 for printing (ST43). The received image information of the outer page is stored in the image information memory 5 under the control of the memory controller 19 (ST44). When the same output control is completed up to the last page (ST45, YES), the control is completed.

The operation of printing the image information stored in the image information memory 5 by confidential reception is the same as in the second embodiment.

Even if it is specified that even one page of the received image information is not to be printed directly, the document number is printed, so that it is possible for the receiving side to confirm at least that there is an incoming call, and to input the document number. By doing so, the received content can be confirmed.

In each of the embodiments described above, the operation unit 1
2, the mode can be switched to a mode in which all pages are printed during normal facsimile reception, and when there is no more free space in the image information memory 5, the mode is automatically switched to a mode in which received image information is printed as it is. Can be switched.

In each of the above embodiments, the received image information of the first page or the designated page is output directly without passing through the image information memory 5, but the image information of these pages is also output to the image information memory 5. You may change so that it may be stored once and then output. In such a case, the switch circuits 8 and 18 can be omitted.

In the second and third embodiments, the receiving information such as the receiving date, time and the like may be printed together with the document number. In the case of a facsimile machine having a calendar or clock function, such information can be easily added.

In each of the above embodiments, the reproduced (decoded) received image information is stored in the image information memory 5, but the received data (encoded data) before the reproduction is stored in the image information memory 5,
A reproduction (decoding) process may be executed at the time of output to the printer unit 6 by a decoder provided inside or outside the reception control unit 4 or the output control units 7 and 17,
This is effective in reducing the capacity of the image information memory 5 or increasing the amount of stored information.

[0033]

As is clear from the above description, the standard method
During normal facsimile reception in order,
Only when a message is received, the switching
Output the set page and receive other pages
Is connected to memory and stored in memory
The facsimile machine or model of the other party
Simple confidentiality with practically sufficient confidentiality regardless of the car
It is possible to receive data, and
The output page is output directly without going through memory.
Therefore, the efficiency of memory use can be improved .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a reception-related portion of a facsimile apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2A is a flowchart of an operation of the output control unit of the first embodiment at the time of reception; FIG. 2B is a flowchart of an operation of the output control unit of the second embodiment at the time of outputting image information;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a reception-related portion of a facsimile apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4A is a flowchart showing an operation of the output control unit according to the second embodiment at the time of reception. FIG. 4B is a flowchart of an operation of the output control unit according to the second embodiment when outputting image information.

FIG. 5 is an operation flowchart at the time of reception of an output control unit of a facsimile apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 network control unit 2 modem 3 standard procedure control unit 4 reception control unit 5 image information memory 6 printer unit 7 output control unit 8 switch circuit 9 memory control unit 10 control unit 12 operation panel 13 output button 15 numeric keypad 17 output control unit 18 Switch circuit 19 Memory control unit 20 Control unit 21 Document number generation unit

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] A memory for storing 1. A picture information, a recording means for printing image information, from the recording unit
It said setting means for setting a page to be output, and a communication means for performing facsimile reception, and the communication means memo
Switching means for switching and connecting the recording means;
Normal facsimile reception by standard procedure by communication means
Is executed, the page set by the setting unit is
Only when receiving, switch means to the recording means side
Switch, when you are receiving another page,
A facsimile machine comprising control means for switching to and connecting to the remote side .