JP2584781B2 - Facsimile machine - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention decodes encoded image information,
The present invention relates to a facsimile apparatus for inspecting the image information.

[Prior Art] In facsimile transmission, information exchanged between transmission and reception includes parameter information such as the size and density of a transmission image and an encoding method of image information. During normal transmission, after transmission of the parameter information, , A facsimile transmission image code is transmitted from the transmission side. The receiving terminal determines whether the image code has been correctly received, and sends a confirmation signal back to the transmitting side. This confirmation signal is created by decoding the coded image information in real time by a facsimile apparatus as a receiving terminal, and detecting the presence or absence of an error in the image information being received while reproducing the image by the printer unit.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, recently, received image information is not immediately decoded and image reproduction is not performed, but the received image information is stored in a memory as it is, for example, when a recording sheet is set,
Alternatively, a facsimile apparatus having a memory alternate reception function for decoding and recording image information stored in a memory when a recording instruction is issued has appeared.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a conventional facsimile apparatus, in which reference numeral 40 is a line control unit (CCU), and 41 is a memory for receiving and storing encoded image information. 42 is memory
A decoding unit that decodes 41 image information and converts it into recording data;
Reference numeral 43 denotes a printer of, for example, a thermal type that performs recording based on the image data from the decoding unit.

The decoded image signal received through the line 44 is transmitted to the CCU 40
Are stored in the memory 41 identified by. If the printer 43 is in the not-ready state due to no paper or the like, the decoding unit 42
Therefore, the output to the printer 43 is not performed. However, since it is necessary to send a confirmation signal to the transmitting side, the decoding unit 42 decodes the image information in the memory 41 even though there is no need to output the image data to the printer 43, and an error exceeding a predetermined value is detected. When detected, an error signal 45 causes a line controller (CCU) 4
0, the presence or absence of the error signal
A message confirmation signal (MCF) or the like is output to the transmission side based on the presence or absence of the message.

However, in the conventional configuration, if the received image is not printed immediately (during memory substitute reception), an error in the received image cannot be determined immediately, so that the transmission of the confirmation signal is delayed and the occupation time of the line becomes longer. Was.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional example, and provides a facsimile apparatus which can inspect received image information regardless of whether image reproduction of received image information is performed and quickly return a confirmation signal. Aim.

In addition, in a configuration in which an error in image information is checked at the time of reception and there is no error in the received image, the image data determined to be correct is stored in the storage unit, read out from the storage unit and recorded, and usually read from the storage unit. Although there is no error in the image information, the state of the apparatus is poor and an error may occur in the image information when the image information is stored in the storage unit. Therefore, the present invention provides a method for reading an image information from a storage unit and recording the image information even if there is no error in the received image. It is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile apparatus which can detect an error and perform error processing.

[Means for Solving the Problems] To achieve the above object, a facsimile apparatus of the present invention has the following configuration. Receiving means for receiving the encoded image; storage means for storing the encoded image information received by the receiving means; and decoding of the encoded image information stored in the storage means. A decoding unit for detecting an error in the encoded image information read from the storage unit; a recording unit for recording the image information decoded by the decoding unit on a recording sheet; Detecting means for detecting an error in the encoded image information stored in the storage means in parallel with storing the encoded image information in the storage means. Regardless of whether or not to perform image reproduction of the obtained image information, it is possible to inspect the received image and quickly return a confirmation signal.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[Explanation of facsimile apparatus (FIGS. 1 and 2)] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a receiving system of the facsimile apparatus of the embodiment.

In the figure, reference numeral 10 includes a network control unit (NCU), a modem, and the like.
This is a line control unit that performs facsimile communication via the line 14 in the transmission control procedure shown in the figure. Reference numeral 11 denotes a memory for storing received image information (code code).
(Modified Huffman) Code or MR
(Modified READ) An encoded code and the like are stored.
A decoding unit 12 decodes the encoded code in the memory 11 and converts it into an image signal.
To output image data, which is output to a printer 13 such as a thermal printer to reproduce the image.

Reference numeral 15 denotes a second decoding unit, which is a feature of the present embodiment. The encoded code from the line control unit 10 is sent to the memory 11 and sent to the decoding unit 15, and decoding is performed simultaneously with reception. It is determined whether there is an error. When the decoding unit 15 determines that there is an encoding error, an error signal 17 is output, and the line control unit 10 does not return the MCF signal, instead, the RTN or the like.
The DCN signal and the like are transferred to the transmitting facsimile machine.

Reference numeral 16 denotes a control unit for controlling the facsimile apparatus, which stores, for example, a CPU such as a microcomputer, a control program and data indicating a control flow chart in FIG.
It includes a ROM, a RAM used as a work area of the CPU, and the like, and performs an operation instruction of the decoding units 12 and 15 or a print instruction of the printer 13 and a write / read control of the memory 11.

With the above configuration, when the control unit 16 is notified that the facsimile image signal is input from the line 14 through the signal line 20 from the line control unit 10, the control unit 16 writes the address of the memory 11 to the control line 18 or the like. A signal is output, and image information (encoded code) from the line control unit 10 is written into the memory 11. When image data for one page of the document or one scan of the printer 13 is stored in the memory 11, a print start instruction is output to the decoding unit 12 and the printer 13, and
Performs image reproduction.

On the other hand, when the alternate reception by the memory 11 is being performed, for example, because there is no recording paper in the printer 13, the line control unit
The encoded codes from 10 are sequentially stored in the memory 11, and data output to the decoding unit 12 and the printer 13 and print activation are not performed. However, in this embodiment, the decoding unit 15 checks the coded code from the line control unit 10 in any of the above cases, and the line control unit 10 responds to the error signal 17 from the decoding unit 15 by the transmission side. Is sending a response signal.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a transmission control procedure in a general facsimile machine.

If there is an outgoing call 200 from the transmitting side, the receiving side
By the F, CSI, and DIS signals, signals indicating the identification information of the receiving side and standard functions are transmitted. Thereby, the transmission side sets the transmission mode by the DCS signal 202, and subsequently transmits the TCF signal,
It waits for the preparation completion notification CFR signal 203 from the receiving side.

When a CFR signal is received from the receiving side, an image signal 204 is sent out, and at the end of one-page image transmission, an MRS signal is sent to the receiving side if there is a document to be continuously sent, and an EOP signal 205 is sent to the receiving side if it is the last page. When the receiving side receives the end signal of one page, it checks whether there is no data error in the page or whether the number of errors is equal to or less than a predetermined number. If there is no error or the number is less than the predetermined number, the image signal is correctly received. An acknowledgment signal MCF signal 206 indicating that the operation has been performed is returned to the transmission side.

[Explanation of the operation of the facsimile apparatus (FIGS. 1 and 3)] FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the facsimile apparatus of the embodiment.
It starts when the reception of the image signal from 14 is detected.

First, it is checked in step S1 whether an image signal has been received through the signal line 20. If an image signal has been received, the process proceeds to step S2, where an address and a write signal are output to the control line 18 and the memory
Writing of the image information encoded in 11 is performed. Step S3
In step S4, it is checked whether or not it is a memory substitute reception. If not, the process proceeds to step S4 to activate the printer 13.

In step S5, the image signal is read from the memory 11, and the encoded code in the memory 11 is decoded by the decoding unit 12. At this time, when an error is transmitted from the decoding unit 12 via the signal line 19, the process proceeds to step S6, where error processing such as sending out a retransmission signal such as a PIN or RTN signal or transmitting a disconnection signal DCN or the like is performed. If no decoding error is detected in step S5, step S7
Then, the image is reproduced by the printer 13.

On the other hand, if memory proxy reception is performed in step S3,
Proceeding to S8, it is determined whether a decoding error has been detected by the decoding unit 15 via the signal line 21. If an error is detected, step S9
To clear the image data of the page in which the error has occurred among the image data in the memory 11. At this time, the error signal 17 is output from the decoding unit 15 to the line control unit 10 at the same time, and an error response is sent to the transmitting terminal by the line control unit 10.

If there is no error in step S8, proceed to step S10,
It is checked whether the reception of the image signal of one page has been completed. When the reception of one page is completed, the process proceeds to step S11, where an acknowledgment signal MCF is sent to the transmission side. In step S12, it is checked whether or not the continuous transmission mode has been instructed by the MPS signal. In the case of continuous transmission, the reception processing of step S1 returns, but when the reception of all pages is completed, the reception processing ends.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, right or wrong of the received image code can be determined immediately after the end of the reception of the image signal,
Since the confirmation signal can be immediately returned to the transmission side, the line occupation time can be reduced.

Further, since the received image information is stored in the memory as the image code, the higher the compression ratio, the more effectively the memory can be used.

Further, in the continuous page reception, while the image information being received from the line is being tested by the decoding unit 15, the image signal for one page already stored in the memory 11 can be output to the printer 13 using the decoding unit 12.

At that time, if an error in the image code is detected by the decoding unit 12, the image code has already been determined by the decoding unit 15 to be a valid image with no error or an error amount equal to or less than a predetermined amount. It can be determined that the possibility of an error occurring in the facsimile apparatus centering on the memory 11 is high, and this is also effective for maintenance of the apparatus.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, in parallel with storing the received encoded image information in the storage unit, the encoded image information stored in the storage unit is stored in the storage unit. Since an error is detected and the error image information stored in the storage unit is invalidated according to the detection result, for example, the received image information is not immediately recorded even if the encoded image information received by the memory substitute reception or the like is not recorded. Error can be detected and the confirmation signal and the like can be received quickly, so that a facsimile apparatus with higher communication efficiency can be provided.

Further, when storing the received image information in the storage means,
An error in the received image information is detected, and an error is also detected when the image information stored in the storage unit is recorded. A highly reliable facsimile machine that can be provided can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a receiving system of the facsimile apparatus of the embodiment, FIG. 2 is a view showing a transmission control procedure in general facsimile communication, and FIG. 3 is a control process in the facsimile apparatus of the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a receiving system of a conventional facsimile apparatus. In the figure, 10 is a line control unit, 11 is a memory, 12, 15 is a decoding unit, 13 is a printer, 14 is a line, 16 is a control unit.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. Receiving means for receiving encoded image information; storage means for storing encoded image information received by the receiving means; and encoded image information received by the receiving means. Detecting means for detecting the error of the image information, control means for invalidating the error image information stored in the storage means in response to the detection of the error in the image information, and storing in the storage means A decoding unit that decodes the encoded image information that has been encoded and detects an error in the encoded image information that is read from the storage unit; and an error in the image information is detected by the decoding unit. A facsimile apparatus comprising: a processing unit that performs error processing in response to the request; and a recording unit that records the image information decoded by the decoding unit on a recording sheet.