JP2709116B2 - Image communication device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image communication apparatus, and more particularly to an image communication apparatus that broadcasts the same image data to a plurality of partner stations.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an image communication apparatus such as a facsimile apparatus, a broadcast function of transmitting the same image information to a plurality of partner stations has been known.

According to the broadcast transmission method, the image data read into the image memory can be easily transmitted to a large number of partner stations without repeatedly reading the original image.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Also in the broadcast transmission, the communication may end in an error due to a reason such as busy of the partner station as in the normal image transmission.

Conventionally, there has been known a device that records and outputs a communication result report when broadcast transmission is completed, and notifies a user of a communication result to each broadcast partner station. However, transmission to a partner station in which a communication error has occurred is automatically performed. Instead, the user must select a partner station again for transmission or broadcast transmission.

However, since the broadcast transmission partner knows only the operator who has designated the broadcast transmission, there has been a problem that other operators must re-examine the partner station of the retransmission by using a communication result report or the like and then select it. This operation is very complicated and troublesome when there are a plurality of partner stations in which an error has occurred.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems and to provide an image communication apparatus that can easily retransmit even if an error occurs during broadcast transmission.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, according to the present invention, in an image communication apparatus that broadcasts the same image data to a plurality of partner stations, the broadcast is transmitted when the broadcast is transmitted. Storage means for storing a communication result with each partner station in correspondence with broadcast transmission identification information, and a retransmission instruction for retransmitting the image data to the partner station having a communication error in the broadcast transmission Operating means including a key for inputting a key and a key for inputting the identification information, and a corresponding broadcast transmission from the storage means in accordance with the input of the retransmission instruction and the input of the identification information from the operating means. A configuration is employed which has a control means for reading out the information of the partner station in which the communication error occurred in the processing and causing the partner station to retransmit the image data.

[Operation] According to the above configuration, at the time of broadcast transmission, a communication result with each partner station is stored in the storage means in correspondence with the identification information of the broadcast transmission, and a retransmission instruction by the operator and the broadcast thereof are transmitted. According to the input of the identification information for identifying the transmission, the information of the partner station having a communication error in the corresponding broadcast transmission processing is read out from the storage means, and the partner station can retransmit the image data. .

EXAMPLES Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on examples shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the structure of a facsimile apparatus as an example of a communication apparatus employing the present invention.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a CPU constituted by a microprocessor or the like, and the CPU 1 controls the operation of the entire apparatus according to a program described later stored in a ROM 2. The following components are connected to a system bus B including an address bus and a data bus of the CPU 1.

First, reference numeral 2 denotes a ROM for fixedly storing a program to be described later and data such as various control parameters that do not need to be changed during operation. Reference numeral 3 denotes a RAM, which is composed of a dynamic RAM element or the like, and is used as a work area for controlling the CPU 1.

In the present embodiment, as another memory,
An EEPROM 28 is provided, in which telephone number data corresponding to an operation of a one-touch key 27 (described later) is registered. As the operation procedure at the time of registration, a known procedure using the keys 6 of the operation panel and the LCD panel 7 can be used.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a readable / writable image memory including a RAM or a magnetic disk drive, and is used as a buffer area for transmitted / received image data.

Reference numeral 5 denotes an operation panel control unit including a well-known keyboard control IC and the like. Keys 6 of the operation panel include ten keys and function keys, an LCD panel 7 used as a display, and various indicators. The input / output of data to / from the lamp 8 is controlled.

The operation panel is provided with one-touch keys 27. The one-touch key 27 is composed of a plurality of keys, and a telephone number is stored in the EEPROM 28 corresponding to each key in the partner station. Further, among the one-touch keys 27, a key in which the telephone number of the partner station is not registered is used as a group dial key for broadcasting.

Further, in this embodiment, if an error occurs during broadcast transmission, a retransmission key 29 is provided for attempting retransmission to the partner station in which the error has occurred.

Reference numeral 10 denotes an image scanner composed of a CCD line sensor or the like, which is used for reading image data to be transmitted or recorded by a recording unit described later during a copying operation. The image scanner 10 outputs binary image data corresponding to a predetermined resolution. The binarized data is buffered in the image memory 4. In this case, the binary data is encoded by the primary encoding circuit 11 in order to save the capacity of the image memory 4. As this encoding method, various known encoding methods can be used.

Reference numeral 13 denotes a recording head constituted by a thermal head or the like, which performs recording on the recording paper 12 made of a thermal paper or the like. The image data to be recorded by the recording head 13 is stored in the image memory 4 in a state where the image data is encoded by an encoding method corresponding to the encoding method of the primary encoding circuit 11, and is stored in the image memory 4. When recording the data thus decoded, the data is decoded by the primary decoding circuit 14 and then input to the recording head 13. Primary decoding circuit
It is assumed that the decoding method 14 corresponds to the coding method of the primary encoding circuit 11.

Reference numeral 15 denotes a motor controller that controls a driving motor including a pulse motor for controlling the conveyance of the original 9 and the recording paper 12 and the like at the time of reading or recording, and is configured using a known driver IC or the like.

Reference numeral 16 denotes a primary code decoding circuit, and reference numeral 17 denotes a secondary code decoding circuit. If the encoding system used for the primary encoding or decoding is not the MH or MR system used in facsimile communication, such a conversion circuit is required to ensure data compatibility.

Here, the secondary encoding or decoding corresponds to the above-mentioned encoding system used in facsimile communication. For example, the primary encoding / decoding circuit 16 stores MH or MR encoded image data obtained from a line in an image memory. 4 when used to form the primary encoded data.

When the image data in the image memory 4 is transmitted, the encoding corresponding to the primary encoding system is performed by the primary encoding / decoding circuit 16, and this is converted into the MH or MR system by the secondary encoding / decoding circuit 17. It is converted to the corresponding encoded data.

In the above-described encoding conversion, the encoding system is converted in units of a predetermined amount, for example, a data amount corresponding to one line or one page. At this time, the RAM 18 is used as a buffer for the data to be converted.

Reference numeral 19 denotes a known modem that converts image data or procedure signals represented by digital data into analog data that can be output to the telephone line 21, or vice versa. Reference numeral 20 denotes an NCU (network control device) which is used for controlling connection of a line, maintaining a loop, detecting a call signal from the line, transmitting a dialing signal, and the like.

Although the configuration of the modem 19 and the NCU 20 that can be used for a telephone line is shown here, when using a device connected to a digital line, the line interface may be changed to a configuration suitable for the digital line. telephone line
To 21 is connected a facsimile device 22 of the partner station. Here, illustration of an exchange and the like is omitted.

 Next, the operation in the above configuration will be described.

 First, a normal image transmitting / receiving operation will be described.

At the time of image transmission, the original 9 is set on the reading section, and when a start key indicating a transmission instruction among the keys 6 of the operation panel or the one-touch key 27 is pressed, a predetermined reception number is given to the transmission processing. Entered phone number or pressed one-touch key 27
Is registered in the destination management record area in the RAM 3. In the destination management record, the telephone numbers of a plurality of partner stations can be registered in association with the broadcast processing described later.

Subsequently, the original 9 is read by the image scanner 10 and
The primary encoding is performed by the next encoding circuit 11 and stored in the image memory 4.

Next, the CPU 1 inputs the telephone number data in the destination management record in the RAM 3 to the dialing circuit in the NCU 20 and causes the other station to make a call. As a result, the other station facsimile is connected to the apparatus via the telephone line 21.

After the line connection, a known pre-facsimile communication procedure corresponding to the G3 facsimile procedure and the like is performed, and various image transmission conditions are set.

Next, in the image transmission phase, 1 in the image memory 4 is read.
The next encoded image data is read out, input to the primary code decoding circuit 16, and buffered in the RAM 18 in units of a predetermined data amount such as a line unit or a page unit. The secondary encoding circuit encodes the decoded image data in the RAM 18 in an encoding scheme set in a pre-communication procedure, ie, MH or
The signal is converted into an MR code and input to the modem 19 via the bus B.
The modem 19 modulates the input data into a format that can be transmitted through the telephone line, and outputs the data to the telephone line 21 via the NCU 20.
Thereafter, a post-communication procedure is performed, and a line disconnection process is performed using the NCU 20 according to a predetermined procedure.

If an error occurs during transmission, a flag indicating that an error has occurred is set in the destination management record area in the RAM 3.

A call signal detected via the NCU 20 at the time of reception,
Alternatively, in the manual procedure, reception is performed in response to a predetermined key operation on the operation panel, and a reception number for this communication is set. The communication procedure is performed in the same manner as in the case of transmission. The received MH or MR encoded data is decoded by the secondary code decoding circuit 17, and
Are primary-coded by the primary code decoding circuit 16 and buffered in the image memory 4. After the line is disconnected, the primary encoded image data in the image memory 4 is sent to the primary decoding circuit 14.
Is input to the recording head 13 via the.

 Next, the broadcast transmission processing will be described.

In the case of broadcast communication, after loading a document, enter the telephone number of the partner station multiple times using the numeric keypad, enter the telephone number of the partner station multiple times by abbreviated dialing using the numeric keypad, or press the one-touch key multiple times. By operating,
Enter the phone numbers of multiple broadcast stations.

As described above, the unregistered one-touch key 27 can be used as a group dial key. The registration of the group dial key is performed by performing a predetermined key operation for instructing the registration of the group dial key, and then sequentially pressing the registered one-touch key itself or inputting the number using a numeric keypad or the like.

When one of the one-touch keys 27 is used as a group dial key, after the original is loaded, the one-touch key 27 in which the group dial key has been registered is pressed. Thereby, the broadcast is sequentially performed to the partner station registered with the one-touch key registered in association with the key.

When the telephone number of the broadcasting partner station is input by any of the above methods, the input telephone number is stored in the destination management record in the RAM 3 and is sequentially used for making a call. Broadcasting is performed by sequentially transmitting image data.

The broadcast processing is continued until all the partner station telephone numbers in the destination management record are used.

If an error occurs in the communication with each broadcasting partner station due to the busy of the partner station or the like, a flag indicating that the communication with the partner station ended in an error is set in the destination management record as described above. .

In this embodiment, a retransmission key 29 is provided. By pressing this retransmission key 29, if a communication error occurs during broadcast transmission, the image memory 4 is automatically transmitted only to the partner station having the error. To send the image data inside.

When the retransmission key 29 is pressed, retransmission is performed according to the procedure shown in FIG. The procedure shown in Fig. 2 uses the CP in ROM2 shown in Fig. 1.
It is assumed that it is stored as a U1 program.

After the retransmission key 29 is pressed, the operator is requested to input a desired broadcast reception number via the LCD panel 7.

Then, in step S1 of FIG. 2, the destination management record of the designated reception number is fetched from the RAM 3, and in step S2
It is determined whether a flag indicating a communication error is stored in the destination management record.

If there is no error flag in step S2, the process ends without performing any processing.If there is an error communication, in step S3 the telephone number of the destination having the error is extracted from the destination management record, and a new destination management record is obtained. And add it to this record. This additional processing is a step
In S4, the process is continued until it is confirmed that all error communication in the destination management record has been processed.

In step S5, broadcast transmission is performed using the newly created destination management record in the same manner as described above. It goes without saying that the image data to be transmitted uses the same data as the previous data stored in the image memory 4.

According to the above control, after the broadcast communication, simply pressing the retransmission key 29 automatically selects only the partner station having an error and performs the broadcast transmission. The broadcast can be reliably sent to the target partner station without the need for the above procedure. According to the present embodiment, even if the operator is not the one who instructed the broadcast first, if an error is reported after the completion of the broadcast processing, the image data can be retransmitted very easily by pressing the resend key 29. be able to.

In the above, the general broadcast transmission has been described as an embodiment, but it goes without saying that the same control can be performed in a so-called relay broadcast process for transmitting image data received from another station to a plurality of stations.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above, according to the present invention, at the time of broadcast transmission, the communication result with each partner station is stored in the storage means in correspondence with the identification information of the broadcast transmission, and the operator In response to the retransmission instruction and the identification information for identifying the broadcast transmission, the information of the partner station in which the communication error occurred in the corresponding broadcast transmission processing is read from the storage means, and the image of the partner station is sent to the partner station The data can be retransmitted, and the operator can cause the apparatus to perform the retransmission process simply by performing a simple manual operation of inputting a retransmission instruction and broadcast identification information.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a facsimile apparatus employing the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a control procedure of retransmission after broadcasting of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 CPU 2 ROM 3 18 RAM 4 Image memory 5 Operation panel control unit 6 Key 7 LCD panel 8 Lamp 10 Image scanner 11 ... Primary encoding circuit, 12 ... Recording paper 13 ... Recording head 14 ... Primary decoding circuit 15 ... Motor control unit 16 ... Primary code decoding circuit 17 ... Secondary code decoding circuit 19 … Modem, 20… NCU 21… Telephone line 27… One-touch key 28… EEPROM, 29… Resend key

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An image communication apparatus for broadcasting the same image data to a plurality of partner stations, wherein at the time of the broadcast transmission, a communication result with each partner station is stored in correspondence with the identification information of the broadcast transmission. A key for inputting a retransmission instruction for retransmitting the image data to a partner station having a communication error in the broadcast transmission, and a key for inputting the identification information. Operating means, according to the input of the retransmission instruction and the input of the identification information from the operating means, read from the storage means information of the partner station that has caused a communication error of the corresponding broadcast transmission processing,
An image communication device comprising a control unit for causing the partner station to retransmit the image data.