JP2750885B2 - Facsimile machine - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a facsimile apparatus having a retransmission function.

2. Description of the Related Art A facsimile apparatus having a retransmission function of accumulating transmission image information and repeatedly transmitting image information of a page that has not been transmitted normally has been put to practical use.

The use of the facsimile apparatus is very convenient because the transmission image can be reliably obtained by the receiving apparatus even in the case where the state of the transmission path is poor and a transmission error frequently occurs.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, such a conventional apparatus has the following disadvantages.

That is, as shown in FIG. 5, when an image having a wide blank area around the original is transmitted, for example, even if a transmission error occurs in the lower margin, the image information of the page is retransmitted. doing.

In this case, the portion where the transmission error occurs is a blank portion, and the content of the received document obtained by the receiving device in the first image information transmission and the content of the received document obtained by the receiving device at the time of retransmission are the same. The apparatus obtains two identical received originals, which may cause inconvenience to the operator of the receiving apparatus.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a facsimile apparatus which solves such inconveniences of the conventional apparatus and allows a retransmission page to be clearly identified.

[Means for Solving the Problems] According to the present invention, when there is a sufficient margin in a retransmitted page, image information combining that the margin indicates that the page is a retransmitted page is combined with image information of the page. Means for generating image information indicating that the next page is a retransmission page when there is no margin in the retransmission page, and transmitting the image information prior to the retransmission page. .

[Operation] Therefore, an image indicating that the page is a retransmission page is added to the margin of the retransmission page, or a message indicating that there is a retransmission page in the previous page is transmitted. Pages and other pages can be clearly identified.

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

FIG. 1 shows a facsimile apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, a system control unit 1 performs an operation control process of the facsimile apparatus. A system memory 2 stores a control program to be executed by the control unit 1 and various types of programs necessary for executing the control program. The parameter memory 3 stores information and the like.
Stores information unique to the facsimile machine.

The scanner 4 is for reading an original image at a predetermined resolution, the plotter 5 is for recording and outputting an image such as a received image at a predetermined resolution, and the operation display unit 6 is a facsimile apparatus. , And is composed of various operation keys, a display, and the like.

The encoding / decoding unit 7 encodes and compresses the image signal and decodes the encoded and compressed image information into the original image signal. The image memory 8 stores the encoded and compressed state. This is for accumulating image information.

The communication control unit 9 performs a predetermined facsimile transmission procedure process, and the modem 10 performs a predetermined modulation / demodulation process so that digital data can be transmitted using an analog line. The apparatus 11 is for connecting a facsimile apparatus to an analog network such as a public telephone network. Further, the network control device 11 has an automatic transmission / reception function.

The system control unit 1, system memory 2, parameter memory 3, scanner 4, plotter 5, operation display unit 6, encoding / decoding unit 7, image memory 8, and communication control unit 9 are connected to the system bus 12. The exchange of various kinds of information between these elements is mainly performed via the system bus 12.

With the above configuration, in order to transmit image information using this facsimile apparatus, an operator sets a transmission original on the scanner 4, sets a transmission function to be used at that time from the operation display unit 6, and inputs destination information. Then, when a start key (not shown) is turned on to start a transmission operation, the system control unit 1 operates the scanner 4 to read the set transmission original, and encodes and decodes the image signal obtained thereby. The encoding unit 7 encodes and compresses the image information, stores the obtained image information in the image memory 8, forms transmission management information as shown in FIG. 2, and stores it in the parameter memory 3.

Here, the transmission management information includes a file number FNO for identifying each transmission image information, destination information CAD storing a transmission destination, transmission mode information MOD representing a transmission function input at that time, and a retransmission page. A retransmission flag FLA for storing that there is, a transmission incomplete flag FLB for storing that there is a page for which transmission has not been completed, page number information PGN indicating the number of pages of the transmission original, and a page for storing the page that has been transmitted. Page pointer PPT, and page information PG1 comprising, for each page, page margin information indicating whether there is sufficient margin at the end of the page and image storage area information indicating the storage state of the image information in the image memory 8. ~ PGm.

When transferring the image information formed by the encoding / decoding unit 7 to the image memory 8 in order to obtain the page margin information, the system control unit 1, as shown in FIG. It is determined whether or not the number of continuous all-white lines is equal to or more than the specified number of lines in the RA and the rear end region RB. Then, the determination result is stored as page margin information. If it is determined that there is a sufficient margin in both the end RA and the end RB, the end RA is stored as a determination result.

When newly generating transmission management information, the system control unit 1 initializes a retransmission flag FLA and a transmission incomplete flag FLB to a reset state, and sets a page pointer.
The information representing page 0 is stored in the PPT.

Then, the system control unit 1 and the communication control unit 9 jointly execute the processing of FIG. 4 to transmit image information. This process is also executed when a call is made again.

That is, a telephone number stored in the destination information CAD of the transmission management information is called, a predetermined pre-transmission procedure is executed (processing 101), and a transmission function to be used is set. Executes a training procedure for training the modem 10 (step 102).

When the training procedure is completed, it is checked whether or not the training was successful (decision 103). If the result of the decision 103 is NO, it is checked whether or not a transmission rate smaller than the transmission rate set at that time can be set ( Judgment 104),
When the result of the determination 104 is YES, after notifying the receiving device that the transmission speed is reduced by one step (process 105),
Returning to the process 102, the training procedure is executed at the newly set transmission speed.

If the training is successful and the result of determination 103 is YES, it is checked whether the transmission incomplete flag FLB is set (determination 106).

When the result of the determination 106 is YES, there is one or more pages of image information that could not be transmitted normally at the time of the previous call, so for example, "This image information transmission is a continuation of the previous. The page is a resend page. ”A resend notification message composed of image information corresponding to the image with the text“
Retransmission notification page) (process 107),
The transmission incomplete flag FLB is reset (process 108).

In the process 107, the page margin information of the page information PG (PG1 to PGm) of the page next to the page indicated by the page pointer PPT is checked, and it is stored that the area RA or the area RB has a margin. Sometimes, the image of the area is replaced by the image information of the retransmission notification message. If no margin area is stored in the page margin information, image information of the retransmission notification page is generated and stored in the image memory 8.

Note that the image information of the retransmission notification message and the image information of the retransmission notification page are formed in advance and registered in the system memory 2. Further, the image information of the retransmission notification page and the page of a retransmission page notification message to be described later (hereinafter, referred to as a retransmission page notification page) have a different management method from normal image information, and are not subject to retransmission.

In this way, when the result of the determination 106 is YES, after the processes 107 and 108 are completed, the result of the determination 106 is NO.
Is reached, processing 107 and 108 are not executed and processing 109 is executed directly.
And the image information for one page is transmitted (process 10).
9). At this time, if the image of the retransmission notification page or the image of the retransmission page notification page is set, the image information of the page is transmitted. Otherwise, the page next to the page indicated by the page pointer PPT is transmitted. , And transmits the image information of the first page that has not been transmitted.

When the transmission of the image information for one page is completed in this way, it is checked whether or not the receiving side notifies that the image information has been normally received (decision 110).

If the result of decision 110 is YES, the page pointer
The value of PPT is increased by one and updated (process 111), and it is checked whether or not a page that has not been transmitted remains (determination 112).
When the result of the determination 112 is YES, the process returns to the process 109 and the transmission operation of the next page is performed.

When the image information transmitted at this time is the image information of the retransmission notification page or the retransmission page notification page, the determination 110 and the processing 111 are not performed.

If the result of decision 110 is NO, it is checked whether the retransmission flag FLA is set (decision 113).

When the result of the determination 113 is NO, since the page is the first retransmission, the retransmission flag FLA is set and the retransmission counter for storing the number of retransmissions is set to 1 (process 114).

And, for example, "This page is a resend page."
A resend page notification message composed of image information corresponding to the image of
Alternatively, image information of the retransmission message notification page is newly generated (process 115), and the process 1 is performed to transmit the image information.
Move to 09.

Also, in process 115, the page information PG of the page to be retransmitted
The page margin information of (PG1 to PGm) is checked, and when it is stored that the area RA or the area RB has a margin, the image of the area is replaced by the image information of the retransmission page notification message. If no margin area is stored in the page margin information, the image information of the retransmission page notification page is generated and stored in the image memory 8.

The image information of the retransmission page notification message and the image information of the retransmission page notification page are formed in advance and registered in the system memory 2.

When the result of the determination 113 is YES, it is checked whether or not the retransmission counter has reached a predetermined retransmission limit (determination 116). When the result of the determination 116 is NO, the value of the retransmission counter is increased by one. (Step 117) The process returns to step 109 to transmit the image information of the same page again.

Also, when the result of the determination 116 is YES, the page could not be transmitted, so the image information was discontinued there,
The flag FLB is set (process 118), and the transmission operation for one time is ended.

When the result of the determination 104 is NO, there is no available transmission speed, and when the result of the determination 112 is NO, there is no page to be transmitted. finish.

In this manner, in the present embodiment, at the time of transmission, image information that cannot be normally received on the receiving side is retransmitted up to a certain number of times.

Also, at the time of the first retransmission, a retransmission page notification message indicating that the page is a retransmission page is added to the margin, or if the margin is not enough to add the retransmission page notification message, the retransmission is performed. Send the page notification page prior to the resend page.

Therefore, since the retransmitted page can be distinguished from the other pages, even when a plurality of pages having the same content are obtained on the receiving side, it is possible to clearly identify which page is the retransmitted page.

When the transmission is interrupted in the middle of the transmission, a retransmission notification message indicating that the image information transmission is of the re-call and the continuation of the immediately-aborted image information is transmitted to the first page at the time of the recall. Or if the margin is not sufficient to add the retransmission notification message, the retransmission notification page is transmitted prior to the first page.

Therefore, the page received at the time of the recall can be distinguished from the other pages, so that the receiving operator is not confused.

When the receiving apparatus uses a roll of recording paper, a message can always be added so that the receiving side is not limited by the length of the received image.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, when there is sufficient margin in a retransmitted page, the fact that the page is a retransmitted page is displayed in the margin, and when there is no margin in the retransmitted page, the next page is displayed. Generates image information indicating that the page is a retransmitted page and transmits the image information prior to the retransmitted page, so that the receiving operator can clearly identify the retransmitted page and other pages. The effect that can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a facsimile apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of transmission management information, FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a margin, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram for explaining the inconvenience of the conventional apparatus. 1 ... system control unit, 2 ... system memory, 3 ... parameter memory, 9 ... communication control unit.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A facsimile apparatus having a retransmission function for storing transmission image information and repeatedly transmitting image information of a page which has not been transmitted normally, wherein a predetermined number of all white lines are present at the end of the transmission page. Margin detecting means for detecting the presence of the page, and image information indicating that the page is a retransmitted page in the margin when the margin detecting means detects that the retransmitted page has a margin. Image information synthesizing means for synthesizing the resending page, and generating image information indicating that the next page is a resending page when the margin means does not detect that there is a margin in the resending page. A facsimile apparatus comprising a retransmission notification page transmitting means for transmitting prior to the transmission.