JP2751826B2 - 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 an improvement in a facsimile machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, various types of facsimile apparatuses have been developed and proposed, but an encoding / decoding circuit for executing encoding and decoding processing of image data is provided by one unit. Generally, two facsimile machines are provided. If two encoding / decoding circuits are provided, for example, facsimile communication can be simultaneously performed in parallel with image data printing processing (printing output processing) by a printer. It is.

In the conventional facsimile apparatus, when both of the above two encoding / decoding circuits are used, an original is set on an original platen, and scanning of the original image is performed. Even if you perform a switch operation to execute,
The fact is that such a command is not accepted because the coding / decoding circuit no longer has room. That is, in the related art, unless one of the image data printing process and the facsimile communication is completely terminated, or the stop key is operated to forcibly interrupt (error) one of the processes in the middle, However, it does not accept an instruction to execute scanning for reading a document image.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In the above prior art,
In the case where both the image data printing process and the facsimile communication are being executed, in order to make a transmission reservation, all pages of the image data being printed are printed, or until the facsimile communication ends. However, the user cannot wait for the transmission reservation operation at an early stage. As a result, the user spends wasteful waiting time, which is inconvenient.

[0005] The present invention has been proposed in view of the above points, and is a situation in which image data printing processing and facsimile communication processing are simultaneously executed and both encoding / decoding means are used. Another object of the present invention is to make it possible to perform scanning of a document image at an early stage when making a transmission reservation or the like, thereby improving the usability of the facsimile apparatus.

[0006]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a facsimile apparatus provided with two encoding / decoding means. While the image data to be printed is decoded by the encoding / decoding means and transmitted to the printer control unit, the other encoding / decoding means encodes or decodes the image data to be transmitted by facsimile. When there is a request to read a document image, the control for controlling the image reading unit to start reading scanning of the document image when either the printing of the page being printed or the facsimile communication ends first. Means.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the facsimile apparatus according to the first aspect, the original image
The read request is sent based on a switch operation for instructing transmission reservation.
It is configured so as Ku.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the facsimile apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention, in the image reading scan, the image data of the original image obtained by reading and scanning by the image reading unit and encoding is stored in the image memory. The transmission is performed by memory transmission in which the image data is temporarily stored and then transmitted by facsimile, or by scanner transmission in which the image data is transmitted by facsimile at the time of reading and scanning an original image.

[0009]

In the facsimile apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the image data to be transferred to the printer control unit by two encoding / decoding means and the image data to be transmitted by facsimile are transmitted. If there is a request to read the original image while the encoding or decoding is being performed simultaneously, the control means thereafter terminates the printing of the image data of the printing halfway page being printed or the end of facsimile communication. The image reading unit is operated at an earlier time of the time when the reading is performed, and control is performed so as to start reading scanning of the document image.
Therefore, the scanning for reading the original image can be started at an early stage before the printing process of all the pages of the image data is completed, and the waiting time of the user can be shortened. Since the printing process of the image data is temporarily terminated when the page being printed is completed, if the printing process is to be resumed thereafter, the printing process may be started from the beginning of the next new page. The printing process can be performed smoothly.

In the facsimile apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention, when a switch operation for designating transmission reservation is performed when two encoding / decoding means are used, the contents designated by this operation. Is stored in the storage means. Then, when either the printing of the image data of the page in the middle of printing or the facsimile communication is completed, the control unit at that time starts control for executing the operation of the content stored in the storage unit. Therefore, the user does not need to wait for the end of the print processing of the image data or the end of the facsimile communication processing and then perform the switch operation for instructing the transmission reservation. The user can immediately leave the facsimile apparatus after performing the switch operation of the transmission reservation while both the print processing of the image data and the facsimile communication are being performed.

In the facsimile apparatus according to the third aspect of the present invention, if a transmission reservation is instructed by operating a switch, either the memory transmission or the scanner transmission is executed.

[0012]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of a facsimile machine F according to the present invention. The facsimile apparatus F includes a main control unit 1 (corresponding to a control unit of the present invention) including a CPU for executing operation processing and signal processing of each unit, and for executing facsimile communication via a communication line L. Facsimile communication control unit 2, two encoding / decoding circuits 3a and 3b for executing encoding or decoding processing of image data, and image data to be transmitted by facsimile and image data received by facsimile are stored. Memory 4 and the like. Other than these, an image reading unit 5 for reading and scanning a document image, a printer control unit 6a for controlling a printer 6, a display including a liquid crystal display for displaying desired characters and numerals on a screen, and the like. The main control unit 1 is also provided with a unit 7, an operation input unit 8 including various operation switches, and a storage unit 9 such as a ROM 9a and a RAM 9b functioning as a system memory.

Of the above, two encoding / decoding circuits 3
a and 3b are switchable and connectable to the image reading unit 5 via the switch S2 so that the image data obtained by reading and scanning by the image reading unit 5 can be encoded, and the facsimile communication control unit 2 It is switchable and connectable to the facsimile communication control unit 2 via the switch S1 so that encoding or decoding of image data to be transmitted or received by facsimile can be performed. Furthermore, two encoding / decoding circuits 3a, 3
b, an image memory 4 is connected to store the encoded image data in the image memory 4 or the image memory 4
It is configured to be able to decode the image data read from the. A printer controller 6a is connected to one of the encoding / decoding circuits 3b, and the image data decoded by the encoding / decoding circuit 3b is printed (printed out) on recording paper by the printer 6. ing.

Next, an example of use and operation of the facsimile apparatus F having the above configuration will be described together with specific control operations of the main controller 1. First, as an example of the use status of the facsimile apparatus F, when image data read from the image memory 4 (for example, image data received from the memory) is printed by the printer 6, an external facsimile apparatus F Facsimile transmission may be performed. In this case, the image data read from the image memory 4 and printed by the printer 6 has one code /
The image data that has been decoded by the decoding circuit 3b and received by the facsimile communication control unit 2 is once decoded by the other encoding / decoding circuit 3a, and then encoded again, and then stored in the image memory 4. Is stored. Therefore, two codes /
Both decoding circuits 3a and 3b are operating.

Further, even while the two encoding / decoding circuits 3a and 3b are operating as described above, the user may want to perform facsimile transmission of a desired document. In such a case, the user may set a desired document on the document table and then perform a predetermined switch operation for instructing transmission reservation. As a specific switch operation, for example, a facsimile number of a destination as a transmission destination may be input and a start key may be operated. The data such as the facsimile number input by the switch operation is stored and stored in the storage unit 9 by the main control unit 1. When the original is set on the platen, for example, a message such as "The line is in use, but please press the start key when making a transmission reservation" is displayed on the display unit 7 so that the user can The operation of the facsimile machine F is easy to understand and is preferable.

Next, when both the printing process and the facsimile receiving operation in the printer 6 are still continued at the time when the switch operation is completed, the main control unit 1 sends a print command to the printer control unit 6a. When the printing of the halfway page is completed, a command is issued to suspend the printing process temporarily. As a result, the printer 6 interrupts the printing when the printing of the image data of the printing page is completed. Also,
As a result, one of the encoding / decoding circuits 3b becomes empty.

When the printing operation of the printer 6 is interrupted, the main control section 1 activates the image reading section 5 to start reading scanning of the document image set on the document table. Therefore, the reading scan of the document image can be started earlier than when the printing of the image data of all pages is completed in the printer 6. However, if the facsimile reception is completed before the printing of the page being printed is completed, the image reading unit 5 is operated at the time when the facsimile reception is completed, and the scanning of the document image is started. If the end time of facsimile reception is earlier than the print interruption time of the printer 6, the other encoding / decoding circuit 3a
Becomes empty first. When the facsimile reception is completed first, the printing process of the image data in the printer 6 does not need to be interrupted halfway, so the main control unit 1 interrupts the printing process in the printer 6 in this case. Do not let.

The image data of the original image read and scanned by the image reading section 5 includes two encoding / decoding circuits 3a and 3b.
Is coded and transferred to one of the free sides. Then, the main control unit 1 stores the coded image data in the image memory 4 and sets a standby state for memory transmission. However, if the facsimile reception has already been completed and the communication line L is in an idle state, each unit is controlled to transfer the image data to the facsimile communication control unit 2 and execute the scanner transmission. In the case where the scanner transmission is not executed and the standby state of the memory transmission is set, the execution of the memory transmission may be started when the previously executed facsimile reception is completed. In both cases of the memory transmission and the scanner transmission, the data such as the facsimile number of the transmission partner stored in the storage unit 9 is referred to.

After the original image is stored in the image memory 4 as described above, or after the scanner transmission is completed, the main controller 1 restarts the printing process of the printer 6 which was interrupted earlier. When the printing process is restarted, the main control unit 1 reads the image data of the first unprocessed page from the image memory 4 and transfers the image data to the encoding / decoding circuit 3b. Therefore, only the image data of the unprocessed page is printed by the printer 6.

Steps 100 to 100 in the flowchart of FIG.
Reference numeral 114 denotes a series of operation procedures of the main control unit 1 of the facsimile machine F described above. User goes to step 1
After performing the switch operation of 01, it is no longer necessary to be near the facsimile machine F. When the original is set on the platen and the switch for transmission reservation is operated, 2
If any of the three encoding / decoding circuits 3a, 3b is empty, as shown in step 114, the image reading unit 5 immediately operates as usual to perform the reading scan, and the encoding process is performed. You.

In the above embodiment, the case where the transmission reservation is made when the printing of the image data received in the memory and the facsimile reception are performed at the same time has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this. Printing of image data by the printer includes, for example, printing a communication management report and a telephone number list.

Also, two encoding / decoding circuits 3a, 3b
Are both in use, other than in the above embodiment, when memory reception is performed during printer operation, memory transmission is performed during printer operation, etc. According to the present invention, transmission reservation can be made without making the user wait for a long time as in the above-described embodiment.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case has been described in which the transmission is set to be ready (a process of interrupting the printer operation, etc.) when a predetermined switch operation is performed. However, the present invention is not limited to this. . For example, the interruption process of the printer 6 may be started when a document is set on the document table of the image reading unit 5. With this configuration, the interruption processing command for the printer 6 can be issued before the user performs the switch operation, so that there is an advantage that the process can be shifted to the scanning for reading the desired document earlier.

[0024]

As will be understood from the above description, according to the facsimile apparatus according to the present invention, image data printing processing and facsimile communication processing are simultaneously executed, and two codes are used. Even if both the decoding and decoding means are used, unlike the related art, there is no need for the user to wait until the printing of all pages of the image data is completed. A special effect is obtained in that the reading scan can be performed early and the usability can be improved.

In particular, according to the present invention as set forth in claim 2,
There is no need to wait for the end of the image data print process or the end of the facsimile communication process before performing the switch operation of the transmission reservation, and the user does not need to perform the image data print process and the facsimile communication process at the same time. However, it is possible to immediately leave the facsimile apparatus by performing the switch operation of the transmission reservation, thereby obtaining an advantage that the usability can be further improved.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, it is possible to perform memory transmission or scanner transmission to a desired partner by making a transmission reservation, which is convenient.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of a facsimile apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of a series of operation procedures of a main control unit of the facsimile apparatus shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main control part 2 Facsimile communication control part 3a, 3b Encoding / decoding circuit 4 Image memory 5 Image reading part 6 Printer 6a Printer control part 7 Display part 8 Operation input part 9 Storage part L Communication line F Facsimile machine

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A facsimile apparatus having two encoding / decoding means, wherein one of the encoding / decoding means decodes image data to be printed and transmits the decoded image data to a printer control unit, while the other encodes / decodes the other. When the image data to be transmitted by facsimile is being encoded or decoded by the converting means, and a request for reading the original image is made, either the printing of the page being printed or the facsimile communication is performed first. A facsimile apparatus including a control unit that controls an image reading unit to start reading scanning of a document image at the time of completion. 2. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the request for reading the document image is based on a switch operation for designating a transmission reservation. 3. The image reading scan according to claim 2, wherein the image reading section scans and scans the image by an image reading section, temporarily stores the image data of the original image obtained by encoding in an image memory, and then facsimile processes the image data. A facsimile apparatus which is based on either memory transmission for transmission or scanner transmission for facsimile transmission of image data during scanning of a document image.