JP2827323B2 - Facsimile control method - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a facsimile control system that reads an image of an original or the like into an electric signal, and delivers the electric signal to another party (electric transmission) to reproduce the original image. .

<< Conventional Technology >> In a facsimile, basically, a transmitting side for transmitting (transmitting) an image of an original or the like to a partner device includes a scanner and a modulating unit using a CCD sensor or the like as a photoelectric conversion unit. The receiving side that receives the received signal comprises demodulation means and a hard copy for reproducing an image on paper.

That is, on the transmitting side, an image of a document or the like is read into an electric signal by a scanner, and after being modulated by the modulating means,
The data is transmitted to a partner device connected via a transmission line such as a telephone line. On the other hand, on the receiving side, the signal from the partner device is demodulated by the demodulation means, and the original image is reproduced by a thermosensitive or electrophotographic hard copy.

Various encodings, such as digital transmission and Modified Huttman encoding, are used to increase transmission speed and improve image quality. Various functions such as a function of automatically assigning page numbers and the like and a polling function are provided.

<< Problems to be Solved by the Invention >> However, in the case of facsimile machines, there is a tendency to simplify the operation panel as a configuration in which one operation key of a function instruction has several function instructions in order to reduce the size of the apparatus. Therefore, the key operation for instructing the function is complicated, and the operability may be deteriorated.

On the other hand, there is a demand to change various setting values such as an image size while a document image is being transmitted to a partner device. In addition, originals to different destinations are set together and automatically set to each destination continuously. Although there is a request to transmit electric power, it has been very difficult in the past.

In addition, the manuscript to be transmitted to the recipient is usually accompanied by a cover letter stating the company name of the recipient,
Although such cover pages have almost the same formula and the same contents even when the recipients are different, they need to be prepared each time due to slight differences in the recipient name, etc. There was a request.

The present invention has been made in view of the above background, and provides a facsimile control method capable of easily creating a cover sheet or the like serving as message information to a destination and improving convenience. With that purpose.

<< Means for Solving the Problems >> In order to achieve the above object, the present invention reads an original image into an electric signal, delivers the signal to a connected device connected via a transmission path, and transmits an electric signal transmitted from the connected device. In a facsimile that reproduces a signal as an image, image patterns respectively corresponding to various control instructions are registered in advance as control codes, and the original image is configured in a mixed state of the control code and the transmission image. Then, it is determined whether the read image data is the control code or the transmission image, and when the control code is detected, according to the corresponding control command,
At least the following control is performed. If the control code is data related to a cover page, image data existing in a predetermined area in the document image related to the control code is read, and a blank portion of the cover page registered in advance based on the control code is read. Image information to be transmitted by automatically reading the attached image information, and synthesizing the read image data with the blank portion in the read image information with a blank portion, thereby automatically generating the image information in its own device. Is transmitted to the partner device. If the control command is data related to a transmission state such as an image size, the transmission state (for example, a change in the image size during transmission) is controlled during transmission.

As image data to be combined, in addition to the above, date data at the time of transmission is read out from a clock means built in the facsimile apparatus, and the read date is combined with the predetermined blank portion. You may.

<< Operation >> According to the above-described method, a corresponding control is instructed by adding a control code (image pattern) on an image to be read. That is, not only the image of the document becomes the transmission information, but also a certain image pattern defined as the control code becomes the control information, and the control command is issued by the document image without key operation. In addition, since the control code is provided on the same surface as the transmission image to be transmitted to the other party, the reading means can reliably read the control code and the transmission image simply by arranging it on one side (the transmission image reading surface side). Can be.

Then, when the read image has the control code described above (sending letter), the image information related to the control code is generated in the own apparatus and transmitted in a predetermined format. That is, image information is read in which an indeterminate part such as a destination is a blank part, and a standard image part of the cover sheet is a template, and the read image data is embedded and synthesized in the space part. Thus, a cover sheet (original information) to be actually transmitted is generated. Therefore, the cover sheet can be generated by adding minimum information (irregular content) to the document image. When the control code is in the above (transmission state), transmission is performed in the specified transmission state.

<< Embodiment >> An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a main part of a facsimile to which a preferred embodiment of the present invention is applied.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a CCD sensor serving as a photoelectric conversion unit forming a scanner for reading an image of an original or the like into an electric signal;
An A / D converter that receives a signal from the sensor 1 and performs signal processing, that is, conversion processing from an analog signal to a digital signal;
And 4 are a switching circuit for switching signals, 5 is a comparison circuit for comparing signals, 6 is a memory for storing a predetermined control code, 7 is a memory for storing image information, 8
Is a processing circuit for generating image information, 9 is a timing generation circuit for controlling the operation timing of the A / D converter 2, the comparison circuit 5, and each of the memories 6, 7, and 10 is a clock signal serving as an operation reference of the timing generation circuit 9. Is a reference clock that generates

The control code is obtained by converting a predetermined image pattern corresponding to each of various control commands into an electric signal of the same format as the output signal of the A / D converter 2.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, a predetermined image pattern corresponding to each of various control commands is added to a document O read as an image by a scanner, and the control code becomes a control code A or B, respectively. . The image information D to be finally synthesized is also arranged on the same plane.

The document O is read by the scanner and sent from the A / D converter 2 to the switching circuit 4 and the comparison circuit 5 as an image signal a. The comparison circuit 5 compares the image signal a with the contents of the memory 6, that is, the signal b which is a control code stored in the memory 6. This comparison is performed for all the control codes stored in the memory 6. The image signal a
Is merely image information or control information that matches the control code. Then, the result of the determination is sent from the comparison circuit 5 to the switching circuits 3 and 4 as switching signals c and d, respectively.

The memory 7 stores image information such as a form of a cover sheet described later, and the image information is sent to the switching circuit 3 as a signal e.

In the switching circuit 3, when the switching signal c is "H", the signal e
Side and switches it to the signal f. Conversely, if it is "L", it switches to the image signal a side and makes it the signal f. And the signal f
When the switching signal d is "H", the switching circuit 4 switches to the signal g side and sends the signal to a transmission path (not shown). On the other hand, when the switching signal d is "L", the switching circuit d switches to the signal h side and switches to the signal h side. It is sent to the unit and the processing circuit 8.

The processing circuit 8 generates image information such as information related to the document based on the signal h and the like, and the generated image information is sent to the memory 7 and stored.

For example, image information (image information with a blank portion) on a cover page, an example of which is shown in FIG. 3, is stored in the memory 7 in the form of an image signal, and the image information generated by the processing circuit 8 and the like are included in each of the cover pages. Inserted in the blank space. That is, date information from a timer built into the facsimile is written in the date / date column of the cover page, the corresponding name searched from the telephone number of the destination is written in the company name column, and the operation key is written in the number of documents column. In the subject column, the subject sentence indicated by D in FIG. 2 is inserted, and in the name column, the name of the person corresponding to the input information such as an ID card is inserted, thereby completing the cover sheet.

4 (A) to 4 (D) are timing charts of signals of various parts of the facsimile showing the control operation according to the control method of the present invention.

When there is no control code in the original O, both the switching signals c and d become "L" as shown in FIG.
Is transmitted to the transmission line as signals f and g as they are.

When the control code of the document O is a control command that does not include the electric transmission command, the switching signal c is set to “L” as shown in FIG.
And the switching signal d becomes “H”. For this reason, the image signal a is taken into the control unit and the processing circuit 8 as the signal h and becomes control information, and the signal g is not sent. At this time, various controls are performed according to the control command indicated by the image signal a as the signal h. For example, control is performed such as changing the set values of the image size during transmission and the destination.

When the control code of the document O is a command to transmit a memory image, the switching signal c becomes “H” and the switching signal d becomes “L” as shown in FIG. 4C. For this reason, the output signal e of the memory 7 is transmitted to the transmission line as the signal g, and the image signal a becomes control information, so that it is not transmitted.
That is, when the control code indicates the transmission command of the cover sheet described with reference to FIG. 3, the cover sheet prepared according to the procedure shown in the flowchart of FIG. e), transmitted to the transmission line as a signal g. The procedure for creating a cover page shown in FIG. 5 shows the insertion of image information in each blank portion of the cover page in order, and the input from the operation keys (S2) and the telephone call to the other party (S2).
3), inserting the image information obtained by the search for the designated code (S4) into each corresponding blank part (S5) completes the cover sheet.

When the control code of the manuscript O is an edit transmission command, the switching signal c changes from "H" to "L" every time the control code B is detected, as shown in FIG. d is “L”
Becomes Therefore, when the switching signal c is "H", the signal e
Is transmitted to the transmission line as the signal g, and the image signal a is transmitted as the signal g when the switching signal c is at “L”. That is, the image information D on the original O, which is instructed by the control code B, is alternately transmitted with the output signal e of the memory 7, and the signal e
Is a control code B if it means, for example, a cover sheet.
, The image information D is inserted into the corresponding column of the cover sheet and transmitted as if edited.

According to such a control method, the original O
By adding the control codes A and B above, the corresponding control is instructed. That is, the image of the document O not only becomes the transmission information, but also a certain image pattern defined as the control code becomes the control information, and the control command is issued by the document image without key operation.

Therefore, since control commands can be issued based on the original image without using key operations, it is possible to easily change the settings such as the image size and the destination even during transmission, and to request continuous automatic transmission to each destination. This can also be easily controlled and realized by adding an image pattern as a control code to that effect to the first sheet of each original document for each destination. That is, facsimile control can be easily performed at an arbitrary reading timing and a reading portion of document reading, thereby significantly improving operability.

Further, since the related information of the read image is generated in the self apparatus and transmitted by a predetermined format, the cover sheet can be generated by adding minimum information to the document image. For this reason, a cover sheet as message information to the other party can be easily created, and convenience can be improved.

In the above-described embodiment, an example of application to a method of sequentially reading and transmitting a document has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The present invention can also be applied to a method in which the content is read, stored once in a storage device, and then transmitted collectively. In this case, since all of the transmitted originals are stored, it is not necessary to search for a control code at the same time as reading as in the above-described embodiment. Since the above search may be performed, the processing is further simplified.

<< Effects of the Invention >> As described above in detail in the embodiment, according to the facsimile control method according to the present invention, the image formed on the same side of the document not only becomes the transmission information, but also the control code Some kind of image pattern defined as the control information,
The control command is issued by a document image without being operated by a key operation. Therefore, various controls can be easily performed even during transmission, and facsimile control can be easily performed at an arbitrary reading timing and at a reading portion of document reading, thereby greatly improving operability.

Then, since the related information of the read image is generated in the self-device and transmitted in a predetermined format, the cover sheet can be generated by adding a minimum amount of information to the document image. It can be created easily and convenience can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a main part of a facsimile to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a document to be read, FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a cover sheet, FIG. FIGS. 7A to 7D are timing charts of signals of various parts of the facsimile, and FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a procedure for preparing a cover sheet.

Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Masato Mori 1-4-10 Irifune, Chuo-ku, Tokyo Tokyo Electric Power Company System Research Laboratory (56) References JP-A-63-181565 (JP, A) JP-A-1- 114153 (JP, A) JP-A-62-269551 (JP, A) JP-A-62-221255 (JP, A) JP-A-56-132060 (JP, A) Japanese Utility Model Showa 63-38454 (JP, U)

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A facsimile which reads a document image as an electric signal and delivers it to a connected device via a transmission path, and reproduces the electric signal sent from the connected device into an image. A corresponding image pattern is determined in advance and registered as a control code, and the original image is composed of the control code and the transmission image in a mixed state, and it is determined whether the read image data is the control code or the transmission image. If the control code is detected and the control command is data relating to a cover sheet, image data existing in a predetermined area in the document image related to the control code is read, and registered in advance based on the control code. The read image information with a blank portion of the cover sheet is read, and the read image data is stored in the blank portion of the read image information with a blank portion. Automatically generate image information to be transmitted by synthesizing the data in the own device, transmit a cover sheet in a predetermined format generated by the image synthesis to the partner device, and the control command A facsimile control method characterized in that, in the case of data relating to a transmission state such as a size, control is performed to change to the transmission state during transmission. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein, when synthesizing the image, date data at the time of transmission is read out from a clock means incorporated in the facsimile apparatus, and the read out date is synthesized with the predetermined blank portion. 2. A facsimile control method according to claim 1.