JP2998668B2 - 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 a facsimile apparatus, and more particularly to a facsimile apparatus which can be connected to a local area network (LAN) and which can perform facsimile transmission from a terminal connected to the LAN.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a facsimile apparatus which is connected to a local area network (LAN) to which at least one terminal is connected and has a LAN server function and an e-mail server function in this LAN,
When an e-mail transmitted from the terminal is received, the display image and additional information of the received e-mail are converted into corresponding facsimile image information, a designated destination is called, and the facsimile image information is transmitted to the destination terminal. A facsimile machine is known (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-350775).

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an example of this conventional facsimile machine. In the figure, the central processing unit (C
The PU 61 controls the operation of each unit and stores various data and programs for the operation in a read-only memory (RO).
M) 62 and a random access memory (RAM) 63 constitutes a work area and a main memory of the CPU 61. The RAM 63 and the clock device 64 are backed up by a battery 65.

Further, this facsimile apparatus includes a scanner 66, an image processing section 67, a page printer 68, a recording control section 69, an operation display section 70, an encoding / decoding section 71, a floppy disk drive (FDD) 72, and an FDD control. Part 73,
Hard disk drive (HDD) 74, HDD controller 7
5, a LAN interface (I / F) 76, a LAN controller 77, a G3 facsimile (FAX) modem 78, a network controller 79, a handset 80, and a system bus 81.

[0005] A LAN interface 76 is for connecting to a line concentrator (HUB).
Performs a data transmission operation according to a predetermined LAN control procedure. The network control device 79 is for connecting the facsimile machine to a public telephone line network.

In this conventional facsimile apparatus, if it is recognized from the header of the received e-mail that the destination is a facsimile apparatus, facsimile image data consisting of display information of the body of the e-mail is converted and formed. Encoding / decoding section 7 for the facsimile image data
In step 1, the data is encoded and compressed and transmitted to the partner terminal.

[0007]

However, the first problem of the above-described conventional facsimile apparatus is that software dedicated to the facsimile apparatus must be installed in a terminal connected to the conventional facsimile apparatus via a LAN. This means that the operation is complicated for the user.

The reason is described below. In the above-described conventional facsimile apparatus, it is necessary to log in to the facsimile apparatus prior to facsimile transmission performed by the terminal. To log in, you must communicate with the facsimile machine. Therefore, software for communication processing is required, but such software is not in a general personal computer environment. Therefore,
A maker provides software that realizes facsimile transmission by communicating with the facsimile apparatus together with the facsimile apparatus and installs the software on a terminal used by a user, so that facsimile transmission from the terminal becomes possible for the first time. Therefore, each user must perform an installation operation in order to use the facsimile transmission function, but this requires a certain level of skill to the user and is a complicated operation.

Also, without taking the means of logging in,
There is also a method in which the facsimile apparatus is regarded as a terminal similar to other mail receiving terminals, and an electronic mail is transmitted to the facsimile apparatus by ordinary electronic mail software. Since the e-mail software is included in the standard environment of the personal computer these days, it is not necessary to require the user to install the software dedicated to the facsimile machine.

However, in this case, the electronic mail is sent unilaterally, and it is impossible to operate the facsimile machine interactively, and the operability is limited. For example, since ordinary electronic mail software does not have a function of inputting a destination telephone number, a situation arises in which the destination telephone number must be written at the top of the mail text. This also requires the user to perform complicated operations.

A second problem is that software dedicated to the facsimile machine must be produced in accordance with each environment used by a user, which is a burden on a facsimile machine provider.

The reason will be described below. As an environment in which a user uses a personal computer, for example, Microsoft Windows 3.1 / NT / 9
5, there are various such as Macintosh (Macintosh), OS / 2. Since the operating systems are all different, the facsimile machine providing maker has to develop and produce an OS corresponding to each OS in order to provide software for communicating with the facsimile machine. In other words, despite the software providing the same functions, development costs must be invested in each environment. This was a heavy burden on the manufacturer and was also reflected in the price of the facsimile machine.

An object of the present invention is to provide a facsimile apparatus capable of performing facsimile transmission from a terminal connected to a LAN without installing software dedicated to the facsimile apparatus in the terminal. And

It is another object of the present invention to provide a facsimile apparatus which does not require software dedicated to the facsimile apparatus to be developed for each environment used by a user.

[0015]

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides an interface means connectable to a local area network, a protocol control unit for realizing a LAN protocol by using a function provided by the interface means, Processing control means for processing a request from a WWW browser of a terminal on a local area network using a data stream transfer function by a protocol control unit;
A homepage management unit that holds a homepage file in advance and outputs the homepage file to the processing control unit in response to a homepage request from the processing control unit, and at least a transmission destination telephone number from a WWW browser of a terminal on the local area network. When there is a transmission request including the message text, an input information analysis means for separating the transmission destination telephone number and the message text input via the processing control means and determining execution of facsimile transmission, and a message text from the input information analysis means. The facsimile message transmitting means for generating a facsimile message signal that can be received by the facsimile apparatus of the transmission destination after obtaining the Obtained from analysis means After performing a call transmission destination telephone number it was, is obtained by a configuration having a transmitting means for transmitting a facsimile message signal from the facsimile message transmission means to the facsimile apparatus on the transmitting destination on the line.

In the present invention, as means for transmitting from a terminal connected to a local area network (LAN),
Using a WWW browser, which is one of the current standard environments of personal computers (PCs), facsimile transmission of a message input from the WWW browser to a facsimile apparatus of the input destination telephone number.
Also, on the homepage displayed by the WWW browser,
A user interface for facsimile transmission can be realized.

Also, in the present invention, the homepage displayed by the WWW browser is the terminal model on the LAN and the OS.
Since the information is displayed in all environments regardless of (operating system), it is possible to eliminate the necessity for the facsimile machine providing maker to prepare software especially corresponding to each environment.

[0018]

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

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a facsimile apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a local area network (LA) equipped with the facsimile apparatus according to the present invention.
N) shows a configuration diagram of an example.

In FIG. 2, this LAN is an Ethernet (Ethernet: IEEE802.3 standard, 10B) established by a project 802 committee of the Institute of Electronics and Electrical Engineers (IEEE).
ASE5,10BASE2,10BASE-T, 100BASE-T etc. ). The n personal computers (personal computers) 3-1, 3-2,..., 3-n as a plurality of terminal devices and the facsimile device 1 of the present invention are connected to a hub (concentrator) 2 by Ethernet, and a LAN. Forming a communication network. The facsimile machine 1 is connected to another facsimile machine via a public line.

The facsimile apparatus 1 has a configuration shown in, for example, a block diagram of FIG. In FIG.
The AN interface (I / F) unit 11 is physically connected to Ethernet and performs an interface with LAN.
In the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) reference model,
Provides functions called physical layer and data link layer.
That is, conversion of an electric signal and a bit pattern is performed, a bit string transmission function is constructed, and accurate transmission transfer is performed between adjacent systems.

The LAN protocol control unit 12
The TCP / IP protocol is realized by using the function provided by the I / F unit 11. This LAN protocol control unit 12
Provides functions called the network layer and the transport layer in the OSI reference model. That is, in a portion corresponding to the network layer, a service is provided in which an Internet Protocol (IP) is performed and an IP datagram (a basic unit of information transferred in a TCP / IP network) is transferred from a transmission source to a reception source. I do. In a portion corresponding to the transport layer, a transmission control protocol (TCP: Transmission Control Protocol) is used by using the IP datagram transfer function.
l) to provide the HTTPD control unit 13 with a highly reliable data stream service.

The HTTPD control unit 13 uses a data stream transfer function of the TCP / IP protocol provided by the LAN protocol control unit 12 to generate an HTTPD (Hyper Text T
ransfer Protocol Deamon). HTT
P (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) is HTML (Hyper
per Text Markup Language) is a protocol for transferring files (such as homepages). This H
The World Wide Web (W
A server that transmits a file such as HTML to a browser in response to a request from a WW (World Wide Web) browser is called HTTPD.

The homepage management unit 14 holds a homepage file described in HTML of the facsimile apparatus, and outputs the homepage file in response to a request from the HTTPD control unit 13. Therefore, when the WWW browser requests the facsimile apparatus to transmit a home page, the HTTPD control unit 13 sends the home page management unit 1
4 to get a homepage file and WW it
Send to W browser.

The telephone directory management unit 15 stores telephone directory information in which a frequently-used destination name registered by the user and a facsimile telephone number are paired.
The telephone directory information is converted into HTML format and output in response to the request of (3). Therefore, when the WWW browser requests transmission of the telephone directory, the HTTPD control unit 13 acquires the telephone directory file described in HTML by the telephone directory management unit 15,
Send it to the WWW browser.

The operation control unit 16 manages a user interface. It has a display that draws out phone book information from the phone book management unit 15 and displays characters and graphics, and has a key switch for registering, modifying, and deleting the name and phone number of the destination of the phone book.

The input information analysis unit 17 analyzes the information input from the HTTPD control unit 13, separates a destination telephone number to which facsimile transmission is to be performed, a transmission message text, and determines execution of facsimile transmission.

The line control unit 18 connects the facsimile apparatus to a public telephone line network, has a network control function and a modem function, and mutually converts an analog signal on the line and a digital signal handled inside the apparatus. I do.

The call control unit 19 acquires the destination telephone number analyzed by the input information analysis unit 17 and
8 to make a call to the destination telephone number.

The facsimile procedure control unit 20 controls the line control unit 18 to control T.30 of the International Telecommunication Union Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T). A control unit for transmitting and receiving a procedure signal so that a facsimile procedure is performed in accordance with Recommendation 30 performs phase A (call setup), phase B (pre-message procedure), phase D (post-message procedure), and phase E (call release). .

The image conversion unit 21 includes the input information analysis unit 1
The transmission message body analyzed by step 7 is obtained, and the message, which is a text, is converted into image information.

The facsimile message transmitting section 22 converts the image information converted by the image converting section 21 into
It converts the facsimile message into a facsimile message that can be received by the other party's facsimile apparatus, and controls the line control unit 18 to execute the transmission of the facsimile message signal which is the phase C in the facsimile procedure.

Based on the execution of facsimile transmission determined by the input information analysis unit 17, the facsimile control unit 23 uses the call control unit 19, facsimile procedure control unit 20, and facsimile message transmission unit 22 to communicate with other facsimile machines. The entire communication, that is, from facsimile communication line connection to line disconnection is controlled.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

Here, a description will be given of an operation in which a user performs facsimile transmission from a WWW browser on a personal computer. It is assumed that the WWW browser is already installed on the personal computer. It is to be noted that a WWW browser is usually pre-installed in a personal computer sold recently, and it can be said that the WWW browser is one of the standard environments of the personal computer.

Any one of the personal computers 3-1 to 3-n shown in FIG. 2 starts a WW browser on the personal computer, and displays a URL (unif) representing the facsimile apparatus.
ormResource Locator). The URL is a standard that defines means for accessing various information resources on the Internet (communication protocol to be used) and how to specify the names of the resources. This determines which resource on the Internet is accessed. The user inputs, for example, "http: www ....". Here, suppose that the URL of this facsimile machine is "ht
tp: www.fax.or.jp ".

When the user inputs "http: www.fax.or.jp" as a URL on the WWW browser and starts access, a request is made to transfer the home page to the facsimile machine 1 shown in FIGS. Is performed (step 31 in the sequence diagram of FIG. 3).

This transfer request is received by the HTTPD control unit 13 via the LAN I / F unit 11 and LAN protocol control unit 12 in the facsimile apparatus shown in FIG. H
Upon receiving the transfer request (step 101 in FIG. 4), the TTPD control unit 13 determines whether it is a home page transfer request (step 102 in FIG. 4). , HTTP
The D control unit 13 extracts the source code file of the home page described in HTML from the home page management unit 14 (step 103 in FIG. 4), and transmits it to the requesting terminal (steps 32 and 4 in the sequence diagram of FIG. 3). Step 104).

When the transmitted homepage file is received by the personal computer used by the user, the homepage is displayed on the WWW browser. The display of this home page is, for example, as shown in FIG.
L, a telephone number of a transmission destination, a receiver, a sender, a subject, and a message body, and icons of “telephone book” and “send” are displayed.

When the user clicks on "telephone directory" displayed on the home page, a process for requesting the facsimile apparatus to transfer a page of the telephone directory is performed (FIG. 3).
Step 33 of the sequence diagram of FIG. This transfer request is shown in FIG.
When the HTTPD control unit 13 in the facsimile apparatus receives the request (step 101 in FIG. 4), it determines whether or not the request is a home page transfer request (step 102 in FIG. 4). A determination is made (step 105 in FIG. 4). Here, since the request is a transfer request of a page of the telephone directory, the HTTPD control unit 13
Extracts the telephone directory information converted into the HTML format from the telephone directory management unit 15 (steps 106, 10 in FIG. 4).
7), and transmits to the requesting terminal (step 34 in the sequence diagram of FIG. 3 and step 108 of FIG. 4).

When the transmitted telephone directory page file is received by the personal computer used by the user, WWW
A page showing phone book information is displayed on the browser. The information in the telephone directory is input by the user via the operation control unit 16. In this way, the user can refer to the information held inside the facsimile machine.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the telephone directory information is only referred to by the WWW browser. However, technically, it is also possible to register, correct and delete the telephone directory information on the WWW browser. is there. If you actually implement it, it seems that usability will improve if you do so.

Now, the user returns to the home page,
Enter the telephone number of the transmission destination, the name of the receiver, the name of the sender, ie, your name, the subject, and the text describing the contents of the message shown in FIG. 5 and click "Send" to send the message to the facsimile machine. The requested processing is performed (step 35 in the sequence diagram of FIG. 3).

HTT in the facsimile apparatus shown in FIG.
Upon receiving the request (step 101 in FIG. 4), the PD control unit 13 determines whether the request is a homepage transfer request or a telephone directory request (steps 102, 10 in FIG. 4).
5) If none of them, it is determined whether it is a transmission request (step 109 in FIG. 4). Here, since the transmission request has been received, the HTTPD control unit 13 passes the information to the input information analysis unit 17 shown in FIG.

The input information analysis unit 17 analyzes the information input from the HTTPD control unit 13, and separates and stores the telephone number of the transmission destination and the recipient, the sender, the subject, and the body, and performs facsimile transmission. The execution is determined and the facsimile control unit 23 is activated (step 11 in FIG. 4).
0). In addition, the image conversion unit 21 includes the input information analysis unit 1
7 obtains the analyzed recipient, sender, subject, and transmitted message text, and converts the text message into image information (step 111 in FIG. 4).

When the facsimile control unit 23 is activated,
The call control unit 19, the facsimile procedure control unit 20, and the facsimile message transmission unit 22 are controlled to start facsimile transmission. Thereby, the calling control unit 19 obtains the telephone number of the transmission destination analyzed by the input information analysis unit 17,
The call is controlled by controlling the line controller 18 (step 1 in FIG. 4).
12).

The facsimile message transmitting section 22 converts the image information converted by the image converting section 21 into
It is converted into a facsimile message that can be received by the partner facsimile machine (step 113 in FIG. 4), and
8 to transmit a facsimile message signal, which is phase C in the facsimile procedure (step 114 in FIG. 4). At this time, the facsimile procedure control unit 20 controls the line control unit 18 to transmit and receive a procedure signal so that the facsimile procedure is performed.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and for example, the telephone directory management unit 15 and the operation control unit 16 do not necessarily have to be provided. This is because if the user of the personal computer knows the destination facsimile telephone number, it is not necessary to refer to the telephone directory.

[0049]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The facsimile transmission from the terminal can be realized without installing software dedicated to the facsimile device in the terminal and without making the user perform an unreasonable operation.

The reason is that the facsimile apparatus of the present invention uses the WWW browser, which is one of the standard environments of the current personal computer, as a means for transmitting from the terminal. Therefore, it is necessary to request the user to install new software. Is gone. In addition, since a user interface for facsimile transmission is realized on a homepage displayed by a WWW browser, a reasonable operating environment can be provided to the user (for example, a telephone number is described at the beginning of the body of an e-mail). Such an unreasonable operation need not be required of the user.).

Further, according to the present invention, the difference in the environment used by the user is absorbed by the WWW browser, and the homepage displayed there is displayed in all environments irrespective of the terminal model and the OS. It is not necessary for the facsimile machine provider to prepare software corresponding to each environment, so that the facsimile machine provider does not need to develop facsimile transmission software corresponding to each environment used by the user. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a facsimile apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an example of a LAN including the device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an HTTP protocol sequence diagram between the embodiment of the device of the present invention and a personal computer.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a WWW browser screen on a personal computer.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an example of a conventional facsimile machine.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Facsimile apparatus of this invention 2 Hub (concentrator) 3-1-3-n Personal computer (PC) 11 LAN interface (I / F) part 12 LAN protocol control part 13 HTTPD control part 14 Homepage management part 15 Telephone directory management Unit 16 operation control unit 17 input information analysis unit 18 line control unit 19 call control unit 20 facsimile procedure control unit 21 image conversion unit 22 facsimile message transmission unit 23 facsimile control unit

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. An interface means connectable to a local area network, and a LAN provided by using a function provided by the interface means.
A protocol control unit that implements a protocol; a processing control unit that processes a request from a WWW browser of a terminal on the local area network using a data stream transfer function of the protocol control unit; A homepage management unit that outputs the homepage file to the processing control unit in response to a homepage request from the processing control unit; and a WWW browser of a terminal on the local area network, at least transmitting a destination telephone number and a message text. When there is a transmission request including the transmission destination telephone number and the message text inputted via the processing control means, and an input information analysis means for determining execution of facsimile transmission; and Get the text and Facsimile message transmitting means for generating a facsimile message signal that can be received by the facsimile apparatus at the transmission destination, and obtaining from the input control information analyzing means based on the facsimile transmission execution determined by the input control information analyzing means. Transmitting means for transmitting a facsimile message signal from the facsimile message transmitting means to a facsimile apparatus of a transmission destination on a line after executing the calling of the transmission destination telephone number. 2. An interface unit connectable to a local area network, and a TCP provided by using a function provided by the interface unit.
A protocol control unit for realizing an IP / IP protocol, and a function of HTTPD based on a data stream transfer function of the TCP / IP protocol of the protocol control unit for controlling processing of a request from a WWW browser of a terminal on a local area network An HTTPD control unit for performing communication between the WWW server and the browser via the protocol control unit and the interface unit; and a homepage file held in advance, and the homepage file is stored in response to a request from the previous HTTPD control unit.
A homepage management unit that outputs to the TTPD control unit, an input information analysis unit that analyzes information input from the HTTPD control unit, separates the destination telephone number and transmission message body, and determines whether to execute facsimile transmission, and connects to a public line. A line control unit that obtains a destination telephone number from the input information analysis unit, controls the line control unit to make a call to the destination telephone number, and controls the line control unit. A facsimile procedure control unit for transmitting and receiving a facsimile procedure signal, and acquiring a transmission message body analyzed by the input information analysis unit, converting the text into image information, and converting the received message body into a facsimile message in a format that can be received by a partner facsimile apparatus. To generate a facsimile message signal and transmit the facsimile message signal via the line control unit. Means, based on execution of facsimile transmission determined by the input information analysis unit, using the call control unit, facsimile procedure control unit, and a facsimile control unit that controls execution of facsimile transmission using transmission means Facsimile machine characterized by the above-mentioned. 3. A telephone directory which stores a name of a destination and a telephone number of a facsimile of the destination is stored.
A telephone directory management unit that outputs telephone directory information in response to a request from a PD control unit; and registers and registers the telephone directory information held in the telephone directory management unit.
3. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising an operation control unit capable of deleting and converting.