JP3082675B2 - Communication terminal device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication terminal device such as a facsimile device capable of connecting to a computer communication network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Computer communication networks such as the Internet are increasingly used, and recently have begun to penetrate ordinary households.
It is possible to communicate with overseas computers simply by paying only the communication cost to the nearest contract provider (connection company to the computer communication network).

[0003] In view of such circumstances, recently, communication terminal devices such as facsimile devices capable of connecting to a computer communication network have been developed.
With one apparatus, facsimile communication of image data of a scanned original and facsimile transmission and electronic mail transmission can be freely selected. That is, this type of communication terminal device transmits image data directly using a telephone network when facsimile communication is selected for image data transmission, and transmits image data when e-mail transmission is selected. The data is converted into an electronic mail format, and the converted data is temporarily stored in a mailbox on the network. When the receiving side connects the computer communication network via a telephone line at an appropriate time by a dial-up connection, and confirms that the e-mail has been transmitted, the image data is read from the mailbox. Is common.

[0004]

However, since such a communication terminal device is often installed in an office or an office where a plurality of people can use the communication terminal device, a person who does not have permission is free to use it. Connecting computer networks,
In some cases, a facsimile is transmitted, and measures to prevent such unauthorized use have been studied.

Further, it is conceivable that the computer communication network to be connected may be different depending on the user. However, it is not possible to register data for each individual in advance in this kind of shared device. Each time it was used, it was necessary to perform complicated procedures and operations. The present invention has been proposed in view of the above circumstances, and a first object of the present invention is to provide a communication terminal device capable of preventing connection to a computer communication network and unauthorized use of other functions.

It is a second object of the present invention to provide a communication terminal device capable of simplifying the operation by allowing individual data to be registered when the device is shared.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a communication terminal apparatus proposed to achieve the above object .
PIN and provider type and user
Includes a storage means for registering the email address over The, when the personal identification number and the same personal identification number registered in the storage means is input, PIN input
The above computer according to the provider type corresponding to
Connect the communication network and attach the e-mail address of the above user.
Send the added e-mail. Here, the communication terminal device according to the present invention can be connected to a computer communication network, and includes a facsimile device, a personal computer having a data communication function, and the like. The computer communication network includes the Internet and personal computer communication services such as NIFTY-Serv and PC-VAN.
An e-mail service is implemented as one of the services.

Further, the storage means for registering the personal identification number of each individual is composed of a RAM, an EEPROM, a flash memory, etc., so that the conventional shortening or one-touch dial number registration memory can be used. .
In the communication terminal device according to the second aspect, the storage unit further registers the transmission ID in correspondence with the personal identification number, and the same personal identification number as the personal identification number registered in the storage unit is input. Sometimes, the transmission ID corresponding to the entered password
To connect the computer communication network.

Here, the transmission ID is a user ID, a password, and the like, which are required when the communication terminal device connects to a provider of a computer communication network.
This is used by the provider side to recognize the transmission source and determine permission / non-permission of the connection. According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the communication terminal device, the storage means has a function corresponding to the provider type.
Line type, provider phone number, and login
The script and the procedure for sending and receiving e-mail
You.

[0010]

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of the communication terminal device of the present invention. here,
The Internet is used as a computer communication network, and an electronic mail (e-mail) service is used on the Internet.

FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a facsimile apparatus with an electronic mail function as one of the communication terminal apparatuses. That is, this facsimile apparatus has a function of communicating with the Internet in addition to the conventional G3 and G4 facsimile communication functions. The CPU 1 not only controls each unit of the facsimile apparatus through the bus 12, but also executes encoding / decoding, image conversion, binary / text conversion, mail editing, communication procedure control, and the like, which will be described later.

The reading section 2 reads an original by a CCD or the like,
Outputs black and white binary image data. The recording unit 3 includes an electrophotographic printer or the like, and records (prints and outputs) image data received from another G3 or G4 facsimile machine or via the Internet. The display unit 4 includes a liquid crystal display device and the like, and displays an operation state of the facsimile apparatus and image data. The operation unit 5 includes ten keys, speed dial keys, one-touch dial keys, various function keys, and the like, and performs various input settings for the facsimile apparatus.

The ROM 6 stores software necessary for the operation of the facsimile machine. The RAM 7 stores temporary data generated during execution of the software, and also stores various tables T1 to T3 described later.
The image memory 8 is composed of a DRAM or the like, and stores image data. DSU (Data line terminator: Digi
The tal service unit 9 converts transmission / reception data and voltage so that the digital line L1 using the baseband transmission method can be connected. The modem 10 is a conventional FA
It has a data modem function in addition to the X modem function. N
A CU (Network Control Unit) 11 closes and opens the analog line L2.

FIG. 2 schematically shows a data flow in the facsimile apparatus shown in FIG. In this figure, parts corresponding to those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals. Although an e-mail conversion unit 20, an encoding / decoding unit 21, and an auto dialer 25, which will be described later, do not exist in FIG.
6 is processed by the CPU 1 based on the software stored in the CPU 6.

The e-mail converter 20 comprises an image converter 22, a binary / text converter 23, and an e-mail editor 24. The e-mail converter 20 is provided in a conventional facsimile machine. In addition to facsimile communication, it becomes possible to access the Internet and use an e-mail service. The encoding / decoding unit 21 converts the image data into MH, MR, MMR
Encoding or decoding by an encoding method such as Hereinafter, image data encoded by these encoding methods is referred to as “encoded image data”. The image data memory 8 stores the encoded image data.

The image conversion unit 22 converts the encoded image data into a TIFF (Tagged) image, which is a general image format used by a computer, when transmitting an electronic mail.
Image File format) while receiving, T
Convert from IFF to encoded image data. TIFF
Is published by adobe company and handles not only black and white binary but also various Cl
ass is defined. One of them defines Class F for handling facsimile images. If the TIFF header information of Class F is added to the head of the coded image data, it can be converted to TIFF. Hereinafter, the encoded image data to which the TIFF header information of Class F is added is referred to as “TIFF image data”.

The binary / text converter 23 converts binary data into text data when sending an electronic mail, and converts text data into binary data when receiving an electronic mail. In some cases, computers that cannot handle binary data e-mails are connected to the Internet. To ensure that e-mails reach the recipient, binary data such as TIFF image data must be It needs to be converted to text data when sending.

Text data handled on the Internet is:
Documents issued by IETF (Internet Engineering Task Fore), RFC (Request For Comments) 82
2, is defined as a 7-bit code,
Among them, MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Ext
If the base64 or the like is used, binary data can be converted into text data. In addition, base
64 is an encoding method in which binary data of 8 bits × 3 bytes is regarded as 6 bits × 4 bytes and a character code is assigned to each byte to convert the binary data into text data.

The mail editing unit 24 adds mail header information to the TIFF image data converted to text data and edits the data into an e-mail format when transmitting the e-mail, and converts the data from the e-mail format into a mail when receiving the e-mail. Remove header information and TIF of text data
It is assumed to be F image data. Here, the mail header information refers to predetermined header information of an electronic mail on the Internet, and "From:", "To:", "Subject:", "cc:" at the beginning of the TIFF image data to be transmitted. It is stipulated that items such as "," Date: "are added.

The auto dialer 25 calls the DSU 9, the modem 10 or the NCU 11 to call the telephone number read from the provider table T2 and the destination table T3.
Send phone number data to. Next, each of the tables T1 to T3
Will be described with reference to FIG. The present invention is characterized in that a "password" is registered in a user table T1 of FIG. 3A corresponding to each of a plurality of users using the facsimile apparatus (communication terminal apparatus). If this password is not entered, the connection to the Internet is not started.

The transmission ID is also stored in the user table T1.
Since a user ID and a password can be registered for each user, when the same password as the password registered in the table T1 is input, the password corresponding to the input password is Registered user I
D. Passwords can be automatically sent in sequence to log in to the Internet.

The password input by the user may also be used as a password transmitted to log in. In this case, there is no need to register a “password” in the user table T1. Also, the password may be the same as the password used for confidential reception of facsimile communication. Further, in the user table T1, data necessary for realizing the communication function and the processing function, such as the e-mail address (domain name) of each user, the provider type, the destination table number, and the reply buffer number, can be registered. .

The provider type and the destination table number are
It corresponds to the provider table T2 and the destination table T3 shown in (b) and (c). Here, the reply buffer number is the number of a group of buffers assigned to each user by a predetermined number, and the group of buffers is provided with the electronic mail of the other party as the transmission source in order to perform the Reply function. Stores e-mail addresses, etc. According to this, after the e-mail is received, the created reply message can be easily transmitted only by specifying the buffer corresponding to the reply partner.

FIG. 3B shows a provider table T2.
Is shown. In this table T2, corresponding to the provider type, the provider name, the line type (analog or digital), the telephone number of the provider used when connecting to the Internet, the login script (login procedure), the transmission and reception of e-mail Procedure is registered.

Here, since the provider type is classified for each telephone number, if the user uses a plurality of providers or if the provider has a plurality of telephone lines, the user table T1 is displayed. A plurality of provider types may be registered for one user, and a provider may be selected from among them. FIG.
(C) shows the configuration of the destination table T3.

The table T3 corresponds to a table number assigned to each user, and includes abbreviated numbers, one-touch dial numbers or program one-touch numbers, a destination name, a destination e-mail address, a facsimile number, Facsimile type (G3 or G4)
And a reading mode (resolution / brightness) are registered.
In addition, if the setting contents other than the items that must be kept secret such as a password and a password among the tables T1 to T3 can be output as a list from the recording unit 3, the setting, change, and setting of the tables T1 to T3 can be performed. Confirmation work is simplified.

Next, FIG. 4 shows the configuration of a computer communication network provided with this communication terminal device. Here, the facsimile apparatus with an e-mail function F in the figure corresponds to the communication terminal apparatus of the present invention. When sending an e-mail from the facsimile apparatus F of the present invention to a facsimile apparatus Fa with an e-mail function or a personal computer PCa of a destination,
A contract provider is called via a telephone station P, a computer communication network N is connected, and image data scanned and scanned is transmitted (routes to). Fax machine F of the other party
a, In the computer PCa, the telephone office Pa at any time
To connect to the computer communication network N, and receive an e-mail addressed to its own address (routes ~, ~).

If the computer communication network N is used in such a form, both the transmission side and the reception side need only pay the communication cost up to the contract provider, and perform ordinary facsimile communication (routes ~~, ~~,
According to (1) to (4), much communication cost is not required as in the case of directly transmitting and receiving image data. Fb in the figure
Is a normal facsimile machine without an e-mail function.

Since the computer PC is connected to the computer communication network N by a dedicated line connection, and another network Na is connected to the computer communication network N by a LAN connection or the like,
E-mail can also be transmitted from the facsimile apparatus F of the present invention to a computer PC connected to a dedicated line and a network Na connected to a LAN (routes ~~, ~).
~).

Next, a procedure for transmitting an electronic mail by the communication terminal device will be described. The protocol used is shown in FIG. 5 in each layer of the OSI reference model. First,
The login procedure will be described. The communication terminal device is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, when a line with a computer of a provider (hereinafter, referred to as a server) is set, for example, PAP
According to (Password Authentication Protocol), the user ID and password are transmitted from the server to Ack or Na
Continue sending until ck is returned. When Nack is received, the line is opened and redial is performed. When Ack is received, login to the server is completed.

When the login to the server is completed, FIG.
As shown in (1), an e-mail is transmitted by SMTP.
First, the communication terminal device makes an SMTP connection request to the server. On the other hand, the server returns a response code 220 to the communication terminal device if connection is possible. Subsequently, the communication terminal device transmits a domain name by a “HELO” command. If the server can recognize the domain name of the communication terminal device, it returns a response code 250 and the domain name of the server.
Then, the communication terminal device transmits the e-mail data. When the transmission is completed, the communication terminal device transmits a “QUIT” command. When the server returns a response code 221 in response thereto, the SMTP ends. Thereafter, the user logs off from the server and releases the line.

Next, the basic operation of the communication terminal device of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, a user sets a document to be transmitted on a document table (not shown) (S1), and inputs a password assigned to each user by operating the operation unit 5 (S2). Then, it is searched whether there is a password entered in the user table T1, and if there is the same password, the destination table T3 corresponding to this password is searched based on the table number, and the destination is determined. Make a choice.

Here, if the abbreviated number, the start key (not shown), the one-touch key, and the program one-touch key are operated (S3), the documents set on the document table are read one by one, and all pages are temporarily encoded. The decoding / decoding unit 21 stores the image data in the image memory 8 as MMR coded image data (S4). Next, if the communication mode is selected (S5) and facsimile transmission is selected, S16-S
If the process of step 22 is performed and the transmission of the e-mail is selected, S6
To S15.

In electronic mail transmission on the Internet, the encoded image data cannot be transmitted as it is, so it is converted to TIFF image data by the image converter 22 (S6), and converted to text data by the binary / text converter 23 (S6). S7) The mail editing unit 24 adds an e-mail header to make an e-mail format (S8).

Here, the e-mail header includes at least items of “From:”, “To:”, and “Subject:”.
"From:" is the own e-mail address registered in the user table T1 corresponding to the password, "To:" is the e-mail address of the other party selected from the other party table T3, "Subject:" Is set to "TIFF (G3)" indicating that the electronic mail includes image data in TIFF format.

Subsequently, in order to make a dial-up connection to the Internet, the line type is read from the provider table T2 (S9), the modem 10 is set for an analog line (S10), and the DSU 9 is set for a digital line. (S11). Thereafter, the telephone number of the provider is called (S12), and if there is an incoming call (S13), an e-mail is transmitted (S14).

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the e-mail is transmitted by logging in according to the PAP and transmitting data by SMTP. When the transmission is completed, the user logs off and releases the line (S15). In this communication terminal device, if an e-mail addressed to itself is received, an e-mail reception process may be automatically performed before or after the e-mail is transmitted. Further, before or after the transmission of the e-mail, a transmission certificate indicating the transmission of the e-mail may be transmitted by facsimile to the destination facsimile apparatus Fb during the transmission.

In one facsimile transmission, according to the facsimile type registered in the destination table T3 (S1
6) If the destination facsimile machine is a G3 machine, the modem 10 is set (S17). If the other facsimile machine is a G4 machine, the DSU 9 is set (S18), and a call is made (S19). On the other hand, when there is an incoming call (S20), facsimile transmission is performed (S21), and when the transmission is completed, the line is released (S2).
2).

The present invention can take embodiments other than those described above. In addition to image data, data to be transmitted in the computer communication network may be data such as audio and video (for example, WWW on the Internet),
Computer communication networks other than the Internet (for example, N
IFTY-Server) may be used. Instead of inputting a password, a magnetic card or an IC card may be inserted so that each user (user) can identify it. Further, these cards may also serve as one-touch sheets.

[0041]

As will be understood from the above description, according to the communication terminal device of the first aspect of the present invention, unless the same password as the previously registered password is input, the computer communication is not performed. Since the network cannot be connected, unauthorized use by unauthorized persons can be prevented, and this is particularly effective when this device is shared. Also entered
According to the provider type corresponding to the
Computer network and the user's email address
Simplifies the operation procedure by sending an e-mail with
Can be

According to the communication terminal device of the second aspect,
When a password is input, a transmission ID corresponding to the password can be automatically transmitted to connect to a computer communication network, so that the operation procedure can be simplified and erroneous operation can be prevented. According to the communication terminal device of the third aspect, when the password is input , the password is registered in advance.
Line type, provider phone number, login screen
Follow the instructions for sending and receiving e-mail
The communication procedure is executed by connecting the
Can be abbreviated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of an internal configuration of a communication terminal device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a flow of data in a communication terminal device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration of a table stored in a communication terminal device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a computer communication network.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a protocol used by the communication terminal device according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a procedure for logging in to a server.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a procedure for transmitting an e-mail to a server.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a basic operation of the communication terminal device according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 20 e-mail conversion unit 22 image conversion unit 23 binary text conversion unit 24 mail editing unit T1 user table T2 provider table T3 destination Table N: Computer communication network F: Facsimile machine with e-mail function

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04L 12/54 H04L 12/58 H04M 11/00 303 G06F 13/00

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] In a communication terminal device capable of connecting to a computer communication network, a provider type is previously associated with a personal identification number and a personal identification number.
Includes a storage means for registering the electronic-mail address of another user, when the secret number identical to the personal identification number registered in the storage means is input, the dark entered
According to the provider type corresponding to the certificate number,
Computer communication network and send the e-mail address of the above user.
A communication terminal device for transmitting an e-mail to which a message is added . 2. A transmission ID is further registered in the storage means in correspondence with a password, and when a password identical to the password registered in the storage means is inputted , the transmission ID is inputted. The communication terminal device according to claim 1, wherein a transmission ID corresponding to the password is transmitted to connect the computer communication network. 3. The storage means stores the provider type.
Correspond to the line type, provider phone number,
Register the login script and the procedure for sending and receiving e-mail
The communication terminal device according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that it is.